Skip to main content

Full text of "The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society"

See other formats 


^pratoWi 


/  (>o 


THE 


JOURNAL 


OF   THE 


Bombay  Natural  History  Society. 


EDITED    BY 

R.       A.     8TBRNDALB. 

and 

E.      H,     AITKEN. 


VOLUME    1 
1886. 


Consisting  of  Four  Numbers  and  containing 
Twelve  Illustrations. 


Bombay: 

PRINTED    AT    THE 

EDUCATION    SOCIETY'S   PRESS    BYCULLA. 

1886. 


CONTENTS. 


6n 


PAGE. 

Introduction  ..         ...         ...         ...         •  ••         •••         •••     1  to     3 

List  of  Members...  ...  ...         ...         ...  ...         ...    -3~ixs     8" 

Catalogue  of  the  Mammalia  in   the   Collection  of   the  Bombay 

Natural  History  Society  ...  ...         ...    -8-  * ■;>   14 

Catalogue    of  Birds   as   yet   in   the   Collection  of  the  Bombay  /  o 

Natural  History  Society  44  to  2+ 

Eggs  received  chiefly  from  Mr.  Davidson 1 2  2i  to  -£2  1 

The  Society's  Library iPi  22  tc28.f 

Note  on  an  Undescribed  Hamalopsida,  by  the  Rev.  F.  Dreckmann,    .      j. 

s.j ^r  24"  «  x 

Note  on  a  Probable  New  Species  of  Ibex,  by  R.  A.  Sterndale,  f.z.s. $4-  to  ■%& 
Note  on  Mygale  Fasciata,  by  Captain  T.  R.  M.  Macpherson      ^?  W  to  BH  5-  " 
On  the  Mimicry  shown  by  Phyllornis  Jerdoni,  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken.        -28 

Notes  on  "The  Birds  of  Bombay,"  by  H.  Littledale        29  to  35 

On  a  Hybrid,  Ovis  Hodgsoni,  cum  vignei,  discovered  and  shot  by 

Mons.  H.  Dauvergne,  by  R.  A.  Sterndale,  fz.s.,  &c.  ...  35  to  3/ 

Birds'  Nesting  in  Rajputana,  by  Lieut.  H.  E.  Barnes,  D.  A.  C.    ...   38  to  62 
On  the  uses  of  Pandanus  or  Screw  Palm,  taken  from  the  Journals 

of  the  late  Handley  Sterndale,  with  Prefatory   Remarks,    by 

his  Brother  R.  A.  Sterndale,  f.r.g.s.,  f.z.s.  62  to  68 

A    Note    on   Pandanus    Odoratissimus    or  Screw    Palm,   by    Dr. 

Kirtikar,  I.M.D '      ...        68 

Zoological  Notes — 

On  Variation  in  Colour  in  Ursns  Labiatus,  the  Sloth  Bear, 

&c,  by  R.  A.  Sterndale       ...  ...  ...  ...  ...         69 

On  the  Flying  Squirrel  of  Western  India       ...  70 

On  a  Species  of  Pigmy  Shrew  ...  ...  ...  ...         70 

On  the  frequency  of  Albinoism  in  Cutch,  by  Mr.  A.  T.  H. 
Newnham,  S.  O,  10th  N.  I.,  with  Notes  by  Mr.  E.  H. 
Aitken  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  •••  ...         71 

Botanical  Notes — 

On    an   instance   of  fructification  in  a  Staminiferous  Plant, 

Carica  Papaya,  by  Surgeon-Major  G.  Bainbridge,  I.M. D....         72 

On  Abnormal  Development  in  Musa  Sapientum,  by  Surgeon 

K.  R.  Kirtikar,  I.M.D 73 

Note  on  Agaricus  Ostreatus     ...  ...  ...  ...  ...         73 

On  the  Fruit  of  Trapa  Bispinosa         ...  ...  ...  ...         74 

Note  on  Kasra  or  Scirpus  Kysoor  ...         ...         ...  ...  ...         74 

Note   on  a  supposed  Root-Parasite   found   at   Mahableshwar  in 

October,  1885,  by  Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart 75  to  77 

Memorandum,    by    Dr.  D.  Macdonald,  M.D.,  Vice-President  of 

the  Society,  on  the  Species  of  Balanophora,  found  and  de- 
scribed by  Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart    

List  of  Bird  Skins  from  the  South  Konkan 

,,  „  from  Burmah  and  other  parts  of  India 

Catalogue  of  Snakes  in  the  Society's  Collection     ... 
Proceedings  of  the  Society  during  the  Quarter 
A  Sind  Lake,  by  Capt.  E.  F.  Becher,  R.  A.,  f.z.s. 

Notes  on  the  Waters  of  Western  India,  by  a  Member  of  the  Society.  97  to  123 
On  Abnormalities  in  the  Horns  of  Ruminants,  by  R.A  .  Sterndale, 

f.z.s. ,&c ...123to126 

A  List  of  the  Bombay  Butterflies  in  the  Society's  Collection,  with 

Notesby  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken 126tol35 

52074 


78, 

79 

80  to 

83 

83 

84  to 

86 

86  to 

90 

91  to 

96 

if  CONTENTS 

l'AGE. 

A  new  species  of  Alga,  Conferva  Thermal  is  Birdwoodii  (with 
Illustration)  discovered  among  the  Hot-water  Algss  from 
Vajrabai,  . exhibited  before  the  Botanical  Section  on  J 5th 
March  1886,  by  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar,  LM.U 135  to  138 

Note  on  frequency  of  Parasites  in   Indian  Army  Horses,  by  V.  S. 

J.  H.  Steel,  A.V.D 138  to  142 

List  of  Birds  collected  and  presented  to  the  Society,  by  Mr.  A.  H. 

Newnham,  S.  C,  10th  N.  1 142,     143 

Zoological  Notes — 

On   an  Oligodon  (Subpunctatus  ?~)  found  at  Dahanu,  North 

Konkan,  March,  1886,  by  Mr.  G.  Vidal,  0.  S 144 

Pteropus  Edwardsii,  by  Mr."  E.  H.  Aitken 144 

White-ants,  by  Mr.  E."  H.  Aitken       144 

Poisonous  Lizards,  the  Bis-cobra,  by  the  Editor        ...  ...  145 

On  Conjugal  Infidelity  among  Birds,  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Hart     ...  145 

Botanical  Notes — 

Note  on  the  Feronia  Elephantum  (Elephant  or  Wood  Apple) 

as  a  timber  tree,  by  Mr.  Frank  Rose  ...  ...  ...  ...146,     147 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  during  the  Quarter     ...  ...  ...147  to  151 

Waters   of  Western  India — Part    II.,   Konkan   and  Coast — by  a 

Member  of  the  Society  .  ...153  to  175 

Bird-nesting  on  the  Ghats,  by  Mr.  J.  Davidson,  CS.       ...  ...175  to  183 

Note  on  some  Post-pliocene   Molluscs  from  the  Byculla  Plats,  by 

Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart  183  to  194 

The  Birds  of  South  Gujerat,  by  Mr.  II.  Littledale,  Baroda  ...194  to  200 

Note  on  a  Recent  Paper,  by  Dr.  Bonavia  on  the  Mango,  by 
Surgeon  K.R.  Kirtikar,  I.M.D.,  Acting  Professor  of  Anatomv, 

Grant  Medical  College,  Bombay  '.  200  to  203 

A  Catalogue  of  the  Flora  of  Matheran,  by  the  Hon.  H.  M.  Bird- 
wood,  Vice-President    ...         ...  ...  ...  ...  ...203to214 

A  List  of  the  Butterflies  of  the  Bombay  Presidency  in  the  Society's 

Collection,  with  Notes,  by  E.  H.  Aitken        "...  ...  ...215  to  218 

Zoological  Notes — 

Note  on  the  Homalopsidce.  in  the  Society's  Collection,  by  Mr. 

James  A.  Murray,  Curator,  Karachi  Museum         ...  ..         219 

Note  on  the  conduct  of  a  Tame  Pigeon,  by  E.  H.  Aitken     ...       220 
Note  on  Danais  dorippus,  by  Mr.  A.  T.  H.  Newnham,  S.  C. 

10th  N.  I ib. 

Note  on  Locality,  by   Mr,  A.  T.  H.   Newnham,   S.  C,  10th 

N.I.  .." 221 

Note  on  the  Breeding   of  Parra   indica,  bv  Lieutenant  H. 

Edwin  Barnes  .' 221  to  222 

Note  on  Reversion  to  Primitive  Types,  by  R.  A.  Sterndale  ...222  to  223 
Some  Notes  on  Abnormalities  in  the  Horns  of  Ruminants,  by 

Mr.  J.  D.  Inverarity  .".223  to  224 

Botanical  Notes — 

Note    on  the    Gloriosa   svperba    (N.   O.  Liliacea),   tl  Superb 

Lily,"  by  Mr.  Frank  Rose,  P.  W.  D 226 

Note  on  the  Gloriosa  superba,  by  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar  ...226  to  227 
Uses  of  the  Flower  of  P  and  anus  odoratissimus,  bv  Mr.  Frank 

Rose,  P.  W.  D 227  to  228 

Freak  in  a  Zinnia   pauciflora   observed  and  exhibited  by  Mr. 

Frank  Rose,  P.  W.  D '      ...228  to  229 

Note  on  the  above,  by  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar         229  to  230 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  during  the  Quarter  ...  ...230  to  243 


■&\CAl 


5  0  U 11 N  A  h 


OF    THE 


BOMBAY 


Jfottint 


mom  £ 


CO 


yiJLPl'limj  J1.JI_1I  XllLMgWMBIgW 


No.  l.]        BOMBAY,  JANUARY  1886        [Vol.  I. 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  issuing  the  first  number  of  the  Journal  of  the  Bombay  Natural 
History  Society,  it  seems  appropriate  to  give  some  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  Society  and  of  its  position  at  the  present  time.  It  was 
founded  on  the  15th  of  September  1883  by  seven  gentlemen 
interested  in  natural  history,  who  proposed  to  meet  monthly  and 
exchange  notes,  exhibit  interesting  specimens,  and  otherwise 
encourage  one  mother.  The  subscription  was  purposely  made  little 
snore  than  nominal,  and  the  possibility  of  forming  or  maintaining  a 
museum  was  scarcely  contemplated  at  that  time.  For  several  months 
meetings  were  held  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum ;  but  in 
January  1884,  Mr.  H.  M.  Pbipson  kindly  offered  the  use  of  a  room 
in  his  office  in  the  Fort.  This  removal  to  a  central  situation  gave 
an  astonishing  impulse  to  the  Society.  The  meetings  were  better 
attended,  the  membership  increased,  and  collections  began  to  be 
made,  so  that  in  a  very  short  time  the  necessity  for  more  am  pip 
accommodation  was  pressingly  felt.  A  committee  appointed  to  seek 
for  suitable  rooms,  having  failed  elsewhere,  recommended  the  Society 
to  ask  Mr.  Phipson  to  let  one-half  of  his  office  premises,  including 
the  room,  of  which  they  had  up  to  this  time  had  the  gratuitous  use. 
He  conseuted  to  this,  and  so  the  Society  continued  to  hold  its  meet- 
ings and  keep  its  collections  at  18,  Forbes  Street.  Its  progress  was 
so  rapid,  however,  that  these  premises  were  soon  felt  to  be  too  small, 
and  last  month  the  collections  were  removed  bo  larger  and  ia 
every  way  iuo!S  suitable  rooms  at  6.  Apollo  Street. 


NATURAL    HISTORY. 


In  the  month  of  May  last,  a  very  important  change  was  made  in 
the  constitution  of  the  Society.  The  monthly  meetings,  being  largely 
attended  by  members  who  took  only  a  general  interest  in  natural 
history,  had  naturally  acquired  a  very  popular  character,  and  it 
was  found  impossible  to  introduce  much  strictly  scientific  matter 
on  these  occasions.  It  was  decided,  therefore,  while  continuing  the 
good  work  already  done  in  popularising  the  subject  of  natural  his- 
tory, to  make  better  provision  for  the  study  and  advancement  of  the 
science  by  the  formation  of  sections  as  follows  : — 

1.  Mammals  and  Birds. 

2.  Reptiles  and  Fishes. 

3.  Insects. 

4.  Other  Invertebrata. 

5.  Botany. 

Those  members  specially  interested  in  any  branch  of  natural  his- 
tory were  invited  to  join  the  corresponding  section,  elect  a  President 
and  Secretary,  take  charge  of  that  portion  of  the  collections 
which  appertained,  to  their  division,  and  hold,  their  own  meetings, 
thus  forming  practically  a  separate  Society  affiliated  to  the  general 
Society.  All  the  sections  have  now  organised  themselves  and  made 
their  own  arrangements  for  carrying  on  the  work  of  their  respec- 
tive branches. 

This  has  prepared  the  way  for  another  important  and  necessary 
step — the  publication  of  a  journal  in  which  whatever  of  value  or 
interest  is  transacted  at  the  sectional  meetings  may  be  permanently 
put  on  record.  Till  now  there  has  been  no  publication  in  the  Bombay 
Presidency  devoted  to  natural  history  or  any  of  its  branches,  and, 
perhaps,  as  a  consequence  of  this,  there  is  scarcely  any  Presidency  or 
Province  the  fauna  of  which  has  received  so  little  attention.  It  is 
hoped,  that  the  introduction  of  this  journal  will  stimulate  lovers  of 
Nature,  especially  in  all  parts  of  this  Presidency,  to  record  and  com- 
municate their  observations.  In  accordance  with  the  character  which 
this  Society  has  assumed  from  the  beginning,  the  aim  of  its  journal 
wiil  be,  as  far  as  possible,  to  interest  all  students  of  nature,  ever 
remembering  that  there  are  many  Naturalists,  in  the  highest  sense  of 
the  term,  who  have  not  such  a  technical  knowledge  of  any  particular 
branch  of  the  science  as  to  be  able  to  enter  with  interest  into  ques- 
tions of  nomenclature  and  the  discrimination  of  closely  allied  species. 
The  Secretaries  of  the  Sections  would  therefore    invite  sportsmen 


LIST  OF  MEMBERS.  3 


and  others  to  communicate  anything  interesting  or  Worthy  of  note, 
which  comes  under  their  observation,  bearing  on  the  nature  and 
habits  of  animals  or  plants. 

One  other  matter  remains  to  be  noticed.  No  public  library  in 
Bombay  affords  much  assistance  to  the  naturalist,  and  the  absolute 
necessity  of  having  a  good  library  of  their  own  early  forced  itself  on 
the  attention  of  the  members  of  this  Society.  Unfortunately  it  is 
impossible  to  set  aside  any  adequate  sum  out  of  the  ordinary  income  of 
the  Society  for  the  purpose,  but  on  two  occasions  special  subscriptions 
have  been  collected  and  a  number  of  valuable  and  necessary  works 
secured,  while  several  members  have  at  different  times  contributed 
useful  books.  The  Bombay  Government  has  also  been  so  good  as  to 
present  the  Society  with  all  the  parts  of  Sir  J.  Hooker's  Indian  Flora, 
already  issued,  and  to  promise  the  rest.  With  all  this,  however,  it  is 
impossible  to  say  more  than  that  a  beginning  has  been  made  ;  but  as 
the  usefulness  of  the  Society  continues  to  be  day  by  day  more  widely 
appreciated,  the  committee  look  confidently  forward  to  the  time  when 
an  adequate  Library  Fund  will  be  formed  and  maintained  by 
spontaneous  donations. 


Catalogue  of  the  Mammalia  in  the  Collection  of  the 
Bombay  Natural   History  Society. 


ORDER   I.— QUA  DRUM  AN  A. —None. 
ORDER  II.— LEMURES.— -None. 
ORDER  III.— CAKNIVORA. 

Family — Felidje. 
Genus — Felis.  - 
Felis  tifftis  (Linn.). — The  Tiger.     Hab.:  Eastern  Asia. 

a  #•  b.— Skulls,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  Shillingford,  Purneah. 
c— A  Skeleton,  presented  by  Mr.  W.  Shipp,   Lauowlie. 
Felis  pardus  (Linn.). — The  Panther. 
Felis  domesticus. — Hab. :  India. 

a.— Skull.     Donor,  unknown. 

Family — Viverbidje. 

Genus — Viverricut.  v. 

I Iverricula  malaccensis  (Gm.). — The  Lesser  Civet  Cat,    Hub. ;  India, 

Burmah  and  Ceylon. 


NATURAL    HISTORY. 


a  <$•  b. — Skins    prepared  for  mounting,  presented  by  Mr.  E. 
H.  Aitken,  Bombay. 

Genus — Paradoxus. 
Paradumirus  vnusanga  (F.  Cuv.). — The  Common  Tree-Cat. 

a.— Living  specimen  from  the   Straits,  presented  by  Mr,  E. 
Bodger,  Bombay. 

&.— Skin  and  skull,  presented  by  Mr.  W.  Shipp,  Lanowlie. 

Family — Mu  steli  dje. 
Genus — Martes. 
Maries  abiefu-m  (Hay). — The  Pine  Marten.  Hab.:  Kashmir  and  Ladak. 
a. — Skin,  presented  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterndale,  Bombay. 

Genus — Ldtiia. 
hutra  nair    (P.  Cuv.). — Indian  Otter.     Hab.  :  India, 

a. — A  akin  of  an  Albino,  presented  by  Mr.  W.  Shipp,  Lanowlx®, 

ORDER  IV.— None. 

ORDER  V.—CHIROPTEKA. 

Family — Pteropodid;e. 
Genus — Pteropus. 
Tterofus  medius  (Temm.). — The  Flying  Fox.     Hab.:  India. 

a. —  Specimen  in  spirits,  presented  by  Dr,  Charlotte    EJIaby, 
Bombay. 

Genus—  Cynopterus  . 

Cynopterus  mnrginutus  (Geoffr.). — Little  White-eared     Fruit  Ba«» 

Hab. :  India. 

a. — In  spirits,  presented  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken,   Bombay. 
b,— -Mounted,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Covnforth,  Bombay. 
Family — Vampyrid^;. 
Genus — Meoaderma. 
Mtgadermct      h/ra      (Geoffr.). — The      Long-eared     Vampire     Bat, 

Hab.  :   India  and  Ceylon. 
a.     Specimen  in  spirits,  presented  by  Mr.  G.  W,  Vidal,-Thana. 

Sub-family — Rhinolophin^j, 
Genus — Hipposideros. 

Uipi'QsiJeros    murium    (Elliot). —  Little     Horse-shoe    Bat.      Hab,; 

Southern  India,  Ceylon  and  Burmak, 


CATALOGUE  OF  THE  MAMMALIA,    &C. 


a  to  d. — In  spirits,  presented  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken,  Bombay. 
Family — Noctilionid<e. 
Genus — Taphozous. 
Taphozous  longimanus. — The  Long-armed  Bat.     Ilab.  :  India. 
a. — Specimen  in  spirits,  presented  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken,  Bombay. 

Family — VespertilionibvE. 
Genus— Scotophilos. 

Scotophilus     Coromandelianus      (F.  Cuv.). — The    Coromandel  Bafc. 

Hab. :  India,  Bnrmah  and  Ceylon. 

a. — Specimen  in  spirits,  presented  by    Mr.  E,  H.    Aitken 
Bombay. 

Scotophilus  Temmincliii  (  Horsf.  ). — Temminck's  Bat.    Hab. :  India 

Burmah  and  Ceylon. 

a. — Tn  spirits,  presented  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken,  Bombay. 
b  fy  c—     Do.         do.  Mr.  L.  H.  Batcher. 

Genus— Kerivoula. 

K&rivoula  picta  (Pall.). — The  Painted  Bat.     Hab.:    India,  Burmah 

and  Ceylon. 

afyb. — Two  specimens  in  spirits,  presented  by  Mr.  T.  Bromley,  Junr. 

ORDER  VI.-RODENTIA. 

Family — Sciurid,e. 

Genus — Pteromys. 

Pteromys   oral    (Tickell). — Large    Grey    Flying     Squirrel.      Hab.: 

India  and  Ceylon. 

a  to  c. — Skins,  presented  by  Col.  Peyton. 

Pteromys  magnificus  (Hodgs.). — Hab.  :  Himalayas.     Skin,  presented 

by  Mr.  J.  C.  Anderson. 

Family — Myoxid^e. 
Genus — Myoxus. 

Myoosus  avellanarius  (Linn.). — Common    English    Dormouse.  Hab.: 

British  Islands. 

a.  -Specimen  in  spirits,  presented  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterndale, 

Bombay. 


6  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


Family — Murid,e. 
Genus — Mus. 

Mus  decumanvs  (Pall.). — The  Brown  Rat.     Hab.:  Europe  and  Asia. 

at  b  $r  c. — Living  specimens,    presented    by    Messrs.    E.    H. 
Aitken  and    R.  A.  Sterndale,  Bombay. 

*  Mus  sp.  ? — Nov.  Sp.     Hab.:  Bombay. 

a, — Liviug  specimen,  presented  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken,  Bombay. 
Musrattus. — Young,  presented  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken,  Bombay. 

b  8f  c. — Adult,  presented  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken,  Bombay. 

Mm  (Nesokia)  Elliotanns. — Elliot's  Field  Rat.    Hab.:  Bengal,  Assam 

and  Bombay. 

a. — Living  specimen,  presented  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken,  Bombay. 

Mus  urbanus  (Hodgs.). — Common  House  Mouse.     Hab.:  India. 

a  to  d.  —  Living  specimens,  presented  by  Mr.  R.  A.    Sterndale, 

Bombay. 

Family — Lepokid/e. 

Genus — Lepus. 
Lepus  ruficaudatus  (  Gcoffr.). — Common  Indian  Hare.    Hab.:   India 
t  11. — Specimen,  mounted  in  folds  of  Python.      Donor,  Mr.   W. 

Shipp,  Lanowlie. 

ORDER  VIII  — PROBOSCIDEA. 

Family — Elephantid^. 

Genus  —  Elephas. 
Elephasindicuk  (  Cuv.  ). — Indian  Elephant,     Hab.:  India, 

a.— Skull  of  male,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  Skiilingford,  Purneah, 

ORDER  IX.— UNGULATA. 

Family — Rhinocerotid^e. 

Genus — Rhinoceros. 
Rliinoceros  indicus  (  Cuv.  ). — The  Indian  Rhinoceros.    Hab.:  Hima- 
layan   Terai,    from    Central    Nepal 
to    Eastern  Assam. 

*  Apparently  undescribed ;  to  be  named  hereafter. 
\  Mounted    by   Mr,  E.    L.    Barton. 


CATALOG  UK    OF    THK    MAMMALIA,    &C. 


a. — Skull  of  male,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  Shillingford,  Furneah. 

Family — Bovim:. 

Genus — Gav^ecs. 

Gavceus  Gaurtis     (  Ham    Smith  ).-— The    Gaur    or    so-called    Bison, 

Hab.:  India,    in  parts. 

*  a. — Mounted  head  of  male,  presented  by  Mr.  Leslie  Crawford. 
b. — Skull,  presented  by  Mr.  Leslie  Crawford. 

Genus — Bubalus. 

Babalus  Ami  (Shaw). — Indian  "Wild  Buffaloe.     Hab.:  Central  India, 
Terai,  from  Oude  to  Bhotan,  Assam,  Burmah    and    Ceylon. 

a  Sf  b. — Skulls,  male  and  female,   presented  by  Mr.  J.  Shilling- 
ford,  Furneah. 

Genus — Boselaphds  vel  Poet  Ax. 

Boselaphus  iragocamclus  (Pall.),    Portax  pictus  (  H.    Smith  ). — The 

Nylgao  or  Blue  Bull.     Hab.:  India. 
*  a. — Mounted  head,  presented  by  Mr.  Leslie  Crawford. 
Sub-family — Antelopin^:. 
Genus — Gazella. 
Gazella  Bennetti  (  Sykes  ). — Indian  Gazelle.     Hab.:  India. 
a. — Horns.     Donor,  unknown. 

b. — Do.,  presented  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterudale,  Bombay. 
c— Do  „  „  „ 

dSfe. — Skins,  „  „  ,, 

Genus — Pantholops. 

Pantholops  Ilodgsoni  (Abel). — Tibetan  Antelope.     Hab.  :  Tibet. 

a  8f  b. — Mounted  heads,  purchased.     Dauvergne  Collection, 
c  to  /. — Skulls  „  .     „ 

Genus — Antelope. 

Antelop  elezoariica  (Aldro),  cervicapra  (Pall.). — The  Indian  Antelope. 

Hab.:    India. 

a  to  c. — Horns,  presented  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterndale,  Bombay. 
*  Mounted  by  Mr.  B.  L.  Burton. 


8  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


d. — Mounted  head,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Anderson,  Bombay. 
e  Sf  f-—  Skins,  presented  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterndale,  Bombay. 

Sub-family — Run -caprine. 

Genus — Nemorh^edus. 

Nemorhcjcdtis  buballna    (II.  Smith). — The  Serow.    Ilab. :  Himalayas. 

a. — Skull,  purchased.     Dauvergne  Collection. 
Nemorhcedus  goral  (Hardw.). — The  Goral.     Hab. :  Himalayas. 

a. — Skull,  purchased,     Dauvergne  Collection. 

Sub- family — Caprine. 

V 

Genus— Capra. 

Capra  megaceros  (Hutton). — Markhor.     Hab.:  N.-E.  Himalayas. 

a  fy  b. — Mounted  heads,    purchased.     Dauvergne  Collection. 

c  Sf  d. — Skulls,  „  j, 

Capra  Sibirica   (Meyer). — Himalayan    Ibex.     Hab. :    Kashmir  and 

Ladak. 

a  to  c. — Mounted  heads,  purchased.     Dauvergne  Collection. 
d, — Skull,  „  ,) 

Genus— 0  vis. 

Ovis    Eodgsoni     (Blyth).—  The     Amnion     of     sportsmen.     Hab.  r 

Himalayas. 

a. — Mounted  head,  purchased.     Dauvergne  Collection. 
b. — Skull,  „  „ 


Ovis  vignei  (Blyth) 
a. — 
h.-  )> 

c. — 
d.— 


— The  Shapoo.     Hab.:  N.  Himalayas. 
Purchased.   Dauvergne  Collection. 


Ovis  nahura  (Hodg.). — The  Burhel.  Hab. :  N.  Himalayas. 

a  to  d. — Heads  mounted,  purchased.     Dauvergne  Collection. 
e  #/.— Skulls,  „  „ 

g  Sf  h. — Skins,  „  » 


CATALOGUE    OF   TH15   MAMMALTA,    &C.  9 

Sub-family — CerviN.e. 

Genus — Ceryults. 

Car  cuius  muntjac  (Temm.)',  aureus  (H.  Smith). — The  Rib-faced  Deer 

or  Kakur.     Hab.  :  India. 

a. — Mounted  head,  purchased.     Dauvergne  Collection- 

/;. — Skull,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  Shilling-ford,  Purneah. 

Genus — Cervus. 

Cervus  rashmirianus  (Falc). — The  Kashmir  Stag.     Hab.:  Kashmir. 

*a.. — Mounted  head,  purchased.     Dauvergne  Collection. 

''•  >>  »  yt 

c. — Skull,  „  „ 

d. — Skin,  „  (, 

Cervus  (Rucervus)  Duvaucelli  (Cuv.). — The  Swamp  Deer.  Hab.: 
Forest  lands  at  foot  of  Hitnalayasfrom  the  KyardaDoon  toBhotan, 
Assam  and  Central  India. 

a. — Skull  with  horns,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  Shillingford,  Purneah. 

Cervus  (Rusa)  Aristotelis  (Cuv.). — Sambur.     Hab-  India. 

a. — Skull,  presented  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterndale. 
b. — Horns.     Donor,  unknown. 

c.  —Skull,  presented  by  Mr.  J".  Shillingford,  Purneah, 
**•         j>  »  >>  }> 

Cervus  (Axis)  Porcinus  (Temm.). — The  Hog  Deer.     Hab.:  India. 

a. — Skull  with  horns,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  Shillingford,  Purneah. 
^•~— '  ))  j)  })  >} 

Family — Tragulid^e. 
Genus — Tragulus  vel  Meminna. 

Tragulus  (Meminna)  Indica  (Erx.). — The  Mouse  Deer.    Hab.:  India 

and  Ceylon. 

a. —  Skin,  prepared  for  mounting,  presented  by  Mr. .  W.  F. 

Sinclair,  Alibag,. 

Family — Suid^e. 

Genus— Sua. 

8  as  mlicus  (Sehinz.)  vel  eristatus  ("Wagn.). — Indian  Boar.     Hab.  r 

India,  Burmah  and  Ceylon. 

*  Mounted  by-Mr.  R.  L. .Barton. 


10  TsArcnAr,  History. 


a  Sf  b. — Mounted  heads,  presented  by  Mr.  Barton. 

c  fy  d. — Skulls,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  Shillingford,  Purneah. 

ORDER  X  — CETACEA. 

Family — Mysticrte. 

Genua  — Bal^nofiek'a. 

Bahenopfera  India  (Hlyth). — The  In  lianR  ?rqual,  or  Finback  Whale. 

Hah, :  Indian   Ocean, 
Intervertebral  disk.     Donor,  unknown, 

ORDER  XII.— EDENTATA. 

Earn  i  I  y — M  an  i  qm  . 

Genus- — Manis, 

Manis  Pentadarlijia   (Linn.). — The    Five-toed    Pangolin,  or    Scaly 

Anteater.      Hah.  :  India, 
a. — Skin,  presented  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Phipson,  Bombay. 


Catalogue  of  Birds  as  yet  in  the  Collection  of  the 
Bombay  Natural  History  Societv. 


(N.B.—  Contributions  ia  this  section  are  greatly  needed,,  and  will 

be  thankfully  received.) 
An  asterisk  denotes  Mr.  Anderson's-  collection  from  Simla.     A  dagger, 
Colond  W.  B.  Thomson's,  from  Cashmere. 

ORDER  I.— RAPTOIIES.. 

Sub-family — Falconing. 

*  Cerchneis  tinnunculus  [Lioin.). — The  Kestrel. 
Falco  chicquera  {Baud.}, — The  Merlin. 

Sub-iamily — Accipitrln,e. 
Astur  badnus  {Gm.},.. — The  Shikra  or  Indian  Sparrow  Hawk. 

*  Accipiter  nisus  (Linn.),. — The  Europeau  Sparrow  Hawk. 

Smb-family — Aquiline. 
t  Paudion  halietus  (Linn.). — The  Osprey. 
f  Haliaetus  leucoryphus  (Pall.). — The  Ring-tailed  Sea-Eagle, 

Sub-fannily— Buteonin.e. 
j    Buteo  ferox  (Cm.). — The  Long-legged  Buzzard. 


CATALOGUE   OV    BIRDS,    cVc*  11 

Butastur  tees*  ( A'/vt/fc/j/.).— *-Thc  Wliite-eyed  Bazzarl. 

Sub-family — Milvinjr. 
Haliaatur  lulus    (Bodd.).—  The  Maroon-backed   or  Brahminy 

Kite. 
Family  —  Strigid^e  . 
Sub-family — Syrniin.e. 

*  Syrniura  nivicolum    ( Hodjs. ).— The  Himalayan  Wood-Owl. 

Sub-family — Bubgninte, 
Kefcupa  Ceylonensis  (Om.). — Brown  Fish-Owl, 

Sub-family — Surnjin.e. 

*  Glauoidiam  brodii  (Burt.).-*- The  Collared  Pigmy  Owlet. 

ORDER  IL— INSESSORES. 

Tribe — Fissirostres. 
Family— HirundinIn  M. 
f  Hirundo  rustica  {Linn.). — The  Common  Swallow. 

Sub-family  — Cypsellinj;. 
Collocalia  unicolor  (Jerd.). — Edible  Nest  Swift. 

Family — Meropid/F.. 
f  Merops  apiaster  (Linn.). — The  European  Bee-eater. 
Merops  viridis  (Linn.). — Common  Indian  Bee-eater. 
Merops  Philippines  (Linn.). — The  Blue-tailed  Bee-eater. 
Merops  quinticolor,  (VielL). — The  Chestnut-headed  Bee-eater. 

Family  —  Coraciad.e. 
•j-  Coracias  garrula  (Linn.). — The  European  Boiler. 
Coracias  lndica  (TAnn.).— The  Indian   Roller. 

Family — HaLcyonid^:. 

t  Alcedo  ispida  (Linn.). — The  European  Kingfisher. 
Alcedo  bengalensis  (Gm.). — Common  Indian  Kingfisher. 
Ceryle  rudis  (Linn.). — The  Pied  Kingfisher. 

Family— BocEROTiy.E. 
Dichoccros  cavatus  (Bodd.)> — The  Great  Hornbill. 

Tribe— Scansores. 
Family — Psittacid.e. 
Sub-family— PaUsorNinJs. 
Palseornis  purpureus  (P.  L.  8.  MnlU—fyse -headed  Parraquet, 

*  Paleeoriiis  sehisticeps  (Hodgs.). 


12  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


Family — Picm^i. 
Sub-family — PiciNiE. 
t  *  Picas   hiaialayensis    (Jcrd.    and     Sell.), — The   Himalayan 

Pied  Woodpecker. 
*  Picas  brunneifrous  {Vig.). — The  Brown-fronted  Woodpecker. 

Sub-fa  wily — Campephilin.e. 
Chrysocolaptes    strictus    (Horsf.). — Southern     Large    Golden- 
backed     Woodpecker. 
Sub-family — Gecinin.e. 
*Geciuus   squamatus    (Yig.). — The    Scaly-billed  Green    Wood 

pecker. 
Family — Megal.emidj:. 
Megalsema  viridis  (Bodd.). — Small  Green  Barbet. 
Xaritholsetna   hcemacephala     (P.  L.  S.   Mali). — The    Crimson- 
breasted  Barbet, 
Family — Cuculidje. 
Sub-family — CucuLiDiE. 

tCuculus  canorus  (Linn.). — The  European  Cuckoo. 
Coccystes  jacobinus  (Bodd.). — The  Pied-crested  Cuckoo. 
Budyuamis  honorata  (Linn.). — The  Indian  Koel. 

Sub-family — Ph.enicophain.'E. 
Centrococcyx  rufipeauis  (lu.). — The  Common  Crow  Pheasant. 

Tribe — Tenuirostres. 

Family — Nectarinieme. 
Sub-family — Nectarinin^e. 
^Ethopyga  vigorsi  (Sijkes). — The  Violet-eared  Red  Honeys  ticker. 
Cinnyris  minima  (Sykes). — The  Tiny  Honeysucker. 
Cinnyris  Af-iatica  (Lath.). — The  Purple  Honeysucker. 
Sub-family — Dic.ein^:. 

Dicaeum  erythrorhynchus  (Lath.). — Tick  ell's  Flower -pecker. 

Family — Certhiame. 
Sub-family — CERTHiNiE. 
tCerthia  Himalayana  (Vig.). — The  Himalayan  Tree-creeper. 
*Tichodroma  inuraria  (Linn.). — The  Red-winged  Wall-creeper. 

Tribe — Dentjrostres. 
Family— Laniad.e. 
Sub-family — Lanian.e. 
rLanius  erythronotus  {Vig.). — The  Rufous-backed  Shrike. 


CATALCGDE  OF  BIRDS,  &C.  13 

Sub- family — Malaconotin.e. 

Tephrodornis    Pondicerianus    (Gm.).— The    Common     Wood- 

shrike. 
Sub-family — CAMPErHAGiNJC. 
Grauculus  maeii  (Less.). — The  Large  Cuckoo-shrike. 
Pericrocotus  flammeus  (c'orst.). — The  Orange  Minivet. 
Pericrocotus  peregrinus  (Linn.).  —  The  Small  Minivet. 
"Pericrocotus  brevirostris  (Vig.). — The  Short-billed  Minivet. 

Sub-family — DlGEURlNJS. 
Buohanga   atra     (TIerm.). — The    Common      Drongo-shrike    or 

King-crow. 
Buchanga  caerulescens  (Linn.). — The  White-bellied  Drongo. 

Family — MuscicAriD.E. 

Sub-family — Myjagrim?. 
fMuscipeta  paradisi  (JAnn.). — The  Paradise  Fly-catcher. 

Sub-family — Musctcapin.e. 
Cyornis  tickelli  (Bhjth).—  Tickell's  Blue  Redbreast. 
fAIuscicapula  Superciliaris   (Jerd.). — The  White-browed  Blue 

Fly-catcher. 

Family  —  Meruljd<e. 

Sub-family — My  istherinle. 
Myiophoneus  Ilorsrieldi    (  Vig.). — The  Malabar  Whistling  Thrush, 
tMyiophoneus    Tcmmiuckii    (Vig.). — The    Yellow-billed    Whist- 
ling Thrusa. 

Sub-fr.inily — MeruliNyE. 
*Petrophila  erythrogastra  {Vig.). — The  Chestnut-billed  Thrush. 
Petrophila  cinclorhyncha  (Viu.) — The  Blue-headed  Chat  Thrush. 
•fCyanocinclus  cyauus  (Linn.). — The  Blue  Rock  Thrush. 
Geocichla  cyanotis  (Jerd.  fy  Selb.).  -  The    White-winged    Ground 

Thrush. 
t  Geocichla  unicolor  (Tickell). — The  Dusky  Ground  Thrush. 
Mernla  uigropilea  (L%fr)  — The  Black-capped  Blackbird. 
*Turdus  ruhcollis  (Pall.).— The  Red-tailed  Thrush. 
*Oreocincla    mollissima    (Biy ). — The    Plain-backed     Mountain 

Thrush. 

Sub-family — Timalike. 

Pematorhinus     Horsfieldi     (Sykt. s).— -  The     Southern     Scimitar 

Babbler. 


14  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


*Trochalopterum    variegatum  (Vig.). — The    Variegated    Laugh- 
ing Thrush. 

*  TroohaJopterum    lineatum     (Vig.). — The    Streaked    Laughing 

Thrush. 
Malacocercus  Somervillii  (Sykes).-—  The  Rufous-tailed   Babbler. 

*  Malacias  capistratus  {Vig.), — The  Black-headed  Sibia. 
Chatarrhcjea  caudata  (l)um.). — The  Striated  Bush  Babbler. 

Family—  Brachyfodid.e. 

Sub-family  ~  Pycnonoin.e. 

Ofcocompsa   fuscicaudata   (JerJ.). — The  Southern  Red-whiskered 

Bulbul. 

*  t  Otoconipsa  loucogenys  {Gray). — The  White-checked   Crested 

Bulbul. 

Molpastes  haeraorrhous  (Gm.). — The  Common  Madras  Bulbul. 

*  |  Hypsi  petes  psaroides    (Vig.). — The   Himalayan    Black  Bulbul. 

Sub-family — Phyllornithin.*:. 
Phyllornis  Jerdoni  {Blyth)-.- — The  Common  Green  Bulbul. 
Phyllornis  M/dabaricus  (Gm.). — The  Malabar  Green  Bulbul. 
Iora  tiphia  (Linn.). — The  Black-headed  Green  Bulbul. 

Sub-family — Oriolin^. 
Orioius  Galbula  (Linn.). — The  Golden  Oriole. 
Orioius  mtilanocephalus  (Linn.).—  The  Bengal  Black-headed  Oriole. 

t  Orioius  Kuudoo  (SyJies). — The  Indian  Oriole. 

Family — Sylviad.e. 
Sub-family — Saxicolin;e. 

Thamnobia  cambaiensis  (Lath.). — -The   Brown -backed  or  Southern 

India  Robin. 
Pratincola  caprata  (Linn.).  —  The  White-winged    Bush  Chat. 

*  Pratincola  macrorynchus  (Stol.). — The  long-billed   Bush  Chat. 

Sub-family — Ruticilin/K. 
Chasmorrornislencocephalus  (  Vig.). — The  White-capped  Redstart. 

Sub-family — Drymoicin.e. 

Drymreca  inornata  (Syhes), — The  Earth-brown  Wren  Warbler. 
Drymoeca  iusignis  ( Hume). — The  Great  Wren  Warbler. 
FrankliuiaBuchanani  (Blyth). — The  Rufous-fronted  Wren  Warbler. 

Sub-family--  Phylloscopinje. 
t  Reguloides  occipitalis  (Jord.). — The  Large  Crowned  Warbler. 


CATALOGUE  OF  BIRDS,.  &C.  *  ° 


*  Regnloides  proregulus  (Pall.).— The  Crowned  Tree  WWbier. 

*  Abrornis  albo-superciliaris  (Ely.).— The  White-browed  Warbler. 

S  u  b-fain  i  ly  —  S  y  l  vin  k  . 
|  Sylvia  affinis  (Bly.).  — The  Allied  Grey  Warbler. 

Sub-family — MoTAClLLINiE. 
f  Budytes  calcaratus  (Pall.). — The  Yellow -beaded  Wagtail, 
t  Agrodroraa  sordid  i  (liiipp).— -Tbe  Brown  Hock  Pipit. 
Sub-family  —  Leiotrichinje. 

*  Siva  strigula  (Hod (is,). — The  Stripe-throated  Hill  Tit. 

*  Minla  castauiceps  (llodgs.).  — The  Chesnut-headed  Hill  Tit. 

Sub -family — Paring. 

*  Lophophanc*  metanolophos  (Vig.)-— The  Crested  Black  Tit. 

*  Parus  mouticolus  (Vig.). — Tbe  Green-backed  Tit. 
t  Parus  nipaleusis  (Ilodgs  ).  —  The  Iudian  Grey  Tit. 

Tri  be — Conirostres. 
Family — Co  kvi  dm  . 
Sub-family — Corvine:. 

*  Corvus  macrorhyneus  (Wagler). — The  Indian  Corby,  or  Carrion 

Crow. 
Corvus  splenilens -(Vie ill.)  — The  Common  T»dian  Crow. 

*  Nucifraga  hemispila  (Vig.). — The  Himalayan  Nut-cracker. 

f  Nucifraga  tnultipunctata  (Gould J. — The  Spotted  Nut-cracker. 

Sub- family — Garrulin^e. 
f  Pica  bottanensis   (Deless). — The  Himalayan    Magpie. 

*  Garrulus  bispecularis  (Vig.). — The  Himalayan  Jay. 

t  Urocissa  flaviroscris  (Bly.). — The  Yellow-billed  P>lue  Magpie. 

Sub-family—  Dendkcoittin.e. 
Deudrocitta  rufa  (Lath.). — Tbe    Common  Indian  Magpie, 
f  Dendrocitta  Himalayensis  (Bly.). — The  Himalayan  Magpie. 
Graculus  eremita  (Linn.). — The  Himalayan  Chough. 

Family — Sturnid.e. 

Sub-family — Sturnin.e. 
^  Sturnus  nitens  (  Hume). — The  Glossy  Black  Starling. 
Acridotheres  tristis  (Linn.). — The  Common   Myna. 
Acridotheres  fuscus  (Wagler). — The  Dusky  Myna. 
Sturnia  pagodarum    (Gmel.). — The  Black-headed  Myna. 

Sub-family — Fringillin.e. 
t  Garpodacus  erytbrinus  (Pall.). — The  Common  Rose  Finch. 
*Pycrioramphus ictevioides (Vig.).~Tli&  Black  aud  Yellow  Grosbeak. 


16  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


Sub-family — Estreldin^:. 
Amadina  rubronigra  (Hodys.). — The  Chestnut-bellied  Maaia. 

Sub-family— Alaudina;. 
Pyrrhulauda  grisaa  (Scop). — The  Blsck-bollied  Finch  L.uk. 
Alauda  gulgula  (Frankl.). — The  Indian  Sky  Lark. 

Sub-family — Passerine. 
f  Passer  domesticus  (Linn.). — The  Common  Sparrow. 

*  Passer  oinnamomeus  (Gould). — The  Cinnamon-headed  Sparrow. 

Sub-family — Emberizin.e. 
t*Emberiza  sfcracheyi  (Moore). — The  White-necked  Bunting, 
f  Bm'oeriza  Sfcewarti  (Bhj.). — The  White-capped  Hunting. 
•j-Euibmiza  fucata  (Pall.), — The  Grey-headed  Bunting. 

ORDER  III.— GEM1TORES. 

Family — Treronielu. 
Sub-family — TreronInje. 
Osmotreron  Malabarica  (ferd). — The  Grey-fronted  Green  Pigeon, 

Sub-family— Turturinje. 
Turtur  Suratensis  (Gm.), — The  Spotted  Dove. 

ORDER  IV.— RASORES. 
Family — Pteroclid.e. 
Pterocles  exustus  (Tern.). — The  Common  Sandgronse* 

Family — Phasianid.e. 
*Pucrasia  macrolopha  {Less  ). — The  Pakras  Pheasant, 
t  Pucrasia  castanea  (Gould). — 

*  Euplocomus     albocristatus     (Fi#.)» — The     White-crested     Kali] 

Pheasant. 
S  ub-faniily — Ga  lli  n.e. 
Galloperdix  spadiccus  (Gm.). — The  Red  Spur  Fowl. 

Fam  i  1  v — Tetr  aoni  d.t,. 

V 

Sub-family — Perdicin.f. 
Francolinus  pictus  (lord,  and  S-db.). — The  Painted  Partridge. 

*  Caccabis  C linker  (Gray). — The  Chukor  Partridge. 

*  Arboricola  torqueola  (Val.) — The  Black-throated'  Hill  Partridge. 

Sub-family — Coturnisinje. 

Coturnix  Coromandelica  (Gm.).— The  Black-breasted,  or  Rain  Quail'. 

ORDER  V.  -GRALLATORE3. 

Tribe — Pressirostres. 

Family— Otidid.i;, 

Sypheotides  aurita  (Lath.). — The  Lesser  Floricau. 


0A.TAT,0arE  OF  BIRDS,  &C.  17 

Family — Charabrij  » . 
Sub-family—  Vanelj..in.e. 
Lebivanellus  Iadieas  (Bedd.y. — The  Red  Wattled  Lapwing". 

Tribe — Longirostbes, 
Family — Scolopac3[D,e. 
Sub-family —  Tringin/E. 
Txinga  Temmiueku  (Lied.). — The  White-tailed  Stint. 

Sub-family  — Totakin.v. 
•Rkyacophila  glareola  (Linn.). — The  Spotted  Sandpiper, 

Family —  Parrims. 
Sub-family —  Parrin,e. 
f  Hydrophasianus  enirurgus  {Scop.). — The  Pheasant-tailed  Jacaue. 

Tribe —  (Jut/jmrostres. 
Family — ArdeidjE. 
Bubulcus  Cararaaudas  [Bodd.).— The  Cattle  Egret. 
Ardeola  grnyi  (Sykerf. — The  Pond  Heron, 
Demi-egretta  gularis  {Bosc  ).— The  Ashy  Egret, 

ORDER— NAT  ATO  RES. 

Tribe—  Lamellitostres. 

Family — AnseriDjE. 

Sub-family —Plectrgpterin,e. 

Sarcidiarnis  nielancmotus  {Perm.), — Tho  Niikta  or  Black-backed  Goose, 

Tribe — Mergitores. 
Family — Poihcipid.e. 
fPodiceps  minor  (dm.). — The  Little  Grebe,  or  Dabchick. 

Tribe — Vag  ato  res. 
Family — Lm;id.e. 
Sub-family — Sternin/E. 
Sterna  Seena  (Syhes)  — The  Large  River  Tern, 
t  Sterna  melanogastra  (Temrn.). — The  Black-bellied  Tern. 


The  following  E°'2's  were  received  chief! v  from  Mr.  Davidson:  — 

Gyps  pallescens. 

Neophron  giugh.iauns. 
Falco  jugger. 


AsLur  badius. 
Aquila  vindhiana. 
Nicaetus  fasciatug. 
Limnaetus  cirrhatus. 
Butastur  teesa. 
Ualiaatur  indus. 
Milvus  govinda. 

3 


Syrnium  ocellatum. 
Hubo  bengalensis. 
Cariue  brama. 
Hirundo  filifera. 
Hirundo  erythropygia. 
Hiruudo  fluvicola. 
Collocalia  unicolor. 
Dendrocbclidon  coronata, 
Pfcyonop rogue  concolar, 
Cypsellus  amniy. 


ti 


LIST  OF  BIRDS    EGGS. 


Caprimulgus  asiaticus. 
Caprimulgus  tnouticolus, 
Merops  viridis. 
Merops  pbilippinus. 
Coracias  indica. 
Halcyon  smymensis. 
Alcodo  bengalensis. 
Ocyceros  birostris. 
Picus  mabrattemis. 
1'  ungipicus  nauus. 
Bracbyptermis  aurantius. 
Megalaima  iuornata. 
Coccyestes  jacobinus. 
Euclyoamis  bouorata. 
Oentropbus  rufipennis. 
Oinnyris  asiatica. 
Lanius  lahtora. 
Lanius  erytbronotus. 
Lanius  vittatus. 
Tepbrodornis  pondicerianus. 
"Volvocivora  aykesi. 
PericroC'tus  peregrinus. 
Pericrocotu?  erytliropygius. 
Bucbauga  atra. 
Leucocerca  leucogaster. 
Myiophoneus  horsfieldi. 
Pcytoris  sinensis. 
Malacocerns  terricolor. 
Argya  malcoluii. 
Cbafcarr'bsea  caudata. 
Ixns  luteolus. 
Otocompsa  fuscicaudata. 
IVIolpastes  baemorrbaus. 
Iora  tipbia. 
Oriolus  kundoo. 
Tbamnobia  fulicata. 
Tbamuobia  cambaiensis. 
Ortbotomns  sutorius. 
Prinia  stewarti. 
Prinia  bodgsoni. 

Noie  by  the  Editors. —  We  have  so  for  catalogued  our  Mammals  nnd  Birds  subject  to 
additions  in  the  future,  which  will  be  noted  from  time  to  time.     As  yet  we  have  not 
been  able  to  complete  our  lists  of  Fishes,  Reptiles,  &c,  which  have  been  reserved  for 
our  next  issue,  but  we  may  briefly  state  that  our  collections  up  to  date  consist   of — 
257     Specimens,  comprising  about  200  species  of  Fish  in  spirits. 
12     Fishes  stuffed  and  mounted  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Phipson. 
83     Specimens  of  Snakes  in  spirit. 
47     Other  Reptiles  iu  spiritt 
43     Crabs  in  spirit. 
53     Crabs  dried  and  set. 
71     Other  Marine  Animals  in  spit  it. 
In    addition  to  the  above  we  have  a  collection  of  Butterflies   from  the  Bombay 
Presidency,  the  Malabar  Coast,  the  Himalayas,  the  Punjab   and  from  Aden;  also  some 
Moths,  Beetles  and  other  insects  at  present  undergoing  classification, 


Drvmoeca  inornata. 
Dryinceca  rufescens. 
Praulinia  bucbanaui. 
Motacilla  Maderaspatna. 
Corvus  macrorbyncbus. 
Zostcrops  palpebrosa. 
Corvus  splendens. 
Dendroeitfca  rufa. 
Acridotheres  tristis. 
Acridotberes  ginginianus. 
Sturuia  pagodaruin. 
Ploceus  philippinus. 
Araadina  punctulata. 
Amadina  malabarica. 
Estrelda  amandava. 
Gymnoris  flavicollis. 
Mirafra  erytbroptera. 
Pyrrbulauda  grisea. 
Spizalauda  deya. 
Pt erodes  exustus. 
Galloperdix  spadiceus. 
Francolinus  p ictus. 
Ortygornis  ponticerianus. 
Perdicula  asiatica. 
Coturnix  coromandelica. 
Turnix  tiagoor. 
Lobivannellus  indicus. 
Lobipltivia  malabarica. 
CEdicnemus  scolopax. 
Parra  indica. 
Erytbva  pbaeuicura, 
Hypotsenidia  stnats. 
Herodias 
Ardeola  grayi. 
Ardca  cinnamomea. 
Tantalus  leucocepbalus. 
Sarcidiornis  melanonotus. 
Podiceps  minor. 
Pelecanus  pbilippensis. 


garzetta. 


NATURAL  HISTORY.  19 


THE  SOCIETY'S   LIBRARY 
Contains  as  yet  but  the  following  books  : — 

MAMMALS. 

Mammals  of  India — (Jerdon). 

Mammalia  of  India  and  Ceylon — (Sterndale). 

Histeire  Naturelle  de  Maui.niferes — (Grervais). 

S'IRDS. 

Birds  of  India — (Jerdon).     3  Vols.,  2  copies. 
Stray  Feathers — (Hume,  ed.).     7  Vols. 
Birds'  Nesting  in  India — (Marshall). 
Birds  of  British  Burmali — (Gates), 
Fauna  Japonica,  Aves — (Siebold). 
Birds  of  South  Africa — (Layard  &  Sharpe), 
Monograph  of  the  Sunbirds — (Shelley). 
Monograph  of  the  Birds  of  Paradise — (Elliott). 
Monograph  of  the  Jacamars — (Sclater). 

REPTILES  AND  FISHES. 

Eeptiles  of  India — (<}unther). 

Indian  Snakes — (Nicholson). 

Malabar  Fishes  — (Day).     2  Copies. 

Fresh  Water  Fishes  of  India — (Beaven). 

Fishes  of  Madeira — (Lowe). 

Fauna  Japonica,  Rjptilia  et  Pisces  — (Siebold). 

Fishes  of  the  Coromandel  Coast-^( Russell )e 

INSECTS. 

Classification  of  Insects- — (Westwood). 

Text  Book  of  Entomology — (Kirby). 

Butterflies  of  Great  Britain — (Westwood). 

The  Aurelian — (Harris). 

Encyclopedic  d'Histoire  Naturelle.,  Papillons— (Cheriu). 

OTHER  INVERTEBRATA. 

Cffnckology — (Lammarck). 

Fauna  Japonica.,  Crustacea  — (Siebold). 

BOTANY. 

Flora  of  British  India — (Hooker). 

Ferns  of  British  India  — (Beddome). 

Vegetable  Products  of  the  Bombay  Presidency™(BiruW<aod)« 

Bombay  Flora— -(Dalzell  and  Gibson). 


20  NOTE  ON  AN  UNL»E£CRIBED  HAH.UOrsJDA. 

Plants  and  Drugs  of  Sine! — (Murray). 

Timber  Trees  of  India — (Balfour), 

Flore  Forestiere  de  Cochin  Chine — (Pierre).     5  parts.- 

Icones  Plantar  urn— (Wight).     Vols.  II,  to  VI. 

GENERAL. 

Zoological  Atlas — (Brehra). 

Museum  of  Natural  History. 

Vertebra ta  of  Sind — (Murray). 

Cassels'  Natural  History. 

Naturalist's  Wanderings  in  the  China  Seas — (CoIIingwoodJ. 

The  Calcutta  Journal  of  Natural  History.     7  Vols. 

Beeton's  Dictionary  of  Natural  History. 

Naturalist's  Wanderings  in  the  Eastern  Archipelago — (Forbes). 

Anatomy  of  Vertebrated  Animals — (Huxley). 

The  Asian — Vols.  I.  to  VI. 

Odontography—  (Owen). 

.Lectures  on  Comparative  Anatomy — (Owen) 


NOTE  ON  AN  UNDBSCRIBED  HAMALOFSIDA. 

By  the  Rev.  F.  Dheckmann,  s.j. 
Figured  on  stone  bxj  Mr.  R.  A.  Stemdale. 

This  specimen  was  forwarded  to  the  Society  from  Saug'or,  Central 
Provinces,  by  Mr.  H.  Craufuird  Thomson. 

Head  short,  thick,  broad,  distinct  from  neck;  cleft  of  mouth  turned 
upwards  behind;  eyes  s-mai'l  with  round  pupil;  nostrils  on  the  upper 
surface  of  the  head  in  a  single  large  nasal  shield,  the  outer  part  of  which 
is  divided  by  a  groove  running  outwards  from  the  nostrils;  the  two 
nasals  contiguous;  two  small  anterior  f  rentals;  two  loreals,  one  above 
the  other,  the  lower  one  larger  than  anterior  frontals,,  the  upper  one 
small,  vertical,  longer  than  broad,  five-sided — one  praeocular,  two 
postoculars;  8  upper  labials  rather  high, the  4th  entering  the  orbit; 
temporals,  1  +  2-f-D-O;  anterior  chin  shields  in  contact  with  four 
lower  labials;  posterior  ehin  shields  small,  scale-like;  sis  transverse 
series  of  scales  between  chin  shields  and  first  ventral.  Scales  smooth 
33;  ventrals  narrow,  158;  anals  and  sub-caudals  bifid.  Sub-caudals, 
54;  ground  colour  yellowish  white,  with  32  large  irregular  rounded 
black  spots, leaving  a  narrow  stripe  of  ground  colour  between  them; 


natural  History.  21 

a  sories  of  rather  irregular  black  spots  along  lower  part  of  the  side 
alternating  with  vertebral  spots,  so  that  the  ground  colour  appears  as 
decussating  stripes.  Belly  densely  checkered  with  black.  Two 
yellowish  lines  on  the  upper  part  of  the  head  diverging  from  the 
muzzle  over  the  eyes  to  the  sides  of  the  head ;  from  each  side  of  the 
vertical  a  line  diverging  towards  the  occiput.  Length  10  inches, 
of  which  the  tail  is  li  iuches. 


NOTE  ON  A  PROBABLE  NEW  SPECIES  OF  IBEX. 
(Capra  Dauvergnii,  nob.)  or  variety  of  Capra  sibirica. 

BY  R.  A.  StEKNDALE,  F.Z.S. 

I  have  always  been  averse  to  multiplication  of  species,  and  the 
tendency  of  modern  research  has  been  to  diminish  the  number  of 
existing  sub-divisions;  it  is  therefore  with  some  hesitation  I  bring 
forward  the  claims  of  the  subject  of  my  note  to  separation  from  the 
two  known  species  of  Oriental  Ibex — Capra  sibirica  and  Capra  JEga- 
grus  ;  Capra  sheen  and  Capra  himalayica  of  authors  being  identical 
with  C.  sibirica.  The  question  of  hybridization  between  the  various 
marked  species  of  Caprse  and  Oves  has  not  as  yet  received  the 
attention  that  it  should,  and  I  think  on  examination  it  will  be  found 
that  certain  named  species  will  prove  to  be  hybrids,  notably  Ovis 
Brooheij  but  on  this  point  I  shall  have  more  to  say  on  a  future 
occasion.  The  horns  of  which  I  have  given  an  illustration 
herewith  were  purchased  for  me  some  months  ago  in  Kashmir 
by  my  friend  Mons.  H.  Dauvergne,  simply  on  account  of  their 
size,  being  52  inches  in  length.  On  receiving  them  I  was  struck 
by  their  remarkable  divergence  from  the  types  of  C.  sibirica  and 
JEgagrus,  and  from  any  Ibex  horn  I  had  ever  seen.  At  first  I  took 
it  to  be  a  hybrid  between  the  two  above-mentioned  species,  but  I 
subsequently  abandoned  this  idea,  for  it  bears  no  resemblance  at 
all  to  the  latter  beyond  the  departure  from  the  usual  curve  of  th 
well-known  Himalayan  Ibex.  Eccentric  forms  are  not  uncommon 
in  the  Persian  animal,  and  Mr.  Danford  figures  a  pair,  in  his  article 
in  the  P.  Z.S.  for  1875,  page  458,  the  tips  of  which  turning  inwards 
cross  each  other.  In  my  specimen  the  horns  sweep  backwards  and 
outward  having  widely  divergent  tips,  and  in  a  case  of  hybridization 
I  should  look  for  some  modification  of  the  section  of  the  horn    the 


NOTE  ON  IBEX. 


two  species  being  so  vastly  different  in  this  respect.  Oapra  sibirica. 
has  a  square  horn,  the  front  broader  than  the  back,  and  strongly 
marked  with  transverse  ridges  at  intervals  of  less  than  an  inch. 
0.  tegagrus  has  an  oval  or  compressed  elliptic  section,  flatter  on 
the  inner  side  and  with  a  sharp  keel  or  longitudinal  ridge  in  front, 
which  ridge  has  irregular  knobs  at  considerable  distances.  In  the 
horns  under  notice  the  section  resembles  that  of  sibirica,  flat  in  front 
and  at  the  sides,  slightly  rounded  beneath.  In  texture  and  colour 
resembling  the  Markhor  horn,  being  much  darker  than  the  ordinary 
Ibex.  Instead  of  the  decided  ridges  of  C.  sibirica  there  are 
rugosities  or  folds  at  the  following  distances  :  — 

Right  horn..  ..2ft",    2ft",    3ft",      4",    5^  5f6*. 
Left  horn 2ft,    3ft,     2ft,   4ft,     5,4,    5ft, 

the  rest  of  the  horn  is  more  decidedly  and  closely  knobbed,  with 
fine  rings  at  the  tips. 

At  the  base  the  section  measures  about  3h"  from  front  to  back  , 
and  about  2§"  across. 

As  regards  the  skull,  which  in  my  specimen  is  damaged  in  the 
occipital  region,  it  is  somewhat  slighter  than  that  of  a  head  of 
C.  sibirica  with  40-inch  horns,  but  until  we  get  more  specimens  to 
work  upon,  it  is  useless  to  dwell  on  skull  characteristics  in  this  paper. 
Colonel  Kinloch,  in  a  letter  to  the  Asian,  seems  to  think  that  this 
is  an  abnormality  of  sport,  from  an  abnormal  specimen  killed  by 
him,  but  from  what  I  gather  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  my 
skull  is  of  a  distinct  species  or  variety  from  the  hills  north  of  the 
Kishengunga  river.  Mons.  Dauvergne  wrote  to  me  in  August 
last  that  he  came  across  a  similar  head  two  years  ago,  freshly 
killed,  horns  measuring  42  inches,  widely  divergent  like  mine, 
with  the  same  characteristics  of  smoothness  and  section.  I  hope 
to  see  this  head  some  day  as  it  has  been  traced.  In  a  recent  letter, 
dated  13th  December,  he  says:  "Another  horn  of  the  same  tribe  has 
been  purchased  by  Sir  Oliver  St.  John  ;  that  is  the  third  I  know  of 
and  those  skin  men  tell  me  they  have  seen  them  often,  but  that  they 
are  not  numerous."  Their  habitat  is  as  yet  uncertain,  but  with  such 
an  enthusiastic  and  experienced  sportsman  as  Mons.  Dauvergne  on 
the  scent,  I  do  not  despair  of  deciding  this  question.  He  thinks 
they  may  come  from  the  range  of  hills  north  of  the  Kishengunga 
river  or  the  Khagan  country  west  of  Kashmir.  From  enquiries  I 
have  made  there  are  no  similar  horns  in  the  British.  Museum  or  in  the- 


NATURAL  HISTORY,  23 


India  Museum  at  Calcutta.  I  have  also  received  letters  from  Sir 
Victor  Brooke  aud  Mr.  W.  T.  Bianford,  both  high  authorities  on 
Indian  ruminants,  to  the  effect  that  such  a  formation  is  new  to 
them.  Mr.  Blauford  suggests  that  it  might  be  a  hybrid  between 
C.  sihirica  and  megaceros,  variety  Falconer i;  but  though  I  have  gone 
into  the  records  of  hybridization  in  the  gardens  of  the  Zoological 
Society,  and  therefore  believe  such  a  combination  possible,  the  absence 
of  any  flattening  of  the  horn  and  also  its  curvature  is  against  the 
theory.  The  discovery  of  more  than  the  three  heads  above  mention- 
ed, and  the  fixing  of  a  particular  locality,  will  go  far  towards  proving 
the  existence  of  a  distinct  species.  In  the  meantime,  in  placing  this 
head  on  record,  I  wish  to  associate  with  it  the  name  of  Mons. 
Dauvergne,  to  whom  both  the  Society  and  m}rself  are  under  consi- 
derable obligations  as  regards  assistance  in  obtaining  specimens  of 
Kashmir  fauna,  and  who  first  brought  it  to  my  notice,  and  therefore, 
as  a  tentative  measure,  I  propose  to  call  it  that  of  "  Capra 
Duuvergnii," — R.  A.  S, 


NOTE  ON  MYGALE  FASCIATA. 

By  Capt.  T.  R.  M.  Macfherson. 

2nd  February. — The  following  extract  was  read  from  a  letter,  which 
the  Secretary  had  received  from  Captain  T.  R.  M.  Macpherson, 
forwarding  ten  specimens  of  a  very  large  species  of  Mygale  found  by 
him  in  the  Kamora  district :  — 

"The  spiders,  though  fairly  common  in  the  evergreen  forests  of  this 
district,  are  little  known,  and  few  men  have  ever  seen  them.  The 
first  I  ever  saw  I  found  in  one  of  my  boots  last  year,  and  shortly 
afterwards  I  discovered  their  habits.  They  are,  1  think,  entirely 
nocturnal,  keeping  always  to  their  burrows  in  the  day-time.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  ascertain  what  they  live  on,  but  it  is  probably  lizards 
and  small  birds.  The  natives  call  them  Wagli  Duri  and  say  that 
they  are  very  venomous,  but  I  have  never  heard  of  anybody  being 
bitten  by  them.  However,  their  long,  sharp  and  hollow  '  falces,' 
strongly  resembling  the  poison  fangs  of  a  snake,  lead  me  to  believe 
that  they  are  poisonous,  and  I  would  recommend  caution  in  handling 
them.     I  experimented  the   other    day  on   a  chicken.     The    spider 


24  NOTE  ON  MYGALB  FASCIATA. 

attacked  it  viciously,  drawing  blood  in  several  places,  but  beyond 
frightening  the  chicken  there  was  no  result.  However,  this  spider 
may  have  exhausted  its  poison,  for  it  had  been  much  irritated  and 
had  been  striking  repeatedly  at  sticks  and  other  things  before  it 
attacked  the  chicken. 

"  These  spiders  live  in  burrows, which  they  excavate  in  steep  banks 
of  earth.  The  burrows  vary  fi'om  one  inch  to  2^  inches  in  diameter, 
in  accordance  with  the  size  of  the  occupant,  and  are  of  the  form 
shown  below."  (The  diagram  showed  a  short,  straight  passage, 
turning  sharply  to  one  side  at  the  end,  which  was  a  little  widened  to 
form  a  chamber.)  "Sometimes  the  chamber  is  to  the  right,  instead 
of  to  the  left,  as  shown  in  the  diagram.  The  burrow  and  chamber  are 
lined  throughout  with  a  closely  woven,  soft  web,  much  resembling 
very  fine  white  tissue  paper.  The  total  length  of  the  burrows 
averages,  I  should  say,  about  15  inches,  the  straight  part  being  about 
afoot,  and  excavated  perpendicularly  to  the  face  of  the  bank,  which 
is  usually  precipitous.'" 

Editor's  Note.— -This  species,  which  appears  to  be  Mi/gale  fasciata  (Seba),  is  not 
uncommon  in  Southern  India  and  Ceylon,  but  has  not  attracted  much  attention 
from  its  nocturnal  habits.  There  has  been  a  controversy  of  long  standing  regard- 
ing the  bird-eating  propensities  of  this  genus.  The  first  to  give  currency  to  the 
assertion  wis  Madame  Merian,  who,  in  a  work  on  Surinam  Insects,  published  in  1705, 
figured  Mygale  oviculnria  in  the  act  of  devouring  a  bird.  In  1334  Mr.  Maolcay 
(P.  Z.  S.  for  that  year,  page  12,)  threw  doubt  on  her  accuracy,  and  disbelieved  in 
any  bird-catcbiug  spider,  which  opinion,  however,  he  subsequently  modified  (Ann. 
and  Mag.  Nat.  Hixt.,  1812,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  324),  having  seen  in  Australia  a  large  Epeira 
diadema  suekiug  the  juice  of  a  small  bird,  Zostarops  dorsalis,  which  it  had  caught 
in  its  net,  but  he  was  still  inclined  to  think  it  exc  ptional  and  accidental.  How- 
ever, other  writers  have  sinee  supported  Madame  Merian.  (See  same  vol.  Awn.  and 
Mag.  Nat.  Kist{,  p.  436.)  Mons.  Jonncs  says  that  its  mode  of  attack  is  to  throw  itself 
on  to  its  victim,  clinging  by  the  double  hooks  of  the  tarsi,  and  striving  to  reach 
the  back  of  the  head  to  insert  its  jaws  between  the  skull  and  the  vertebrfe.  Sir 
Emerson  Tenhent  was  told  by  a  lady  who  lived  near  Colombo  that  she  had  seen  a 
Mygale.  devour  a  house  lizard.  Mr.  Edgar  Layard  (/bin.  a?id  Mag,  Nat.  Hist.,  May, 
1853,)  described  a  fight  between  a  Mygale  and  a  cockroach,  not  much  of  a  fight, 
for  the  poor  cockroach  was  speedily  overcome  and  devoured.  Mr.  Bates,  the  author 
of  the  "Naturalist  on  the  Amazons,"  has  stated  that  he  has  seen  birds  entangled 
in  webs  spun  by  a  speoies  of  Mygale  and  the  spider  actually  on  the  bird,  and  his 
opinion  was  that  if  the  My  gales  did  not  prey  upon  vertebrated  animals  he  could 
not  see  how  they  could  find  sufficient  subsistence.  (T/ie  Zoologist,  Vol.  XIII., 
p.  4S0.)  So  far  evidence  is  in  favour  of  the  bird-eating  propensities  of  this  genus, 
but  it  would  be  interesting  to  prove  the  habits  of  our  Indian  species,  and  therefore 
living  specimens  taken,  if  possible  with  nest  complete,  would  be  most  acceptable  in 
order  that  they  may  be  placed  under  bteefltfiation. — R.  A.  S. 


NATURAL  HISTORY.  25 


ON  THE  MIMICRY  SHOWN  BY  PHYLLORNIS 

JERDONI. 

By  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken. 

At  the   Meeting  of  the  1st  Section  held  on  July  30,  18S5,  Mr.  E. 
H.  Aitken  put  in  the  following  note  : — 

"  On  two  occasions  lately  my  attention  has  been  attracted  to  the 
extraordinary  powers  of  mimicry  possessed  by  the  green  Bulbul, 
Phyllornis  Jerdoni  or  Malabaricus,  I  am  uncertain  which,  as  both  are 
found  on  the  Western  Ghats,  and  I  did  not  in  either  case  see  the  bird 
clearly  enough  to  distinguish  it.  In  May  I  was  walking  up  from 
Narel  to  Matheran  when  I  heard  the  notes  of  several  familiar  birds 
in  one  bush.  I  threw  stones  into  the  bush  and  a  pair  of  green  Bul- 
buls  flew  out.  There  was  nothing  else  in  the  bush.  On  the 
second  occasion,  last  July,  I  was  at  Tanna  seeking  for  nests, 
when  I  thought  I  heard  Malacocercus  Somervlllei  in  a  jambool 
tree.  I  went  up  to  the  tree  and  could  see  no  bird,  but  the 
Malacocercus  continued  very  noisy.  Then  I  heard  a  King  Crow, 
Buchanga  Atra,  calling  out  vigorously.  I  pelted  the  tree  with  stoues, 
and  after  a  little  a  green  Bulbul  appeared  at  the  very  top  of  the  tree 
and  began  to  abuse  me  in  several  languages.  Jerdon  quotes  Tickell 
to  the  effect  that  P.  Jerdoni  is  an  excellent  mocking  bird,  but  as  he 
does  not  support  the  statement  by  his  own  experience,  and  as  no 
other  writer  I  know  of  mentions  the  fact,  I  think  it  is  worthy  of 
notice." 


JOURNAL 

OF   THE 

BOMBAY 


Natural  Ststflnj  §buht%. 


No. 2.  BOMBAY,  APRIL  1886.  Vol 


NOTES  ON  "THE  BIRDS  OF  BOMBAY,"    by  Lieut. 

H.  E.  BARNES.* 

(By  H.  Littledale,  Baroda.) 

It  would  be  presumptuous  for  a  mere  tyro  in  ornithology  like 
myself  to  attempt  a  detailed  or  formal  criticism  of  Mr.  Barnes's 
book.  It  seems  to  me,  speaking  generally,  to  be  very  fairly  done, 
and  to  furnish,  what  many  sportsmen  and  naturalists  will  be  glad 
to  have,  a  cheap  and  comprehensive  descriptive  catalogue  of  the  birds 
of  the  Presidency.  Until  its  publication,  naturalists  have  had  to  get 
"  Jerdon's  Birds,"  "  Stray  Feathers,"  Hume  and  Marshall's  "  Game- 
birds,"  Sharpe's  "  Catalogue  of  Birds,"  Hume's  "  Nests  and  Eggs," 
and  other  books,  costing  in  all  about  Rs.  400,and  requiring  a  book-case 
to  hold  them,  besides  entailing  much  labour  to  search  out  particular 
birds.  Now  we  have  this  handy  and  well-printed  volume,  that  will  give 
most  that  we  want  for  ordinary  purposes,  will  go  into  a  game  bag,  and 
costs  only  Rs.  8. 

Besides  presenting  the  descriptions  and  measurements  of  birds   as 
found  in  Jerdon  and  other  writers,  this  Handbook  contains  the  results 
of  Mr.  Barnes's  twenty  years'  work  at  the  birds  of  this    Presidency, 
and   I  have  read  these  scattered  observations  with  so  much  interest 
that,  like  Oliver  Twist,  1  cannot   help  asking  for   more.     And    that 
"  more"  Mr,  Barnes  might  certainly  have  given  me  if  he  had   called 
on  his  fellow-ornithologists  of  this  Society  to    let  him  have  the  use 
of  their  field  note-books  for  his  work  ;  in  records  of,  and  deductions 
from,  field  ornithology,  the  more  workers   the   better  work.     Hence, 
if,  in  the  following  hastily  jotted  remarks,  I  appear  to  grumble  some- 
what,   it   is  in   no   fault-finding    or    ungrateful  spirit  ;  my  object  is 
addition,  not  subtraction,  and  I  heartily  thank  Mr.  Barnes  for    what 
he  has  done,  and  advise  every  good  sportsman  to  buy  and  study  his 
book. 


*  Handbook  to  the  Birds  of  the  Bombay  Presidency,  by  Lient.  H.  Edwin   Baenes 
D.A..C.,  Central  Press,  Calcutta,  1885.     Price  Rs.  8-8,  V.P.P. 


30  NATURAL  HISTORY, 


Passing  over  questions  of  nomenclature,  and  shunning  such  a 
Charybdis  as  the  discrimination  of  difficult  species  (like  Aquila 
Nsevia),  T  consider  that,  in  the  remarks  on  distribution  and  on  nests 
and  eggs  in  particular,  Mr.  Barnes  has  not  only  lost  much  good 
material  that  our  birds'  nesting  members  would  gladly  have  contri- 
buted, but  he  has  also  not  made  as  good  use  of  his  actual  authorities  as 
he  might  have  done.  The  care  and  fulness  with  which  the  nidification 
of  many  birds  is  described,  make  me  wonder  that  nothing  is  said  of  the 
nests  and  eggs  of  many  other  birds,  which  are  all  more  or  less  fully 
dealt  with  in  books  that  Mr.  Barnes  had  before  him  when  compiling 
his  work.  For  instance,  Mr.  Barnes  says  that  he  has  been  unable  to  as- 
certain anything  about  the  breeding  of  Elanus  ccendeus,  the  black- 
winged  kite,  whereas  there  is  a  full  account  (from  the  competent  pen  of 
Mr.  Davidson)  in  "  Stray  Feathers,"  Vol.  viii.,  pp,  370  and  415, 
to  say  nothing  of  Bree's  "  Birds  of  Europe,"  Vol.  i. 

I  may  add  that,  on  the  23rd  October  1885,  I  had  a  nest  with  three 
hard  set  eggs  taken,  and  the  two  birds  shot,  at  Tandalja,  two  miles 
from  Baroda,  and  that  earlier  in  the  same  month  I  found  a  nest  at 
Tatarpura,  six  miles  from  Baroda,  with  young  birds  in  it.  The  eggs 
were,  as  Mr.  Hume  says  somewhere,  like  u  miniature  Neophrons," 
and  not  like  Dr.  Bree's  figures. 

Again,  while  describing  the  eggs  of  the  Prinias,  Mr.  Barnes  omits  to 
point  out  that  the  mahogany-coloured  eggs  are  laid  by  the  species  with 
ten  tail-feathers,  while  the  birds  with  twelve  tail-feathers  lay  eggs  of  a 
different  type.  Of  the  eggs  of  Prinia  gracilis  and  P.  Ilodgsoni  (the 
two  species  are,  I  am  convinced,  identical,  the  latter  being  the 
breeding  plumage),  Mr.  Barnes  says  not  a  word.  The  eggs  are 
remarkable,  being  of  two  types  of  ground  colour,  viz.,  pure  white 
and  pale  blue,  and  being  either  unspotted,  or  speckled  with  light 
red.  There  are,  therefore,  four  varieties  of  the  eggs  of  these  tiny 
birds.  They  are  very  common  about  Baroda,  and  breed  along  the 
railway  line.  The  eggs  in  all  the  twenty  odd  nests  I  found  last 
August  were  uniform  in  each  nest,  i.e.,  all  in  each  nest  were  either 
pure  white,  or  pure  bluish,  or  white,  speckled  red,  or  blue,  speckled 
red,  but  I  have  found  the  several  types  in  different  nests  only  a  few 
yards  apart,  and  could  see  no  external  difference  in  the  birds. 
Again,  Mr.  Barnes  is  rather  careless  in  saying  of  the  tailor-bird, 
O.  sutorhtSy  that  i(  occasionally  the  eggs  are  of  a  greenish  white 
colour."  There  are  (as  Mr.  Hume  has  pointed  out)  two  types  of 
ground  colour,  either  pure  white  or  pale  greenish  blue,  but  both  types 


NOTES  ON   "THE  BIRDS  OF  BOMBAY.'5  31 


are  blotched  with  red-brown.  Mr.  Barnes's  words  would  lead  one 
to  suppose  that  the  latter  type  was  occasionally  without  markings, 
which  is  never  the  case.  His  description  of  the  tailor-bird,  I  may 
add,  does  not  discriminate  the  sexes  sufficiently. 

With  regard  to  the  nesting  of  the  common  Indian  Swift  (C. 
affinis)  I  may  add  to  Mr.  Barnes's  observations  the  curious  fact  that 
on  the  23rd  February  1885  the  nests  of  a  colony  of  the  cliff  swallow 
{H.fluvicold)  under  the  City  Bridge,  Baroda,  were  found  by  me  to 
be  occupied  by  about  fifty  of  these  swifts,  who  had  eggs  and  youngs 
in  them,  while  the  cliff  swallows  had  been  forced  to  build  a  fresh 
cluster  of  nests  further  under  the  arch  for  their  February  brood. 
The  nests  the  swifts  had  taken  were  probably  those  built  by  the 
cliff  swallows  for  their  previous  September  clutch,  as  last  October 
I  found  that  the  young  cliff  swallows  had  all  just  flown  and  that  a 
few  young  swifts  were  still  unfledged  in  the  nests  of  //.  fluvicola* 

SpeakiDg  of  the  swifts,  Mr.  Barnes  calls  G.  melba  (the  Alpine 
Swift),  a  somewhat  rare  cold  weather  visitant.  I  saw  seven  and 
shot  one  near  Baroda  on  the  21st  September  1885,  which  is  well 
before  the  "  cold  weather." 

Since  the  publication  of  Captain  Marshall's  useful  book,  "  Bird's 
Nesting  in  India,"  in  which  the  eggs  of  Caprimulgus  Mahrattensis 
are  stated  to  be  unknown,  Mr.  Doig  found  them  to  be  common  in 
Sind,  and  described  them  in  "  Stray  Feathers"  (Vol.  viii.,  p.  372). 
Mr.  Barnes  does  not  describe  the  eggs,  which,  out  of  Sind  at  least, 
would  bo  a  valuable  find  for  an  oologist.' 

The  blue-tailed  bee-eater,  says  Mr.  Barnes,  "  occurs  sparingly 
throughout  our  district."  It  is  common  along  the  Guzerat  rivers, 
and  I  have  seen  hundreds  along  the  Main  from  TVasad  to  Dabka. 
They  move  to  the  tanks  and  meadows,  especially  those  near  the  tele- 
graph wires,  in  the  rains,  returning  to  the  larger  rivers  as  the  country 
dries  up.  I  took  thirty  eggs  last  year  from  deep  holes  in  nullahs 
along  the  Main — eggs  like  -those  of  M.  viridis,  but  larger.  In 
Guzerat  the  common  bee-eater  is  called  tilwa  :  Mr.  Barnes  mves 
"hurrial"  as  the  Hind.  name.  I  do  not  see  what  Hind,  names  have  to 
do  with  the  Bombay  Presidency.  A  guide  to  the  birds  of  this  side 
of  India  should  give  the  names  in  as  many  as  possible  of  the  local 
vernaculars,  and  should  be  rich  in  such  details.  Mr.  Barnes's  book 
is  very  deficient  in  this  respect,  and  I  would  suggest  that  our  Society 

*  Canon  Tristram  Fauna  and  Flora  of  Palestine,  p.  8-t,  notes  the  same  of  C.  affinis. 
I  may  remark  "  that  the  Baroda  swifts  had  not  made  any l addition Jof  an  aggluti- 
nated straw  and  feather  entrance  to  the  original  edifioe  of  clay,"  as  in  Palestine. 


32  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


might  compile  a  list  of  the  Marathi,  Guzerati,  Sindhi,  Canarese, 
Bhil,  &c,  names  of  the  better-known  birds.  I  have  already  made  a 
beginning  at  such  a  list  of  the  Guzerati  names. 

The  Indian  stork-billed  kingfisher,  P.  gurial,  has  not,  Mr.  Barnes 
says,  been  recorded  from  Guzerat.  Certainly  it  is  not  in  Captain. 
Butler's  list,  but  I  shot  one  in  a  banyan  tree  on  the  bank  of  Jaoli 
tank,  20  miles  north  of  Baroda,  on  the  3rd  of  November  last,  and 
Mr.  Davidson  writes  to  me  that  "  this  species  breeds  at  Godhra 
behind  the  Collector's  bungalow."  The  little  Indian  kingfisher, 
Mr.  Barnes  says,  lays  five  or  six  eggs.  Last  year  I  three  times  found 
seven  eggs  in  a  nest.  On  the  27th  August  1884,  in  the  middle  of 
the  rains,  I  found  a  nest  with  five  fresh  eggs  near  my  house  :  about 
three  months  later  than  they  are  usually  supposed  to  breed. 
Mr.  Barnes  is  partly  mistaken  in  saying  that  the  Pied  Kingfisher 
never  resorts  to  wells  or  tanks.  On  the  tanks  hereabouts  they  reside 
and  breed  commonly.  And  why  does  Mr.  Barnes  tell  us  nothing 
about  the  wonderful  breeding  habits  of  the  Hornbills  ? 

As  regards  the  koel,  every  naturalist  has  a  different  tale  to  tell ; 
but  I  have  found  koel's  eggs  in  crow's  nests  in  which  there  was 
no  crow's  egg :  it  seems  improbable  that  the  koel  would  have 
laid  in  an  empty  nest.  Once  I  actually  found  near  Baroda  four 
koel's  eggs,  ready  to  hatch,  in  a  crow's  nest  in  which  there  was  no 
crow's  egg  !  This  looks  as  if  the  koel,  sometimes  at  least,  removed 
the  crow's  eggs,  unless,  indeed,  we  suppose  that  the  crow  having  no 
family  of  her  own  had  adopted  the  koel's  !  Birds  do  such  queer 
things  !    I  once  found  a   Pariah  kite  sitting  close    on  a  hare's  skull ! 

On  page  137,  No.  235  is  misprinted  205,  and  I  remember  noticing 
an  unnecessary  d  in  the  middle  of  Planforcl  somewhere.  No.  238, 
Dieceum  minimum,  I  have  several  times  met  with  here,  and  I  have 
found  one  nest,  which  was,  however,  deserted  afterwards,  having 
incautiously  been  touched.  Mr.  Barnes  could  have  found  sufficient 
information  about  this  species  in  Hume's  "  Nests  and  Eggs."  Of  the 
beautiful  nest  and  eggs  of  Piprisoma  agile,  the  thick-billed  flower- 
pecker,  Mr.  Barnes  gives  no  particulars.  As  it  is  not  in  Butler's 
Guzerat  list,  I  may  state  that  I  found  three  nests  at  Baroda  in  last 
May  and  June. 

The  black-headed  cuckoo  shrike  {V.  syhesii)  comes  about  June 
1st,  breeds  about  Baroda  in  the  end  of  June  and  beginning  of  July, 
and  leaves  about  November.  I  found  four  nests  last  season.  The 
large  grey  cuckoo  shrike    (  Graucalus  macei)  is  a  permanent  resident 


NOTES   ON  "  THE   BIRDS   OF   BOMBAY." 


here.  1  found  six  nests  last  August  near  Baroda,  each  with  one 
egg  ;  and  my  men  found  a  nest  building  in  the  Police  Lines  at 
Khaira  on  the  10th  October;  unfortunately  it  was  destroyed  by 
monkeys. 

Mr-  Barnes  gives  no  details  of  the  nesting  of  these  two  species, 
though  Hume  describes  both,  and  Jerdon  the  latter.  Can  Mr. 
Barnes  give  us  any  information  about  the  nesting  of  the  white-bellied 
drongo,  B.  ccerulescens  ?  It  occurs  sparingly  here  between 
November  and  April,  but  seems  to  go  east  to  the  hills  to  breed. 

The  Paradise  fly-catcher  (if.  paradisi)  is  very  common  here  during 
the  rains,  when  it  breeds.  In  all  instances  except  one  out  of  nine 
nests  that  I  found  with  eggs  last  June  and  July,  the  birds  were  in 
the  chestnut  plumage,  and  in  that  one  case  the  male  was  white  and 
the  female  chestnut.  The  mynas  destroyed  three  nests  of  one  pair 
of  paradise  fly-catchers  that  built  in  a  mango  tree  near  my  house. 
I  saw  the  little  fly-catcher  defend  her  first  nest  for  nearly  twenty 
minutes  against  a  myna,  that  at  last  retired.  Next  day,  however, 
the  nest  was  torn  to  bits,  by  the  myna  I  suppose.  It  was  twice 
rebuilt  on  other  branches  of  the  same  tree,  with  the  same  result, 
1  don't  know  where  she  bred  after  leaving  that  tree  in  disgust. 

Mr.  Barnes  has  overlooked  the  description  of  the  eggs  of  Cyornis 
Tickelli  in  Nests  and  Eggs;  and  surely  to  say  only  of  Dunxetia 
(dbogidaris,  the  white-throated  wren-babbler,  that  "  it  is  probably  a 
permanent  resident,"  is  to  leave  out  of  sight  much  common  informa- 
tion. It  is  a  permanent  resident  here,  and  last  August  I  found 
many  nests,  which,  with  the  eggs,  resembled  those  described  in 
A7ests  and  Eggs. 

I  may  record  that  452,  Ixos  luteolus,  the  white-browed  bush 
bulbul,  is  common  in  the  ravines  along  the  Mahi  and  not  scarce 
about  Baroda.  It  seems  to  prefer  the  neighbourhood  of  water  and 
is  a  hard  bird  to  see,  though  there  is  no  mistaking  its  musical  trill 
from  some  deep  thicket.  It  is  not  given  in  Butler's  Guzerat  list. 
The  Indian  oriole,  which,  Mr.  Barnes  says,  he  has  found  chiefly 
breeding  on  neem  trees,  here  prefers  mango  or  mhowra  trees.  I 
can  assure  Mr.  Barnes  that  he  is  quite  mistaken  in  thinking  that 
the  Magpie  Robin,  C.  saularis,  does  not  remain  to  breed  in  Guzerat. 
It  is  a  permanent  resident  hereabouts,  and  I  found  between  May 
30th  and  June  26th  last  eight  nests  within  a  mile  of  my  house. 
The  number  of  eggs  or  young  varied  from  two  (young)  to  six 
(hard  set  eggs).     I  have  seen  the  Dayal  (a  name  also  given   here 


34  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


to  the  tailor-bird)  in  all  months  here,  and  have  often  noticed  the 
peculiar  flurting  of  the  tail  over  the  head,  mentioned  by  Layard  (in 
Jerdon,  who  says  he  has  not  observed  it). 

What  is  a  "seasonal  visitant,"  cold  season  or  wet  season  or  hot 
season, — who  can  tell  ?  At  any  rate  Phylloscopus  tnstis  is  a 
"  seasonal  visitant,"  while  the  other  Phylloscopi  are  "cold  weather 
visitants."  And  why  repeat  Linnaeus's  old  misprint  of  Anthus 
Spinoletta  when  naturalists  like  Prof.  Newton  give  the  true  form 
spipoletta  (Yarrell,  4th  ed.).  And  while  Mr.  Barnes  was  "  at  his 
larks,"  he  might  have  told  us  what  was  the  character  of  the  hind 
claw  of  the  genus  Corydalla  (p.  244).  Mr.  Barnes  says  the  white-eyed 
tit  {Z.  palpebrosa)  is  a  common  permanent  resident  in  the  Deccan, 
but  that  "  in  other  parts  of  the  Presidency  it  only  occurs,  I  believe,, 
afc*  a  cold  weather  visitant."  I  can  certify  that  it  breeds  here,  and 
is  fairly  common,  and  that  I  have  seen  it  in  nearly  every  month. 
I  can  also  assure  Mr.  Barnes  that  Dendrocitta  rufa,  the  Indian  Tree- 
pie,  breeds  here,  and  is  fairly  common  all  the  year  round.  He  says 
they  become  very  scarce  during  the  hot  weather,  and  certainly  I 
have  seen  great  numbers  of  them  then  in  the  hill  jungles  of  Abu  and 
the  Vindhyas,  but  they  do  not  migrate  from  our  Guzerat  plains. 
They  are  very  shy  and  wary  birds  when  breeding,  and  the  nests  in 
the  thick  mango  foliage  are  hard  to  find.  As  Captain  Marshall  says 
"  the  eggs  of  the  rose-coloured  paster  {P.  ?~oseus)  are  not  known," 
and  as  Mr.  Barnes  does  not  mention  them,  I  may  note  that  a  full  and 
very  interesting  account  of  the  breeding  of  these  birds  is  given  in  the 
last  edition  of  Yarrell.  I  may  also  say  that  I  kept  18  of  them  in  a 
large  aviary  last  season  till  September,  in  the  hope  of  their  breed- 
ing in  captivity,  but  without  success. 

Estrelda  formosa,  the  green  wax-bill,  is  not  very  rare  hereabouts, 
occurring  generally  in  flocks.  The  common  pea-hen  I  have  found 
breeding  here  in  the  fork  of  a  mango  trunk,  10  feet  from  the  ground, 
but  here,  as  elsewhere,  the  usual  site  is  on  the  ground.  Mr.  Barnes 
ought  to  have  noted  that  the  male  of  Tumix  taigoor,  the  black- 
breasted  bustard  quail,  sits  on  the  eggs  and  minds  the  babies,  Avhile 
the  female  goes  round  to  fight  the  ladies  of  the  neighbouring  fami- 
lies. This  brings  me  up  to  the  grallatores,  and  I  will  give  only  a  few 
more  selections  from  very  many  marginalia  on  Mr.  Barnes's  Handbook. 

The   lesser    florican   visits  Baroda  in  small    numbers   during  the 
rains,  and  breeds   here  ;  but  a  few   remain   here  all  the  year    round 
as  I  have  shot  them  in  the  following  months  :  February,  April,  May, 


ON    A    HYBRID,    OVIS    H0DG30NI,    CUM    VIGNEI.  35 


June,  July,  October.  I  have  seeu,  but  not  shot  them  in  August  and 
September.  They  are  not  so  much  reduced  by  shooting  (as  Mr* 
Barnes  says)  as  by  snaring.  Many  are  brought  in  alive  to  the  Camp 
Bazaar,  and  sent  to  me  and  others  as  presents,  their  legs  being 
most  cruelly  tied  with  feathers  plucked  from  their  own  wings.  I 
have  released  several  that  had  been  so  tied,  and  have  found  that  it 
took  several  days  for  them  to  recover  sufficiently  for  them  to  leave 
my  garden.  The  pelican  ibis  breeds  here  at  Chittral  and  at  Thasra 
in  October.  The  shell  ibis  breeds  in  large  numbers,  with  the  white 
ibis  and  snake  bird,  near  Khaira.  Mr.  Barnes  says  he  cannot  find 
any  record  of  the  occurrence  of  the  cotton-teal  in  Guzerat.  It  is 
very  common,  especially  in  May  and  June,  when  there  are  hundreds 
on  Muwal  tank,  20  miles  north  of  Barocla.  When  the  rains  fall, 
they  disperse  over  the  country  and  take  up  their  quarters  in  some 
small  pond  or  pool,  occasionally 

Affording:  scarce  such  breadth  of  brim, 
As  served  the  wild  duck's  brood  to  swim, 

and  they   nest  in  the  neighbourhood.     I  extracted  a  full-sized  soft 

egg  from  a  bird  shot  near  this  last  September.     Mr.  Barnes  could 

have  found  it  recorded  in   Butler's    Gazetteer  list.     But  enough  has 

been   said,   I   hope,    to  justify,    even   from   my   own   very  limited 

experience,   the   opinion   with   which  I   set     out,    that  Mr.   Barnes 

might  have   got   much    additional    information  if  he   had   asked  the 

"  Bombay  Natural  History  Society"  for  it,    and  might   thereby  have 

rendered    his   book  still  more    deserving   than    it    is    at   present   of 

being  regarded  as  the  standard  authority  on  the  birds  of  the  Bombay 

Presidency. 


ON  A  HYBRID,  OVIS  HODGSOXI,  CUM  VIGNEI, 

DISCOVERED  AND  SHOT  by  Mons.    H. 

DAUVERGNE, 

By  R.  A.  Sxerndale,   f.z.s.,  &c. 

Hybridization  between  the  various  known  species   of  Caprce  and 

Oves  has  been  abundantly  proved  by  the  instances  that  have  occurred 

in  the   London  Zoological  Gardens.     In  1864  and  1865-67  and  1868, 

a  female  Capra  yEgagrus,   the    Persian  Ibex,   bore  seven  kids,  the 

father  of  which  was  a  Markhor   0.    Megaceros.     In  1872  a  hybrid 

between  a  male   Ovis  Aries  and  a  female    Ovis  Musimon  ;   in    1871 

two    hybrids  between    Ovis   Musimo?i,   the  Corsican  Moufflon,    and 

our  Indian   Ovis  Cycloceros  were  born  ;  also  in  1871  and  1882  two 

between  the  former  and   Ovis  Aries.     There  are  two  species  of  deer 


36  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


from  Philippine  Islands,  Cervus  Nigricans  and  Cervus   Alfredi  which 
have  twice   bred    in    the   gardens,    and  so   have   the  European   and 
Mesopotamian  fallow  deer.      Sir  Victor  Brooke  in  one  of  his   letters 
to  me  says  he  has  known   the  common   red    deer  and   the  Japanese 
deer  to  interbreed.     So  far   the    question   of  interbreeding  is   amply 
proved,  but   the   interesting   feature    of  the  case  is    how  far  is    this 
carried  out   in  the  wild  state  so  as    to    create  new  species.     I  am    of 
opinion    that,    if  the    truth    were    fully    known,   we   should    have  to 
narrow    down    our   list    of  goats    and    sheep.       It   is   an    undecided 
question    whether     Ovis   Polii     and    Ovis    Karelini,   the   two   great, 
sheep  of  the   Pamir  steppes,    are  not  one   and   the  same,  and  I  think 
that  Ovis   Broohei   is   the    hybrid    which  forms    the  subject    of  this 
paper.      Sir    Victor   Brooke  in    a   letter   to    me  says  :  "  If  we  can 
prove   that   the    form   is  a  hybrid    between    those    two  species  {i.e., 
0.    llodgsoni  et   Vignei  ),    it    will    be    much    more    interesting    than 
if  it  should    prove  what    is    called    a    distinct    species.     I    do    not 
think    the    presence    of  one   or     even    several    male      0.    Hodgsoni 
amongst   herds    of     0.    Vignei   would    originate    a    breed    of  sheep 
intermediate  in  size  and  character  between  the  two  species,  the  much 
larger  quantity  of   Ovis    Vignei   blood   in  the  district  would,    in    my 
opinion,  prevail   over  the   infusion  of    0.  Hodgsoni   blood  introduced 
in    such   small  quantities,    and   the  thus    originated    larger    animals 
would  throw  back  to    the  parent    stock.     If  it  is  a    case    of  hybridi- 
zation what     we     should   find     would     be     herds     of     0.      Vignei 
with     here     and     there      large      animals      mixing      and     runnino- 
with   them    of    0.    Brookei     forms."       Now    this   is     exactly    what 
Mons.     Dauvergne     found.     In     the     mountain     range     south    of 

cd  o 

the  Indus  near  Zanskar,  the  precise  locality  being  for  obvious 
reasons  withheld  from  publication,  a  herd  of  Ovis  Vignei  were 
observed  for  some  years  to  contain  a  large  ram  of  Ovis  llodgsoni, 
which  drove  out  the  weaker  Shapoo  rams  and  appropriated  the 
ewes  of  the  herd.  He  was  ultimately  one  winterkilled  and  eaten 
by  Chankos  (the  Tibetan  wolf),  but  during  his  stay  he  produced 
a  family  of  hybrids  possessing  greater  size  of  horn  and  head  with 
characteristic  colouring,  combining  traits  of  both  animals.  In 
course  of  time  these  hybrids  were  crossed  again  with  the  Vignei 
stock,  and  the  third  generation  shows  signs  of  degeneration  from 
the  larger  sheep  and  of  reversion  to  the  Vignei  type. 

The  skull  of  the  half-bred  animals,  which  the  Tartars  called   Nyan 
Shapoo  (the  former  being   the   name   of  the    Hodgsoni  or  Amnion 


R.A.Stebudale-  Del. 

I.Ovis  Hodgsonl-2.  Hybrid.- 3  Ov 


JGMEI  . 


ON   A    HYBRID,    OVIS   HODGSONI,   CUMVIGNEI. 


37 


and  the  latter  of  the  Vignei),  is  nearer  in  size  to  Hodgsoni,  which 
is  double  that  of  the  other.  The  horns  of  these  are  rounded  in 
front  resembling  what  has  been  figured  of  BrooJcei,  but  hollowed  out 
behind  like  Vignei.  The  horns  of  the  quarter-bred  are  square  in  front 
and  hollowed  behind  like  the  true  Shapoo  type,  but  are  more  massive 
than  the  pure-bred  Shapoo.* 

Now  as  regards  the  colour  of  the  skin.  The  Nyan  or  Hodgsoni  has 
no  black  beard  or  throat-stripe  which  Vignei  has.  The  half-bred 
shows  no  black,  but  the  quarter-bred  does  in  a  modified  but  decided 
degree.  The  half-bred  turns  also  in  summer  to  the  colour  of  Hodgsoni, 
having  more  of  a  blue  grey  or  lavender  tiut  and  less  of  the  fawn  colour 
of  Vignei  with  the  white  throat  of  Hodgsoni,  it  also  gets  the  dark  patch 
at  the  side  of  the  neck.  The  skin  of  a  quarter-bred  specimen  before 
me  is  of  a  bright  fawn  above  ;  sides  and  rump  white,  and  a  black 
stripe  down  the  middle  of  the  throat. 

The  skull  characteristics  are  as  follows  : — 


Oirth  of  horn  

Length  of  horns 

Length  of  skull  from    between  horns   t 

tip  of  premaxillfe     

Breadth  between  orbits  

Ditto    between  frontal  sinuses 

Length  of  teeth  ...  

Broadest  par.  of  palate 


Ovits 

Half- 

Quarte 

Ovis 

'lodgsorn 

hybrid 

hybrid. 

Vignei. 

Inches. 

Inches. 

Inc'  es 

Inches. 

16* 

13* 

H{ 

13 

36 

32 

90a 

*"      4 

30  i 

13£ 

12 

n 

■n 

6* 

5* 

n 

3| 

n. 

21 

2| 

2 

h 

3* 

3 

2£ 

9  J. 

01 

9 

if 

-4 

-4 

80f 

71f 

55  £ 

59£ 
52 1 

In  this  table  there  are  two  noticeable  points.  It  is  plain  that  there 
is  a  gradual  reversion  to  the  size  of  Ovis  Vignei,  but  although  the 
quarter-bred  hybrid  has  a  greater  girth  of  horn  than  the  Vignei,  the 
latter  has  greater  length  ;  and  this  gives  it  an  advantage  in  all  round 
measurement.  Take  off  these  extra  7|  inches  in  length  of  horn,  and  the 
Shapoo  stands  at  52|  against  the  quarter-bred's  55i  ;  over  3  inches  less. 
Now  comes  the  question  of  locality.  The  nearest  Hodgsoni  ground  to 
where  the  Shapoo  were  located  was  over  sixty  miles  off,  but  this  is  not 
a  barrier  to  an  animal  like  the  Amnion  who  would  cover  such  a 
distance  in  a  couple  of  days. 


R.  A.  S. 


*  I  have  figured  the  half-bred  horns  with  rounded  fronts  on  account  of  their 
resemblance  to  the  type  of  Ovi#  Brookd,  but  I  have  received  another  pair  of  hybrid 
(half-bred)  horns  which  are  quite  square  in  front  and  as  massive  as  the  rounded 
i  nee. — R.A.S. 


38  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


BIRDS'  NESTING  IN  RAJPOOTANA, 
(By  Lieut.  H.  Edwin  Barnes,  D.  A.  C) 

These  notes  refer  only  to  Neemuch,  which,  although  id 
Rajpootana,  is  under  the  Central  Indian  Administration, 

I  was  stationed  there  from  December  1883  to  the  com- 
mencement of  September  1885,  and  during  the  whole  time 
I  collected  vigorous^,  but  still  there  are  many  birds  that  do 
undoubtedly  breed  there  that  I  have  overlooked;  of  these  I 
append  a  list. 

The  periods  quoted,  over  which  the  different  breeding 
seasons  extend,  were  ascertained  from  personal  observation,, 
and  represent  the  time  between  the  earlier  and  later  nests, 

2. — Otogyps  calvus  :  Scop. 

The  King  Vulture  breeds  from  the  middle  of  February  to  about  the 
middle  of  March;  some  few  may  breed  earlier,  but  they  are  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule,  and  eggs  taken  later  are  generally  much  incubated. 

I  took  eggs  on  the  13th  and  27th  February,  and  again  on  the 
1st  March. 

The  nests  are  solitary,  and  are  huge  structures,  composed  of  stout 
twigs,  lined  with  smaller  twigs  and  leaves,  and  are  generally  built  in 
forks  of  Peepul  or  other  large  trees.  The  egg,  there  is  only  one,  is 
oval  in  shape,  measuring  3'52  inches  in  length  by  about  2*6  inches 
in  breadth  ;  the  texture  is  fine,  and  the  shell  is  very  strong.  The 
egg  lining  is  green,  but  the  egg  itself  is  glossless  white. 
5. — Pseudo-gyps  lengalensis  :  Lath. 

The  Indian  White-backed  Vulture  breeds  much  earlier  than  the 
King  Vulture.  I  found  my  first  nests  on  the  9th  November,  but  as 
three  eggs  out  of  five  taken  on  that  date  contained  fully-formed 
chicks,  eggs  must  have  been  obtainable  much  earlier. 

They  build  in  colonies,  sometimes  as  many  as  twenty  nests  being 
found  on  the  same  tree,  and  these  are  at  various  heights,  some  being 
not  more  than  10  feet  from  the  ground,  while  others  are  placed  at 
almost  the  top  of  the  tree. 

Mr.  Hume  believed  that  January  was  the  month  in  which  most 
eggs  were  laid,  but  in  Neemuch  all  those  I  found  in  December 
were  much  incubated,  and  many  eggs  had  hatched  out,  so  that 
November  in  this  part  of  the  country  would  appear  to  be  the  best 
month  for  nesting.     I  have  never  found  more  than  a  single  egg  in  any 


"BIRDS'    NESTING    IN   RAJPOOTANA.  53 


one  nest,  and  this  averages  somewhat  smaller  than  that  of  the  King 
Vulture,  viz.,  3'25  inches  in  length  by  about  2*4  in  breadth.  It  is 
rather  coarser  in  texture.  Some  eggs  are  white,  but  many  of  them 
are  spotted  and  blotched  with  pale  reddish  brown.  The  egg  lining  is 
36,  deep  green.  They  are  generally  much  discolored  by  the  droppings 
of  the  sitting  bird.. 

$. — Neophron  ginginianus  :  Daud. 

The  White  Scavenger  Vulture  breeds  about  the  end  of  March  or 
commencement  of  April.  The  nests  are  solitary,  and  are  placed  in 
very  different  situations,  on  cornices  of  buildings,  edges  of  rocky 
or  clayey  cliffs,  and  commonly  on  trees;  when  in  the  latter  situation, 
they  are  not  usually  built  in  forks,  but  are  placed  on  large  horizontal 
branches,  or  at  the  junction  of  a  limb  with  the  trunk. 

The  nest  is  a  large,  loose,  ragged  affair,  lined  with  old  rags.  The 
eggs,  two  in  number,  are  broadish,  oval  in  shape,  of  a  greyish  white 
colour,  beautifully  streaked,  blotched,  and  clouded  with  reddish  brown. 
Some  are  so  richly  marked  as  to  leave  little  of  the  ground  colour 
visible,  while  others  are  comparatively  plain.  They  measure  2*62 
inches  in  length  by  1*96  in  breadth. 

11. — Falco  jugger  :  I.  E.  Gr. 
The  Jtiggur  Falcons  breed  from  the  latter  end  of  January  to  the 
end  of  February.  They  nest  indifferently  on  trees,  edges  of  cliffs, 
and  old  buildings  ;  they  often  appropriate  the  old  nest  of  a  tawny  or 
other  eagle.  The  nest  is  rath  si*  large,  cup-shaped  if  built  on  a  tree, 
loose  and  straggling  if  on  a  cliff.  The  eggs,  usually  four  in  number, 
occasionally  five,  sometimes  only  three,  are  nearly  perfect  ovals  in 
shape,  chalky  in  texture,  of  a  dingy  yellowish  brown  colour,  clouded, 
mottled,  and  blotched  with  reddish  brown.  They  measure  2  inches 
in  length  by  about  1'58  in  breadth. 

16. — Falco  chiquera  :  Daud. 

The  Turumti  or  Red-headed  Merlin  breeds  during  March  and  the 
early  part  of  April.  The  nest  is  neat,  compact,  and  cup-shaped,  and 
is  composed  of  twigs  lined  with  grass  roots.  All  the  nests  I  have 
found  have  been  in  shady  trees,  such  as  Peepul  or  Banian,  and  have 
been  fairly  Well  concealed.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  exact 
miniatures  of  those  of  the  Juggur  Falcon.  They  measure  1'66  inches 
in  length  by  about  1.26  in  breadth. 

23. — Astur  hadius  :  Gm. 

The  Shikra  breeds  during  April.  It  takes  a  very  long  time  to 
make  its  nest.     I  watched  a  pair  for  upwards  of  a  month.     To-dav 


40  NATURAL    HISTORT. 


tbey  would  place  a  few  sticks  on  the  nest  and  to-morrow  they  would 
remove  them,  arranging  and  re-arranging  and  taking  an  infinite 
deal  of  trouble,  and  the  result  was  a  nest  that  would  disgrace  even  a 
crow.  The  nests  are  always  built  in  forks  of  trees.  The  eggs,  four  in 
number  (sometimes  only  three),  are  oval  in  shape,  and  are  of  a  pure 
very  pale,  bluish  white  colour.  They  measure  1*54  inches  in  length  by 
about  1*23  in  breadth. 

29. — Aquiia  vindhiana  :  Frank. 

The  Indian  Tawnv  Eagle  commences  to  breed  about  the  end  of 
November  and  nests  may  be  found  quite  up  to  the  commencement  of 
the  hot  season,  but  December  and  January  are  the  months  in  which 
most  eggs  are  laid.  The  nest  is  a  large  structure,  composed  of  stout 
twigs,  lined  with  green  leaves,  and  it  is  invariably  built  upon  a  high 
tree.  The  eggs,  two  in  number,  are  broadish  oval  in  shape,  but  are 
subject  to  much  variation.  They  are  white  in  colour,  more  or  less 
spotted  and  blotched  with  brown,  reddish-brown,  and  occasionally 
purple  ;  they  are  generally  discoloured.  The  egg  lining  is  sea-green. 
They  measure  2'65  inches  in  length  by  about  2'11  in  breadth. 

38. — Arcaetus  gallicus  :  Gm. 

I  have  never  succeeded  in  obtaining  an  egg  of  the  short-toed  eagle, 
but  earlv  in  March  a  native,  who  often  accompanies  me  in  my  nesting 
rambles,  reported  that  he  had  found  a  nest  on  a  high  tree,  with  one 
egg  in  it.  As  soon  after  as  convenient,  I  accompanied  him  to  the 
spot.  There  was  the  nest  sure  enough,  but  the  egg  was  gone;  the  parent 
birds  were  hovering  round  the  nest,  but  they  never  laid  again.  The 
native  described  the  egg  as  being  quite  white. 

42. — Haliaetus  leucoryphus  :  Tall. 
The  Ring-tailed  Fishing  Eagle  is  another  bird  whose  eggs  I  failed 
to  procure  at  Neemuch.  I  found  a  nest  just  finished,  at  the  Panghur 
Lake,  in  December,  and  doubtless  I  should  have  obtained  eggs  had  I 
gone  a  fortnight  later,  but  the  distance  was  so  far,  and  the  road  so 
vile,  that  1  did  not  think  it  worth  while,  as  I  had  a  series  of  eggs 
which  I  procured  in  Sind. 

48. — Bulastur  teesa  :  Frankl. 
The  Teesa  or  White-eyed  Buzzard  breeds  during  April.  The  nest, 
a  rather  loose,  cup-shaped  structure,  composed  of  twigs,  unlined,  is 
generally  placed  in  a  fork  in  a  mango  or  other  thick  foliaged  tree. 
The  eggs,  three  (occasionally  four)  in  number,  are  broadish  ovals  in 
shape,  and  are  delicate  pale  bluish— or  greyish- white  in  colour,  quite 


BIRDS'    NESTING    m    RAJPOOTAXA.  41 

devoid  of  markings.     They  measure    1*83  inches  in  length  by   about 
1*54  in  breadth* 

56. — Milvits  govinda  «  Sykes. 
The  Pariah  Kite  breeds  from  early  in  September  quite  up  to  the 
end  of  March.  I  cannot  understand  how  this  fact  has  escaped  record, 
but  even  Mr.  Hume  seems  to  think  that  Christmas  day  was  an  early 
date  to  obtain  eggs.  I  have  found  nests  at  Abu,  Deesa,  Hyderabad, 
Mhow,  Poona,  Neemuch,  and  even  at  Saugor,  where  I  am  now 
stationed,  in  September.  The  nest  is  usually  built  in  a  fork,  but  is 
sometimes  placed  on  a  flat  bough.  The  eggs,  two  in  number 
(occasionally  three),  are  oval  in  shape,  greyish-white  in  colour,  more  or 
less  spotted,  streaked,  blotched,  speckled  or  clouded  with  brown  and 
purplish  or  reddish-brown.  Some  of  the  eggs  are  bright  and  hand- 
somely coloured,  with  the  markings  clearly  defined,  but  others  are 
smudgy  and  dingily  coloured.  The  nests  are  more  abundant  in 
October  and  Januar}'  than  at  other  times,  and  from  this  I  am  led  to 
believe  that  they  have  two  broods  in  a  year.  The  egg  lining  varies 
from  light  to  deep  green,  and  the  eggs  average  2'2  inches  in  length  by 
about  1*78  in  breadth. 

69. — Bubo  bemjalensis  :  Frankl. 
The  Rock  horned  Owl  breeds  during  March  and  April.  It  makes 
no  nest,  the  eggs  being  placed  on  ledges  and  in  recesses  of  cliffs, 
overlooking  water.  The  eggs,  three  or  four  in  number,  are  broad 
oval  in  shape,  and  white  in  colour,  with  just  a  perceptible  creamy 
tinge.     They  average  21  inches  in  length  by  about  1*73  in  breadth. 

70. —  Bubo  coromandus  :  Lath. 

The  Dusky  horned  Owl  breeds  during  December  and  January. 
The}'  build  a  large  stick  nest  on  trees,  which  they  use  for  succes- 
sive seasons,  but  occasionally  they  make  use  of  an  old  Vulture 
or  Eagle's  nest.  It  is  usually  lined  with  green  leaves.  The  eggs, 
usually  two  in  number,  vary  much  both  in  shape  and  size,  but 
they  are  generally  broadish  oval  in  shape,  and  average  2*33  inches 
in  length  by  about  1*9  in  breadth.  They  are  creamy  white  in  colour, 
and  somewhat  glossy  but  coarse  in  texture. 

76. — Carine  brama  :  Tem. 

The  Spotted  Owlet  breeds  from  the  middle  of  February  to  the 
commencement  of  April.  It  nests  in  holes,  and  it  appears  to  be 
a  matter  of  indifference  to  it  whether  it  be  a  hole  in  a  tree, 
a  building,  a  well,  an  old  hay-stack,  or  even  in  a  rocky  cliff.  A 
few  leaves  and    feathers    suffice  for  a  nest.     The  eggs,    usuallv  four 


42  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


in  number,  are  oval  in  shape,  and  when  fresh  and  unblown  are 
of  a  delicate  pink  tinge,  but  are  glossless  white  when  much  incu- 
bated. They  measure  1*25  inches  in  length  by  about  1  in  breadth. 
I  have  often  found  two  pairs  of  birds  using  the  same  hole,  and  fresh 
and  incubated  eggs  are  often  found  together. 

84. — Hirundo  filifera  :  Steph. 
The  Wire-tailed  Swallow,  t  >  my  thinking  the  handsomest  of  the 
Hirundines,  breeds  from  the  latter  part  of  February  to  April,  and 
again  in  August  and  September.  The  nest,  composed  of  pellets 
of  mud,  is  lined  just  with  a  few  grass  roots,  and  then  with  a 
plentiful  supply  of  soft  feathers.  The  nest  is  deep  saucer-shaped, 
and  is  placed  under  the  cornice  of  a  bridge,  in  a  niche  in  a  well, 
under  a  culvert,  or  even  under  a  projecting  cliff,  always  near  water. 
The  eggs,  three  in  number,  are  longish  ovals  pointed  at  one 
-end,  of  a  glossy  white  colour,  richly  speckled  with  different  shades 
of  reddish  brown.  They  average  0*72  inches  in  length  by  about 
0*53  in  breadth.  If  the  eggs  are  taken  when  fresh,  the  birds  will 
lay  a  second,  and  if  these  are  taken,  a  third  batch  in  the  same  nest. 

85. — Hirundo  erythropygia  :  Sykes. 
The  Red-rumped  Swallow  breeds  during  the  months  of  June  and 
July.  The  nest,  composed  of  pellets  of  mud,  lined  with  feathers,  is 
retort-shaped,  and  is  usually  built  under  bridges  or  culverts,  but  I 
found  one  nest  under  a  stone  slab,  projecting  over  a  well.  The 
eggs,  three  in  number,  are  pure  white  oval*,  measuring  0-79  inches 
in  length  by  about  0"56  in  breadth. 

89  — Colyle  sinemis  :  I.  E.  Gr. 

The  Indian  Sand  Martin  breeds  during  February  and  March 
in  holes  in  banks.  These  holej,  from  two  to  three  feet  deep  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  the  soil,  are  excavated  by  the  birds  them- 
selves. The  nest,  composed  of  grass,  is  well  lined  with  soft 
ftathers,  and  contains  generally  three  pure  white  oval  eggs,  measur- 
ing 068  inches  in  length  by  0-48  in  breadth. 

90. — Piyonoprogne  concolor  :  Sykes. 

The  Dusky  Crag  Martin  breeds  during  March  and  April,  and 
ao-ain  in  July  and  August.  The  nest,  composed  of  pellets  of  mud, 
well  lined  with  feathers,  is  deep  saucer-shaped,  and  is  generally 
affixed  to  the  side  of  a  house,  under  shelter  of  the  eaves.  The  eggs, 
three  in  number,  are  white,  spotted  and  blotched  with  red  and 
yellowish  brown.  They  measure  0*72  inches  in  length  by  about  0'52 
in  breadth. 


birds'  NESTIN'G  in  rajpootana,  43 


100,— Oypsellus  affinis  :  I.  E.  Gfi. 

The  Common  Indian  Swift  breeds,  I  believe,  all  tbe  year  round. 
The  nests  are  placed  under  the  roofs  of  verandahs,  stables,  and 
such  like  places,  and  are  composed  principally  of  feathers  aggluti- 
nated together  with  saliva.  The  shape  depends  altogether  on  the 
place  in  which  it  is  :  if  in  a  hole,  the  nest  fits  all  round  it,  and 
necessarily  takes  its  shape  ;  sometimes  it  is  placed  betweeu  two 
rafters,  and  when  these  are  close  together,  the  nest  is  long  and 
narrow.  Sometimes  the  nests  are  isolated,  but  generally  they  are 
built  in  clusters  or  congeries.  Thev  almost  always  breed  in  com- 
pany.  The  eggs,  three  in  number,  vary  much  in  shape,  but  are 
normally  very  long  narrow  ovals.  They  are  dead  white  without  any 
spots.     They  average  0*87  inch'  s  in  length  by  about  056  in  breadth. 

The  roof  of  the  verandah  of  the  house  in  which  I  lived  at  Nee- 
much  was  literally  covered  with  their  nests,  so  that  I  had  ample 
opportunities  for  observing  them  ;  and  I  believe  that  there  were  eggs 
and  nestlings  in  some  or  other  of  them  the  whole  year  through. 

114. — Caprimulgus  monlicolus  :  Frankl. 
I  found  two  eggs  of  Franklin's  Night  Jar  on  the  15th  June. 
They  were  deposited  on  the  bare  ground  under  the  scant  shelter 
afforded  by  a  small  tuft  of  grass.  They  are  longish  oval  in  shape 
and  are  of  a  pinkish  cream  colour,  spotted  and  bl  >tched  with  pale 
brown  and  faint  purple.  They  measure  1*21  inches  in  length  by 
0-84  in  breadth. 

117. — Merops  viridis  :  Lin. 

The  Common  Indian  Bee-eater  breeds  during  April.  They 
excavate  holes  in  the  banks  of  nullahs,  from  two  to  four  feet  in  extent, 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  soil.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are 
deposited  in  the  bare  soil ;  they  are  nearly  spherical  in  shape  and 
are  glossy  milk-white  in  colour.  They  measure  0'78  inches  in  length 
by  0-69  in  breadth. 

I  have  often  found  eggs  in  the  same  hole  in  different  stages  of 
incubation. 

123. — Coracias  indica  :  Lin. 
The  Indian  Roller  or  Blue  Jay  breeds  during  April  and  May  in 
holes  in  trees,  old  walls,  or  under  the  eaves  of  houses.  A  little  grass 
and  a  few  feathers  suffice  for  a  nest.  The  eggs,  four  in  Dumber 
are  nearly  spherical  in  shape,  and  measure  1*3  inches  in  length  by 
about  1*1  in  breadth.  They  are  china-white  in  colour,  and  are  highly 
glossy, 


44  natural  HibTORY. 


129. — Halcyon  smyrnensis  :  Lin. 

The  White-breasted  Kingfisher  breeds  from  early  in  March  to 
the  end  of  May,  or  even  later.  It  excavates  a  hole  in  a  river 
bank,  or  even  in  the  side  of  a  well.  There  is  no  nest.  The  eggs,  five 
in  number  (occasionally  six),  are  placed  on  the  bare  soil.  They 
are  almost  spherical  in  shape,  averaging  1*12  inches  in  length  by 
about  1  in  breadth.  They  are  glossy  china-white  when  first  laid, 
but  as  incubation  proceeds,  this  fades  and  they  become  glossless  white, 
and  are  often  discolored. 

134. — Akedo  benyaJensis  :  Gm. 

I  found  but  one  nesting  hole  of  the  little  Indian  Kingfisher  ; 
this  was  in  March,  and  it  contained  five  unfledged  young  ones  and 
an  addled  egg.  The  egg  was  nearly  spherical  in  shape,  and  when  fresh 
must  have  been  of  a  glossy  china-white.  It  measured  079  inches  in 
length  by  0*68  in  breadth. 

136. — Ceryle  rudis  :  Lin. 

The  Pied  Kingfishers  breed  from  February  to  April,  unlike  the 
White-breasted  Kingfisher.  The}'  never  make  their  holes  in  the  sides 
of  wells,  but  always  in  river  baiks  over  running  water.  These 
holes  are  of  great  extent,  one  that  I  examined  extending  to  quite  five 
feet.  The  eggs,  from  four  to  six  in  number,  are  broad  ovals, 
occasionally  almost  spherical.  They  are  pure  china-white  when 
blown,  and  are  highly  glossy.  They  measure  1*2  inches  in  length 
by  about  0-9i  in  breadth. 

148.— Palceom  is  torquatus  :  Bodd. 

The  Rose-ringed  Paroquet  breeds  from  ths  end  of  Februarv  to 
early  in  April.  It  nests  in  holes,  generally  in  trees,  but  occasionally  in 
buildings  and  old  walls.  The  eggs,  usually  four  in  number,  are  broadish 
ovals  in  shape,  pointed  at  one  end,  and  are  of  a  pure  glossless  white. 
They  measure  122  inches  in  length  by  about  0-95  in  breadth. 
197, — Xanthohzma  Jmmacephala  :  P.  L.  S.  Mull. 

The  Coppersmith  begins  to  breed  iu  February,  and  eggs  may 
be  found  quite  up  to  the  middle  of  April,  but  most  of  them  are  laid 
in  the  commencement  of  March.  They  select  a  branch  decayed 
internally,  and  into  this  they  cut  a  small  circular  hole  ;  there  is  no 
nest.  The  eggs,  three  or  four  in  number,  are  long,  narrow,  pure  white 
ovals,  measuring  1  inch  in  length  by  about  0'7  in  breadth. 

212. — Coccystes  jacobinus  :  Bodd, 

I  never  obtained  an  egg  of  the  Pied-crested  Cuckoo  at  Neemuch 
that  I  could  be  quite  sure  of,    but    then    the    bird    is    comparatively 


birds'  nesting  in  rajpootana.  45 

rare,    but  at   Mhow,    where   the   bird    literally  swarms   during    the 
monsoon,  I  obtained  an  egg  extracted  from  the   oviduct  of  a  female. 

214. — Eudynamis  honor ata  :  Lin, 

The  Koel  lays  her  eggs  in  nests  of  the  Common  Crow,  usually 
one  egg  in  a  nest,  occasionally  two,  but  I  once  found  three,  but  as 
these  eggs  differed  from  each  other,  I  am  inclined  to  think  they 
must  have  been  the  produce  of  different  birds.  I  have  never  found 
the  Crow  eggs  broken.  The  eggs  vary  much  both  in  colour  and  size, 
pale  sea-green,  oily-green,  dull  olive-green  and  dingy  stone-coloured 
varieties  all  occur,  and  the  markings  are  olive  or  reddish  brown  and 
dull  purple.     They  average  1/2  inches  in    length  by   0'92  in  breadth. 

217. — Cenlrococcyx  rufipennis  :  III. 
The  Crow  Pheasant  or  Coucal  breeds  from  May  to  July,  or  even 
later.  It  builds  a  large,  irregular,  domed,  globe-shaped  nest,  com- 
posed of  twigs  and  coarse  grass,  lined  with  leaves.  The  nest  is  placed 
in  the  centre  of  a  thorny  thicket  or  tree.  The  eggs  (I  have  never 
found  more  than  three)  are  broad,  white,  chalky  ovals,  measuring  1*43 
inches  in  length  by  about  rather  less  than  1*17  in  breadth. 

234, — Cinnyris  asiatica  :  Lath. 

The  Common  Purple  Honeysucker  commences  to  breed  in  March, 
and  nests  may  be  found  quite  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  rains.  The 
nest  is  pendant-shaped,  something  like  a  Florence  flask,  or  oval  with  a 
tapering  neck.  This  is  suspended  from  the  end  of  a  slender  branch  or 
twig.  All  sorts  of  material  are  made  use  of  in  constructing  the  nest : 
fibres,  cobwebs,  hair,  fine  grass,  bits  of  straw,  lichens,  dead  leaves, 
flower  petals,  pieces  of  rag,  &c,  are  all  pressed  into  service  and  are 
neatly  and  compactly  woven  together.  It  is  well  lined  with  soft 
vegetable  down.  The  nest  at  a  short  distance  resembles  one  of  the 
bunches  of  cobwebs,  so  commonly  met  with  on  trees  and  bushes. 
The  entrance,  which  is  on  one  side,  about  half  way  up,  is  shaded  by  a 
canopy,  beautifully  adapted  to  keep  out  the  rains.  The  eggs,  two  or 
three  in  number,  are  dingy  little  ovals.  The  ground  colour  is  greenish 
or  greyish-white,  usually  almost  obscured  by  greyish-brown  or 
purplish-grey  ill-defined  markings.  They  average  0'64  inch  in  length 
by  about  0*46  in  breadth. 

256. — Lanius  lahtora:  Sykes. 

The  Indian  Grey  Shrike  breeds  from  March  to  early  in  July,  but 
the  favorite  month  seems  to  be  April,  as  I  have  found  many  more 
nests  in  that  month  than  in  any  other.     The  nest  is  generally  placed 


46  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


in  the  centre  oi'  a  thorny  bush  or  small  tree,  and  is  composed  of 
various  materials,  such  as  thorny  twigs,  coarse  grass,  pieces  of  rag, 
&c,  which  form  the  body  of  the  nest,  while  the  interior  is  lined  with 
fine  grass,  hair,  and  the  like.  The  eggs,  usually  four  in  number,  are 
broad  oval  in  shape,  pointed  at  one  end,  and  are  greenish-white 
in  colour,  with  brown  and  purple  markings  ;  sometimes  these  are  ill 
defined,  but  occasionally  they  stand  out  clear  and  distinct,  and  not 
seldom  form  an  irregular  zone  at  the  larger  end.  They  measure 
1'05  inches  in  length  by  about  0"8  in  breadth. 

257. — Lanius  erythronoius  :  Vig, 

The  Rufous-backed  Shrike  breeds  from  June  to  August.  The  nest 
is  similar  to  that  of  L.  Lahtora,  but  is  perhaps,  as  a  rule,  more  com- 
pactly built.  The  eggs,  too,  are  similar  in  all  respects  except  size, 
measuring  0*92  inch  in  length  by    rather  more   than  0*7  in  breadth. 

2G0. — Lanius  vittatus:  Valenc. 

The  Bay-backed  Shrike  breeds  from  March  to  July.  The  nest, 
placed  in  a  fork  of  a  small  babool  tree,  is  deep  cup-shaped,  neatly 
and  compactly  built,  and  is  composed  of  fine  twigs,  grass  roots,  &c, 
lined  with  feathers  and  fine  grass.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are 
broad  ovals  in  shape,  and  are  of  a  pale  greyish  or  greenish-white 
colour,  with  an  ill-defined  zone  of  brownish  and  purplish  spots  at  the 
larger  end  with  a  few  spots  of  the  same  colour  scattered  over  the 
remaining  surface.  They  measure  0*83  inch  in  length  by  about 
U'G5  in  breadth. 

276. — Pericrocotus peregrinus:  Lin. 

The  Small  Minivet  breeds  during  July  and  August.  The  nest 
is  small,  neatly  and  compactly  built,  of  a  deepish  cup-shape,  and 
is  generally  located  in  a  fork  of  a  branch  of  a  tree  at  some  height 
from  the  ground.  It  is  composed  of  fine  twigs  bound  together  with 
cobwebs,  and  so  closely  resembles  the  bark  of  the  tree,  that  it  looks 
like  a  mere  knot  or  excrescence  ;  there  is  very  little  lining.  The 
eggs,  three  in  number,  are  rather  broadish  ovals,  of  a  pale  greenish- 
white  colour,  speckled,  spotted  and  blotched  with  bright  brownish-red. 
They  measure  0"6G  inch  in  length  by  about  053  in  breadth. 

278. — Buchanga  atra:  Herm. 

The  King  Crow  breeds   during  May  and  June.     A  few  nests  may 

be  found  in  July,    but   by  far  the    greater   number    are  to  be   found 

during  the  latter  part  of  May  and  the  commencement  of  June.     The 

nests  are  built  in  forks  at  the  extremities  of  branches,  generally  at 


birds'  nesting  in  rajpootana.  $? 


some  considerable  height  from  the  ground.  They  are  strongly  but 
slightly  made,  so  much  so,  that  the  contents  of  the  nest  can  be  seen 
from  below;  they  are  composed  of  grass  stems  and  roots  neatly 
interlaced.  The  eg^s,  four  in  number,  are  ^lossless  white  with 
numerous  spots  and  specks  of  rusty  red  and  reddish-brown;  occasionally 
the  eggs  are  of  a  deepish  salmon  tint,  the  spots  and  specks  being 
brownish-red.  I  have  never  found  a  pure  white  egg.  They  measure 
one  inch  in  length  by  about  three  quarters  of  an  inch  in  breadth. 

288, — Muscipeia  paradisi :  Lin. 

The  only  nest  of  the  Paradise  Flycatcher  that  I  found  was  in 
June,  and  it  was  not  quite  finished.  I  sent  a  shikaree  a  week  later 
to  examine  it,  when  it  contained  a  single  egg  which  he  brought  in; 
it  measures  0*8  inch  in  length  by  0"(5  in  breadth,  and  is  an  exact 
miniature  of  a  richly  coloured  King  Crow's  egg. 

292. — Leucocerca  aureola:  Vieili, 

The  White-browed  Fantail  breeds  from  the  latter  part  of  February 
to  the  commencement  of  August,  but  most  nests  arc  found  in  March 
and  July,  and  from  this  I  infer  that  they  have  two  broods  in  the 
year.  The  nest  is  usually  placed  on  the  upper  surface  of  a  horizontal 
branch ;  it  is  round  and  cup-shaped,  rather  deep,  and  is  composed 
of  fine  grass  roots,  tightly  bound  with  cobwebs,  and  is  a  very 
beautiful  nest,  not  much  bigger  than  the  top  of  a  wine-glass. 
The  eggs,  three  in  number,  are  little  bufty  ovals,  with  a  nimbus  or 
belt  of  spots  round  the  middle.  They  measure  0*66  inch  in  length 
\>y  about  0'5  in  breadth. 

385. — Pi/ctoris  sinensis  :  Gm. 

The  Yellow-eyed  Babbler  breeds  from  July  to  September.  The 
raests  are  placed  either  in  small  forks  in  trees,  or  between  the  stalks 
of  growing  corn  or  sedges.  When  in  the  former  situation,  the  nest  is 
deep  cup-shaped,  but  in  the  latter  it  is  more  cone-like,  the  bottom  of 
the  nest  being  frequently  prolonged  to  a  point.  The  nest  is  very 
handsome,  and  is  composed  of  broad-leaved  grasses,  strips  of  bark, 
vegetable  fibres  and  cobwebs.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  vary  much 
in  colour,  some  being  white  with  bold  hieroglyphic  blotches  of  rusty 
red  and  reddish-brown  ;  others  are  pinkish-white,  but  so  closely 
stippled  and  streaked  with  bright  brick-dust  red  as  to  leave  little  of 
the  ground  colour  visible.  Every  possible  combination  of  these  two 
types  is  to  be  met  with,  but  all  the  eggs  in  a  nest  are  of  the  one  kind- 
In   shape   they    are   broadish  ovals,   but   here    again     considerable 


48  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


variations  occur.     They  measure  0'73  inch   in  length  by  about   0*6 
in  breadth. 

432. — Malacocercm  terricolor  :  Hodgs. 
I  only  came  across  one  undoubted  nest  of  the  Bengal  Babbler.  This 
■was  in  April,  and  it  contained  four   eggs.     Both  nest  and  eggs  are 
absolutely  indistinguishable  from  those  of  a  Malcolmi. 

436. — Argya  malcolmi  :  Sykes. 
The  Large  Grey  Babbler  is  very  common,  and  I  have  found  nests  in 
each  month  from  January  to  December.  They  have,  I  believe,  several 
broods  in  the  year,  and  even  when  nesting  associate  in  small  parties 
of  seven  or  eight.  The  nests,  composed  of  grass  roots,  are  loosely 
but  neatly  woven  together,  and  are  placed  amongst  the  smaller 
branches  of  babool  trees,  at  no  great  height  from  the  ground.  The 
eggs,  four  in  number,  are  rather  broadish  ovals,  of  a  very  glossy 
greenish-blue  colour.  They  measure  1  inch  in  length  by  about  0*78 
in  breadth. 

438. — Chatarrlma  caudata  :  Dum. 
The  Striated  Bush  Babbler  breeds  from  March  to  July.  The  nest 
is  usually  placed  in  a  low  thorny  bush,  and  is  composed  of  grass 
roots  and  stems  ;  it  is  deep  cup-shaped,  neatly  and  compactly  built. 
The  eggs,  three  or  four  in  number,  are  longish  ovals,  slightly  com- 
pressed at  one  end,  and  are  of  a  pure,  pale,  spotless,  blue  colour. 
They  measure  0-85  inch  in  length  by  about  0*64  in  breadth. 

462. — Molpastes  Immorrhous  :  Gm. 
The  Common  Madras  Bulbul  breeds  from  April  to  September.  Nests 
arc  occasionally  found  even  earlier  than  this,  but  they  are  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule.  The  nest  is  usually  placed  in  a  fork  in  a  bush 
or  small  tree,  and  is  of  a  neat  cup-shape,  composed  of  grass,  roots, 
&c,  lined  with  hair,  fine  grass  and  fibres.  The  eggs,  three  or  four  in 
number,  are  normally  longish  ovals,  slightly  pointed  at  one  end,  and 
vary  very  much  in  colour.  One  type  is  pinkish  white,  thickly  speckled 
and  stippled  more  or  less  over  the  whole  surface  with  blood  red  ;  in 
another  type,  the  ground  colour  is  pink  with  large  blotches  of  deep 
red  and  smaller  ones  of  inky-purple.  Between  these  two  types 
almost  every  combination  occurs.  They  measure  0# 9  inch  in  length 
by  about  0*65  in  breadth. 

468. — lor  a  tiplda  :  Lin. 
The   White-winged  Green    Bulbul   or  Iora  breeds  at  Neemuch  in 
April  and  August.     I  only  found  two  nests:  one  in  April  contained 
three  unfledged  nestlings,  and  the  other  in  August  contained  three 


birds'  NESTING  in  rajpootana,  49 

fresh  eggs.  In  both  instancss  the  nests  were  placed  in  forks  of  guava 
trees,  and  were  neatly  and  strongly  yet  slightly  built,  composed  of 
grass  roots  and  fibres  bound  together  with  cobwebs.  The  eggs  are 
broadish  ovals  in  shape,  and  are  creamy  white  in  colour,  with  long 
streaks  of  purplish  and  yellowish-brown.  They  measure  069  inch 
in  length  by  0*55  in  breadth. 

470. — Oriolus  Tcundoo  :  Stkes. 

The  Indian  Oriole  breeds  during  July  and  August.  The  nest, 
pocket-shaped,  is  suspended  between  a  fork  at  the  extremity  of  a 
branch  of  a  large  tree.  It  is  composed  of  grass  and  roots,  bound 
round  the  twigs  forming  the  fork  with  strips  of  bark  ;  it  is  lined  with 
fine  grass.  The  eggs,  three  in  number,  are  longish  orals,  pointed  at 
one  end,  and  are  of  a  beautiful  glossy  china  white  colour,  with  clearly 
defined,  deep,  blackish-brown  spots.  They  measure  1*1  in  inches 
length  by  about  0*8  in  breadth. 

475. — Copsychus  saularis  :  Lin. 

The  Magpie  Eobin  breeds  during  April  and  May.  The  nests  are 
placed  in  holes  in  trees  or  old  stone  walls,  and  are  often  mere  pads, 
with  a  depression  in  the  centre  for  the  reception  of  the  eggs,  and  are 
composed  of  roots,  grass,  hair,  &c.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are 
moderately  broad  ovals,  pointed  at  one  end,  and  are  bluish  or  greenish- 
white  in  colour,  speckled  and  spotted  with  different  shades  of  reddish- 
brown.    They  measure  0*81  inch  in  length  by  about  0*67  in  breadth. 

480. — ThamnoMa  cambaiensis  :  Lath. 

The  Northern  Indian  Robin  breeds  from  March  to  the  middle  of 
July.  The  nest  is  placed  in  a  hole  in  a  tree  or  stone  wall,  under  a 
bank  or  the  eaves  of  houses,  and  such  like  places,  and  is  generally  a 
mere  pad,  composed  of  roots,  grass,  hair,  leaves,  feathers,  &c.  The 
eggs,  four  in  number,  are  oval  in  shape,  pointed  at  one  end,  and  are 
pale  greenish-white  in  colour,  speckled  and  spotted  with  different 
shades  of  reddish-brown. 

494. — Cereomela  fusca  :  Bltth. 

The  Brown  Rock  Chat  breeds  from  March  to  the  end  of  July, 
rearing,  I  believe,  two  or  three  broods  in  the  season.  The  nests,  which 
are  mere  pads  of  grass  roots  and  hair,  are  placed  in  holes  in  stone 
walls,  in  clefts  in  rocks,  and  under  banks.  The  eggs,  three  or  four 
in  number,  are  broadish  ovals  pointed  at  one  end,  and  are  of  a  pure, 
pale,  blue  colour,  with  spots  and  specks  of  red  and  reddish-brown, 
chiefly  confined  to  the  larger  end,  where  they  often  form  a  belt. 
They  measure  0'82  inch  in  length  by  about  0'62  in  breadth. 


50  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


530. — Orthotonus  sulorius  :  Forst. 
The  Indian  Tailor  Bird  breeds  from  July  to  the  end  of  September. 
The  bird  selects  a  largish  leaf  and  manages  to  fasten  the  edges  to- 
gether by  a  few  shreds  of  cotton,  and  in  the  cavity  thus  formed  it 
constructs  a  nest,  composed  almost  exclusively  of  cotton,  with  only 
just  sufficient  hairs  in  it  to  give  it  elasticity  and  to  keep  it  in  shape. 
This  is  the  most  common  type  of  nest,  but  often  they  sew  two  or  more 
leaves  together.  The  eggs,  three  in  number,  are  longish  ovals, 
generally  whitish  with  a  few  blotches  of  bright  rusty  red.  Occasionally 
the  eggs  are  pale  greenish-white  with  the  rusty  red  markings  Less 
bright.     They  measure  0'64  inch  in  length  by  about 0"45  in  breadth, 

534. — Prinia  socialis  :  Sykes. 
The  Ashy  Wren  Warbler  breeds  about  the  same  time  and  in  a 
somewhat  similar  manner  to  the  Tailor  Bird,  but  the  nest  is  not  so 
neatly  made,  and  grass  and  fibres  are  oftener  used  in  its  construction. 
The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  broadish  ovals  of  a  glossy  brick  red  or 
mahogany  colour.  They  measure  0  64  inch  in  length  by  about 
0-47  in  breadth. 

535. — Prinia  stewarti  :  Blyth. 
Stewart's  Wren  Warbler  breeds  in  a  precisely  similar  manner  to 
the  Ashy  Wren  Warbler,  and  I  could  discover  no  constant  difference 
either  in  the  shape,  size,  or  colour  of  the  eggs. 

543. — Drynmca  inornata  :  Sykes. 
The  Earth-brown  Wren  Warbler  breeds  during  the  monsoon,  that 
is,  from  July  to  the  end  of  September.  A  favourite  site  for  a  nest  is 
under  the  broad  leaf  of  a  shrub  that  grows  very  commonly  in  the 
district.  It  constructs  a  purse-shaped  nest,  with  fine  shreds  or  strips 
of  grass.  The  leaf  which  forms  a  roof  to  the  nest  is  pierced  through 
and  through  with  these  shreds,  and  here  and  there  a  strip  of  grass  is 
fastened  to  an  adjoining  leaf  or  stalk.  Another  common  type  of  nest 
is  formed  by  attaching  strips  of  grass  to  thorny  twigs,  so  as  to  form 
a  sort  of  framework,  and  then  carefully  weaving  other  strips  between 
them,  the  nest  necessarily  taking  the  shape  of  the  framework. 
Another  kind  of  nest  is  simply  a  rather  less  neatly  woven  purse, 
attached  to  the  stems  of  growing  corn  or  sedges.  The  nest  is  never 
lined.  The  eggs,  four,  sometimes  five,  in  number,  are  oval  in  shape, 
and  glossy  pale  greenish-blue  in  colour,  with  blotches  and  spots  of  deep 
chocolate  and  reddish-brown,  and  an  intricate  tracery  of  closely  inter- 
laced delicate  lines  round  the  large  end  ;  occasionally  these  lines  are 
absent.     They  measure  0"6  inch  in  length  by  about  0*45   in   breadth. 


BIRDS'  NESTING    IN   RAJPOOT  ANA.  51 

545. — Drymceca  sylvatica  :  Jerd. 

The  Jungle  Wren  Warbler  breeds  during  the  monsoon,  making 
a  globular  nest  of  grass  and  fibres.  The  eggs,  four  or  five  in  number, 
are  of  two  distinct  types,  pale  greenish-white  with  very  close  but 
minute  specks  of  rusty  red,  and  white  with  similar  markings. 
Th^y  measure  0*69  inch  in  length  by  about  0"5  in  breadth. 
551. — Franklinia  buchanani  :  Blyth. 

The  Rufous-fronted  Wren  Warbler  breeds  during  July,  August, 
and  the  early  part  of  September.  The  nest,  composed  of  grass,  is 
loosely  constructed,  and  is  placed  in  low  bushes  or  scrub.  The 
eggs,  five  in  number,  are  broadish  oval  in  shape,  white  in  colour 
(tinged  bluish),  thickly  and  finely  speckled  with  dingy  red.  They 
measure  0*61  inch  in  length  by  about  0*48  in  breadth. 
589. — Motacilla  maderaspatenis  :  Gm. 

The  Pied  Wagtail  breeds  during  March,  April  and  May.  The 
nest  is  a  mere  pad  of  grass,  roots,  hair,  &c,  placed  in  a  hole  in  a 
wall  or  well,  on  a  rocky  or  earthy  ledge,  or  anything  solid,  but  always 
in  the  vicinity  of  water.  The  eggs,  three  or  four  in  number, 
are  broadish  oval  in  shape,  pointed  at  one  end,  and  are  greenish  or 
earthy-white  in  colour,  with  dingy  brown  markings.  They  measure 
0*9  inches  in  length  by  about  0"65  in  breadth. 

660. — Corvas  rnucrorhynchus  :  Wagl. 

The  Bow-billed  Corby  breeds  from  the  latter  end  of  February 
to  about  the  middle  of  April,  making  the  usual  corvine  stick  nest. 
The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  moderately  broad  ovals  in  shape, 
and  are  greenish-blue  in  colour  with  spots,  streaks,  and  dashes  of 
sepia,  blackish  and  olive-brown.  They  measure  1*73  inches  in 
length  by  about  1'19  in  breadth. 

663. — Corvus  splendens  :  Vieili. 

The  Ashy-necked  or  Common  Indian  Crow  breeds  during  May 
and  June.  The  eggs  are  of  the  usual  corvine  type,  but  are  much 
smaller  than  those  of  the  Corby,  measuring  1*4  inches  in  length 
by  about  0*98  in  breadth. 

684. — Acridotheres  trislis  :  Lin. 

The  Common  Myna  breeds  during  June  and  July.  A  favourite  spot 
for  a  nest  is  on  the  top  of  a  pillar,  in  a  verandah,  just  under  the 
roof,  but  holes  in  trees  and  walls  are  not  neglected.  The  nest  is  a 
mere  collection  of  fine  twigs,  roots  and  grasses.  The  eggs,  four  or 
five  in  number  (quite  as  often  one  as  the  other),  are  longish  ovals 
in  shape,  and  unspotted  greenish-blue  in  colour.  They  measure  1*2 
inches  in  length  by  about  0'86  in  breadth. 


52  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


685. — Acridotheres  ginginianus  :  Lath. 

The  Bank  Myna  breeds  in  holes,  made  by  themselves,  in  river 
banks,  about  May.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  counterparts 
of  those  of  the  Common  Myna,  but  are  smaller.  They  measure 
1*05  inches  in  length  by  about  0'87  in  breadth. 

687. — Sturnia  pagodarum  :  Gm. 

The  only  nest  of  the  Brahminy  Myna  that  I  found  was  in  June  ; 
it  was  in  a  hole  in  a  tree,  and  contained  three  fresh  eggs.  They  aro 
longish  ovals  in  shape,  and  are  of  a  pale  greenish-blue  colour,  and 
measure  0'97  inches  in  length  by  about  0*73  in  breadth. 

694. — Ploceus  philippinus  :  Lin. 

The  Baya  or  Weaver  Bird  commences   to   breed    about  the  latter 
end  of  July,  that  is,  when  the  rains  have  set  in  ;    it  is  a  gregarious 
builder,    as    many  as    forty   nests   being   frequently   counted  upon 
one  tree,   which   is   usually  a  thorny   babool,    growing    over    water, 
river,  tank  or  well,  it  does  not  matter   which,  thus  obtaining   greater 
protection.     The   nests   are     retort-shaped,   and   are     composed    of 
strips  of  grass,   ingeniously   interwoven  ;    the  grass  is  always    used 
green.     They  commence  operations  at  the   extreme  end  of  a   slender 
twig,  and  for  the  first  few  inches  the  nest  is  solid,  gradually  increas- 
ing in  size.    After  about  a  foot  of  the  nest  is  made,  they  commence  to 
form  a  receptacle  for  the  eggs   on   one   side   and  a  tubular    entrance 
opposite,  a   strong   loop   being   made   across    the   nest   to    form   the 
division.     The   egg  compartment  is  about  seven  inches  in  length  by 
six  in  breadth   and  four  and-a-half  in  width,  but   they   vary  much. 
The   above     dimensions   are     of     a   very   fine     nest.     The   tubular 
entrance  is  generally  five  or  six   inches  in   length,  but   as    the   male 
bird   goes  on   increasing   the   length   during  the  time     the  female 
is  sitting,   it   often   reaches  an   almost   incredible   length.     I   have 
seen  one  measuring  sixteen  inches.    I  am  puzzled  as  to    what  the 
ordinary   number  of  eggs  is.     I  have  often  found  two  eggs,  much 
incubated ;  many  times  I  have  met  with  four,  and  on   one  occasion 
I  took  seven  from  the  same   nest.     The  eggs   are   moderately   long 
ovals,  pointed  at  one  end,  and  are  dull  white  in  colour.    They  measure 
0*82  inches  in  length  by  about  059  in  breadth. 

695. — Ploceus  mangar  :  Hors. 

The  Striated  Weaver  Bird  breeds  about  the  same  time  as  its 
relative  P.  Philippimis.  The  nest  is  very  similar,  but  instead  of 
being  affixed  to  the  end  of  a  bough,   it  is  fastened  to  the  top  of  a 


birds'  nesting  in  rajpootana.  53 

bunch  of  reeds  growing  in  water.     The  eggs  are  much  like   those  of 
P.  Philippinus,  but  are  rather  smaller. 

703. — Amadina  malabarka  :  Lin. 

I  have  found  nests  of  the  Pintail  Munia  throughout  the  year. 
They  are  usually  placed  iu  low  thorny  bushes,  but  they  are  very 
variable  in  the  site  they  select.  I  once  found  a  nest  under  the  eaves 
of  an  out-house,  and  not  unfrequently  they  make  their  nests  in  the 
sticks  forming  the  foundation  of  a  Kite's  nest.  The  eggs,  pure  white 
in  colour,  vary  from  5  to  9  in  number,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  occasionally  more  birds  than  one  lay  in  the  same  nest.  They 
measure  0*6  in  length  by  about  0*4.7  in  breadth. 

704. — Estrelda  amandava  :  Lin. 

I  found  but  a  single  nest  of  the  Red-waxbill,  and  it  contained  four 
half-fledged  nestlings.     This  was  in  October. 

706. — Passer  domesticus  :  Lin. 

The  House  Sparrows  breed  from  February  to  August,  and  are 
quite  a  nuisance  the  while  ;  no  amount  of  persecution  seems  to 
deter  them  from  building  in  a  place  when  once  they  have  made  up 
their  minds  to  it. 

711. — Gymnoris  ftavicollis  :  Frankl. 

The  Yellow-throated  Sparrow  breeds  during  April  and  May  in 
holes  in  trees.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  much  smaller  and 
darker  than  those  of  Passer  domesticus.  They  measure  0*74  in 
length  by  0*54  in  breadth. 

756. — Mirafra  erythropygia  :  Jerd. 

The  Red-winged  Bush  Lark  breeds  from  March  to  September.  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  it  has  two  broods  in  the  year,  as  nests 
are  much  more  commonly  found  in  March  and  April,  and  again  in 
August  and  September.  The  nest  is  built  upon  the  ground,  under 
the  shelter  of  a  tussock  of  grass,  and  is  composed  of  grass  stems  and 
roots.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  oval  in  shape,  and  are  of  a 
greenish-white  colour,  speckled  and  spotted  with  various  shades  of 
reddish  and  yellowish-brown,  They  measure  0'78  inches  in  length 
by  about  0"6  in  breadth. 

757. — Mirafra  cantillans  :.  Jerd. 

The  Singing  Bush  Lark  is  decidedly  rare  at  Neemuch,  and  I  only 
succeeded  in  finding  one  nest,  which  was  in  September.  This  was 
similar  to  that  of  the  Red-winged  Bush  Lark  as   regards  locality  and 


54  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


material,  but  was  more  perfectly  domed  over.  The  eggs,  four  in 
number,  were  much  incubated.  They  measured  078  inches  in  length 
by  about  0*6  in  breadth. 

758.— Ammomanes  pTmnkura  :  Frankl. 

The  Rufous-tailed  Finch  Lark  breeds  during  March  and  April  ; 
the  nest  is  a  mere  circular  pad,  placed  in  a  cavity  under  a  clod  of 
earth,  and  is  composed  of  grass  roots,  scantily  lined  with  a  few 
hairs  ;  the  eggs,  usually  three  in  number  (I  once  found  four),  are 
very  variable  in  size,  shape  and  color,  but  are  usually  longish  ovals, 
measuring  085  inches  in  length  by  about  OG2  in  breadth,  and  are 
usually  yellowish-white  in  color,  with  specks  and  spots  of  reddish 
or  yellowish-brown. 

760. — Pgrrhulauda  grisea  :  SCop. 

I  found  nests  and  eggs  of  the  Black-bellied  Finch  Lark  in  each* 
month  throughout  the  year,  with  the  exception  of  July  and  August. 
The  nest,  which  is  a  soft  pad,  with  a  depression  for  the  eggs,  is  placed 
in  a  footprint  or  slight  hollow  in  the  ground,  under  the  shelter  of  a 
clod  of  earth  or  tussock  of  grass.  The  eggs,  two  in  number,  occa- 
sionally ihree,  are  moderately  long  ovals,  of  a  dingy  or  greyish-white 
color,  thickly  speckled,  sprinkled  and  spotted  with  yellowish-brown. 
They  measure  O7o  inches  in  leDgth  by  about  0*55  in  breadth. 

705. — Spizalaiida  (leva  :  Sykes. 

The  Southern  Crown-crest  Lark  breeds  during  July,  August  and 
September  ;  the  nest  is  placed  on  the  ground  in  the  centre  of,  or  under 
the  shelter  of,  a  tussock  of  grass,  and  is  composed  of  grass  roots  and 
fibres  ;  it  is  of  a  shallow  cup-shape.  The  eggs,  two  or  three  in  num- 
ber, quite  as  often  one  as  the  other,  are  oval  in  shape,  pointed  at  one 
end,  and  are  of  a  dingy  white  colour,  profusely  spotted  and  speckled 
with  yellowish  and  earthy  brown.  They  measure  O'oG  inches  in 
length  by  about  0*63  in  breadth. 

767. — Alauda  gulgula  :  Frankl. 
The  Indian  Sky-lark  breeds  during  the  month  of  July,  possibly 
both  earlier  and  later,  but  July  is  the  only  month  in  which  I  have 
obtained  eggs.  The  nest,  composed  of  fine  grass,  is  placed  in  a  de- 
pression in  the  ground,  and  the  eggs,  three  or  four  in  number,  are 
moderately  broad  ovals,  of  a  dingy  or  greyish- white  colour,  spotted 
and  speckled  with  yellowish-brown  and  purplish-grey.  They  measure 
08  inches  in  length  by  about  OG  in  breadth. 


BIRDS*    NESTING    IN  RAJTOOTANA.  55 


773. — Crocopus  chlorigasier  :  Bly. 
I  found  the  Southern  Green  Pigeon  breeding  in  March.    The  nest, 
which  was  of  the  usual  stick   type,    contained    two    pure  white  eggs. 
They  were  much  incubated,  but  were  still  highly  glossy.  They  measured 
1*2  inches  in  length  by  0'9  in  breadth. 

788. — Columba  intermedia,  Brickl. 

By  far  the  favourite  site  for  the  nest  of  the  Indian  Blue  Rock 
Pigeon  is  in  holes  in  masonry  wells. 

794. — Turtur  senegalensis  :  Smil. 

The  Little  Brown  Dove  breeds  throughout  the  year  ;  it  shows  a 
decided  preference  for  prickly-pear  bushes,  as  I  found  twenty  nests 
in  them  to  one  elsewhere.  The  eggs  average  an  inch  in  length  to 
about  0*84  in  breadth. 

795. — Turtur  suratensis  :  Gm. 

The  Spotted  Dove  has  not  such  an  extensive  breeding  season  as  the 
Little  Brown  Dove  ;  indeed,  I  have  only  found  nests  in  September. 
The  eggs  measure  l'l  inch  in  length  by  about  0*85  in  breadth. 

796. — Turtur  risorius  :  Lin. 

The  Common  Ring  Dove  breeds  from   October  to  July ;  at  least 
I  have  taken  eggs  in  each   of  these  months,  but  I  believe   that  had 
I  searched,  I  should  have  found  them  during  the  remaining  months. 
The  eggs  measure  1*15  inches  in  length  by  about  092  in  breadth. 
797. — Turtur  tranquebaricus  :  Herm. 

I  only  found  nests  of  the  Ruddy  Ring  Dove  in  November,  so  that 
its  bi'eeding  season  seems  much  more  restricted  than  is  generally  the 
case  with  doves.  The  bird  is  not  common,  and  is  very  locally 
distributed.  The  eggs  measure  1*01  inches  in  length  by  about  08 
in  breadth. 

800. — Pterocles  fasciatus  :  Scop. 

I  was  very  unfortunate  in  not  obtaining  eggs  of  the  Painted 
Grouse.  The  birds  are  by  no  means  uncommon,  and  I  have  frequently 
obtained  young  ones. 

802. — Pterocles  exustus  :  Tem. 

The  Common  Sand  Grouse  has  a  very  extended  breeding  season, 
as  I  have  found  eggs  from  January  to  June.  They  are  three  in 
number,  and  are  placed  in  a  depression  in  the  soil,  and  are  of  a  long 
cylindrical  shape,  equally    rounded   at    r>oth  ends.    They    are    of  a 


56  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


greenish-stone  colour,  spotted,  streaked,  clouded  and  blotched,  olive- 
brown  and  pale  inky  purple.  They  measure  1*45  inches  in  length 
by  about  an  inch  in  breadth. 

803. — Pavo  cristatus  :  Liw. 

The  Pea-fowl  breeds  during  August  and  September,  when  the 
rains  are  at  their  height.  The  eggs,  six  or  seven  in  number,  are 
laid  in  a  depression  in  the  soil  (scratched  by  the  hen),  scantily  lined 
with  a  few  grass  stems  or  leaves.  They  are  broadish  ovals,  slightly 
pointed  at  one  end,  and  are  creamy-white  or  pale  cafe-au-lait  in 
colour,  pitted  all  over  like  a  Guinea-fowl's  egg.  They  measure  2*75 
inches  in  length  by  about  2  in  breadth. 

8-14. — Galloperdix  sjutdieetis  :  Val. 

The  Bed  Spur  Fowl  breeds  during  June  and  July,  and  probably 
earlier,  as  I  saw  a  brood  of  chicks  early  in  July  that  must 
have  been  hatched  in  the  beginning  of  June.  The  nest  is  very 
slight,  placed  in  a  depression  in  the  ground,  scratched  by  the  hen 
herself.  The  eggs,  from  four  to  six  in  number,  are  miniatures  of  those 
of  the  domestic  fowl.  They  measure  1*6  inches  in  length  by  about  1*2 
in  breadth. 

819. — Francolinus  pictus  :  Jar.  &  Sel. 

The  Painted  Partridge  lays  after  the  rains  have  well  set  in,  viz., 
about  August  and  September.  The  nest  is  a  very  loosely  made  pad, 
placed  in  a  depression  in  the  ground.  The  eggs,  six  or  seven  in 
number,  are  peg-top  shaped,  and  are  of  a  smoky  white  colour.  They 
measure  1*4  inches  in  length  and  about  1*15  in  breadth. 

822. — Ortygornis  pondiceriana  :  Gm. 

The  Grey  Partridge  breeds  from  the  end  of  March  to  quite  the 
middle  of  June.  The  eggs  are  occasionally  found  on  the  bare  ground, 
but  there  is  generally  a  more  or  less  compact  pad,  placed  in  a 
depression  in  the  ground  under  cover  of  a  tuft  of  grass.  The  eggs, 
six  to  nine  in  number,  are  slightly  elongated  ovals,  pinched  in  more 
or  less  at  one  end,  and  are  of  a  slightly  soiled  white  colour,  and 
measure  1*3  inches  in  length  by  about  1  inch  in  breadth. 

826. — Perdkula  asiaiica  ■.  Lath. 

The  Jungle  Bush  Quail  lays  towards  the  end  of  the  rains.  I  have 
never  succeeded  in  obtaining  eggs}  but  have  many  times  flushed 
broods  of  chicks. 


birds'  nesting  in  RAJPOOTANA.  57 

827. — Perdicula  argoondah  :  Sykes. 

The  Rock  Bush  Quail  breeds  from  August  to  December.  They  may 
commence  earlier,  but  I  have  only  found  eggs  in  the  months  men- 
tioned. The  nest  is  placed  in  the  ground  generally  under  a  clump  of 
grass  or  shrub,  and  is  composed  of  a  few  blades  of  grass.  The  eggs, 
six  or  seven  in  number,  are  much  like  those  of  the  Grey  Partridge, 
but  are  much  smaller.  They  measure  1  inch  in  length  by  about  0*82 
in  breadth. 

836. — Eupodotis  edwardsi  :  Gray. 

The  Indian  Bustard  is  fairly  common  at  Neemuch.  I  have  an  egg 
that  was  found  on  the  bare  ground  under  a  tuft  of  Sarpat  grass  in 
July.  This  egg  is  of  a  dark  olive  brown  colour,  with  a  few  streaks  and 
smudges  of  a  darker  shade.  It  measures  3'1  inches  in  length  by 
2*25  in  breadth. 

839. — Sypheotides  aurita  :  Lath. 

The  Likh  or  Lesser  Florican  does  not  breed  until  the  rains  have 
well  set  in,  that  is,  not  until  September  and  October.  There  is  no 
nest  ;  the  eggs,  three  or  four  in  number,  being  deposited  on  the  bare 
ground,  under  cover  of  a  stunted  bush  or  tussock  of  grass.  They  are 
broad  oval  in  shape,  and  are  of  an  olive  green  colour  with  reddish 
brown  streaks  and  smudges.  They  measure  1*9  inches  in  length  by 
1*6  in  breadth. 

840. — Cursorins  coromandelicus  :  Gm, 
The  Indian  Courser  or  Courier  Plover  breeds  during  March  and 
April.  There  is  no  nest.  The  eggs,  two  or  three  in  number,  are 
deposited  on  the  bare  ground,  under  shelter  afforded  by  a  clod  of 
earth  or  tussock  of  grass.  Owing  to  their  colour  assimilating  so  closely 
to  the  ground  on  which  they  are  placed,  they  are  very  difficult  to 
find.  The  eggs  are  nearly  spherical  in  shape,  and  are  of  a  yellowish 
stone  colour,  closely  spotted,  speckled  and  lined  with  blackish  brown? 
and  having  a  few  underlying  clouds  or  smudges  of  pale  inky  grey. 
They  measure  1*2  inches  in  length  by  0'98  in  breadth. 

850. — JEijialitis  minutus  :  Pall. 
The  Lesser  Ringed  Plover  breeds  abundantly  during  March  and 
April.  There  is  no  nest.  The  eggs,  three  in  number,  are  placed  on 
the  sand,  in  the  bed  of  a  river  ;  they  are  broad  oval  in  shape,  much 
pointed  at  one  end,  and  are  of  a  yellowish  stone  colour,  thinly  lined 
and  spotted  with  blackish  brown.  They  measure  1*2  inches  in  length 
by  about  0-83  in  breadth. 


58  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


The  anxiety  exhibited  by  these  little  Plovers,  when  they  have 
yonng,  and  their  many  devices  to  entice  intruders  away  from  their 
vicinity,  quite  equals  anything  recorded  of  the  Lapwing.  On  the 
17th  April,  while  wandering  on  the  banks  of  a  nullah,  my  atten- 
tion was  arrested  by  the  peculiar  movements  of  one  of  these 
birds.  It  was  lying  on  its  side  as  if  in  death  agony  with  its  wings 
fluttering  and  quivering  ;  it  would  make  an  attempt  to  fly,  but 
after  proceeding  a  yard  or  two  it  would  fall  down  headlong  as  if 
shot.  Suspecting  that  it  had  eggs  or  young  near,  I  made  a  diligent 
search,  but  could  find  nothing,  the  bird  all  the  time  accompanying 
me  and  making  the  most  frantic  efforts  to  distract  my  attention. 
I  left  oft  searching,  but  carefully  watched  the  bird  from  a  dis- 
tance. After  a  short  time  it  settled  itself  down,  as  a  hen  would  squat- 
ting over  chicks.  I  carefully  marked  the  spot,  made  a  sudden  rush  at  it, 
and  then  on  my  hands  and  knees  I  carefully  felt  all  round,  and 
presently  found  a  tiny  fluffy  chick,  apparently  stone  dead.  I  thought 
that  I  must  have  stepped  upon  it  and  killed  it.  I  felt  very  sorry,  tut 
all  at  once  I  saw  the  little  beggar  open  one  eye  and  take  a  look  at 
me.  I  placed  it  on  the  ground,  and  taking  my  eye  off  of  it  for  a 
moment,  it  disappeared  ;  and  it  was  only  after  a  long  and  painstaking 
search  that  I  again  found  it,  still  apparently  dead.  I  moved  a  few 
paces  away  and  watched  it.  After  a  moment  it  opened  its  eyes,  gave 
a  slight  stretch,  and  disappeared  as  if  by  magic.  I  found  three 
broken  egg  shells  close  by,  and  they  appeared  as  if  the  chicks 
had  only  just  been  hatched,  and  there  must  have  been  two  others 
close  by  me,  although  they  escaped  my  search. 

855. — LoMvantllus  indicus  :  Bodd. 

The  Red-wattled  Lapwing  breeds  from  April  to  July.  There  is 
no  nest.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  placed  on  the  ground, 
almost  always  in  the  vicinity  of  water.  They  are  broad  oval  in 
shape,  much  pointed  at  one  end,  or  I  should  say  a  peg-top  shape. 
They  vary  somewhat  in  colour,  but  are  usually  of  a  yellowish  buff, 
blotched  and  streaked  with  reddish  brown.  They  measure  1'64 
inches  in  length  by  about  1*25  in  breadth. 

856. — Loh'phwia  Malalarica  :  Bodd. 
The  Yellow-wattled  Lapwing  breeds  during  April  and  May. 
There  is  no  nest.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  deposited  on  the 
bare  ground,  without  any  attempt  at  concealment ;  they  are  not 
partial  to  water,  but  frequent  by  preference  bare  sandy  plains.  The 
eggs   are   similar   in   shape   to  those  of  Lobivanellus    indicus,    but 


birds'  nesting  in  rajpootana.  59 

are  much  smaller,  only  measuring   1*45    inches   in   length    by    1*06 
in  breadth. 

862. — Grus  anti-gone  :  Lin. 
The  Sarus  breeds  freely  during  August  and  September,  but  I 
found  two  fresh  eggs  in  February  while  duck  shooting  and  two 
incubated  in  March,  probably  both  these  clutches  belonged  to 
birds  that  had  had  their  first  eggs  accidentally  destroyed.  The  eggs, 
two  in  number,  are  of  an  elongated  oval  shape,  pointed  at  one 
end.  They  vary  in  colour,  but  are  generally  creamy  white, 
more  or  less  spotted  and  blotched  with  pale  yellowish-brown  and 
purplish-pink.  They  measure  3*9  inches  in  length  by  2'55  in 
breadth. 

873. — Rhynchcm  bengalensis:  Lin. 
I  f -unci  the  Painted  Snipe  breeding  in  May.  It  probably  breeds 
both  earlier  and  later  than  this,  but  this  was  the  only  month  in 
which  I  obtained  eggs.  They  are  broadish  oval  in  shape,  pinched 
in  at  one  end,  and  are  of  a  buffy  colour,  blotched  and  streaked  with 
rich  black  brown.  They  measure  1*4  inches  in  length  by  1  in 
breadth- 

900. — Metapodius  indica  :  Lath. 

The  Bronze-winged  Jacana  breeds  during  July  and  August, 
making  a  floating  nest  of  weeds.  The  eggs  (I  never  found  more 
than  four  but  then  they  were  all  fresh),  are  broad  ovals,  pointed 
at  one  end,  and  are  generally  of  a  rich  cafe-au-lait  colour,  but  are 
subject  to  considerable  variation.  One  clutch  I  have  is  a  dark  olive 
brown,  while  another  is  a  very  pale  stone  brown.  The  eggs  of  this 
last  clutch  are  abnormally  small.  The  markings,  consisting  of  a 
network  of  entangled  lines,  are  very  deep  blackish  brown.  The 
eggs  are  highly  glossy,  and  measure  1'47  inches  in  length  by  1*02  in 
breadth. 

901. — Hydrophasianus  chirargus:  Scop. 

The  Pheasant-tailed  Jacana  breeds  during  August  and  September. 
The  nest  is  a  floating  one,  composed  of  grass  and  aquatic  plants. 
The  eggs,  four  in  number,  are  peg-top  shaped,  and  are  of  a  glossy 
rufous  or  greenish  bronze.  They  measure  1*46  inches  in  length  by 
about  1*1  inch  in  breadth. 

902. — Porphgrio  Poliocephalus :  Lath. 

The  Purple  Coot  breeds  during  September.  The  nests,  built  of 
rushes  and  reeds,  are  floating  but  not  free,  and  occasionally  they  rest 
upon  the  ground.     The  eggs,  seven  or  eight  in  number,  are  broadish 


GO  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

ovals  in  shape,  and  are  of  a  pale  pinkish  stone  colour,  thickly  spotted 
and  blotched  with  rich  red  brown  and  pale  purple.  They  measure 
1*93  inches  in  length  by  about  1*4  in  breadth. 

903. — Fulica  atra:  Lin. 
I  did  not  succeed  in  finding  a  nest  of  the  Common  Coot,  but  a 
native  fisherman,  who  has  often  given  me  information  reo-ardino- 
nests  and  eggs,  and  whom  I  have  generally  found  reliable,  reported 
that  he  had  seen  a  batch  of  newly-hatched  chicks  in  April.  I  was 
too  busy  at  the  time  to  go  out,  so  could  not  verify  his  statement, 
but  suspect  that  what  he  saw  was  a  brood  of  the  white-breasted 
Water  Hen. 

907. — Eryihra  phamicura:  Penn. 
The  White-breasted  Water  Hen  breeds  from  May  to  August. 
All  the  nests  I  have  found  have  been  placed  in  the  branches  of  dense 
bushes  or  trees  close  to  water.  The  eggs,  four  in  number,  differ 
much  in  size,  shape  and  colour.  Eggs  of  the  same  clutch  will  even 
differ.  The  usual  type  is  creamy  white,  with'yellowish  brown  and  light 
red  spots  and  blotches,  with  apparently  underlying  markings  of  pale 
bluish  gray.  Some  eggs  I  have  are  white  with  scarcely  any  markings. 
They  are  usually  broadish  oval  in  shape,  and  average  1*55  inches  in 
length  by  about  1'18  in  breadth. 

930. — Archola  ffrayi :  Sykes. 
The  Indian  Pond  Heron  breeds  from  June  to  August,  generally  in 
small  colonies,  but  isolated  nests  not  unfrequently  occur.  They  are 
composed  of  sticks,  and  are  of  a  platform  shape.  The  eggs,  four  or 
five  in  number,  are  rather  longish  ovals,  slightly  pointed  at  one  end, 
and  are  of  a  deep  sea-green  colour.  They  measure  1'48  inches  in 
length  by  1*17  in  breadth. 

938. — Tantalus  leucoeephalus  :  Gmel. 
The  Pelican  Ibis  breeds  in  colonies  during  March  and  April; 
The  nests  are  small,  rough  platforms,  composed  of  sticks,  and 
are  placed  high  up  in  lofty  trees,  often  in  the  vicinity  of  villages. 
The  eggs  (I  never  found  more  than  four,  but  they  were  fresh  and 
probably  the  birds  lay  more)  are  elongated  ovals,  pointed  at  one 
end,  and  are  of  a  dull  unspotted  white.  They  measure  2*77  inches  in 
length  by  about  1'88  in  breadth. 

950. — Sarcidiornis  melanonotus  :  Penn. 
I  have  been  very  unfortunate  with  the  Nukhtah,  as  I  could  never 
obtain  an  egg,  but   several   times   in  September  I  have  shot  half- 
fledged  young. 


EIRDS'    NESTING    IN    RAJPOOTANA.  61 

951. — Nettapus  coromandelicus  :  Lin. 

This  is  another  bird  whose  eggs  I  have  been  unable  to  procure, 
although  1  have  often  seen  the  young. 

952. — Dendrocygna  javanica  :  Hors. 

The  Whistling  Teal  breeds  during  August  and  September.  In 
Neemuch  I  have  never  found  the  nests  on  trees,  but  always  amongst 
the  sedges  on  the  border  of  a  tank.  The  eggs,  six  or  seven  in 
number,  are  broad  oval  in  shape,  and  are  milky  white  in  colour.  They 
measure  1*85  inches  in  length  by  about  1*49  in  breadth. 

959. — Anas  ■pcecilorhijncha  :  Cuv. 

I  have  never  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  eggs  of  this  duck,  but 
have  often  at  the  end  of  the  rains  shot  the  ducklings. 

975. — Podiceps  minor  :  Gm. 

The  Dabchick  breeds  during  September  and  October.  The  nest, 
a  floating  one,  is  composed  of  aquatic  weeds  and  sedges.  The  eggs, 
four  or  five  in  number,  are,  Avhen  freshly  laid,  chalky  white,  but  as 
incubation  proceeds  they  become  much  stained,  from  the  habit  the 
bird  has  of  covering  her  eggs  with  wet  weeds  when  she  leaves  the 
nest.  They  are  elongated  ovals  in  shape,  pointed  at  each  end,  and 
measure  1*39  inches  in  length  by  about  0*99  in  breadth. 

985. — Sterna  seena  :  Sykes. 

I  found  four  eggs  of  the  Large  lliver  Tern  in  the  sandy  bed  of 
the  river  in  May.  They  are  broad  ovals  in  shape,  and  are  of  a  pale 
greenish-grey  colour,  blotched  and  streaked  with  brown,  and  having 
underlying  clouds  of  a  pale  inky  purple.  They  measure  1*65  inches 
in  length  by  about  1*26  in  breadth. 


In  addition  to  the  above,  of  which  I  have  either  procured  eggs  or 
seen    the   young,    the   following   birds    must,    I   am    sure,  breed  at 
Neemuch,  as  I  have  constantly  noted  them  throughout  the  year  : — 
55. — Haliastur  indus  :  Bodd. 
57. — Perm's  ptilorhynchus  :  Tern. 
59. — Elanus  melanopterus  :  Daud. 
65. — Syrnium  ocellatum  :  Lesson. 
104. — Dendrochelidon  coronata  :  Tick. 
107. — Caprimulgus  indicus  :  Lath. 
144. — Ocyceros  birostris  :  Scop. 
147. — Palffiornis  eupatria  :  Lin. 
149. —  Palseornis  purpureas,  P.  L.  S.  Mull. 


C2  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


160. — Picus  mahrattensis  :  Lath. 

180. — Brachypternus  aurantius  :  Lin, 

219. — Taccocua  leschenaulti :  Less. 

265. — Tephrodornis  pondicerianus  :  Gm . 

600. — Corydalla  rufula  :  Vieill. 

645. — Parus  nipaleusis  :  Hodgs. 

647. — Machlolophus  xanthogenys  :  Vig. 

674. — Dendrocitta  rufa  :  Scop. 

696. — Ploceus  bengalensis  :  Lin. 

830. — Coturnix  coromandelica  :  Gm, 

832. — Turnix  taigoor  :  Sykes. 

834.— Turnix  ioudera:  Hodgs. 

835. — Turnix  dussumieri :  Tern. 

905. — Gallinula  chloropus  :  Lin. 

908. — Porzana  akool  :  Sykes. 

917. — Xenorhynchus  asiaticus  :  Lath. 

923. — Ardea  cinerea  :  Lin. 

924. — Ardea  purpurea  :  Lin. 

927. — Herodias  garzetta  :  Lin. 

929. — Bubulcus  coromandus  :  Bodd. 

931. — Butorides  javanica  :  Horsf. 

937. — Nycticorax  griseus  :  Lin. 

H.  EDWIN  BARNES. 


ON  THE  USES  OF  PANDANUS  OR  SCREW  PALM, 

Taken  from  the  Journals  of  the  late  Handley  Sterndale, 
with  prefatory  Remarks, 

By  his  Brother  R.  A.  Sterndale,  f.r.g.s.,  f.z.s., 

Read  before  the  Society  on  the  7th  of  December  1885  on 
production  of  specimens  of  the  fruit  by  Mr.  Framjee 
N.  Daver. 

The  Keora  or  Pandanus  Odoratissimus  grows  freely  throughout  India  ; 
whether  this  is  identical  with  the  Pandanus  of  the  South  Seas,  I  am 
unable  to  state,  hut  it  must  be,  from  my  brother's  description,  of  a  closely 
allied  species,  and  capable  of  utilization  in  the  same  degree.  It  is,  however, 
but  little  known  in  India  for  economic  purposes,  its  sole  recommendation 
being  its  extremely  fragrant  flowers,  which  are  used  occasionally  by 
native  ladies  for  adorning  their  hair. 


ON  THE   USES  OF  PANDANUS  OB,   SCREW   PALM."  63 

Roxburgh  states    that   the  lower   yellow   pulpy  part   of  the  drupes  is 
sometimes   eaten  by   the    natives    during  times   of  famine,  as    also    the 
tender  white  base  of  the  leaves,  either  raw   or  boiled  ;  the  roots  are  used 
by  basket-makers  to  tie  their  work  with,    and  he  adds   that  they  are   also 
used  for  corks.     Small  indeed  are  these   results    as   compared  with    the 
manifold   purposes   to   which  the   tree   is  put   by  the   South  Sea   islander. 
Roxburgh  notices  that  the   leaves   are   composed   of  longitudinal,   tough, 
and   useful   fibres   like   those   of  the   pine    apple.      Yet  this   economical 
product   has   hitherto  been   neglected,  though  the  tree   is  so   common  in 
parts  that   hedges   are  made  of  it.     In  the  Nicobar  Islands   it  is  called  the 
Mellore  or  bread-fruit,    being   probably  used  there  for  food   as  it  is  in  the 
South  Pacific.     In  the  Mauritius  it  is  extensively  employed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  sugar  and  coffee  bags  and  for  export.     "  Hedge-rows  or  avenues 
are  formed  of  it  round   plantations,  or  along  the  sides  of  the  many  roads 
which  intersect  them,  and   the  leaves,   as  fast  as  they   attain  maturity,  are 
cut   till  the  tree  arrives  at  its  full  growth,   when  the  production   of    new 
leaves  being  sl-ower  and  less   useful,  younger  plants   are  resorted  to."     So 
wrote  Colonel  Hardwicke  in  1811.    Forbes  Royle  gives  but  little  information 
beyond  quoting  Roxburgh  and  Hardwicke,  and   the    plant  in  India  has  not 
received  much  attention.     Voight  says  that  in  China  and  Cochin    elephants 
are  fed  on  it.     Mr.  Stonehewer  Cooper,  in  his  "  Coral  Lands  of  the  Pacific," 
gives   an   account   of  the  Pandanus,  which   is   evidently   taken   from   my 
brother's  writings,  the  similarity  of  expression  proving  this  ;  he  has  acknow- 
ledged much  of  his  information  so  gathered,  but  might    have    done   more  in 
that  way  ;  however,  he  has  added  nothing  more  to  our  knowledge  of  the  plant 
than  what  will  be  gained  in  the   following    paper,  written  years  before    Mr. 
Cooper's  book  was  published,  beyond  calling  it  in  one  place  Pandanus  ulilis, 
which,    according   to    Voight,    is    a   synonym     of    P.    odoratissimus ;    and 
stating  in  another  that  he  does  not  know  of  anything  that  will  approach  the 
leaves  of  the  Pandanus  tree  as  a  paper-making  material.*     This  is   a  point 
worth  experimenting  on,  and  it  is  with  a  view  to  bring  the  many  qualities  of 
this  plant  before  the  public  in  India,  and  interest  men  in  what  has  been  hitherto 
neglected  as  a   jungly   thing    of  no    value  that  I  have   extracted   from  my 
brother's  papers,  which  I  hope  to  publish  some  day  in  extenso,  the  following 
notes  on  a  worthy  rival  of  the  Bamboo  and  the  Cocoanut. 

"  Among  the  most  ubiquitous  of  vegetable  products  throughout  the  Pacific 
is  the  Pandanus  or  Screw  Palm.  It  is  called  '  Fara '  in  most  native 
tongues,  and  would  seem  to  a  stranger  to  be  as  ugly  and  prickly  as  it  is 


*  I  find  that  Mr.  Coopei's  account  of  the  Pandanus,  as  well  as  the  remark  about 
its  being  a  good  material  for  the  manufacture  of  paper,  is  taken  verbatim  without 
acknowledgment  from  my  brother's  report  to  the  New  Zealand  Government  on  the 
Islands  of  the  South  Pacific. 


G4  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


densely  prolific  and  apparently  useless,  but  it  would  be  a  great  error  to 
suppose  so,  for  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  which  Providence  has 
bestowed  upon  man  in  the  savage  state.  It  grows,  I  have  heard,  upon  all  the 
tropical  coasts  of  Australia,  where  it  is  regarded  as  of  no  use  even  by  the 
Aborigines,  but  to  the  savages  cf  the  Coral  Seas  it  is  food,  clothing,  shelter, 
and  an  infinity  of  benefit.  It  delights  in  rocky  and  gravelly  soils,  impreg- 
nated by  the  salt  spray  of  the  sea  (or  rather  where  there  i8  no  soil,  but 
gravel  only,)  and  so  luxuriates  desert  isles,  where  it  creates  impenetrable 
thickets.  Its  appearance  m  very  singular;  when  young  it  loots  like  a 
tussock  of  '  sword  grass,'  the  edges  of  the  leaves  and  the  ridge  in  the 
middle  being  fringed  with  small  sharp  thorns  ;  these  leaves  follow  each 
other  spirally  up  the  stalk,  so  that  the  tree  grows  with  a  perfect  twist  like 
that  of  a  screw  auger.  In  its  earlier  stages,  when  about  ten  or  twelve  feet 
high,  it  has  sometimes  a  graceful  appearance  ;  as  it  grows  older,  it  becomes 
grotesque  ;  as  it  is  an  inhabitant  of  stony  ridges  where  roots  are  unable  to 
penetrate  to  any  depth,  and  of  open  coasts  exposed  to  the  most  furious 
winds,  it  secures  itself  a  hold  upon  the  earth  by  throwing  out  around  its 
butt  a  number  of  stays  or  shrouds,  straight,  tough  and  sappy,  each  of 
about  the  thickness  of  a  man's  wrist;  they  grow  round  the  bole  of  the  tree, 
following  its  spiral  formation,  and  appear  first  as  a  sort  of  wart  or  excres- 
cence ;  this  soon  takes  the  form  of  a  horn  growing  downwards  ;  it  is  of  a 
delicate  pink,  smooth  and  glossy,  and  cuts  soft  like  a  cabbage-stalk, 
being  full  of  oily  sap,  which  it  is  important  to  know  will  support 
life  of  man  or  animals  where  there  is  no  water.  It  continues  to  grow 
thus  until  the  point  touches  the  ground,  where  it  takes  firm  root  by  sending 
out  a  multitude  of  fibres  which  penetrate  the  sand  or  crevices  of  rocks, 
and  wrap  themselves  securely  about  the  stones.  Thus,  the  brave  Pandanus 
will  bend  to  the  hurricane,  but  start — no,  not  an  inch  !  When  full  grown,  it 
reaches  30  or  40  feet,  and  by  that  time  has  sent  out  many  odd-looking 
limbs  branching  out  from  the  stem  something  after  the  fashion  of  the 
golden  candlestick  in  the  Tabernacle  of  Aaron,  each  crowned  at  the  end  by 
a  tuft  of  drooping  leaves,  a  blossom  of  a  pale  yellow  (something  like  the 
flower  of  Indian  corn  and  of  a  strong  smell,  and  a  large  fruit  bigger  than 
a  mau's  heal,  outwardly  of  a  dark  green  colour  and  in  shape  resembling 
a  pine-c  me,  or  the  thyrsus  represented  in  the  ceremonies  of  Bacchus. 
The  trunk  of  the  tree  is  hollow  from  end  to  end,  and  would  make  excellent 
drain  pipes;  the  wood  is  hard  as  horn  and  like  horn  in  appearance.  I  have 
seen  it  when  used  as  pillars  in  some  native  houses,  scraped  and  polished  as 
bright  as  mahogany.  In  the  ground  it  soon  decays.  The  fruit  consists  of 
a  number  of  truacated  conical  polygons,  each  about  4  inches  long, 
separate  from  the  others,  closely  wedged  together  and  radiating  from  the 
interior  stalk.  The  outer  ends  of  these  sections  are  dark  green,  impenetrably 
hard  and  tough,  enclosing  eight  or  ten  seeds  each,  the  inner  portion,  which 


UN  THE  USES  OF  PANDANUS  OR  SCREW  PALM.  65 

is  in  some  species  scarlet,  in  others  yellow,  has  a  highly  polished  surface, 
and  powerful  smell  like  that  of  a  mango ;  it  consists  of  fibrous  pulp  in 
consistence  exactly  like  the  interior  of  a  sugar-cane  and  containing  even  a 
larger  proportion  of  saccharine  matter;  it  can  be  chewed  or  cut  with  a  knife, 
and  when  steamed  in  an  oven  seems  to  consist  chiefly  of  syrup.  An  intoxicat- 
ing drink  can  be  made  from  it  by  fermenting  a  mash  made  of  the  cooked 
fruit,  as  also  strong  spirits  by  distillation.  The  seeds  are  about  the  size  of  a 
haricot  bean  and  are  in  appearance  and  flavour  like  the  kernel  of  a  filbert,  so 
excellent  to  eat  that,  were  they  known,  they  would  be  in  demand  in  civilized 
lands  as  an  article  of  dessert.  But  their  existence  (or  nature)  is  unknown  to 
most  Europeans  well  acquainted  with  the  tree,  for  as  much  as  these  kernels 
are  so  concealed  and  protected  as  to  be  almost  impossible  to  get  at  by 
those  unacquainted  with  the  process.  The  hard  capsules  which  contain 
them  require  to  be  broken  in  a  peculiar  manner  by  a  powerful  blow  from 
a  heavy  stone  or  sledge  hammer,  whereby  their  extraction  is  very  easy. 
They  are  wholesome  and  nutritious.  I  have  on  some  desert  places  eaten  of 
them  at  a  time  as  much  as  would  fill  a  pint  measure.  The  Polynesians  are 
fond  of  this  fruit,  and  are  constantly  chewing  the  cones  ;  they  also  thread 
them  on  strings  after  the  fashion  of  a  ponderous  necklace,  so  as  to  form  a 
very  gaudy  and  odoriferous  ornament  which  they  eat  when  they  are  weary 
of  wearing.  Mixed  with  scraped  cocoanut  and  baked,  it  is  much  used  on 
many  islands,  but  as  a  preserved  article  of  food  it  is  most  important,  and 
is  in  that  form  peculiar  to  the  Isles  of  the  Equator  and  the  North  Pacific. 
Pounded  and  dried  and  packed  firmly  pressed  in  baskets,  it  presents  an  ap- 
pearance like  coarse  saw-dust,  and  will  keep  for  any  length  of  time.  It  is 
called  "  Kabobo"  and  is  the  staple  article  of  consumption  in  many  of  the 
equatorial  isles  and  in  the  Ralik  and  Ratak  chains.  Many  atolls  in  these 
latitudes  are  destitute  of  cocoanut  trees,  so  the  "  screw  palm"  is  the  sole  vege- 
table subsistence  of  the  inhabitants.  The  "  Kabobo"  also  constitutes  the  sea 
stock  with  which  the  savage  mariners  of  the  Pintados  provision  their  canoes. 
When  required  to  be  eaten,  it  is  mixed  with  a  little  water  and  parched  in  the 
sun  or  baked  on  hot  stones.  If  it  be  true  that  the  Pctndanas  grows  all 
round  the  coasts  of  North  Australia,  as  I  have  been  assured  by  seamen  that  it 
does,  and  that  the  Aborigines  of  those  parts  are  unacquainted  with  its  use 
— then  do  they  starve  in  the  midst  of  plenty — as  Solomon  says  "  for 
lack  of  knowledge  people  perish."  This  I  do  well  know  from  my  own 
experience  that  the  wastes  of  very  much  of  New  Holland  (except  where 
there  is  absolutely  bo  water  either  in  pools  or  in  '  Alallee'  roots)  contain 
infinitely  more  means  of  subsistence  for  man  than  such  isles  as  Erikub 
or  Gaspar  Rico  and  other  desert  cays  upon  which  it  has  been  my  fortune 
to  sojourn.  But  inestimable  as  is  the  Pandanus  in  providing  food  to  the 
inhabitants  of  desert  isles,  it  is  no  less  valuable  to  them  as  the  source 
from   whence   they   derive   their   shelter,  their  clothiDg,    and   whatsoever 


66  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


approach  to  domestic  comfort  they  possess.     Their  houses  are  entirely   con- 
structed of  its  timber  ;  the  posts    and   sills    are    of   the  straight  columnar 
trunk,  which  are  set  upright  round  the  whole  building  about  4  feet  apart ; 
down  each  side  of  the  post,  in  the  line  of   the  wall,    is    cut   a  groove  about 
an  inch   deep,  and  into   these   are   filled   laths   which   are   split   with   a 
knife  out  of  the    straight    stays    which    grow    round    the    trunks    of  these 
trees.     Thus  is  made  a  very  neat  and  comfortable  dwelling  ;  the  doors   and 
window-shutters  are  made    in   like  manner    of    the   split   laths,    and    the 
whole  is  roofed  in  with  the  leaves  of  the  same   tree.     The  thatch   is   made 
very  ingeniously :  the  frame  of   the    roof  being  complete,  a   great  number 
of  laths,  a  fathom  long,  are  split    and  across   them  side  by  side  ;  the   long 
leaves  are  doubled  and  pinned  with    thin    skewers  ;   these   are    laid  aoross 
the  rafters  one  over   the   other   and   secured  with  string  ;  a   roof  of   this 
kind  looks  very  neat  inside,  is  impervious  to  the  heaviest   rains,  and  lasts 
usually  from  10  to  12  years.     The  floors    are  made   of  smooth   water-worn 
snow-white  coral  pebbles  from  the  sea  beach,  which  harbour  no  insects,  and 
above   them   are   spread   mats    of   this    same   palm  leaf  in  a  double  layer, 
the     lower    ones     of     a    coarse   make,  the   upper   of   a   finer    kind,    so 
delightfully  cool   and  smooth    that  one   may   lie    upon    them    with    great 
comfort,     absolutely   without  any  clothing  between  them  and  the   body  ; 
on  some  islands  they   are   made  very  handsome,  being  of  a  bright    straw 
colour,  with  a  stripe  four  inches  wide  along  each  edge  and  two  others  down 
the  middle.     This  stripe  is  worked  in  a  variegated  pattern  in  red,   yellow 
and  black  ;  these  colours  are  obtained  by  dyes  made   from  the  juice   of 
certain  roots.      The  floor  mats  are   frequently    of   great  size,    sometimes 
as  large  as  the  whole  floor,  made    purposely  of   corresponding  dimensions. 
On    islands  where  they   make  them  and  sell  them  to    trading  ships   they 
receive  payment  at  the  rate  of  2  yards  of  calico  for  2  yards  square  of  fine 
mat.     On  islands  where  the  tapp  tree  does  not  grow,  Pandanns  mats  are  the 
only  bed   clothes,    as    also   clothing  for  the    body.     They  consist    of  eoft 
ornamented   girdles    about  9    inches   wide    and  from    12  to   20  feet  long, 
aprons,    pouches    and    "  tiputas ;  "    these     are   made    very    soft  and   are 
bleached  between  salt-water  and  sunshine  until  perfectly  white  ;  the  patterns 
which  are  worked  into  them   are  also  very  handsome.     The   hats   which 
they  make  on  many  isles  out  of  this  material  are  plaited  all  in  one  piece, 
like  those  which  are  made   in    Guayaquil,  and  are    very  neat  and  durable. 
Some  baskets  (worked  in  the  same   manner  as  the  cigar  cases  so  common 
in  the  East  Indian  islands)  they  make  so  very  handsome  that  I  have  seen 
one  of  them   sold  for  five  dollars  and  counted   cheap.     On    Samoa    the 
women  wear  soft  Pandanus  mat  for  petticoats  and  trains,  which  sweep  the 
ground  behind  them  as    they  walk  on  state  occasions  ;    these   mats   are 
generally  not  handsome,  being  without  ornament  except  sometimes  a  little 
red  fringe,  and  are  of  a    dirty    straw  colour :   nevertheless   they  are  consi- 


ON   THE    USES   OP    PANDANU.S   OR   SCREW    PALM. 


dered  so  valuable  by  them  that  they  will  sometimes  refuse  a  hundred 
dollars  for  one,  and  would  certainly  not  give  it  you  in  exchange  for  a 
Cashmere  shawl  ;  some  of  these  mats  are  a  hundred  years  old  or 
more,  and  full  of  holes,  which  does  not  deteriorate  from  their  value.  At  a 
Samoan  marriage  an  old  mat,  which  is  laid  under  the  bride,  is  often  the  most 
precious  article  in  her  whole  "  trousseau,"  and  has  been  probably  a  portion 
of  the  dowry  of  her  mother  and  grandmother.  The  mat  which  a  fighting 
chief  will  sometimes  wear  about  his  body  is  accepted  as  the  ransom  of  his 
life  if  he  fall  into  the  hands  of  his  foes.  The  fortunate  victor  probably 
knows  the  history  of  it  before  it  comes  into  his  possession,  and  can  tell  its 
age,  and  where  and  by  whose  hands  it  was  woven  ;  the  value  which  they 
place  upon  them  is  wholly  fictitious.  It  is  a  love  of  ancient  usage  which  has 
consecrated  them,  as  the  Samoan  mats  are  of  mean  appearance,  and  neither 
so  becoming  nor  so  comfortable  to  wear  as  two  fathoms  of  cotton  print 
which  they  might  buy  for  a  dollar.  The  work  of  making  mats  and  other 
manufactures  from  the  Pandanus  leaf  is  all  performed  by  women.  The 
leaf  itself  is  like  that  of  a  flag,  two  or  three  inches  wide ;  when  gathered,  it 
is  laid  in  the  sun  to  dry  ;  it  is  then  stretched  to  prevent  its  curling  and 
to  strip  it  of  its  thorny  edges.  For  this  purpose  the  women  always  keep  one 
of  their  thumb-nails  long,  as  likewise  to  split  the  leaf  for  finer  work  ;  such 
portions  as  are  intended  to  produce  the  ornamental  part  of  the  pattern  are 
then  dyed  ;  the  plaiting  is  performed  upon  a  smooth  board  with  a  convex 
upper  surface  ;  as  they  use  their  teeth  very  much  in  dividing  the  leaf,  they 
protect  their  lower  lip  by  wearing  upon  it  the  scale  of  a  fish.  The  time 
occupied  in  this  work  varies  accordiDg  to  its  texture  of  the  coarser  kinds.  A 
woman  will  plait  in  a  day  a  yard  deep  by  two  yards  wide.  The  sails  of  canoes 
on  all  these  islands  are  made  of  such  mat.  The  beautifully  variegated  aprons 
of  the  women  of  Micronesia,  and  wrappers  which  the  men  wear  about  their 
loins,  consume  much  time  in  making ;  the  texture  of  the  fabric  being  about 
equal  to  that  of  No.  1  canvas,  but  much  softer  after  being  bleached  and 
worn  some  time.  On  the  low  coral  isles  the  finest  mats  are  made,  and 
with  wooden  dishes,  carved  pillows,  fish-hooks  of  pearl  or  turtle  shell, 
lines  of  cocoanut  fibre  and  '  Ranan '  bark  are  the  principal  articles  of 
exchange.  The  'Ranan'  lines  are  beautiful  ;  they  are  immensely  strong, 
white  as  linen,  and,  though  laid  up  by  hand,  are  equal  in  regularity  of 
twist  and  thickness  to  the  best  machine-made  whipcord  or  Calcutta  white 
line.  These  lines  are  from  the  dimensions  of  a  packthread  to  that  of  a 
logline  whch  will  hold  the  largest  fish  ;  they  last  a  great  number  of  years  ; 
the  savages  are  very  careful  of  them,  washing  them  with  fresh  water 
before  putting  them  away  whenever  they  return  from  fishing  ;  their  finer 
nets  are  made  of  the  same  bark,  which  is  that  of  a  small  tree  indigenous 
to  most  low  coral  isles.  The  making  of  lines  and  nets  is  the  work  of 
men.     On   the    Samoan    isles,  when  the   necessaries    of  life   were    easily 


68  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


obtainable,  articles  of  luxury  were  in  demand,  such  as  fine  mats,  printed 
iappa,  carved  and  ornamented  work,  feathers  of  splendid  colours,  and 
oval  plates  or  studs  of  nautilus  shell  for  the  adornment  of  head-dresses, 
as  also  for  various  purposes  hawk-bill,  turtle  and  pearl  shell.  Besides  mats 
another  description  of  clothing  is  made  by  savages  from  the  '  Pandanus.' 
I  have  mentioned  that  it  throws  out  stays  from  the  trunk  ;  these  com- 
monly cease  to  grow  out  higher  than  about  six  feet  from  the  ground,  as  by 
that  time  the  growth  of  the  tree  upwards  has  stopped;  before  touching  the 
ground,  where  they  take  root,  tbeir  consistence  is  flexible  and  sappy.  If  cut  off  • 
at  this  stage  and  soaked  in  water  after  being  beaten  with  a  mallet,  these  stakes 
are  found  to  consist  entirely  of  fibres  agglutinated  together  by  an  oily 
sap  ;  they  are,  when  well  cleaned,  pure  white,  soft  and  strong  like  'jute' 
or  hemp,  and  are  easily  obtainable  a  yard  long  ;  of  this  fibre  they  make 
'jupons'  and  a  sort  of  pouches,  which  are  comfortable  and  serviceable. 
1  have  no  doubt  that  this  product,  if  generally  known  (which  it  is  not), 
could  be  turned  to  some  valuable  account ;  it  could  be  obtained  in  immense 
quantity  and  at  no  cost  but  the  work  of  cutting  and  cleaning,  as  the  Panda- 
nus completely  overruns  many  coral  islands  and  desert  coasts.  When  we 
come  to  consider  the  numerous  wants  of  man — food,  drink,  clothing,  shelter 
and  an  infinity  of  comforts — which  are  supplied  by  the  wood,  leaves,  fruit, 
and  sap  of  this  remarkable  tree  ;  when  we  reflect  upon  the  fact  that  no 
human  being  possessing  a  modicum  of  ingenuity  and  the  instinct  of  self- 
preservation  can  positively  starve  where  it  grows,  and  that  its  natural 
locality  is  the  most  desert  coasts  of  the  tropic  seas,  luxuriating,  as  it  does, 
upon  the  barren  beach  immediately  contiguous  to  high-water  mark,  where 
there  is  no  soil  whatever  or  apparent  moisture ;  its  nourishment  being 
derived  from  the  arid  sand,  coral,  gravel  or  boulders  of  rock,  heated  through- 
out the  day  to  a  temperature  sufficient  to  burn  the  human  skin,  one  cannot 
fail  to  experience  a  feeling  of  astonishment  at  so  striking  an  evidence  of 
the  providence  of  God." 

H.  B.  STERNDALE. 


A  NOTE  ON  PANDANUS  ODORATISSIMUS  OR 

SCREW   PALM. 

(Written  at  the  request  of  R.  A.  Sterndale,  Esq.,  f.z.s., 

to  follow  Ms  paper.) 

The  Pandanus  we  see  here  is  of  two  kinds.  The  yellow  variety  is 
generally  called  Ketalci  feft%\)  or  Suwama  Ketalci  fraof  ^sjr  as  distin- 
guished from  the  white  Kevada  (%qit),  or  (^T?r"%?5T)  Sweta  Kevada. 
The  yellow  variety  is  much  more  strongly  scented,  and  is  more  highly  prized 
by  the  Hindu  ladies,  who  wear  it  in  their  hair.     Both  these  contain  staminate 


ZOOLOGICAL   NOTES.  69 


organs  alone,  surrounded  by  spathaceous  bracts ;  and  it  is^these  bracts  that 
form  the  chief  attraction  for  ladies.  The  staminate  organs  of  the  yellow 
variety  are  simpler  than  those  of  the  white.  The  anthers  of  the  former  are 
longitudinal,  and  open  longitudinally,  giving  vent  to  a  fine  impalpable  powder 
strongly  scented,  and  forming  the  pollen.  The  stamens  are  almost  sessile  or 
about  a  line  in  length.  These  stamens  are  innumerably  crowded  in  the  shape 
of  a  cone  on  a  flesh  spike  or  stalk.  The  anthers  of  the  white  variety  are 
shorter  and  open  longitudinally,  but  their  flesh  spike  is  branched.  It  gives 
rise  to  similar  impalpable  powder,  which  is  gritty,  but  perhaps  less  scented, 
though  sufficiently  attractive.  These  clustered  and  branched  staminate 
spikes  go  under  the  name  of  Kuyali  (  ^q&t  )  ar*d  if  they  don't  get  decom- 
posed or  rotten  during  the  process  of  drying,  are  of  great  value  in  keeping 
off  moths  from  woollen  clothes.  At  least  such  is  their  reputation.  The 
stays  or  aerial  roots  Mr.  Sterndale  mentions  in  his  very  valuable  paper  are 
used  in  this  country  by  goundis  or  whitewashers  for  making  brushes  to 
whitewash  or  colourwash  houses.  The  fibrous  tissue  is  separated  from  the 
tender  interfibrous  substance  by  beating  the  top  of  perhaps  half  a  yard  bit 
of  the  stay  or  aerial  root  and  made  soft  and  pliable.  It  makes  a  capital 
brush.  There  is  no  other  use  made  of  Kevadd  that  I  know  of.  The  female 
flower  or  collection  of  flowers  turning  into  fruit  is  seldom  used  for  eny 
special  purpose  in  this  country, 

K.  R.  KIRTIKAK. 


ZOOLOGICAL  NOTES. 


ON  VARIATION  IN  COLOUR  IN  URSUS  LABIATUS,  THE  SLOTH 

BEAR,  &c 

By    R.    A.    SffERNDALE. 

A  correspondent  in  the  Asian  of  last  week  (9th  March  1886)  gives  an 
account  of  his  killing  a  sloth  bear  with  two  cubs,  one  of  which  was  brown 
instead  of  the  usual  jet  black.  In  November  1884,  I  received  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Tomes,  Civil  Surgeon  of  Midnapore,  asking  for  my  opinion  on  a  skin 
and  skull  of  a  large  bear  shot  in  the  Midnapore  jungle.  He  described  the 
skin  as  "  a  particularly  good  one,  thick  and  shaggy  about  the  shoulders,  of  a 
tawDy  brown  colour  throughout,  lighter  underneath,  no  black  in  it  any- 
where, a  whitish  collar  on  chest."  Fortunately  the  skull  was  preserved, 
and  the  dental  formula  given  by  Dr.  Tomes  enabled  me  to  pronounce  it 
an  albino  of  ursus  labiatus,  and  not  a  stray  specimen  of  ursus  isabellinus 
escaped  from  captivity.  The  sloth  bear  has,  as  a  rule,  two  upper  incisors 
less  than  other  bears. 

To-day,  whilst  looking  up  some  correspondence  in  the  Asian  on  another 
subject,  I  came  across  two  letters  regarding  grey  bears  in  the  plains  of  India  : 
one  was  seen  by  "  H.  D.  K. "  writing  from  Secunderabad,  Deocan,  of  which  the 
hind  quarters  only  were  grey;  the  other  was  reported  by  "  W.  M.  R."  as  seen  on 


70  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


the  borders  of  the  Shahabad  and  Mirzapore  districts.  He  says  the  greater 
portions  of  the  bear's  body  was  grey,  and  a  light  grey  too.  The  Native  Shikaris 
called  it  a  sufaid  bhal.  Unfortunately  neither  of  these  two  bears  was 
secured.  We  have,  however,  ample  proof  of  albinoism  in  "  M.'s"  lining  cub 
and  the  Midnapore  skin. 

ON  THE  FLYING  SQUIRREL  OF  WESTERN  INDIA. 
There  is  no  doubt  the  flying  squirrel  of  this  Presidency  is  Pleromys  Oral, 
but  the  prevailing  colour  is  grey,  whereas  Pteromys  Oral  is  a  dusky  maroon 
black  grizzled  with  white.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  the  same  as 
Pteromys  cinceraceus,  which  is  in  all  essential  points  identical  with  Pteromys 
Oral.  The  Society  lately  received  two  living  specimens  from  General  WatsoD, 
which  were  made  over  to  me  for  examination.  During  the  night  they  managed 
to  gnaw  a  hole  through  their  cage,  and  escaped.  One  was  re-captured,  but  the 
other,  I  regret  to  say,  has  disappeared.  Fortunately  we  retain  the  finer  speci- 
men. Wonderful  stories  are  told  concerning  the  flight  of  these  animalp, 
though  flight  is  a  misnomer.  They  cannot  fly  as  birds  and  bats  do  :  they 
merely  spring  from  a  considerable  height,  and  the  extended  skin  between 
their  limbs  acts  as  a  parachute  and  floats  them  along,  letting  them  down 
easily.  Thus  they  can  skim  over  a  space  of  50  to  60  yards.  Early  on  the 
morning  of  their  escape  one  was  observed  sitting  on  a  cornice  near  a  window 
at  the  northern  corner  of  the  Currency  Office,  where  I  live.  On  a  servant  try- 
ing to  catch  it  sprang  off  in  the  direction  of  the  Bombay  Club  and  alighted  near 
the  Club-door.  The  distance  was  sixty-nine  paces.  These  animals  are  quite 
nocturnal  in  their  habits,  sleeping  all  day  rolled  up  in  a  ball  with  the  head 
tucked  in  between  their  fore  legs  and  the  tail  coiled  round  the  body.  At  night 
they  are  very  active. 

ON  A  SPECIES  OF  PIGMY  SHREW. 
I  would  call  the  attention  of  Naturalists  to  the  existence  of  a  Pigmy  Shrew 
in  the  low  lands  of  this  Presidency,  as  more  specimens  are  wanted,  and  it  is 
possible  that  on  such  being  found,  they  are  thrown  aside  under  the  impression 
that  they  are  the  young  of  the  ordinary  species  of  Musk-rat.  The  pigmy 
Shrews  are  a  dwarf  race,  generally  found  in  the  hilly  parts  of  India, 
Ceylon  and  Burmah,  and  they  vary  in  size  from  1£  to  nearly  two  inches, 
exclusive  of  tail,  which  is  about  another  inch.  They  are  true  Shrews  with  all 
the  characteristics  of  the  genus,  and  a  Burmese  species,  Sorex  nudipes,  has  the 
musk  glands  strongly  developed.  The  Society  has  received  one  lately  from 
Mr.  Littledale,  which  he  found  at  Baroda  swimming  about  in  a  flower-pot 
during  the  rains  of  1884.  He  writes  :  "  I  kept  it  alive  3  or  4  days,  giving 
it  crickets  and  flies.  It  liked  to  get  under  a  bit  of  cotton  wool,  in  the  shade, 
and  used  to  make  a  sudden  dash  at  the  cricket  if  it  came  near,  crunching  its 
back  and  hind  legs  first.  It  has  not  shrunk  at  all.  It  was  mouse  colour, 
and  the  snout  pale  fleshy.  The  eyes  seemed  greyish  blue."  I  have  been 
unable  to  determine  the  species  as  yet  ;  the  nearest  approach  to  it  is  Sorex 
perroteii  from  the  Nilgherries,  but  it  does  not  agree  in  colour.  S.  perroteti 
being  blackish  brown,  whereas  this  is  a  pale  inouss  colour,  rather  silvery  when 
taken  out  of  the  spirit  and  dried. 

R.  A.  STERNDALE. 


ON   THE   FREQUENCY    OF    ALBINOISM    IN    CUTCH,    &C.  71 


ON  THE  FREQUENCY  OF  ALBINOISM  IN  CUTCH,  &c 

By  Mr.  A.  T.  H.  Newnham,  S.C.,  ioth  N.  I.,  with 

Notes  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken. 

Frequent  Occurrence  of  Albinoism  in  Cutch. — Within  the  last  few  months 
the  following  cases  of  albinoism  have  come  under  my  notice,  which,  I  think, 
are  sufficiently  numerous  to  be  worthy  of  mention,  viz.,  May  24,  Chat- 
torrhcea  striata  (the  striated  babbler,  presented  to  Society's  collection).; 
July,  Perdicula  asialica,  bush  quail  (presented  to  Sosiety's  collection)  ;  and 
Holpastes  haemorrhous,  the  Madras  Bulbul,  partially  so,  the  wings  only 
being  white.  It  would  seem  as  though  the  prevailing  tint  of  the  country, 
whioh  is  principally  composed  of  sandy  plains,  had  some  influence  on  the 
colouring  of  its  inhabitants,  for  the  birds  generally  are  of  a  paler  colour  than 
the  same  species  which  I  have  noticed  where  the  soil  is  darker  in  tone, 
Besides  these  specimens  which  have  been  shot  and  obtained,  there  have 
been  other  occurrences.  Last  year  a  perfectly  white  Sarkidiornis  melano- 
notus,  more  generally  known  among  sportsmen  as  the  Nukta,  used  frequently 
to  be  seen  on  one  of  the  sacred  tanks  of  Bhuj,  where  unfortunately  it  is- 
forbidden  to  shoot,  and  a  second  case  of  P.  Asiatica  wa3  met  with  out 
shooting.  The  latter,  strictly  speaking,  was  of  a  soft  fawn  colour  rather  than 
white.     A.  white  squirrel  also   used  to   haunt  one   of  the   bungalows  here., 

The  Bhalu. — We  are  occasionally  visited  at  night  by  one  of  these  mysteri- 
ous Janwar?.  There  are  various  explanations  given  a9  to  what  it  really 
is  ;  some  asserting  that  it  is  a  lynx,  others  a  female  jackal,  and  others  that  it  is 
an  old  worn-out  jackal,  which  follows  in  the  tracks  of  some  larger  animal  to 
obtain  its  leavings.  I  know  the  latter  is  the  more  general  belief,  but  though 
I  have  made  frequent  enquiries  from  the  Shikaris  and  villagers  here  I-' 
have  not  come  across  any  one  yet  who  has  actually  seen  one.  The  cry  is 
a  sort  of  convulsive  scream  ending  abruptly  in  a  hoarse  crack.  I  never 
hear  it  at  night  without  sallying  forth  with  a  gun  to  try  and  shoot  it  and 
clear  up  the  mystery  for  myself,  but  hitherto  without  success.  One  moon- 
light night  I  heard  its  cry  quite  close  to  me,  but  could  distinguish  nothing,. 
Perhaps  some  of  your  correspondents  can  enlighten  me  as  to  what  it  is.* 

A.  T.  H.  NEWNHAM. 

Note  by  Mr.  Aitken. — Mr.  Newnham's  observations  are  supported  by  seve- 
ral things  that  came  under  my  notice  during  a  year's  residence  at  Kharaghora 
on  the  borders  of  the  Runn  of  Cutciu  There  were  not  many  species  of  butter- 
flies at  the  place,  but  th6  two  commonest,  Danais  chrysippus  and  Papili  siphilus, 
were  often  conspicuously  pale  and  colourless.  They  would  have  been  con- 
sidered poor  specimens  if  caught  in  Bombay.  I.  believe  that  variety  of  the 
former,  with  a  dash  of  white  on  the  hind  wings,  which  has  been  separated 
under  the  name  of  D.  alcippoides,  is  only  a  stronger  exemplification  of  the 
same  effect.      It  would  probably  be  found  to  be  not  uncommon  in  this  region. 

*  The  Kol  Bhalu,  Pheal,  Pheeou,  Phinkarr,  or  Sial,  i3  an  ordinary  jackal.  Several 
have  been  shot  in  the  act  of  howling,  and  there  was  nothing  abnormal  about  them. 
The  subject  was  well  ventilated  in  the  Asian  in  1381-82,  and  the  general  opinion  pointed 
to  the  above  conclusion.  Correspondents  gave  evidence  from  all  parts  of  India,— R,  A.  S. 


72  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


Of  four  specimens  of  D.  dorippus  from  Aden,  now  in  the  Society's  collection, 
two  exhibit  this  dash  of  white.  On  the  other  hand,  collections  of  butterflies 
caught  among  the  luxurious  vegetation  of  Khandalla  or  Matheran  generally 
contain  specimens  with  a  depth  of  colour  never  mot  with  on  the  plains. 

But  the  strangest  instance  of  the  effect  of  an  arid,  sandy  country  on  ani- 
mal colour,  if  it  was  really  an  instance,  was  a  mungoose  which  I  repeatedly 
saw  at  Kharaghora,  but  did  not  secure.  It  was  apparently  the  common 
mungoo  e  of  Bombay  (H.  Griseus),*  but  the  tip  of  its  tail,  instead  of  being 
blackish,  was  white.  A  golitary  "  sport  "  like  this  has  not  much  significance 
by  itself,  but  it  becomes  suggestive  when  we  remember  that  the  desert  fox  of 
Gutch  Qeucopus)  differs  from  the  common  Indian  fox  in  this  very  point  that 
its  tail  is  tipped  with  white  instead  of  b!ack.  E.H.  A 


BOTANICAL  NOTES. 


ON  AN  INSTANCE  OF  FRUCTIFICATION  IN  A  STAMINIFEROUS 

PLANT,  CARICA  PAPAYA. 

By  Surgeon-Major  G.  Bainbridge,  I.M.D. 

The  PapayacecB  form  a  small  order  of  three  or  four  genera  and  25  or  30 
species  only,  not  very  distantly  related  to  the  cucumbers.  The  species  are 
all  tropical,  and  several  inhabit  S.  America,  of  which  the  plant  under  notice 
is  supposed  to  be  a  native. 

Oarica  Papaya  is  the  best-known  individual  of  its  order,  and  has  excited 
much  interest  owing  to  the  presence  in  its  tissues  of  Papain,  an  alkaloid 
or  principle  having  the  property  of  digesting  animal  substances,  and  service- 
able, therefore,  as  a  medicinal  agent. 

As  is  well  known,  the  plant  is  normally  dioecious  and  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  examples  of  this  marital  arrangement.  You  will  all  have 
distinguished  the  male,  with  its  long-stalked  panicles  of  small  yellowish 
flowers,  from  the  female  or  pistilliferous  tree,  with  its  much  larger, 
whitish,  rather  campanalate  flowers,  which  are  closely  arranged  around  the 
trunk  and  branches,  under  the  shelter  of  the  leaves,  and,  having  very 
short  stalks,  are  nearly  sessile. 

I  was  not  aware  until  recently  that  this  arrangement  was  ever  departed 
from.  But  in  January  last  year  (1884)  I  was  surprised  to  find  at  Dhar- 
war,  in  the  garden  of  a  house  I  had  just  entered,  a  male  Papaya  tree 
bearing  fruit  upon  its  long  pendent  stalks. 

On  examination  I  found  its  flowers  to  resemble  the  typical  male  ones  in 
every  respect,  except  in  the  presence  of  a  minute  ovary  in  at  least  some 
of  them. 

By  April  the  fruit  had  grown  to  a  considerable  size,  so  that  some  of  them 
measured  ten  and  thirteen  inches  in  circumference;  and,  what  was  more  in- 
teresting, they   contained   numbers  of  ripe  black  seeds  about  three-fourths 

*  Probably  H.  Fervugineus,  Sind  species,  the  tail  of  which  is  lighter  coloured  normally.— 
B.  A-  S. 


AlncrmaX  Tloureripike  ofMusaSaptentawi- 

fate 


NOTE  ON   AGARICUS    OSTREATUS.  73 


of  the  size  of  normal  ones  from  well-grown  fruit.  I  saved  a  large  num- 
ber of  them,"  intending  to  try  whether  they  would  germinate  ;  but  they  were 
lost   in  the  hurry  of  my  transfer. 

I  now  show  three  small  specimens  of  the  fruit  of  the  same  tree  which  I 
have  had  sent  to  me.  The  largest  measures  six  inches  in  circumference. 
I  also  present  a  rough  sketch  of  the  tree  drawn  in  April  last. 

I  imagined  this  curious  occurrence  to  be  almost  unique  ;  for  its  possi- 
bility was  hitherto  unknown  to  me,  though  I  have  seen  much  of  Papaya 
cultivation  for  some  years.  I  find,  however,  that  the  fact  is  noted  by 
Roxburgh  in  the  Flora  Indica,  1832,  where  he  mentions  two  instances,  and 
states  that  the  same  is  common  at  Malacca. 

Botanical  class  books  and  other  authorities  which  I  have  examined  do 
not  mention  the  matter.  There  seem  to  be  two  varieties  of  Papaya,  one 
producing  rather  globular,  and  the  other  citron-shaped,  fruit  of  much  larger 
size  and  superior  quality.  Fertility  of  soil  may,  however,  possibly  account 
for  this  and  for  the  strange  "  variation  "  to  which  I  have  drawn  attention. 

G.  BAINBRIDUE. 

ON     ABNORMAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  MUSA  SAPIENTUM. 
By  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar,  I.M.D. 

Read  on  1st  September  1885  before  the  Botanical  Section. 

I  submit  a  photographic  print*  of  an  abnormal  development  of  the 
flowerstalk  of  Musa  Sapientum  (Banana)  growing  in  a  garden  on  Girgaum 
Back  Road,  Bombay.  The  drooping  spike,  after  having  thrown  out  two  or 
three  clusters  of  flowers  in  the  axils  of  the  first  two  or  three  purple  fleshy 
bracts,  sub-divides  and  thus  forms  two  spikes  instead  of  a  single  central. 
The  primary  spike  remains  thicker  than  the  secondary  stalk,  as  the  divi- 
sion of  the  spike  is  not  strictly  dichotomous.  The  secondary  grows  longer 
and  sub-divides  again.  The  primary  also,  after  throwing  a  few  more  clusters 
of  flowers,  sub-divide  again  into  two  spikelets.  Thus,  there  are  four  spike- 
lets  instead  of  one  spike.  The  final  or  apical  buds,  sheathed  in  their  pur- 
ple bracts,  still  remain,  with  a  few  abortive  flowers.  I  call  these  "  abortive  " 
flowers,  because  they  never  turn  into  the  fruit  called  banana  or  plantain,  but 
open  and  die, 

NOTE  ON  AGARICUS  OSTREATUS. 

The  Fungus  described  by  Dr.  Dymock  in  his  Vegetable  Materia  Medica 
of  Western  India  (p.  704,  1st  Edition)  is  called  Phanasamba  in  Marathi 
and  named  by  him  as  Agaricus  ostreaius.  Agaricus  ostreatus  often  does 
grow  onjackfruit  tree.  But  on  examining  genuine  specimens  of  what 
is  usually  gathered  and  sold  and  used  under  the  name  of  Phanasamba,  it  ap- 
pears to  be  a  Polyporus  and  not  an   Agaricus.     (See   Badham's  Esculent 

*  A  water-colour   drawing  from  the  same  has  since  been  presented  by  Surgeon  Kirtikar 
to  the  Society,  of  which  a  lithographic  priut  accompanies  this, 


74  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


Fungi,  Plate  X.,  and  Mrs.  Hassey's  Illustrations  of  British  Mycology,  XIX. 
Plate,  Second  Series).  Dr.  Sakharam  Arjun,  following  old  descriptions, 
also  calls  the  fungus  Agarkus  ostreatus. 

But  a  figure  of  the  Polyporus  is  given  m  Batsch's  Elenchus  Fungoram, 
Plate  XLL,  page  114,  Continuatio  Secunda.  It  is  called  Boletus 
"  Nitens  "  or  Crocatus.  It  appears  a  proper  description  of  Phanasamba  has 
not  yet  appeared.  I  exhibit  several  specimens,  a  general  description  of 
which  will  appear  in  my  work  on  the  Bombay  Fungi,  which  I  hope  will  be 
published  at  no  distant  date.  As  this  variety  of  Polyporus  mainly  derives  its 
name  from  its  habitat — growing  on  Phanas  or  Jack  tree, — I  have  named  it 
Boletus  Nitens  Artocarpalis. 

ON  THE  FRUIT  OF  TRAPA  BISPINOSA. 

The  fruit  of  Trapa  Bispinosa  (exhibited  along  with  the  plant  in 
flower),  Shingdda  as  known  among  the  Hindus. 

The  fruit  resembles,  roughly  speaking,  a  bullock's  head  in  miniature, 
and  is  an  important  and  highly-prized  article  of  diet  among  the  Hindus, 
The  whole  of  the  fruit  is  mealy,  and  is  as  delicious  when  baked  or  boiled 
as  a  chestnut.  Peeled,  pounded  and  boiled  with  milk  and  sugar,  it  forms 
an  excellent  repast  under  the  name  of  hulwa,  and  deserves  to  be  more 
widely  known.  It  is  eaten  either  fresh,  or  is  peeled  and  dried  for  use  after- 
wards. For  drying,  only  the  mature  fruit  is  serviceable;  if  it  is  not 
mature,  it  shrivels  up  and  often  decays.  Mixed  with  pepper,  salt 
and  cocoanut  kernel  scrapings  and  fried  in  ghee  or  clarified  butter,  ia 
lumps  as  big  as  a  cherry  or  plum,  it  is  very  delicious.  It  is  highly  valued 
by  the  Guzrathis,  and  is  generally  sold  dried  in  a  Kiranis  shop  (seller 
of  groceries  and  spices),  and  very  largely  used  on  fast  days,  when  rice, 
wheat,  and  such  other  daily  articles  of  food  are  not  eaten. 

The  plant  which  bears  this  fruit  is  an  aquatic  annual,  and  grows  very 
quickly.  It  is  cultivated  largely  in  tanks  around  Thana,  the  young 
sprouts  being  simply  deposited  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  It  flowers 
about  August  and  September,  and  fruit  is  gathered  about  November,. 
If  the  old  and  dead  decaying  leaves  are  removed  as  they  form  from  time 
to  time,  the  tanks  in  which  the  plant  is  cultivated  have  clear  water, 
probably  from  destroying  minor  vegetable  life  on  which  it  feeds,  or  at 
any  rate  partially  derives  its  nourishment. 


NOTE  ON    KASRA  OR  SCIRPUS  KYSOOR. 

Read  on  22nd  January  1886. 

I  exhibit  to-day  three  articles — (1)  the  boiled  hairy  root-bulb  ~  (2) 
the  same  boiled  and  peeled;  (3)  a  huhva  made  of  the  peeled  bulb. 
I  also  exhibit  along  with  specimen  No.  3  a  huhva  made  of  the  fruit 
of  Shingach  referred  to  in  my  Notes  read  before  this  Section  at  our  Septenv 


NOTE  ON  A  SUPPOSED  ROOT-PARASITE  FOUND  AT  MAHABLESHWAR.         75 

ber  Meeting.  Pounds  and  pounds  of  this  delicious  bulb  are  used  as  an 
article  of  diet  on  fast  days  among  Hindus.  The  root  bulb  is  often  sold 
dried  after  being  peeled.  The  plant  itself  belongs  to  the  Sedgewort  family, 
and  is  described  at  p.  288  of  Dalzell  and  Gibson's  Flora.  The  bulbs  are 
gathered  in  January,  February  and  March,  after  the  plant  dies.  I  exhibit 
the  plant  here.  It  thrives  in  the  rainy  season,  and  grows  abundantly  in 
tanks  round  Thana.  The  skin  of  the  bulb  is  hairy  ;  the  rootlets  being 
often  two  or  three  inches  long  and  tufted  at  the  apex,  or  extreme  end. 
The  roots  sometimes  shoot  out  in  rings  round  the  body  of  the  bulb. 
The  leaf  of  the  plant  is  hispid,  3  to  5  feet  long,  studded  with  oblong 
air  spaces.  The  plant  flowers  in  the  rainy  season  about  July  or  August, 
and  having  lived  its  annual  life,  dies  away.  It  is  after  this  that  the  bulbs 
are  gathered  ;  they  are  edible  even  uncooked,  but  are  not  very  palatable.  They 
are  usually  in  very  great  quest,  and  are  obtainable  at  one  anna  a  hundred 
bulbs.  The  hulwa  made  with  sugar  and  milk  is  considered  a  dainty.  This 
huhva  is  more  glutinous  than  the  hulwa  of  Shingada.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing to  find  out  the  relative  food-value  of  these  important  articles  of  diet, 
especially  as  regards  the  proportion  of  starch  gluten,  and  salts.  The  leaf 
does  not  seem  to  be  sufficiently  strong  for  any  of  the  purposes  for  which 
common  bulrushes  are  used,  such  as  for  making  mats,  baskets,  chair 
bottoms,  nor  do  I  know  of  any  medicinal  uses  of  the  plant.  At  page  721  of 
his  Vegetable  Materia  Medica,  Dr.  Dymock  asks  a  question  as  to  whether 
Kasceroo  (Hind)  is  the  Scirpus  Kysoor  of  Roxburgh.  I  am  certain  it  is. 
Dr.  Dymock  also  says  it  is  given  in  diarrhoea  and  vomiting.  If  in  addition  to 
its  value  as  a  delicate  article  of  food,  it  is  really  useful  in  diarrhoea,  a 
congee  made  of  it  with  milk  will  be  a  very  suitable  form  of  nourishment  in 
diarrhoea  cases  and  in  vomiting.  I  can  bear  testimony  to  its  bland  and 
soothing  properties.    The  boiled  bulb  with  common  salt  is  very  delicate  eating. 

K.  R.  KIRTIKAR. 


NOTE  ON  A  SUPPOSED  ROOT-PARASITE  FOUND 
AT  MAHABLESHWAR  IN  OCTOBER  1885. 

By  Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart,^^  on  15th  March  1886. 
In  October  a  tuberous-rooted  plant  of  curious  structure,  which  I  have 
endeavoured  to  sketch  below,  was  brought  to  me  at  Mahableshwar,  from 
one  of  the  valley  juDgles  below  the  hill.  The  rains  had  continued  more 
than  usually  late,  which  may  account  for  there  being  then  still  visible 
a  plant  which  neither  I  nor  any  one  to  whom  I  showed  it  had  ever  seen 
before.  It  grew  in  clusters  in  moist  red  laterite  clay,  through  which 
occurred  the  numerous  root  fibres  (lately  severed)  of  some  large  dicotyled- 
onous tree.  The  man  who  brought  me  the  plant  declared  that  he  very 
rarely  met  with  it,  never  except  during  the  rains,  and  then  only  in  the 


76  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


thickest  jungle,  and  always  at  the  foot  of  some  large  tree.  But  he  waa 
unable  to  state  whether  the  large  tree  was  always  of  the  same  species.  The 
first  thing  to  appear  above  the  soil  was  a  yellow  spathaceous  stalk,  bearing 
on  its  summit  a  ball,  about  the  size  of  a  marble,  almost  concealed  among 
the  spathes.  Most  of  these  balls  were  of  a  velvety  texture  and  a  rich  brown 
colour.  Two  were  rough,  not  unlike  fir-cones.  The  balls  continued  to 
grow  in  circumference  as  the  stalks  grew  in  height,  till  the  latter  were 
about  3  inches  long  and  the  balls  about  the  size  of  bagatelle  balls.  A 
number  of  minute  white  flowers  then  opened  over  the  whole  surface  of 
the  rough  ball.  Having  no  microscope  or  magnifying  glass  with  me, 
I  was  unable  to  identify  the  plant  from  the  examination  of  its  extremely 
minute  structural  parts.  Dr.  Macdonald  determined  the  open  flowers  on 
the  rough  heads  to  be  staminal  only,  and  conjectured  the  velvety  balls  to 
be  composed  of  pistillate  flowers  only,  and  from  the  stamens  being  sinuous 
and  united  into  a  central  column,  he  was  inclined  to  think  the  plant 
might  possibly  belong  to  the  Natural  order  Cucurbitacea?.  But  as  he 
also  had  no  magnifier,  he  was  unable  to  speak  with  certainty,  and  failed 
to  identify  the  plant.  I  much  doubt  if  there  is  any  Cucurbitaceous  plant 
without  the  climbing  habit  so  characteristic  of  that  order.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  small  Natural  orders  Cytinacese  and  Balanophoracese,  especially 
the  latter,  present  some  features  similar  to  those  noticed  in  my  Mahablesh- 
war  plant.  The  following  characteristics  at  least  of  Balanophoraceae, 
as  described  by  Dr.  Balfour  in  his  Class  Book  of  Botany,  seem  to  be 
identical  with  both  those  noticed  by  himself  and  those  determined  by 
Dr.  Macdonald  : — "Leafless... with  tubers... whence  proceed  naked  or  scaly 
peduncles  bearing  heads  of  unisexual  flowers.  Staminal  flowers  generally 
white. ..anthers. ..united  into  a  multicellular  mass... Parasitic  on  the  roots 
of  various  dicotyledons,  and  abounding  on  the  mountains  of  tropical 
countries."  Dr.  Balfour  certainly  says  nothing  of  the  very  curious  and 
characteristic  velvety  ball,  nor  was  the  parasitic  nature  of  my  plant  fully 
established,  but  what  I  ascertained  of  its  habits  from  the  man  who 
brought  it  to  me  is  at  least  not  inconsistent  with  its  being  a  root-parasite 
He  also  informed  me  that  the  plants  died  down  in  the  dry  weather 
and  had  never  been  known  to  survive  removal.  I  kept  mine  alive 
for  some  weeks  in  a  soup-plate  of  water,  but  it  was  completely  withered 
before  I  left  Mahableshwar  in  January. 

A. — Brown  velvety  ball. 

B. — Rough  ball  covered  with  minute  whits  flowers. 

C. — Spathaceous  stalk,  greenish-yellow  towards  the  top  and  brighter-yellow  in  the 
lower  part. 

D. — Lump  of  red  marly  earth,  apparently  moist  laterite  clay,  containing  numerous 
root  fibres,  in  which  the  plant  was  growing. 

I  incline  to  the  belief  that  the  plant  was  one  of  the  Balanophoracese.     But 
the  man  who  brought  it  to  me  was  not  aware  of  its  possessing  any  useful 


NOTE  ON  A  SUPPOSED   ROOT-PARASITE   FOUND  AT  MAHABLESHWAR.       77 

properties,  nor  did  lie  know  any  native  name  for  it,  though  Dr.  Balfour 
describes  the  Balanophoracea*  as  being  some  of  them  styptic,  and  others 
edible.  I  can  find  no  reference  to  Balanophoracese  in  Dalzell  and  Gibson's 
"  Bombay  Flora,"  published  in  1861,  nor  in  GelFs  "  Handbook  for  use  in 
the  Jungles  of  Western  India,"  published  in  1863,  nor  in  Drury's  "  Useful 
Plants  of  India,"  published  in  1873.  In  the  "  Cyclopsedia  of  Natural 
History,"  published  by  Bradbury  and  Evans  in  1856,  two  years  after  Dr. 
Balfour's  "  Class  Book,"  the  Balanophoraceaa  are  described  as  "  a  natural 
order  of  parasitical  plants  growing  upon  the  roots  of  woody  plants  in  tropical 
countries  and  rooting  into  wood  from  which  they  draw  their  nutriment. 
.  .  .  .  None  of  the  species  have  fully  formed  leaves,  but  closely  packed 
fleshy  scales  clothe  their  stems  and  guard  their  flowers  in  their  infancy. 
Succulent  in  texture,  dingy  in  colour,  and  often  springing  from  a  brown 
and  shapeless  root  stock,  Balanophoracea3  remind  the  observer  of  fungi  more 
than  of  flowering  plants,  and  in  fact  they  appear  intermediate  in  nature 
between  the  two.  If  they  have  flowers  and  sexes  both  are  of  the  simplest 
kind,  and  their  ovules,  instead  of  changing  to  seeds  like  those  of  other 
flowering  plants,  become,  according  to  Endlicher,  bags  of  spores,  like  those 
of  true  flowerless  plants.  Even  their  woody  system  is  of  the  most 
imperfect  kind,  for  it  is  either  entirely,  or  almost  entirely,  destitute  of 
spiral  vessels."  This  writer  also  notices  the  styptic  and  edible  properties  of 
certain  species.*  Again,  however,  nothing  is  said  of  the  large  velvety  ball, 
so  striking  in  my  specimen.  It  is  figured  in  the  illustration  to  the  article 
which  I  have  quoted,  but  as  oval  in  shape,  and  small  in  size  in  proportion 
to  the  length  of  the  stalk,  which,  again,  is  represented  as  smooth  and 
slender. 

I  have  trespassed  at  this  length  on  your  patience,  because,  if  I  am 
right  in  my  theory  that  my  plant  was  a  Balanophora,  it  is  interesting  to 
botanists  for  two  reasons  :  first,  as  being  hitherto  undescribed  in  the 
Flora  of  this  Presidency  ;  and  secondly,  and  specially,  as  being,  apparently, 
a  link  connecting  the  fungi  directly  with  the  flowering  plants,  without  the 
intervention  of  the  Ferns  and  other  higher  orders  of  Cryptogams,  which 
may  possibly  be  of  value  in  the  discussion  of  the  Darwinian  theory  of 
evolution. 

J.  B.  H. 


*  Dr.  Dymock,  in  his  "  Materia  Medica  of  Western  India,"  states  that  a  drug  is  sold  in 
Bombay  called  by  the  natives  Gaj  Pipal,  which  Messrs.  S  Arjun  and  N.  M.  Khan  Sahib  con- 
sider to  be  the  entire  plant  of  a  Balanophora.  It  appears  to  be  of  a  different  species  to  the 
above,  and  is  considered  mucilaginous  and  astringent.— J.  B.  H. 


78  NATUEAL   HISTORY. 


MEMORANDUM  by  Dr.  D.  Macdonald,  m.d.,  Vice- 
President  of  the  Society,  on  the  Species  of  BALANO- 
PHORA,  Found  and  Described  by  Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart. 

The  plant  consisted  of  an  irregular,  somewhat  flattened  rhizome, 
roughly  tubercular  on  its  upper  surface,  and  having  the  remains 
of  rootlets  on  its  under  surface.  On  the  upper  surface  of  the 
rhizome  there  were  several  short  unbranched  cylindrical  peduncles, 
an  inch  or  more  in  diameter,  more  or  less  completely  covered  by 
imbricated  fleshy  scales,  of  a  yellowish  colour ;  the  peduncle 
terminated  in  a  rounded  convex  head,  on  which  were  studded 
numerous  flowers.  These  heads  were  of  two  kinds — one  being 
covered  with  staminate  flowers,  consisting  of  a  deeply  four-lobed 
perianth,  enclosing  a  central  column  or  androphore,  and  having  the 
anthers  arranged  in  a  sinuous  in  form  on  its  summit.  The  second  kind 
of  head  was  soft  and  velvety  to  the  touch  ;  but  the  separate  flowers, 
which  were  densely  packed,  were  too  small  to  admit  of  identification 
without  a  magnifying  glass.  One  or  two  small  portions  I  tried  to 
preserve,  and  after  leaving  the  hills  I  was  able  to  make  out  that 
they  were  pistillate  flowers,  with  a  minute  ovary,  and  a  simple  styl© 
and  stigma. 

My  first  impression  was  that  the  plant  was  possibly  a  peculiar 
cucurbitaceous  plant,  seeing  the  flowers  were  monascious,  and  that 
the  staminate  flowers  had  monadelphous  stamens  with  sinuous  anthers. 
But  on  returning  to  Bombay  I  found  the  characters  answered  to 
the  descriptions  given  of  the  Balanophoraceae — an  order  which 
Hooker  has  studied  with  great  minuteness,  and  which  has  many 
points  of  special  interest. 

More  than  thirty  years  ago  botanists  grouped  several  orders — 
Cytinacese,  Rafflesiaceas  and  Balanophoraceae — into  a  separate  class, 
which  was  placed  between  the  flowering  and  non-flowering  plants. 
These  orders  had  a  few  characters  in  common  :  they  were  parasitical ; 
destitute  of  true  leaves  ;  the  stem  was  generally  an  amorphous 
fungoid  mass,  and  there  was  an  absence  of  green  colour.  The  nature 
of  the  seeds  was  little  knowD,  some  being  described  as  consisting  of  a 
mass  of  spores,  and  others  as  having  a  cellular  nucleus.  The 
researches  of  Hooker  and  others  have  shown  that  there  were  not 
sufficient  grounds  for  forming  a  new  class,  and  now  these  orders 
are  looked  upon  as  simply  degraded  exogens.  Hooker  considers  the 
Balanophoraceas  allied  to  the  Natural  Order  Haloragaceae.     Lindley 


MEMORANDUM  BY  DR.  D.  MACDONALD,  M.D.  79 

and  others  have  confirmed  the  statement  of  the  elder  Richard  that 
the  seeds  of  at  least  some  plants  of  the  order  contain  an  embryo, 
which  is  minute,  globular,  and  undivided. 

The  Balanophoracese  have  been  likened  to  fungi  from  their 
appearance  and  mode  of  growth,  but  they  differ  from  fungi  in 
consistence,  anatomy,  structure,  slow  mode  of  growth,  aud  in  having 
conspicuous  male  flowers.  The  parasitism  of  the  plants  is  of  such 
a  nature  that  there  is  some  difficulty  in  making  out  where  the  tissues 
of  the  host-plant  end,  and  those  of  the  parasite  commences,  as  the 
vascular  tissue  of  the  one  is  continuous  with  that  of  the  other. 

The  Balanophoraceaa  are  parasitic  on  the  roots  of  trees,  and  are  found 
in  the  mountaius  of  tropical  countries.  Several  species  are  found  in 
the  Himalayas,  and  in  the  Khasya  Hills,  and  eight  or  ten  species  are 
stated  by  Griffiths  to  inhabit  the  Indian  continent.  One  plant— -a 
Balanophore — is  mentioned  in  a  list  of  plants  in  the  N.  W.  as  being 
sold  in  the  bazars  under  the  native  name  of  Gochamul  ;  and  another 
in  Kashmir,  or  another  name  for  the  same  plant,  GargazmuL 
But  I  am  not  aware  of  any  Balanophors  having  been  described  as 
found  in  the  Bombay  Presidency. 

A  stringency  is  common  to  most  plants  of  the  order,  and  one 
{Fungus  melitensis)  was  known  so  far  back  as  the  time  of  the 
Crusades,  when  it  was  used  medicinally  as  a  styptic.  A  few  of  the  plants 
are  edible,  one  of  which,  known  in  Peru  as  Mountain  Maize,  grows 
with  wonderful  rapidity  after  rain.  In  this  plant  it  is  not  the  rhizome, 
but  the  scape,  or  flowering  stalk,  which  is  used.  It  is  said  to  be  eaten 
like  mushrooms,  which  it  resembles  in  outward  configuration. 
Candles  are  made  from  a  hydrocarbon  obtained  from  a  Java  Bala- 
nophor. 

The  Mahableshwar  plant  is  a  Balanophor,  and  undoubtedly  it 
belongs  to  the  tribe  Eubalanophorese,  as  it  is  the  only  tribe  of  the  seven 
into  which  the  order  is  divided  m  which  the  perianth  of  the  staminate 
flowers  is  four-lobed,  and  the  stamens  monadelphous.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  Mrs.  Hart's  paper  may  be  the  means  of  drawing 
attention  to  any  monograph  or  publication  in  which  the  plant  is 
described,  if  any  exists.  Should  any  member  of  the  B.  N.  H.  S.  be 
fortunate  enough  to  produce  another  specimen  of  the  same  plant,  it 
would  probably  be  best  preserved  in  spirit. 

D.   M, 


80 


NATURAL   HISTORY, 


LIST  OF  BIRD  SKINS  FROM  THE 
SOUTH  KONKAN. 

{Ratnagiri  and  Savantvadi) 
Presented  to  tire  Society  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Vidal,  C.S.,  January  188G. 


No.  In  List 

of  Birds  of 

India. 


Total  No. 

?o.  and  Sex  of  Specimens. 

of  Skins  of 

each  species. 

m 

1 

m 

1 

m  m  m  in  i 

5 

mff 

3 

m  m 

2 

f 

1 

% 

1 

f 

1 

mff 

3 

m 

1 

m 

1 

m 

1 

in 

1 

mf 

2 

f 

1 

i 1 

2 

fffffi 

6 

m  fi 

3 

m 

1 

ff 

2 

i  i 

2 

i 

1 

m  m  m  m  m  f  i  i  i  i  i 

11 

mff 

3 

m  m  m  in 

4 

m  mff 

4 

i  i 

2 

mf 

2 

f 

1 

i 

1 

m  m  mff 

5 

m  i 

2 

i 

1 

m 

1 

f 

1 

mfff 

4 

m  m  f 

3 

m 

1 

mffi 

4 

m  mff 

4 

in  mf 

3 

in 

1 

mff 

3 

mff 

3 

mmffffffff 

10 

m  mf  ff 

5 

m  m 

2 

2 

8 

17 

23 
31 

35 

39  bis 

48 

51 

54 

55 

56 

00 

05 

74  sept 

75  gnat 
70 

78 


82 

84 
90 
102 
103 
Ki7 
112 
114 
117 
118 
123 
127 
129 
132 
134 
136 
140 
141 
148 
149 
151 
153 
160 
104 
167 
179 


181 

193  bit 
194 


Otogyps  calvus — Scop 

Falco  perigrinus — 6m 

Cerchneis  tinrmnculus — Lin 

Astur  badius — Grn 

Hierjetus  pennatus — 6m 

Limnastus  cirrhatus — 6m 

Spilornis  melanotis — Jerd 

Butastur  teesa    

Circus  macrurus — S.  C.  6m 

Circus  asruginosus — Lin 

Haliastur  indus — Bodd 

Milvu8  govinda — Sykes    

Strix  javanica — 6m 

Syrnium  ocellatum — Less 

Scops  br ucii — Hume 

Scops  malabaricus —  Jerd 

Carine  bra  ma — Tern 

Glaucidium  malabaricum — Bly. 
[not  typical,  but  intermediate 
between  malabaricum  and 
radiatum  (77)  ]    

Hirundo  rustica — Lin 

Hirundo  filifera — Steph 

Ptyonoprogne  concolor 

Cyp8ellus  batassiensis — J.  E.  6r... 

Collocalia  unicolor — Jerd 

Caprimulgus  indicus — Lath 

asiaticus — Lath 

monticolus — Frankl... 

Merops   viridis — Lin 

philippiuus — Lin 

Coracias  indica — Lin    

Pelargopsis  gurial — Pears   

Halcyon  Smyrnensis — Lin 

(Moris — Bodd    

Alcedo  bengalensis — 6m 

Ceryle  rudis — Lin 

Dichoceros  cavatus — Shaw 

Hydrocissa  coronata— Bodd 

Palaaornis  torquatus — Bodd    

purpureus — P.L.S.  Mull 

■ columboides — Vig 

Loriculus  vernalis — Sparrm 

Picus  mahrattensis — Lath 

Yungipicus  nanus — Vig 

Chrysocolaptes  festivus — Bodd.. .. 
Micropternus    gularis — Jerd.    [not 

typical,  almost  as  near  phceoceps 
(178)]    

Brachypternus  puncticollis — Malh. 

Megaltema  inornata— Wald 

viridis — Bodd    


LIST   OF   BIRD   SKINS,   &C. 


81 


No,  in  List  of 

Birds  of 

India, 

Species. 

Total  No. 
No.  ami  Sex  of  Specimens,     of  Skius  of 

each  species 

197 

202 

Xantholcema           hsemacephala — 
P.  L.  S.  Mull 

m  m  mf 
m 
i 

f 

m 

in 

mm  ffff 

m  f  i  i  i 

m  m 

in 

fi 

m  i 

m  in 

i  i 

i 

ff 

ff 

/ 

/ 

m  m 

in  f 

m  m  ff 

m  m  f  i 

in  f 

m 

mf 
m 
m 
m  m  ff 

ffff 
m  mf 

m  m  m  m 

in  m  ff 

m  in  i 

m  m 

in  f  i 

m  m 

mfi  i 

m  m  m  m 

mf 

in  m  m  m  ff 

m  m  ff  i 

in 

mmm  f  ffff 

fff 
mfi 

i  i 

ffff 
m  in  mf 

m  m  m  m  mffff  ii  i  i 

f 

ff*  »  i 
tnff' 

m  m 

f 
m  m  in  m  f 

m  m  i  i 

in  m 

m  mfi 

m 

4 
1 

205 
208 
212 
213 
214 

1 
1 

1 

1 
G 

217 
219 
226 
232 

Taccocna   leschenaulti — Less 

5 
o 

1 

2 

234 

235 
238 
239 
240 

2 

2 
2 
1 
2 

Dicgeum  erythrorhynchus — Lath... 
Piprisoma  agile — Tich 

254 

2 

257 

1 

260 
265 
267 

Tephrodornis  pondicerianus —  Gm. 

1 
2 

2 

268 
270 
272 
276 
278 

Pericrocotus  flammeus — Forst    ... 

4 
4 
2 

I 

2 

280 
281 

285 

286 

Chibia  hottentota — Lin 

1 
1 

4 
4 

287 
288 

3 
4 

290 
293 
297 

Hypothy mis  azurea — Bodd 

Alseonax  latirostris — Rafil 

4 
3 

2 

301 

Stoporala  melanops — Vig 

3 

30(3 

Cyornis  tickelli — Bly 

2 

342 
345 

Pitta  brachyura — Lin  

4 
4 

351 

Cyanocinclus  cyanus — Lin 

2 

353 
354 
355 

Petrophila  cinclorhyncha — Vig. ... 
Geocichla  cyanotes— Jard.&  fc'elb. 
citrina — Lath 

6 
5 
1 

359 

8 

385 

3 

389 
398 
399 

Pellorneum  ruficeps — Sws 

3 
2 
4 

404 
435 
446 
45'J 

Pomatorhinu8  Horsfieldi — Sykes. ., 
■  Malacocercus  Somervillii — Sykes.. 

Hypsipetes  ganesa — Sykes 

Criniger  ictericus — Strickl 

4 

13 

1 

5 

452 

460  bis 
462 
463 

Ixus  luteolus — Less 

Otocompsa     fuscicaudata— Gould. 

Molpastes  bsemorrhous — Gm 

Phyllornis  Jerdoni    

3 
2 
1 

5 

468 

4 

470 

Oriolus  kundoo — Sykes   

2 

472 
475 

melanocephalus — Lin.    ... 

4 
1 

82 


NATURAL  HISTORY. 


No.  in  List 

Total.  No. 

of  Birds  of 

Species. 

No.  and  Sex  of  Specimens. 

of  Skins  of 

India. 

each  species 

476 

TO 

1 

479 

mf 

i 

2 

481 

2 

483 

497 

—        indicus — Bly 

1 

to  m 
mf 

2 

514 

2 

515 

Acrocephalus     stentorius — Hemp. 

and  Ehr... 

to  mf 

3 

516 

-  dumetorum — Bly... 

TO 

1 

534 

i  i 

1 

538 

2 

543 

i 

1 

544    bis 

*/                                                                 «/ 

to  to  mf 

4 

559 

mf 
to  i  i  i 

2 

560 

4 

563 

711 

1 

589 

Motacilla  maderaspatensis — Gm... 

to  to/ 

3 

591    bis 

t 

1 

592 

Calobates  melanope — Pall 

TO 

1 

593 

m 

1 

595 

TO 

1 

597 

m  i 
to  i 

2 

600 

2 

631 

Zosterops  pal peb rosa — Tem 

m  i 

2 

648 

mf 

2 

660 

Corvus  macrorbynchus — Wagl.  ... 

TO 

1 

663 

TO 

1 

674 

mff 

3 

684 

mf 
to  to  mfff 

2 

686 

G 

687 

TO  TO  TO  f  t 

m  m  mfff 
mm  to 

5 

688 
690 

6 

3 

698 

i 

1 

699 
706 

mff 

TO 
f 

3 

1 

711 

1 

721 

m 

1 

758 

Ammomanes  phcenicura — Frank]  . 

to  m  f 

3 

760 

%  % 

2 

765    bis 

m  mf 

3 

773 

TO  l 

2 

775 

f 

1 

786 

Palumbus  Elphinstonii — Sykes  ... 

f 

1 

788 

f 

1 

794 

i 

1 

797 

■  tranquebaricus — Herm    . . . 

m 

1 

798 

m 

1 

803 

mf 
mff 

2 

814 

3 

826 

m  m  m  m  m  mff 

8 

829 

TO 

1 

830 
832 

/ 

fff 

m  to  i 

1 

3 

840 

Cursorius  coromandelicus— Gm  ... 

3 

846 

^E°"ialitis  geoffroyi — Wagl 

f 

1 

847 
856 

i 

3 

1 

859 

CEdicnemus  scolopax — S.  G.   Gm. 

m  mf 

3 

872 

% 

1 

873 

TO 

1 

LIST   OF  BIKD   SKINS,   &C. 


83 


No.  in  List 

of  Birds  of 

India. 


Species. 


No.  and  Sex  of  Specimens. 


Total  No. 
of  Skins  of 
each  species 


877 
878 
882 
884 
893 
894 
898 
901 
903 
905 
907 
910 
931 
964 
971 
978 
980 
987 
Total 


Us 

bis 

No 


of  Species 
185. 


Numenius  lineatus — Cuv , 

phasopus — Lin 

Tringa  subarquata — Giild    , 

minuta — Leist 

Tringoides  hypoleucus — Lin , 

Totanus  glottis — Lin 

Himantopus  candidus — Bonn 

Hydrophasianus  chirurgus — Scop 

Fulica  atra — Lin 

Gallinula  chloropus — Lin 

Erythra  phcenicura — Penn  

Porzana  bailloni — Vieill  

Butorides  javanica — Horsf 

Querquedula  crecca — Lin... 

Fuligula  cristata — Lin 

Larus  affinis — Eeinh 

brunneicephalus — Jerd 

Sterna  albigena — Licht    


/ 

m 

m 

i 


f 
f 
m 
mf 

f 
m 

f 

f 

ff 

f 

mfff 

f 


Total  No. 
of  Skins 
444 


LIST     OF  BIRD    SKINS    FROM    BURMAH  AND 
OTHER  PARTS  OF  INDIA. 

Presented  to  the  Society  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Vidal,  C.S.,  January  1886. 


No.  in  List 

Qf  Birds  of 

India. 

Species. 

Locality. 

No.  and  Sex. 

No.  of  Skins 
of  each 
species. 

23  bis 
39 

Akyab    

m 

f 
f 
m 

m 
f 

i 
i 

m 
i 

m 
i 
i 

m 
m 

m 

f 

f 

m 

i 

i 

m 

m 

i 

55 

Calcutta 

74  sept 
77 

Poona 

Glaucidium    radiatum   (typi- 
cal—Tick   

Raipur,  C.P. ... 
Burmah   

Singbhoom    ... 
Amherst 

142 

144 

Hydrocissa  albirostris — Shaw. 
Meoiceros  bicornis  (Ocyceros 

146  ter 

Rhyticeros   subruficollis — Bly 
Brachypternus  aurantius — Lin 

Lanius  caniceps — Bly .-•.... 

180 
215 
239 
257  bis 

Raipur,  C.P.  ... 
China,  Baheer.. 
Kotagherry   ... 
N.  Kanara 

Saugor,  C.P..,, 
Ootacamund  ... 

Ootacamund  ... 

Amherst 

Madras 

Etawah 

N.  Kanara 

261 

306 

360 
434 

Malacocercus     malabaricus — 

452  dec 
534 
596 

781  bis 
843 

Iole  viridescens — Bly 

Anthus  maculatus — Hodgsn  . 
Carpophaga  cuprsea — Jerd.  ... 

iEgialitis  mongola — Pall 

cantiana — Lath    ... 

(Edicnemus    scolopax — S.   G. 
Gm 

847 

Karachi 

848 
859 

Diamond  island 
Etawah 

1 

24 

24 

84 


NATURAL  HISTORY. 


CATALOGUE  OF  SNAKES  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S 

COLLECTION. 


Family. 


Genera  and  Species. 


Locality. 


I.— TYPHLOPIDiE 

(Blind  Snakes.) 
II.—  T0RTRICIDJ3 
(Short-tailed  Earth  Snakes) 
III.— PYTHONIDiE 

(Pythons.) 
IV.— ERYCID^ 

(Sand  Snakes.) 


V.— ACROCHORDIDiE 

(Wart  Snakes.) 


VI.— UROPELTID^ 

(  Rough-tailed  Earth  Snakes) 
VJI.— XENOPELTIDiE 

(Iridiscent  Earth  Snakes.) 

V11L— CALAMARID^J   [ 

(Dwarf  Snakes.) 


IX.— HOMALOPSIDJE 

(River  Snakes.) 


X.--AMBLYCEPHALID.E 

(Blunt-headed  Snakes.) 
XI.— OLIGODONTIA®  ' 
(Filleted  Ground  Snakes.) 


XII.— LYCODONTID^E 

(Harmless-fanged  Snakes.) 


XIII.— COLUBRID®— 

I. — Group  COKONELLINA 

(Ground  Colubers.) 
II.— Group  Colubrina 
(Agile  Colubers.) 


Typhi  ops  porrectus   ..... 

None. 

Python  molurus....... 

Python  reticulatus    .... 

Eryx  johnii     

Do.  

Gongylophis  conicus     . 

Do. 
Chersydrus  granulatus. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Silybura  brevis 


Simotes  Russellii  .... 

Do. 
Oligodon  subgriseus. 

Do. 
Oligodon  fasciatus    . 
Oligodon  spilonotus . 
Lycodon  aulicus    .... 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 


Cyclophis  calamaria 


None-. 

Aspidura  trachyprocta ...... 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Cerberus  rhynchops  

Do.  

Do.  

Do.  

Sp.  nova... 

Do 

None. 


Zamenis  fasciolatus      

Do. 

Cynophis  malabaricus  

Ptyas  mucosus  juv 

Do.  juv 

Do.  juv 

Do.      (head  of  adult). 

Do.     (head  of  adult). 


Bandora. 


Lanowli. 

In  a  ship  from  Rangoon, 


Bombay  Harbour. 

Do. 

Do. 
Alibag. 
Khandalla. 


Ceylon. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Alibag. 

Do. 
Born  in  Society's  rooms. 

Do. 
Saugor,  C.  P. 


Bombay. 
Alibag. 


Bombay. 

Do. 
Tanna. 
Bombay. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 


Mahableshwar. 

Khandalla. 
Tanna. 
Khandalla. 
Bombay. 

Do. 

Do. 

Dc. 

Do. 


CATALOGUE  OF  SNAKES. 


■cJi? 


Family. 

Genera  and  Species. 

Locality. 

XIII.— COLUBEID^-c^. 
III. — Group  Dkyadina 

(Bush  Colubers.) 
IV.— Group  Natricina 
(Amphibious  Colubers.) 

XIV.— DENDROPHID.E 
(Tree  Snakes,) 
XV— DRYIOPHID^ 
(Long-nosed  Tree  Snakes.) 

None. 

Tropidonotus  quincunciatus 
Do. 
Do.                       

Do.      Beddomii    ... 
Do.      plumbicolor... 

None. 

Do.              

Bombay. 

Do. 
Alibag. 
Bombay. 

Do. 

Do. 
Mahableshwar. 
Khandalla. 

Tanna. 
Bombay. 
Do. 

Do.              

XVI.— DIPSADIDiE 

Do. 

(Broad-headed  Tree  Snakes) 

Do.              

Saugor,  C.  P. 

Do.              

Do.              

Alibag. 

Bombay. 
Saugor,  C.  P. 

XVII.— PSAMMOPHID^E 
(Desert  Snakes.) 
XVIII.— ELAPIDvE 

None. 

I  Venomous  Colubrine  Land  Snakes) 

Do.              

Do.             

Bombay. 
Do. 

Born  in  Society's  rooms. 

Mahableshwar. 
Canara. 

Bombay  Harbour. 
Do. 

XIX.— HYDKOPHID.E 

(Sea  Snakes.) 

Do.       (embryo,     with 
tooth  for  cut- 
ting egg.) 

Ophiophagus  elaps  (skin).. 

Do.                  

Do.                  

Do. 

Bombay  Harbour. 
Do. 

Do.                 

Do.                 

Do. 

Do.                  

Do. 

Alibag. 
Do. 

Do 

Do. 

Do 

Do. 

Do 

Do. 

XX.— CROTALID^E 

(Crotali  or  Pit  Vipers.) 

Trimeresurus  anamallensis . 
Do.        (head)    

Khandalla. 
Do. 

Ceylon. 

8*5 


NATURAL   HISTORY. 


Family. 

Genera  and  Species. 

Locality. 

XXI. 

— VIPERID^ 

(Vipers.) 

Rutnagiri. 
Do. 

Do.              

Do.              

Band  or  a. 

Do.      (head     of     61* 

specimen.) 

Do 

Hurda,  C.  P. 

Bombay. 
Do. 

Do 

Do.            

Do. 

NOTE. 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  the   Society's  collection  there  are  no  specimens  of  the 
genera  belonging  to  the  following  families  : — 
Fam.  II.— TORTRICID^E  (Short  tailed  Earth  Snakes). 
„    VII.— XENO  PELT  ID^E  (Iridescent  Earth  Snakes). 
X.— AMBLYCEPHALIDiE  (Blunt-headed  Snakes). 
XIV.— DENDROPHID^]  (Tree  Snakes). 
XVIL— PSAMMOPfllD^  (Desert  Snakes). 
Up-country    members    who    are   willing  to  assist  the  Collection,   can    have 
jars,  containing  spirits  of  wine,  sent  to  them  on  application. 

H.  M.  PHIPSON, 
Honorary  Secretary, 
Reptilk  Section. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  DURING 
THE  QUARTER. 

The  usual  monthly  meeting  of  this  Society  was  held  on  Tuesday  evening, 
5th  January,  in  the  rooms  at  6,  Apollo  Street.  There  wan  a  large  attendance 
of  members.  Dr.  Macdonald  having  taken  the  chair,  the  minutes  of  the  last 
meeting  were  read. 

The  following  new  members  were  then  elected  :— Lieutenant-Colonel  Row- 
landson,  Captain  Gerald  Martin,  Captain  E,  F.  Marriott,  Surgeon  Horace 
Yeld,  Miss  E.  Rich,  Khansaheb  Dinshahjee  Dosabhai  Khambatta,  Rao 
Bahadoor  Ragoonath  Mahadev  Kelkar,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Alexander,  Messrs. 
W.  M.  Macaulay,  A.  C.  Parmenides,  Anthony  Morrison,  H.  W.  Jones  and 
W.   W.  Squire. 

The  additions  made  to  the  Society's  collections  since  last  meeting  were 
reported,  as  detailed  below. 

The  Secretary  reported  that  His  Excellency  Lord  Reay  had  accepted  the 
office  of  President  of  the  Society.  He  also  reported  that  he  had  been  very 
successful  at  the  auction  of  books  mentioned  at  last  meeting,  having  secured 
13  separate  works  on  Natural  History,  most  of  them  rare  and  of  great  value. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  DURING  THE  QUARTER.     8? 

Mr.  Justice  Birdwood  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Secretary,  which 
was  seconded  by  Mr.  Sterndale,  and  carried  nem  con. 

Mr.  Sterndale  then  rose  to  propose  a  change  in  Rule  VI.,  which  runs  thus  : — 
"A  president  and  two  vice-presidents  shall  be  elected  from  among  the 
members  resident  in  Bombay."  He  proposed  that  this  rule  should  be  amended 
so  as  to  admit  of  the  election  of  three  or  more  vice-presidents,  as  in  a  place 
like  Bombay,  where  many  members  are  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  absent, 
two  are  not  sufficient.  He  also  proposed  that  Mr.  Justice  Birdwood  should 
foe  elected  as  a  third  vice-president. 

On  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Bainbridge,  these  proposals  were  put  separately, 
and,  the  first  being  seconded  by  Mr.  F.  N.  Daver,  was  carried.  Regarding  the 
second,  Mr.  Kanga  thought  notice  of  it  should  have  been  given. 

The  Secretary  said  that  notice  of  the  intention  to  make  a  change  in  Rule 
VI.  had  been  duly  given,  as  required  by  the  rules  themselves  ;  but  that  he  had 
not  thought  it  necessary  to  give  notice  of  Mr.  Sterndale's  intention  to  pro- 
pose that  Mr.  Birdwood  should  be  elected  one  of  the  vice-presidents. 

Mr.  Sterndale  then  rose  to  explain  that  his  reason  for  wishing  the  matter 
carried  through  at  this  meeting  was  only  this,  that  it  seemed  very  desirable  to 
have  the  governing  body  complete  for  insertion  in  the  first  number  of  the 
journal  which  he  hoped  would  be  in  the  hands  of  members  by  the  15th  of 
this  month. 

Mr.  Kanga  at  ouce  agread  to  this,  and  the  motion,  being  seconded  by 
Colonel  Walcott,  was  carried  unanimously. 

The  Sacretary  mentioned  that  the  skulls  presented  to  the  Society  by  Mr. 
Shillingford  of  Purneah,  which  were  acknowledged  at  last  meeting,  had  since 
arrived  and  were  now  on  exhibition  in  the  room. 

Mr.  Sterndale  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Agent  of  the  E,  I.  Railway 
for  his  courtesy  in  conveying  the  heads  free  of  charge,  which  was  seconded 
by  Mr.  Leslie  Crawford  and  carried. 

Mr.  Justice  Birdwood  then  exhibited  some  fruits  of  the  Ghela  (Randiv 
dumetorum),  a  tree  common  at  Matheran,  which  were  inhabited  by  the  larva 
of  a  butterfly,  one  of  the  Lyeaenidze.  The  insect  had  in  each  case  made  a 
hole  through  the  hard  rind  of  the  fruit  and  come  out  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  the  fruit  to  the  stalk  with  silk,  lest  it  should  fall.  Some  other 
curious  phenomena  were  exhibited,  and  the  meeting  closed. 

Contributions.      ,  Contributors. 

Head  of  Jackal  (with  solitary  horn  between  the 

ears) Dr.  K.  B.  Kirtikar. 

Specimens  of  the  Flora  of  Western  Australia  ...  Capt.  O'Grady. 

2  Walrus  Tusks Capt.  W.  Walker. 

2  Australian  Boomerangs Do. 

1  Live  Koel  (Eudynamis  honorata)    Col.  Bissett. 

A  quantity    of   fresh   water   fishes     and     crus- 
taceans    W.  Sinclair,  C.S. 

2  Bats   Do. 

Li?e  Octopus  and  Fish    Miss  Walcott, 


$3  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


Minor  Contributions — From  Messrs.  K.  0.  Campbell,  Gibson,  W.  J.  Easai, 
Rev.  A.  B.  Watson,  and  Mr.  L.  P.  Russell. 

Exhibits — A  live  crested  Hawk  Eagle  (Limncetus  cristatellus),  by  H.  M. 
Phipson. 

Additions  to  the  Library. — Malabar  Fishes  (Dav),  presented  by  Mr.  C.  P. 
Cooper. 


The  annual  meeting  of  this  Society  was  held  on  Monday,  the  1st  February, 
at  6,  Apollo  Street.  Dr.  Macdonald  haviDg  taken  the  chair,  the  minutes  of 
the  last  meeting  were  read  and  confirmed.  The  following  new  members  were 
elected  ; — Dr.  J.  C.  Lisboa,  Miss  Oliver,  Miss  R.  Oliver,  Colonel  Goodfellow, 
Dr.  H.  Cooke,  Messrs.  W.  Woodward,  H.  G.  Palliser,  J.  Steiner.  L.  C. 
Balfour,  B.  B.  Russell,  John  Chrystal,  N.  Spencer,  P.  Reynolds,  C.  Lowell, 
J.  C.  Francis,  G.  Oliver,  N.  H  Cbowksey,  and  G.  Manson. 

The  accounts  for  1885  were  put  in.  Mr.  Sterndale  proposed  that  Mr.  F.  G. 
Kingsley  should  be  requested  to  audit  them.  The  motion  was  seconded  by 
Mr.  Justice  Birdwood  and  carried. 

The  Secretary  proposed  that  a  managing  and  financial  committee  should  be 
appointed  under  Rule  XIV.,  consisting  of  the  following  ex-officio  members, 
with  powers  to  add  to  their  number  : — The  vice-presidents  of  the  Society,  the 
presidents  and  secretaries  of  the  sections,  and  the  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  Society.  He  also  proposed  that  Mr.  F.  G.  Kingsley  should  be  appointed 
treasurer.     The  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Kanga  and  carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  N.  S.  Symons  proposed  that  the  funds  of  the  Society  should  be 
deposited  in  a  bank  and  a  banking  account  kept.  This  was  seconded  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  carried. 

The  additions  to  the  collections  and  library  since  last  meeting  were 
acknowledged  as  detailed  below. 

Mr.  Justice  Birdwood  proposed  a  special  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  G.  W. 
Yidal  and  Mr.  A.  Newnham  for  their  valuable  contributions,  which  was 
seconded  by  Mr.  Starling,  and  carried. 

Mr.  Sterndale  then  exhibited  a  curiously  deformed  horn  of  the  Cashmere 
stag  obtained  by  exchange  from  M.  Dauvergne,  on  which  he  made  some 
interesting  remarks,  showing  how  liie  deformity  had  probably  been  caused. 
He  also  exhibited  and  made  some  remarks  on  the  skin  of  a  tiger-cat.  Mr. 
Aitken  read  a  note  by  Mr.  Newnham  on  the  frequent  occurrence  of  albinoism 
in  Cutch,  adding  some  remarks  on  instances  from  his  own  experience,  tending 
to  show  that  a  sandy  soil  and  dry  climate  exercised  what  might  be  called  a 
bleaching  effect  on  the  colour,  not  only  of  birds  and  beasts,  but  of  insects  also. 

Before  the  meeting  closed  the  Secretary  intimated  that  he  had  found  a 
practical  European  taxidermist  in  want  of  employment,  with  whom  he  had 
entered  into  an  engagement  which  he  hoped  would  enable  the  Society  to 
undertake  any  kind  of  work,  such  as  curing  skins,  mounting  heads  and  setting 
up  birds,  not  only  for  members,  but  for  other  sportsmen  and  naturalists. 
All  arrangements  would,  of  course,  be  made  through  Mr.  E.  L.  Barton,  whose 
came  would  be  a  guarantee  for  the  artistic  finish  of  all  work  undertaken. 


PROCEEDINGS    FO   THE    SOCIETY    DURING   THE    QUARTER.  89 


Contributions.— 450  birds'  skins,  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Vidal,  C.S. ;  skin  of  hamad- 
rayad  (OpMophagus  Elaps),  by  Mr.  G.  W.  VidaJ.  C.S. ;  one  snake  (Zamenis 
Fasciatus),  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Vidal,  C.S. ;  102  birds'  skins,  from  Bhooj,  by  Mr. 
A.  Newnham;  large  ant's-nest,  by  Mr.  W.  Shipp  ;  one  stuffed  fish  (Barbus 
Carnations),  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Phipson,  a  quantity  of  small  fresh-water  fishes,  by 
Mr.  W.  Sinclair,  C.S.  ;  three  skins  of  Capra  Sibirica,  the  Himalayan  ibex, 
showing  the  colouring  at  three  different  seasons,  by  Mons.  H.  Dauvergne  ; 
one  pigmy  shrew,  by  Mr.  H.  Littledale  ;  two  hammer-headed  sharks,  by  Dr. 
Hatch. 

Minor  contributions  by  Messrs.  F.  A.  Little,  John  Chrystal,  W.  Shipp,  W. 
Thacker,  J.  M.  Mitchell,  W.  T.  Smith,  W.  LeGeyt,  K.  M.  Shroff,  and  D.  E. 
Ait  ken. 

Contributions  to  Library.— Birds  of  the  Bombay  Presidency  (Barnes),  by  the 
author  ;  Encyclopedic  d'  Histoire  Naturelle  (Vol.  1-6),  J.  Poutz. 


The  monthly  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  Monday,  March  1,  in  tho 
Eooms  at  6,  Apollo  Street,  and  was  largely  attended.  Dr.  D.  Macdonald  took 
the  chair. 

The  following    new  members     were  elected    : — Captain   G.    WilsoD,    Mr. 

D.  Morris,  Mr.  J.  H.  C.  Dunsterville,  Mr.  G.  J.  B.  Rayment,  Dr.  Gaye,  Mr. 

E.  M.  Walton,  Major  W.  S.  Bisset,  R.E.,  Mr.  G.  H.  R.  Hart,  Miss  Hart,  Mr. 
G.  Fletcher,  Mr.  J.  Anderson,   Cap1.  T.  R.  M.  Macpherson,    Dr.  Henderson, 
Col.  Weatmacott,    Miss  Maneekjee   Cursetjee,   Mr.  D.  B.    Maistry,  and  Mr. 
C.  C.  Mehta. 

The  following  additions  made  to  the  Society's  collection?,  since  the  last 
meeting,  were  duly  acknowledged  : — 

126  species  of  ants  and  wasps,  from  Cileutta,  by  Mr.  G.  A.  J.  Rothney. 
Several   black  bucks'  heads  and  birds'  skins,  from  Ahmeiabad,    by  Cjlonel 

J.  Hills,  R.E. 
Skull  of  hippopotamus,  from  Zanzibar,  by  Mr.  F.  D.  Parker. 
One  snake  (Echis  carinatu'),  by  Mr.  D.  E.  Aitken. 

One  Indian  moaitor  (\Taranus  draccena),  by  Dr.  Kirtika. 

One  sarus  ciane  (Grus  antigone),  by  Mr.  John  Griffiths. 

A  quantity  of  mussels  and  sponges,  Bombay  harbour,  by  Miss  Walke. 

A  quantity  of  polyps,  Bombay  harbour,  by  Mr.  W.  W.  Squire. 

Fresh  water  sponges,  by  Mr.  W.  Gleadow. 

Four  lizards,  alive  ( Urmastix  hardwickii),  by  Mr.  R.  M.  Dixon. 

Five    snakes   {Silybura   brevis,  Chersydrus   granulatus,  Gongylophis  conicus, 

Zamenis  fasciolatus,  Lycodon  aulicus),  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Phipsoc 
Minor  contributions  from  Messrs.    H.  W.    Barrow,   H.  B.  Mactaggart,  J. 

Bristed,  W.  A.  Collins,  Thos  Lidbetter,   J.  D'Aguiar,  Major  Kirkwood, 

and  Captain  Miller. 
Additions  to   the   Library. — Cyclopcedia    of  India,    3  vols.    (Balfoui),  from 
W.  Sinclair,  C.S. ;  Asiatic  Society  Journal  for  1885,  from  the  Secretary,  Calcutta. 
Two  panthers,  two  sambhurs,  a  cheetul,  and  a  black  buck,  mounted  by  the 
Society's  taxidermist  for  up-country  correspondents,  were  also  exhibited. 


90 


NATURAL    HISTORY. 


Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken  announced  that,  as  be  was  about  to  leave  Bombay,  be 
was  obliged  to  resign  the  position  of  Honorary  Secretary,  but  expressed  a 
hope  that  he  would  still  be  able  to  contribute  to  the  Society's  collections. 

The  Chairman  proposed  a  special  vote  of  tbacks  to  Mr.  Aitken  for  the 
energetic  manner  in  which  he  had  fulfilled  the  duties  of  Honorary  Secretary 
since  the  establishment  of  the  Society. 

The  vote,  on  being  put  to  the  meeting,  was  received  with  applause,  and 
carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  H.  M.  Phipson  was  then  elected  Honorary  Secretary. 

Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken  read  an  interesting  paper  on  the  classification  of  insects, 
pointing  out  the  characteristics  of  the  different  orders,  and  describing  their 
development. 

The  metamorphosis  of  the  dragon-fly  was  most  happily  illustrated  by  the 
opportune  appearance  of  one  of  these  insects  in  the  winged  condition  from  the 
pupa  state  during  the  course  of  the  lecture. 

Mr.  Sterndale  exhibited  some  curiously  formed  horns  of  the  Cashmere  stag, 
showing  a  bifurcation  of  the  bez  tine,  and  a  fine  head  of  the  musk-deer. 


ii;-. 


JOURNAL 

OF  THE 

BOMBAY 


Statural  Sistflrn  $atht& 


N0.  3-  BOMBAY,  JULY  1886.  Vol.  I. 

A  SIND  LAKE, 
By  Capt,  E.  F.  Becher,  R.A.,  f.z.s. 

Sind,  as  viewed  on  the  map  and  as  seen  from  the  sea  on  approach- 
ing Karachi,  has  a  most  unpromising  appearance ;  in  the  former  case 
the  Desert  of  Sind  is  written,  and  in  the  latter  an  apparently  desert  of 
deserts  is  seen,  the  few  houses  of  Clifton,  surrounded  by  sand  Kills, 
giving  a  greater  aspect  of  desolation  than  if  no  signs  of  habitation 
were  visible  ;  but  along  the  banks  of  the  Indus  which  traverses  the 
whole  length  of  Sind  are  numerous  jhils  and  lakes  abounding  in  wild 
fowl. 

The  Manchar  Lake,  however,  though  communicating  with  the 
Indus,  does  not  owe  its  existence  entirely  to  that  river  ;  it  is  about 
7  miles  long  and  4  broad  ;  on  one  side  are  high  barren  hills  of  bare 
rock,  and  on  the  other  an  open  cultivated  plain  stretching  to  the 
Indus,  which  is  distant  about  8  or  9  miles. 

The  lake  itself  is  for  the  most  part  shallow  and  covered  with  water 
weed  ;  the  water  is  like  crystal,  and,  looking  down  on  the  subaqueous 
forest  through  the  clear  shallow  medium,  brightened  by  the  usual 
unclouded  sun,  it  has  always  reminded  me  of  a  most  perfect 
microscopical  illumination  of  some  opaque  object,  a  beauty  which 
a  microscopist  will  understand.  The  surface  of  the  lake  teems  with 
waterfowl.  Mr.  A.  0.  Hume  says  with  respect  to  the  coots  : 
"  I  believe  they  would  have  to  be  counted  not  by  thousands,  but 
by  tens  of  thousands.  *  *  *  In  no  part  of  the  world  have  I 
ever  seen  such  incredible  multitudes  of  coots  as  are  met  with  in 
Sind."  This  was  written  in  1873,  but  since  that  date  Sind  has 
been  much  opened  out,  and  the  Manchar  Lake  being  easily  accessible 
the  number  of  wild  fowl  has  decreased.  On  three  occasions  I  have 
spent  about  ten  days  on  the  lake.  Living  in  a  boat  is  much  preferable 
to  camping  on  the  banks  for  any  one  to  whom  a  bird  is  something 
more  than  a  Hawk,  Duck,  or  Snippet. 


92  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


As  an  example  of  what  sights  gratify  one's  eyes  in  the  early  morn- 
ino-,  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  within  a  stone's  throw  of  mv 
boat  the  large  and  little  cormorant,  keenly  engaged  in  catching  their 
morning  meal,  at  least  two  species  of  tern  every  now  and  then  de- 
scending with  a  loud  splash  into  the  water,  the  common  pied  kingfisher 
hovering  over  the  surface,  stilts,  one  or  two  of  the  numerous  gracefid 
white  herons  or  egrets,  several  black-tailed  godwits,  of  course  one  or 
two  of  the  numerous  harriers  which  are  perpetually  sailing  over 
the  rushes,  and  two  or  three  species  of  the  smaller  waders  ;  other 
birds  there  were,  but  I  think  I  have  quoted  enough ;  within  a 
stone's  throw  is  no  exaggeration :  no  crouching  behind  a  bush, 
or  concealment  was  necessary  on  my  part;  they  hardly  paid 
any  heed  to  my  presence  ;  on  more  than  one  occasion  I  have  seen  as 
many  as  three  white-tailed  eagles  together  almost  within  gunshot. 

One  of  the  methods  of  shooting  wild  fowl  when  required  for 
the  pot,  and  I  am  afraid  often  when  not,  is  to  be  poled  to- 
wards the  numerous  duck  and  shoot  at  them  sitting  on  the 
surface  of  the  water  at  long  ranges  ;  it  is  remarkable  how  they 
appear  to  know  the  exact  range  of  an  ordinary  gun,  but  a 
choke-bore  at  present  they  do  not  understand  ;  their  almost  invariable 
practice  is  to  let  you  approach  within  70  and  80  yards  before  they 
take  flight. 

On  the  banks  are  some  fishing  villages  ;  great  numbers  of  fish  are 
caught  by  driving  them  into  a  net ;  this  operation  is  accompanied  by 
the  most  deafening  and  prolonged  noise  ;  if  fish  can  hear,  they  would 
hear  this  ;  on  the  front  of  each  boat  is  a  rocking  wooden  tray  in 
which  is  a  copper  dekshi ;  this  tray  is  perpetually  worked,  varied 
with  beating  the  deck  with  a  short  stick,  the  boat  itself  being  rocked ; 
a  band  conductor,  as  I  will  call  him,  as  he  seems  to  regulate  the  noise 
and  movements,  stations  himself  in  a  boat  at  the  mouth  of  the  net  ; 
it   is   no    uncommon   thing    for   these  fishing  boats  to  have  a   long 

C3  o  O 

perch,  on  which  are  seated  various  species  of  herons  and  egrets,  and 
cormorants,  or  else,  perhaps,  a  pedlican  is  standing  on  their  boats. 
Mr.  Murray  says  that  they  use  these  birds  as  decoys  and  sew  up  their 
eyes  ;  in  the  case  of  those  I  have  examined  I  am  glad  to  say  I  have 
never  seen  this  latter  cruelty  perpetrated. 

The  natives  are  adepts  at  spearing  fish,  which,  when  the  fish  are 
at  some  little  depth  is  no  easy  matter  ;  on  account  of  the  refraction, 
part  of  the  equipment  of  every  boat  is  two  or  more  spears,  and  a  stone 
on  which  to  sharpen  the  points. 


A   SI5TD    LAKE.  Oij 


I  always  used  to  look  forward  to  evening  flighting,  not  only  from  a 
sporting  point  of  view,  but  on  account  of  the  bird  life  which  is  alwa}-s 
to  be  seen  on  these  occasions ;  this  shooting  was  always  done  from 
a  boat  concealed  more  or  less  amongst  the  reeds.  I  will  take  from  my 
notes  an  account  of  an  evening's  flighting  at  the  end  of  February  last 
year.  "  About  4-30, 1  took  up  my  position  amongst  the  high  reeds.  The 
first  to  come  over  are  one  or  two  stragglers  (duck),  and  then  the  usual 
enormous  flocks  of  duck  pass  by,  flying  high  over  head  from  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Indus,  the  first  intimation  of  their  approach  being  the  rushing 
noise  caused  by  their  wings ;  after  this,  or  perhaps  a  little  before,  some 
large  flocks  of  glossy  ibis  flying  slowly  in  a  single  undulating  line 
pass  close  by  ;  one  slowly  unfolds  one  of  its  long  legs  and  leisurely 
scratches  its  head,  the  whcle  operation  appearing  very  ludicrous; 
all  the  time  one  or  two  harriers  hunt  leisurely  over  the  reeds 
ready  to  pick  up  any  wounded  victim  to  my  gun ;  a  gull  or  two  pass 
over,  especially  noticeable  is  the  large  black-headed  Larus  ichthycetus, 
then  comes  a  flock  of  graceful  small  white  egrets ;  on  one  occasion  I 
shot  one  for  identification,  which  turned  out  to  be  Ilerodias  inter- 
media ;  I  also  watch  with  interest  the  fishing  of  the  blue  kingfisher 
A.  ispida}  and  perhaps  A.  hengalensis,  and  the  pied  kingfisher  Ceryle 
radis.  (I  might  also  have  seen  the  lovely  Halcyon  smyrnensis^  but  as 
I  am  transcribing  from  my  notes  on  this  particular  occasion,  I  did 
not.)  Many  wagtails  of  two  or  three  species  flit  about  the  reed-covered 
surface  of  the  water;  the  hoarse  loud  note  ofthe  Reed  warblers,  Acro- 
cephalus  stentorhts,  is  constantly  heard,  but  although  close  to  me,  I 
can  only  occasionally  catch  a  glimpse  of  one  amongst  the  reeds  ;  the 
little  warblers  (Phylloscopus  tristis)  flit  rapidly  in  and  out  amongst  the 
rushes,  and  if  I  do  not  move,  they  allow  me  to  admire  their  ceaseless 
activity  almost  within  an  arm's  length  ;  as  the  evening  gets  on,  the 
croaking  of  the  frogs  and  chirping  of  the  grasshoppers  (?)  keep  up  a 
perpetual  monotonous  concert  with  the  splashing  and  cackling  of  the 
noisy  purple  gallinules;  cormorants,  both  great  and  small,  fly  past ;  (in 
the  case  of  one  I  shot,  the  small  cormorant  was  Graculus  javanica,  but  iu 
Mr.  Murray's  Vertebrates  of  Sind  I  see  that  both  Graculus  sinensis  and 
G.  javanica  are  common  Sind  species,  the  former  being  distinguished 
from  the  latter  by  having  no  white  thigh  or  cheek  patch ;  I  did  not 
know  of  this  distinction  at  the  time,  so  was  not  on  the  alert  to 
discriminate  between  the  two  species)  ;  then  I  see  a  few  curlews, 
a  flock  of  crows,  and  flying  close  to  the  surface  of  the  water  a 
flock  of  Hinmdiniuce;  they   are   gone   too    quick   for    identification. 


94  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


but  doubtless  Cotyle  sinensis  ;  and  then  come  the  duck,  but  I  do 
not  see  the  cloud  of  them  which  last  December  used  to  rise  from 
the  lake  as  it  were  simultaneously,  passing  overhead  in  varying 
numbers  ;  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  so  the  flight  is  over,  darkness 
has  set  in,  and  all  is  still  save  the  croaking  frogs  and  the  chirping 
insects." 

I  have  mentioned  above  that  Alcedo  ispida  and  perhaps  A.bengalensis 
are  to  be  seen  ;  but  I  must  confess  that  I  am  fairly  puzzled  with 
Alcedo  ispida,  A.  bengalensis,  and  a  small  form  which  Mr.  Hume  says  : 
41  *     compels  me  to  identify  it  with  ispida  rather  than  benga- 

lensis."— (See  Stray  Feathers,  Vol.  I.,  p.  168.)  In  no  book  that  I  have 
seen  is  the  difference  between  A.  bengalensis  and  A.  ispida  clearly  pointed 
out.  I  have  four  skins  of  Sind  blue  kingfishers  before  me  as  I  write :  three 
seem  to  me  almost  the,  same,  except  one  which  is  not  so  long  and  whose 
bill  is  a  trifle  stouter  than  the  other  two  ;  these  I  refer  to  ispida,  but 
the  fourth  is  much  smaller  and  much  brighter;  its  length  is  5 "75, 
bill  at  top  1*44,  bill  from  gape  1*87,  wing  2*65  ;  the  bill  is  blackish 
brown  except  at  the  base  of  the  lower  mandible,  which  is  beneath 
reddish  :  the  ground  colour  of  the  head  is  very  dark  brown  ;  the 
throat  is  white  and  the  rest  of  the  under  parts  ferruginous,  but  on 
the  breast  the  ferruginous  feathers  are  tipped  with  faint  light 
blue  ;  it  is  male,  and  was  shot  at  the  Manchar  lake  on  the  15th 
December  1885. 

As  regards  the  geese  and  duck,  on  the  last  occasion  I  visited  the 
lake  (Dec.  9,  1885)  geese,  duck  and  other  wild  fowl  were  conspicuous 
by  their  absence,  and  I  believe  throughout  Sind ;  on  this  occasion  I 
only  saw  a  few  grey  lag  geese  (A.  cinerens),  but  in  February  of  the 
same  year  I  have  no  note  of  this  species,  but  the  barred-head 
goose  {A.  indieus)  was  extremely  abundant. 

The  Large  Whistling  Teal  (JDendvocygna  fulva). — I  shot  a  few  in 
December,  but  none  in  February  ;  they  are  very  slow  flyers,  and  when 
one  of  their  number  is  shot,  they  often  circle  round  it,  constantly 
uttering  their  whistling  cry;  their  feet  and  tarsus  are  proportionally 
very  large,  and  altogether  they  give  any  one,  who  remarks  individu- 
ality in  other  than  the  human  species,  the  idea  that  they  are  half- 
witted- 

The  Ruddy  Shelldrake  (Casarea  rutila),  more  generally  known  as 
the  Brahminy,  is  common  ;  its  hoarse  croak  is  often  heard  as  it  flies 
overhead;  I  cannot  agree  with  the  statement  in  Mr.  Murray's  Verte- 
brates of  Sind  that    "  they  are  extremely  shy  and  wary  birds,"  and,  as 


A   MND  LAKE.  95 


Mr.  Reid  in  Game  Birds  remarks  :  "  It  will  not  only  keep  a  sharp  look- 
out on  its  own  account,  but  will  fly  along  the  jhil  side  before  the  gun- 
ner, uttering  its  warning  note  and  put  every  bird,  on  the  qui  vive."  I 
have  always  found  it  a  slow  clumsy  bird,  easy  to  approach.  I 
was  very  amused  on  one  occasion  watching  a  Pariah  dog  try  in0"  to 
approach  one  in  some  deep  mud  ;  the  dog  with  an  unconcerned  manner, 
as  if  Brahminy  duck  was  the  one  thing  in  this  world  which  it  had  the 
least  thought  of,  the  duck  as  if  a  dog  trying  to  catch  it  was  an  equally 
distant  thought  ;  the  dog  at  last  manoeuvred  till  it  was  quite  close  and 
was  evidently  heedless  of  the  proverb  "  First  catch  your  hare  before  yon 
cook  it  ;"  but  then  the  Brahminy  flapped  away  a  few  paces  ;  then  the 
same  manoeuvres  were  repeated  to  the  evident  amusement  of  the  bird 
and  the  annoyance  of  the  dog;  how  long  the  dog  would  have  pursued 
in  this  wild  goose  or  more  correctly  wild  duck  chase  I  cannot  tell,  as  I 
was  tired  before  the  dog  was  ;  walking  on  put  a  stop  to  any  more 
manoeuvres ;  this  duck  and  the  former  are  considered  not  fit  for 
human  food  ;  a  brother  officer  tried  a  young  Brahminy  on  one  occasion 
and  ate  some  of  it  with  relish  ;  he  also  had  a  whistling  teal  cooked  ; 
which  he  and  another  friend  pronounced  good  ;  I  have  never  eaten 
the  former,  but  I  have  attempted  to  eat  a  little  of  the  latter  ;  I  shall 
never  do  so  again. 

The  Shoveller  (Spatula  clypeata)  is  very  numerous  ;  as  a  bird  for  the 
table  it  also  has  a  bad  reputation,  which,  no  doubt,  is  frequently  well 
deserved,  as  it  is  a  foul  feeder  and  delights  in  any  dirty  pool  ;  but 
those  1  tried  at  tbe  Manchar  Lake  were  not  bad  eating. 

The  Mallard  (Anas  boschas). — Last  December  I  think  this  was  almost 
the  most  numerous  species  on  the  lake ;  in  February  I  only  shot  two  in 
about  seven  days'  shooting. 

The  Gadwall  (Chaulelasmus  slreperus)  is  also  very  common. 

The  Marbled  Teal  (Chaulelasmus  angustirostris)  very  common.  When 
flying,  on  account  of  its  proportionately  large  expanse  of  wings,  it 
appears  a  much  larger  bird  than  it  is. 

The  Pintail  (Da/ila  acuta),  another  very  common  species. 

The  Widgeon  (Mareca  penelope\  not  very  common  ;  I  only  shot  one 
last  December. 

Both  the  Common  and  Garganey  Teal  (Querquedula  crecca  and  Q. 
circia)  are  common,  especially  the  latter  ;  none  of  the  males  which  I 
shot  of  the  last  species  during  my  last  December  visit  had  made  any 
attempts  to  assume  the  male  plumage. 


9(j  NATURAL  HISTORY, 


The  Red-crested  Pochard  (Fulipula  rufina)  and  the  Tufted  Duck 
(F.  cristata)  are  fairly  common,  especially  the  latter.  I  did  not  shoot 
a  single  one  of  either  of  these  ducks  last  December,  nor  did  I  observe 
any,  nor  did  I  see  any  pochard  (Fulig ula  ferina)  at  that  time  ;  I  have 
only  a  note  of  it  forming  part  of  my  bag  last  February,  but  whether 
common  or  not  is  not  mentioned. 

The  White-eyed  Duck  (Fuligula  ferina)  is  common. 
At  the  latter  end  of  the  season,  when  the    water   has   fallen,    Snipe 
common  and  Jack  are  numerous  in  favourable  places  round  the  edges 
of  the  lake. 

On  the  babul-fringed  banks  of  the  canal  from  Sehman  I  secured  a 
male  and  a  female  of  Passer  pyrrhonotus  ;  this  is  an  interesting  bird 
from  having  been  rediscovered  by  Mr.  Doig  in  1880,  not  having  been 
recorded  in  India  for  forty  years  previously — See  Stray  Feathers,  Vol.  IX. 
As  regards  the  other  animals  inhabiting  the  lake,  which  particularly 
attract  notice,  amongst  the  fish  there  is  a  fresh- water  pipe  fish  in  con- 
siderable numbers  ;  in  fact,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  look  down  into  the 
water  without  seeing  several  of  these  gliding  in  and  out  amongst  the 
weeds  ;  the  natives  never  seem  to  catch  it ;  there  is  also  a  fresh-water 
prawn  which  to  the  eye  uneducated  in  entomostracan  lore  appears 
similar  to  the  well-known  marine  form.  Mr.  Murray  informs  me  that 
it  has  not  as  yet  been  properly  identified. 

There  are  several  species  of  fresh-water  shells,  one, — a  fresh-water 
mussel, — is  very  numerous  ;  there  is  another  form  of  large  bivalve, 
which  is  unknown  to  me  ;  Limncea  sp.  (?)  is  also  very  common  with 
a  pink  variety  ;  Sphcerium  sp.  (?)  fairly  numerous;  a  smallish  Planorbis 
sp.  (?)  is  met  with  on  the  weeds,  but  not  in  any  great  numbers  : 
Paludina  sp.  (?)  is  very  common. 

As  regards  the  vegetable  kingdom,  one  of  the  commonest  sights  is 
to  see  a  number  of  naked  women  digging  up  from  the  mud  the  roots 
of  the  lotus,  whose  broad  leaves  cover  the  water  in  places,  and  afford 
a  convenient  standing  ground  for  snipe,  as  I  found  to  my  cost,  when 
working  the  neighbouring  snipe  ground  ;  these  roots  seem  to  be  rather 
highly  prized  as  a  vegetable;  I  tasted  them,  and  they  had  the  flavour 
of  parsnip,  but  were  rather  stringy,  as  they  seem  chiefly  made  up  of  a 
number  of  fine  silk-like  fibres.  But  for  the  present  I  have  said  more 
than  enough  ;  if  I  were  to  Avrite  of  all  I  saw  at  the  lake,  I  am  afraid 
the  journal  of  the  B.  N.  H.  S.  would  scarcely  contain  it. 

E.  F.  BECHEf?,  Caft.,  E.A.,  f.z.s. 


NOTES  ON  THE    WATERS   OF  WESTERN   INDIA.  !>7 

NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA, 

Part  I.—"  British     Deccan    and    Khandesh." 
By  a   Member   of  the  Society. 

The  following  rough  notes  on  the  waters  of  Western  India  are 
written  "  gryphonibus  puerisque,"  and  I  do  not  suppose  them  to 
contain  much  original  matter  of  any  scientific  value.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  I  have  drawn  freely  upon  the  standard 
works  of  Drs.  Jerdon,  Nicholson,  Day,  and  Gunther,  but  more  special 
acknowledgment  is  due  to  later  and  less  known  local  writers, 
Mr.  Wendon,  C.E.,  Dr.  Fairbank,  Captain  Butler,  and  ether 
officers  who  contributed  to  the  Bombay  Gazetteer  and  the  Reports 
attached  to  the  Bombay  contributions  to  the  Fisheries  Exhibition. 
Even  of  my  own  observations,  the  memoranda  used  in  these  notes 
have  mostly  been  put  at  the  service  of  the  officers  who  compiled 
these  last-named  publications,  or  used  in  a  lecture  delivered  before 
the  Royal  Asiatic  Society.  For  the  Indian  angler,  Mr.  Thomas's 
u  Rod  in  India"  stands  by  itself  ;  and  whoever  wants  to  catch  fish 
in  this  country  ought  to  read  it,  and  not  depend  on  my  incomplete 
remarks. 

As  but  few  Europeans  on  this  side  of  India  are  much  in  the 
way  of  sea  fishing,  I  shall  begin  by  describing  the  fresh  waters 
of  the  Presidency,  which  are  divided  between  four  very  well- 
marked  regions. 

The  first  of  these  is  that  of  the  Deccan  and  Khandesh.  All  along 
the  Western  Ghats  a  number  of  torrents  rising  very  close  to  their 
scarped  edge  flow  eastwards  ;  generally,  at  first,  with  a  good  deal  of 
southing.  Within  a  very  few  miles  of  their  sources  these  unite  to  form 
rivers,  the  beds  of  which  a  good  deal  resemble  those  of  salmon  rivers 
in  Northern  Europe  ;  but  their  streams  differ  from  these  in  an 
important  particular.  Instead  of  the  alternate  rise  and  fall  which 
make  European  angling  a  speculative  pursuit,  we  have  here  three  or 
four  months  of  continual  flood,  while  for  the  rest  of  the  year  each 
river  becomes  a  chain  of  pools  connected  (if  at  all)  by  a  very  insignifi- 
cant current.  Another  matter  very  important  to  the  fish  is  that  this 
region  of  torrents  and  moderate-sized  rivers  is  also  one  of  rice  cultiva- 
tion carried  on  in  small  pond-like  fields  called  kasars,  through  which  a 
great  deal  of  the  water  from  the  hill  sides  must  pass  before  it 
reaches  any  definite  channel.  Below  the  rice  region  these  rivers 
generally     flow     through    wide   valleys     for  from   50  to  100  miles 


08  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


before  reaching  the  great  plain  of  the  Deccan.  Their  course  (as 
will  have  been  understood  from  my  comparison  of  them  to  salmon 
rivers)  is  much  diversified  with  rapids,  sometimes  even  with  con- 
siderable falls,  with  gravelly  shallows,  and  with  long  pools  and  reaches. 
These  latter  occasionally  have  alluvial  banks  and  muddy  bottoms,  but- 
more  commonly  the  bank  is  rocky  ;  the  bed  of  the  same  nature,  with 
a  good  deal  of  gravel  ;  and  the  water  clear  throughout  the  fine 
weather,  that  is,  from  October  to  May  inclusive. 

There  is  hardly  a  siugle  river  of  importance  that  is  not  crossed  by 
at  least  one  ancient  or  modern  irrigation  weir  ;  and  on  some  there 
are  many  weirs,  all  of  masonry,  sometimes  very  lofty,  and  in  no 
case  that  I  know,  of  provided  with  any  sort  of  a  fish-ladder.  As 
many  of  the  tributary  torrents  as  have  any  stream  during  the 
whole  or  part  of  the  dry  season  are  crossed  by  many  little  dams, 
visually  built  for  the  season  only,  of  wattles,  mats,  and  mud  or  gravel, 
but  sometimes  they  also  are  permanent  dams  of  good  stonework. 

As  each  group  of  these  rivers  debouches  from  its  gradually 
widening  valleys  into  the  great  plain  of  the  Deccan,  some  one  of 
them,  like  Aaron's  Rod,  swallows  up  the  others;  and  from  this  point 
to  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Presidency  its  course  is  generally  a 
huo-e  trough  about  100  feet  deep  and  half  a  mile  wide, 
bottomed  alternately  with  sand  and  mud,  and  rarely  crossed  by  a 
bar  of  basalt,  over  which  the  river  falls  in  rapids  or  a  cataract. 

Except  at  such  places  the  banks  are  usually  of  stiff  alluvial  soil , 
scarped  on  the  outside  of  each  curve  of  the  stream,  where  it  runs 
deepest  and  strongest,  but  sloping  gradually  on  the  inside  of  the 
curve  to  wide  sandbanks  bordering  on  the  "  dead  water." 

The  streams  which  unite  to  form  the  Bhima,  most  of  which  rise  in 
the  Poona  District,  illustrate  the  above  description  well  enough  ;  but 
the  finest  falls  on  any  large  river  easily  accessible  from  Bombay  are 
those  on  the  Godavery  at  Phultamba. 

Before  dismissing  the  Deccan  rivers  it  should  be  added  that  each 
of  them  after  leaving  this  Presidency  is  barred  by  great  irrigation 
works,  which  completely  prevent  the  ascent  of  fish  from  the  sea 
from  their  lower  waters. 

Besides  its  rivers,  the  Deccan  has  a  considerable  number  of 
artificial  lakes  and  ponds,  or,  as  we  call  them,  tanks.  Some  of  these, 
especially  those  at  Khadakwasla,  near  Poona,  and  Ekruk,  near 
Sholapur,  are  of  considerable  size,  and  a  good  many,  even  of  the 
lesser,  are  perennial.     But  the  greater  number  are  reduced  to  mere 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDTA.  99 


puddles,  or  entirely  dried  up  annually,  even  in  ordinary  seasons* 
Of  natural  lakes  there  is  not  one. 

Khandesh,  for  the  purpose  of  these  notes,  may  be  classed  with 
the  Deccan,  which  it  resembles  in  its  geology  and.  hydrography  ; 
and  though  its  great  river,  the  Tapti,  flows  into  the  Arabian  Sea, 
instead  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  it  has  only  one  tributary  of  importance 
(the  Puma)  that  does  not  rise  in  the  Western  Ghats,  or  in  their 
great  spur,  the  Satmalla  Range.  Rivers  and  tanks  in  these  two 
neighbouring  regions  resemble  each  other,  even  as  Fluellen's  waters  of 
Macedon  and  Monmouth.  It  is  true  that  instead  of  "  salmons  in 
both,"  "  there  is  salmons  in  neither  ;"*  and  it  is  now  perhaps  time 
to  consider  what  there  is  instead  of  salmons. 

Nearly  all  the  fishes  of  any  importance  belong  to  two  families, 
namely,  the  Cyprinidse,  or  Carps  ;  and  the  Siluridse,  or  Catfishes. 

Probably  no  writer  on  Indian  fishes,  except  a  professed  ichthy- 
ologist, can  escape  from  beginning  with  (i  the  Mahseer."  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  although  it  would  not  be  correct  to  say  that 
there  is  no  such  fish  as  a  mahseer,  there  is  certainly  no 
fish  that  has  an  exclusive  right  to  the  title,  and  it  is  not  a  genuine 
native  name  for  any  fish  in  our  present  province.  A  certain  group 
of  Indian  barbels  differ  from  the  English  representatives  of  that 
genus  in  preferring  troubled  waters  and  a  highly  predatory  existence. 
They  will  eat,  indeed,  whatever  they  can  come  at,  from  a  fly  to  a 
wild  fig  ;  but  what  they  like  best,  perhaps,  is  a  little  fish,  no  matter 
of  what  sort,  even  if  their  own.  This  frame  of  mind  and  palate  fits 
them  particularly  for  the  purpose  of  the  sportsman,  and  wherever  }'ou 
find  him  in  India,  he  and  his  native  assistants  will  be  found  calling 
some  of  these  predatory  barbels  tl  Mahseer  '  or  "  Big-head."  Even 
where  the  term  is  vernacular,  viz.,  in  Hindustan,  it  varies  in  local 
application,  and  still  more  in  the  Peninsula. 

Naturalists,  however,  have  generally  agreed  in  appropriating  the 
title  to  the  giant  of  the  tribe,  "  Barbus  tor"  of  whom  all  that  I  can 
say  here,  unfortunately,  is  that  within  our  present  area  he  is  not  at 
all  a  common  fish ;  and  when  found,  not  often  a  very  large 
one.  The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  great  rivers  of  the  Hima- 
layas, in  which  the  true  "  Mahseer"  thrives,  are  fed  by  rain 
and  melting  snow  at  different  seasons  to  an  extent  that  makes  them 
and  their  upper  tributaries  perennial.     Many  of  those  of  the  extreme 

*Note. — The  "Rajputana  trout"  (Barilins  hula)  and  the    "  Himalayan  trout" 
(Oreimis,  several  species)  are  not  found  in  this  Presidency.    Both  are  Cyprinidse. 


100  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


south  of  India,  where  also  this  fish  flourishes,  get  the  benefit  of  two 
monsoons  ;  and  in  both  cases  the  upper  streamlets  rim  from  lofty 
mountains  through,  at  first,  uninhabited  jungles  of  great  extent, 
where  spawning  fish  and  descending  fry  are  pretty  secure  from 
their  worst  enemy — man. 

The  streams  of  the  Deccan,  on  the  other  hand,  are  full  for  only 
three  or  four  months,  and  even  at  that  season  the  sources  of  almost 
every  one  of  them,  as  far  as  the  barbels  are  concerned,  are,  and 
have  been  for  many  generations,  in  rice-fields,  out  of  which  few 
spawning  fish,  and  not  many  of  their  fry,  escape  alive.  All  the 
circumstances  are  against  large  fish  like  Barbus  tor,  with  a  taste  for 
high  spawning  grounds,  and  in  favour  of  species  moi'e  moderate  in 
size  and  aspiration,  though  otherwise  of  very  similar  appearance  and 
habits.  These  are  generally  known  to  the  natives  as  u  Kawli  MascC 
or  "  scaly-fish"  from  their  large  scales.  If  I  remember  right,  the 
allied  Burbot  has  a  similar  local  name  on  the  Rhine.  Dr.  Fairbank 
eives  "  Mhasala"  or  "  Buffalo-fish"  as  a  Mahratta  name  for  Barbus 
lor,  and  mentions  one  as  3^  feet  long,  one  foot  high  (!),  and  weighing 
42  lbs.,  much  the  largest  I  ever  heard  of  in  these  waters.  As 
regards  the  value  of  the  whole  group  for  the  table,  all  I  can  say  is 
that  I  never  tasted  a  Mahseer  of  any  one  else's  killing  that  was  worth 
putting  a  fork  to.  What  I  kill  myself  are  (of  course)  good  fish  all 
round.  They  will  all  sometimes  rise  at  a  fly  or  a  spinning  1  ait  (dead 
or  artificial),  but  live  bait  is  certainly  the  most  killing.  The  name  of 
"  Indian  salmon"  is  an  absurd  misnomer  for  these  or  any  other 
Indian  fishes  ;  a  Mahseer  no  more  resembles  a  salmon  than  a  Buc- 
caneer might  an  English  naval  officer. 

Next  after  the  Mahseers  come  the  Labeos,  or  Rahu  or  Roho  fish, 
named  by  Hindu  fancy  after  the  mythical  dragon  who  causes  eclipses 
by  swallowing  the  sun.  The  type  of  the  genus,  perhaps,  is  Labeo 
Rohita,  the  "  Roho  fish"  proper,  called  in  Mahratta  "  tambacla 
masa"  or  "  copper  fish."  The  name  "Roho"  is  as  much  knocked 
about  as  that  of  Mahseer.  These  Labeos  are  easily  distinguished  at 
the  first  glance  from  the  Indian  barbels  by  their  longer  form  and  very 
peculiar  mouth,  set  under  the  snout,  and  furnished  with  thick  warty 
lips,  convenient  for  grazing  from  above  on  water  weeds,  which,  with 
perhaps  some  insects  and  snails,  form  "  the  chief  of  their  diet." 
They  like  still  and  muddy  water  ;  in  this  resembling  the  European 
carp  ;  and  I  should  certainly  have  called  them  "  Indian  carp"  in 
this  paper  if  Mr.  Thomas  had    not   most  unfortunately  appropriated 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  101 

the  title  to  an  omnivorous  fighting  barbel  closely  allied  to  the  Mahseer 
and  actually  called  Mahseer  by  Europeans  in  our  province.  Factum 
valet  quod  fieri  non  debuit,  the  Rohos  must  go  without  an  English 
name.  Iu  net-fishing  throughout  our  province  they  are  usually  the 
largest  fish  in  the  net,  but  are  very  apt  to  escape  by  jumping  over 
it  in  fine  style.  1  have  more  than  once  seen  one  knock  a  man  down 
and  go  off  over  his  prostrate  body,  and  have  got  good  sport  by 
wading  behind  the  net  with  a  spear  and  striking  them  in  the  air. 
The  best  baits  for  them  are  paste,  earth-nuts  and  gram.  Worms 
are  so  scarce  in  this  country  that  one  can  hardly  count  them  among 
available  bait,  but  when  you  can  get  them,  hardly  any  Indian  fish 
will  refuse  them.  If  any  gentleman  despises  bottom  fishing,  let  him 
try  for  a  Roho  with  fine  tackle  (coarse  tackle  is  of  no  use),  and  if  he 
hooks  one,  he  will  find  the  play  much  more  like  that  of  a  salmon  than 
a  Mahseer's  ;  and  the  fish,  moreover,  very  much  better  for  the 
table.  With  a  little  trouble  they  can  be  kept  alive  for  a  good 
while,  and  even  when  dead  do  not  quickly  become  stale.* 

After  the  Mahseers  and  Rohos  there  are  no  Cyprinidoe  of  any 
account  either  for  sport  or  for  the  table,  though  several  small  sorts, 
such  as  Chela,  Rasbora,  and  Barilius,  can  be  taken  with  a  midge-fiy 
or  small  bait  and  trout  rod,  and  fried  in  rows  upon  a  bamboo 
splinter,  after  the  fashion  known  to  mofussil  house-keepers  as 
"  Havildars  and  twelves."  If  small  enough,  they  can  then  be  eaten 
bones  and  all,  and  are  no  bad  variety  in  the  monotonous  bill  of  fare 
of  a  camp. 

The  next  family,  the  Siluridce  or  catfishes,  though  not  so 
numerous  in  individuals,  are  quite  as  often  "  in  evidence,"  as 
several  of  them  are  much  better  eating  than  any  Indian  Cyprinoid. 
They  are  all  scaleless,  and  most  of  them  have  a  "  dead  fin  ':  behind 
the  great  back  fin  like  a  salmon  or  trout,  The  commonest  and 
best  for  the  table  is  the  (i  Padi"  or  "  Shiioara  masa "  ( Wallaqo 
attu),  the  JBoalli  of  Upper  India.  Dr.  Fairbank  gives  "  Padi "  as  a 
name  for  Silundia  Sykesi,  another  catfish,  much  handsomer,  and 
possessing  a  dead  fin,  for  which  Sykes  himself  gives  "  Pari '  and 
''■  Sillun"  Wallago  attu  grows  to  a  great  size,  bites  well,  and 
shows  good  fight.  On  one  occasion  I  had  played  one  almost  within 
reach  of  the  landing  net,  when  a  second  of  about  equal   size   rushed 

*  Note. — Shah  Jahan  or  his  father,  I  forget  which,  gave  a  horse  and  a  village 
to  a  lucky  angler  who  brought  him  a  fine  "  Rahu  machi."     The  story  is  in  Elliot  : 

auctore  Iinperatore  ipso. 


102  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


up,  laid  hold  of  the  captive,    and   carried   him  off  into   deep  water, 
where,  after  a  few  minutes,  the  fine  tackle  gave  way. 

The  terms  Singhala,  Singhata,  &c,  signifying  "  Horn-fish,"  are 
applied  by  Mahrattas  to  several  catfish  with  long  feelers,  mostly 
of  the  genus  Macrones.  These  generally  give  fair  spcrt,  and  are 
good  eating.  The  best  way  of  angling  for  any  of  them  is  to  use  a 
live  bait  in  the  evening,  when  they  leave  the  deep  water,  and 
maraud  along  the  banks,  or  near  the  surface.  Failing  such  bait, 
fresh  raw  meat  answers  fairly  well.  It  is  good  to  shoot  some  wild 
bird  or  kill  a  chicken  beside  the  river  bank,  and  bait  with  warm 
flesh,  as  all  carnivorous  fish  are  strongly  attracted  by  the  smell 
of  blood. 

In  handling  the  catfishes  it  is  necessary  to  be  very  careful,  as 
several  species  are  provided  with  formidable  spines,  to  say  nothing 
of  numerous  and  sharp  teeth ;  and  the  wound  of  either  is  apt  to  be 
very  painful,  and  takes  long  to  heal. 

The  larger  species  are  sometimes  known  to  sportsmen  as  "  Fresh- 
water sharks  "  from  their  size,  temper,  and  well-furnished  jaws. 

After  these  there  is  only  one  family  of  sporting  fish  left  to  name, 
viz  ,  the  walking  fishes  or  Ophiocephalidce  (snake-heads),  commonly 
called  "  MurvelV  These  are  long  fish,  something  of  the  shape  of 
a  ling,  whose  head  is  fancifully  supposed  to  resemble  that  of  a 
snake,  whence  the  scientific  name. 

The  Murrells  are  known  to  natives  in  the  Deccan  by  that  name, 
but  elsewhere  in  this  Presidency  as  Dhak,  Dhakru,  or  Dhok. 
They  are  chiefly  remarkable  as  air-breathing  fish,  a  quality  which 
enables  them  to  live  for  many  hours  out  of  water,  and  even  to  move 
for  some  distance  over  land,  wriggling  and  crawling  with  their 
flapper-like  fins,  whence  their  English  name.  They  cannot,  indeed,  live 
altogether  under  water,  but  must  rise  to  the  surface  occasionally 
to  take  in  fresh  air  ;  and  they  like  to  lie  at  the  top  with  their 
nostrils  exposed  and  breathe  air  for  long  periods  together.  To  do 
so  in  the  centre  of  a  stream  or  tank  would  expose  them  to  many 
enemies ;  and  the  Murrells  accordingly  lurk  in  thick  beds  of  weeds, 
or  under  overhanging  roots  or  rocks  on  the  bank,  where  they  lie 
half  erect  in  the  water,  breathing  air  and  looking  out  for  wind- 
falls. They  are  said  to  have  subaqueous  burrows,  but  these,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  they  cannot  use  for  any  long  time  to- 
gether, and  in  my  opinion  they  pass  most  of  their  lives  at  the 
surface,   but  so  skilfully  concealed  that   they   are   seldom   observed. 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  103 

In  such  a  position  they  can  sometimes  be  caught  by  dropping  a 
frog,  grasshopper,  or  the  like,  upon  the  water  close  to  them  ; 
but  this  is  usually  very  difficult  to  do  without  being  seen  by  the  fish, 
At  night  they  leave  their  lurking  places  and  cruise  for  prey 
near  the  surface,  and  then  they  are  often  caught  with  trimmers 
baited  with  live  fish  or  frogs,  or  in  favourable  places  with  the  rod, 
using  for  bait  the  smallest  possible  fish,  frog,  tad-pole,  or  even 
fresh  raw  meat.  I  once  caught  over  two  dozen  of  a  small  species 
with  the  rod  in  one  evening  with  the  latter  bait.  The  Murrella 
are  said  to  be  monogamou",  and,  in  fact,  patterns  of  domestic 
virtue  until  their  young  come  of  age,  when  the  parents  turn  them 
out  to  seek  their  fortune  ;  and  eat  the  laggards.  All  of  them  are 
good  eating  when  in  season,  but  at  other  times  muddy  flavoured. 
The  same  is  the  case  with  the  catfishes,  and  this  is  usually  accounted 
for  by  the  difference  of  waters.  My  own  experience  is,  however, 
that  these  fishes,  like  salmon,  are  often  good  eating  even  when  taken 
from  still  and  muddy  waters,  and  earthy  flavoured  in  the  clearest 
streams.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  with  them,  as  with  the  salmon, 
a  question  of  season. 

In  some  rivers  considerable  numbers  of  Murrells  are  shot,  as  they 
rise  to  the  surface,  with  bullets  or  with  barbed  arrow?.  The 
arrow-heads  are  loosely  set,  but  connected  with  the  shaft  by  a  line 
wound  round  it.  The  archer  plunges  into  the  water,  recovers .  the 
floating  arrow-shaft,  and  hauls  in  the  fish  by  the  line.  The  mere 
shock  of  the  bullet  on  the  water  will  often  stun  a  fish  without  actual 
contact. 

The  last  thing  to  be  said  about  these  interesting  fish  is  that  they 
have  the  power  of  lying  asleep  in  the  mud  of  dried-up  tanks  until 
the  return  of  the  rains, — a  power  shared  by  several  other  fish 
of  this  region,  especially  by  a  queer-looking  creature,  called 
"  Wambh"  u  chaldt^  and  "  chambdre"  ("  tanner-fish"),  JSolopterus 
kapirat. 

True  eels  {Ahir)  are  not  very  often  caught  in  the  Deccan, 
partly  because  they  are  really  not  common,  but  still  more  because 
the  fishing  gear  of  that  country  is  unsuited  for  their  capture. 
I  only  once  saw  one  caught,  viz.,  at  Phultamba,  on  the  Grodavery, 
a  famous  neighbourhood  for  fish.  My  Portuguese  cook  refused  to 
cook  it  on  the  ground  that  it  was  "  all  same  like  ishnake."  There 
is  only  one  species,  Anguilla  bengalensis,  which  grows  to  at  least 
5  lbs.  weight. 


104  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


No  prejudice  attaches,  however,  to  the  spiny  eels,  called  commonly 
"  BhdrrC  and  "  Wambhat,"  strange-looking  fishes  with  rows  of 
prickles  and  long  "  trunk-like"  snouts.  They  are  very  good  eating, 
but  of  no  importance  from  a  sporting  point  of  view,  though  I  have 
seen  my  servants  catch  them  on  hooks  baited  with  raw  meat. 

Besides  the  lesser  Cyprinidae  mentioned  above,  several  fresh- 
water herrings  will  take  a  trout-fly,  giving  a  good  deal  of  amuse- 
ment in  a  small  way,  and  these  are  all  good  for  the  table  in  the  form 
of  i(  Havildars  and  twelves."  Along  with  these  is  sometimes  caught 
the  queer-looking  fresh- water  garfish  {Belone  candid),  called  in 
Mahratti  a  kutra  "  or  "  dog-fish,"  probably  from  its  greediness,  or 
from  its  long  well-armed  jaws.  It  is  exactly  like  the  garfish  of 
European  seas,  living  mostly  close  to  the  surface,  and  very  fond 
of  skipping  over  any  floating  stick  or  straw.  In  our  present  province 
both  game  and  meat  are  often  very  scarce,  and  after  many  days' 
diet  of  tough  mutton  and  tougher  "  moorghies  "  in  a  bad  climate, 
a  very  moderate  dish  of  eatable  fish  is  a  welcome  luxury. 

Setting  aside  nets  and  traps,  it  may  be  said  that  the  main  points 
for  the  angler  to  remember  in  such  waters  as  I  have  been  describing 
are  to  use  a  trout-rod  for  small  fish,  a  salmon-rod  for  the  large  ones, 
the  finest  line  he  dares,  and  the  smallest  hooks  on  the  strongest  gut 
that  he  can  get.  Even  in  spinning  he  should  never  use  treble 
hooks,  because  almost  all  the  fish  he  looks  out  for,  except  some 
catfishes,  have  small  mouths  ;  and  the  mahseers,  though  they  have 
no  teeth  in  their  mouths  at  all,  have  such  power  of  jaw  that  they  can 
break  anything  that  offers  resistance,  as  a  treble  hook  does.  If 
further  information  is  required,  the  best  of  it  is  to  be  got  in 
Lieutenant  Beavan's  "  Freshwater  Fishes  of  India  '  and  Mr. 
Thomas's   "  Rod  in  India." 

I  repent  that  I  have  omitted  to  notice  one  handsome  genus  of 
carps,  the  Cirrhinas,  which  are  very  good  eating,  and  would  pro- 
bably, if  one  could  get  them  to  take  either  a  fly  or  bait,  give  better 
sport  than  any  other  Indian  fish,  as  they  have  certainly  no  equals 
in  grace  of  form  and  motion. 

Although  the  fishes  have  claimed  precedence  in  remarks  upon 
their  own  element,  their  possession  of  it  is  disputed  by  many  other 
creatures.  In  our  present  province,  excluding  man,  only  one  of 
these  is  a  mammal,  viz.,  the  Otter  (Lulra  nair),  called  in  Mahratti 
"  03,"  liLad"  and  "  Pdn-Manjar,"  (i.e.,  "  Watercat").  I  once  heard 
a    Kashmiri    Pandit  call  one  u  Lucira,''  which  comes  close  as  can  be 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  105 

expected  to  the  Latin  and  Greek.  This  animal  is  far  more  common  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  the  ghats  than  is  supposed  by  most  sportsmen  ; 
but  being  very  shy,  and  of  nocturnal  habits,  is  rarely  seen.  If, 
however,  one  follows  up  any  river  near  Poona,  for  instance,  in  the  early 
morning,  one  is  pretty  sure  to  come  on  his  unmistakeable  "  seal  "  on 
a  mud  bank,  and  very  likely  on  the  remains  of  his  supper.  The  otter 
of  the  Deccan  is  much  smaller  than  in  Upper  India  and  Sind,  though 
classed  as  the  same  species. 

Aquatic  birds  are  more  numerous.  I  have  never  seen  any  of  the 
fishing  eagles  in  the  Deccan,*  but  the  Osprey  is  not  very  uncom- 
mon, and  the  chestnut  and  white  "  Brahminy  Kite  "  does  a  little 
fishing.  He  cannot  go  under  water  like  the  Osprey,  but  picks  up 
small  fish  from  the  surface.  The  fishing  owls  (Ketupa)  are  very 
rare  here,  being  essentially  forest  birds.  Specimens  of  two  species 
were  sent  from  this  Presidency  to  the  Fisheries  Exhibition,  but  it 
is  not  stated  whence  they  came.  Of  Kingfishers,  5  species  are  found, 
as  follows  :  — 

(1)  The  Large  Blue  Kingfisher,   H.  LeucocepJiahis ; 

(2)  The  Lesser  Blue  Kingfisher,  H.  Smyi'nensis  ; 

(3)  The  Least  Blue  Kingfisher,  Alcedo  bengalensis  ;  and  the 

(4)  Pied  Kingfisher,  Ceryle  rudis. 

The  two  last  are  the  commonest,  especially  in  the  open 
plains  ;  the  others  prefer  wooded  streams,  and  vary  their 
fish  diet  a  good  deal  with  grasshoppers  and  the  like. 
Halcyon  smyrncnsis,  indeed,  seems  almost  independent 
of  water,  wherever  there  is  woodland.  The  Pied  Kingfisher 
is  the  most  conspicuous  and  best  known  from  its  habit  of 
hovering  over  open  water  and  dropping  like  a  stone 
upon  its  quarry.  I  heard  on  good  authority  of  its  attack- 
ing in  this  manner  a  dog  that  had  passed  too  near  its  nest 
in  a  bank. 

(5)  Colonel   Sykes   records  the   rare    and     beautiful   Three-toed 

Purple  Kingfisher  (Ceysc  tridactyla)  from  this  region.  The 
whole  tribe  are  known  to  Mahrattas  as  "  Dis"  and 
"  Kilkila"  They  generally  build  in  holes  ;  but  once  in 
Sind  I  found  Alcedo  uengalensis  breeding  in  a  very  rude 
pendulous  nest  in  the  grassy  over-hanging  bank  of  a  canal. 
The  young  were  destroyed  by  a  flood.  I  fancy  that  this 
kingfisher  was  not  the  original  architect  of  the  nest. 

*  The  white-tailed  sea-eagle  (Poli^tus  ichthycetus}  is  recorded  from  Dharwar, 


106  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


The  common  and  Demoiselle  cranes  do  not  touch  fish  or  spawn. 
and  the  large  Saras  crane,  which  is  accused  of  doing  so,  is  very 
rare  in  the  Decean  and  Khandesh-  It  is  not  likely  that  any 
Plover  can  interfere  much  wilh  fish  or  spawn,  though  I  once 
saw  a  common  "Did  ye  do  it"  (Lobivanellus  goensis)  catch  and 
eat  a  small  fish.  It  is,  indeed,  the  only  Plover  which  haunts  the 
waters  of  our  present  province  in  important  numbers.  Esacus 
recurvirostris,  the  great  Stoneplover,  is  found  here  and  there  in  the 
beds  of  large  rivers,  and  perhaps  may  eat  spawn,  or  even  fry 
occasionally,  but  its  main  dependence  is  on  insects  and  Crustacea, 
with  a  few  shellfish. 

Of  the  Longirostres,  the  snipes  and  their  allies  we  have, 
though  in  no  great  numbers  ;  the  "full"  snipe,  " painted  Jack," 
and  "  pin-tail"  snipe  ;  the  greenshank,  ssveral  sandpipers,  and 
stints  ;  curlews  and  whimbrels  (both  rare)  and  the  stilt  (Himantopus 
candldus).  This  bird  and  its  tribe  would  probably  devour  fish  and 
spawn,  but  I  do  not  know  of  any  positive  evidence  against  them  ; 
and  most  of  them  can  plead  alibi  here,  being  cold-weather  visitors 
only.  The  stilt  and  greenshank,  though  not  very  sporting  birds, 
are  very  good  for  the  table. 

The  coots,  waterhens  and  rails  are  chiefly  represented  here  by 
the  bald  coot,  the  European  waterhen,  and  the  white-breasted 
waterhen,  Gallinula  phamieura.  The  second  of  these  is  much  ac- 
cused in  England  of  eating  fish  spawn  ;  the  first  nowhere,  I  think, 
and  the  last  seldom  enters  the  water  of  its  own  accord,  though 
usually  living  near  it.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  bird  rather  of  the  bank  than 
of  the  river,  and  I  have  shot  one  20  miles  from  any  bigger  water 
than  a  well.     All  three  breed  within  this  region. 

The  next  tribe,  however,  the  Cultirostres  :  Storks,  Ibises  and 
Herons  are  mostly  very  much  dependent  on  the  water.  Their 
chief,  the  Adjutant,  can,  indeed,  do  well  enough  without  it.  He  is 
rare  in  the  Decean,  much  less  so  in  Khandesh  ;  but  he  fishes  rarely  or 
not  at  all.  The  fine  black-necked  stork  (Mycteria  anstralis)  is 
rare,  and  so  are  the  black  and  the  white  stork  ( Ckonia  nigra  and 
alba),  both  of  which  are  northern  birds  that  hardly  get  so  far  south 
as  the  Decean,  even  in  the  cold  weather.  Even  the  name  of  the 
former  is  here  appropriated  by  the  resident  white-necked  stork 
(Ciconia  leucocephala),  which  breeds  here  in  trees  in  the  rains,  and 
is  very  common,  foraging  both  on  land  and  water,  but  chiefly  on 
the  edge  of  the   latter.     It  eats  plenty   of  fish,   still  more  frogs, 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  107 


crabs,  and  tadpoles,  lizards,  grasshoppers,  and,   it  is  said,  sometimes 
snakes,  and  even  field  mice. 

This  fowl  of  a  mixed  diet  is  sometimes  eaten  himself  by  the  lord 
of  creation,  under  the  name  of  "  beefsteak  bird"  for  a  change.  Sib  is 
his  frequent  neighbour,  the  Pelican  ibis,  (Tantalus  leucoeephalus), 
who  lives  in  much  the  same  way  and  in  the  same  places,  and  is 
not  uncommon  here.  The  white  ibis  is  found  on  the  larger  rivers, 
often  along  with  its  relative,  the  spoonbill ;  neither  is  common,  and 
neither  can  eat  many  fish,  though  they  prohably  do  not  spare  spawn 
when  they  find  it.  Both  are  eatable,  though  coarse  in  flavour. 
The  shell  ibis  is  almost  unknown ;  the  glossy  brown  ibis  rare ;  and 
the  red-headed  black  ibis  has  hardly  the  habits  of  a  water  bird  at  all. 
I  regret  to  say  that  upon  slight  temptation  he  becomes  a  mere 
scavenger  ;  but  in  places  where  he  cannot  get  at  dirt,  he  is,  though 
coarse,  quite  eatable. 

These  ibises  have  intruded  themselves  wrongfully  between  the 
storks  and  the  herons,  which  are  numerically  exceedingly  abun- 
dant. Up  to  the  present  we  have  had  to  deal  with  no  creature, 
except  the  osprey  and  kingfishers,  which  can  be  called  a  mere 
enemy  of  the  fish.  For  the  otters  and  the  piscivorous  birds 
mentioned  above  (with  the  exceptions  given)  destroy  more  frogs, 
water  insects  and  Crustacea  than  they  do  fish,  and  all  these  are 
deadly  enemies  of  fish  spawn  and  young  fry. 

The  herons,  however,  and  most  of  the  birds  remaining  for  notice, 
subsist  almost  entirely  on  fish. 

The  common  grey  European  heron  is  found  on  all  the  rivers  and 
tanks,  and  requires  no  special  notice.  The  great  Malayan  herons, 
A.  Goliath  and  A.  JSumatrana,  are  not,  I  think,  found  in  this 
Presidency,  though  Sir  A.  Burnes  figured  something  like  A, 
Sitmatrana  from  Sind.  A  bird  somewhat  allied  to  it,  the  purple  or 
grass  heron,  is  found  on  a  few  weedy  tanks  in  the  Deccan,  but  is  not 
common  ;  nor  is  the  queer-looking  night  heron,  which,  though  its 
nocturnal  habits  keep  it  a  good  deal  out  of  sight,  generally  lets  one 
know  of  its  whereabouts  by  its  peculiar  and   often  repeated  cry. 

The  egrets  are  numerous,  ar.d  first  amongst  them  is  the  great  egret 
{.Uerodias  alba),  valuable  for  the  long  feathers  of  its  back.  These 
are  at  their  best  in  the  early  breeding  season.- — May,  June  ar.d  July. 
3  heir  growth  coincides  with  the  change  of  the  beak  from  yellow 
to  black  ;  and  the  plume-hunter  should  therefore  not  waste  his  shot 
on  an  egret  with  a  yellow  bill.     The  same  is   the  case  with   the  lesser 


108  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


■white  egret,  whose  plumes,  though,  of  course,  smaller,  are  still 
worth  having. 

The  cattle  egret,  with  his  buff  plumes,  can  hardly  he  counted  a 
water-bird,  and  the  bittern  is  rare;  but  the  little  paddy  bird  is 
really  one  of  the  "  features  of  the  landscape"  all  over  India.  You 
find  him  on  everv  stream  and  pond  picking  up  fish,  tadpoles, 
crabs  and  what  not,  and  occasionally  swimming,  or  rather  floating. 
He  does  not,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  ever  fish  beyond  his  depth.  The 
sudden  change  of  this  little  heron  from  a  grey  bird  to  a  white 
as  he  flies  off  is  a  real  transformation  ;  and  his  moult  from  grey 
to  purple  and  white  is  quite  a  hard  thing  to  get  young  naturalists 
to  believe  in.  The  bittern  is  rare  in  our  present  province  ;  and 
it  would  take  up  too  much  time  to  go  further  into  the  history  of 
the  smaller  herons,  with  which,  indeed,  this  is  not  a  favorite  region. 

Of  the  great  tribe  of  ducks  and  geese  there  are  hardly  any  that 
Avill  not  eat  fish  spaAvn  whenever  they  can  get  it,  and  few  that 
do  not  occasionally  pick  up  small  fish,  but  the  latter  are  not 
the  principal  food  of  any  found  here,  and  during  the  rains, 
which  are  the  great  spawning  season  of  the  fish,  you  might  go  all 
through  the  Decean  and  Khandesh  without  seeing  a  single  duck 
or  teal  of  any  description,  unless  on  some  remote  tanks  which  are 
favoured  by  the  7nikia,  or  black  and  white  goose,  with  its  queer 
bottle-nose,  its  duodecimo-edition,  the  cotton  teal,  and  the  bay- 
coloured  lesser  whistling  teal.  Dr.  Fairbank  and  myself  have  observed 
the  larger  whistling  teal  in  the  Ahmednagar  District,  but  I  think 
it  is  only  a  cold-weather  visitor  there,  and  it  is  certainly  very  rare. 
It  does,  like  the  three  above-mentioned,  breed  in  other  parts  of 
India.  The  whole  four  are  very  poor  eating  in  the  cold  weather,, 
when  the  migrant  ducks  are  most  numerous  and  in  best  condition  ; 
but  they  improve  much  in  flavour  in  April  and  May,  just  when  the 
northern  visitors  are  not  to  be  had.  This  is  easy  enough  to 
understand  if  we  consider  that  the  northern  waterfowl  begin  to 
breed  in  late  spring  or  early  summer,  and  have  got  through  the 
trouble  of  raising  their  families  in  July  and  August.  From  that 
time  till  the  next  spring  they  think  of  nothing  but  filling  their 
stomachs,  and  though  they  fall  off  a  little  in  condition  during 
their  long  flight  across  the  mountain  barriers  of  India,  they  soon 
recover  it.  The  few  snipe,  for  instance,  that  remain  here  till 
April,  which  are  celibate  fowls  with  digestions  unimpaired  by  any 
affection  of  the  heart,  get  to  be  mere  balls   of  fat,   and  a  tailor  might 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OP  WESTERN  INDIA.  109 

knock  them  clown  with  his  goose.  Contrariwise,  the  late  snipe  in  the 
British  Isles,  birds  with  such  strong  family  affections  that  they 
marry  on  the  spot  instead  of  going  to  Norway  and  Eussia  to  do  it, 
are  almost  unwholesome. 

To  return  to  our  Indian  ducks.  These  mostly  breed  from  July  or 
August,  and  at  Christmas  they  have  hardly  yet  recovered  from  their 
domestic  exertions.  But  by  April  and  May  they  have  fully  regained 
condition,  and  the  young  birds  have  acquired  their  full  size,  or  nearly. 
The  first  in  rank  of  the  migrant  ducks  is  that  very  eccentric  bird,  the 
flamingo.  It  is  likely  enough  that  some  readers  may  be  surprised 
at  my  calling  it  a  duck  at  all.  However,  if  any  gentleman  in  that 
frame  of  mind  will  shoot  a  flamingo,  and  then  compare  its  feet  and 
the  inside  of  its  bill  with  those  of  the  nearest  duck,  he  will  probably 
begin  to  admit  that  there  is  some  reason  for  doing  so.  If  the  experi- 
ment is  followed  up  by  keeping  it  fifty  or  sixty  hours  in  its  feathers, 
{ducking  it,  and  roasting  it,  he  will  probably  become  a  convert. 
Skinned  birds,  and  especially  birds  kept  after  skinning,  taste  very 
different  from  those  simply  plucked.  A  skinned  teal,  for  instance,  is 
quite  unrecognizable. 

Our  cooks  have  an  execrable  habit  of  plucking  birds  many  hours 
before  they  cook  them,  which  is  fatal  to  all  flavour,  the  victims  get 
dried  up  to  leather.  Game,  and  even  poultry,  should  be  drawn  as  soon 
as  oossible  after  death,  but  in  hot  climates  the  feathers  should  not 
come  off  till  the  last  moment.  They  prevent  evaporation  and  keep 
off  insects.  Of  course,  all  this  does  not  apply  to  game  of  which  the  skins 
are  to  be  saved  as  specimens.  The  sooner  the  skin  is  off,  the  better  for 
this  purpose  ;  but  then  the  carcases  had  better  be  used  up  in  soup 
except  with  a  few  coarse  birds  eaten  only  for  want  of  better,  as  "a 
change  on  the  everlasting  mutton  and  moorghie.1'  Of  these  are  the 
bald  coot,  the  Brahminy  duck  and  the  "  beefsteak  birds "  and  ibises 
(commonly  called  curlews).  Sand  grouse  ought  to  be  kept  in  their 
skins,  but  skinned  just  before  cooking. 

To  return  to  our  flamingo,  he  is  only  found  in  our  present  province 
on  a  few  large  tanks  and  rivers,  and  does  not  breed  here.  It  seems 
to  be  very  uncertain  when  he  does  breed,  but  the  first  flocks  fly 
southerly  on  the  Indus  in  September,  like  those  of  other  migrant 
ducks.  The  flamingo  rarely  swims,  but  will  sometimes  do  so  on  a 
tank  or  river  rather  than  take  the  trouble  of  flymg  from  one  sand 
bank  to  another.  On  one  occasion  I  shot  two  of  a  flock  which  lit  and 
swam  in  three  fathoms  of  salt  (and   rather   rough)    water  on   one   of 


110  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


the  creeks  of  Bombay  harbour.  This  was  on  the  28th  May,  very 
late  for  a  migrant  bird.  They  are  said  to  run  sometimes,  but  I  never 
saw  even  a  winged  flamingo  so  far  forget  his  dignity.  It  is  probably 
known  to  most  of  my  readers  that  flamingoes  shovel  up  their  food 
with  the  upper  mandible,  turning  the  head  quite  upside  down,  in  the 
position  of  the  Gordian  acrobat,  "  with  his  grisly  head  appearing 
in  the  centre  of  his  thighs."  I  have  seen  drawings  of  a  variation  of 
the  bill  of  the  domestic  duck,  produced  by  cultivation  and  selection, 
exactly  like  that  of  the  flamingo.  The  breed  was  said  to  be  German, 
but  how  these  ducks  fed  was  not  recorded  by  my  authority.  A  flock 
of  flamingoes  inflight,  with  the  sunlight  on  their  red  and  white  plumage, 
is  a  lovely  sight.  They  usually  fly  in  a  rather  irregular  wavering 
line,  the  centre  birds  much  higher  than  the  flankers  ;  and  I  have 
heard  a  flock  likened  to  "  a  drunken  rainbow."  The  native  names 
are  Rajhdns  (or  king-goose)  and  Rohi.  The  latter  is  so  like  the 
name  of  the  Nilgai  in  Mahratta  that  I  once  supposed  myself  to  be 
going  in  pursuit  of  the  "  blue  bull,"  when  my  guide  was  really 
taking  me  to  a  flock  of  flamingoes. 

Heal  wild  geese  do  not  come  into  the  Deccan  or  Khandesh,  as 
far  as  I  am  aware.  The  "black-backed  goose,"  il  comb-duck"  or 
"  nukta"  (Sarliidioruis  melanonotus)  is  found  more  or  less  (generally 
less)  over  the  whole  regiou  ;  but  many  people  consider  him  rather  a 
duck,  and  his  habits  on  the  water  are  those  of  a  duck,  though  his 
flight  is  that  of  a  goose.  This  bird  may  be  considered  the  repre- 
sentative here  of  the  South  American  Muscovy  ducks,  which 
essentially  tropical  birds  have  got  their  Hyperborean  name  by  reason 
of  a  funny  confusion  between  "  Musk"  and  Muscovy.  They  are 
supposed  at  certain  seasons  to  have  a  flavour  of  musk.  The  only 
other  bird  of  these  waters  having  any  pretence  to  goosehood  is  the  well- 
known  ruddy  shelldrake  called  "Brahminy  duck"  and  "Brahminy 
goose,"  and  by  natives  all  over  India  "  Chakwa-chah&i."  It  really  has 
much  of  the  build  and  flight  of  a  goose,  and  seems  to  me  to  lead  to  the 
true  geese  from  the  shelldrakes,  as  the  "  nukta"  does  from  the  ducks. 
Particularly  it  has  a  goose's  habit  of  grazing  on  young  grass  or 
corn,  and  this  makes  me  very  unwilling  to  accept  Mr.  Hume's 
charge  against  it  of  eating  carrion.  This  idea  may  have  arisen 
from  a  mistake  between  this  bird  and  the  similarly  coloured  Brahminy 
kite  (Haliastur  indus)  caused  by  the  mirage  which  hangs  over 
the  sandbanks  that  they  both  haunt.  I  have  myself  carefully 
stalked  what  I  took  for  a  Brahminy  duck  in  the  bed    of  the   Tapti, 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  Ill 

to  find,  when  within  range,  that  I  bad  wasted  my  pains  on  that 
"  greedy  gled."  If,  however,  a  carcase  of  any  animal  were  lying 
half  in  the  water,  it  would  attract  the  Crustacea,  to  which  no  duck 
objects.  I  do  not  know  any  season  at  which  this  bird  is  anything 
but  a  last  resource  for  the  pot,  but  it  is  sometimes  shot  for  the  sake 
of  its  very  handsome  plumage. 

Of  the  true  ducks,  the  European  mallard  (Anas  boschas)  is  not,  to 
the  best  of  my  belief,  found  in  the  Deccan  or  Khandesh  at  all.  When 
any  sportsman  of  those  parts  tells  you  he  has  killed  so  many 
"  mallards,"  he  generally  means  the  closely  allied  spot-billed  duck 
which  is  found  here,  with  the  shoveller,  gadwall,  and  pin-tailed  ducks 
and  the  white-eyed  duck  (Aytlnja  nyroca),  which  would  be  far  better 
named  the  white-winged  cluck  from  its  white  speculum,  the  colour  of 
the  eye  being  very  far  from  constant.  It  is  small,  and  not  usually 
considered  a  first-rate  duck  for  the  table,  but  this  depends  a  good  deal 
upon  its  diet,  which  is,  I  think,  a  little  miscellaneous.  I  have  heard 
single  specimens  highly  praised  by  competent  epicures.  This  bird,  the 
shoveller,  and  the  blue-winged  teal  are  perhaps  the  commonest 
ducks  of  the  region,  and  certainly  make  the  longest  visit.  The 
common  or  grey  teal  of  Europe  is  also  well  known  here,  but 
on  the  whole  the  country  is  a  bad  one  for  ducks.  The  mergansers 
and  the  true  shelldrake  are  not  found  here  at  all. 

Of  the  next  tribe,  the  grebes,  we  have  one,  very  common,  .  the 
dabchicks,  probably  identical  with  the  European  bird,  though  some 
naturalists  separate  it.  At  any  rate  it  is  similar  in  appearance  and 
habits.  The  Mahrattas  call  it  "  Pan-buddi"  or  "  water-diver."  It  is 
a  great  enemy  of  fry  and  spawn  ;  useless  for  any  human  purpose  ;  but 
it  gives  life,  often  enough,  to  waters  that  show  no  other  swimming  bird. 
It  is  sometimes  shot  as  a  "  teal,"  a  mistake  which  could  not,  I  should 
think,  survive  the  first  mouthful,  but  I  have  not  tried.  It  is  a  per- 
manent resident,  and  breeds  in  some  quiet  places. 

On  large  rivers  and  tanks  one  Occasionally  sees  the  brown-headed 
gull,  and  daily  some  species  of  fresh-water  terns,  very  beautiful  and 
graceful.  These  eat  an  enormous  quantity  of  small  fish  and  Crustacea, 
and  moreover  forage  ashore,  chiefly  for  grasshoppers.  I  have  not 
found  the  nests  of  any  of  them  in  this  region,  although  one  might 
well  expect  them  to  breed  on  the  sandbanks  of  the  larger  rivers.  The 
strange  black  and  white  skimmer  (Rhpichops  albicollis),  which  looks 
something  like  a  tern,  is  not,  I  think,  found  here,  though  it  does 
exist  on  the  lower  waters  of  our  rivers  beyond  our  boundary. 


112  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

Only  one  tribe  of  birds  remains  to  notice — the  fishing  birds   proper, 

headed  by  the  pelican.     I  have  once  seen  the  great  white  pelican    of 

Europe  in  Khandesh,  and  the    Indian   grey    pelican   is   occasionally 

met  with  all   over   the   region,    and  may  breed  in  it.     The  smaller 

white   pelican   may   be    found,    but   I  do  not   know  of  any  record 

of  it  here.     Pelicans,  indeed,  want  more  fish  and  bigger  fish  than  they 

can  often  find  in  our  present   waters.     Even  their  lesser   kindred,  the 

European  and  Chinese   cormorants,    are  not  common,    probably   for 

the  same  reason,    but   another   poor  relation,    the   little    cormorant, 

Pelicanus  javanicus  is  everywhere.      There    is    hardly     so   small   a 

puddle  that  you  will  not  find  one  or  two  of  these  amusing  birds  on  it, 

and  on  very  moderate-sized   pools  a  flock  will   alight  and  worry   the 

water  in  all  directions  till  every  fish,  crab,  and  prawn  is    either   eaten 

or  driven  into  cover.     They  have  favourite  roosting  places   to  which 

they  fly  from  a  long  distance,  and  about  sunset  the  flocks  follow  each 

other  rapidly,  always  following  the  course   of   the   water.     They   are 

bold  and  familiar  birds,  and  will  come  and  fish  in  front  of   a   tent   for 

hours,  and  sometimes  attach  themselves  to  buffaloes  in  the  water,    as 

cattle-egrets  do.     A  solitary  buffalo,  which    used    to    spend   its   day 

in  the  water  near  my  tents,  was  attended  by,  apparently,  a  particular 

cormorant,  who  would  dive  off  on  one  side  and  come  up  on  the  other, 

passing  even  between  the   fore    or   hind   legs,    and   then   spreading 

his  wings  to  dry  as  he  perched  the  buffalo's  head  or  back  ;    the  latter 

did  not  seem  to  object  at  all.     Probably  his  body  attracted  small  fish, 

of  which  some  species  are  very  curious,  and  will    come   bobbing   their 

noses  against  any  new  object,  to  the  great   discomfort  of   nervous    or 

thin-skinned  bathers.     It  is  just  possible   that   they   know   enough 

about   a   buffalo    to    calculate    on    finding  ticks  on  him,  but  this  is  a 

mere  conjecture.     The  little  cormorant   is   much   given   to   perching 

on  trees.     Even  the  larger  European  cormorant  does  so  more   freely 

here  than  in  Europe,    confirming  the  statement  in    Paradise   Lost — 

"  Upward  he  flew,  and  like  a  cormorant, 
Perched  on  the  tree  of  life." 

Milton  can  hardly  have  had  many  opportunities  of  observing 
cormorants  ;  and  I  have  even  known  the  passage  to  be  criti- 
cised by  English  observers  as  untrue  to  the  habits  of  the 
bird,  hut  the  poet  was  right.  The  Mahrattas  call  the  cormorants 
"  Pdn-kawala"  or  water-crow — a  very  good  name.  This  bird 
breeds  in  trees,  and  no  doubt  sometimes  within  our  region.  But 
I  have  not  got  the  nest  here,  and  I  have  noticed  that  cormorants 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  113 

are  scarce  in  the  Deccan  in  the  rains,  when  the  muddy  and  violent 
currents  are  unfavourable  to  their  fishing.  I  think  it  likely  that  most 
of  them  migrate  to  breed;  probably  to  the  lowlands  of  the  East  Coast. 
I  did  once  know  a  man  who  declared  that  cormorant  soup  was  very 
good,  but  I  can't  say  I  have  tried  it.  My  friend's  pot  was  supplied 
with  meat  of  Pelecanus  carbo,  but  probably  all  species  of  the 
genus  would  have  much  the  same  flavour,  and  that  a  strong  one. 
It  would  be  a  good  thing  if  any  use  could  be  made  of  P.  javanicus, 
for  the  ravenous  little  bird  probably  diverts  more  fish  from  the  human 
dinner  table  than  any  other  bird  or  beast  except  the  paddy-bird;  and 
these  two  together,  I  think,  eat  more  fish  by  tale,  in  this  region, 
than  all  other  bipeds  and  quadrupeds  put  together. 

The  next  bird  (and  the  last  on  my  list)  can  do  more  as  an 
individual,  but  he  is  not  nearly  so  common.  This  is  the  "snake-bird" 
or  "darter"  {Plotus  melanogaster),  a  "cormorant  with  a  heron's 
head  and  neck." 

This  bird  may  be  found  on  all  the  deeper  streams,  but  in 
this  part  of  India  not  so  often  on  tanks,  probably  only 
because  the  Deccan  tanks  very  often  offer  no  good  perching 
places,  or  are  too  much  disturbed  by  men  and  cattle,  for  else- 
where the  snake-bird  is  as  apt  to  be  found  on  a  tank  as 
on  a  river.  He  delights  particularly  in  wooded  streams  and  in 
trees  that  overhang  deep  water,  but  I  have  never  seen  him  plunge 
from  such  a  position  to  catch  fish  like  a  king-fisher,  as  an  American 
species  is  said  to  do,  whence  the  name  "darter."  Nor  does  he  fishfrom 
the  wing,  but  entirely  by  diving  like  a  cormorant.  His  flight,  however, 
is  much  more  lofty,  powerful  and  graceful  than  that  of  any  cormorant ; 
and  he  frequently  soars  for  a  considerable  distance  without  apparent 
motion  of  the  wing,  which  the  larger  cormorants  can  do  only  to  a 
very  limited  extent,  and  the  little  cormorant  not  at  all.  I  have  never 
got  the  nest  of  this  bird,  and  I  doubt  his  breeding  in  the  Deccan  or 
Khandesh.  If  he  does  so>  it  is  probably  in  the  hills,  but,  as  with  cormo- 
rauts,  the  diminished  number  of  "snake-birds"  in  the  rains  makes 
me  think  that  they  emigrate  to  breed  perhaps  to  the  "  Bengal  side 
of  the  punkah,"  where  Dr.  Jerdon  found  them  most  plentiful.  They 
are  much  hunted  for  the  beautiful  black  and  white  scapular  plumes, 
which  have  their  edges  as  it  were  "Italian-ironed."  There  is  no  prettier 
plume  for  a  hat  than  the  bunch  from  one  wing  of  a  snake-bird,  with  a  few 
white  egret  feathers  set  behind  it  and  rising  above  it.  The  season  for 
shooting  the  birds  is  in  the  cold  weather;  some  of  them  begin  to  moult 


114  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


in  April,  and  by  May  not  one  of  them  has  a  feather  fit  to  be  seen.  The 
moult  is  often  so  complete  that  the  bird  altogether  loses  the  power  of 
flight,  and  must  remain  on  a  favourite  pool  for  some  days.  Like  all  the 
tribe,  it  can  scarcely  move  at  all  on  land.  It  is  generally  easy  to  see 
before  firing  whether  a  bird  is  in  good  plumage  or  not.  If  it  is  sitting 
out  of  the  water,  or  flying,  the  silvery  plumes  and  similar  coloration 
of  the  wing  are  pretty  visible,  and  when  it  is  in  the  water,  showing 
only  the  neck  and  head,  or  flying  overhead,  the  neck  tells  an 
old  plume -hunter  whether  he  should  spend  his  shot.  In  good 
specimens  the  neck  looks  almost  white  ;  in  moulting  birds  it  is  much 
darker. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  shoot  a  snake-bird  sitting,  as  the  plumes  are 
likely  to  be  damaged  by  shot.  He  should  be  taken  in  the  water, 
when  he  shows  only  the  head  and  neck,  or  on  the  wing  from  below. 
In  the  former  case  small  shot  should  be  used,  as  the  thin  neck  forms 
a  very  narrow  target. 

Of  fresh-water  reptiles  we  have  in  the  Deccan  region, first  of  all, certain 
water  tortoises  or  terrapins,  easily  distinguished  from  land  tortoises 
by  their  webbed  feet,  and  from  the  fresh-water  turtles  by  their  "  tortoise- 
shell"  back  and  breast-plates,  and  by  having  either  five  or  four 
visible  claws  on  the  fore  feet  and  always  four  on  the  hind  feet. 
Curiously  enough,  while  the  American  terrapins  are  of  most  delicate 
flavour,  ours  are  uneatable,  smelling  foully,  as  is  indicated  by  their 
untranslatable  Mahratta  name.  They  are  carnivorous,  and  are 
sometimes  caught  on  a  live  bait,  or  on  a  worm,  or  bit  of  raw  meat. 
Some  that  I  kept  in  confinement  refused  carrion.  The  natives  often 
put  them  in  wells,  especially  Em.ijs  trijuga^  the  commonest 
species,  and  call  them,  as  well  as  all  other  tortoises,  and  turtles, 
lt  Kasaw."  All  "  Ka'saws  "  are  supposed  to  be  poor  relations  of  the 
great  turtle,  who  upholds  the  world,  and  are  accordingly  respected 
by  the  more  pious  Hindus,  and  an  image  of  a  tortoise  is  often  to  be 
seen  on  the  floor  of  a  temple.  This  has  something  to  say  to  the 
putting  of  them  in  the  wells,  but  they  are  useful  there  as  scavengers, 
and  as  mortal  enemies  of  the  fresh- water  crabs  ( Telphusidce),  which 
do  a  great  deal  of  harm  to  wells  by  burrowing  in  the  foundations. 
They  cannot,  I  think,  do  much  in  the  way  of  catching  live  fish,  for 
I  have  known  them  to  be  in  wells  with  fish  for  many  months  without 
any  diminution  in  the  number  of  the  latter,  though  there  was 
apparently  no  other  food.  Probably  frogs,  crabs,  mollusca,  and 
insects  form  their   chief  diet;     and  it   may  be,  as  I   shall    show 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OP  WESTERN  INDIA.  11 5 

reason  for  believing  with  regard  to  the  next  group,  that   they  have 
been  too  hastily  pronounced  "  exclusively  carnivorous." 

This  next  group  is  that  of  fresh-water  turtles. 

These  are,  compared  to  the  terrapins,  very  flat  and  round,  with 
a  distinct  edge,  something  the  shape  of  two  saucers  put  "  lip  to  lip." 
They  don't  show  any  "  tortoise-shell"  at  all,  but  a  smooth  leathery 
surface,  flexible  round  the  edges.  In  front  and  behind,  this  flexible 
edge  is  double,  and  obeys  the  voluntary  action  of  the  muscles,  at 
least  in  young  specimens,  which,  after  drawing  their  heads  within 
the  shell,  will  close  the  edges  of  the  upper  and  lower  leathery  flaps 
till  they  almost  touch  each  other.  These  fresh-water  turtles  have  all 
been  classed  as  carnivorous,  though  Dr.  Kelaart  long  ago  recorded 
that  one  {Emyda  ceylonensis)  in  his  possession  fed  freely  on  bread  and 
boiled  rice.  I  have  repeatedly  myself  taken  wild  specimens  with  paste 
baits,  and  have  seen  them  assemble  under  a  wild  fig  tree  (Ficus 
glomerata,  the  Umhar  or  Guler),  of  which  the  ripe  fruit  were  dropping 
into  the  water,  and  apparently  taking  the  figs.  It  is  true  that  a  ripe 
wild  fig  is  usually  so  full  of  maggots  that  it  constitutes  a  "mixed  diet." 

In  the  courtyard  of  the  Black  Mosque  of  Ahmadnagar,  long  ago 
desecrated  and  now  used  as  a  public  office,  there  was  in  my  day 
in  a  small  cistern  a  fresh- water  turtle,  about  18  inches  long,  who  had 
been  there  as  long  as  any  one  could  remember,  and  is  probably  there 
yet.  The  water  was  filtered,  and  the  feed-pipe  grated,  and  so  little 
food  would  have  come  to  him  by  that  road,  and  to  put  any  kind  of 
animal  food  in  the  cistern  would  have  polluted  the  water  for  many 
people  and  caused  trouble.  The  turtle  was  regularly  fed  by  his 
neighbours  with  vegetable  food,  especially,  in  their  season,  with  parched 
heads  of  maize,  which  he  was  very  fond  of.  Specimens  in  my  own 
possession  were  fed  on  fresh  dead  fish,  and  rofused  carrion. 

They  are  often  taken  by  the  angler  with  live  bait,  or  raw  meat,  or 
worms,  and  sometimes,  as  already -mentioned,  with  paste.  They  give 
more  fun  sometimes  than  one  would  look  for,  but  often  cut  the  line 
with  their  gouge-like  jaws,  or  get  into  a  hole,  or  bury  themselves  in 
the  mud  ;  and  often  when  landed,  it  is  found  that  they  have  gorged 
the  hook  and  the  trace  must  be  cut,  and  the  hook  recovered  after- 
wards by  the  cook.  It  is  necessary  to  use  great  care  in  handling  them 
as  they  bite  savagely,  and  can  take  the  piece  out  ;  the  jaws  are  like 
two  gouges  closing  on  each  other. 

They  make  very  good  soup  and  curry,  and  I  have  been  very  much 
amused  at  a  friend's  refusing  the  former  when  he  knew   what  it   was, 


116  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


who  had  probably  often  enjoyed  the  like  before,  under  the  belief  that 
it  was  made  of  a  sea-turtle.  They  are  put  into  wells  and  cisterns  in  the 
same  way  as  the  terrapins,  and  for  the  same  reasons  Trionyx  javanicus 
is  our  commonest  species,  and  Chitra  indica  the  largest.  I  have  seen 
a  bullet  glance  off  the  shell  of  the  latter,  but  it  was  fired  at  a  consider- 
able angle.  The  turtle  was  afterwards  killed  by  another  bullet,  fired 
almost  vertically  down  upon  the  centre  of  the  back,  which  passed 
completely  through  him.  These  fresh-water  tortoises  and  turtles,  if 
turned  on  their  backs,  speedily  recover  their  proper  position,  using 
their  long  necks  and  heads  in  doing  so. 

The  crocodile  (Mahratta  "  magar"  lt  suswar")  is  only  locally 
common  in  this  area,  very  seldom  seen  in  the  tanks  and  smaller 
rivers,  but  occupying  particular  deep  reaches  in  the  great  rivers, 
often  in  considerable  numbers.  These  are  the  places  to  which  the 
larger  fish  and  the  turtles  (crocodiles  are  very  fond  of  turtles)  retire 
when  the  rivers  shrink  in  the  dry  weather,  and  where,  accordingly, 
food  is  plentiful.  As  far  as  I  am  aware,  there  is  only  one  species 
known  here,  viz.,  Crocodilus  palustris.  I  have  measured  specimens 
from  the  Upper  Tapti  and  Bhima  10  feet  long,  and  I  do  not  think 
that  that  size  is  often  exceeded  here.  And  though  I  have  heard  many 
crocodile  yarns,  I  do  not  myself  know  a  single  well -authenticated 
instance  of  a  crocodile's  killing  a  human  being  in  the  Deccan  or 
Khandesh.  Once,  in  1875,  I  remarked  as  much  to  a  native  official, 
who  immediately  said  that  a  man  had  been  killed  by  one  in  his 
tl  Taluka  "  (or  barony)  "  last  year."  Being  asked  for  details,  he  gave 
them,  upon  which  I  recognised  the  story  as  one  I  had  heard  in  the 
same  place  in  1872  as  of  tl  last  year."  I  dare  say  that  crocodile  is 
killing  that  man  "  last  year"  to  this  day.  The  other  form  of  crocodile- 
saga  always  refers  to  the  "  next  village,"  and  when  you  get  there, 
to  the  next,  and  so  on,  slipping  away  before  the  inquirer  like  the  foot 
of  a  rainbow  before  the  infant  gold-seeker.  I  believe  that  the  larger 
and  more  dangerous  Crocodilus  porosus  is  found  in  the  lower  waters 
of  most  of  the  great  Deccan  rivers  beyond  our  boundary.  The 
differences,  setting  aside  size  and  temper,  are  that  C.  palustris  has 
two  sets  of  shields  on  the  back  of  his  neck,  arranged  in  two 
groups  of  four  and  six  respectively  (the  four  in  front),  six  shields  in 
each  transverse  row  of  the  middle  of  the  back,  and  sixteen  such  rows 
of  dorsal  shields  altogether  to  the  root  of  the  tail.  But  in  Crocodilus 
porosus  the  "  anterior  nuchal  plates"  are  none,  or  only  2,  and  then 
rudimentary,  that  is,  his  cousin  has  a  front  set  of  4  plates  on  the  back 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  117 

of  his  neck  ;  and  he  has  not,  or  only  two  little  ones.  Its  dorsal  shields 
are  usually  six  in  a  row  on  one  part  of  the  back  and  eight  in  the  rest 
(the  extra  two  rudimentary),  and  there  are  17  rows  in  all,  to  the  root 
of  the  tail. 

I  need  hardly  say  that  alligators  are  not  found  here,  nor  any- 
where else  in  Asia,  except  China,  where  there  is  one  rare  species. 
The  outward  and  visible  sign  of  a  crocodile  proper,  as  distinguished 
from  an  alligator,  is  the  fourth  tooth  of  the  lower  jaw  on  each 
side,  which  grins  alike  at  all  seasons,  whether  the  mouth  be  shut  or 
open,  improving  a  naturally  ugly  countenance  with  a  hideous  fixed 
snarl.  In  the  alligators,  this  tooth  is  received  into  a  sort  of  sheath 
or  pit  in  the  upper  jaw.  Some  alligators,  moreover,  have  shields 
on  the  belly  as  well  as  on  the  back.  I  have  wasted  a  great  deal  of 
time  on  catching  crocodiles,  and  never  caught  one,  though  others 
have  had  better  luck.  Shooting  them  with  the  rifle  is  really  good 
sport.  This  should  be  done  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  when  they  lie 
on  banks  in  the  sun.  In  the  morning  they  are  wideawake,  and  before 
sunset  they  begin  to  forage.  They  have  to  be  carefully  stalked  and 
clean  killed,  otherwise  they  get  away  into  some  hole,  or  (I  think) 
bury  themselves  in  the  mud,  as  they  are  well  known  to  do  sometimes, 
in  lakes  that  dry  up  for  a  season,  to  await  the  return  of  the  water. 
Many  a  hit  crocodile  goes  off  leaving  a  trail  of  blood  on  the  water, 
and  is  never  seen  again.  But  if  they  remain  in  one  spot  even  for 
a  few  seconds  after  receiving  the  bullet,  that  is  a  sign  that  they 
are  very  hard  hit ;  and  in  such  a  case  the  carcase  will  generally  float 
within  from  30  to  40  hours.  I  have  not  had  a  harpoon  that  could 
penetrate  the  back  scales  ;  a  good  hog-spear,  however,  does  so  easily. 

The  story  of  their  being  ball-proof  arises  chiefly,  I  think,  from 
the  natural  unwillingness  of  man  to  admit  that  he  has  missed.  A 
very  ordinary  gun  will  put  a  bullet  through  and  through  any  part 
of  them,  unless,  perhaps,  the  bullet  strike  at  a  very  great  angle 
and  glance  off.  1  believe  that  this  once  happened  to  a  bullet  fired  by 
myself  from  a  very  light  fowling  piece.  A  shot  in  the  small  of  the 
back  head,  heart  or  spine  will  stop  them  easily  enough.  Behind  the 
shoulder  is  the  best  shot  from  the  side  ;  but  if  you  shoot  from  above, 
as  from  a  high  bank  or  a  ship,  aim  at  the  root  of  the  neck.  Not 
only  is  it  a  good  place,  but  the  places  above  and  below  are  good  too, 
and  the  usual  error  of  a  rifle  shot  is  high  or  low. 

A  crocodile,  lying  on  a  bank,  covers  his  heart  (  to  a  great  extent) 
with  his  left  elbow,  and  a  light  express  bullet   will   break   upon   the 


118  NATURAL   HISTORY, 

'  ■      '■  — _____ — a _« 

bones  of  the  arm,  doing  little  hurt.  When  struck  or  startled  in  the 
water,  they  will  sometimes  leap  forwards,  three  or  four  feet  from 
the  surface,  like  a  salmon,  and  once  1  saw  one,  shot  through  the 
heart  on  shore,  literally  stand  on  the  end  of  his  tail  for  a  second, 
and  fall  backwards  stone  dead.  They  are  not  heavy  animals  ; 
the  largest  I  ever  weighed,  a  female,  8  feet  long,  was  only  100  lbs. 
in  weight,  though  full  of  eggs.  They  are  not  of  much  use  when 
you  have  got  them.  The  bleached  skull  makes  a  ghastly  tropin^ 
and  the  skin  a  very  ughy  one  ;  but  I  once  got  two  very  handsome 
shields  made  of  crocodile  skins  at  Ahmedabad.  Here  I  may 
remark  that  I  have  never  got  the  traditional  bangles  from  the 
stomach  of  any  crocodile.  I  have  got  sticks  ;  what  the  brute  ate 
them  for  I  can't  imagine.  The  handsome  leather  used  in  Europe 
for  cigar  cases,  bags,  and  so  forth  is  all  made  of  the  skins  of  young 
American  alligators  ;  the  art  has  not  found  its  way  here  yet.  Natives 
use  the  teeth  and  shields  for  charms  and  the  oil  for  medicine,  and 
some  low  castes  eat  the  flesh  and  eggs.     There   used   to  be  a    small 

©  _> 

tribe  in  the  Tapti  valley  who  devoted  their  lives  to  hunting  crocodiles, 
and  showed  great  pluck  and  skill  in  it.  They  used  nets,  nooses  and 
broad-bladed  pikes  (not  harpoons),  and  always  cut  the  tail  with 
an  axe  as  soon  as  possible, — a  trick  known  to  other  natives  besides 
them.  Crocodiles  are  commonly  supposed  only  to  crawl,  but  the 
young  of  C.  palustris  can  walk  and  even  run.  A  recent  observer  has 
noted  the  same  in  Ceylon.  I  have  twice  kept  young  crocodiles  alive  ; 
they  were  savage  and  sulky,  refused  food,  and  threw  it  up  when 
administered  by  force. 

Of  other  water  lizards  we  have  only  Varanus  draccena,  the  Ghorpur, 
which,  however,  chiefly  comes  under  notice  when  out  of  the  water, 
of  which  it  is  very  independent.  It  is  lucky  that  Ghorpurs  don't 
get  to  be  much  more  than  four  feet  long,  for  they  are  very  active 
and  greedy,  and  I  have  seen  one  much  shorter  than  that  wage  a  good 
fight  with  a  small  terrier  dog.  They  will  eat  any  animal  that  they 
can  overpower  and  swallow,  up  to  young  ducks,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  they  would  eat  the  old  ducks,  too,  if  they  could  either 
swallow  them  whole  or  carve  them  in  any  fashion.  They  destroy 
eggs  of  all  sorts,  but  T  don't  quite  understand  how.  They  don't 
swallow  them  whole,  for  the  shells  are  left. 

Young  Ghorpurs  are  among  the  various  lizards,  supposed  to  be 
venomous  and  called  "  Biscobra"  in  this  region.  The  Biscobra  of 
Sind  is  an  Eublepharis,  according  to  Mr.    Murray,  an  ugly   creature 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  119 

certainly,  and  looking  really  very  like  the  known  venomous  Heloderina 
of  South  America.  Mr.  Murray  found  the  secretions  of  its  skin  really  to 
some  extent  poisonous. 

This  is  no  place  for  going  into  so  long  a  list  as  that  of  the  fresh- 
water snakes.  It  is,  perhaps,  enough  to  say  that,  although  almost  all 
snakes  swim  well,  only  those  to  the  manner  born  can  dive  well,  and 
it  is  easy  enough  to  tell  the  difference  between  a  true  water- snake 
and  a  mere  passenger  by  water.  The  latter  holds  his  head  much 
higher,  and  never  stays  still  in  the  water,  but  "keeps  moving." 

Some  snakes,  however,  are  amphibious,  and  one  of  these  (Tropidonotus 
quincunciatus),  the  spotted  water-snake,  is  very  much  commoner 
here  than  any  of  the  true  fresh-water  snakes.  They  are  sometimes 
caught  on  hooks,  when  a  frog  or  fish  is  the  bait,  and  then  they  foul  the 
tackle,  and  make  the  angler  unnecessarily  nervous.  None  of  them 
are  poisonous,  and  I  do  not  think  that  any  venomous  land  snake 
is  sufficiently  at  home  in  the  water  to  take  a  bait  below  the  surface. 
This  tropidonotus  is  the  " pdn-divxir "  of  the  Mahrattas.  There  are 
several  varieties  of  colour.  Those  in  dark,  muddy,  shady  waters  are 
a  sort  of  dull  tortoise-shell  colour  ;  and  some  in  open  tanks  and  streams 
might  almost  be  described  as  black  and  gold.  There  is  one  very 
libellous  sort  of  snake-story  which  describes  water  snakes  as  climbing 
up  boat's  cables  to  bite  people  on  board.  Now,  a  fresh-water  snake 
could  have  no  motive  for  going  aboard  at  all ;  and  if  he  did  go  aboard 
and  bite  people,  they  need  no  more  die  of  it  than  if  he  was  a  mouse. 
As  for  the  sea  snakes,  which  are  all  venomous,  they  can  hardly 
crawl  on  the  sand,  let  alone  climbing  up  a  cable.  But  no  doubt  a 
really  poisonous  land  snake,  swimming  across  a  river,  might  think 
a  boat  a  good  place  to  rest  in.  A  cobra  or  bungarus  would  easily 
enough  get  up  the  cable,  and  his  misdeeds,  if  any,  would  be  laid  upon 
the  innocent  water  snakes.  Probably,  however,  most  accidents 
of  this  sort  arise  from  snakes  being  brought  on  board  in  cargo  or 
firewood. 

Of  frogs  (Mendnh,  Bhenki),  we  have  many.  The  most  conspicuous 
is  the  big  bull-frog  (Rana  tigrina),  an  unpopular  creature.  He  eats 
pretty  nearly  whatever  creature  he  can  catch,  and  vice  versa  ; 
reminding  one  of  the  ancient  Gaelic  proverb,  "This  is  the  government 
of  the  waters  ;  the  beast  that  is  greatest  eats  that  which  is  least  and 
the  beast  that  is  least  shifts  for  itself." 

The  next  and  less  known  is  Rana  esculenta,  the  very  identical 
French  frog.     For  want  of  French  cooks  he  is  wasted  here  upon  the 


120  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


storks  and  catfishes-  I  never  saw  Cacopus  globulosus,  a  marvellous 
frog  figured  by  Dr.  Gunther,  the  very  representative  of  Humpty 
Dumpty  among  reptiles. 

Natives  don't  usually  pay  much  attention  to  frogs,  but  once  when  I 
had  a  lot  of  men  stung  by  scorpions,  a  village  elder  made  cataplasms 
of  live  frogs  pounded  between  stones,  and  applied  the  quivering  and 
mangled  reptiles  to  the  injured  parts  with  great  success.  I  think  the 
very  nastiness  of  the  remedy  gave  the  sepoys  more  faith  in  it. 

Tigers  are  said  to  eat  bull-frogs  in  the  rains,  and  thereafter  to 
sicken  and  waste  away,  just  as  in  Ireland  a  skinny  cat  is  supposed 
to  have  been  eating  crickets.  I  think  myself  that  the  tiger  is  pro- 
bably pretty  far  gone  in  famine  before  he  takes  to  catching  frogs, 
and  it  is  pretty  certain  that  all  the  frogs  he  could  catch  in  a  day 
would  make  him  but  a  poor  day's  ration. 

Of  the  Crustacea  of  our  fresh  waters  we  know  but  little,  and  have 
no  standard  books  on  the  subject.  Crabs  (Telphusida)  are  found 
almost  to  the  top  of  the  ghats,  and  furnish  food  to  man,  birds,  turtles 
and  fishes.  They  are  said  to  be  unwholesome  in  the  hot  weather, 
which  is  not  borne  out  by  my  own  experience.  And  at  that  season 
certain  forest  tribes  go  and  grind  stones  on  each  other  in  dry  nullas. 
They  say  that  the  crabs  mistake  the  noise  for  that  of  waters.  At  any 
rate  the  crabs  do  come  out,  and  are  caught  and  eaten.  Another  plan 
is  to  drop  a  bullet  or  pebble,  attached  to  a  string,  into  the  crab's  hole, 
who  thereupon  nips  it  and  is  drawn  out  holding  on  to  what  he,  no 
doubt,  supposes  a  live  intruder.  The  Mahratta  names  for  them  are 
Kenkad  and  Muta.  The  former  word,  with  a  dry  humour  charac- 
teristic of  that  nation,  is  also  applied  to  handcuffs.  I  have  good 
precedent  for  introducing  these  useful  articles  into  my  paper,  for  the 
United  States  Commissioners  to  the  Fisheries  Exhibition  exhibited  a 
pair  with  a  label  stating  that  they  were  found  "  very  serviceable  in  the 
whale  fishery ;  and  carried  by  most  vessels." 

A  true  prawn  is  found  even  above  the  falls  of  the  Godavery,  and 
small  shrimps  up  to  at  least  2,500  feet  on  the  ghats.  These  latter  are 
sufficiently  abundant  to  be  dried  for  sale.  A  cray  fish  in  the  streams 
of  the  Satpura  is  said  to  reach  "  a  cubit"  (hat,  19  inches)  in  length 
over  all,  and  fragments  that  I  found  bore  out  the  statement.  I  use 
the  term  cray  fish  here,  as  it  always  has  been  used  in  English  and 
French  (ecrevisse)  to  mean  a  crustacean  ivith  nippers.  Some 
naturalists  have  attempted  to  restrict  it  to  those  that  have  none,  but 
the  limitation  is  artificial  and  cannot  succeed. 


NOTFS  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  121 


Ofmollusks,  the  most  part  are  water  snails,  the  most  noticeable  being 
the  great  round  ampullaria,  as  big  as  a  baby's  fist.  There  are  at  least 
two  mussels  (  Unio),  one  with  a  rather  delicate  shell  and  pale  olive 
green  epidermis,  and  one  far  more  solid  and  of  a  black  or  dark  brown 
colour.  The  latter  is  said  with  great  probability  occasionally  to 
contain  pearls.  One  such  pearl  is  in  the  Kolapur  Museum,  and 
some  from  Bengal  were  exhibited  at  the  Fisheries  Exhibition.  The 
natives  call  all  univalves  Kuha  or  Kubi,  and  all  bivalves  Shipi,  or 
some  derivative  thereof. 

Insects  of  all  sorts  swarm  in  and  near  the  water,  but  there  is  no 
space  here  for  describing  them.  I  do  not  think  that  anything  like 
the  appearance  in  swarms  of  the  European  Ephemerides  (green  drake 
and  May-fly)  is  ever  seen  in  this  region.  The  nearest  thing  to  it  is 
when  a  swarm  of  newly-hatched  winged  white-ants  drifts  over 
a  river  or  tank,  when  the  fish  may  be  seen  rising  at  them  all 
over  the  surface.  The  same  thing  happens,  but  more  rarely,  with 
locusts.  Mole-crickets,  wherever  obtainable,  are  a  very  good  bait 
for  almost  all  sorts  of  fish.  Waterbeetles  attain  an  enormous  size,  and 
no  doubt  destroy  fish  spawn  and  even  small  fry. 

Earthworms  (Mahratta  gandi'd  and  gandnin)  are  generally  very 
hard  to  get,  but  when  they  can  be  got  are  as  useful  here  as  at  home. 
Leeches  (Jalu)  are  sufficiently  numerous  in  some  tanks  to  make 
bathing  impossible,  but  are  not  otherwise  a  plague  as  in  some  other 
tropical  countries. 

A  notice  of  these  waters  would  hardly  be  complete  without  some 
reference  to  the  daily  visits  of  terrestrial  animals  and  birds  to  the  water 
which  are  always  a  remarkable  feature  of  animal  life  in  dry  hot 
climates.  The  large  carnivora  usually  drink  just  about  dark, 
perhaps  a  little  before  or  after.  It  is  said,  too,  that  after  eating 
they  always  go  to  the  water,  at  whatever  hour.  The  small  cats  do 
the  same ;  but  the  jackal  usually  drinks  about  9  or  10  A.M.  ;  and  the 
mongoose  and  civets  even  later. 

The  larger  wild  ruminants,  where  much  hunted,  drink  before 
sunrise  and  after  sunset ;  but  when  undisturbed,  or  after  any  specially 
thirsty  business,  such  as  love  or  war,  will  visit  the  water  at  broad 
noon  and  before  sunset.  The  small  four-horned  antelope  and  the 
barking  deer  prefer  noon-day ;  the  gazelle  usually  drinks  a  little 
earlier,  say,  10  or  11  a.m. 

But  the  general  drinking  time  for  birds  and  beasts  is  when  the 
morning  begins  to  warm  up,  say,  from   half-past   eight  to   half-past 


122  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


nine  or  ten  a.m.,  when  all  diurnal  animals  have  been  abroad  all 
morning,  and  want  to  wet  their  throats  before  retiring,  probably 
to  keep  quiet  for  the  day.  The  grey  partridges  and  francolins  are 
amongst  the  first  to  steal  down  to  the  water  ;  and  after  them  come 
the  common  sand-grouse ;  pretty  common  in  this  region.  The 
painted  grouse,  which  is  found  in  low  thorny  jungle,  is  an  exception. 
It  drinks  by  twilight,  often  so  late  that  it  is  only  recognised 
by  its  very  peculiar  chuckling  note.  But  after  the  common  grouse 
( Pterocles  exustus)  come,  if  there  are  any  about,  the  pea-fowl,  blue 
pigeon  and  doves,  more  rarely  the  green  pigeon  (Crocopus  chlori- 
gaster),  according  to  Dr.  Jerdon.  I  have  not  myself  seen  this  bird 
drink,  and  one  I  kept  in  confinement  did  not  seem  to  care  about 
water,  getting  much  moisture  in  his  juicy  food.  The  authority 
however,  is  conclusive,  and  I  have  myself  noticed  the  green  pigeon 
to  be  commonly  found  in  trees  near  water  about  9  o'clock  a.m.  and 
a  little  before  sunset.  The  monkeys  also  drink  at  this  hour  (9  or  10 
a.m.),  and  so  do  crows,  who  take  a  regular  bath,  with  a  good  deal 
of  demonstration,  as  in  all  their  doings.  Eagles  and  hawks  come  about 
the  same  time,  and  sometimes  stand  in  the  water,  apparently  merely 
to  cool  their  toes.  When  any  of  them  look  out  for  fish  or  frogs  they 
do  it  on  the  wing.* 

Pretty  much  the  same  thing  happens  again  from  about  an  hour 
before  sunset  to  half-an-hour  after  it ;  but  besides  this  the  water 
If  there  are  any  trees  or  bushes  near  it,  has  always  a  tendency  to 
become  the  centre  of  all  animal  life  ;  and  the  angler,  perhaps,  sees 
more  of  this  than  he  would  if  shooting,  or  even  walking,  and  for  many 
reasons  it  is  well  that  he  should  have  a  gun -bearer  at  hand. 

This  is  hardly  the  place  for  discussing  fishing-nets,  but  the  best 
to  have  in  a  camp  is  the  casting-net,  which  can  be  handled  by  one 
man.  If  you  have  two  fishermen,  this  may  well  be  supplemented 
by  a  gholni,  or  shove-net,  fixed  to  two  bamboos,  and  with  a  large 
party  a  seine  can  be  used  generally  ;  wherever  the  water  is  large 
enough  for  the  use  of  a  seine,  native  fishermen  will  be  found  in  posses- 
sion of  one,  or  will  improvise  it  by  linking  smaller  nets  together. 
A  small  boat  is  useful  in  "  shooting"  the  seine  ;  and  the  best  portable 
boats  are  certainly  the  canvas  "  Berth  on  boats."  It  is  not,  however, 
easy  to  shoot  from  them  unless  after  carefully  ballasting  them,  or 
fitting  an  outrigger  ;  for,  although  very  hard  to  upset,  they  are   very 


*  Note. — Several  eagles,  especially   the  serpent  eagle  (Circactus  gallicus),  catch 
frogs  on  the  marshy  borders  of  tanks. 


^3 


1 

I! 

c 


NOTES  ON  THE  WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  123 

easily  made  to  rock,  and  even  the  putting  up  of  a  gun  to  the  shoulder 
will  cause  enough  motion  to  spoil  the  shot.  The  same  is  the  case 
with  small  native  canoes,  and  the  remedies  are  the  same.  Safe, 
though  clumsy,  rafts  are  made  of  gourds  lashed  to  a  charpoy  or  of 
bull-rushes  by  the  natives,  but  these  are  apt  to  sink  a  few  inches  below 
the  surface,  and  should  be  surmounted  by  a  bath-tub,  a  pair  of  wine 
boxes  caulked  and  painted,  or  some  similar  device  for  keeping  the 
passenger  and  his  ammunition  dry. 

In  some  places  the  natives  make  round  coracles  of  hides  ;  and  in 
others  they  use  huge  circular  sheet  iron  sugar  boiler  for  boats  ;  in 
either  case  reminding  one  of  the  Wise  Men  of  Gotham  in  their  Bowl. 

KESWAL. 


ON  ABNORMALITIES  IN  THE  HORNS  OF 

RUMINANTS. 

Bv  R.  A.  Sterndale,    f.z.s.,  &c. 

There  being  several  striking  examples  of  deformity  in  the  horns  in  the 
Society's  collection,  I  am  induced  to  bring  them  to  notice  and  to  theorize 
on  the  causes  which  have  led  to  such  results  ;  and  a  varied  field  for 
speculation  is  opened,  for  many  questions  arise  in  connection  with  the 
subject.  The  first  is,  are  these  abnormalities,  in  the  case  of  antlered 
ruminants,  transitory  or  persistent  ?  and,  secondly,  in  the  hollow-horned 
ruminants  is  the  fons  et  orirjo  malls  in  the  osseous  or  horny  formation  ? 
Then  comes  enquiry  into  the  primary  cause  of  such  malformation.  The 
whole  subject  is  involved  in  doubt,  and  but  a  mere  hypothesis  can  be  arrived 
at,  for  almost  every  day  we  come  across  some  freak  of  nature  which  starts 
us  off  into  a  new  channel  of  conjecture.  With  regard  to  the  first  ques- 
tion, are  the  deformities  of  deer  transitory  or  persistent  ?  that  is  to  say, 
would  a  Sambar  Stag,  who  had  developed  in  his  seventh  year  an  abnormal 
tine,  reproduce  that  abnormality  the  following  year — the  eighth  ?  or 
would  he  revert  to  his  normal  form  ?  Now  I  will  give  an  example  from 
a  very  fine  head  in  my  own  collection  :  the  horns  are  unusually  large, 
the  right  beam  being  45  inches  and  the  left  id  inches  in  length  ;  on 
referring  to  figure  1  in  the  accompanying  plates  you  will  observe  a  tine  of 
9  inches  long,  which  is  a  decided  abnormality  ;  there  is  no  reversion  or 
progression  towards  lower  or  higher  types,  but  simply  a  sprout  which  has 
taken  a  direction  quite  out  of  the  symmetry  of  known  species.  Now,  to 
arrive  at  any  conclusion  one  must  consider  the  process  of  the  growth  of 
antlers  :  they  are  produced  annually,  and  with  a  tendency  to  increase 
instead  of  decrease  ;  on  the  shedding  of  the  old  horn  there  is  a  decided 


124  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


determination  of  blood  to  the  head  in  the  animal  ;  the  new  growth,  a  fibro- 
cartilaginous substance,  is  nourished  by  blood  vessels,  which  ramify 
on  the  exterior,  covered  by  a  sensitive  velvety  skin  ;  whether  this  be  true 
venous  blood  or  a  specialised  fluid  of  a  more  albuminous  nature  is  a 
question  which  has  not  as  yet  to  my  knowledge  been  solved.  Anyhow,  a 
blood-like  fluid  is  conveyed  along  the  growth  of  the  horn  feeding  the 
bony  deposits,  and  it  may  be  that  abnormal  sprouts  are  the  result  of  an 
aneurism  in  one  of  the  blood  channels  ;  but  if  this  be  so,  my  horn  brings  up 
another  question,  for  if  you  will  look  at  the  normal  antler  you  will  see  an 
excrescence  exactly  corresponding  with  the  extra  tine,  yet  not  so  fully 
developed.  Is  this  tlie  sympathy  that  one  sees  exemplified  in  cases  of 
toothache  ?  The  decay  of  a  particular  tooth  on  one  side  is  frequently 
followed  by  that  of  the  corresponding  one  on  the  other.  If  this  particular 
stag  had  been  allowed  to  live  for  another  year,  would  both  antlers  have 
shown  an  'additional  tine,  or  would  they  have  reverted  to  the  normal 
shape?  There  is  no  reason  why  such  deviations  should  be  perpetuated 
in  the  same  individual  or  transmitted  to  his  descendants.  It  was  thought 
at  one  time  that  the  spike  buck  of  America,  which  is  the  many-antlered 
Cariacus  virgimanus,  found  occasionally  with  a  single-spiked  horn,  was  a 
freak  of  nature  transmitted  from  the  first  so  formed  buck  to  his  progeny, 
and  this  was  gravely  advanced  in  an  American  Scientific  Journal,  and  it 
was  asserted  that  the  spike  horn  bucks  were  gradually  crowding  out  the 
antlered  ones  on  the  principle  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  however  better 
informed  naturalists  like  Judge  Caton  proved  that  these  were  merely 
young  bucks  of  the  first  year  whose  second  season  saw  them  with  branch- 
ing horns. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  there  is  neither  persistence  nor  transmission 
in  the  abnormalities  of  antlered  deer.  I  believe  in  injury  being  the  cause 
of  these  freaks. 

Sympathy  in  certain  cases  of  bodily  injury  affects  the  horn  of  that 
particular  side,  and  this  is  permanent  through  life,  and  in  such  cases  the 
horns  are  not  shed. 

There  is  a  curious  bifurcation  of  the  tip  of  the  bez  tine  in  the  right 
antler  of  a  Cashmere  Stag's  horns  in  my  collection,  which  must  have 
occurred  whilst  the  point  was  tender ;  and  this  reminds  me  of  what  I 
have  recently  read  in  the  second  volume  of  the  transactions  of  the  Linnean 
Society  of  New  York  regarding  the  growth  of  antlers.  It  is  the  com- 
monly received  idea,  accepted  by  most  naturalists,  that  the  blood  vessels 
contract  at  the  burr  or  base  of  the  horn  on  its  arrival  at  full  growth,  and 
that  then,  the  velvet  dries  up  and  is  rubbed  off  by  the  animal,  but 
the  Hon'ble  Judge  Caton,  of  Ottawa,  Illinois,  from  observations  made  in 
his  own  deer  park,  states  :  "  The  evidence  derived  from  a  very  great 


%. 


% 


R  A.SterndaU,  Del. 


A 


ON  ABNORMALITIES  IN  THE  UOltNS  OF  RUMINANTS.  125 


multitude  of  observations,  made  through  a  course  of  years,  is  conclusive 
that  nature' prompts  the  animal  to  denude  its  antlers  of  their  covering  at 
a  certain  period  of  its  growth  while  yet  the  blood  has  as  free  acoess  to 
that  covering  as  if)  ever  had." 

It  is  the  common  impression  that  the  animal  is  extremely  sensitive  to 
pain  whilst  the  velvet  is  in  its  quick  state.  I  am,  however,  informed  by 
Mr.  Fhipsou  that  he  hus  seen  the  old  Wapiti  Stag,  we  most  of  us  remember, 
near  the  entrance  gate  in  the  London  Zoo,  rubbing  his  huge  antlers 
whilst  the  blood  flowed  freely  from  each  abrasion. 

Now  I  come  to  a  very  curious  deformity  in  the  Society's  collection — 
figure  No.  2?  It  is  that  of' the  left  antler  of  a  Cashmere  Stag;  the  right 
antler  is  perfectly  symmetrical,  but  the  left  one,  as  you  will  observe,  is 
broken  and  bent  down  about  2  inches  above  the  bez  antler,  and  iastead 
of  branching  it  has  formed  itself  into  a  club.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the 
fracture  here — it  is  self-evident.  Either  from  a  fall,  or  a  blow  from  a  falling 
branch,  or  from  some  such  injury  the  soft  antler  was  broken,  but  the 
velvet  held  on,  and  the  nourishment  continued,  but. in  an  interrupted  way  ; 
the  free  circulation  was  impeded,  and  instead  of  the  tines  branching  out 
according  to  their  wont,  they  coalesced  into  a  knob  as  we  see  it  here.  Of 
all'  the  deer  tribe,  I  have  found  the  Axis  or  Spotted  deer  most  given  to 
"sports"  in  its  horn".  The  normal  shape  is  strictly  rusine  with  three 
tines,  yet  20  per  cent,  of  horns  show  little  sprouts  generally  at  the  base 
of  the  brow  antler.  Figure  3  represents  one  in  the  Inverarity  collection, . 
in  which  the  brow  antlers  have  run  riot  altogether  and  the  right  one  has 
thrown  out  several  branchlets.  Probably  in  this  deer  there  was  something 
constitutionally  wrong.  I  have  examined  all  the  deer  in  the  Victoria 
Gardens  and  have  noticed  in  the  largest  stag  in  the  Axis  pen,  which  has 
very  fair-sized  horns,  that  each  brow  antler  has  an  abnormal  branch. 

Though  it  is  thus  easy  to  build  up  a  theory  on  the  deformities  of 
the  antlered  ruminants  and  to  speculate  on  their  persistence,  a  new 
tram  of  thought  arises  entirely  in  connection  with  the  hollow-horned 
ruminants.  In  these  abnormalities  must  be  persistent  ;  with  them 
it  is  an  exemplification  of  the  adage  "  as  the  twig  is  bent,  so  is  the  tree 
inclined,"  and  as  their  horns  are  to  a  certain  extent  supported  by  bony 
cores,  it  is  in  these  we  must  look,  in  the  first  instance,  for  the  deviation 
from  the  usual  symmetry.  Figure  4  represents  a  buffalo  head,  the  property 
of  Mr.  Inverarity,  at  present  deposited  with  the  Society  ;  the  deformity 
here  clearly  begins  with  the  bony  core  ;  with  such  soft  and  easily  deflective 
material  as  horn  eccentric  shapes  can  be  artificially  produced,  but  the 
deflections  must  be  beyond  the  limit  of  the  bony  core  ;  in  the  case  of  this 
buffalo  the  deformity,  or  rather  wrong  direction,  begins  from  the  base  and 
must  have  been  regulated  by  the  core*    It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to 


126  NATURAL   HISTORY, 


find  antelope  horns  running  up  almost  parallel  to  each  other  instead  of 
the  usual  V  shape,  I  have  two  such  in  my  own  collection,  Here  the  core 
again  gives  the  direction,  and  in  the  numerous  cases  reported  in  the 
Asian,  and  elsewhere,  of  antelope  with  distorted  horns  the  core  is  evidently 
the  source  of  the  eccentricity.  Figure  5  gives  a  sketch  of  an  antelope 
head  in  the  Society's  collection  ;  the  deflection  starts  from  the  base,  and 
the  bony  core  is  evidently  so  twisted  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  unscrew 
the  horn  as  can  usually  be  done  with  dried  antelope  heads.  The  horns  of 
tame  buffaloes  frequently  show  deviations  from  the  normal  type,  There  is 
in  Bombay  at  the  present  moment  a  magnificent  old  buffalo  with  grand 
horns  of  a  most  carious  and  perfectly  symmetrical  shape.  They  are  very 
massive,  and  come  down  low,  close  on  to  each  cheek,  and  then  sweeping 
round  with  a  curve  form  a  perfect  circle  at  the  tips. 


A  LIST  OF  THE  BOMBAY  BUTTERFLIES  IN  THE 
SOCIETY'S  COLLECTION, 

With  Notes  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken. 

The  butterflies  in  the  Museum  of  the  Bombay   Natural  History  Society 
are  geographically  divided  into  the  following  collections  : — 

(1.)  A  fairly  representative,  though  by  no  means  complete,  collection 
from  the  Bombay  Presidency,  exclusive  of  Sind  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Canara  on  the  other,  which  latter  belongs  rather  to  the  Malabar 
region.  For  these  the  Society  is  indebted  largely  to  Mr.  R.  C. 
Wroughton,  also  to  Mr.  Moscardi,  C.S.,  and  other  members.  This 
collection  is  arranged  and  named. 
(2.)  A  very  incomplete  collection  sfrom  Malabar  and  Canara,  partly 
purchased  and  partly  contributed  by  Captain  T.  M.  Macphcrson. 
These  arc  arranged  and  partly  named. 
(3.)     A  small  collection  of  British   butterflies   presented    by   Mr.    R.  C. 

Wroughton. 
(4.)     A  small  collection   from  different  parts  of  the   Himalayas,  partly 

obtained  by  exchange  and  partly  contributed  by  members. 
(5.)     A  few,  interesting,  named  specimens  from   the   Punjab  and   from 

Aden.  These  were  the  gift  of  Major  Yerbury. 
I  take  more  interest  in  butterflies  on  the  wing  than  on  the  pin,  but 
that  the  following  notes  may  serve  a  double  purpose  I  have  based  them  on 
a  list  of  the  species  in  the  first  of  the  collections  enumerated  above.  I 
named  the  collection  myself,  so  that  no  one  else  is  responsible  for  the 
accuracy  of  the  list,  and  I  must  protect  myself  at  the  outset  by  disclaiming 
any  pretence  to  give  a  complete  or  discriminative  catalogue  of  ihe  collection. 


R.A  Sterndale,  Dei. 


• 


A  LIST  OF  THE  BOMBAY  BUTTERFLIES  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S  COLLECTION.    127 

In  the  present  unsettled  state  of  the  subject  it  would  be  impossible  to 
attempt  such  a  thing  without  diverting  a  great  deal  more  of  my  leisure  than 
I  am  willing  to  diyert  from  nature  to  nomenclature,  and  I  am  besides 
peculiarly  disqualified  for  such  a  task  by  my  inability  to  believe  in  a  great 
many  of  the  species  which  are  accepted  by  those  who  seem  to  be 
pillars.  This  will  account  for  the  absence  from  my  list  of  a  good  many 
species,  under  one  or  two  genera  in  particular,  such  as  Terias  and  Tcracolus, 
which,  if  they  arc  species  at  all,  are  very  common. 

I  have  no  systematic  notes  of  the  months  in  which  I  have  caught  each 
species.  I  regret  this,  but  at  the  same  time  I  think  that  the  data 
obtained  in  this  way  may  be  over-valued.  Suppose  from  such  notes  you 
deduce  the  fact  that  D.  chrysippus,  for  example,  may  be  met  with  every 
month  in  the  year,  is  the  fact  worth  recording  ?  There  is  no  butterfly 
which  may  not  be  met  with  any  month  in  the  year,  for  some  pupge  always 
remain  over  from  one  season  to  the  next,  and  an  accident  may  bring  tbese 
out  at  any  time.  What  we  want  to  know  is  when  each  species  is  in 
season  and  why  ?  Almost  every  species  has  a  well-defined  season,  depend- 
ing on  its  food  plant.  For  the  great  majority  this  is  the  latter  half  of 
the  monsoon,  and  the  two  months  following,  i.et)  the  period  during  which 
the  annual  vegetation  called  into  life  by  the  rain  remains  green.  Another 
season  is  the  commencement  of  spring,  which  even  in  this  country  makes 
its  influence  distinctly  felt.  A,  violce  comes  out  at  this  time.  Some 
species  appear  at  neither  of  these  seasons  except  by  accident.  Virachola 
isocrates,  for  example,  where  it  feeds  on  the  pomegranate,  can  only  be  in 
season  when  that  fruit  is  ripening.  I  have  tried,  as  far  as  I  can,  from 
memory  and  notes,  to  give  the  limits  of  the  time  during  which  each 
species  is  in  season. 

NYMPHALIDiE. 

DANAlNiE. 

1.  Danais  chrysippus. — This,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Terias 
hecabe,  is  the  commonest  and  most  ubiquitous  butterfly  on  this  side  of 
India.  At  Kharaghora,  on  the  edge  of  the  Runn  of  Catch,  this  was  one 
of  the  very  few  flying  things  I  could  get,  and  my  chameleon  would  starve 
rather  than  cat  it.  I  never  found  the  larva  on  anything  else  than  Calo- 
Iropisgigantca.  Dwarf  specimens  of  this  are  not  uncommon.  All  our  Danaince 
are  on  the  wing  chiefly  from  about  August  till  the  end  of  the  year. 

2.  D.  dorippus. — There  is  one  specimen  in  the  collection  without  locality. 
I  have  never  met  with  it,  but  have  known  of  at  least  one  specimen  being 
caught  in  Bombay.     I  believe  it  to  be  an  occasional  variety  of  chrysippus. 

3.  D.  genutia. — This  is  common  almost  everywhere,  though  by  no  means 
so  abundant  as  the  last.     One  specimen  in  the  Society's  collection  has  that 


128  NATURAL   HISTORY. 

dash  of  white  on  the  hind  wings  which  is  common  in  specimens  of  chrysip- 
pus  from  Kurrachee  (Moore's  D.  alcippoides)  and  of  clorippus  from  Aden. 
The  collection  contains  also  a  very  remarkable  specimen  caught  at  Matheran 
by  Mr.  Moscardi  in  December,  1884,  in  which  the  ground-colour  through- 
out is  a  dull  lavender.     The  markings  are  normal. 

4.  D.  limniace, — This  is  common  too,  especially  on  the  hills.  I 
found  the  larva  at  Lanowlie  in  October,  feeding  en  Hoya  viridiflora. 
The  offensive  smell  which  makes  reptiles  and  birds — if  birds  eat  butterflies 
at  all — reject  tlrs  family,  is  particularly  strong  in  this  species,  and  is  certainly 
connected  with  the  extrusion  of  the  yellow  plume?.  It  is  also  a  very 
difficult  insect  to  kill.  Pinching  the  thorax  has  a  temporary  effect,  but  it 
soon  revives.  Even  when  killed  past  reviving  and  pinned,  it  will  conti- 
nue to  wag  his  head  and  antennas  satirically  for  some  days.  This  or  any 
of  the  last  will  serve  very  well  to  illustrate  the  intimate  connection  which 
there  is  between  colour  and  habit,  not  where  the  protection  of  the  insect, 
by  mimicry  or  otherwise,  is.  concerned,  but  simply  fronj  an  aesthetic 
point  of  view.  On  the  underside  the  greater  part  of  the  forewing  differs 
from  the  hindwing,  but  a  well-defined  area  at  the  apex  is  of  the  same 
shade.  Now  in  the  Danais  attitude  of  rest  the  forewings  drop  between 
the  hindwings  until  precisely  this  portion  and  no  more  projects  and  is 
visible.  For  those  who  like  to.  theorise  I  would  suggest  that  the  action 
of  light  has  produced  this  effect,  the  warmer  tint  of  the  covered  portion 
of  the  forewing  representing  the  original  unbleached  colour  of  the 
butterfly  countless  generations  ago.  A  KhaJcce  coat  often  illustrates  the 
same  thing  ! 

5.  D.  gi'ammica.—Thh  is  very  common  on  the  hills,  but  comparatively 
rare  in  Bombay.  It  comes  out  a  little  later  than  the  foregoing  species, 
being  very  abundant  about  Christmas  time.  I  found  the  larva  at 
Lanowlie  in  October  last  year,  feeding  on  Tylophora  camosa,  also  one 
of  the  Asclepiadeacece.  It  was,  I  think,  the  most  beautiful  larva  I  have 
seen.  The  ground-colour  was  a  rich  reddish  brown,  or  claret  colour,  and 
on  each  segment  there  was  a  pair  of  round  yellow  spots  with  numerous 
small  bluish-white  spots  between.  On  the  sides  these  spots  gathered  into 
a  conspicuous  longitudinal  band.  The  under  surface  was  black.  There 
were  only  two  pairs  of  filaments,  which  were  nearly  straight. 

G.  Enplota  core.— -In  Bombay  this  feeds  on  oleander,  but  on  the  hills 
I  have  found  the  larva?  on  the  wild  fig,  Ficus  glomerata.  The  larva, 
like  those  of  all  the  Danaince,  rests  on  the  underside  of  the  leaf,  a 
position  which  exposes  it  to  the  notice  of  birds  ;  but  it  affects  no  conceal- 
ment, and  is  evidently  not  edible.  The  pupa,  like  a  nugget  of  burnished 
silver,  seems  designed  to  attract  attention.  Perhaps  it  acts  on  the 
superstition  of  its  enemies.     The  natural  feeling  which  forms  the  basis 


A  LIST  OF  THE  BOMBAY  BUTTERFLIES  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S  COLLECTION.    129 

of  superstition  is  not  confined  to  us,  lords  of  creation,  and  I  am  disposed 
to  think  mary  insects  save  tlieir  lives  by  availing  themselves  of  it.  This 
butterfly  is  a  great  traveller,  as  indeed  are  all  the  Danaince.  They  are 
often  to  be  seen  crossing  Bombay  Harbour  from  one  island  to  another, 
and  it  is  a  curious  question  whether  they  see  the  land  in  the  distance,  or 
go  in  the  spirit  of  Columbus. 

SATYRlNvS!. 

7.  Melanilis  leda. — This  and  the  next  are  Insects  of  the  dusk,  coming: 
out  after  the  sun  is  down  and  dancing  round  the  roots  of  trees  in 
company  after  the  manner  of  fairies.  A  little  later  they  come  out  of  their 
hunts  aud  fly  straight  up  into  the  sky  as  far  as  eye  can  follow  them,  for 
what  purpose  I  cannot  guess.  They  are  thirsty  creatures,  and  will  gather 
in  numbers  where  water  has  been  spilt  on  the  ground,  but  they  prefer 
whiskey.  I  have  found  the  larva  of  this  feeding  on  grass.  It  is  difficult 
to  find,  being  a  night  feeder  and  very  shy.  As  the  species  of  grass  on 
which  it  feeds  grows  during  the  monsoon  only,  except  where  there  is 
water,  this  species  is  in  season  all  the  latter  part  of  the  rainy  season, 
and  in  some  places  for  a  short  they  almost  jostle  each  other  for  room. 
About  October,  when  vegetation  is  drying  up,  it  gives  place  to  the  next. 

8.  M.  ismene. — This  is  very  similar  to  the  last  in  its  habits,  and 
quite  as  common,  more  so  on  the  hills.  I  am  aware  that  they  are 
supposed  to  be  one  species,  but  on  this  point  I  have  not  given  in  yet. 
I  have  noticed  it  on  alighting  fall  over  on  one  side  until  it  was  almost 
horizontal,  which  very  much  enhanced  its  likeness  to  a  dead  leaf. 

9.  Lethe  ncelgherriensis. — In  the  month  of  March  this  is  very  plentiful 
on  the  ghats,  but  it  is  not  confined  to  them.  I  have  caught  it  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bombay.     It  is  similar  in  habits  to  the  last  two. 

10.  Lethe  europct. — There  is  only  one  specimen  of  this  in  the  collection, 
and  nothing  to  show  where  it  came  from.     I  have  not  met  with  it. 

11.  Mycalesis perseas. — I  have  nothing  to  note  about  this  species.  I 
have  caught  it  in  Bombay  and  elsewhere,  but  it  is  not  common. 

12.  Ypthima  philomela. — This  is  a  humble  butterfly,  flying  along  the 
ground  in  shady  places,  but  it  is  not  specially  crepuscular.  It  is  common 
in  the  cold  season  at  Poona,  and  I  think  on  the  hills  everywhere. 

13.  Telchinia  violce. — This  is  not  very  common,  but  a  few  appear  just 
before  the  hot  season  in  Bombay  and  wherever  I  have  been.  I  met  with 
some  at  Mahableshwar  last  March.  It  seems  generally  to  be  on  a  journey 
going  steadily  in  one  direction  with  a  feeble  flight,  but  it  will  stop  to  sip 
a  flower  and  is  easily  caught.  I  believe  it  is,  like  the  Danaince,  offensive  to 
birds  and  reptiles. 


130  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


NYMPHALINyE. 

14.  Atella phalanta. — This  is  not  rare  in  Bombay,  and  one  of  the 
commonest  species  on  the  hills  in  March,  when  people  go  up  for  the  hot 
season.  I  imagine  it  comes  out  after  the  monsoon  and  continues  all 
through  the  cold  weather.  It  does  not  remain  so  long  on  the  wing  in 
Bombay  ;  but  many  species  have  their  season  later  on  the  hills  than  on  the 
plains.  The  larva  of  A.  phalanta  feeds  on  Flacourtia  montana,  and  is 
easily  found  if  one  knows  to  look  for  it,  not  on  the  higher  branches  of  the 
trees,  but  on  the  young  shoots  wbich  come  up  from  the  roots.  The  pupa 
is  a  lovely  object.  So  is  the  butterfly  when  fresh  and  iridescent.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  sprightly  and  characteristic  inhal  Hants  of  our  hill  stations, 
flitting  everywhere  from  bush  to  bush  and  even  when  it  settles  moving  its 
wings  for  ever  in  the  restless  way  peculiar  to  it. 

15.  Argynnis  niphe. — Colonel  Swinhoe,  in  his  paper  on  the  Lcpidoptcra 
of  Bombay  and  the  Deccan,  published  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Zoological 
Society  of  London,  Feb.  13,  1885,  says  that  he  caught  this  in  Bombay  in 
1877.  This  is  very  interesting.  I  have  hunted  butterflies  for  years  in 
Bombay  and  never  saw  a  specimen  of  this.  I  can  hardly  believe  that  such 
a  conspicuous  insect  could  have  escaped  me  entirely.  But  looting  over  the 
list  I  find  several  other  species,  of  which  I  am  equally  positive  that  they 
arc  not  Bombay  butterflies,  recorded  from  Bombay  in  that  year,  e.g., 
Colias  fieldii  and  Teracolus  dance.  The  inference  is  that  during  the  famine 
year  many  butterflies  wandered,  as  we  know  birds  did,  into  regions  where 
they  were  unknown  before.  There  are  specimens  of  A.  niphe  in  the 
Society's  collection,  contributed  by  Mr.  Newnham  from  Cutch. 

16.  Pyramcis  cardui. — In  Bombay  this  species  breaks  out  in  large 
numbers  at  irregular  seasons  in  a  way  for  which  I  cannot  account.  It 
feeds  on  different  species  of  llumea,  which  are  all  monsoon  annuals,  and 
might  be  expected  to  be  very  regular  in  its  appearance.  The  larvae  are 
sociable  when  very  young,  half  a  dozen  chumming  together  under  the 
shelter  of  a  little  network  of  silk.  The  butterfly  is  not  very  easy  to  catch, 
being  a  strong  flier  and  wary.  It  rarely  settles  except  on  the  ground,  and 
opens  its  wings  much  less  than  the  Junonias. 

17.  Junonia  lemonias. — Though  not  rare  anywhere,  this  and  the  next 
two  arc  pre-eminently  Bombay  butterflies,  loving  its  ditches  and  well- 
watered  gardens.  Orithyia  and  hierta,  on  the  other  hand,  like  dry 
situations.  In  habits,  otherwise,  they  are  very  much  alike,  flitting  about 
one  spot  and  basking  in  the  sun  all  the  hottest  hours  of  the  day.  This 
species  is  in  season  at  the  close  of  the  rains. 

18.  /.  aslerie. — Next  to  T.  hemic  and  D.  chrysippus,  this  is  the  common- 
est butterfly  in  Bombay  at  the  close  of  the  rains  and  for  some  time 
after.     It  attains  in  old  age  to  a  degree  of  disrcputability   and   roggedness 


A  LIST  OF  THE  BOMBAY  BUTTERFLIES  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S  COLLECTION.    131 


not  often  seen  in -any  other  species.  I  am  inclined  to  think  this  is  tie 
result  of  ineffectual  attempts  to  catch  it  on  the  part  of  lizards,  with 
which  it  is  a  favourite  food.  The  larva  feeds  on  Lippia  nodiflora  and 
Asteracmiilia  longifoiia,  both  very  abundant  in  Bombay  during  the  mmisoon, 
by  the  side  of,  or  actually  in,  water.  The  larva  is  scarcely,  if  at  all, 
distinguishable  from  that  of  the  next  opecies  and  very  like  that  of  P. 
ecu  dui. 

19.  J.  almana. — This  comes  out  at  the  simc  season,  but  is  not  so  coimroiv 
as  the  last.  The  larva,  feeds  on  A.  longifoiia  :  I  never  found  it  on  L. 
nodifiora.  Colonel  Swinhoe,  in  the  paper  above  mentioned,  suggests  that 
this  and  the  last  are  one  species.  I  believe  the  suggestion  was  made  by  Mr. 
de  Nieeville  before,  and  the  opinion  of  two  such  authorities  is  entitled  to 
respect,  but  as  Colonel  Swinhoe  appears  to  quote  me  in  support  of  his  view.  1 
ought  to  say  that  I  do  not  share  it.  It  is  true,  as  he  says,  that  I  reared  both 
species  from  a  lot  of  larva1  taken  together,  but  they  were  taken  from  a 
ditch  in  which  there  may  have  been  the  offspring  of  fifty  parents.  This 
proves  nothing.  Culonel  Swinhoe  further  says  that  he  has  a  large  series 
of  examples  showing  every  stage  of  variety  between  the  two.  I  am  dis- 
posed to  think  he  might  apply  the  same  test  with  disastrous  effect  to  a 
score  or  so  of  the  species  which  appear  in  his  own  list  under  the  genera 
Izias,  Teracolus  and  Tcrias  ;  but  that  is  a  point  on  which  opinions- 
will  differ.  In  this  case,  at  any  rate,  I  doubt  the  applicabilty  of  the  test. 
I  have  not  seen  many  specimens  from  other  parts  of  India,  but  I  have 
reared  and  caught  plenty  in  Bombay,  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting. 
that  here  both  forms  are  remarkabl-e  for  their  freedom  from  variation.  For 
this  reason  I  put  down  one  or  two  intermediate  specimens  wdiich  I  have 
seen  as  hybrids.  In  the  Society's  collection  there  is  one  specimen  inter- 
mediate between  J.  asterie  and  J.  Jemomas,  which,  for  the  same  reason,  I. 
believe  to  be  a  hybrid,  though  lemonias-Js  a  much  more  variable  insect 
than  either  asterie  or  almana.  Of  course,  these  two  may  very  well  be 
distinct  forms  or  one  dimorphic  insect.  This  is  a  very  different  thing,  not, 
in  itself  improbable  ;  but  Colonel  Swinhoe's  argument  from  intermediate 
varieties  tells  rather  against  than  for  Such  a  theory,  and  I  do  not  know  of, 
any  other  reason  for  entertaining  it. 

20.  J.  hierta. — This  is  not  uncommon  in  Bombay  on  the  uncultivated 
pirts  of  CumbaMa  Hill  and  about  dry  stubble  fiek's.  It  and  the  next 
appear  later  in  the  year  than  the  preceding  species. 

21.  J.  orithyia. — This  is  par  excellence  the  Jvnonia  of  the  Peccan,. 
delighting  in  dry  hills  and  stony  plains.  On  the  bare  plateau  of 
Lanowlie  I  have  found  it  very  abundant  in  company  with  the  last,  in 
February,  revelling  in  the  wealth  of  minute  wild  flowers  which  clothe  the 
ground  in  that  favoured  spot. 


132  STATURAL  HISTORY. 


22.  Freds  iphita.—Mtzx  the  raias  this  butterfly  is  very  plentiful., 
especially  among  the  thorny  jungle  which  covers  the  little  hills  of  the 
Konkan.  It  is  also  one  of  the  most  familiar  species  en  the  ghats.  The 
depth  of  colour  on  the  underside  varies  much,  and  the  white  spot  is 
sometimes  prestnt  and  sometimes  absent.  I  have  never  seen  specimens 
here  as  large  as  s<  me  which  come  from  the  Himalayas.  It  has  all  the  habits 
of  a  Junonia,  and  its  colour  seems  inappropriate,  for  it  lives  in  the  midst 
of  green  foliage  and  rarely  stttles  on  the  ground. 

23.  Kaliima  wardi  —  I  believe  this  grand  butterfly  is  fairly  common 
in  every  well-wooded  part  of  the  country.  It  appears  chiefly  in  March,. 
April  and  May,  when  dead  leaves  are  in  fashion,  and  haunts  dry  nullahs 
and  ravines,  flash'ng  into  sight  suddenly  and  as  suddenly  disappearing  into 
a  tree  where,  after  long  and  cautious  peering,  you  (fail  to)  discern  it 
sitting  motionless  on  the  trunk,  inaccessible  to  your  net  of  course.  When 
you  do  catch  one,  it  is  broken.  I  suppose  their  habit  of  settling  in  the 
interior  of  a  tree,  upon  the  trunk  or  larger  branches,  tends  to  break  their 
wings.  Last  March,  the  Eev.  A.  B.  Watson,  of  Poona,  made  the  discovery 
that  this  and  several  other  species  which  most  successfully  defy  the  net, 
such  as  Char  axes  aihamas,  may  be  captured  wholesale  at  sugar.  He  had 
sugared  some  trees  for  moths  without  success,  but  passing  afterwards  by 
daj  light,  he  found  that  they  had  become  a  rendezvous  for  half  a  doztn 
species  of  butterflies,  of  which  he  took  as  many  as  he  pleased,  the  present 
species,  in  particular,  being  so  infatuated  or  so  drunk  that  it  allowed  itself 
to  be  taken  with  the  fingers. 

24.  Charades  imna. — I  became  awsre  of  its  existence  of  this  striking 
buttejfly  only  lasi  December,  when  Mr.  J.  Davidson  and  I  spent  part  of  two 
days  at  Matheran  in  trying  to  capture  two  specimens,  or  rather,  I  sin  uld  say, 
one  specimen,  for  when  we  got  them  we  found  that  only  half  of  each  remained. 
I  have  found  since  that  the  species  is  by  no  means  uncommon  on  the 
ghats  fiom  December  till  March  at  least  ;  but  it  does  not  put  itself  in  the 
way  of  being  converted  into  specimens.  It  comes  out  about  10  o'clock, 
and,  selecting  a  tree  with  bright  shiny  leaves,  perches  bolt  upright  in  the 
middle  of  a  particular  leaf,  just  a  foot  above  the  highest  point  you  can 
reach  with  your  net.  Whether  by  accident  or  design,  the  position  is  fenced 
on  all  sides  with  a  creeper  whose  sharp-curved  thorns  lay  hold  of  everything 
that  passes  them  and  let  go  nothing.  There  the  proud  creature  sits, 
chasing  away  any  other  butteifly  that  approaches,  and  returning  to  the 
same  leaf.  If  you  pelt  it  with  stones,  it  darts  off,  fakes  a  shoit  circuit 
and  returns  to  the  same  leaf.  You  nay  jeltit  for  an  hour  with  the 
same  result.  You  may  easily  circumvent  it,  however,  by  erecting  a 
platform  of  t-tones  under  its  perch,  but  your  aim  must  be  sure  and  your 
stroke  sudden,  for  to  other  butterfly   goes  off   with  such    rapidity.     There 


A  LIST  OF  THE  BOMBAY  BUTTERFLIES  IN  THE  SOlCETY's  COLLECTION.    133 

is  only  one   specimen    of  tkis   in    the   Society's  collection,  a  male  which  I 
caught  at  Khandalla. 

25.  Charades  afhamas. — 'This  is  common  em  ugh  on  <fjie  ghats, 
chiefly,  I  think,  from  December  to  March.  It  is  very  similar  in  its  habits 
to  the  last,  and  almost  as  difficult  to  capture.  They  have  a  penchant  for 
certain  places,  and  there  seems  to  be  one  permanently  resident  at  the 
reversing  station  on  the  Thull  Gh&t.  In  the  Society's  collection  there 
are  one  or  two  old  specimens  of'  large  sifce,  with  the  apical  spot  which  is 
wanting  in  the  smaller  form, 

26.  Char  axes  fabms.- — This  is  not  so  common  as  the  last,  and  I  know 
little  about  it.  It  occurs  in  Bombay  sparingly.  There  are  four  specimens  in 
the  collection  from  Khandesh  and  the  Tanna  district. 

27.  Cyrestis  thyodamas. — This  was  very  common  at  Mahableshwar 
last  cold  season,  from  December  till  March  at  least.  Whether  it  is  usually 
so  I  cannot  say.  I  never  before  met  with  it,  nor  heard  of  its  occurrence  in 
the  Presidency.  I  collected  a  good  many  specimens,  which  are  decidedly 
smaller  and,  I  think,  better  marked  than  specimens  from  the  Himalayas. 
It  is  a  sprightly  creature,  skimming  along  with  the  flight  of  a  Keptis  or  an 
Athyma,  settling  on  the  upperside  of  a  leaf,  with  its  wings  rigidly  expanded, 
then  adroitly  transferring  itself  to  the  underside  of  the  same  leaf.  It  sees 
remarkably  well,  but  does  not  settle  very  high,  and  is  easily  caught. 
1  do  not  think  it  ever  closes  its  wings,  even  when  it  settles  on  the 
ground. 

28.  Ergolis  ariadne.- — I  am  not  sure  1  have  caught  this  in  Bombay,  but 
it  is  everywhere  on  the  hills  during  the  cold  season.  It  flies  low.  Mr. 
Davidson  sent  me  a  number  of  the  larvae  from  Dhulia  in  Khandesh  in  the 
month  of  October,  together  with  those  of  the  next,  from  which  they  were 
almost  indistinguishable.  The  pupa;  were  quite  indistinguishable,  at 
least  to  my  discernment.     They  fed  on  Tragia  camiabina. 

29.  Byl)lia  ilithyia. — The  specimens  in  the  Society's  collection  are 
from  Cutch  and  Dhulia,  but  I  have  met  with  it  in  Poona.    It  flies  low. 

30.  Neplls  varmoncu — This  species  is  common  enough  in  Bombay  and 
Poona  after  the  monsoon,  and  still  more  so  on  the  hills  as  late  as  March. 
It  frequents  gardens  and  hedges,  and  has  a  characteristic  flight,  steady  and 
straight,  with  jerky  strokes  of  its  wings,  between  which  they  remain 
stiffly  expanded. 

31.  Neptis  ophiana. — I  met  with  a  few  specimens  of  this  at  Maha- 
bleshwar last  March.  It  was  new  to  me,  but  on  the  wing  is  so  like 
Athyma  periits  that  it  may  have  easily  escaped  my  notice  before, 

32.  Athyma  perms. — This  is  common  at  Khandalla,  Lanowlic  and 
Matheran,  but  I  did  not  find  it  last  March  at  Mahableshwar,  which  is 
2,000    feet  higher.      It  does  not  occur  on   the  plains,     I  found  the   larva 


134  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


at  Matheran  in  March,  feeding  on  Glocliidion  lanceolaticm,  one  of  the 
commonest  trees  on  the  hill.  This  species  seems  to  lay  its  eggs  by- 
preference  on  the  young  shoots  that  come  up  from  the  roots,  like  .4. 
phalanta. 

33.  Eulhalia  garvda. — I  think  this  butterfly  is  less  common  in  the 
jungle  than  it  is  about  human  dwellings.  It  loves  to  bask  on  old 
grey  walls  and.  may  be  found,  making  itself  happy  in  the  dirtiest  parts  of 
the  native  town.  I  am  quite  sure  it  prefers  the  liquids  which  it  sips  from 
the  roadside  gutter  to  the  nectar  of  any  flower.  The  larva  may  be 
found  in  the  month  of  October,  and  no  doubt  later,  on  the  mango  tree. 
I  found  one  once  on  a  rose  bush,  to  which  it  had  done  some  mischief.  It 
is  a  difficult  larva  to  rear,  sulking  and  refusing  to  feed.  It  eats  only 
at  night,  remaining  motionless  all  day,  and  the  interfacings  of  its  light 
green  spines  form  such  a  perfect  imitation  of  the  venation  of  a  leaf  that 
it  must  very  easily  escape  detection. 

34.  E.  lubentiha. — This  is  not  very  rare  on  the  hills,  but  seems 
to  keep  to  the  tops  of  trees,  basking  in  the  sun.  I  have  found  it  at 
Matheran  in  December. 

■35.     Sytnphcedra  nais. — In    structure    this  is    said  to  be  near  to  Eulha- 
lia ;    in    habits  it  is  a  Junonia,  or  perhaps,  I  should  rather  say,  a  Pyrameis, 
flying    low    and    alighting    generally    on    the   ground,  where  it  basks    with 
wings  expanded.     I  have    not  met  with  it  in  Bombay,  but  it  is  not  uncom- 
mon   at  Uran,  only  five  miles  from  Bombay,  and  may  be  found,  I  dare  say, 
throughout  the  low  jungles  of  the  Tanna  district..    I  think  its  chief    season 
is  the  close  of   the  monsoon,-  but  I  have    found  it  in  May.     There  is  some 
difference  'n  the  depth  of  colour  in  different  specimens  from  the  same  region. 
36.     Hypolimnas  misippus. — This  is  very  common  after   the   rains.     The 
larva  feeds  on  Portulacca  oleracea,  wlich  is    a  monsoon   weed    in  Bombay. 
I  think  Boisduval's  enthusiasm  carries  him  too  far  when  he   says    that    the 
mimicry  of  D.  chrysippus  by  this  species  extends  even  to  their  larvae,   which 
at  first  sight  have  a  superficial  resemblance.     This  is  a  spiny  larva  of  the 
Junoniit  type,  and  does  not  need   to    mimic    anything,    because    nothing   is 
under  temptation  to  eat  it.     Females  of  the  dorippus  type  are  not  rare,   and 
there  is  one  in  the  Society's  collection. 

37.  Hypolimnas  aoia. — When  the  first  showers  of  the  monsoon  have 
fallen  in  June,  a  large  number  of  the  females  of  this  butterfly  appear, 
without  a  single  male  being  visible.  Two  or  three  months  later,  males 
appear  in  great  abundance  in  some  places,  followed  after  an  interval  by 
females.  I  noticed  this  particularly  in  1878  at  Uran,  where  the  low 
jungle  on  the  hill  s'des  literally  swarmed  with  this  species,  and  I  have  at 
other  times,  without  noting  dates  so  precisely,  found  one  sex  abundant 
without  the  other.     In  Bombay  and  Poona  this  species   is    common    abcut 


A  LIST  OF  THE  BOMBAY  BUTTERFLIES  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S  COLLECTION.    135 

the  close  of  the  rainy  season,  though  never  so  plentiful  as  the  next.  It 
wanders  little,  and  I  have  watched  a  fiue  male  in  the  garden  day  after  day, 
basking  on  the  same  bush  and  sucking  the  same  flowers,  fiercely  chasing 
all  rivals  away,  until  it  was  old  and  faded  and  broken,  and  finally  disap- 
peared. I  do  not  think  they  live  much  over  a  week,  but  this  is  a  difficult 
point  to  settle,  because  in  captivity  there  are  unnatural  conditions  which 
may  lengthen  as  well  as  shorten  an  insect's  life. 

38.     77.   bolina.-  —  This    is    the  least   common   of  the    three    species    in 

Bombay.     In     collections    from    Malabar,    it    is,    I  think,  the  commonest. 

Perhaps  it  is  more  a  denizen  of  the  jungle  and  rarer  in  gardens.  Like 
the  others,  it  appears  during  the  latter  half  of  the  monsoon  and  for  a  short 
time  after. 


A  NEW  SPECIES  OF  ALGA 
CONFERVA  THEBMALIS  BIRDWOODll 

(With  an  Illustration.) 

DISCOVERED  AMONG  THE  HOT-WATER  ALG^E  FROM  VAJRABAI 
EXHIBITED  BEFORE  THE  BOTANICAL  SECTION  ON   15™  MARCH   1886. 

By  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar,  I.M.D., 
2nd  Surgeon,   J.  J.   Hospital, 

Acting  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Grant  Medical  College. 

I  visited  the  hot-water  springs  of  Vajrabai  near  Bhiwandi  in  the 
Thana  Collect  orate  a  fortnight  ago.  The  place  has  been  described  in 
the  Indian  Antiquary  of  March  1875  (page  Q6)  by  Mr.  Sinclair,  of 
the  Bombay  Civil  Service,  one  of  our  able  co-adjutors  and  generous 
contributors  in  the  Zoo'ogical  Section.  The  springs  occur,  he  says, 
in  or  near  the  bed  of  the  Tan sa  River  at  the  village  of  Wadouli,  about 
twelve  miles  due  north  of  Bhiwandi.  Those  at  Akloli  and  Ganesh- 
puri  have  a  temperature  of  about  100°  F.  The  water  is  stored,  as  it 
bubbles  up  from  the  underground  springs,  in  a  couple  of  big  basins 
built  of  black  basaltic  stones,  about  eight  feet  by  twelve  in  dimensions 
and  four  feet  deep.  The  water  bubbles  up  hot  through  circular  holes 
cut  out  at  the  bottom  of  the  basin.  It  has  a  sulphurous  taste  and  smell. 
It  was  analysed  by  Drs.  Giraud  and  Haines  in  January  1855,  but  no 
note  seems  to  have  been  made  of  this  quality  of  the  water.  The  analy- 
sis is  given  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Society  of 


"13G  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


Bombay   (page  24,   Vol.  V.)    and  is  as  follows  :  --In  10,000  parts  or 
grain-measures  : — 

Specific   gravity   at   G0°   F .  ...     10020 

Chloride  of  sodium  ............         12*41 

Chloride  of  calcium 7-07 

Sulphate  of  lime 2.08 

Silica -88 

Total  Solids...         22-64 


The  temperature  of  the  water  at  source  is  noted  120°  F. 

The  Alga?  that  I  have  collected    are    from    the    hottest   springs    of 
Gorakha-Machhindra,  the  temperature  of  which  is  130°  F. 

Very  few  Alga3  are  described  as  the  inhabitants  of  hot  springs. 
Oooke,in  his  recent  work  on  British  Water  Algas,  mentions  only  four — ■ 
Htigeoclonium  thermale7  Gleocapsa  arenaria,  Spirulina  oscillaroides 
(variety  Mvnutissima),  and  Oscillaria  iherrnalis.  Hassall  mentions 
Oscillatoria  thermalis  (page  250,  Vol.  I.,  British  Freshwater  Alga?) 
as  being  found  in  a  stream  of  hot  water  at  Stevenston,  but,  as  Cooke 
rightly  remarks,  Hassall's  illustration  is  not  sufficiently  graphic  as  to 
enable  the  reader  to  recognize  the  species.  Hassall,  however,  observes 
that  some  of  the  OsciPatoreaa  are  found  in  mineral  waters  and  in  such 
as  are  absolutely  hot  and  almost  boiling. 

Kiitzing,  in  his  work  "  Species  Algarum,"  describes  Spirulina  subti- 
lissima  as  being  found  in  some  Italian  hot  springs.  The  Spirulina 
thermalis  is  found  in  the  hot  springs  of  Italy  and  Bohemia  (Carlsbad). 
He  also  describes,  among  the  doubtful  species  which  he  has  not  fully 
recognized,  Avabaena  thermalis,  found  in  the  Algerian  River  Oued- 
el-Bammam,  which  derives  its  waters  from  a  hot  spring. 
JRhizoclonium  Crispum  is  also  described  by  the  same  Algologist  as 
being  found  in  the  hot  springs  of  Germany  and  Italy. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Algal  inhabitants  of  thermal  springs 
are  few  and  far  between.  I  was  struck  during  my  visit  to  Vajrabai 
with  the  rank  growth  of  the  Alga?  now  exhibited  before  this 
Meeting.  They  were  growing  luxuriantly,  and  looked  in  their 
recent  and  natural  condition,  richly  and  beautifully  green,  firmly 
fixed  on  to  the  loose  pebbles  that  were  rolling  in  the  stream 
and  to  the  black  basaltic  stones  lying  along  the  current  of  the 
continuously  streaming  water,  the  high  temperature  of  which 
the  human  hand  could  not  stand  for  more  than  two  consecutive 
minutes. 


kirtikak's 

conferva  therm aus  birdwoopii 


KRK<.fti(<~  dU&x- 


2i~-  4,  •%& 


/jfihUpj  s^r(UtCrJt  JK  &^   v/^47  Jh^-L    - 


A  NEW  SPECIES  OF  ALC4A  CONFERVA  THERMALIS  BIRDWOODII.  137 


I  found   four   varieties  of   Alga3  in  the  different   springs  about  the 
place  : — 

(1)  A  species  of  Ulothrix,  not  very  different  in  structure  from 

Ulothrix  Radicans  of  Cooke. 

(2)  A  species  of  Nostoc  with  its  very  minutely  beaded  appearance. 

(3)  A    Conferva  very   similar   to    C ' hcetomorpha    implexa    {vide 

p.  140,  Cooke's  Algte,  plate  54,  fig.  6). 
These   three  varieties    will  by    and  bye    receive  special  treatment 
at  my  hands,    but  to-day  I    propose  to  examine  in  detail  the    fourth 
species  of   Conferva    which  I  have   not  seen  described    anywhere   in 
Kiitzing,  Cooke,  Hassall  or  Mrs.  Gatty. 

(4)  To  the  naked  eye  this  variety  of  Conferva  is  visible  in  the 
shape  of  fine  hairy  filaments  of  beautiful  rich  green.  Under  the  micros- 
cope with  a  5  inch  objective  the  structure  is  seen  in  detail,  and  is  not 
unlike  that  of  Enteronwrpha  Percursa  described  and  figured  by 
Mrs.  Alfred  Gattv  in  her  British  Seaweeds  under  No.  350,  Plate 
LXXII,  the  difference  being  that  our  specimen  has  distinct 
dissepiments  in  the  body  of  the  Alga  and  tretrasporous 
arrangement  of  the  zoospores  inside  the  tubular  segments. 
Following  Mrs.  Gatty 's  mode  of  description  given  in  her  work,  I 
here  briefly  give  the  result  of  my  examination  of  the  newly- 
discovered  Alga. 

Color. — Bright  rich  green  when  in  the  hot  water  ;  turning  olive 
green  on  being  kept  in  cold  water,  or  on  drying. 

Substance. — Soft  ;  can  be  easily  torn  off. 

Character  of  frond. — Single  ;  bearing  occasionally  slender  spine-like 
branchlets,  short  and  tapering,  not  distinctly  jointed,  growing  in  tufts. 

Joints.— Small,  numerous,  faintly  marked,  with  from  four  to  six 
dissepiments  in  the  long  axis  of  the  Alga.  Smaller  horizontal  joints 
separating  the  endocbrome  and  zoospores  into  spaces  j~  to  ^-^ 
inch  in  length  and  -p^  inch  in  breadth. 

3Itasuremeuts. — 4  to  6  inches  high  when  standing  in  the  hot  stream 
in  tufts. 

Fructification. — Unknown.  In  some  of  the  mature  segments  the 
central  mass  of  coloring  matter  constituting  the  sporidium  is  arranged 
in  a  tetrasporous  manner,  the  contents  escaping  in  due  time,  probably 
by  rupture  of  the  segment  walls. 

As  the  species  is  q>ite  a  new  one,  requiring  a  designation,  I  have 
obtained    the    Honorable    Mr.    Justice    Birdwood's    permission    to 


138  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


associate  his  name  with  the  Alga,  as  he  is  at  present  the  President  of 
our  Botany  Section;  and  as  I  wish  to  mark  the  high  sense  of  esteem 
and  respect  I  entertain  for  him  as  an  accomplished  and  practical 
naturalist,  and  as  a  kind  and  indefatigable  worker  in  the  interests 
of  humanity,  I  call  the  Alga  Conferva  Therm  dis  Birdw  ;odii,  and 
so  be  it  known  in  the  weedy  world. 

K.  R.  KIRTIKAR. 


NOTE  ON  FREQUENCY  OF  PARASITES  IN  INDIAN 

ARMY  HORSES. 

By  V.  S.  J.  H.  Steel,  A.V.D., 

Supdt.,  Bombay  Veterinary  College  and  Hospital. 

In  August  1884  I  examined  with  care  the  bodies  of  twelve  Lighfe 
Cavalry  horses  destroyed  on  account  of  age  or  incurable  injury  at 
Bangalore.  The  results  are,  in  some  respects,  remarkable.  Thus,  no 
doubt  is  left  as  to  the  richness  of  the  zoological  field  explored  by  me  ; 
every  one  of  these  twelve  horses  contained  large  numbers  of  parasites 
of  two  or  more  species.  Further,  a  young  mare,  the  only  Australian 
of  the  lot,  had  two  forms  of  parasite  which  were  not  fou  ;d  in  any 
of  the  others  ;  this  suggests  the  question  as  to  whether  she  can  have 
brought  those  forms  from  the  depot  at  Oossoor  some  two  years 
before,  or  from  Australia  some  throe  years  before,  her  destruc- 
tion. Again,  certain  parasites  commonly  seen  during  post- 
mortems of  horses  were  conspicuous  by  their  absence  ;  echinococcus 
cysts  were  not  found  in  the  liver,  nor  armed  strongyles  in  the 
anterior  mesenteric  artery,  nor  were  any  thread-worms  present 
in  the  respiratory  passages,  nor  flukes  in  the  liver.  If  well-fed  and 
cared-for  horses  were  thus  infested,  how  much  more  so  must  be 
country  ponies  and  horses  "roughing  it"  out  in  the  districts.  All  the 
horses  had  been  watered  from  the  same  tank  ;  had  been  standing 
in  open  lines ;  and  had  been  similarly  fed  for  the  six  months  previous 
to  destruction.  Their  fodder  mainly  consisted  of  fresh  Hariali  or 
Dhoob  grass,  more  or  less  moist  from  washing,  but  fairby  well  cleaned 
as  regards  removal  of  mud,  dirt,  and  foreign  grasses.  Their  gram 
was  boiled  coolthee. 


NOTE  ON  FREQUENCY  OF  PARASITES  IN  INDIAN  ARMY  HORSES.         139 


Parasites  found  in  various  situations. 


No. 

In  Stomach. 

In  Caecum. 

In  Colon. 

1 

Bots  and  small  round- 

[One     a«caris     megaloce- 

Oxyuridet(and  in  rectum). 

worms. 

pbala  in  duodenum  ] 

2 

Bots 

Str.      arma'us      and    str. 
tetracantbus. 

3 

Str.  armatus  and   amplrs- 

toma   collinsii. 

4 

A  very  few  bots     

Amphi.  collinsii  (at  com- 
mencement), 

- 

Bots,  a  large    cyst,   v. 
few    small    thread- 

Str.  armatus  (a  few),  str. 
tetracanthus,  and  ampin. 

Avorms. 

collins'i  (.many)  at  com- 
mencement of  douile 
rob  n. 

•0 

A  number  rf  tots  ard 

Str.      armatus     and      str. 

Str.     armatus      and      str. 

of      small     (bread- 

tetra  cant  bus          (im  ma- 

tetracanihus        (imma- 

worms. 

ture  ?)    ;     also    auiphis- 

ture?)  ;  also  amphi.  col- 

toma colli  n  si  i. 

linsii. 

7 

Str.    armatup,    str.    tetra- 

Str.     armatus,   str.    tetra- 

cantbus    (a   few    imma- 

canthus  (a   few    imma- 

ture ?)    ;     also      amphi. 

ture?),     ampbi.  collinsii 

cdlinsii  Oorne). 

(some)at  commencement 
of  double  colon. 

S 

Man}'      bo(s,    a     few 
small  thread-worms. 

A  few  mature  str.  arma'us. 

A  few  ma'ure  str.  armatus. 

9 

A  few  str.  am  atus  

Str.  armatus  arc!  ampbi. 
ccllinsii  (a  few)  at  com- 

mencement. 

10 

One  small  cyst,  str.  tetra- 
canthus?     and    a     few 

Ampbistomes,     str.    arma- 

tus, and  str.  tetracanthus 

ampbistf  mes. 

(in  enormous  numbers). 

11 

Bots  and  an  enormous 

A  few  tumours  and  small 

Numerous  amphistomes. 

wt  rm  tumour. 

thread-worms  (str.  tetra- 
canthus  ?). 

12 

Bota  and  mar}'  small 

One      tajDia,      many     str. 

A  few  ampbistomes  ;  blond 

round- worms. 

ariuatus. 

spots  as  though  from 
parasites. 

The  evidence  given  here  is  of  two  kinds  :  (a)  Positive—  including 
presence  of  parasites  or  indications  of  their  having  been  present ; 
and  (b)  Negative — the  absence  of  parasites  and  of  traces  of  them. 
We  have  positive  evidence  of  the  occurrence  of  parasites  as  follows: — 
1.  Bots,  the  larvce  of  oestrus  equi,  in  the  stomach  only, 
from  which  we  infer  that  these  partial  parasites  are  at  Bangalore  in 
August  not  yet  ready  to  assume  the  chrysalis  stage.  We  can  easily 
understand  why  bots  were  present  in  every  case  examined,  for 
all  the  horses  were  standing  in  open  lines  and  fastened  by  head-and  heel- 
ropes  ;  they  were,  therefore,  continuously  exposed  to  the  attack  of 
the  gad-fly  and  deprived  of  power  to  escape  it  by  flight  into  water 
or  otherwise.  The  horse  gad-fly  is,  however,  not  very  irritating, 
and  it  deposits  its  eggs  on  the  long  hairs  of  the  legs  instead  of  on 
more  sensitive  parts,  such  as  the  nostrils,  attacked  by  the  gad-fly  of 
the  sheep,  and  (by  puncture)  the  skin  as  in  case  of  the  ox  gad-fly. 


140  "NATURAL   HISTORY. 


2.  Smalt  stomach  thread-u-orms,  present  with  or  without 
cystic  "  abodes."  These  are  representatives  of  large-mouthed  or 
small-mouthed  spiroptera  (or  of  both).  It  is  the  large-mouthed 
form  which  occurs  in  the  cysts.  Of  these  latter,  one  was  closed  and 
two  were  open.  In  four  cases  these  small  thread-worms  were  found, 
but  no  trace  of  cyst ;  these  were  probably  the  small-mouthed  form  ;  un- 
fortunately no  microscopical  examination  was  made  to  settle  this  point. 

3.  Ascaris  mee/alocephcila,  in  only  one  case  out  of  twelve,  is 
probably  considerably  below  its  frequency  among  horses  in  England. 
The  specimen  was  small  and  apparently  immature. 

4.  Oxyuvis  cwvula  in  only  one  case.  This  parasite,  the 
presence  of  which  is  denoted  by  a  white  or  yellowish  deposit  of  ova 
around  the  anus  of  the  host,  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
rectum  of  country  ponies,  and  certainly  is  not  rare  in  India.  Its 
infrequency  in  these  horses  was  probably  due  to  this  not  being  its 
11  season"  for  abode  in  the  rectum,  or,  as  this  host  was  a  "  Waler'7 
and  young  as  compared  with  the  most  of  the  other  horses,  the 
oxyurides  may  have  been  brought  from  the  Oossoor  Depot  or  from 
Australia.  In  support  of  this  latter  view  is  the  fact  that  the  parasite 
is  very  frequent  in  recently  imported  "  Walers,"  hut  opposed  to  it 
is  the  fact  that  the  host  had  been  some  two  years  in  the  ranks  and 
nearly  three  years  in  this  country. 

5.  The   single    tape-worm     observed    was    apparently    a     Tcmia 

perfoliate/,;  it  was  a  "wretched  specimen  obtained  from  a  Persian  horse 

which  had  been  some  eighteen  months  in  the  country  and  had  been 

marched  from  Bombay  to  Bangalore  after  purchase.     I  am  inclined  to 

think  he  brought  this  tape-worm  with  him,  perhaps  from  Persia.    This 

species  of  paras-ite  is  frequent  among  asses  in  England  and   not  rare 

in  the  horse.     The  blood  spots  on    the  lining  membrane  of  the  colon 

in  the  case  from  which  it  was  taken  may  have  resulted  from   previous 

and  recent  occupation  by  other  individuals   of  this    species,  hut  there 

wras  no   sign    of  more    than   the   one    which   was   met  with   in   the 

caecum.     Amphistomes  were  also  present  in  this  case,  but  they  seldom 

cause  blood  spots.     The   effects  of  involuntary  change  of  country   by 

parasites  on  import  or  export  of  their  hosts  would  be  an  interesting 

study — which  of  them  in  their  unintentionally  adopted  countries  find 

the  complex  requisites  for  their  strange  metamorphoses  in  development 

remains  to  he  established. 

6.     Strongylus  armalus  was  in   five  cases   found   in   both    caecum 
and  colon,  twice  in  the  caecum  and  not  in  the  colon  ;  twice  in   the 


NOTE  ON  FREQUENCY  OE  PABASITES  IX  INDIAN  ARMY  HORSES.         HI 


colon  and  not  in  the  caecum.  In  ail  eases  the  parasite  was  in  the 
mature  form,  and  in  no  case  was  the  larval  armed-strongyle  found  in 
the  anterior  mesenteric  artery  causing  "worm  aneurism."  It  is  evident 
that  in  August  in  Bangalore  the  strongyle  is  in  the  adult  dung-eating 
stage  and  found  in  the  large  intestine — whether  this  is  the  case  in 
the  rest  of  India  remains  to  be  proved.  These  are  the  worms  con- 
sidered by  Bollinger  as  a  frequent  cause  of  colic. 

7.  The  evidence  about  Strongylus  tetracanthus,  though  conclusive 
as  to  presence  in  so?ne  cases,  is  not  invariably  satisfactory.  The 
parasites  seen  were  small  thread-worms  of  a  white  color  (entered  as 
"  immature  str.  tetr acanthus  "  in  my  rough  records  as  prepared  at 
the  time).  They  seldom  (i.e.,  in  only  one  case  infesting  the  caecum 
and  in  one  infesting  the  colon )  had  the  distinctive  red  colour  of 
str.  tetracanthus.  They  more  resembled  spiroptera  in  four  cases  of 
the  caecum  and  three  of  the  colon.  Not  in  a  single  case  did  I  find  the 
form  which  has  been  called  trichonema  arcuata,  i.e.,  the  young 
str.  tetracanthus  forming  small  rings  in  the  substance  of  the 
mucous  membrane  of  the  caecum  and  commencing  portion  of  the  colon. 
But  in  one  case  was  a  cyst  of  the  caecal  mucous  membrane,  and  in 
two  other  instances  where  the  small  white  worms  were  not  found  were 
cysts,  one  burst,  the  other  unopened.  No  microscopical  diagnosis,  unfor- 
tunately, was  made  of  the  "small  white  worms,"  so  ice  must  leave  it 
an  open  question  ivhether  a  form  of  spiroptera  is  found  in  the  ccecwn  of 
the  horse.  The  cysts  may  possibly  have  resulted  from  migrating 
str.  armati. 

8.  Amphistoma  collinsii,  a  form  of  trematode,  was  found  in 
the  caecum  in  three  cases,  but  in  the  coloa  in  no  less  than  nine. 
From  this  we  might  infer  that  the  latter  is  specially  its  habitat.  The 
commencement  portion  of  the  colon  is  most  frequently  invaded.  I 
would  in  this  connection  suggest  the  view  i\v&l  frequency  of  parasites 
such  as  are  introduced  with  the  food  or  water  is  found  in  the  former  case 
in  the  stomachy  in  the  latter  in  the  cceciim  or  commencement  of  the 
duodenum.  This  is  a  generalization  of  considerable  importance  and 
worthy  of  discussion  ;  if  it  be  accepted,  we  may  infer  that  the  amphi- 
stomes  in  their  larval  form  are  ingested  from  the  muddy  water  of 
tanks  either  free  or  in  the  textures  of  minute  larvae.  These  amphi- 
stomes  are  very  common  in  horses  throughout  ]ndia. 

It  is  remarkable  how  much  freer  from  parasites  some  horses 
are  than  otheis.  No.  10's  intestines  and  stomach  constituted  quite 
a  zoological  garden  for  the   helminths.     It  is   remarkable  that,   even 


142        •  NATURAL   HISTORY, 

leaving  bots  out  of  the   question,  iu  not  one  of  these  twelve  cases  was 
there  freedom  from  parasites. 

I  Leg  to  be  permitted  to  close  this  paper  by  recommending  the  interior 
organs  of  domesticated  and  other  animals  to  members  of  the  Society 
as  a  "  happy  hunting  ground."  There  is  enormous  scope  for 
research,  and  material  in  every  kitchen  and  every  butcher's  estab- 
lishment. The  odour  of  gastric  and  intestinal  contents  may  not  be  so 
enticing  as  that  of  the  hill  air,  the  ocean  breeze,  or  the  fresh  dry 
atmosphere  of  the  maidan,  but  the  aroma  and  gases  from  animals' 
bowels  are  harmless,  and  (I  speak  from  experience)  make  one 
wondrous  hungry  !  Again,  consider  the  importance  of  the  problems 
to  be  solved  ;  in  every  part  of  the  world  the  same  endo-parasitic 
species  are  subjected  to  the  same  surrounding  conditions  of  food  j  temper  a- 
ture,  and  reaction  ;  any  specialities  of  geographical  range  must  depend  on 
influences  from  without ;  thus  our  search  for  causes  of  parasitic  invasion 
should  he  limited  in  its  range  and  much  facilitated.  The  remarkable  biolo- 
gical phenomena  observed  in  study  of  the  life-history  of  parasites, 
and  their  considerable  influence  on  the  health  and  even  life  of  those 
higher  animals  they  occupy  as  "guests,"  render  them  a  specially 
interesting  study  to  the  medical  or  veterinary  worker. 

J.  H.  S. 

LIST  OF  BIRDS  COLLECTED  AND  PRESENTED 

TO  THE  SOCIETY 
By  Mr.  A.  T.  H.  NEWNHAM,  S.C.,  ioth  N.I. 

1.  Neophron  ginginianua White  Scavenger  Vulture. 

2.  Faleo  peregrinus  Peregrine  Ealcon. 

3.  Astur  badius Shikra. 

4.  Accipiter  nisns Sparrow  Hawk. 

5.  Aquila  vindhiana  (eggs) Tawny  Eagle. 

6.  Hioraetus  pennatus  Booted  Eagle. 

7.  Circaetns  gallicus Bonelli's  Eagle. 

8.  Nisaetus  fasciatus Crestless  Hawk  Eagle. 

11.     Butastur  teesa White-eyed  Buzzard. 

12  to  15.     Circus  macrurus    Pale  Harrier. 

16,  17.     Carine  brama Spotted  Owlet. 

18.     Coracias  indica Indian  Roller. 

19  to  21.     Halcyon  smyrnensis     White  breasted  Kingfishes. 

22,  23.     Ceryle  rudis Pied  Kingfisher. 

24.  Palseornis  torquatus  Hose-ringed  Paroquet. 

25.  Yunx  torquilla  Wryneck. 

26.  Eudynamis  honorata Indian  Kocl. 

27.  Cinnyris  asiatica     Purple  Honeysucker, 


LIST  OF  BIRDS  COLLECTED  AND  PRESENTED  TO  THE  SOCIETY.  143' 

28.  Lanius  lahtora     , .Grey  Shrike. 

29.  Lanius  erythronotus  .....Rufous-backed  Shrike. 

30.  Lanius  vittatus   Bay-backed    Shrike. 

31.  32.        Lanius  isabellinus Pale  Shrike. 

33,  34.     Pericrocotus  erythropygius    White-bellied  Minivet. 

35.  Pyctoris  sinensis Yellow-eyed  Babbler. 

36.  Thamnobia   cambaiensis Indian  Robin. 

37.  Pratincola  caprata  White-winged  Bush-chat. 

38.  39.     Pratincola  indica Indian  Bush-chat. 

44,  45.     Cyanecula  succica    Blue  Throat. 

46.  Franklinia  buchanani    Rufous  fronted  Warbler. 

47.  Franklinia  buchanani    Do.  do. 

50.  Motacilla  Maderaspatensis    Large-pied  Wagtail. 

51.  M.  dukhunensis     White-faced  do. 

52.  M.  leucopsis    

56,  57.     Agrodoma  campestris Stone  Pipit. 

58.     Agrodoma  sordida      Brown  Rock  Pipit. 

59,60.     Gymnoris  flavicollis    Yellow-throated  Sparrow. 

61.  Ernberiza  striolata Striolated  Bunting. 

62.  Mirafra  erythroptera Red-winged  Bush  Lark. 

64.  Alaudula  raytal Indian  Sky  Lark. 

65.  Spizalauda  deva Crested  Lark. 

67,  68,  69.     Pterocles  arenarius  Large  Sand  Grouse. 

70.  P.   fasciatus    Painted  Sand  Grouse. 

71,  72,  73.     P.  senegallus Spotted  Sand  Grouse. 

74,  75,  76.     P.  exustus Common  Sand  Grouse. 

77,  78.     Francolinus  vulgaris Black  Partridge. 

79.  Perdicula  asiatica    Jungle  Bush  Quail. 

80.  Houbara  McQueenii    Houbara. 

81.  Cursorius  gallicus   Cream-colored  Courser. 

82.  Chettusia  gregaria Black-sided  Lapwing. 

83.  Lobipluvia  malabarica  Yellow-wattled  Lapwing. 

84.  (Edicnemus  scolopax Stone  Plover. 

86.  Totanus  ochropus   Green  Sandpiper. 

87.  Totanus  glottis   Green  Shank. 

89.  Himantopus  candidus Stilt. 

90.  Fulica  atra   •-* Coot. 

91.  92.     Ardetta  sinensis    Yellow  Bittern. 

93.  Botaurus  stellaris    Bittern. 

94.  Dendrocygna  javanica   Whistling  Teal. 

95.  Anas  boschas  English  Mallard. 

96.  97.     Chaulelasmus  streperus    Gadwall. 

98.  Mareca  penelope     Widgeon. 

99,  100.    Querquedula  crecca Teal. 

Additional. 

103.  Elanus  casrulens The  Black-winged  Kite. 

104.  Rhynchaea  bengalensis The  Painted  Snipe. 

105.  Gallinago  gallinaria  .The  Common  Snipe- 


144  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


ZOOLOGICAL   NOTES. 


NOTE  ON  AN  OLIGODON  (SUBPUNCTATUS  ?)   FOUND  AT 
DAHANU,  NORTH  KONKAN,  MARCH  1886. 

By  Mr.  G.  Vidal,  C.S. 

Description.— Length  11|.  Scales  17.  Upper  labials  8  (4,  5,  6  entering  orbit) 

Minute  black  spots  on  the  dorsal  line  about  every  third  scale  not  white 
edged. 

A  lateral  streak  of  minute  black  speck9. 

Scuta  black  spotted  on  each  side. 

This  specimen  agrees  with  the  description  of  Subpunctatus  (D  et  B),  except 
that  the  scales  are  in  17  rows  and  not  15,  and  that  the  dorsal  spots  are  plain 
and  not  white  edged. 

In  the  number  of  rows  of  scales  it  agrees  with  Spini  punctatus  (Tan),  but  the 
latter,  according  to  the  description,  has  9  upper  labials  and  no  ventral  dots. 

G.  VIDAL. 

Pteropus  Edwardsii. — One  of  the  21st  of  May,  one   of  the  hottest  days,   I 

suppose,  that  man  has  endured  on  this  tide   of   India,    I  was   at  Belapur  near 

Panvel,  and  at  about  1  o'clock  in  the  day  I  came  upon  several  trees  covered  with 

Flying    Foxes,    all   wideawake   and  fanning   themselves   hard  with  one   wing. 

Some  used  the  right  wing  and  some  the  left,    but  not   one   was  at  rest.     More 

than  a  hundred  wings  waving  at  once  produced  a   very   striking  effect,  and    I 

cannot  think  that  the  habit,  if  at  all  general,  can  have  altogether  escaped  notice. 

I  am  curious  to  know  if  anyone  else  has  observed  it. 

E.  H.  AITKEN. 

White-ants. — The  following  seems  worth  noting.  I  have  heard  of  similar 
cases,  but  this  is  the  first  that  has  come  under  my  own  observation.  One  of  the 
windows  of  the  travellers'  bungalow  at  Panvel  had  been  attacked  by  white-ants, 
when  it  was  opened  and  left  open  for  two  days,  thus  cutting  them  off  from  their 
base  of  operations.  Instead  of  working  along  to  the  side  ef  the  window  and 
going  down  by  the  frame,  they  had  made  an  earthen  pipe,  three  inches  long,  to 
connect  the  window  with  the  sill  below.  The  pipe  was  perfectly  straight,  like 
a  mill  chimney,  and  very  thin,  just  wide  enough  to  allow  passage  for  one  ant  at 
a  time  ;  so  they  must  have  had  some  arrangement  for  obtaining  "line  clear" 
before  entering  at  either  end.  White-ants  being  blind,  it  is  an  interesting 
question  by  what  sense  they  assured  themselves  when  they  commenced  their 
pipe  that  they  were  not  working  out  into  space. 

E.  H.  AITKEN. 

Editor's  Note. — A  chest  of  drawers  was  removed  about  4  or  5  inches  away  from 
a  wall.  The  feet  of  the  chest  were  inserted  in  saucers  of  turmeric  powder, 
and  the  contents  were  considered  safe.  But  on  opening  one  drawer  after  a  time, 
it  was  found  full  of  white-ants.  On  looking  behind  the  chest,  there  was  dis- 
covered a  track  leading  up  the  wall  to  a  level  with  the  drawer,  and  then  a  bridge 
consisting  of  a  single  pipe  was  thrown  across  and  the  drawer  entered. 

B.  A.  S. 


ZOOLOGICAL    NOTES.  US 


POISONOUS  LIZARDS,  THE  BIS-COBRA. 

Editor's  Note. — In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Phipson,  Honorary  Secretary  to  the  Society, 
Mr.  Ommanney,  Under-Secretary  to  the  Government  of  Bombay,  states  that 
in  tbe  official  reports  seven  deaths  in  Guzerat  are  put  down  as  having  been 
caused  by  a  poisonous  lizard.  He  supposes  this  to  be  the  much-discussed  Bis- 
Cobra,  and  asks  for  information  concerning  it  or  any  other  poisoncus  lizard, 
if  such  a  thing  exists  in  this  part  of  the  -world.  Mr.  Phipson  replied  that  "  all 
naturalists  are  of  opinion  that  no  such  thing  as  a  poisonous  lizard  exists  in  this 
country.  The  belief  to  the  contrary  is,  however,  prevalent  in  India  amongst 
the  ignorant  classes  in  country  districts,  and  is  doubtless  kept  up  by  the 
snake-charmers  and  others  whose  interest  it  is  to  foster  public  credulity  in 
such  matters. 

"The  word  Bis-Cobra  is  applied  to  a  variety  of  lizards  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  but  in  all  cases  where  the  reptiles  have  been  pointed  out  by  the 
natives  and  killed,  and  sent  to  mu&eums,  they  have  been  at  once  identified  as 
known  species."  He  adds  in  a  postscript  "  that  according  to  the  highest 
authority  the  only  lizard  the  bite  of  which  is  known  to  be  poisonous  is  the 
Heloderrna  of  the  S.  W.  States  of  America  and  Mexico*"  It  is  doubtful  now 
whether  the  venom  of  the  Heloderrna  is  as  powerful  as  has  been  reported.  I 
believe  no  authentic  case  has  been  known  of  the  death  of  a  human  being  from 
its  bite,  though  small  animals  suffer  to  a  fatal  extent*  I  have  never  seen  any 
lizard  in  India  like  it ;  any  sort  of  lizard  may  be  a  Bis-Cobra  to  a  native.  I  once 
saw  a  whole  Kacheri  full  of  people  put  to  flight  by  a  common  garden  monitor. 
From  what  I  remember  of  the  Heloderrna  which  was  presented  to  the  London 
Gardens  by,  I  thin1',  Sir  John  Lubbock,  the  nearest  approach  in  form  is  our 
Uromastix  harchoichii,  only  flatter,  and  yellow  and  black  instead  of  earthy  brown, 
the  whole  body  covered  with  small  tubercles  ;  a  very  repulsive  looking  creature, 
and  capable  of  giving  a  severe  bite.  I  believe  it  killed  some  small  animals  : 
Guinea-pigs  and  the  like.  It  arrived  in  a  tin  box  long  and  narrow,  and  when 
this  was  opened  at  the  end  it  would  not  come  out,  but  planted  its  claws  against 
a  ledge  at  the  opening  and  refused  to  budge.  I  think  it  was  Mr.  Bartlett  him- 
self who  told  me  that,  not  believing  in  its  poisonous  properties,  he  caught  it  by 
the  head  and  pulled  it  out. 

R.  A.  S. 
ON  CONJUGAL  INFIDELITY  AMONG  BIRDS. 

By  Mr.  W.  E.  Hart. 

I  was  interested  some  weeks  ago  in  reading  in  the  pages  of  "Nature  "  several 
accounts  of  instances  of  conjugal  infidelity  among  birds.  Curiously  enough 
a  somewhat  peculiar  case  came  under  my  own  observation  shortly  afterwards. 
About  the  end  of  April  a  pair  of  wild  pigeons,  in  appearance  resembling  the 
"blue  rock  "  of  England,  began  to  build  their  nest  in  my  porch  on  the  top  of 
one  of  the  pillars  supporting  it.  One  night,  before  the  nest  had  been  com- 
pleted, the  hen  bird  was  attacked  in  her  s'eep  by  some  beast  (I  suppose  a  rat) 
which  bit  off  one  of  her  legs.  She  did  not  seem  much  worse  for  the  loss,  but 
from  that  time  nothing  seemed  to  go  right  with  the  nest.  It  was  constantly 
falling  to  the  ground.     On  two  occasions  after  an  egg  had  been  laid  in  it.     At 


146  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


first  I  thought  this  was  due  to  the  crowe,  but  I  think  now  it  may  have  been 
caused  by  the  awkwardness  of  the  hen  bird,  in  her  mutilated  condition, 
when  alighting  on  or  rising  from  her  nest.  In  vain  the  unhappy  pair  time 
after  time  repaired  the  disaster,  shifting  the  position  cf  the  nest  from  one 
corner  to  another  till  they  had  tried  all  four  pillars.  When  we  went  to 
Matheran  in  May  the  nest  was  still  unfinished,  the  eggs  still  unlaid,  and  there 
seemed  no  chance  of  our  unfortunate  friends  ever  succeeding  in  raising  a  brood 
of  chicks.  Still  we  could  not  but  admire  and  sympathize  with  their  patient, 
persevering  industry  and  fidelity  to  each  other  in  adversity,  and  lecal  the  tradi- 
tions we  had  heard  of  how  the  pigeon,  the  emblem  of  love,  mates  for  life,  and 
how,  when  death  takes  one  of  the  fond  couple,  the  survivor  pines  away  and  dies 
of  grief.  Alas  !  foi  another  shattered  illusion  !  When  we  came  back  from 
Matheran  we  found  the  nest  finished  indeed,  and  tenanted  by  a  pair  of  well- 
grown  chieks  nearly  fledged,  but  they  were  not  the  children  of  our  one-legged 
friend.  Her  faithless  spouse  had  brought  home  a  second  bride  with  the  proper 
•complement  of  limbs,  who  now  ruled  his  house,  accepted  his  caresses,  and  regulated 
the  affairs  of  his  nursery,  while  the  first  looked  sadly  on,  standing  sorrowful  and 
solitary  on  her  one  leg.  She,  poor  thing,  apparently  cannot  get  it  out  of  her 
bead  that  she  is  the  true  wife  and  real  mistress  of  the  house,  for  she  often 
tries  to  approach  the  nest  or  the  chicks.  But  as  often  as  she  does  so,  her  rival 
flies  at  her  and  drives  her  off,  and  even'carries  her  hostility  so  far  as  to  attack  her 
unprovoked  when  she  is  sitting  quietly  by  herself  at  a  distance.  Lothario,  I  am 
glad  to  say,  never  joins  in  actively  ill-treating  the  deserted  one.  But  his 
•coldness  and  neglect  must  be  as  hard  to  bear.  As  she  never  leaves  the 
neighbourhood,  1  can  only  hope  her  forlorn  appearance  acts  as  a  perpetual 
blister  to  his  conscience. 

W.  E.  H. 


BOTANICAL   NOTES. 


NOTE  ON  THE  FERONIA  ELEPHANTOM  (ELEPHANT  OR  WOOD 

APPLE)  AS  A  TIMBER  TREE. 

By  Mr.  Frank  Rose. 

N.   0.  RUTACEyE  (Aumntiacew^  or  Orange   Order.) 

This  apparently  insignificant  Iudian  tree  seems  not  to  have  found  a  description 
in  Balfour's  "  Class  Book  of  Botany,  1854  ;  "  yet  a  Botanist  in  1829  deemed  it 
a  "  noble  Indian  tree.  "  Be  that  as  it  may,  besides  being  a  medicinal  agent,  its 
properties,  I  think,  are  so  well  known  as  to  need  no  reiteration  in  this  journal; 
suffice  it  to  say  that  every  part  of  this  "  common  jungle  tree  "  is  reputed  to  be 
useful.  It  was  gracefully  named  "  Ferouia  "  after  tbe  "  Goddess  of  Forests  "  by 
the  celeb r  ate d  Portuguese  Botanist  Correa  de  Serra.  My  object  in  writing 
on  this  subject  is  to  question  the  assertion  of  a  respected  writer,  who  states  that 


BOTANICAL  NOTES.  147 


the  timber  is  "used for  house  building;  "  probably  be  meant  cnly  for  temporary 
structures  ?  I  write  from  experieDse,  and  beg  to  differ  from  him.  A  beam  of  this 
wood,  to  save  expense,  was  put  up  in  a  bungalow  in  1880,  and  in  1886  perforations 
by  boiers  were  the  result!  I  anticipated  this,  and  informed  the  builder  at  the 
time  that  a  certain  percentage  of  saccharine  matter  is  contained  in  this  tree, 
consequently,  it  was  open  to  the  ravages  of  insects.  The  timber  is  certainly 
tough,  the  average  weight  per  eft.  =  49  lbs.;  is  almost  equal  to  that  of  teak 
(Tectona  grandis)  ;  it  planes  smoothly  and  receives  a  good  polish  ;  but  cui  bona? 
En  passant,  Creosote,  possessing  that  powerful  antiseptic  property,  has 
been  recommended  for  the  preservation  of  timber  ;  but  instances  have  occurred 
where  creosote,  chloride  of  zinc,  carbolic  acid  and  corrosive  sublimate  have  been 
used,  but  without  satisfactory  results,  excepting  that  they  retard  the  destruction 
by  insects  for  a  couple  of  years  or  so,  when  the  above  have  not  penetrated  the 
wood.  Creosote,  I  know,  acts  like  a  charm,  and  is  efficacious  in  preserving 
animal  substances.  Then  in  my  humble  opinion  I  consider  that  the  wood  of 
the  Feron\a  is  unfit  for  permanent  structures,  though  it  may  be  used  for 
agricultural  implements,  but  should  not  be  classed  with  the  M  Indian  timber 
trees"  of  durability. 

F.  R. 

Note  by  Editor. — The  Feronia,  Koit,  or  Kaith  bel  is  mentioned  in  Balfour's 
t'  Timber  Trees  of  India,"  1862  Edition,  and  he  reports  it  as  much  used  for  build- 
ing in  Gujerat  and  Coimbatore,where  it  is  said  to  be  durable,  but  inVizagapatam, 
where  it  is  also  much  used,  it  is  said  to  be  not  very  durable,  thus  confirming 
Mr.  Hose's  opinion.  Its  strength  (360  lbs.)  is  apparently  almost  equal  to  teak, 
but  there  the  comparison  ceases  ;  the  durability  of  teak,  its  properties  of  resist- 
ing insects,  and  preserving  iron  from  rust  are  chiefly  due  to  the  amount 
of  tar  contained  in  the  wood  ;  this  tar,  which  was  first  brought  to  my  notice  by 
the  Gipsies  (Bunjaras)  of  the  Central  Provinces  in  1863  or  1864  was  sent  by  me 
for  analysis  to  the  Agri-Horticultural  Society  of  Bengal,  and  the  report  will 
be  found  in  the  journal  of  that  time. 

R.  A.  S. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  DURING 
THE  QUARTER. 

TaE  usual  Monthly  Meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  Monday,  April  5th, 
at  6,  Apollo  Street,  Dr.  D.  Macdonald,  Vice-Piesident,  presiding. 

The  following  new  Members  were  elected  : — H.  H.  the  Maharaja  Saheb 
of  Indore,  Sir  Jamsetjee  Jeejeebhoy,  Bart.,  Captain  Street,  Mr.  N.  R. 
Cumberleye,  Captain  L.  L.  Fenton,  Captain  W.  Aves,  Mr.  G.  W.  Terry, 
Mr.  J.  Franklin,  Captain  Barclay,  Captain  Bishop,  Mr.  H.  Van  Buith,  and  Mr. 
D.  George. 

Mr.   II.   M.  Phipson   then   acknowledged  receipt  of  the  following  contribu 


148 


NATTJKAL   HISTOKY. 


tions  to  the  Society's  collections  duriDgthe  past  month,  and  made  a  few  expla- 
natory remarks  regarding  the  specimens  : — 


Contribution. 

Description. 

Contributor. 

A  number  of  snakes   (from  B. 
Burma) 

Capt.  C.  H.  Bingham. 
Do. 

{Var  Maccra  Keantiah.") 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

A    quantity    of   insects    from 
Ceylon. 

A  quantity  of  fresh-water  fish 
from  Savitri  Kiver. 

Genl.  J.  "Watson,  V.C. 

(Var.  Cineraceus.) 

Baroda. 
C.  A.  Stuart. 

Do. 

............ 

Oligodon  subpunctatus. . 

W.  Sinclair,  C.S. 
Do. 

1  Turtle  

Do. 

A    quantity   of    sea    anemones 
from  Dharamtar. 

Do. 

W.  H.  McCann. 

Fossil  tooth  of  elephant   from 
Rangoon. 

5  African  gazelles'   heads  from 

Africa. 
1  Spring  bok  head   from  Africa. 

Wm.  Shipp,  C.E. 

Capt  W.  Aves. 
Do. 

Do. 

G-.  W.  Yidal,  C.S. 

Oligodon  subpunctatus.. 
Hypsipn-ymnus  rufescens 

Do. 

Do. 

G.  F  Johnson. 

Mrs  Hart. 

Wallago  Aitu 

H.  H.  Swan,  C.E. 

A  quantity  of  fish  &   scorpions 

from  Suakim. 
Megapodius  Nicobariensis    and 

egg  from  Nicobar  Islands. 

H.  Wenden,  C.E. 

Do. 

Mrs  Sleater. 

Corallines  and  marine  specimens 

from  Persian  Gulf. 
14      Fossil     Echinidte      from 

Capt.  Bishop. 
Do. 

Do. 

Khavey  Island. 
A  quantity  of  Iron  Pyrites  from 

Larek  Island. 
Specimen  of  sponge  and   coral 

Do. 

Col.  Walcott. 

Fossil   tooth   of  elephant  from 
Runn  of  Cutch. 

H.A.Ac  worth,  C.S. 
Do. 

1  large  Dhaman  (alive)    

Wm.  Shipp,  C.E. 
R.  A.  Sterndale. 

Do. 

Skin     of    white-bellied    flying 

squirrel 
Skin  of  yellow  cheeked   Marten 

Pteromys  albiventer    ... 

Minor  contributions  from  H.  A.  Acwortb,  C.S  ,  Mrs.  H.  S.    Symons,  J.  Par- 
menides,  H.  Buckland,  Chas.  Lowell,  C.  E.  Crawley,  W.  W.  Squire,  Mr?.  A.  F. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  DURING  THE  QUARTER.  U9 

Turner,   Father   Dreckmann,   W.   Gleadow,    William    Sbipp,   R.   Wroughton, 
and  Dr.  E.  M.  Walton. 

Contributions  to  the  Library. — "Vegetable  Materia  Medica  of  Western 
India"  (Dr.  Dymock)  from  author;  "Game  Birds  of  India,  Burmah  and 
Ceylon"  (Hume  Marshall)  ;  W.  Sinclair,  C.S.  ;  "Moses  and  Geology"  (Kinns) 
W.  Sinclair,  C.S. ;  "Wanderings  of  Plants  and  Animals"  (Hehn),  W.  Sinclair 
C.S. 

Specimens  deposited  with  the  Society. — 5  ,Cashmere  stag  heads,  from  Dr. 
Banks ;  2  Himalayan  Ibex  heads,  from  Dr.  Banks  ;  1  Ovis  Ammon  head,  from 
Dr.  Banks  ;  1  Maikhor's  head,  from  Dr.  BaDks  ;  1  Cheetal's  head,  from  H.  S. 
Wise  ;  2  Black  Buck's  heads,  from  H.  S.  Wise  ;  1  Hyena's  head,  1  Wild  Cat's 
head,  2  Neilgbai  heads,  mounted  by  the  Society's  taxidermist  for  up-conntry 
corrtspondents,  were  also  exhibited  by  Mr.  E,  L.  Barton. 

The  Secietary  announced  that  the  second  number  of  the  journal,  containing 
much  interesting  matter,  was  now  ready  for  issue  to  subscribers.  A  voto 
of  thanks  was  passed  to  Mr.  Sterndale  for  having,  in  the  absence  of  Mr. 
AitkeD,  undertaken  the  sole  task  of  editorship  and  for  bringing  out  the 
journal  so  punctually. 

Mr.  Sterndale  exhibited,  through  the  courtesy  of  Messrs.  William  Watson 
&  Co.,  two  cubs  of  the  Indian  Sloth  Bear  (Ursus  labiatus,)  the  property  of 
Mr.  Mainwaring,  and  now  on  their  way  to  the  London  Zcological  Gardens. 
One  of  these  cubs  is  the  Alfciuo  referred  to  in  the  second  number  of  the 
Society's  Journal.  The  cubs  were  taken  out  singly  and  petted  by  seme  of 
the  members  present,  who  were  much  amused  at  the  petulant  cry,  like  that 
of  an  infant,  which  the  little  bears  made  when  separated. 

The  living  Flying  Squirrel  presented  by  General  J.  Watson,  V.C  ,  was  also 
exhibited,  and  appeared  to  be  none  the  worse  for  its  flight  across  Rampart 
Row,  recently  alluded  to  and  described  in  the  Journal. 

Mr.  Sterndale  also  exhibited  a  very  tame  specimen  of  the  Morigoose  Lemur 
{Lemur  mongos)  from  Madagascar. 

Mr.  Phipson  turned  loose  one  of  the    two   Kangaroo  rats  {Hypsiprymnus 
rufescens)  lately  received  from  Mr.  G.  F.  Johnson,  of  the  P.  and  0.  Compaoy( 
Adelaide.     The  little  animal,  which  is  about  as  big  as  a  rabbit,  went  bounding 
round  the  rooms  and  caused  much  amusement  to  those  present. 

Dr.  Maconachie  showed,  under  the  microscope,  a  sample  of  the  TuL-i 
drinking  water,  collected  an  hour  or  two  before  the  meeting.  Among  masses 
of  vegetable  matter  there  were  crustaceans,  worms,  infusoria,  animalcula,  and 
other  animal  specimens,  living,  dead,  and  in  various  stages  of  decay. 


The  usual  Monthly  Meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  Monday,  May  3,  at  6 
Apollo  Street,  and  was  largely  attended.  The  Hon  Mr.  Justice  Birdwood,  Vice- 
President,  took  the  chair.  The  following  new  Members  were  elected :  His  Highness 
the  Rao  of  Cutcb,  Coloael  F.  G.  Wise,  Mr.  C.  L.  Weber,  Mr.  R.  N.  Mant,  Mr.  G. 
P.  Millett,  Mr.  James  Tod,  Mr.  R.  Riddell,  R.E.,  Mr.  Robert  Clark,  Mr.  James 
Cheetham,  Mr.  T.  R.  Booth,  Dr.  D.  G.  Dalgado,  Rev.  H.  P.  Le  Febvre,  Mrs. 
Charles  Douglas,  Mr.  P.  C.  Oswald,  R&v.  J.  Forgan,  Mr.  Thomas  Bromley,  Mrs. 


150 


NATURAL    HISTORY. 


Dillon,  Mr.  T.  W.  Pearson,  Mr.  R.  H.  Macaulay,  Mr.  Andrew  Hay,  Dr 
Bhiccajee  Eduljee  Gaswalla,  Mr.  C.  E.  Fox,  Mr.  Montagu  C.  Turner,  and  Mr. 
A.E.  Hoare. 

Mr.  H.  M.  Phipson   then  acknowledged  the  following  contributions  to  the 
Society's  collections  during  the   past  month  : — 


Contribution. 


Description. 


Contributor. 


A  Golden  Pheasant  alive 
from  China 

A  number  of  Snakes  and 
Lizards  from  Saugor  ... 

Snout  of  Saw-fish 

2  skins  of  Flying  Squirrels- 
A  number  of  Snakes  ana 

Reptiles  from  Deolali... 
Head  of  large  Saw  fish. . 

1  Porcupine   alive   

Head  of  Sind  Ibex 

Head  of  Bison 

3  Snakes    


Pristis  anteguorum 
Pteromys  oral  


Hystrix  leucura 

Capra  cegagrus 

Gavceus  gaurus  

E  c  hi  s    Carinata,  Dipsas 
Gokool  


Mr.  E.  D.  Barton. 

Lieut.  Barnes. 

Miss  R  Rich. 

Mr.  E.  C.  K.  Ollivant. 

Mr.  F.  C.  Webb. 
Mr.  D.  E.  Aitken. 
Mr.  A.  S.  Ritchie. 
Mr.  B.  T.  Ffinch. 
Mr.  Robt.  Clark. 

Mr.  F.  D.  Campbell.  C.E. 


Minor  contributions  from  Mr.  H.  F.  Hatch,  Dr.  Kirtikar,  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken. 
Mr.  J.  W.  Evans,  and  Mr.  Nanabhoy  Rachanath. 

Contributions  to  the  Library. — A  series  of  photographs  of  animal-  shot, 
by  Mr.  J.  D.  Inverarity.  A  paper  on  a  new  Gerbillue  (by  Mr.  James  Murray) 
from  the  author.  A  paper  on  a  new  species  of  Mus  (Mr.  James  Murray) 
from  the  author. 

Mr.  Phipson  also  announced  that  he  bad  received  a  telegram  from  H.  B. 
the  Maharaja  Sahib  of  Indore,  offering  the  Society  two  panthers,  which  had, 
however,  not  yet  arrived. 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  then  passed  to  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  had  sent 
the  following  exhibits  to  the  meeting  : — 


Exhibit. 


Description. 


Exhibitor. 


1  Orchid  

1      Do 

1  Do. 

3      Do 

2  Do 

1     Do 

1  Fern 

1    Do 

1    Do 

A  quantity    of    new    rare 

plants 


Phaleonopsis  grandiflora.. .Mr.  M.  C.  Turner. 

Saccolobium  yuttatum (Mrs.  Cbas.  Douglas 

Dendrobium  pierardi  !Mr.  M.  H.  Starling 


JErides  crispum 
Dendrobium  nobile  ... 
Adiantvm  peruvianum 
Adiantum  concinnium, 
Adiantum fergusonii   , 


Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken." 
Victoria  Gardens. 
Captiin  Passy. 
Mr.  M.  H.  Starling. 

Do. 

Do. 

Mr.  T.  Bromley. 


Mrs.  Charles  Douglas,  Mr.  G.  W.  Terry,  and  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterndale 
showed  some  beautiful  drawings  of  plants.  Mr.  E.  L.  Barton  exhibited  a 
carpet  made  from  a  tiger's  skin  and  twenty-two  black  buck  skins,  and  also  a 
large  specimen  of  Rock  Snakes  (Fylhon  molurus)  stuffed  and  mounted  by 
himself. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  DURING  THE  QUARTER. 


151 


Mr.  Starling  drew  attention  to  a  fern  (Adianium  fergvscnii)  exhibited  by 
him,  and  explained  that  it  had  been  found  about  five  years  ago  in  a  garden  at 
Negombo  in  Ceylon,  but  that  no  one  knew  how  or  whence  it  had  come  there. 
The  species  was  unknown  at  Kew,  but  the  authorities  there  considered  that 
it  was  a  cross  between  A.  farleyense  and  A.  tenerum.  Looking,  however 
to  the  place  where  it  was  found,  that  was  impossible,  as  A.  farleyense  had 
never  been  known  to  bear  spores  in  Ceylon.  It  was,  therefore,  regarded  by 
Dr.  Trimen,  the  Director  of  the  Botanic  Gardens  at  Peradeniya,  as  a  new 
species,  and  named  by  him  after  the  discoverer,  Mr.  Ferguson,  the  Municipal 
Engineer  in  Colombo.  Mr.  StarliDg  also  suggested  that  it  would  be  useful  if 
those  who  had  plants  of  A.  farleyense  would  watch  them,  as  his  had  apparently 
prepared  to  bear  spores,  the  edges  of  the  leaves  having  turned  under, 
to  as  to  form  receptacles,  but  that  he  had  not  hitherto  been  able  to  detect  any 
spores. 


t 


JOURNAL 

OF   THE 

BOMBAY 

literal  Hisiflrg  ^0xttcf u. 


No.  4.  BOMBAY,  OCTOBER  1886.  Vol.  I. 

WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA. 

Part  II. — Konkan  and  Coast. 
(By  a  Member  of  the  Society.} 

The  region  of  the  present  paper  is  included,  roughly  speaking, 
between  the  16th  and  21st  degrees  of  North  Latitude  and  between 
the  watershed  of  the  Sahyadri  Range,  with  an  average  elevation  of 
about  3,000  feet  (rising  in  places  to  4,500)  and  the  outer  line  of  sound- 
ings, where  they  increase  suddenly,  though  very  irregularly,  at 
a  distance  of  about  60  nautical  miles  from  the  coast. 

The  mountains,  the  coast,  and  the  line  of  deep  water  are  pretty 
nearly  parallel,  running  from  south-east  to  north-west,  with  a  slight 
westerly  divergence  in  the  coast-line  and  a  more  marked  one  in 
that  of  soundings. 

The  whole  region  forms  the  face  of  the  Deecan  trap  area,  descend- 
ing westwards  into  the  ocean  by  a  series  of  the  terraces  or  steps 
which  characterize  this  formation  and  have  given  it  its  name 
(trappa=step  in  Swedish  or  Danish). 

Fresh  and  salt  water  are  so  much  mixed  up  in  parts  of  this  region 
that  it  is  convenient  to  take  the  whole  together  in  rough  notes  like 
the  present. 

Between  the  crest  of  the  Sahyadris  and  the  edge  of  the  series  of 
cliffs  which  form  most  of  their  western  face  is  a  narrow  hio-bland 
zone  called  the  "  Konkan- Gha't-Mata',"  or  "  Konkan  on  the  top  of  the 
ghats."  "Mats'"  in  Maratha  means  the  top  of  anything,  from  a  skull 
to  a  mountain,  whence,  for  instance,  Materan  ("  The  juDgle  on  the 
hill-top"'). 

The  longest  torrent  of  the  Konkan- Gha't-Mata  is  probably  the 
Kumbhe  nullah,  with  a  course  of  five  miles  ;  and  I  suppose  that  the 
little  tank  at  Khandala  is  its  largest  sheet  of  standing  water.  The 
torrents,  which  are  very  numerous,  generally  contain  wafer  here  and 


154  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

—  ■■  -        —      ■  ' ,m 

there  throughout  the  year  :  in  potholes  under  falls,    or  at  spots  where 
springs  occur  in  their  beds. 

These  are  inhabited  by  characteristic  little  fishes  ;  loaches  (Nemachili) 
and  mountain  carps  (Discognathi).  There  do  not  seem  to  be  many 
species.  I  could  only  distinguish  two  loaches  and  one  cyprinoid 
amongst  many  hundred  specimens  collected  from  every  spring  and 
stream  in  the  basin  of  the  Savitri.  The  cyprinoid  seems  to  have  the 
characters  of  Dr.  Day's  Dhcognathis  (olim  Mayoa)  modestus, 
a  species  which  he  bases  upon  two  specimens  in  the  Calcutta  Museum, 
and  supposes  to  belong  to  Northern  India.  Lieutenant  Beavan 
remarks  on  its  similarity  to  his  Dicognathxis  macrochir. 

One  of  the  loaches  is  apparently  Nemachihrs  rupelli ;  the  other 
I  could  not  identify.  All  three  seem  to  live  chiefly  on  green  water 
mosses  coating  the  stones  of  the  streams  ;  but  they  are  probably  pretty 
omnivorous.  They  form  a  sort  of  Alpine  club  ;  there  is  no  tiniest 
spring  that  does  not  hold  them  ;  and  the  hillmeri  all  maintain  that 
they  ascend  by  leaving  the  rivers  during  the  rains,  and  literally 
climbing  up  the  mountain  sides  at  that  time  streaming  with  Avater. 

From  some  experiments  that  I  made,  I  think  that  this  extraordi- 
nary statement  is  probably  true.  The  most  remarkable  other 
inhabitants  of  the  Gha't-Mata  waters  are  certain  highland  periwinkles 
(Cremnoronchi),  whosft  resemblance  to  the  Marine  Littorinoe  (which 
people  buy  by  the  pint  and  eat  with  pins)  has  given  rise  to  conjec- 
ture that  they  may  be  descended  from  "winkles"  that  inhabited  the 
Ghats  when  these  were  washed  by  a  prehistoric  ocean.  They  seem 
to  sleep  in  concealment  during  the  dry  weathtr,  and  come  out  in 
swarms  in  the  rains,  when  some  of  the  hillmen  collect  and  eat  them. 
The  tiny  fishes  that  I  have  mentioned,  averaging  perhaps  an  inch  and 
a  quarter  in  length,  furnish  little  food  ;  and  accordingly  we  have 
here  no  aquatic  mammal  aid  few  birds  to  notice.  The  Three-toed 
Kingfisher  (Ceyx  tridactyla)  is  the  most  characteristic.  Halcyon 
Uucocephalm  and  smyrnensis  occur,  and  probably  the  rare  H. 
pile  ta  and  chloris.  Alcedo  hengalensis  is  common  ;  and  perhaps 
Alcedo  beavani  may  be  found  hereafter. 

The  ubiquitous  Paddy-bird  and  u  Did-ye-do-it,"  and  the  smaller 
Sand-pipers,  frequent  the  streams  ;  and  the  few  and  small  tanks  are 
used  as  resting-places  by  migrating  Ducks  and  Teal. 

The  rivulets  of  the  Konkan-Gha't-Ma'ta  fall  over  the  black  cliffs  of 
the  Ghats  in  innumerable  cascades,  separated  by  the  terraces  which 
run  along  the  face  of  the  mountains.     Down  to  about   500  feet  above 


WATERS  OF  WESTERN   INDIA.  155 

sea -level  there  is  no  change  in  their  population  ;  but  here  we  find 
a  tiny  prawn  associated  with  the  loaches  and  Discognathus  modestus  ; 
and  below  this  we  come  upon  Discognatlius  lamia  and  a  number  of 
small  Barbel  and  Carps, mostly,  I  suppose,  fry  of  large  species.  Near 
the  same  level  we  begin  to  get  a  small  Murrel  ;  and  at  the  next  step 
downwards  the  torrents  unite  to.  form  small  rivers,  flowing  through 
valleys  of  which  the  bottoms  are  usually  under  rice-cultivation. 

These  rivers  very  much  resemble  thoss  of  the  Western  Deccan 
described  in  my  last  paper  ;  but.  before  they  have  time  or  space  to 
unite  and  form  important  channels,  they  meet  with  the  salt  water. 
Probably  no  river  of  the  Konkan  has  a  perennial  fresh- water  stream 
fifty  miles  long. 

There  are  however  many  deep  potholes  under  falls  ;  and  in  some 
places  long  reaches  of  still  water  are  formed  by  natural  trap  dykes 
crossing  the  streams  or  by  artificial  dams. 

Some  of  the  valleys  are  mere  gorges ;  others  are  of  considerable 
width ;  and  these  latter  have  usually  flat  bottoms,  and  appear  to 
have  been  lakes  within  (geologically)  recent  times.  Many  of  my 
readers  are  probably  familiar  with  the  theory  that  the  basaltic  floor  of 
the  Konkan,  or  at  least  of  that  part  of  it  near  Bombay,  did,  within 
the  present  period,  sink  westwards,  somewhat  as  ice  sinks  from  the 
shore  when  the  water  fails  under  it,  immersing  its  western  edge  in 
the  sea,  and  forming,  amongst  other  things,  Bombay  Harbour,  where 
there  had  probably  been  a  lake  surrounded  by  forest.  In  digging  the 
Prince's  Dock,  a  forest  of  Kheir  trees  ( Acacia  catechu)  was  found  m 
situ,  very  much  as  you  may  see  to-day  the  same  trees  growing  in 
the  forests  of  Mosare  and  Kirawli,  five  and  twenty  miles  away;  aud 
recent  excavations  in  the  salt  marshes  of  Uran  showed  numerous 
roots  and  twigs  with  the  bark  on  them  :  these  however  were  not 
identified,  and  may  have  been  mangroves  ;  but  even  this  implies 
a  depression  of  their  bed,  as  mangroves  do  not  grow  below  low-water 
mark. 

The  lacustrine  remains  found  in  the  Island  of  Bombay  itself  may 
perhaps  belong  to  another  period.  I  am  not  personally  acquainted 
with  them. 

But  the  recent  depression  that  let  the  sea  into  Bombay  Harbour 
would  naturally  spill  the  fresh  water  out  of  lakes  lying  further  east, 
such,  for  instance,  as  the  wide  Panwell  Basin,  over  which  people  look 
towards  Bombay  from  the  west  edge  of  Matheran,  or  from  the 
reversing   station   on   the    Bhor    Ghat.     The    same    thing    probably 


150  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


happened  to  the  valleys  of  the  Kundlika  and  the  Man  gaum  K£l.  The 
line  of  disruption  has  never  been  exactly  traced ;  but  it  is  suggested 
that  some  clue  to  it  may  be  obtained  from  the  hot  springs  ;  and  in 
that  case  it  probably  begins  near  Mhad,  and  runs  through  the  valley 
of  Mangaum  and  the  very  curious  little  defile  of  Ratwad,  the 
Sukeli  Pass,  and  the  salt  marshes  east  of  the  harbour ;  then 
between  the  Parsik  and  Matheran  Hills,  and  past  Bhiwandi  to  Akloti  on 
the  Tansa  River. 

This  however  is  all  mere  conjecture  at  present ;  and  the  main 
importance  of  the  great  break  off  to  our  subject  is  that  it  left  us  not 
a  single  lake  in  a  country  that  was  once  probably  a  "  lake  region,"  and 
gave  us  instead  estuaries  in  which  the  salt  water  often  gets  30  miles 
from  the  sea.  In  some  places  on  these  creeks  the  mountains  close  in 
on  the  channel,  and  these  defiles  are  often  very  picturesque. 

But  generally  there  is  more  or  less  flat  salt  marsh  on  one  or  both 
banks  of  each  creek,  sometimes  reclaimed  and  converted  into  salt  rice- 
land  or  salt-pans,  but  often  covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  mangrove 
bushes,  which  grow  to  25  or  30  feet  high.  The  reclaimed  lands  are 
irredeemably  ugly  during  eight  months  of  the  year  ;  the  mangrove 
swamps  and  islands,  on  the  other  hand,  are  very  pretty  at  a  distance 
or  when  the  tide  is  in.  At  low  water  they  are  not  pleasant  neighbours 
from  the  heavy  smell  and  hideous  appearance  of  the  bare  mud  about 
their  roots,  pierced  by  innumerable  spiky  and  leafless  suckers.  The 
trees  are  not  always  true  mangroves  (Rhizophorea?)  ;  indeed  these 
are  comparatively  rare  to  the  north  of  Bombay,  but  more  abundant 
as  you  go  down  the  coast  southwards.  The  native  name  for  them  is 
Kandelj  and  they  are  easily  distinguished  by  their  strange  flying 
buttress-like  roots,  glossy  foliage,  and  flowers  sometimes  conspicuous 
and  sweet-scented.  Of  this  order,  we  have  species  of  Rhizophora, 
Ceriops,  Kandelia,  and  Bruguiera,  and  of  others  the  "  Tiwar"  (Avi- 
cennia  tomentosa)  and  u  Surund"  (Excwcaxia  agallocha)^  both  of 
which  are  useful  forage  plants,  "  Phungali"  (Exccecaria  majus),  with 
white  flowers,  and  the  strange  "  Marendi,"  or  "  Creek  Holly,"  for 
which  I  have  only  a  very  old  botanical  name,  Acanthus  ilicifolius^ 
probably  superseded  in  late  works. 

The  leaf  is  exactly  like  that  of  the  common  English  Holly,  and  is 
sometimes  used  as  a  substitute  for  it  in  Christmas  decorations,  the 
berries  being  made  up  for  the  purpose  of  red  beads  cunningly  tied  on 
with  wire.  The  flower  is  pale  blue,  rather  conspicuous,  with  a  super- 
ficial  resemblance   to  that  of  a  sweet   pea.     On    embankments   and 


WATERS  OF   WESTERN  INDIA.  157 

other  spots,  raised  ever  so  little  above  the  marshes,  we  find  the  Chikhli 
(Salvador a  indica),  which  so  much  resembles  its  relation,  Salvadora 
persica,  that  one  is  surprised  to  find,  apparently,  a  characteristic 
desert  plant  in  so  damp  a  situation.  The  fruit  is  of  a  much  deeper 
and  duller  colour  than  in  S.  persica.  For  most  of  the  description  of 
these  trees  I  am  indebted  to  a  report  by  Mr.  Ebden,  C.S. 

As  the  estuaries  near  the  sea,  the  salt  marshes  give  way  to  clean 
sandy  beaches  in  long  bays,  separated  by  promontories  of  trap-rock, 
and  these  beaches  are  generally  backed  by  groves  of  cocoanut  and 
other  palms.  The  embouchure  has  almost  always  a  steep  and  hilly 
shore  on  one  side  (usually  the  south),  and  on  the  other  a  wide  flat  strand 
prolonged  into  a  dangerous  bar.  Those  of  Bankot  and  Chaul  are  good 
examples.  The  smaller  rivers  which  rise  in  the  coast-ranges  that  run 
parallel  to  the  Ghats  are  miniatures  of  the  larger  streams  that  I  have 
described  ;  but  several  of  them  debouch  in  the  central  part  of  flat 
plains,  as,  for  instance,  at  Alibag  and  Warsoli.  The  plain  here  seems 
to  have  been  once  the  bed  of  one  of  the  lakes  referred  to  above,  the 
outer  margin  of  which  is  still  indicated  by  a  line  of  reefs,  of  which 
Kennery  Island  and  the  Chaul  Kadu  Rock  are  the  most  elevated 
points.  Subsequent  to  the  immersion  of  most  of  the  lake-bed  in  the 
sea,  much  of  it  has  been  reclaimed  by  the  formation  of  sand  dunes, 
orioinally  backed  by  lagoons  uhich  have  gradually  become  salt 
marshes.  At  this  point  the  industry  of  man  has  stepped  in  to  aid 
nature,  and  the  sand  dunes  have  become  cocoanut  gardens  ;  while  the 
marshes,  embanked  so  as  to  keep  out  the  sea  tides  and  retain  the 
silt  washed  down  from  the  hills,  have  become,  first,  salt  rice-lands, 
and  afterwards,  as  the  silt  accumulates  to  above  spring-tide  levels, 
capable  of  growing  the  superior  rices  which  cannot  endure  even 
brackish  water. 

Wherever  these  reclamations  have  been  made  in  creeks  and  back- 
waters, the  mangrove  swamps  are  of  the  greatest  importance  as 
protecting  the  water  side  of  the  embankments  and  furnishing 
materials  for  the  repair  of  breaches.  On  the  open  coast,  where  the 
mangroves  cannot  face  the  surf,  this  function  is  performed  by  sand 
dunes  formed  by  wind  and  wave.  The  total  area  of  these  reclaimed 
lands  is  very  great,  and  their  formation  has  within  historic  times 
greatly  changed  the  face  of  the  Konkan  waters,  and  must  have 
seriously  modified  their  population,  especially  the  Avifauna. 

To  seaward,  immediately  north  and  south  of  Bombay,  that  is 
from  Dharavi  to  the  Chaul  Kadu  Reef,  the  group  of  reefs,  banks,  and 


158  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


islands  of  which  Salsette  is  the  largest  and  Bombay  the  centre,  cover 
a  great  number  of  sounds  and  inlets,  mostly  centring  in  Bombay 
Harbour.  Many  of  these  are  fast  disappearing  before  natural  silt  and 
artificial  embankments,  expecially  the  group  west  of  Salsette  and 
that  east  of  Hog  Island  and  Karanja,  both  of  which  have  been  changed 
from  islands  to  peninsulas  within  living  memory.  This  has  given 
rise  to  an  idea  that  "  the  coast  is  rising  ;"  but  if  by  this  phrase 
we  understand  an  integral  upheaval  of  the  rocky  sea-floor,  there  is 
no  evidence  to  support  the  doctrine.  And  in  places  where  the  coast 
is  directly  exposed  to  the  ocean  alone,  surveys  made  under  my  own 
orders  show  that  no  change  has  taken  place  for  nearly  30  years,  that 
is,  since  the  first  revenue  survey. 

The  basaltic  sea-floor,  outside  of  the  reefs  and  islands  mentioned 
(and  from  the  coast  itself  north  and  south  of  tbem),  descends  by 
gentle  slopes,  broken  here  and  there  by  terraces,  until  at  about  60 
sea  miles  from  the  coast  the  "  outer  line  of  soundings"  is  marked  by 
depths,  inside  the  line,  usually  of  less  than  100  fathoms,  and  outside 
it  in  most  cases  of  more  than  200.  This  is  a  very  rough  description 
of  a  matter  deserving  a  fuller  and  better  notice  ;  but  for  the  purposes 
of  this  paper,  the  "  outer  line  of  soundings"  may  be  described  as 
marking  a  range  of  submarine  u  Ghats"  about  600  feet  high,  forming 
the  western  face  of  a  plateau  continuous  with  the  flat  parts  of  the 
coast  and  descending  from  it,  by  gentle  slopes  and  small  scarps,  at  the 
rate  of  about  10  feet  to  a  nautical  mile.  We  know  little  positively  of 
its  material,  but  are  justified  from  its  outlir.es  and  position  in  sup- 
posing this  to  be  the  Deccan  trap,  overlaid  of  course  with  marine 
deposits. 

The  Orders,  Genera,  and  even  Species  of  aquatic  animals  which  pass 
from  the  salt  to  the  fresh  wrater  are  in  places  pretty  numerous,  and  it  ia 
therefore  convenient  to  take  the  whole  area  together  in  noticing  them. 

The  highest  aquatic  mammal  of  the  Konkan  is  the  Otter,  which 
inhabits  all  the  creeks  and  streams  and  occasionally  visits  the  sea,  but 
is  not  very  common,  and  being  a  nocturnal  beast  and  very  shy  is 
seldom  seen.     It  breeds  in  the  hot  weather. 

After  it  come  the  cetaceans,  of  which  we  know  but  little.  The 
Indian  Borqual  is  known  occasionally  to  visit  the  coast,  and  there 
may  be  other  large  species.  However,  in  a  considerable  experience  of 
the  Konkan,  I  never  saw  a  Whale  spout  in  sight  of  shore  but  once. 
It  would  be  interesting  if  the  experience  of  some  of  the  officers  of 
the  B.  I.   §.  N.  Company   regarding  this   matter  could  be   made 


WATERS  OF   WESTERN  INDIA.  159 

available.  I  have  had  two  heaps  of  bones  of  Whales  which  had  been 
stranded  south  of  Bombay.  One  must  have  been  over  40  feet  long  and 
the  other  under  30,  so  far  as  could  be  guessed  from  the  disjecta  membra,, 
The  latter  was  distinguished  by  possessing  flat  intervertebral  plates 
of  bone,  which  I  could  not  find  in  the  former.     Neither  had  teeth. 

Besides  these,  I  have  at  different  times  received  single  vertebra?  of 
at  least  two  Whales.  The  last  and  largest  of  them  is  in  the  Society's 
Museum,  and  must  have  drifted  a  long  way.  It  shows  clearly  the 
marks  of  the  peculiar  spades  used  by  whalers  in  stripping  off  the 
blubber  before  "  trying  it  out"  into  oil.  But  no  whalers  fish  within 
many  hundred  miles  of  Bombay.* 

We  have  at  least  two  Porpoises — one  a  true  Delphinus,  called  by 
the  natives  "  Gadha  '  (i.e.,  Donkey),  perhaps  from  his  constant  habit  of 
kicking  and  frisking  on  the  top  of  the  water.  There  is  a  smaller  one 
called  "  Bhulga,"  which  is  less  common  and  is  distinguished  by 
having  apparently  no  bade  Jin,  It  keeps  in  shallow  salt  water  ;  and 
1  have  not  seen  it  frisk  and  play  like  the  "  Gadha." 

I  have  never  been  able  to  get  a  specimen  of  either  ;f  they  often  get 
into  fishing-nets,  but  almost  invariably  tear  their  way  out.  Some 
years   ago   some  gentlemen   from    Bombay  tried  to  harpoon  them  in 

*  There  are  Whale  fisheries  about  the  Maldives  and  Seychelles.  The  likeliest  large 
Whale  on  this  coast  is  Baloenoptera  indica,  the  Indian  Rorqual  or  Finback.  I  believe 
that  a  specimen  in  Bombay  has  been  doubtfully  identified  as  belonging  to  the  -allied 
genus  Physalus.  They  have  no  teeth  ;  only  whalebone  strainers.  Right  Whales 
(Balsense),  which  have  similar  strainers  and  no  back  fin,  are  extra-tropical  animals  and 
need  not  be  looked  for  here;  but  the  occurrence  of  a  Sperm  Whale  or  Cachalot  (Evphysetes 
sinius),  with  visible  teeth  in  the  lower  jaw,  concealed  teeth  in  the  upper,  and  a  very 
small  back  fin,  is  possible,  as  of  Globicephalus  indievs,  really  a  gigantic  Dolphin,  with 
a  large  back  tin  and  visible  teeth  in  both  j*ws. 

t  Since  the  text  was  written  and  sent  in  to  press,  I  have  received  three  specimens  of  the 
Bhulga,  which  has  been  identified  as  Neomerislearachiensis,  and  subjoin  description,  viz,  old 
female,  gravid;  total  length  between  perpendiculars,  4  feet  2  inches  ;  maximum  girth,  2  feet 
7  inchftS  ;  width  of  tail,  1  feet  3  inches  ;  length  of  flipper,  9  inches  ;  live  weight,  60  lbs. 
avoirdupois ;  colour,  leaden  black,  lighter  below,  especially  on  the  bieast ;  nose,  chin,  and 
interior  of  mouth  dirty  white. 

No  dorsal  fin;  but  back  behind  the  flippers  flattened  and  hollowed  out  and  carunculat- 
ed;  near  the  lumbar  region  edged  with  a  slight  salient  angle,  which  may  be  taken  to  repre- 
sent a  rudimentary  dorsal  fin. 

Mammae  2,  inguinal  (of  course),  concealed  in  slit  valves.  No  rostrum  whatever.  The 
profile  rather  reminds  one  of  a  Turtle's, 

Teeth  visible  and  numerous  in  both  jaws  (anxiety  to  preserve  the  specimens  quickly 
prevented  their  being  counted)  in  both  adult  and  foetus.  In  the  former  they  are  well  worn 
down,  showing  that  it  is  an  old  animal, 

Spiracle  crescent-shaped,  single,  central,  and  far  back.  No  water  was  expelled  from  it 
in  "  blowing"  during  several  hours  that  I  had  the  animal  under  observation  in  water  over 
its  depth.  I  should  say  here  that  I  am  well  acquainted  with  the  Rorquals  and  Globicepha- 
Hda:  in  the  wild  state,  and  never  saw  either  spout  water.  Theic  discharge  is  more  like 
that  of  a  starting  locomotive  steam-engine  on  a  railway, 

The  contents  of  the  stomach  were  many  prawns  (palamion),  mostly  of  large  size,  3  to  5 
inches  long;  three  very  small'1  bones"of  sepias,  the  longest  2£  inches,  and  ooe  pen  of  a  fquid 
(loligv)  also  very  small.  None  showed  any  signs  of  dental  action;  they  had  apparently 
been  swallowed  whole.  It  is  worth  while  to  remark  that  the  tongue  of  the  "Bhulga," 
though  distinct,  is  jaw-bound. 


160  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


Mahim  waters,  but  I  believe  failed.  Two  drifted  fragments  of  skulls 
(from  the  Alibag  Reefs)  are  in  the  Society's  Museum.  They  appear 
to  belong  to  different  species. 

Probably  with  a  suitable  steam-launch,  and  a  combination  of  the 
rifle  and  harpoon,  some  very  good  sport  could  be  had  out  of  the  "  Sea- 
donkeys,"  which  are  extremdy  numerous  and  not  very  shy.  This 
has  been  tried  with  success  in  the  English  Channel.  The  sportsmen 
referred  to  above  used  canoes  ;  and  I  have  tried  to  shoot  them  from 
a  sailing  boat,  and  (of  course)  believe  I  hit  them.  But  I  never  bagged 
one.  Of  the  Sirenia,  sometimes  called  herbivorous  cetaceans,  Ha.li- 
core  dugong  may  occur,  as  it  has  been  reported  from  Canara  ;  but 
our  basaltic  coasts  are  not  rich  enough  in  seaweed  to  feed  it,  so  its 
appearance  here  is  unlikely.  It  is  sometimes  called  a  "  Seal ;"  but 
true  Seals  are  seldom  or  never  found  between  the  tropics. 

Of  birds  we  have  all  those  mentioned  as  found  in  the  Deccan,  and 
others  more  appropriate. 

The  chief  of  the  marine  raptores  here  is  the  Grey-backed 
Sea-eagle,  called  in  Maratha  "  Khakan"  (Halicetus  lencogaster). 
This  bird  is  very  common  on  the  coast  and  creeks,  and  breeds  here 
and  there  on  trees.  Sea-snakes  seem  to  be  the  chief  of  his  diet ;  but  he 
catches  a  good  many  fish  too,  and  is  said  to  rob  the  Osprey  of  his 
plunder.  This  1  have  not  seen  myself,  though  the  Osprey  too  is 
common  here,  both  on  the  salt  and  fresh  waters,  nor  have  I  seen 
the  Sea-eagle  touch  carrion  or  strike  birds.  He  does  not  resort  here 
to  the  fresh  waters  ;  but  the  Osprey  is  seen  on  rivers  and  tanks  as 
often  as  on  the  shore.  The  Brahminy  Kite  fishes  a  good  deal  on  the 
surface  of  the  fresh  waters  and  creeks,  seldom  "  out  of  harbour," 
and  picks  up  carrion  and  Crustacea  on  the  shore  ;  and  the  Paria  Kite 
(Milvus  govinda)  frequents  harbours. 

Some  naturalists  believe  in  a  "  large  Paria  Kite"  (Milvus  major')  ; 
and  Mr.  Hume  has  recorded  specimens  from  the  dunes  of  Upper 
Sind  and  Bombay  Harbour  "  which  entitles  him  to  a  place  here.  To 
my  own  knowledge,  there  is  in  the  forests  of  the  Konkan  a  Kite 
answering  to  the  description ;  but  whether  he  be  really  a  separate 
species,  or  merely  an  aristocrat  among  "  Paria "  Kites,  I  don't 
pretend  to  say.  The  superior  size  and  gentlemanly  appearance  of 
this  bird,  both  on  the  wing  and  in  hand,  are  very  marked.  The 
so-called  lt  Blue  Kite,"  or  Harrier  (Circus  swai7isoni),  and  Marsh 
Harrier  (Circus  aeruginotus),  the  White-eyed  Buzzard  (Bulastur 
teesa),  and  probably  the   Long -logged  Buzzard    (Buteo  ferox\  hunt 


WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  101 

about  rice-fields  and  the  edges  of  swampy  tanks  and  rivers  for  small 
birds,  and  probably  for  frogs ;  and  so  do  both  the  Serpent-eagles 
(Circaetus  gallkus  and  Spilomis  clieela).  I  see  that  Lieutenant  Barnes 
considers  this  last  bird  to  be  represented  here  by  Spilornis  melanotis  ; 
but  I  have  shot  many  ill  the  Konkan  showing  distinctly  the  marks 
which  he  insists  on  for  S.  cheela,  vU.,  conspicuous  ocellation  and 
barring  on  the  lower  surface  and  breast.*  It  is  a  common  bird  in  the 
Konkan  jungles.  As  with  many  other  Eagles,  the  young  of  the 
year  remain  for  some  time  with  the  old  birds,  and  one  can  often  hear 
three  or  four  of  them  calling  to  each  other  out  of  trees  or  on  the  wing. 
It  has  several  notes  :  the  commonest  is  "  Qui-yu-kuh,"  sometimes 
**  Ku-qui-yu-kuh,"  "Kou-we-you"  (rather  long  and  deep),  or 
a  sharp  repeated  shriek  ('  Qui-qui-qui."  The  Brown  Fish-owl  (Kelupa 
ceylonensis)  is  known,  but  being  a  shy  nocturnal  bird  is  not  often 
seen.     I  never  got  a  specimen  myself. 

Swallows  can  hardly  be  called  aquatic  birds  ;  but  it  is  worth  while 
to  notice  that  the  "  Edible-nest  Swiftlet"  (CollocalLi  unkolor)  breeds 
in  our  present  region  on  the  Vingorla  Rocks  ;  and  specimens  of  the 
nests  from  that  place  are  in  our  museum.  The  theory  that  the  nests 
are  built  of  sea-weed,  which  would  be  a  more  legitimate  excuse  for 
bringing  the  bird  in  here  by  the  neck  and  heels>  cannot  unluckily 
be  maintained  any  longer. 

The  region  is  rich  in  Kingfishers,  for  which  its  streams  are  weH 
fitted,  being  mostly  well  provided  with  small  fish  and  overhanging, 
rocks  and  branches. 

Halcyon  leueocephalus,  the  large  Brown-headed  Kingfisher,  is  rather 
common,  and  it  is  to  me  surprising  that  Lieutenant  Barnes  seems 
to  think  it  a  rare  bird.  It  is  tolerably  familiar  here  ;  and  I  have 
often  been  able  to  watch  one  frequenting  a  tree  near  my  tent  for  hours 
and  days  in  succession.  It  has  three  notes  at  least.  The  common  call 
is  "  Qui-yu-qui,  Qui-yu,  Qni-yu-qni."  The  alarm  note  is-  a  harsh 
rattling  laugh  ;  and  a  wounded  bird,  when  retrieved,  has  a  "squawk" 
or  "  caw"  very  like  that  of  a  crow  in  the  like  ease..  Halcyon  smymensis 
is  common  on  all  wooded  torrents  and  tanks,  and  often  at  some 
distance  from  water,  being  largely  insectivorous.  The  rare  Halcyon 
pileata  and  H.  chloris  are  both  recorded  by  Mr.  Vidal,  and  probably 
have  escaped  the  notice  of  other  observers,  because  on  the  wing,  or 
at  a    distance,    they    were    mistaken    for    H.    smymensis.      I    have 


*  A  Gujerat  specimen  shown  at  our  September  meeting  as  S.  ckeela  had  these  markings, 
but  less  than  many  of  uy  Konkan  birds. 


162  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


already  mentioued  Ceyx  tridactylus  as  found  in  the  Konkan-Ghat-Mata; 
and  as  it  is  not  essentially  a  bird  of  great  elevations,  we  may  be 
pretty  sure  that  it  exists  on  the  better  wooded  streams  below  the 
Ghats. 

Alcedo  bengalensis  is  very  common  on  all  fresh  waters  and  on  the 
coast,  where  it  fishes  in  the  pools  left  by  the  ebbing  tide,  and  even 
in  the  surf  on  the  reefs  (not  in  heavy  surf  of  course).  One  of  these 
"  long-shore"  Kingfishers  got  to  be  very  domestic  in  my  verandah, 
which  it  frequently  passed  through  on  its  way  from  the  sea  to 
a  neighbouring  tank,  and  would  perch  in  for  some  time,  taking 
refuge  apparently  from  the  violent  rain-squalls  which  swept  the  coast. 
This  was  during  the  rains.  The  Blue  Kingfishers  seem  to  like  sitting 
in  the  shade  at  midday  in  the  hot  weather  ;  but  Halcyon  smymensis 
will  also  sit  out  on  a  look-out  post,  where  he  can  see  grasshoppers 
and  the  like.  The  Pied  Kingfisher,  on  the  contrary,  seems  to  sit  in 
the  sun,  because  he  likes  it,  and  you  may  find  him  on  every  tank  and 
open  stream,  on  the  creeks,  and  sometimes  on  the  shore,  where  he  is 
associated  with  Alcedo  bengalensis. 

The  next  set  of  water-frequenting  birds  are  the  Wagtails,  which  the 
natives  call  "Parit"  (=u  Washerman").  They  are  rather  numerous, 
and  as  a  class  well  known  ;  and  their  technical  distinctions  of  this 
and  that  feather  would  be  out  of  place  here.  They  are  on  all  fresh 
waters,  and  occasionally  on  creeks  or  even  on  the  sea-shore. 

The  Weaver-birds,  or  "Bhayas,"  are  water-birds  in  one  sense, 
namely,  that  they  almost  always  build  near  .vater  and,  if  possible, 
over  it.  We  have  three  species.  Ploceus  bhaya  is  common  in  the 
region.  P.  manyar^  the  Striped  Weaver-bird,  is  more  frequent  at  its 
northern  end,  where  it  opens  into  the  plains  of  Gujcrat,  this  being 
essentially  a  bird  of  the  open  country  and  of  wraters  with  reedy 
banks.  P.  bengalensis,  the  Blaok-throated  Weaver-bird,  is  here 
rare  and  local  ;  it  has  the  same  habits  as  P.  manyar.  Neither 
of  the  two  last  is  as  lively  and  interesting  as  the  intelligent 
"  Bhaya." 

Of  the  Plovers  proper,  we  have  none  of  the  Coursers,  essentially  moor- 
land birds;  nor,  I  think,  any  Swallow  Plovers.  The  Grey  Plover  (Squa- 
tarola  helvetica)  is  said  to  occur  "  all  along  the  seaboard."  I  have 
never  got  it  here  myself,  nor  have  I  seen  here,  nor  do  I  expect  to 
see  the  Indian  Golden  Plover  {Charadrius  fulvus).  If  anywhere, 
these  birds  will  be  found  on  the  occasional  wide  stretches  of  grass-land 
near  the  sea,  suoli  as  the  commons  of  the  Alibag  Taluka.     Mr.    Vidal 


WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  1G3 

has  recorded  the  occurrence  of  the  rare  Caspian  Plover  {CEgialitis 
asiatica)  ;  and  Lieutenant  Barnes  gives  CE.  geojfroyi^  mongola,  and 
cavtiana  as  coast-birds,  and  CE.  dubia  and  minuta  generally  for 
the  Presidency.  The  last  ought  to  be  the  dubia.  It  is  a  very  dubious 
species  indeed. 

The  European  Lapwing  is  extra-tropical,  and  its  nearest  allies, 
the  Cliettusue,,  are  rare  cold-weather  visitors  here.  Their  place  is 
taken  by  the  Red-and-yellow-wattled  Lapwings,  or  "  Did-ye-do-its" 
(LobivaneUus  goensis  and  Sarciophorus  bilobus).  The  first  is  on  every 
stream  :  the  latter  is  less  aquatic  and  rarer.  The  Stone-plovers  CEsa- 
cus  recurvirostris  and  CEdicnemus  scolopax  are  not  very  common. 
The  former  deserves  its  name,  frequenting  sheet-rock  and  shingle  in 
the  beds  of  rivers  and  creeks  (preferring  fresh  water).  The  latter 
ought  to  bo  called  the  Grass-plover,  as  its  favourite  quarters  are  in 
open  grass-lands,  and  it  is  so  independent  of  water  as  hardly  to  deserve 
a  place  here.  It  is  the  "Bastard  Florican"  of  sportsmen,  and  does 
really  seem  by  its  habits  to  mark  the  connection  between  the  Bus- 
tards and  the  Plovers,  birds  not  widely  separated  by  anatomical 
characters. 

Of  the  riamiantopodida1,  or  Pied  Pea-plovers,  the  Turnstone  and 
Crab-plover  may  be  looked  for,  and  I  think  I  have  seen  the  latter- 
The  Oyster-catcher  is  a  permanent  resident,  and  probably  breeds  here 
in  small  numbers. 

There  are  absolutely  no  Wild  Cranes  in  the  region,  probably  because 
there  are  few  cold-weather  crops. 

The  Common  and  Pin-tailed  Snipe  are  frequent  cold-weather  visi- 
tors, though  the  snipe-skooting  of  the  Konkan  is  a  poor  affair  to 
a  man  of  Sind  or  Gujerat.  The  Pin-tailed  appears  to  increase  in  number 
southward,  which  must  be  only  an  appearance,  as  both  are  undoubtedly 
immigrants  from  the  north.  The  Jacksnipe  is  less  common  here  than 
above  Ghat  ;  they  are  all  usually  known  as  "  Ishna'p;"  but  the  true 
Maratha  name  is  ''  Slush."  The  Painted  Snipe  is  a  permanent  resi- 
dent, and  breeds  here  in  the  rains,  but  has  a  curious  habit  of  shifting 
its  quarters  in  May,  in  small  "  wisps"  of  five  to  ten  individuals,  who 
are  very  careless  of  cover,  perhaps  because  there  is  so  little  left  them 
that  they  cannot  afford  to  be  particular. 

Like  the  resident  Ducks,  the  Painted  Snipe  is  at  this  season  fittest  for 
the  table,  and  no  doubt  for  the  same  reasons  as  given  in  my  last  paper. 

The  Curlew  remains  on  the  coast  all  the  year  round  ;  but  its  little 
brother,  the  Whimbrel,  seems  to  be  only  a  cold-weather  visitor,    and 


1G4  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


is  not  so  often  seen,  although  the  flocks  are  larger  than  those  of 
Curlews.  I  have  not  myself  seen  the  "  Curlew-stir.t"  on  this  coast. 
The  genus  (Tringa)  seems  to  be  chiefly  represented  by  the  little  Stint 
{T.  minuta\  which  appears  in  considerable  numbers  in  the  cold- 
weather.  The  Sand-pipers  {Actitis  glartola,  A.  ochropus,  and 
A.  hypoleukos} are  common  at  the  .same  season;  the  last  less  so  than  the 
two  first.  The  Greenshank  is  common,  and  stays  till  April.  The  Red- 
shank comes  in  smaller  numbers  and  for  a  shorter  winter  visit.  The 
Spotted  Redshank,  if  it  occurs  at  all,  is  rare  ;  but  the  Little  Green- 
shank  is  common  throughout  the  winter,  affecting  fresh  water  and 
creeks  rather  than  the  sea-shore.  The  Stint  is  common  on  tanks 
rivers,  and  creeks.  This  bird  and  the  Greenshank  sometimes  figure 
on  butlers'  bills  as  "  Woody  kak"  for  which  they  are  very  fair 
deputies.  I  have  not  seen  the  Avocet  here.  Most  of  the  birds  men- 
tioned above  go  into  the  bag  as  "  Snippets,"  or  are  contemptuously 
let  off,  which  is  a  mistake  in  the  case  of  most  of  them  (unless  Snipe 
happen  to  be  plentiful),  as  they  are  good  eating  ai  d  quite  as  hard  to 
kill  on  the  wing  as  Snipe.  Certain  shikaris  indeed  include  in  their 
bags  of  "  Snipe"  pretty  nearly  everything  that  ha-;  a  tolerably  long 
beak.  In  one  case  I  saw  with  mine  eyes  the  murder  of  a  Paddy-bird 
for  the  bag  as  a  ll  Snipe"  or  "  Plover  ;"  and  indeed  unless  the  term 
were  pretty  elastic,  there  would  be  no  room  r<und  Bombay  Harbour 
for  the  numerous  sportsmen  of  the  city.  The  firing  there  all  Sunday 
morning  in  the  cold-weather  is  enough  to  make  one  think  the  country 
up  in  arms. 

The  Bronze-winged  Jacana  is  common  wherever  there  are  weedy 
tanks.  Its  ally,  the  Water -pheasant  {Hydrophasmnus  chirwgvs — why 
bMrurgus  ?)  is  much  less  so.  I  once  saw  one  perched  on  a  rock  on 
the  sea-shore.  When  disturbed,  it  flew  off  over  the  water  to  an  island; 
but  what  brought  it  in  such  a  place  I  cannot  imagine.  The  Purple 
Coot  is  usually  found  associated  with,  or  in  the  neighbourhood  of, 
the  two  last  birds,  but  is  rare  here.  The  Bald  Coot  is  not  very  com- 
mon. The  tanks  of  the  Konkan  are  too  small  for  it.  The  White- 
breasted  Water-hen  is  very  common  on  the  banks  of  rivers  and  in 
gardens,  often  at  some  distance  from  water.  I  have  not  seen  the 
English  Water-hen  here.  Water-rails  and  Crakes  are  not  unfrequently 
shot  amongst  Snipe  and  Quail,  especially  by  "  griffins."  I  hare  no 
note  of  species  observed. 

Of  Storks,  the   Great  Adjutant  and  Jabiru  (Mycteria  anstralis)  are 
rare.     I  have   seen   the   former  once   below   Ghat,   and   once  in  the 


WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  165 

Konkan-Gha't-Ma"ta',  to  the  best  of  my  memory,  and  the  latter  only 
once  below  Glial.  The  Black  and  the  White  (European)  Stork 
I  never  saw  in  the  Konkan  at  all.  Hero,  as  in  the  Deccan,  the  White- 
necked  Stork  (Ciconia  leucocephala)  takes  the  place  and  name  of  the 
former,  and  is  pretty  common. 

The  Herons  are  the  same  as  in  the  Deccan,  but  far  more  numerous 
in  individuals,  especially  in  the  creeks  and  salt  marshes.  Only  the 
Purple  or  Grass  Heron  is  uncommon,  as  there  are  few  extensive 
waters  with  grassy  banks.  Most  of  them  frequent  the  sea-shore  : 
the  exceptions  are  the  Night  Heron  and  (naturally)  the  Cattle  Egret. 
Natives  shoot  the  White  Egrets  (Herodias)  a  good  deal  for  their 
dorsal  plumes,  which  are  marketable  in  Bombay.  I  do  not  think 
that  any  true  Bittern  occurs  in  the  Konkan. 

The  Ibises,  however,  are  pretty  well  represented  by  the  Pelican 
Ibis  and  White  Ibis  ;  the  former  on  fresh  waters ;  the  latter  usually 
on  the  estuaries,  where  it  associates  with  Curlews.  The  Shell  Ibis 
is  locally  common  on  fresh  water  only.  The  Black  Ibis  (Geronticus 
papillosus)  is  rather  rare ;  and  I  have  not  seen  the  Glossy  Ibis 
(Falcinellus  ignms)  at  all.  "  Korle"  is  the  Maratha  name  for  both  Ibises 
ar.d  Curlews. 

The  Spoonbill  is  decidedly  rare.  It  is  a  bird  of  opener  waters 
than  we  have  here,  where  even  the  creeks  are  fringed  (generally)  with 
rock  or  mangrove.  Now  the  Spoonbill  does  not  like  either  rocks  or 
trees.  With  it  terminates  the  list  of  Fowl  merely  associated  with  water, 
and  begins  that  of  the  Waterfowl  proper.  It  leads  up,  in  fact,  to  the 
Flamingo.  In  our  last  number  I  gave  reasons  for  treating  this  bird 
as  a  Duck,  and  need  not  repeat  them  here.  It  is  a  migrant  on  the 
Konkan  coast,  but  remains  till  June,  in  which  month  I  have  seen 
a  flock  flying  north.  I  am  rot  personally  acquainted  with  the  species 
or  variety  called  by  some  writers  Phcenicopterus  minor. 

No  Swans  and  no  true  Wild  Geese  occur  in  the  Konkan.  The 
Black-backed  Goose  and  its  duodecimo  edition,  the  so-called  Cotton- 
teal  (Sarkidiornis  melaiionotus  and  Nettapvs  coroniandelicus),  are  found 
throughout  the  region,  though  both  are  rather  uncommon.  The 
climate  suits  them  ;  but  the  waters  do  not.  .  They  do  not  like  salt 
water ;  and  the  tanks  and  river-pools  are  not  big  enough  for  them  ; 
hut  both  may  breed  in  favoured  spots. 

Of  the  next  group  of  Ducks,  the  Tadornince,  the  Lesser  Whistling- 
teal  is  found  ;  but  it  is  not  common  ;  and  I  have  only  seen  it  myself 
in   the  cold-weather.   I    was   much   surprised   to  find  a  small  flock 


ICC  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


established  on  a  rocky  estuary,  having  always  associated  this  bird, 
in  my  own  mind,  with  grass  and  fresh-water.  I  have  not  found  the 
Larger  Whistling-teal  here  at  all. 

The  "  Brahminy  "  Duck  is  not  common,  and  is  even  excluded  from 
the  Tanna  District  by  the  Bombay  Gazetteer. 

I  have  however  once  seen  a  pair  in  Bombay  Harbour.  Its 
relative,  the  true  Shieldrake,  has  not  yet  been  reported,  I  think,  from 
the  Konkan.  We  have  the  Shoveller,  which  is  here  a  wild  bird  of 
respectable  habits,  and  accordingly  fit  for  the  table.  The  European 
Mallard  is  unknown  ;  and  its  representative,  the  Spot-billed  Duck,  is 
not  very  common,  nor,  as  far  as  my  observation  goes,  a  permanent 
resident.  It  is  however  extremely  likely  that  when  the  Tansa  Lake 
is  filled,  this  and  several  other  Indian  Ducks  will  breed  there. 
I  hope  that  the  Engineers  will  provide  that  lake  with  an  islai  d  or 
two  ;  and  that  the  Municipality  will  make  it  a  sanctuary  as 
regards  birds.  The  shooting  about  Bombay  would  certainly  bo 
much  improved  by  such  a  course,  as  Ducks  like  to  make  a  large 
sheet  of  water  their  head-quarters,  but  will  forage  every  day 
at  considerable  distances  from  home.  The  Gadwall  occurs 
in  the  cold-weather,  not  in  great  numbers  ;  and  the  same 
is  the  case  with  the  Pin- tailed  Duck  and  Widgeon.  The  Common 
and  Blue-winged  Teal  occur  pretty  frequently,  especially  the  latter. 
The  Red-crested  and  Red-headed  Pochards  are  rare  ;  but  the 
White-eyed  Pochard  is  the  most  plentiful  Duck  on  the  coast  and  on 
creeks  and  tanks  near  the  sea.  I  have  not  myself  shot  the  Black-and- 
white-tufted  Pochard  here  ;  but  I  believe  that  I  have  seen  it  on  tho 
creeks,  which  are  well  suited  to  it. 

Taking  them  altogether,  the  waters  of  the  Konkan  do  not  furnish 
good  Duck-shootirg.  The  birds  mostly  spend  the  day  in  the  middle 
of  the  creeks,  or  on  islands,  or  on  the  muddy  and  narrow  margin 
between  the  water  and  the  mangroves,  where  they  are  pretty  safe  that 
nothing  can  see  or  get  at  them  from  the  shore-side  at  all,  and 
nothing  can  surprise  them  from  the  water-side. 

The  deadliest  way  of  killing  them,  no  doubt,  is  to  find  out  a  feeding- 
ground  in  the  salt  marshes  and  lie  in  ambush  ("  flight-shooting,"  in 
short).  But  the  pleasantest  way  of  shooting  on  a  creek  is  to  take 
a  boat  or  canoe  capable  of  towing  a  small  dinghy  with  one  man  in  it, 
and  run  up  or  down  the  creek  under  easy  sail  and  with  the  tide. 
The  gunner  is  best  placed  in  the  bow  of  the  boat,  unless  the  sails  be 
such  as  to  interfero  with  him  there.     One   man    stands   to   each  sail, 


WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  167 

and  one  to  the  painter  of  the  dinghy,  in  which  the  u  retriever" 
sits  ready  with  his  paddle  or  hamboo  pole.  Either  of  these  is  better 
than  sculls,  as  the  latter  involve  his  rowing  with  his  back  to  the 
game,  or  fi  backing  water,"  and  both  manoeuvres  are  inconvenient 
if  he  has  to  pursue  a  winged  Duck. 

Birds  are  not  so  much  alarmed  by  the  gliding  motion  of  a  boat 
under  sail  as  by  the  more  demonstrative  processes  of  rowing  or 
paddling,  and  will  often  give  a  sailing  boat  a  shot.  As  the  bird 
falls,  the  sail-trimmers  instantly  lower  or  brail  up  the  sails,  the  man 
at  the  painter  casts  off  the  dinghy,  and  the  "  retriever"  starts  for 
Ids  bird ;  while  the  helmsman  brings  his  boat  to  the  wdnd,  or 
throws  out  a  little  grapnel  or  anchor  ;  a  stone  does  well  enough. 
In  the  smooth  creeks  these  manoeuvres  are  not  dangerous.  When 
the  retriever  has  got  his  bird  (for  which  purpose  he  has,  or  should 
have,  a  light  landing  net  )  he  rejoins  the  admiral,  and  the  proceed- 
ings go  on  da  capo.  This  is  by  no  means  a  very  killing  way  of  shoot- 
ing ;  but  fair  bags  can  be  made,  plus  the  poetrjr  of  motion  in  what  is 
usually  good  scenery,  and  sometimes  very  beautiful  indeed.  Some- 
times one  should  lar.d  from  the  boat,  and  employ  her  to  divert  the 
attention  of  the  birds  from  a  stalk,  and  this  gives  variety.  The 
boat  too  enables  one  to  indulge  in  a  certain  amount  of  comfort,  and 
even,  if  necessary,  to  have  books  with  one,  to  say  nothing  of  fishing- 
tackle  and  belly-timber ;  and  birds  intended  for  preservation  can  be 
properly  stowed  away  in  a  box  or  basket,  or  taken  in  hand  at  once. 
The  rest  of  our  water-birds  are  unfit  for  the  table,  or  at  least  com- 
monly thought  to  be.  The  first  of  them  is  the  Dabchick,  which  is 
a  permanent  resident  on  tanks.  It  can  however  fly  from  one  tank  to 
another,  a?id  moves  about  a  good  deal  more  than  it  gets  credit  for,  as 
it  travels  at  night,  probably  for  fear  of  Hawks  and  Eagles. 

A  "  Mother  Carey's  Chicken"  ( Oceanitis  oceam'ca)  is  known  but 
rare.  I  do  not  know  where  it  breeds;  but  on  one  occasion  I  noticed 
great  crowds  of  various  Sea-fowl  near  the  Arabian  Coast  east  of  Aden; 
and  the  cliffs  of  that  coast  may  well  be  the  breeding-ground  for  some 
of  our  species.     I  don't  know  of  any  on  our  own  coast. 

I  once  got  a  live  Shearwater,  probably  Puffinus  persicus,  which  is 
in  the  Society's  Museum.  It  was  a  storm-driven  bird  ;  and  I  have 
seen  only  one  other  in  this  region.  I  have  not  seen  any  Skua-gull 
here  at  all. 

Indeed  the  poverty  of  this  coast  in  Water -fowl  is  very  remarkable 
to  a  fisherman  trained  on  the  Atlantic.     Lieutenant  Barnes  speaks  of 


168  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


the  Lesser  Herring-gull  as  occurring:  "in  immense  numbers  all 
along  the  coast ;  ';'  but  I  have  never  seen  a  really  large  flock  of  these 
birds  here  myself.  Probably  he  referred  more  particularly  to  the 
Sind  Coast.  The  Black-headed,  Brown-headed,  and  Laughing  Gulls 
occur,  especially  in  the  winter ;  the  two  latter  go  far  up  the 
creeks,  and  may  sometimes  be  seen  over  rivers  and  tanks.  The 
Sooty-gull  (Larus  hemprichi)  occurs,  but  is  not  common.  Larus 
gelastes,  the  Rosy-gull,  may  be  looked  for.  I  have  not  seen  it  here 
as  yet. 

Gulls  indeed  are  much  less  numerous  on  this  coast  than  the  next 
group,  the  Terns.  On  account  of  the  comparatively  small  area  of 
permanent  fresh  water  in  the  Konkan,  the  Marsh  and  River  Terns  are 
not  very  numerous  ;  but  we  have  in  moderate  numbers  the  Caspian, 
Gull-billed,  and  Whiskered  Terns  ;  and  probably  the  large  River  Tern 
and  Javan  or  Black-bellied  Tern  will  be  found  hereafter,  at  least  as 
stragglers. 

A  small  Tern  very  common  on  creeks  appears  to  be  Sterna 
miauta ;  it  may  be  Hume's  Sterna  saundersi^  but  I  have  a  dislike  to 
shooting  these  birds  (which  are  very  confiding,  and  often  attach  them- 
selves to  a  boat  and  follow  it  for  many  hours),  and  cannot  be  sure 
of  species  not  closely  examined. 

Thalasseus  cristatus  and  bengalensis  are  common. 

The  Sooty-tern  occurs,  but  is  not  very  common.  On  inspecting 
after  the  south-west  monsoon  a  beacon-tower  on  an  exposed  reef, 
I  found  in  its  chamber  the  remains,  apparently,  of  a  Sooty-tern, 
entangled  with  those  of  a  banded  Sea-snake  about  20  inches  long. 
It  must  be  supposed  that  the  Tern  had  caught  the  snake  aid 
carried  him  there  to  eat  him,  but  been  bitten  by  his  victim,  who  was 
probably  too  much  injured  by  the  bird's  beak  to  leave  the  spot. 
At  the  best,  Sea-snakes  are  very  slow  movers  out  of  water,  t  do  not 
think  however  that  our  Gulls  and  Terns  habitually  attack  Sea-snakes. 
Perhaps  Larus  ichthyattus  may.  Some  of  the  large  European  Gulls 
would  eat  a  baby  if  they  found  him  unprotected.  It  was  also  very 
singular  that  the  Tern  should  have  carried  his  prey  inside  the  tower. 
I  can  only  account  for  the  whole  affair  by  supposing  the  bird  was 
desperate  from  hunger  in  foul-weather. 

The  curious  Skimmer  [Rliynchops)  does  not  occur  here. 

A  white  tropic-bird,  or  "Boatswain-bird,"  is  not  uncommon.  It  is 
probably  Phaeton  candidus  or  Phaeton  ceiherius.  It  gets  the  name 
of  li  Boatswain  '    from  the  fancied  resemblance  of  its  long  pointed 


WATERS  OP  WESTERN  INDIA.  16^ 

T"" -    ■   ■■■■  —  —  —'      ■■ — — ■ ' 

tail  to  a  marlinspike,  which  (for  the  benefit  of  any  reader  that 
"does  not  know)  is  a  long  thick  iron  pin,  with  a  hole  in  one  end, 
used  for  unlaying  ropes.  It  is  the  characteristic  tool  of  the  boats- 
wain, who  is  immediately  in  charge  of  all  rigging  :  and  the  proper 
place  to  carry  it  is  in  the  back  band  of  the  trowsers. 

We  have  one  G-annet,  or  Booby,  which  is  probably  Sula  cyanops. 
It  is  not  Jerdon's  White  Booby  (S.  piscator),  which  has  the  bill  and 
feet  red,  while  in  our  bird  the  bill  is  slate-coloured,  blackish 
towards  the  base,  and  the  feet  dull  slate  colour.  It  is 
a  good  deal  to  be  regretted  that  recent  naturalists  have  appro- 
priated Jerdon's  English  name  to  a  bird  for  which  he  certainly  did 
«iot  mean  it,  the  more  so  because  he  prided  himself  on  his  system  of 
English  names,  and  took  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  make  them  clear 
and  intelligible  to  everybody.  A  few  birds  of  the  present  species  are 
driven  on  to  the  coast  every  year  by  south-westerly  gales,  and  are 
generally  easily  captured  by  hand.  The  present  writer  has  sent  speci- 
mens to  the  Society's  and  Victoria  Museums,  so  there  need  be  no 
doubt  about  the  bird. 

I  don't  think  any  Pelican  occurs  in  the  Konkan.  If  an}',  the  grey 
species  may  be  looked  for,  and  there  would  be  nothing  surprising  in 
its  occurrence  ;  but  the  fresh-waters  of  the  region  are  rather  too  small 
for  it  ;  and  it  does  not  seem  to  like  sea  water.  The  Large  Cormorant 
does  not,  I  think,  occur  ;  and  the  Lesser  Cormorant  (Graculus  sinensis) 
is  not  common.  The  Little  Cormorant  and  Snake-bird  are  extremely 
common. 

The  highest  reptiles  of  these  waters  are  the  Terrapins  and  Fresh- 
water Turtles,  which  do  not  differ  from  those  of  the  Deccan.  I  have 
never  got  their  eggs;*  but  they  seem  to  breed  in  the  rains,  as  the 
young  are  very  plentiful  in  October  and  November. 

Two  species  of  Sea-turtles  are  common  on  the  coast.  They  are  easily 
separated  from  those  of  the  fresh-waters  by  having  flippers  instead  of 
feet,  and  never  showing  more  than  two  claws  on  a  flipper,  often  only 
one. 

The  first  is  the  Indian  Green  Turtle,  Chelonia  virgata,  closely 
related  to  the  Atlantic  Chelonia  viridis.  The  name  I  have  adopted  is 
sanctioned  by  its  use  in  Dr.  Gunther's  "  Reptiles  of  British  India,"  and 
it  is  convenient  to  follow  a  standard  work.     It  has  thirteen  shields   of 

*  Since  the  text  was  written  I  obtained  eggs  of  a  Fresh-water  Turtle  {Trionyx  javan- 
icus)  by  dissection.  They  are  almost  spherical,  cream-white,  with  a  hard  calcareous 
shell,  about  25  in  number.  These  Turtles,  therefore,  follow  the  Tortoiaea  rather  than 
the  Sea-turtles  in  the  matter  of  eggs. 


170  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


tortoise-shell  on  the  back,  of  a  dull  greenish-black  colour;  but  the 
surface  is  always  covered  with  little  chips  coming  off,  which  give  it 
a  grey  appearance  when  dry.  When  polished,  it  shows  very  pretty 
markings.  These  shields  are  no  thicker  than  a  sheet  of  thick  note- 
paper,  ;  but  the  bony  plates  below  them  are  sometimes  as  much  as 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick  on  the  sides  and  half  an  inch  on  the  shoulders. 

The  largest  I  ever  got  on  this  coast  measured  5  feet  between  per- 
pendiculars, with  his  head  as  far  in  as  he  could  withdraw  it.  The 
greatest  total  length  may  bo  taken  at  5  feet  6  inches,  and  the  live  weight 
was  2601bs.  avoirdupois.  No  doubt  larger  specimens  occur;  but  from  the 
information  of  a  friend  who  had  paid  special  attention  to  Turtles  at  the 
Nicobars  (where  they  abound),  1  find  that  the  average  there  is  much 
the  same  as  here  ;  and  anything  over  1601bs.  is  a  good  Turtle.  They 
are  frequently  caught  in  nets  ;  and  the  females  are  surprised  at 
night  when  laying  their  eggs.  For  this  purpose  they  prefer  mid- 
night and  a  spring  high-tide,  but  are  not  strictly  bound  to  time  or 
tide  ;  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  they  were  found  to  lay  in 
broad  daylight  on  uninhabited  coasts.  They  crawl  up  above  high 
water-mark,  often  on  grassy  sand  dunes  several  feet  above  it,  and 
dig  a  hole,  which  is  usually  about  15  inches  deep.  The  eggs,  about 
125  (but  often  far  more  numerous),  are  laid  in  the  hole  and 
covered  with  sand.  They  are  at  first  of  a  very  pale  yellowish-pink 
colour,  rather  less  than  a  racket-ball  ;  and  each  egg  has  a  crease  in  it. 
As  development  goes  on,  this  disappears ;  the  parchment-like  skin  of 
the  egg  becomes  tight,  and  perhaps  even  stretches  a  little  ;  at  any 
rate  the  whole  egg  looks  larger,  and  a  dark  blue  stain  appears  on 
one  side,  the  rest  of  the  egg  acquiring  a  dull  white  colour. 

The  Natives  say  that  the  old  Turtle  knows  when  the  eggs  will  hatch, 
and  then  swims  opposite  the  nest  at  high-water,  and  whistles  !  to  the 
young,  who,  in  obedience  to  the  signal,  tumble  up  out  of  the  sand, 
and  scuttle  down  to  the  water.  The  period  of  hatching  varies 
greatly.  The  Natives  put  it  at  3  weeks  ;  and  I  know  from  experiment 
that  this  is  sometimes  enough.  But  I  have  now  six  clutches  under 
observation,  of  which  two  are  42  days  #old  and  one  36  days.  It 
depends  upon  the  position  and  weather  ;  shade  and  low  temperatures 
evidently  retard  the  hatching.  Both  wet  and  drought  can  prevent  it 
altogether;  the  sand  must  bo  damp  enough  to  keep  the  eggs  cool,  but 
well  drained  and,  if  possible,  exposed  to  the  full  blaze  of  the  sun. 
lkeep  most  of  the  eggs  in  baskets,  full  of  sand,  set  on  bricks  to  secure 
drainage,     The  young  are  amusing  creatures,  very  black   and   very 


WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  171 

active.  If  turned  on  their  backs,  they  can  right  themselves  like  the 
Terrapins  and  Mud-turtles,  and  unlike  their  own  parents.  They  are 
apparently  omnivorous.  At  the  time  Dr.  Gun t her  wrote,  this 
species  was  supposed  to  live  entirely  on  algw ;  but  if  it  could  not  do 
without  these,  there  would  be  very  few  Green  Turtles  on  this  coast. 
The  breeding  goes  on  all  the  year  round,  chiefly,  perhaps,  in  the 
autumn  and  beginning  of  the  cold-weather.  The  eggs  are  just  toler- 
able fried,  or  in  an  omelette. 

The  flesh  resembles  that  of  the  "Alderman's  Turtle"  (Chelonia 
viridis)j  and  is,  of  course,  used  like  it  for  soup  and  cutlets  ;  but  about 
the  best  thing  to  make  of  it  is  a  kabob  curry.  It  is  said  occasionally 
to  be  poisonous.  If  this  is  really  the  case,  the  cause  is  probably  in 
some  disease  of  the  animal,  and  not  in  any  natural  changes  ;  for 
the  most  likely  of  these,  exhaustion  after  laying  eggs,  certainly  does 
not  make  the  flesh  of  this  Turtle  unwholesome.  The  females,  however, 
are  naturally  thin  and  poor  at  this  period  ;  and  the  best  meat  is  that 
of  Turtles  caught  at  sea,  barren  or  not,  far  advanced  in  pregnancy,  or 
males.     The  latter,  I  think,  do  not  come  ashore  at  all. 

Our  second  Sea -turtle  is  the  so-called  Indian  Logger  -head  {Oawana 
olivacea).  It  is  not  logger-headed  nor  olive-coloured  at  all,  but  has 
rather  a  fine  profile — for  a  Turtle,  and  a  good  complexion,  showing 
regular  "  tortoise-shell"  colourings  when  wet.  It  seldom  reaches  3 
feet  long  ;  it  is  less  common  than  the  Green  Turtle  ;  and  I  have  never 
got  the  eggs.  It  is  reputed  carnivorous ;  and  by  some  its  flesh  is 
thought  inferior  to  that  of  the  Green  Turtle  ;  but  I  cannot  myself 
make  out  any  difference  in  taste. 

Two  other  Turtles  maybe  found  here  ;  but  1  do  not  think  that  they 
are  yet  reported.  The  first  is  the  Indian  Hawk-bill  or  Tortoise-shell 
Turtle,  which  alone  has  shields  thick  enough  to  make  combs  of. 
These  overlap  each  other  like  the  scales  of  a  fish,  whence  the  name 
(Caretta  squamata).  The  other  is,  the  giant  of  the  tribe,  the  Leather- 
backed  Turtle  {Bermatocliebjs  coriacea\  which  has  no  tortoise-shell  at 
all,  but  a  thick  skin  laid  over  a  ridge-and -furrow  arrangement  of 
bony  plates. 

The  only  Crocodile  here  is  C.  Palustris.  I  know  that  some 
specimens  from  Tulsi  Lake  have  been  exhibited  at  jthe  Society's 
Rooms  as  C.  porosus ;  but  they  all  had  the  unmistakeable  shields  on 
the   nape  of  the  neck  characteristic  of  the  former  species. 

This  is  only  locally  abundant ;  most  so  in  the  Kal  River  in  the 
Mangaum  Taluka  of  Kolaba.     The  fact  is  the  fresh -waters  and   their 


172  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


fish  are  not  big  enough  for  it ;  and  it  is    only    an    occasional   visitor 
to  the  estuaries,  and  very  rare  in  the  sea. 

The  Crocodile-shooting  in  the  Kil  is  really  good. 

At  Ashtami,  on  the  estuary  of  the  beautiful  Kmndlika  River,  there 
is  a  small  double-barrelled  tank,  containing  innumerable  frogs  and 
water-beetles,  a  very  few  tiny  fish,  and  perhaps  a  score  of  Croco- 
diles over  5  feet  long,  besides  youngsters,  which  keep  in  the 
shallow  water  for  fear  of  being  eaten  by  their  parents.  They  are 
ludicrously  tame.  The  oldest  inhabitant  had  never  heard  of  their 
hurting  any  one ;  and  one  could  see  them  watching  women  washing 
clothes,  and  mere  babies  paddling  in  the  shallow  water,  without,, 
apparently,  a  thought  of  mischief.  One  over  &  feet  long  crawled 
out  within  pistol-shot  of  my  tent,  and  was  shot  by  candle-light.  He 
had  nothing  in  his  stomach  but  water-beetles,  may  be  a  gallon  of 
them,  and  flint-stones  swallowed,  I  suppose,  to  aid  digestion. 
A  few  days  after  a  friend  of  mine  (also  a  member  of  this  Society) 
wounded  the  patriarch  of  the  tanks.  A  gang  of  life-boatmen,  attached 
during  the  fine  season  to  my  own  and  another  private  boat,  dived 
and  literally  harnessed  him,  and  dragged  him  ashore,  roaring, 
snapping,  and  lashing  the  "scaly  horror  of  his  tail"  like  the  old  dra- 
gon. But  on  dissection  we  found  the  same  water-beetles,  plus  two 
crows  which  I  had  been  using  for  bait  in  a  vain  endeavour  to  hook 
him.  This  brute  was  10  feet  2  inches  long  and  over-pulled  my  spring 
balance  at  3001bs.  I  had  watched  them  catching  something  all  day  for 
ten  days,  and  thought  it  must  be  frogs  or  tadpoles.  The  idea  of  such 
brutes  living  entirely  on  water-beetles  is  new  to  me;  and  I  would  like 
to  know  if  any  member  has  seen  the  like.  Their  teeth  were  quite 
black,  whether  b}'  reason  of  the  water-beetle  diet  or  not  I  cannot  say. 
Usually  they  are  white,  with  brown  stains. 

Varanus  dracaena,  the  Ghorpur,  is  very  common,  and  eaten  by 
many  castes.  The  name  of  Water-lizard  is,  however,  misapplied  to  it. 
In  its  habits  it  is  a  Land-lizard,  which  swims  well,  as  many  Land- 
snakes  do  ;  and  can  even  dive  well,  which  they  generally  cannot  do. 
But  it  is  quite  independent  of  the  water,  and  is  often  found  miles 
from  anything  more  than  a  well  or  puddle  in  a  nullah. 

Varanus  lunalus,  the  Banded  Ghorpur,  may  exist  here.  Young 
Ghorpurs  are  all  banded;  but  this  reptile  is  described  as  having  105 
cross  series  of  shields  between  the  gular  fold  and  the  loin,  as  against 
90  in  the  original  Ghorpur.  The  Great  JJ//d>osauri  are  not 
found. 


WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  173 

As  for  the  Fresh-water  Snakes  proper  (the  IIomalopsidce\  they 
are  not,  as  a  family,  numerous  here.  This  may  be  surprising  to  people 
accustomed  to  think  of  the  Konkan  as  a  damp  and  marshy  country  ; 
but  the  truth  is  that  that  description  only  applies  to  it  for  five 
months  of  the  year.  From  November  to  May  inclusive  most  of  it  is 
a  very  waterless  country  indeed  to  the  great  suffering  of  the 
people. 

An  estuarine  species  (Cerberus  rhynchops)  literally  swarms  in  the 
creeks.  As  you  sail  up  them  you  see  a  head  popped  up  here  and 
one  there,  and  as  instantly  withdrawn,  till  you  wonder  what  they 
all  find  to  eat.  It  is  an  active  reptile  ashore  as  afloat,  and  the 
native  name  is  Udhan  (="  the  Jumper")  from  its  peculiar  way  of 
springing  forward.  The  Spotted  Water-snake  (Tropidonotus  quin- 
cunciatus),  which  is  not  a  true  Water-snake  but  amphibious,  derives 
from  that  nature  a  great  advantage  here  and  quite  crowds  out 
the  Homalopsidffi.  I  strongly  suspect  that  it  fights,  and  even  eats, 
them,  but  cannot  propose  to  prove  that  just  yet. 

It  has  several  varieties  in  colour,  varying  apparently  with  the 
colour  and  light  of  the  water  ;  and  ashore,  it  uses  the  same  curious 
springing  motion  as  the  Udhan.  It  occasionally  visits  estuaries  ;  and 
I  have  taken  small  salt-water  fish  (arius)  from  the  stomachs  of  indi- 
viduals taken  in  nets  in  such  places.  So  it  is  not  a  mere  drift  of  the 
land-floods,  but  can  forage  in  salt  water.     So  does  T.  jpunctulatus.. 

These  Fresh-water  and  Amphibious  Snakes  are  not  poisonous.  The 
next  family,  the  Sea-snakes,  are  all  poisonous,  though  none  of  them 
can  be  called  "  deadly"  in  the  same  sense  as  the  Cobra  and  Chain- 
viper,  for  a  fair  bite  of  whom  there  is  no  cure.  Moreover,  their  fangs 
are  very  short,  and  a  little  clothing  would  guard  a  man  from  them. 
It  is  an  additional  reason  for  always  wearing  clothes  when  swimming 
in  tropical  waters,  in  some  of  which  these  reptiles  swarm,  if  protec- 
tion from  the  sun  and  from  cold  on  landing  be  not  enough  to  induce 
any  reasonable  man  to  swim  in  flannels.  Except  in  racing,  or  at  the 
moment  of  leaving  the  water,  these  are  really  no  incumbrance  at  all, 
floating  lighter  than  the  human  body. 

Two  genera  of  Sea-snakes,  Platurus  and  Aipysurus,  have  the  same 
classes  of  scales  as  Laud  and  Fresh-water  Snakes;  that  is,  small  scales 
above,  and  large  ventral  shields  below,  the  latter  acting  as  feet. 
I  believe  that  neither  genus  is  represented  on  our  coast.  If  anywhere, 
they  should  be  looked  for  on  shores  and  in  marshes,  for  we  may  be 
quite  sure  that  the   ventral    shields    exist  in  them,  as    in    terrestrial 


174  natural  nmrour. 


Snakes  and  the  Homalopsidoe,  to  enable  them  to  move  on  land,  or 
at  least  on  mud.  They  are,  in  fact,  Shore-snakes  rather  than  Sea- 
snakes,  though,  like  the  Fresh-water  Snakes,  their  nostrils  are  placed 
high  on  the  snout,  and,  like  the  Sea-snakes  proper,  they  have,  in 
addition  to  this,  the  ventral  region  more  or  less  compressed  ;  and  the 
tail  flattened  out  into  an  oar,  to  he  used  as  the  single  and  sculling  oar 
is  in  a  merchantman's  dingy.  This  motion  however  is  not  in  any 
Water-snake  or  in  any  Land-snake  (swimming  for  the  time)  confined  to 
the  tail.  The  undulation  of  the  whole  body  propels  it  forward,  and  in 
some  of  the  most  essentially  marine  species  the  flat  tail,  properly  so 
called,  is  insignificant ;  and  the  abdominal  region  does  most  of  the 
propulsion.  Snakes,  in  fact,  move  in  water,  as  on  land,  by  undulation. 
Only  in  the  former  medium,  their  best  purchase  is  on  their  two  sides. 
On  shore,  it  is  naturally  on  the  belly.  True  Sea-snakes,  stranded, 
are  even  more  helpless  than  fish  in  a  similar  position,  for  the  latter  do 
then  use  their  lateral  fins  on  the  bottom  as  legs,  and  often  regain 
deep  water  in  that  way. 

But  the  Sea-snakes,  with  their  lax  bellies  and  small  scales,  lie 
helpless.  They  wriggle  truly,  but  on  one  spot,  like  a  rocking- 
horse  ;  and  they  generally  remain  till  a  passing  man  squashes  their 
heads,  or  a  bird  of  prey  carries  them  off.  The  Grey  Sea-eagle  is 
a  great  hand  at  this,  and  always  goes  once  up  and  down  his  beat 
on  the  coast,  every  tide,  with  a  view  to  tide-falls  of  the  sort.  These 
Sea-snakes  without  ventral  shields,  mostly  belonging  to  the  genus 
Hydrophis,  are  of  a  great  many  species,  and  offer  considerable 
variety  in  form.  I  might  almost  say  that  amongst  them  there  are- 
analogues  of  most  venomous  Land-snakes.  "With  a  single  exception, 
however,  they  are  of  very  similar  colouring,  banded  black  and  white. 

The  bands  take  different  shades.  In  some  they  almost  merge  in 
a  general  dull  grey  ;  in  some  the  light  favouring,  you  can  call  them 
purple  and  yellow.  They  are  continuous  round  the  body  or  forked', 
a  single  band  on  the  right  side  meeting  two  from  the  left,  or  those  of 
each  side  alternate ;  but  the  type  is  general. 

There  are  exceptions  to  it.  One  is  a  very  widely  distributed  Snake 
(Pelamis  bicolo)')^  which  has  several  varieties.  That  commonest  here 
is,  when  young,  velvet  black  above,  on  the  abdomen  golden  yellow,  and 
on  the  flattened  tail  handsomely  mottled  black  and  white  above  and 
below.  As  it  ages,  apparently,  these  brilliant  colours  fade  to  a  dirty 
olive  on  the  back,  and  equally  dull  white  below,  all  over  ;  but  one 
specimen    which  I  have  sent    to  the   Society's    Museum  seems  to 


WATERS  OF  WESTERN  INDIA.  175 

Lave  retained  its  colours  to  maturity.     Another  is   the  new  Hydrophis 
phipsoni,  striped  black,  white,  or  grey. 

The  Pelamis  is  the  only  Sea-snake  that  justifies  the  Ancient  Mariner's 
description.  The  rest  are  loathsome  reptiles.  In  many  hundred 
specimens  I  have  not  witnessed  the  ferocity  ascribed  to  them  by 
Dr.  Gunther.  In  one  case  only  I  saw  one  bite  itself,  apparently 
with  no  ill  effects,  though  the  species  (a  Hydrophis)  was  certainly 
venomous.  They  are  held  in  great  contempt  by  the  fishermen, 
though  these  well  know  their  poisonous  qualities.  On  one  occasion, 
being  in  the  water  with  halt'-a-dozen  naked  men,  I  saw  a  Hydrophis, 
4  feet  long,  swim  towards  us,  and  called  to  a  man  who  had  a  bamboo 
to  kill  it  for  fear  of  accident.  He  did  not  hear  me  ;  but  a  naked 
man,  who  did,  picked  up  the  reptile  in  the  most  unconcerned  way, 
and  chucked  it  on  to  the  sand,  where  it  lay  helpless. 

Pelamis  is  much  more  active  both  afloat  and  ashore,  and  gets 
more  respect  accordingly. 

My  fishermen  call  all  Sea-snakes  "  Kilis  "  in  Maratha. 

For  the  Great  Sea-serpent,  we  know  nothing  of  him  here,  except 
that  he  cannot  be  of  any  type  of  Sea-snake  known  to  us.  For,  if  he 
were  Platuroicl  with  ventral  shields,  he  would  surely  come  ashore  to 
exercise  them ;  and  if  he  were  a  true  clumsy  Hydrophis  without 
ventral  shields,  he  would  as  certainly  get  cast  ashore  sometimes,  as 
that  tribe  and  the  whales  do.  Or  at  least  an  odd  bone  would  drift  to 
us,  as  my  bone  of  the  "whaled"  whale  did  from  unknown,  but 
certainly  very  distant,  regions,  with  the  cuts  of  the  blubber-spades 
on  it.     The  bones  of  Sea-snakes  float  easily. 

Our  Sea-serpents  do  not  often  reach  6  feet  long,  but  we  read  of 
their  attaining  10  feet. 

It  does  not  follow  of  course  that  there  cannot  be  a  Great  Sea- 
serpent  of  a  totally  different  type,  possibly  far  more  saurian  or  more 

fish-like. 

KESWAL. 


BIRD-NESTING  ON  THE  GHATS. 
By  Mr.  J.  Davidson,  C.S. 

I  had  paid  a  short  visit  to  the  Kondabhari  Ghat  in  August  1885, 
and  the  beauty  of  the  place  at  that  season,  and  the  number  of  birds 
evidently  breeding  there,  made  me  determine  to  go  there  this  year  at 
an  earlier  period,  when  I  would  find  fewer  young  birds  and  more  eggs. 


17G  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


My  transfer  however  to  another  district  seemed  at  first  to  make 
this  impossible.  Thanks  however  to  good  early  rain,  the  population 
were  too  much  taken  up  with  their  farming  to  quarrel  with  their  neigh- 
bours, and  I  found  I  could  get  away  for  a  week  without  any  great 
inconvenience  to  any  one. 

It  was  therefore  with  a  light  heart  that  on  the  afternoon  of  Satur- 
day, July  10th,  I  left  my  head-quarters  on  a  week's  casual  leave 
en  route  to  the  Ghats. 

A  rapid  drive  of  some  thirty  odd  miles  brought  me  to  Dhulia,  the 
head-qnarters  of  Khandesh,  in  time  for  dinner,  and  I  was  fortunate 
enough  to  escape  without  any  rain,  though  the  country  near  Dhulia 
was  almost  under  water,  and  I  could  see  heavy  rain  following  me 
nearly  all  the  way. 

The  crops  were  looking  well  as  long  as  it  was  light  enough  to  see 
them ;  but  bird-life  was  not  abundant,  and  all  that  I  saw  worthy  of 
notice  was  a  solitary  Adjutant  (L.  argalus)  accompanying  some  Grey 
Cliff-vultures  in  a  banquet  on  a  dead  cow. 

The  Adjutant  is  never  common  here,  and  during  the  five  or  six  years 
I  have  known  these  districts,  I  have  not  seen  a  dozen  in  all,  and  always 
single  specimens,  and  that  during  the  rains  and  cold-weather.  The 
Adjutants  in  the  east  of  India  seem  mostly  to  resort  to  Burmah  for 
breeding,  and  breed  there  in  October;  but  no  one  seems  to  have  found 
out  where  the  birds  from  Western  India  breed  or  when. 

A  little  further  on  I  saw  a  Roller  (G.  indica,  not  C.  garrula).  This 
was  distinctly  exceptional.  During  the  cold-weather  indica  is  very 
common  everywhere  in  Khandesh  and  Nasik  ;  but  in  the  hot-weather 
it  leaves  the  plains  and  breeds  abundantly  in  the  Satpuras  and  Ghats, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  rains  it  appears  to  leave  the  district  (plains 
and  hills  alike).  From  the  beginning  of  June  till  the  middle  of 
August  one  hardly  ever  sees  a  Roller.  About  that  date,  C.  gnrrula 
appears  about  Dhulia  in  some  numbers  and  remains  till  October,  in  the 
beginning  of  which  month  and  the  end  of  September  G.  indica  also 
returns.  Sunday,  the  11th,  I  spent  in  hospitable  Dhulia,  and  the  juve- 
nile Bhil  population  as  usual  brought  a  variety  of  nests  and  eggs. 
These  consisted  of  the  usual  common  Dhulia  birds —  Priniae  (hodg- 
so?ii  or  gracilis)  and  Steward  (for  the  first  two  birds  are  one  spe- 
cies), Franklinia  buchananij  Pericrocotus  peregrinus,  Caprimulgus  asia- 
Ucusj  Drymceca  inornata,  and  Sylvatica^  &c,  fyc,  the  only  nest 
requiring  special  notice  being  one  of  Volvocivora  sykesi.  This  pretty 
little  Cuckoo  Shrike  is  one  of  the  earliest  migrants  in  the  rains,  arriving 


BIRD-NESTING  ON  THE  GHATS.-  177 


about  the  8th  of  June,  and  breeding  all  along  the  scrub-jungles  which 
stretch  between  the  Nasik  and  Khandesh  Collectorates.  It  appears 
particularly  partial  to  the  Angan  f6rest,  and,  as  far  as  I  remember,  all 
the  many  nests  I  have  seen  have  been  in  forks  of  Angan  trees.  The 
nest  is  a  pretty  firm  platform,  composed  of  fine  roots  ;  and  the  eggs, 
which  much  resemble  those  of  the  Magpie  Robin,  are  three  in  number* 

Tho  only  bird  I  noticed  specially  at  Dhulia  was  a  single  Alpine 
Swift  (O.  melba).  In  that  most  useful  book  Barnes's  "Hand-book  of 
Birds  of  Bombay,"  he  states  that  this  bird  only  occurs  as  a  somewhat 
rare  cold-weather  visitant.  In  this  I  think  he  is  mistaken,  and  that 
C.  melba  is  a  permanent  resident  in  all  parts  of  the  country  where  there 
are  high  enough  cliffs  to  afford  safe  breeding-places.  I  have  been  told 
that  it  breeds  in  Kanara  at  the  Grairsoppa  Falls  ;  and  I  find  in  my 
note-book  records  of  having  seen  it  in  Nasik  and  Khandesh  in  every 
month  except  October  and  November,  so  have  no  doubt  that  in  this 
part  of  the  country  it  is  found  throughout  the  year.  Last  May  I  saw 
flocks  of  hundreds  flying  into  and  out  of  fissures  in  the  cliffs  at  Sap- 
tashring  near  Nasik,  and  though  I  could  not  get  near  the  places, 
I  have  no  doubt  they  were  then  preparing  to  breed.  If  they  breed  there, 
their  presence  anywhere  within  200  miles  would  be  nothing  extra- 
ordinary, judging  from  the  pace  they  fly  at. 

In  the  afternoon,  about  4  o'clock,  I  left  Dhulia  and  drove  due  west  to 
Sakri,  33  miles,  noticing  on  the  road  another  Roller,  apparently  also 
indica.  As  it  grew  dai-k,  occasionally  a  pair  of  Painted  Sand-grouse 
passed  across  the  road,  and  the  cries  of  many  Nightjars  (mostly  asia- 
ticus,  the  others  monticolus)  were  heard  on  every  side.  These  birds 
are  all  common  inhabitants  of  the  scrub-jungle  here  which  adjoined 
the  road  on  each  side. 

1  rose  early  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  and  by  8  o'clock  had  reach- 
ed my  destination,  a  rather  dilapidated  bungalow  or  tool-shed,  belong- 
ing to  the  P.  W.  P.,  situated  on  the  edge  of  the  pass.  On  the  road 
great  numbers  tf  males  of  a  pure  Yellow  Moth(a  bombyx  apparent- 
ly) were  flying  about.  I  had  however  no  net  with  me,  and  did  not 
attempt  to  catch  them. 

On  arriving  at  Kondabhari  I  at  once  took  a  short  stroll  down  the 
Ghat.  The  place  is  an  admirable  one  for  bird-nesting.  The  hills  in 
the  neighbourhood  are  very  steep  and  slope  down  on  the  Nowapur 
Pergunnah,  a  sort  of  northern  edition  of  the  Daugs,  with  the  same 
unhealthy  climate  and  water.  At  this  pass  a  small  stream  runs  down 
and  forms  a  valley   seven  miles  long  and  in  no  place  at  all  steep. 


178  STATURAL  HISTORY. 


Government  have  constructed  a  very  fair  road  down  the  valley,  and  as 
the  hills  on  both  sides  are  densely  wooded,  it  is  both  a  capital  place 
for  birds  and  easily  worked. 

I  wandered  down  the  nullah  for  a  mile  or  so  and  found  lots  of  birds; 
but  nests  were  few  and  far  between,  and  when  I  got  back,  about  11 
or  12,  o'clock,  all  I  had  found  were  some  dozen  of  the  beautiful  hanging 
nests  of  Zosterops  palpebrosa.  Most  of  these  were  empty;  but  three  or 
four  contained  young  of  various  sizes,  and  two  had  each  four  eggs — in 
one  case  fresh,  in  the  other  unblowable.  The  nests  were  in  every  case 
suspended  over  the  river  (then  dry),  and  varied  in  height  from  the 
ground  from  7  to  20  feet.  I  also  found  four  nests  of  Myagra  azurea — 
one  with  a  fresh  egg,  which  I  left,  and  the  rest  either  empty  and  old 
or  with  big  young.  This  bird  is  very  common  on  this  Ghat,  and 
makes  its  nest,  generally  on  an  "  Umar"  tree,  it  is  a  very  beautiful 
structure  —a  deep  cup,  generally  attached  to  the  side  of  a  single  hanging 
twig.  Its  sides  are  beautifully  ornamented  with  white  nests  of  some 
spider,  the  pattern  being  so  regular  in  some  cases  as  to  resemble  Jace- 
work,  I  noticed  a  single  pair  of  Muscipeta  paradisi  in  chesnut  plu- 
mage. They  are  rare  at  this  season  here,  and  I  watched  them  a  long 
time  but  saw  no  signs  of  their  breeding,  and  when  I  again  visited  the 
place  a  couple  of  days  later  they  were  gone. 

In  the  evening  I  again  went  out  and  worked  up  the  nullah.  In 
the  first  few  paces  a  pretty  little  Blue  Robin  (0.  tickelli)  darted  from 
its  nest.  This  was  placed  in  a  crevice  of  the  bank,  and  might  have 
been  mistaken  for  one  of  our  own  familiar  Robin  Redbreasts.  It  con- 
tained three  olive  eggs,  perfectly  fresh.  The  Blue  Robin  is  one  of  the 
commonest  birds  at  this  season  along  the  Ghats,  and  its  pretty  metallic 
song  seems  never  to  cease  if  you  wander  along  any  of  the  nullahs. 
Its  nests,  of  which  I  found  many,including  four  or  five  with  eggs,  were 
placed  in  hollows  either  in  banks  or  in  the  roots  of  trees>  and  were 
composed  of  dead  leaves,  lined  with  fine  roots,  sometimes  intertwined 
with  hair.  I  had  hardly  packed  these  eggs  in  my  box  when  one  of  the 
Bhil  boys  noticed  a  large  rough  nest  on  a  bare  tree  close  to  the  nullah. 
It  was  a  difficult  tree  to  climb,  and  the  boy  declared  it  was  an  old  one, 
but  was  promptly  sent  up  to  make  sure.  He  scrambled  unwillingly 
up,  and  as  his  hand  was  touching  the  nest,  and  his  tongue  again  pro- 
nouncing the  antiquity  of  the  structure,  a  short-tailed  bluish 
bird  darted  out.  This  was  a  specimen  of  the  beautiful  Yellow- 
breasted  Ground-thrush  (Pitta  braehyuva),  and  the  nest,  which  was 
a  clumsy  structure  of  fine  twigs,  lined  with  dead  leaves,  contained  five 


BrtlD-NEStlNO  ON  THE  GHATS.  179 

slightly-set  eggs.  They  were  almost  round,  of  a  beautiful  China 
white,  with  dark  magenta  blotches  aud  lines  scattered  over  them. 

A  few  hundred  yards  further  on  two  similar  nests  were  found — one 
empty,  and  one  containing  five  fresh  eggs.  The  stupid  boy  however 
broke  one  in  bringing;  it  down. 

A  heavy  shower  of  rain  now  came  on,  and  in  the  narrow  gorge  wo 
were  in  it  was  too  dark  to  see  anything,  and  we  were  fairly  driven  in. 

The  morning  of  the  loth  was  fine,  and  1  drove  a  couple  of  miles 
down  the  pass  and  searched  all  the  jungles  on  the  left  side  of  the  road 
downwards.  Birds  were  numerous,  and  I  obtained  two  nests  each  with 
four  eggs  oiC.  tickelU,  two  nests,  with  one  and  five  eggs  respectively, 
of  Pitla  brachyiira,  as  well  as  two  empty  nests  of  the  same  bird, 
one  of  Alcippe  poiocephala  with  three  eggs,  and  one  oiMyagra  azureat 
also  with  three  eggs,  and  one  or  two  of  Zosterops  palebrosa. 

All  these  birds  were  noticed  again  and  again,  though  Alcippe  poio- 
cephala is  much  commoner  50  or  60  miles  further  south.  One  of  the 
Bhils  also  knocked  over  with  a  stone  a  fine  specimen  of  the  Rufous 
Scops  Owl  (S.  sunia)y  if  it  is  really  distinct  from  S.  pennata  It  is 
a  full  grown  male,  and  only  measured  6'1  in  length.  I  noticed  many 
specimens  of  Scops  bakhamuna^  the  Grey  Scops  Owl  of  this  district 
and  the  Satpuras.  They  are  however  very  much  larger  birds,  measur- 
ing from  8  to  9  inches.  The  Rufous  Owl  I  have  only  found  in  this 
Ghat  and  during  the  rains.  The  evening  I  devoted  to  endeavouring  to 
watch  specimens  of  Pants  nipalensis  and  Machlolophus  aplonotus 
to  their  nests.  The  former  was  very  common;  the  latter  scarcer. 
I  watched  both  pairs  and  single  birds  ;  but  in  that  thick  green  jungle 
I  invariably  lost  sight  of  them  in  some  thick  tree,  and  whether  they 
had  entered  a  hole  or  merely  flown  on  to  another  tree  I  am  to  this  day 
no  wiser  :  I  certainly  found  no  nests. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th  I  took  a  lot  of  Bhil3  and  walked 
down  the  nullah,  taking  the  same  ground  I  had  gone  over 
on  the  Monday.  This  is  really  much  the  best  part  of  the  jungle, 
and  I  was  disappointed  at  its  barrenness.  I  took  the  eggs,  now 
three  in  number,  from  the  nest  of  M.  azurea,  and  got  also 
a  couple  of  nests  of  C.  tickelU.  In  one  however  the  eggs  were  ready 
to  hatch.  I  did  not  disturb  them,  and  the  other  was  only  building. 
I  also  found  a  nest  containing  three  nearly  full-grown  young  and 
one  addled  egg  of  G.  cyanotis.  This  Thrush  is  not  common  here,  and 
this  seems  in  this  part  of  the  country  about  its  northern  limit,  and  it 
is  only  a  migrant,  arriving  in  the  rains;  it  is  however  common  enough 


180  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


along  ths  ridge  running  eastward  from  the  Ghats  immediately  north 
of  Nasik.  Thrushes  as  a  rule  are  very  rare  in  Khandesh.  I  have 
only  seen  one  specimen  of  M.  Iwrsfieldi  and  one  of  M.  nigropilea, 
while  the  former  is  fairly  distributed,  though  rare,  in  the  north  of 
Nasik,  40  miles  south  of  this,  and  the  latter  simply  swarms  along  the 
Saptashring  Range  stretching  from  the  Ghats  eastward  ;  so  much  is 
this  the  case  that  in  a  week  the  patel  of  one  village  sent  me  in  70 
eggs  of  this  bird  collected  in  one  small  hill. 

I  watched  a  pair  of  Jerdon's  Green  Bulbul  (Ph.  jerdoni)  for  a  long 
time,  but  they  had  evidently  not  commenced  to  build,  and  I  shot  the 
cock.  Last  year  I  obtained  nests  with  eggs  in  this  same  Ghat  m 
August.  I  also  shot  a  pair  of  Indian  Cuckoos  (G.  micropterus),  or, 
more  strictly  speaking,  two  specimens,  for  they  were  both  cocks. 

Every  day  I  heard  a  clear  note  I  could  not  make  out  ;  and  finally 
I  followed  it  up  and  shot  these  two  birds  in  the  act  of  calling.  It  is 
not  very  common,  and  this  is  the  only  place  I  have  noticed  it  in 
Khandesh.  All  the  time  I  was  at  the  Ghat  I  never  saw  or  heard  the 
European  Cuckoo  (Cuculus  canorns).  This  is  a  very  similar  bird,  but 
the  much  narrower  bars  on  the  breast  make  it  very  easily  identified. 
It  passes  through  Dhulia  in  the  early  part  of  June,  and  in  July  is  very 
common  throughout  the  Satpuras,  a  dozen  often  being  heard  at  one 
time.  It  returns  again  in  September,  and  no  doubt  breeds  abundantly 
in  the  interval,  ^s  the  Satpuras  are  barely  50  miles  north  of  these 
hills,  it  is  strange  none  of  the  Cuckoos  stop  to  breed  herein  the  rains. 

Coming  back  I  got  a  nest  with  three  eggs  of  Levcocerca  leucog  aster  t 
This  pretty  little  Fantail  is  very  common  on  the  Ghat ;  but  its  nests  are 
difficult  to  find,  and  the  bird  was  not  rare  enough  to  make  me  willing 
to  waste  time  over  it.  I  only  noticed  one  pair  of  the  larger  kind 
(Leucocerca  aureola\  and  that  wTas  well  down  the  Ghat.  It  however  is 
common  on  the  plains  above.  I  noticed  one  Honey  Buzzard  (P.  pti- 
lorhynchus)  ;  and  the  shrill  cry  of  the  Hawk-eagle  (L.  cirrhatus)  was 
constantly  heard.  This  bird  is  common  here  and  in  the  Satpuras  ;  but 
in  the  adjoining  parts  of  Nasik  I  have  never  noticed  a  single  speci- 
men, and  it  is  far  too  noisy  to  he  passed  over.  In  the  evening  the 
villagers  brought  me  a  number  of  Mynas'  eggs.  These  must  have  been 
from  second  nests,  as  there  were  lots  of  young  flying  about.  All  were 
the  common  species  (A.  tristis).  Indeed  I  have  never  seen  a  single  spe- 
cimen of  the  Blue-eyed  Jungle-myna  (A.  fuscus)  in  Khandesh,  though 
it  is  common  on  the  hills  immediately  south  of  that  district. 

On  the  15th  I  had  determined  to   have   a   day    in   the  jungles   at 


BIRD-NESTING  ON  THE  GHATS.  181 


the  foot  of  the  Ghat,  and  had  sent  the  Bhil  boys  down  the  night  before. 
The  morning  was  however  very  wet,  and  it  was  past  eight  before 
I  started.  It  was  still  wetter  when  I  reached  my  destination,  and 
I  was  glad  to  take  refuge  in  a  dharamshalla.  About  half-past  ten  it  look- 
ed a  little  clearer  and  I  ventured  out,  and  by  twelve  it  was  quite  fine. 
Everything  was  however  soaking  wet,  and  naturally  I  got  very  little. 
I  found  one  nest  of  Dumetia  albogularis  with  four  fresh  eggs.  This 
bird  I  found  in  great  numbers  last  year ;  but  it  was  much  scarcer  this 
year,  and  I  only  got  one  other  nest  with  hard-set  eggs.  The  nests 
are  placed  on  the  ground,  and  are  quite  round,  composed  of  long  dry 
grass,  the  entrance  being  at  the  side.  With  the  exception  of  a  nest, 
with  one  egg,  of  Alcippe  poiocephala,  all  the  nests  I  found  on  this 
occasion  were  of  common  birds,  and  there  were  fewor  birds  and  nests 
at  the  foot  of  the  Ghat  than  along  the  sides  of  the  nullah  higher  up. 

The  16th  was  my  last  day,  and  I  walked  along  the  road  for  a  couple 
of  miles  and  then  took  the  other  side  of  the  valley.  I  twice  heard  the 
mournful  wail  of  a  Ground-thrush.  The  bird's  cry  in  the  breeding 
season  resembles  that  of  a  young  Spotted-owl,  and  no  one  would  ever 
dream  it  was  the  cry  of  a  Thrush.  I  found  the  nest  of  one  pair,  but 
the  eo-o-s  were  not  vet  laid.  In  the  other  case  I  could  find  no  nest, 
though  the  birds  kept  flying  round  and  round  me,  and  I  think  I  exam- 
ined every  possible  tree.  The  neighbourhood  of  this  second  nest 
(for  there  must  have  been  one)was  a  very  good  place  for  nests.  Within 
100  yards  I  saw  a  brood  of  Buchanga  ccerulescens  just  able  to  fly,  and 
also  one  of  Oiiolus  melanocephalus,  while  on  an  adjoining  tree  there  was 
another  nest  of  this  Oriole  with  two  slightly-set  eggs.  It  was  a  very 
deep  cup  on  the  end  of  a  thin  branch,  and  though  in  cutting  the 
branch  to  get  at  the  nest  it  got  turned  at  right  angles  to  its  proper 
position,  the  eggs  were  uninjured.  I  do  not  think  this  nest  belonged 
to  the  same  pair  as  that  which  had  young  ones  flying. 

These  Orioles  are  very  common  here,  and  I  found  four  nests  :  one  was 
new  and  empty  ;  from  another  the  birds  had  just  flown  ;  while  the 
remaining  one  contained  one  fresh  egg.  The  bird  would  no  doubt 
have  laid  more  ;  but  to  get  at  the  nest  I  had  to  cut  the  branch  off, 
and  it  was  only  then  I  discovered  that  only  one  egg  had  been  laid. 

On  the  very  next  tree  to  the  one  with  this  bird's  nest  was  an  empty 
Thrush's,  and  20  yards  off  a  nest  of  the  Common  Ghat-babbler 
(M.  malabarkus).  This  bird  never  seems  to  leave  the  jungles,  and  as  soon 
as  cultivation  begins  on  the  top  of  the  Ghat  is  replaced  by  Argya  mal- 
colmi.    The  nest  in  question  contained  one  fully-fledged  young  Hawk- 


182  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


cuckoo  {Ilierococcyx  varius),  and  there  were  three  old  Babblers  in 
attendance.  Nothing  could  induce  the  Cuckoo  to  leave  the  nest  > 
and  finally  the  boy  threw  nest  and  all  down  and  it  still  held  on 
with  its  claaws  and  bit  at  my  finger.  H.  varius  is  very  common 
in  the  valley  and  on  the  hills  above  it,  and  its  shrill  cry  "  Pu- 
pe-ha,"  "  pu-pe-ha,"  re-echoes  from  every  hill,  and  not  one  Babbler's 
nest  brought  to  me  was  without  one  of  the  round  eggs  of  this  bird. 
In  each  case  the  ombrjro  Cuckoo  was  much  further  advanced  than 
the  Babblers  ;  so  it  seems  certain  that  the  Cuckoo  lays  its  egg  before 
the  Babbler  does,  or  that  its  period  of  incubation  is  less.  Proba- 
bly both  are  the  case,  as  I  remember  once  starting  a  Hawk-cuckoo  out 
of  a  small  bush  and  finding  in  it  a  nest  of  M.  malabaricus  with  a  fresh 
Cuckoo's  eggj  but  no  Babblers'  eggs.  I  have  litle  doubt  the  bird 
I  disturbed  had  just  laid  this  egg  ;  but  as  Coccystes  jacobinus,  which 
lays  very  similar  eggs,  is  common  in  the  Satpuras  where  this  occurred 
I  cannot  be  absolutely  sure.  During  this  visit  to  Kondabhari  I  neither 
saw  nor  heard  Coccystes  jacobinus,  so  am  sure  that  the  Cuckoo's  eggs 
1  obtained  all  belonged  to  //.    varius. 

A  pair  of  Graculus  macei  was  also  apparently  breeding  near  this 
place.  I  could  not  however  discover  the  nest,  though  I  watched  for 
a  lono  time.  I  found  a  nest  with  two  young  in  September  last  near 
the  same  place  ;  but  in  thick  jungle  it  is  easy  to  overlook  a  nest  placed 
high  up  in  a  fork  and  of  exactly  the  same  colour  as  the  bark. 

On  my  return  to  the  bungalow  I  found,  among  other  eggs  collected 
for  me,  two  nests,  each  containing  five  eggs,  of  D.  sylvatica  and  Cisticola 
cursitans.  The  former  is  moderately  common  both  on  the  Ghat  and 
in  the  Maidan  above,  but  the  latter  never  seems  to  enter  the  high 
grass  and  jungle  of  the  valley. 

Afterwards  I  had  to  leave  and  drive  back  to  Sakri.  On  the  whole 
I  found  much  fewer  birds  than  I  expected  ;  but  of  course  no  migratory 
birds  had  arrived,  and  few  young  birds  were  flying.  The  only  mam- 
mal I  saw  was  a  Hare.  There  were  fresh  tracks  of  two  Panthers  and 
a  Hyena  and  a  few  four-horned  Antelope,  but  I  never  came  across  any 
of  the  animals  themselves. 

Moths  were  common,  but  Butterflies  were  few.  Of  the  Papilionulae, 
the  only  one  really  common  was  Eratonius.  I  noticed  a  few  specimens 
of  Polites,  Agamemnon,  and  Nomius  :  the  first  two  were  fresh  from  the 
chrysalis,  and  the  last  very  battered.  Caterpillars  were  however 
abundant,  and  included  several  of  the  Sphingidae  and  two  beautiful 
Green  Caterpillars  of  Actias  selene. 


BIRD-NESTING  ON  THE  GHATS.  183' 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th  I  returned  to  Dhulia,  where 
the  nests  of  a  great  many  common  hirds  were  brought  to  me  ; 
and  on  the  19-th  I  returned  to  my  station  and  a  vast  pile  of 
arrears  of  work.  On  the  return  journey  the  only  thing  I  noticed 
was  the  number  of  males  of  Pericrocotus  erythropygius  which 
were  flying  about  as  we  passed  through  the  angan  jungle  near  Arvec. 
This  very  handsome  bird  is  very  common  in  this  narrow  belt  of  jungle, 
and  the  hens  were  evidently  sitting.  In  previous  years  I  have  taken 
many  of  their  nests,  the  restlessness  of  the  birds,  who  are  constantly 
flying  to  and  from   the  nest,  at  once  betraying  its  position. 

J.  D. 


NOTE  ON  SOME  POST-PLIOCENE  MOLLUSCS 
FROM  THE  BYCULLA  FLATS. 

Communicated  by  Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart. 

"You  will  doubtless  smile  if  I  speak  to  you  of  the  treasures  of  the 
Byculla  Flats.  But  I  can  assure  you  the  whole  of  that  much-abused 
region  is  full  of  interest,  both  for  the  geologist  and  the  zoologist.  At 
no  very  distant  (geological)  date  the  sea  must  have  ebbed  and  flowed 
freely  eastward,  past  the  site  of  the  Byculla  Club,  over  all  that  ground 
now  covered  with  cotton  mills  and  municipal  refuse  heaps,  and  intersect- 
ed by  causeway  roads  and  open  sewers,  which  lies  between  Mahim  to 
the  north  and  Cumballa  Hill  to  the  south.  At  a  comparatively  recent 
date  its  approach  from  the  west  was  in  some  degree  barred  by  a  sort  of 
breakwater  formed  by  the  elevation  of  the  coast-line  at  Worli.  This  is 
clearly  shown  by  the  occurrence  of  fragments  of  modern  sea-shells  in 
the  red  earth  at  Worli  Point,  16  feet  above  the  present  high-water 
mark.  The  sandy  isthmus  just  south  of  Worli  village  too,  in  which 
modern  sea-shells  are  found  in  good  preservation  and  in  considerable 
quantities  6  feet  above  the  present  level  of  high- water,  must  once 
have  been  the  sea-beach  at  this  point.  But  it  was  not  till  the  con- 
struction of  the  Vellard  Causeway  at  Mahaluxumi  by  an  English 
Governor  of  Bombay  in  modern  times  that  all  access  to  the  Byculla 
Flats  was  finally  denied  to  the  sea.  In  the  interval  it  still  continued  to 
enter  from  the  south-west  at  the  indentation  south  of  Love  Grove, 
and  spread  in  a  broad  shallow  lagoon  over  the  present  level  of  the 
Byculla  Flats.  This  was  slowly  filled  as  the  tide  flowed  in  through 
the  narrow  opening  between   Mahaluxumi    Point  and   the   southern 


181  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


extremity  of  the  Worli  Ridge,  and  again  was  emptied,  or  nearly  so, 
as  the  tide  flowed  out,  much  in  the  same  way  as  we  see  to-day  the 
low-lying  ground  about  the  muddy  creeks  of  Salsette.  The  entrance 
being  so  small  and  the  space  beyond  so  great,  it  is  clear  the  tide  can 
never  have  flowed  with  any  great  force  over  the  slowly  shelving 
ground  inside.  Hence  it  is  natural  that  whatever  creatures  died  in 
these  sheltered  shallows,  or  were  drifted  into  them  from  the  sea 
outside,  would  there  soon  be  silted  up  and  preserved  in  the  soft 
in-washed  mud.  Hence  it  is  that  you  will  find  every  spadeful  of  the 
soil  of  the  Byculla  Flats  literally  full  of  the  remains  of  countless 
sea  creatures  in  a  semi-fossilized  condition,  and  for  the  most  part 
in  a  wonderfully  well-preserved  state. 

This  lump  of  earth,  marked  No.  1,  is  an  instance.  It  was  found 
near  the  race-course  on  the  top  of  a  bank  of  earth  made  of  the  soil 
excavated  on  the  spot..  Of  course  the  texture  of  the  shells  in  many 
instances  is  greatly  altered,  or  even  completely  changed,  generally 
owing  to  the  highly  aluminous  nature  of  the  clay  or  siliceous  condi- 
tion of  the  water  in  which  they  were  deposited.  But  this  only  showrs 
how  long  such  specimens  must  have  been  lying  undisturbed  exposed 
to  these  influences  ;  and  the  fact  that  they  have  so  well  retained  their 
original  forms  shows  how  very  gradual  was  the  operation  of  the  influ- 
ences to  which  they  were  subjected.  The  group  of  fragments  of 
tubular  shells,  marked  No.  2,  illustrates  this  alteration  in  texture  while 
the  original  form  is  preserved.  A  yet  more  curious  illustration  is 
afforded  in  every  handful  of  earth  about  the  brick-fields  on  the  west  of 
the  Byculla  Flats.  The  soil  here  is  somewhat  laminate,  very  friable, 
and  full  of  small  crystals,  apparently  of  gypsum.  And  its  effect  on 
the  shells  buried  in  it  seems  to  have  been  in  some  instances  to  crys- 
tallize them,  and  in  others  to  turn  them  a  dark  brown  or  black 
colour.  In  either  condition  they  still  retain  their  original  form,  but 
are  so  brittle,  or  rather  rotten,  that  the  slightest  touch  reduces  them 
to  powder,  and  I  have  found  it  impossible  to  bring  any  here  in 
a  recognisable  shape. 

The  alteration  in  texture,  considered  in  connection  with  the  nature 
of  the  surrounding  soil  and  general  character  of  the  locality,  would  be 
of  special  interest  to  the  geologist.  But  the  shells  themselves, 
whether  their  texture  is  altered  or  not,  present  several  points  of 
interest  to  the  zoologist  which  I  venture  to  think  would  amply  repay 
their  careful  study  by  a  skilled  conchologist.  I  have  therefore  pre- 
sumed to  invite  to  them  the  attention  of  the  members  of  the  Bombay 


NOTE  ON  SOME  POST-PLIOCENE  MOLLUSCS  FROM  THE  BYCULLA  FLATS.      185 

Natural  History  Society  in  the  section  of  "  Other  inveriehratcC  in  the 
hope  that  some  one  may  be  found  more  competent  than  myself  to 
discuss  their  characteristics. 

It  seems  to  me  such  a  discussion  might  he  specially  profitable  in 
two  ways.  First,  a  careful  comparison  of  these  sub-fossil  shells  of  the 
Byculla  Flats  with  those  at  present  inhabiting  the  sea  outside,  with 
a  view  to  determining  such  slight  differences  as  may  have  become 
permanent  during  recent  geological  ages,  might  throw  much  light  on 
the  theory  of  evolution  and  the  origin  of  species  ;  and  secondly,  from 
a  study  of  these  marine  remains  on  dry  land,  we  may  learn  so  much  of 
like  creatures  still  inhabiting  the  sea  as  to  be  enabled  more  easily  to 
find  living  specimens  of  species  hitherto  considered  rare  from 
their  inaccessibility.  It  is  chiefly  in  regard  to  the  latter  consideration 
that  I  propose  to  offer  a  few  remarks  now  on  these  fragments  of 
tubular  shells  which  I  have  produced  for  your  inspection  here 
to-day. 

Among  the  commonest  of  the  shells  scattered  over  the  Byculla 
Flats  are  some  not  unlike  pieces  of  the  broken  stem  of  a  clay 
tobacco-pipe.  My  attention  was  first  directed  to  them  about  two 
years  ago  by  Major  E.  T.  Frere,  R.E.,  who  believed  them  to  be  the 
tubes  of  some  boring  mollusc.  Unfortunately  he  was  compelled  by 
ill-health  to  go  to  England  before  he  had  prosecuted  his  researches 
very  far.  He  took  with  him  however  some  specimens  he  had  found, 
and  later  I  sent  him  some  I  found  after  his  departure.  By  compar- 
ing these  with  specimens  in  the  collections  of  the  British  Museum 
and  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  and  by  the  help  of  information 
and  assistance  courteously  afforded  him  by  the  officials  at  these  two 
institutions,  and  particularly  by  Mr.  Etheridge,  the  head  of  the 
Palasontological  Department  at  the  British  Museum,  he  collected 
some  interesting  information  regarding  the  natural  history  of  tube- 
forming  animals.  This  he  has  kindly  imparted  to  me,  and  I  beg  to  Jay 
before  the  Society  such  portions  of  it  as  seem  to  bear  upon  the 
specimens  which  I  have  collected  from  the  Byculla  Flats. 

When  found  in  their  least  altered  condition,  the  tubes  are  appa«« 
rently  calcareous  and  nearly  white  in  colour,  or  faintly  tinged 
with  pink.  They  vary  considerably  in  size.  But  I  have  found  no 
fragments  larger  than  those  in  the  group  marked  No.  3  either  in 
point  of  length  or  circumference.  I  think  the  reason  of  this  is  that 
the  creatures  inhabiting  these  shells  used  to  bore  downwards  into  the 
soft  oozy  bottom  of  the  lagoon  I  have  described,    big   end  first.     The 


186  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


excavations  hitherto  made  on  the  Flats  have  not  yet  passed  the  level 
at  which  they  attained  this  circumference,  and  the  length  represents 
the  extreme  diameter  of  a  clod  ordinarily  loosened  by  a  stroke  of  the 
pick  in  the  work  of  excavation.  When  this  is  lifted,  of  course  so 
much  of  the  tube  as  it  contains  is  snapped  off  and  carried  away  with 
it.  I  daresay  if  we  were  to  dig  carefully  downwards  from  the 
present  level  of  the  Flats,  we  should  be  able  to  uncover  specimens  of 
greater  length  gradually  increasing  in  circumference,  till  at  last  we 
reached  the  lower  or  big  end,  as  to  which  I  shall  have  something  to 
say  presently,  but  a  specimen  of  which  I  have  not  yet  succeeded  in 
finding. 

One  curious  characteristic  of  these  tubes  is  the  way  in  which  they 
change  their  direction,  as  shown  in  the  group    of  specimens    marked 
No.  4.     I  would  particularly  draw  your  attention  to  a  feature  in  these 
to  which  I  shall   have    occasion    to    refer    again,  viz.,   that    wherever 
one  of  these  changes  in  direction    occurs,    it   is    marked    by   a   little 
rounded  knob  or  excrescence  on  the    shell.     Probably    these    changes 
in  direction  were  necessitated,  either  by  the  inhabitant    of    the    shell 
coming  on  some  hard  substance  through  which  he  could  not  bore,  or 
by  his  being  obliged  to  work  in  a  very  confined    space,    by    reason  of 
his  neighbours  crowding  on  him,  or  by  reason  of  the  limited  extent  of 
the  soil  suitable  for  his  operations  at  the    scene    of  his  labours.     The 
excrescences,  I  presume,  were  formed  by  the  animal  closing  the  end  of 
his  tube  in  the  old    direction  when   he    started    in    the   new    to   pre- 
vent the  entry  in  his  rear  of  water  or  mad   or  animals    which    might 
cut  off  his  connection  with  his  upper  or  smaller  end. 

What  then  are  these  tubes?  Before  attempting  a  solution  of 
that  question,  it  may  be  as  well  to  state  what  they  most  certainly  are 
not.  They  are  not  calcareous  casts  of  the  stems  and  roots  of  aquatic 
plants,  formed  by  the  deposit  of  lime  held  in  suspension  by  the  water 
in  which  they  grew  on  vegetable  substances  which  have  since  decayed, 
leaving  only  their  mineral  envelopes.  You  may  think  that  in 
enunciating  such  a  theory  for  the  mere  purpose  of  demolishing  it  I  am 
but  setting  up  a  mau  of  straw  for  the  pleasure  of  knocking  him 
down.  But  I  remember  Major  Frere  once  telling  me  of  a  passage  in 
some  work  on  the  geology  of  Bombay,  in  which  it  was  suggested  that 
the  shelly  tubes  found  on  the  Byculla  Flats  were  casts  of  the  roots  of 
the  mangrove  bushes  once  growing  there  when  the  place  was  a  muddy 
salt  marsh.  I  have  forgotten  the  name  of  the  book,  and  I  have  not 
been  able  to  find  it  since ;  but  I  believe  it  came  from  the  library  of  the 


NOTE  ON  SOME  POST-PLIOCENE  MOLLUSCS  FROM  THE  BYCULLA  FLATS.     187 


Bombay  Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society.*  There  was  much  in 
it  that  was  interesting  and  valuable.  But  this  theory  was  certainly 
wrong.  By  a  curious  coincidence,  1  happened  only  t)ie  other  day  to 
pick  up  near  the  race-course  this  specimen,  No.  5,  which  shows,  I  think, 
how  the  theory  of  the  mangrove  roots  may  have  originated.  You  see 
here  is  a  bit  of  the  root  end  of  some  plant  firmly  embedded  in  a  fragment 
of  tube.  Jt  may  either  have  grown  up  naturally  through  the  tube,  which 
had  accidentally  fallen  and  become  embedded  in  the  earth  in  such 
a  position  as  to  allow  of  this,  or  it  may  have  been  poked  in  to  clear  the 
tube  by  some  inquisitive  cooly  five  minutes  before  I  found  it.  I  incline 
myself  to  the  former  theory,  both  as  the  more  interesting,  and 
because  when  I  first  found  the  specimen,  it  was  completely  filled  up 
to  the  edge  at  both  ends  with  earth,  some  of  which  has  since  been 
shaken  out,  which  would  hardly  have  been  the  case  had  the  piece  of 
stick  been  pushed  in  for  the  purpose  of  cleaning  out  the  earth. f 
But  however  it  got  there,  there  is  the  piece  of  the  plant  in  the  piece 
of  the  tube,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  a  hasty  observer  might  jump 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  latter  was  deposited  round  the  former  in  the 
manner  suggested  by  the  author  of  the  work  to  which  I  have  referred. 
The  general  objection  to  the  theory  is  that  the  fragments  of  calcareous 
tubes  are  always  single,  whereas  the  roots  and  stems  of  mangroves 
are  always  branching.  In  this  special  instance  the  space  between 
the  shell  and  the  wood,  now  filled  up  with  earth,  shows  that  the 
former  can  never  have  been  deposited  on  the  latter. 

But  after  thus  disposing  of  the  theory  of  another,  it  is  only  fair  that 
I  should  give  him  a  chance  by  advancing  one  of  my  own.  My 
theory  is  that  many  (I  admit  not  all)  of  the  shelly  tubes  found  on  the 
Byculla  Flats  are  fragments  of  the  tubes  of  an  interesting  and  hitherto 
rare  mollusc,  belonging  to  the  family  of  Pholadida?,  and  variously 
known    as    Kuphus,  or     Septaria,    or    Furcella    aretiaria,    or     Teredo 


*  Since  this  paper  was  read,  I  have  fennel  a  paper  by  Dr.  Buist  on  the  geology  of  Bombay 

"  of  the  10th  volume  of   "  Transactions  of  the  Bomba 

-uv,  >,..u,0,'se  suggest  ion  is  here  mude,  viz.,  that  these  tubes  are  Uo  i^ota  m  luimgsu 

by  marine  worms  through    mangrove  roots  which  hava  been  formed  by  the  infiltration  of 


av  yago  ioi  ui  me  luca  volume  or  "  transactions  oi  tue  Doinoay  uwograpnicax  society. 
The  converse  suggestion  is  here  m;ide,  viz.,  that  these  tubes  are  the  casts  of  Korings  made 
by  marine  worms  through  mangrove  roots  which  hava  been  formed  by  the  infiltration  of 
lime  held  in  suspension  by  rain-water,  and  deposited  in  successive  layers  each  monsoon 
within  the  outer  circumference  of  the  original  boring.  This  theory  seems  to  me  as  unten- 
able as  the  other,  and  formed  only  for  the  purpose  of  accounting  for  the  concentric  struc- 
ture of  most  at  least  of  the  thicker  tubes.  In  the  first  place,  though  the  fragments  of  tubes 
are  literally  innumerable.  I  have  never  yet  found  one  sticking  in  a  piece  of  wood.  In  the  second 
place,  if  the  rain-water  filtering  through  the  soil  of  the  Byculla  Flats  were  so  strongly  charged 
with  lime,  we  should  expect  to  find  everything  in  it  thickly  coated  with  lira",  not  merely 
the  inner  surfaces  of  these  tubes  On  the  other  hand,  the  concentric  structure  of  the  tube 
seems  capable  of  explanation  by  the  act  of  the  animal  itself  in  thickening  the  tube 
inwards  at  intervals,  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  the  size  of  the  orifice  as  it  diminished  in 
size  itself,  in  the  manner  pointed  out  by  Sir  Everard  Home  in  his  paper  mentioned 
below. 

t  At  the  time  of  reading  the  stick   was  pulled  out,  and  found  to  have  been  roughly  cut 
to  a  point,  thus  establishing  the  truth  of  the  cooly  theory. 


188  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


giganteaj  of.the  habits  and  history  of  which  very   little  seems   as   yefc 
to  be  known  to  concholo£ists. 

I  am  led  to  this  conclusion  by  the  discovery   of  such   specimens  as 

those    in   the    group  marked    No.  6,    showing   a   septum  or  division 

running  longitudinally  down  the  tube  for  some  distance  from  the  small 

or  upper  end  in  such  a  manner  as  to  divide  the  tube  into  two.    These 

two  divisions  are  in  fact  the  cases  of  the   two   siphonal   tubes   of  the 

animal — one  respiratory  and  the  other  excretory — which  were  closed 

at  will  by  means  of  two  triangular  pallets  working  loosely  within   the 

shell.    The  union  of  these  two  tubes  into  one  through  the  greater  part 

of  their  length  is  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  Pholadidse.     To  the 

family   of  Pholadida3  the  Teredines  are  now   determined  to  belong. 

But  it  was  long  before  the  Kuphus,   which  I  believe  these  specimens 

to  be,   was    admitted   to  a   place  among  the  Teredines.     M.  Rang, 

who  under  the  name  of  Septaria  excluded  Teredo  gigantea  (Kuphus) 

from     the    genus    Teredo,     while     observing   that  it  very   closely 

approximates   the  Teredines  and  the  Fistulana?,  thus  describes   it : — 

u Animal  unknown;  shell  unknown;  tube  calcareous,    thick,   solid, 

in   the   shape    of  a   very   elongated   cone,    and  irregularly  flexuous, 

furnished      internally      with    small    incomplete     annuliform     septa, 

terminated  at  one  of  its  extremities  by  a  convexity,  and  at  the  other 

by  two  slender  and  separated  tubes." 

Eumphius  figures,  under  the  name  of  Teredo  arenaria^  a  species  of 
tubular  shell  found  in  shallow  water,  among  mangrove  trees7 
apparently  identical  with  that  described  by  M.  Rang,  and 
represents  the  double  tube  at  the  smaller  end  as  branching  into 
a  distinct  bifurcation.  This  of  course  is  a  material  difference  from  the 
specimens  now  before  you. 

Lamarck,  still  excluding  this  species  of  Septaria,  which  he  calls 
Arenaria,  from  the  Teredines,  recognised  only  two  species  of  Teredo, 
viz.,  Navalis  and  Palmulatus,  The  latter  he  thought  differed  only  in 
its  greater  size  from  the  former,  which  is  the  species  long  and 
unfavourably  known  to  sailors  as  the  borer  through  the  bottoms  of 
wooden  ships. 

In  1797  Mr.  Griffiths  discovered  at  Sumatra  a  tubular  shell 
apparently  of  a  species  nearly  identical  with  these  before  you.  He 
noticed  the  difference  in  the  structure  of  the  double  tube  at  the 
smaller  end  between  his  specimens  and  those  figured  by  Rumphius, 
but  ascribed  it  to  the  difference  of  situation  in  which  they  were  found. 
Mr.  Griffiths'  specimens  were  procured  from  a  small  sheltered  bay,  with 


NOTE  ON  SOME  POST-PLIOCENE  MOLLUSCS  FKOM  THE  BYCULLA  FLATS.     189 

a  muddy  bottom,  surrounded  by  coral  reefs,  on  the  island  of  Battoo, 
near  Sumatra,  which  was  exposed  by  a  violent  earthquake.  The 
largest  was  5  feet  4  inches  in  length  and  9  inches  in  circumference  at  the 
base,  tapering  upwards  to  2£  inches.  Most  of  them  were  covered  with 
small  Oysters  and  Serpulae  for  about  a  foot  from  their  upper  extremity, 
showing  that  they  must  have  protruded  that  distance  from  the 
muddy  bottom  upwards  into  the  water.  But  owing  either  to  the 
depth  or  the  muddiness  of  the  water,  they  had  escaped  notice  till  the 
natural  convulsion  which  laid  bare  the  bottom  of  the  bay. 
Mr.  Griffiths  remarked  that  the  large  end  was  completely  closed,  and 
had  a  rounded  appearance  and  was  very  thin,  while  the  small  end  was 
very  brittle  and  divided  by  a  longitudinal  septum  running  down 
for  8  or  9  inches.  Many  of  the  shells  he  described  as  nearly  straight, 
while  others  were  crooked  and  contorted.  The  substance  of  the  shell 
he  described  as  having  a  fibrous  and  radiated  appearance.  And 
herein  lies  the  only  essential  difference  between  his  specimens  and 
these  before  you,  which  for  the  most  part  present  a  concentric,  not 
radiated,  appearance.*  In  all  other  particulars  they  approach  very 
nearly  to  Mr.  Griffiths'  Battoo  Shells,  except  in  their  smaller  size. 

Godfrey  Sellius  had  been  the  first  in  1733  to  recognise  a  true 
bivalve  mollusc  in  Teredo.  But  it  was  reserved  for  Sir  Everard 
Home,  R.  N.,  in  1806  to  discover  a  species  of  Teredo  in  the  shells 
Mr.  Griffiths  had  found  at  Battoo.  He  bestowed  on  it  the  name  of 
Teredo  gigantea.  He  published  his  discovery  in  a  paper  entitled 
"  Observations  on  the  Shell  of  the  Sea-worm  found  on  the  Coast  of 
Sumatra,  proving  it  to  belong  bto  a  species  of  Teredo,"  and  presented 
the  specimens  from  Battoo,  as  well  as  others  found  in  "  Another  inlet 
of  the  sea,  sticking  out  from  rather  hard  mud  mixed  with  sand  and 
small  stones  from  8  to  10  inches  or  more  and  from  1  to  3  fathoms 
underwater,"  to  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons. 
Unfortunately  these  have  now  all  disappeared,  except  two  marked 
E348  and  E  349c.  They  are  thus  described  in  the  Catalogue  :— 
"E348. — Teredo  (Furcella)  arenaria — Rumph.  sp.  (Teredo  gigantea. 
Home).  Habitat :  Indian  Ocean.  Presented  by  Capt.  Sir  E.  Home, 
R.  N.  E349. — Specimens  marked  a  to  i.  c. — The  terminal  portion 
of  the  shell  and  the  double  tube." 

*  In  some  instances  the  outer  and  inrer  layers  are  shelly  and  those  in  the  centre  dis- 
tinctly crystalline.  In  a  few  the  texture  of  the  shell  is  crystalline  throughout.  The  animal 
could  not  h*ve  formed  a  crystalline  shell.  But  by  the  action  ef  the  mud  or  water  in 
which  it  was  depisited  the  shell  may  have  been  cystallized,  as  I  have  pointed  out  is  com- 
mon with  those  found  near  the  brick-fields  on  the  west  of  the  Flats ;  and  the  crystals  may 
have  been  subsequently  decomposed  by  some  other  inflnence  on  the  surfaces  exposed  to  it. 


190  NATURAL  HISTOKY. 


Among  the  lost  specimens  are  some  "  showing  the  manner  m 
which  the  animal  closes  the  tube  with  transverse  septa  at  certain 
periods  of  growth"  and  "  the  pallets  which  are  attached  to  the  base 
of  the  tube," 

Henceforth  the  right  of  this  mud  or  sand  borer  to  a  place  in  the 
genus  Teredo  and  family  Pholadida^  appears  to  have  been  always 
recognised.  How  or  where  he  got  the  name  of  Kuphus,  or  Uuphus, 
or  Cyphus,  for  there  seems  to  be  some  uncertainty  in  regard  to  its 
spelling,  by  which  he  is  known  to  Gutteard,  I  cannot  say.  But 
Sowerby  in  the  "Thesaurus  Conchyliorum  "  thus  describes  two  species, 
giganteus  and  clausus,  of  a  genus  '  Kuphus,'  Gutteard,  synonym, 
4  FurcelW,  Oken  : — "The  tube  of  this  sand-burrowing  mollusc  attains 
the  length  of  some  feet,  and  has  been  known  as  the  gigantic  septaria 
of  Lamarck.  The  small  end  which  protrudes  from  the  surface  of  the 
sand  is  divided  by  a  central  septum,  and  sometimes  forms  a  double 
separated  tube.  The  pallets  of  the  larger  species  only  are  known  ; 
they  are  spathulate  and  deltoid.  No  valves  have  been  found  of  either 
species."*  The  only  other  known  specimens  of  Kuphus  in  England 
beside  the  two  I  have  just  mentioned  in  the  College  of  Surgeons  are 
those  in  the  British  Museum.  In  the  family  Pholadidee,  next  to  genus 
Teredo  is  a  specimen  marked  "  Cuphus  (Gutteard)."  Under  it  is  written 
* '  Furcella  arenaria  (Gutteard  sp.)«"  It  is  a  piece  of  tube  15  inches  long, 
with  a  closed  and  rounded  end  showing  a  visible  suture.  By  it  are  two 
pallets.  There  is  nothing  to  show  where  any  of  these  specimens  was 
found,  and  no  one  at  tha  Museum  seemed  to  know.  Besides  these,  in 
another  show-case  are  two  very  long  and  big  pieces  of  tube,  wanting 
the  round  ends,  but  shoeing  well  the  longitudinal  division  into  two  at 
the  smaller  end.  One  of  them  is  labelled  "  Singapore."  The  other, 
3  feet  9  inches  long,  has  no  history  ;  but  Mr.  Smith,  the  Curator, 
believed  both  pieces  were  obtained  from  Mr.  Charlesworth,  a  well- 
known  Geologist. 

Woodward  in  1854,  writing  of  Teredo,  after  describing  T.navalis  and 
corniformis,  continues  : — "  The  tube  of  the  Giant  Teredo  (T.  armaria, 
Rumph.,  Furcella,  Lamarck)  is  often  a  yard  long  and  2  inches  in  its 
greatest  diameter.  When  broken  across,  it  exhibits  a  radiating  pris- 
matic structure.  The  siphonal  end  is  divided  lengthwise,  and  some- 
times prolonged  into  two  diverging  tubes."  In  1885,  Win.  Clark 
wrote  an  account  of  Teredo,  in  which  he  suggested  that  certain  points 

*  I  have  never  found  any  pallets.  If  they  do  not  exist,  it  may  be  because  the  Byculla 
Flat  specimens  belong  to  the  smaller  species,  which  to  judge  from  the  size  of  those  found 
would  appear  to  be  the  case. 


NOTE  ON  SOME  POST-PLIOCENE  MOLLUSCS  FROM  THE  BYCULLA  FLATS.     191 

of  analogy  of  Teredo  and  Dentalium  make  it  appear  that  the  former  is 
the  passage  between  Lamellibranches  and  Gasteropods  ;  that  is  to  say, 
putting  the  proposition  in  a  more  popular  form,  Kuphus  may  be 
regarded  as  the  connecting  link  between  bivalves  and  univalves.  Lastly, 
in  May  1875  was  published  an  illustrated  paper  on  Kuphus  in  Reeves' 
"Conchologia  Iconica"  (probably  written  by  Mr.  Sowerby,  Mr.  Reeves 
having  died  in  1865),  which  thus  describes  the  genus  Kuphus,  Guttearcl 
Cyphus  : — "  Mollusc  ;  sand-burrowing  ;  tube  large,  white,  rough, 
slightly  ringed ;  posteriorly  attenuated  ;  divided  interiorly  into  two 
tubes ;  chambered  transversely  with  septiform  laminae  ;  valves  un- 
known; compressor  palmets  shelly  deltoid." 

The  writer  goes  on  to  point  out  that  the  general  appearance  of  the 
tube  is  so  like  that  of  the  Teredo  as  to  leave  little  doubt  of  the  nature 
of  the  animal  and  its  affinity  with  the  genus  Teredo.  At  the  same 
time  he  says  it  can  hardly  be  included  in  that  genus,  the  valves  having 
never  been  seen,  and  it  being  certain  that  the  animal  does  not  bore  like 
the  Teredines. 

He  figures  two  species,  giganlm  and  clausa,  the  former  of  which 
has  the  lower  end  broadly  open,  the  latter  closed  in  a  rounded  oval 
disc  with  a  visible  suture. 

It  is  hard  to  see  how,  with  a  closed  and  rounded  end,  inside  which 
the  valves,  if  any,  must  be  situated,  the  animal  can  have  conducted 
its  boring  operations  through  the  mud,  especially  as  the  shell  at  this 
part  is  described  as  very  thin.  I  have  a  theory,  of  course  a  mere  guess, 
as  I  have  never  seen  the  anterior  extremity  of  the  shell,  which  you 
may  think  it  presumptuous  in  me  to  advance,  but  still  it  does  seem  to 
me  not  impossible  that  the  closed  end  may  be  not  the  characteristic  of 
a  species,  but  due  to  the  act  of  the  individual.  We  have  noticed  the 
rounded  projections,  the  shell  of  which  is  very  thin,  occurring  wher- 
ever the  animal  stopped  progressing  in  the  old  direction  and  started 
in  a  new.  Suppose  for  any  reason  he  did  not  start  again,  the  tube 
would  end  in  a  rounded  projection.  Might  not  this  account  for  the 
rounded  ends  of  some  specimens  ?  Sir  Everard  Home,  in  his  paper 
already  mentioned,  says  that  both  Teredo  gigantea  and  Teredo 
navalisj  when  arrived  at  their  full  growth,  close  up  the  ends  of 
their  shells,  and  that  death  is  not  the  consequence  of  this  act.  In 
some  of  Mr.  Griffiths'  specimens  he  says  the  shell  was  considerably 
thickened  at  the  end,  and  in  a  few  the  animal  had  receded  up  the 
tube,  forming  new  inclosures  more  than  once,  and  at  the  same  time 
thickening  the  walls  of  the  tube  so  as  to   diminish    the    canal    in 


192  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


proportion  to  the  diminution  of  its  own  size,  showing  that  it  must  have 
survived  for  a  considerable  time  the  first  closing  of  its  lower 
end. 

You  thus  see  how  little  is  as  yet  known  of  this  last  discovered  species 
of  the  genus  Teredo.  But  this  scantiness  of  information  and  paucity 
of  specimens  may  be  attributed  rather  to  the  inaccessibility  than  to  the 
numerical  scarcity  of  the  creature.  For  an  animal  that  bores  several 
feet  deep  into  a  muddy  bottom  several  feet  below  water  cannot  be 
said  to  offer  much  encouragement,  at  least  to  human  beings,  to  make 
his  acquaintance.  But  the  introduction  may  in  a  measure  be  facilitated 
if  the  tubes  to  be  found  in  such  numbers  about  the  Byculla  Flats  are 
in  fact  the  remains  of  this  creature.  That  they  are,  I  think,  may 
be  inferred.  First,  from  the  similarity  of  the  place  in  which  they 
are  found  to  that  described  as  the  home  of  Mr.  Griffiths'  "  Sea-worm." 
At  the  time  when  the  Indian  Ocean  ebbed  and  flowed  across  the 
Byculla  Flats,  their  condition  must  have  nearly  resembled  that  of  the 
shallow  sheltered  bay,  with  a  muddy  bottom,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Sumatra.  Secondly,  the  general  appearance  of  the  shelly  tubes  here 
agrees  with  the  descriptions  I  have  quoted  to  you  in  every  point, 
except  that  the  structure  is  concentric  instead  of  radiating,  which 
may  be  due  either  to  a  difference  of  species  or  to  the  alteration  the 
shells  have  undergone  in  the  process  of  fossilization.*  Thirdly,  and 
most  important,  we  recognise  here  the  longitudinal  septum,  dividing 
the  tube  into  two  for  some  inches  of  its  length,  which  characterized  the 
shells  discovered  by  Mr.  Griffiths. 

It  is  true  that  in  the  descriptions  and  specimens  I  have  mentioned 
of  Kuphus,  there  are  the  closed  and  rounded  lower  ends  which  I  have 
not  yet  succeeded  in  finding.  But  these  are  probably  still  awaiting 
discovery  some  few  feet  lower  down.  Major  Frere  tells  me  he  found 
one,  but  I  am  sorry  I  never  saw  it.  I  have  found  these  two  speci- 
mens, marked  No.  7,  which  at  first  I  was  inclined  to  hope  might  be 
the  extreme  tips  of  the  rounded  ends,  the  shell  of  which  you  will 
remember  is  described  as  being  very  thin.  I  am  however  now  inclined 
to  think  that  they  are  nothing  more  than  the  excrescences,  which  we 
saw  the  animal  threw  out  in  his  shell  whenever  he  changed  his  direc- 
tion,  and    which  have   been   knocked   off  the  tube.     I  he  group  of 

*  If  the  process  of  crystallization  were  gradual,  and  the  crystal  were  substituted  for  the 
shell  in  successive  layers,  hut  were  afterwards  decomposed,  say  by  heat,  the  structure  of 
the  tube  would  be  concentric  and  the  text,ur«  non-crystalliue.  If  tn«  h»at  were  not  suffi- 
cient to  penetrate  the  whole  tbirkness  of  tube,  the  centre  layers  would  still  be  crystal- 
line, &s  first  altered  from  the  shell,  and  the  outer  and  inner  l  on-crystal  line,  Dot  accord- 
ing to  the  original  structure  of  the  shell,  but  owing  to  the  second  alteration  it  had  under- 
gone from  its  crystalline  shape. 


NOTE  ON  SOME  POST-PLIOCENE  MOLLUSCS  PROM  THE    BYCULLA  FLATS.     193 

specimens,   marked  No.  8,   shows  how  prominent  some  of  these  excre- 
scences are,  and  how  easily  in  consequence  they  might  be  knocked  off. 

I  think,  from  the  very  large  number  of  the  tubes  now  to  be  found 
loose  on  the  Byculla  Flats,  that  the  animals  inhabiting  those  tubes 
actually  lived  in  the  soil  of  which  the  Flats  are  composed,  and  that  if 
we  dug  further  down  we  should  come  upon  their  lower  ends.  But 
of  course  it  is  possible  that  the  fragments  of  tube  now  found  on  the 
Flats  were  only  washed  in  from  outside,  and  that  the  lower  ends  are 
still  sticking,  head  downwards,  in  some  other  soil.  The  fact  that 
we  have  only  found  upper  ends  as  yet  on  the  Flats  lends  colour  to  this 
theory.  The  two  specimens,  marked  No.  9,  however  still  show  the 
sort  of  soil  in  which  to  look  for  the  animal.  These  are  evidently 
lumps  of  clay,  though  now  considerably  indurated,  through  which, 
while  soft,  the  creatures  which  inhabited  these  tubes  were  working 
their  way. 

Bearing  this  in  mind,  and  remembering  the  description  of  their 
habitat  as  given  by  Mr.  Griffiths,  I  would  recommend  careful  search 
to  be  made  in  those  sheltered  bays  and  creeks,  which  so  abound  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bombay,  with  muddy  bottoms  over  which  the  tide 
flows  with  no  great  violence  to  a  height  of  from  6  to  15  feet.  If  once 
we  can  find  their  home,  there  will  be  no  lack  of  specimens,  for  the 
abundance  of  remains  on  the  Byculla  Flats  shows  that,  in  numbers  at 
least,  they  are  not  deficient.  A  large  capture  of  living  specimens 
would  probably  be  attended  with  important  results  to  science  gene- 
tally.  It  would  certaiuly  be  a  valuable  addition  to  the  best  collections 
in  England,  and  would  reflect  great  credit  on  this  Society.  It  will 
however  be  necessary  to  remember  that  as  all  that  glitters  is  not  gold, 
so  every  tube  is  not  a  Kuphus.  Here  is  a  small  group  of  specimens, 
marked  No.  10,  which  are  the  tubes  of  Dentalia,  also  very  common  on 
the  Byculla  Flats.  One  you  see,  comparatively  modern,  is  hardly 
altered  at  all  ;  but  the  others  from  their  appearance  might  be  coeval 
with  the  oldest  and  most  altered  of  the  specimens  of  Kuphus  to  which 
I  have  introduced  you.  The  Dentalia,  you  will  remember,  are  the  crea- 
tures referred  to  by  Clark  in  propounding  his  theory  that  "  Teredo  is  the 
passage  between  Lamellibranchs  and  Gasteropoda."  They  also  are  very 
interesting  creatures,  because,  if  Gasteropod  at  all,  they  are  very 
exceptional  members  of  that  order*  Huxley  regards  them  as 
Pteropods.  They  constitute  a  very  lowly-organised  group  without 
distinct  gills  or  heart  and  with  a  but  imperfectly  developed  head.  The 
slender  tubular  shell,  as   you   see   from  these   specimens,   is  curved, 


194  NATURAL  HISTORY.. 

tapers  suddenly,  has  no  division,  and  has  an  aperture  at  each  end,,  that 
at  the  smaller  being  quadrangular,  features  which  readily  distinguish 
it  from  Kuphus. 

But  I  must  not  allow  myself  to  he  betrayed  into-  trespassing  further 
on  your  patience.  If  I  were  to  attempt  to  describe  all  the  shells  to 
be  found  on  the  Byculla.  Flats  I  should  never  have  done.  Among 
them  I  have  no  doubt  are  many  besides  Kuphus  that  have  hitherto 
enjoyed  a  reputation  for  scarcity,  simply  because  by  their  inaccessibi- 
lity they  have  been  seldom  seen  and  little  studied.  By  convenient- 
ly investigating  these  remains  at  our  leisure  on  dry  land,  we  may 
learn  so  much  of  the  history  and  habits  of  the  animal  as  to  be  able 
more  readily  to.  secure  living  specimens  in  the  neighbourhood. 

J.  B.  H, 

24th  July. 


THE  BIRDS  OF  SOUTH  GUJERAT. 
By  H.  Littledale,  Baroda. 

In  Major  E.  A.  Butler's  excellent  list  of  the  u  Birds  of  Sind,  Catch, 
Kathiawar,  North  Gujerat,  and  Mount  Abu"  (in  the  Bombay  Gazetteer) 
several  birds  are  omitted  which  have  been  found  in  South  Gujerat 
and  the  Panch  Mahals,  and  which  I  think  must  certainly  extend  to 
North  Gujerat  and  the  Rajputana  Forests  at  least,  if  not  to  Eastern 
Kathiawar  also.  The  fauna  of  any  district  will  obviously  be  inter- 
mediate between  the  faunas  surrounding  it,  and  one  oannot  draw 
a  hard-and-fast  line  beyond  which  birds  arc  never  fouud  to  travel.  In 
fact  "never"  is  a  word  that  the  Ornithologist  should  specially  beware 
of;  with  birds  "  the  world  is  all  before  them  where  to  choose,"  and 
they  exert  their  privilege  of  choice  to  an  extent  that  often  upsets  the 
dogmatic  Naturalist,  whose  li  never"  has  to  be  modified  into  u  hardly 
ever"  to  suit  the  facts  of  the  case. 

12.  Falco  babylonicus  (Gurney).— The  Red-cap  Falcon  is  only 
recorded  by  Major  Butler  from  Sind;  but  Mr.  Doig  shot  one  at 
Sanand,  near  Ahmedabad. 

27.  Aquila  mogilnik  (S.  S.  Gm.). — Mr.  Doig  has  shot  at  the  same 
place;  Butler  only  records  it  from  Sind. 

35.  Lbiuaetus  cirrliatus  (Gm.). — The  Crested  Hawk-eagle  Major 
Butler  records  from  u  Mount  Abu,  rare."  Mr.  Davidson  writes  to  me 
that   "  it  must   breed  with   you  ;   it   is  the  common  Eagle  in  Werft 


THE  BIRDS  OP  SOUTH  GUJERAT.  1"95 


Khandesh,  aud  from  our  liill&=,  Pavagarh(a  mountain  28  miles  north-east 
of  Baroda),  is  seen;"  but  I  have  not  yet  found  it.  It  probably  will 
turn  up  in  the  hilly  forests  of  Chota  Udepur  and  tbe  Panch  Mahals. 

39.  Spilornis  cheela  (Lath.). — The  Crested  Serpent-eagle  Butler 
records  only  from  "  Sind,  rare."  Mr.  Barnes  {Birds  of  Bombay}  says  it 
11  is  very  rare ;  one  was  obtained  at  Savantvadi  by  Mr.  Crawford  ;  aud 
another  in  Sind  by  Mr.  Blandford  :  these  are,  I  believe,  the  only 
recorded  instances  of  its  occurrence  within  our  limits."  I  shot  a  female 
and  got  an  egg  in  a  nest  at  Pattra,  15  miles  from  Dohad,  Panch 
Mahals,  12th  April  1886.  Mr.  Doig  and  I  were  both  of  opinion  when 
examining  it  in  the  flesh  that  this  bird  was  true  cheela  and  not  minor, 
and  so  I  think  its  right  place  is  in  the  museum  of  our  Society,  where 
ii  will  be  found  by  any  one  wishing  to  verify  the  record,  which,  as  we 
had  only  measurements  to  go  by  (Hume,  Rough  Notes^  Jerdon  and 
Barnes  being  consulted),  and  no  skins  to  compare,  would  be  desirable. 
The  nest  was  in  a  fork  of  a  Kodai  tree,  in  thin  jungle,  20u  yards  in 
from  the  flank  of  the  bed  of  the  Anas  River.  It  was  a  poor  straggly 
affair,  not  bigger  than  a  Kite's,  and  hardly  so  compact.  The  egg,  hand- 
somely blotched  and  streaked  with  dark  red  at  the  larger  end,  mea- 
sures 2*6  x  2*2.  On  the  25th  of  May  I  saw  a  pair  of  either  this  species 
or  S.  minor  feeding  a  young  bird  near  Beecheewara  (Dungarpur, 
Meywar). 

57*  Pemis  ptihrhynchus  (Tern.). — Major  Butler  records  the  Crested 
Honey-buzzard  from  u  Mount  Abu,  rare."  Mr.  Doig  tells  me  that  he 
has  shot  it  in  the  Ahmedabad  District;  he  and  I  found  a  nest,  one  egg, 
in  a  high  Kadai  tree  in  thickish  jungle  at  Singargarh,  near  Saonth 
Panch  Mahals,  and  shot  the  female  on  the  25th  April  1886 ;  and  we  saw 
another  at  Saran,  near  Dungarpur,  Meywar,  5th  May  1886.  The 
egg  was  white,  faintly  marked  with  cold  brown  at  the  larger  end. 

65.  Symium  octllatum  (Less.)  is  .said  by  Butler  to  be  a  "perma- 
nent resident  (I  believe)."  I  found  its  nest,  two  eggs,  4th  March  1886 
near  the  Race-course,  Baroda.  One  egg  was  much  harder  set  than  the 
other,  and  had  a  bloodstain  on  it  from  the  remains  of  a  half-eaten 
squirrel  that  lay  beside  it»  In  1885  I  was  too  late  for  this  nest,  find- 
ing one  fluffy  little  fellow  snapping  his  bill  at  me  when  I  called  on  the 
family  on  the  31st  March. 

72.     Ketupa  ceylonensis  (Gmel.). — u  Sind,  lare,"  says  Major  Butler; 

1  has  not  yet  been  recorded  from  Gujerat,  neither  did  I  meet  with  it  in 

Rajputana  or  Central  India"  says  Mr.  Barnes.     Mr.  Doig  and  I  saw 

three,  and   shot   one     adult   and     one   young  bird   at    Saran,    near 


196  NATURAL  HISTORY, 


Dungarpur,  Meywar,  7th  May  1886  ;  and  Mr.  Doig  shot  a  specimen 
at  Harsole,  near  Ahmedabad,  in  1884.  The  young  one  at  Sarau 
seemed  about  four  months'  old. 

74.  Scops  pemiatus  (Hodgs.) — "  Sind,  cold-weather  visitant,  rare," 
is  all  Major  Butler  records ;  and  Mr.  Barnes  says  it  "  occurs  spar- 
ingly throughout  the  district,  except  perhaps  Gujerat."  I  therefore 
record  that  on  the  8th  February  1886  I  shot  one,  in  the  rufous 
phase  of  plumage,  at  Pavagarh,  on  the  hill-side  above  Champanir, 
and  my  shikarry  said  he  saw  another  which  was  white  (*'.£.,  the  adult 
phase). 

15ter.  Scops  bakkamuna  (Forst.) — Mr.  Doig  got  a  family  of  six  of 
these  at  Saran,  and  I  kept  one  of  the  young  ones  alive  for  several  days  ; 
they  are  only  recorded  from  Sind  and  Abu,  and  with  nocturnal  species 
every  occurrence  is  worth  record.  The  nest-hole  was  in  a  high  Moivra 
tree,  and  was  inhabited  also  by  a  colony  of  tree-ants,  who  made  it 
uncommonly  hot  for  the  man  who  got  down  the  Owlets  for  us ;  in  fact 
he  twice  "resigned,"  but  the  sight  of  a  depreciated  "  dib"  encouraged 
him  to  persevere  and  succeed  at  last. 

77.  Glaucidium  radiatum  (Tickell). — Butler  only  records  this  from 
the  jungles  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Abu  ;  but  we  found  it  common  in 
the  mahals  from  Dohad  northward  to  Saran  (Meywar)  ;  and  A.  bramct 
correspondingly  scarce,  and  only  near  the  villages. 

98.  Cypselus  melba  (Lin.). — I  only  mention  to  protest  against 
Major  Butler's  remark  "only  occurs,  as  a  rule,  in  Gujerat,  within  reach 
of  the  hills."  As  the  Gujerat  Alpine  Swifts  are  within  reach  of  the  Hima- 
layas if  they  choose  to  go  there  to  roost  and  return  in  the  morning, 
this  seems  an  unnecessary  limit  to  place  on  the  range  of  birds  with 
such  wonderful  powers  of  flight !  I  have  frequently  seen  them  over- 
head near  Baroda,  and  have  shot  them  on  the  21st  September. 

104.  Dendrochelidon  coronata  (Tick.). — This  lovely  bird  is  not 
in  Butler's  list;  but  it  is  quite  common  in  the  hill  jungles  of  the  Panch 
Mahals,  especially  near  the  tanks  in  those  jungles.  I  found  a  nest  with 
egg  on  a  thin  bough  of  a  leaf  less  tree,  20  feet  above  the  path  in 
the  midst  of  jungle,  near  Saran.  The  nest  was  hardly  1|  inch  in 
diameter,  including  the  bough  to  which  it  was  glued  ;  and  both  nest 
and  egg  are  safe  and  sound  in  my  collection — a  feat  which  Mr.  Hume 
(Nests  and  Eggs)  never  managed  to  accomplish,  and  he  says  "it 
is  almost  impossible  to  get  the  egg  (for  they  lay  only  one)  down 
unbroken. 

118.     Merops  jphilippinus  (Lin.). — Major   Butler   only  records  from 


THE  BIRDS  OF  SOUTH  GUJERAT.  107 

"  Mount  Abu,  rare,  occurring  only  as  a  straggler."  This  leads  me  to 
remark  that  Major  Butler  does  not  appear  to  have  fully  worked  out 
these  species,  that  keep  along  rivers  such  as  are  more  common  in  South 
than  in  North  Gujerat.  This  species  is  common  enough,  and  breeds 
along  the  Mahi  from  the  mouth  nearly  to  the  source  ;  it  has  to  keep 
to  the  larger  rivers  during  the  breeding  season  (May),  leaving  them 
for  the  meadows  during  the  rains. 

124.  Coracias  garrula  (Lin.). — Butler  says  "  Sind ;  seasonal 
visitant ;  not  common."  Mr.  Doig  notes  in  my  copy  of  Barnes  : 
"  very  common  in  Gujerat,  the  Ahmedabad  districts,  in  August  and 
September,  and  again  in  February  ;"  and  I  saw  two  at  Goblej,  near 
Khaira,  September  27th,  1886. 

127.  Pelargopsis  gurial  (Pears.).- — The  Stork-billed  Kingfisher  is 
not  recorded  by  Butler ;  but  we  found  it  along  the  Mahi  in  the  Panch 
Mahals  (and  see  my  paper  in  No.  II.  of  this  Journal). 

147.  Palaeornis  eupairia  (Lin.). — Butler  refers  to  one  Sind  speci- 
men of  doubtful  authority.  Mr.  Murray  (in  Epist.)  says  "  this  was 
undoubtedly  a  cage-bird   escaped ;  tail  feathers  much  abraded." 

164.  Yungipicus  nanus  (Vig.). — "  Mount  Abu,  rare,"  says  Major 
Butler.  Mr.  Doig  saw  a  pair,  and  shot  a  male  near  Ganji,  Dungar- 
pur,  Meywar,  4th  May  1886.     It  measured  only  4|  inches  in  length. 

193fo's.  Megalwma  inornata  (Wald.). — Common  in  the  jungles  of 
the  Panch  Mahals  and  at  Pavagarh. 

238.     Dicaeum  minimum  (Tick.). 

240.  Piprisoma  agile  (Tick.). — Neither  of  these  little  flower-peckers 
is  in  Major  Butler's  list  ;  they  are  both  permanent  residents  about 
Baroda. 

250.  Sitla  castaneiventris  (Frankl.). — Not  in  Major  Butler's  list. 
I  shot  a  pair  at  Saran,  Dungarpur,  Meywar,  and  saw  two  others  there 
5th  May  1886.     They  did  not  appear  to  be  breeding  then. 

268.  Volvocivora  syTcesii  (Strickl.).»-Major  Butler  records  from 
"  Abu  and  the  low  hills  east  of  Deesa;  rare."  It  goes  east  after  the 
rains,  and  I  saw  it  not  unfrequently  in  the  Panch  Mahals  in  May, 
doubtless  on  its  way  west  to  breed,    which  it  does  about  Baroda. 

285.  Dissemurus  paradiseus  (Lin.). — Not  in  Major  Butler's  list, 
but  *'  breeds  in  the  east  of  Godhra,  and  therefore  probably  throughout 
the  Panch  Mahals'*   (J.  Davidson,  Esq.,  c.s.,  in  Epist.) 

293.  Lmcocerca  leucogaster  (Cuv.),  which  Major  Butler  only  records 
from  Abu,  breeds  at  Baroda  also,  through  rarely,  L.  aureola  being 
by  far  the  commoner  species. 


198  NATURAL   HISTORY, 


297.  Alseonax  latirostris  (Raffles). — Is  not  in  Major  Butler's  lift  j 
and  Mr.  Barnes  says  u  it  has  not  been  recorded  from  either  Sind  or 
Gujerat."  I  found  it  common  at  Sarari  in  Meywar  ;  shot  a  female, 
May  9th,  1886.  It  is  so  like  a  Sparrow  that  doubtless  it  has  been 
often  overlooked,  and  will  probably  be  found  in  quiet  shady  places, 
over  water,  throughout  the  jungles  of  the  Presidency,  except  Sind. 
Although  in  appearance  like  a  Sparrow,  it?  manners  resemble  those  of 
305,  Cyornis  tickelU ,  especially  in  its  robin-like  flutter  of  the  wings 
when  standing.  I  saw  it  ivhaclcing  some  insect  several  times  on 
a  bough,  just  as  a  Wood-shrike  does,  and  then  swallowing  the  big 
morsel  whole. 

452.  Ixos  luteolus  (Less.). — Not  in  Major  Butler's  list,  but 
common  about  Baroda  and  in  wooded  ravines  throughout  the 
district,, 

459.  Otocompsa  lemotis  (Gould). — Though  common  in  the  more 
desert  tracts  to  the  north,  I  have  never  seen  this  bird  in  the  park- 
like country  south  of  Ahmedabad  to  the  Nerbudda.  Mr.  Barnes 
however  says  it  "  is  far  from  being  uncommon  in  Gujerat." 

463.  Phyllornis  jerdoni  (Blyth).— -Not  in  Major  Butler's  list, 
but  nevertheless  occurring  sparingly  about  Baroda,  and  more  com- 
monly in  the  forests  of  the  Panch  Mahals. 

467  &  468.  Iora  zeylanica  (Gmel.),  which  Major  Butler  records 
only  from  Abu,  and  "  not  very  common  "  there,  is  very  plentiful 
about  Baroda,  where  I  have  found  many  of  its  nests, 

475.  Cospychus  saularis  (Lin.). — Major  Butler  calls  this  a  "  cold- 
weather  visitant."  A  pair  have  just  left  my  porch  with  their 
young  family  which  they  reared  there  this  June  !  I  saw  seven  adult 
birds  together  in  a  mango  grove  at  Jhalod,  Panch  Mahals,  20th 
May  1886. 

481.  Pratincola  capraia  (Lin.). — Major  Butler  calls  this  a  perma- 
nent resident  in  Gujerat  ;  but  it  certainly  is  not  found  in  the  Baroda 
District  from  April  to  September,  and  though  we  specially  watched 
for  it,  neither  Mr.  Doig  nor  I  saw  one  in  the  Panch  Mahals  last 
April  and  May. 

490ter.     Saxkola  capktrata. "»      Not  in  Butler's  list,  but  recorded  from 

517.     Lusciniola  neglectus.     j  Sind  in  Murray's  Verteb.  Zool.  of  Sind. 

553.  Hypolals  rama  (Sykes). — Although  the  Phylloscopinae  are  all 
cold-weather  visitants,  it  is  very  probable  that  others  breed  in  Sind 
besides  this  species,  which  Mr.  Doig  found  breeding  plentifully 
there. 


THE  BIRDS  OF  SOUTH  GUJERAT.  1 9& 

558.  Phylloscopus  lugubris  (Blyth). — Not  in  Butler's  list,  but  I  shot 
one  out  of  a  flock  of  five  near  Baroda  Race-course,  17th  September 
1885  ;  and  Mr.  Barnes  says  "  very  rare  winter  visitant  to  the  Deccan," 
which  give  us  two  landmarks  on  its  line  of  migration. 

bS2ii>s.      Sylvia  miniiscula*\      Neither   in    Butler's    list;  both    in 

582.  -  S.althea  )  Murray's  Verteb.  Zool.  of  Synd. 

560.  Phylloscopus  viridanus  (Blyth). — Not  in  Butler's  list.  Shot 
one  at  Pattra,  near  Dohad,  Panch  Mahals,  14th  April  1886.  Merely 
a  cold-weather  visitant  to  the  Deccan  "  (Barnes). 

631.     See  previous  paper,  Journal  No.  II. 

647.  Machlolophus  xanlliogenys  (Vigors). — Not  in  Butler's  list. 
Mr.  Doig  shot  a  male  in  a  mango  grove  at  Jhalod,  Panch  Mahals, 
21st  April  1 886,  evidently  breeding  or  about  to  breed ;  and  we  saw  a  pair 
at  that  a  bird  paradise"  Saran,*  near  Dungarpur,  about  ten  days  later. 

674.  Dendrocitta  rufa  (Lath.). — To  my  previous  paper  (Journal 
No.  II.)  let  me  add  regarding  this  bird  that  I  counted  twenty- 
three  (23)  of  them  fly  out  of  one  tree  at  Kadana  on  the  banks  of  the 
River  Mahi,  Panch  Mahals,  28th  April  1886,  and  found  them  very 
common  in  the  jungles  between  Dohad  and  Khairv\arraat  that  time. 

Serinus  pectoralis  (Murray),  sp.  nov. — Not  in  Butler's  list.  (See 
Verteb.  Zool.  of  Sind,  193,  as  also  p.  201  for  784,  Palumbus  casiotis.) 

765.  Spizcdavda  rfem(Sykes). — Not  in  Butler's  list  ;  but  this  is  the 
commoner  sort  about  Baroda,  and  S.  malabarica  the  rarer. 

805  &  306.  Cyo/nis  ticlcelli  (Blyth). —  Common  in  secluded  spots, 
near  water,  throughout  Gujerat,  though  not  recorded  from,  that  district 
by  Major  Butler. 

839.  Sypheotides  aurita  (Lath.). — Have  found  it  breeding  about 
Baroda  at  the  following  dates  : —  19th  August  1885. — Two  eggs,  and 
a   third,   a  bright  green  colour,  extracted   21st  September    1885. — 

c  There  is  a  stream  from  a  spring  hero,  with  overhanging  treee,  and  not 
another  drop  of, water  for  miles  around.  The  little  stream  is  only  abc  ut  5  yards 
broad,  and  after  a  course  of  300  yards  or  sodisappeaisin  the  sand;  but  I  noted 
in  my  diary  at  the  time  the  following  birds  in  that  one  little  oasis  : — Green 
Barbets  (inornata),  Coppersmith?,  Common  and  White-bellied  Drongos,  Dovep, 
Green  Pigetms,  Nuthatches  (250),  T  ckell's  Blue  Rsdbreast,  Titmice  (Grey  and 
Yellow-cheeked),  Oiioles,  Koels,  Crows,  Sparrow-hawk  (on  nest,  three  eggs), 
Owlets  (.4.  radiata,  Scops  bakhamuna),  Paradise  and  Fantail  Flycatchers, 
Kingfishers  (P.  gurial,  C.  rudis,  H.  smyrnntis,  and  A.  bengalensiti),  Wood- 
peckers (Aurantius  and  Mahrattensis),  Common  Sand-pipers,  Lapwings,  Painted 
Smd-grouse,  common  Mynahs,  Whit^-tbroated,  Hodgson's  and  Stewait's  Wnn- 
warblers,  Tret -pies,  Common  and  Yellow-throated  Sparrows,  Bulbuls  (462), 
Brahminy  Myuahs,  Fish  owls  (K.  ceylonensis),  Ores- ted  Tree-swifts,  Created 
Honey  bnzzards,  Babblers,  seven  large  Grey  Cuckoo-shiikes,  Magpie  R  >bins, 
Green  Bittern,  Rose  lioged  and  Rose-headed  Parrakcets,  Mottled  WolcI  owl, 
Indian  .Nightjar — what  a  choir  ! 


200  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


Caught  three  chicks  just  out  of  shell ;  no  nest;  fragments  of  shell  on 
a  flat  bit  of  ground  amid  thin  grass.  9th  August  1886. — Four  fresh 
eggs.  13th  September  1886. — Three  fresh  eggs.  All  the  foregoing 
from  near  Bakrol,  six  miles  from  Baroda. 

842.  Glareola  orientalis.  -\ 

845bis.  Ch.  pluvialis.  >  Not  in  Butler,  vide  Murray,  op.  cit. 

847.       HK  ventralis.  ) 

843.  Glareola  lactea  (Tem.). — The  Lesser  Swallow  Plover  not  in. 
Butler's  list,  though  common  in  the  sandy,  rocky  bed  of  the  Mahi  above 
Wasad.  I  got  18  eggs  in  the  bed  of  the  Mahi  above  Sihora,  6th  April 
1886.  There  were  no  nests,  and  the  eggs  were  either  single  or 
in  pairs  on  islands.  Some  were  far  in  under  the  ledges  of  rock  ; 
others  right  out  on  the  gravel  ;  and  the  sheltered  eggs  were  far 
finer  coloured  than  the  exposed  ones. 

900  Parra  indica  (Lath.). — Butler  says  u  permanent  resident,, 
i"  believe.''''  It  breeds  commonly  about  Baroda,  laying  its  eggs  on 
the  floating  lotus  leaves.  People  in  India  generally  call  this  bird 
a  Jacana,  pronounced  Jakana;  but  the  name  is  spelt  Jacana  in  Coues's 
Birds  of  North  America,  and  that  indicates  the  correct  pronunciation, 
I  believe,  though   Ogilvy's  dictionary  pronounces  it  as  Jakana, 

924£/s.     Not  in  Butler,   vide  Murray,  p.  270. 

9321.  Ardelta  Jlavicollis  (Lath.). — Only  recorded  from  Sind  by 
Major  Butler ;  but  Mr.  Doig  got  it  near  Ahmedabad  ;  and  I  saw 
a  pair  near  Baroda,  May  1884,  but  as  I  was  waiting  for  a  Panther 
(that  never  came),  I  did  not  secure  a  specimen. 

850.  JEgialitis  minuta  (Palls.). — To  the  instances  recorded  by 
Major  Butler  I  may  add  that  I  have  frequently  shot  it  along  the  Mahi 
and  found  two  nests,  three  eggs  each,  last  April  6-th,  at  Sihora.  On: 
the  Mahi  south  of  Dakore  on  the  same  day  I  found  three  nests,  two. 
eggs  each,  of  JEsacus  recurvirostris  along  the  river-bed,  thus 
justifying  Butler's  remark  of  this  species,  (858)  "  permanent, 
resident,  7"  believe.'''' 


NOTE  ON  A  RECENT    PAPER    BY    DR.  BONAVIA 

ON  THE  MANGO. 

By  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar,  I.  M.  D., 

Acting  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Grant  Medical  College,  Bombay. 

Under  the  presumption  that  he  was  presented  with   real    Bombay 
mangoes*    Dr.    Bonavia  without   reserve   declares    that   they     were 


NOTE  ON  A  EECENT  PAPER  BY  DR.  BONAVIA  ON  THE  MANGO.  201 

disappointing.     He  describes  tliem  as  having  a  red  cheek  and  yellow 
colour  ;  they  were  stringy.     The   very  fact  of  their    being   stringy 
precludes  them  from  being  considered  the  real  Alphonso  mangoes, 
much  less  could  they  be  considered  the  best.     Any  mango    grown   in 
Bombay,  or  around  Bombay,  may  have  a  red  cheek  and  yellow  colour  ; 
but  that  does    not  make  it   a  good   mango.     The  entire  absence  of 
strings  is  the  characteristic  of  the  real  Bombay  Alphonso,    or  Afoos  as 
it  is  popularly  called.     The  mesocarp,  or  rather  the  sarcocarp,  consisting 
of  the  pulp  of  the  fruit,  can  be  cut  through  like  fresh  cheese  that  is  not 
very  hard,  or  can  be  easily  scooped  out  by  means  of  an  ordinary  des- 
sert  spoon    with  a    clean    cut.     As  regards  the  real    mango  being 
inferior  in  flavour  to  the  scores  of  varieties  Dr.  Bonavia  has  seen  in 
Upper  India,  even  supposing  he  has  tasted  the  best  Bombay   mango, 
it  is  a  mere  matter  of  taste.    There  is  no  accounting  for  tastes.     There 
is  room  for  wide  varieties.     The  common  Konkani  kunbi  will  never 
care  to  eat  the  finest  table-rice  that  a  high  class  Hindu  would  prefer. 
The  kunbi  would   prefer  his  coarse  rice,  which  he   declares  is  sweeter 
and  more  substantial.    Children  will  never  eat,  at  any  rate  fully  appre- 
ciate, the  real  Afoos^  but  will  be  content  to  suck  the  juice  of  the  Kaiwal 
or  smaller  varieties  of  mangoes.    The  real  Bombay  mango  is  luscious, 
sweet  as  honey,  and  its  epicarp  or  rind  very  thin,  almost  transparent. 
The  thinner  it  is  the  better,  and  such  as  can  be  easily  peeled  off  with- 
out tearing  through  the  rich  and  succulent  pulp.     It  does  not  matter 
then  whether  it  has  a  red  cheek  or  not,  or  whether  it  is  yellow,  or  rich 
orange,  or  saffron  coloured.     To  turn  out  a   good  mango,  free   from 
acidity,  the  mango  must  be  plucked  at  the  proper  time.    The  nearer  it 
is  to  the  ripe  condition  while  yet  on  the  tree  the  better  will  it  turn  out. 
If  the  mango  is  plucked  immature,  even  if  it  be  if  the  best  kind,    it 
will  fail  to  give  satisfaction.   It  will  often,  near  the  stone  and  a  portion 
of  its    pulp,    remain   pale   in  appearance,    and   often   form   fibrous 
cavities,  and  will  be  acid  to  taste,  showing  that  there  has  been  a  local- 
ized gangrene  of  the  parts  concerned.     A  good  mango    on  the  other 
hand,  plucked  perfectly  mature  and  about  to  ripen,  will  require  certain- 
ly not  more  than  five,  six,  or  seven  days  at  the  outside  to  be  fit  for  the 
table.     "  The  mango  may  bear,"  I  agree    with  Dr.  Bonavia,    u  being 
plucked  under-ripe,  and  can  easily'' — so    far  as  transit  is  concerned 
I  think — "be  sent  to  England  and  there  ripened,"  but  I  question  if  it 
would   ever  ripen  under   such    circumstances  to  perfection.     A  good 
mango  can  never  ripen  well,  much  less  to  perfection,  under  the  chill- 
ing influence  of  the    cold  used    to   preserve  it.     Cold  may   prevent 


202  KATUtiAL  HIST02Y. 

decay  and  decomposition,  but  I  doubt  whether  will  ever  hasten  ripe  n- 
ing  or  help  it.  I  think  it  deteriorates  the  fruit.  Cape  pears  may  find 
a  market  in  Covent  Garden,  and  so  would  Bombay  mangoes  with 
a  brisk  journey  of  nineteen  days  across  the  continent  if  carefully 
packed  and  looked  after  constantly  during  the  Red  Sea  voyage  and 
continental  journey.  But  in  my  opinion  there  would  always  be 
a  difference  between  a  fresh  mature  mango  ripening  under  natural  pro- 
cesses in  five  days  and  an  under-ripe  mango  ripening  in  twenty 
days  under  forced  conditions  and  chilling  preservative  influences. 

There  is  often  so  much  deceit  practised  by  the  mango-sellers  in  the 
bazaar  that  an  unwary  and  uninitiated  foreigner  is  likely  to  be  taken- 
in  and  presented  with  any  wretched  mangoes — perhaps  some  thick 
skinned  Goa  mangoes — under  the  name  of  Alphonso  mangoes.  But 
anybody  that  knows  what  a  real  mango  is,  from  its  taste,  appearance, 
flavour  or  aroma  and  texture,  will  always  recognize  it.  Even  the  feel 
is  characteristic  ;  and  the  smell,  without  cutting,  is  diagnostic.  Ihe 
first  gatherings  of  these  mangoes  are  always  defective  and  sold  at 
enormous  prices,  and  Dr.  Bonavia  has  a  just  reason  to  complain  when  he 
finds  that  Rs.  6  have  to  be  paid  for  a  dozen  mangoes.  People  are  so 
impatient  to  eat  the  first  fruit  of  the  season  that  they  pay  down  any 
price.  The  agents  of  the  up-country  Bajahs  buy  them  up  at  fabulous 
rates,  as  the  Rajah's  money  is  almost  wit'  out  a  guardian  in  such  eases- 
Induced  by  the  hope  of  making  an  easy  fortune,  the  mango  contrac- 
tor takes  the  earliest  opportunity  to  have  his  pick  of  the  fruit,  and  in 
doing  so  often  plucks  under-ripe  mangoes,  which  sometimes  never 
ripen  at  all  or,  if  they  do,  do  not  develope  into  the  perfect  fruit  and  are 
insipid.  Sometimes  they  rot  during  the  ripening  process.  1  have 
had  an  opportunity  of  tasting  some  Upper  India  and  Sind  mangoes, 
and  the  Deccan,  Goa,  and  Bangalore  ones  are  common  enough, but  they 
do  not  come  up  to  the  Bombay  fruit.  It  is  not  my  intention  at  pre- 
sent to  write  anything  on  the  different  varieties  of  the  mangoes  found 
in  Bombay.  During  the  next  mango  season  the  Bombay  Natural 
History  will  hold  an  exhibition  of  the  different  varieties  of  the  mango, 
when  it  is  hoped  a  careful  list  of  the  various  kinds  will  be  made  out. 

I  come  now  to  another  part  of  Dr.  Bouavia's  remarks.  When  he 
says  that  he  has  preached  for  many  years  that  u  it  is  a  grave  mistake 
to  throw  away  the  thousands  of  stones  of  superb  mangoes  that  are 
consumed  every  year,"  one  would  think  that  Dr.  Bonavia  has  practi- 
cal experience  in  the  matter  sufficiently  strong  to  substantiate  his 
remarks;     He  is  clearly  mentioning  what  is  contrary    to    the    actual 


NOTE  ON  A  RECENT  PAPER  BY  DB.  BONAVIA  ON  THE  MANGO.  208 


experience  of  mango-culturists  on  this  side  of  India  when  he  says 
that  "  it  does  not  at  all  follow  that  a  stone  of  a  good  mango  will  not 
give  a  better  fruit  than  that  of  its  parent."  The  common  experience 
here  is  that  a  seedling  is  not  only  not  better  than  its  parent  in  the  pro- 
duction of  the  proper  fruit,  but  as  a  general  rule  is  not  even  as  good 
as  its  parent.  For  instance,  a  good  Alphonso  or  Payari  (spiked  or 
sharply  curved  at  the  apex)  can  never  be  cultivated  out  of  its  res- 
pective seedlings.  They  always  degenerate,  no  matter  what  the 
parent  is.  A  special  mango  has  always  to  be  obtained  from  grafts. 
Grafting  mangoes  is  an  industry  which  is  very  paying,  and  now  that 
the  whole  island  of  Salsette  is  under  extensive  cultivation  at  the  hands 
of  intelligent  and  painstaking  landowners,  it  is  certain  that  at  no 
distant  day  Bombay  will  be  abundantly  supplied  with  excellent 
graft  Alphonso  and  Payari  mangoes.  Notwithstanding  the  high 
authority  of  DeCandolle,  quoted  by  Dr.  Bonavia,  with  regard  to  the 
mango  cultivated  in  the  colony  of  Cayenne  bearing  stones  which 
produce  letter  fruit  than  that  of  the  original  stock,  the  common 
experience  in  India  with  regard  to  the  Alphonso  or  Bombay  mango  is 
different.  The  seed  as  it  developes  into  a  plant  takes  a  long  time  to 
bear  fruit,  the  fruit  itself  losing  the  characters  of  its  parent  The 
seed  of  an  Alphonso  mango  will  not  produce  an  Alphonso  fruit,  but 
degenerate  into  a  common  Eaiwal. 

K.  R.  K. 


A  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  FLORA  OF  MATHERAN. 

BY  THE   HON.   H.   M.    BIRDWOOD,    VICE-PRESIDENT. 

A  recent  visitor  to  Matheran  is  said  to  have  complained  sadly  of 
the  monotony  of  its  vegetation.  That  too  familiar  "  Matheran  tree'* 
was  everywhere,  and  everywhere  the  same  ;  and  though  it  was  very 
beautiful,  with  its  glossy  leaves  and  purple  plums,  it  so  impressed 
its  sameness  on  the  landscape  as  to  induce  a  sense  of  depression, 
from  which  the  visitor  was  ghid  to  escape.  It  is  just  possible  that 
his  experience  was  not  altogether  singular  ;  for  we  do  not  all  cultivate 
alike  the  faculty  of  observation.  Two  men,  with  the  same  love  for 
the  beauties  of  Nature,  and  with  equally  good  eyesight,  may  look  on 
the  same  fair  scene  of  hill  and  forest,  sea  and  sky,  with  very  different 
apprehension  of  its  infinite  variety,  and  with  very  different  degrees, 
therefore,  of  satisfaction.  The  one  may  take  in,  with  the  trained  eye 
of  the  artist,   notable   details   which  the   other  misses.     He   will  see 


204  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


■wondrous  shapes  and  colours,  and  gradations  of  colour,  in  every  wave 
and  cloud,  and  leaf  asid  boulder,  where  the  other  sees  onty  trees  on  the 
steep  hill -side  and  a  waste  of  water  dappled  with  shadows.  It  is  one 
of  the  main  advantages  of  our  Society  that  it  teaches  its  members  to 
make  a  right  use  of  their  eyes  ;  and  in  some  of  us,  the  discovery  that 
even  blades  of  grass  are  not  all  alike  may  perhaps  have  awakened  into 
activity  a  faculty  hitherto  dormant.  So  that  now,  in  our  continued 
researches  in  the  vegetable  world,  we  become  aware  of  a  multitude  of 
beautiful  forms,  hitherto  unnoticed,  whicli  daily  reveal  themselves 
to  us  ;  and  it  is  no  more  possible  for  us  now  to  be  oppressed  by  the 
sameness  of  our  surroundings,  whether  at  Matheran  or  elsewhere. 
But  though  a  thirst  for  knowledge  has  been  thus  created,  we  cannot  so 
easilyquench  it.  We  have  no  leisure  for  systematic  study ;  and  when 
we  consult  our  standard  authors  for  information  about  plants,  we  are 
repelled  by  a  difficulty  which  meets  us  at  the  outset.  We  cannot 
refer  to  the  works  of  Hooker  or  Roxburgh,  Brandis,  Graham  or 
Dalzell,  with  any  readiness  or  comfort,  if  we  have  first  to  find  out 
laboriously  for  ourselves  the  scientific  names  of  plants  by  which  alone 
they  are  generally  known  to  these  writers.  Though  this  difficulty 
may  be  reduced,  it  is  not  quite  removed  by  the  use  of  such  a  synopsis 
of  Orders  as  that  contained  in  the  "  Artificial  Key"  to  Orders  I.  to 
LXXI.  of  Dalzell  and  Gibson,  published  in  1875  by  Captain  H.  H. 
Lee,  R.  E.,  or  in  the  Revd.  Dr.  Fairbank's  "  Key  to  the  Natural 
Orders  of  the  Plants  of  the  Bombay  Presidency,"  published  in  1876  ; 
and  members  of  our  Botanical  section  are  still  unprovided  with 
correct  lists  of  the  local  names  of  plants,  with  the  aid  of  which  they 
would  find  it  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to  acquire  the  infor- 
mation they  are  in  search  of.  No  doubt,  we  find  valuable 
glossaries  of  vernacular  names  in  Roxburgh  and  Brandis  ;  but  the 
names  are  not  always  those  in  use  in  this  Presidency,  and  the 
glossaries  do  not,  therefore,  sufficiently  meet  the  requirements  of 
students  of  the  rich  flora  of  Bombay  and  its  neighbourhood.  And 
this  remark  applies  also  to  the  very  full  list  of  Bombay  names  in  the 
index  to  Sir  George  Birdwood's  "  Vegetable  Products,"  which  is 
meant  for  the  use  rather  of  the  physician,  the  merchant,  and  the 
agriculturist  than  of  the  mere  botanist.  It  is  in  the  hope,  then, 
of  removing  this  initial  difficulty,  to  some  extent,  as  regards 
the  vegetation  of  a  certain  limited  area,  which  is  much  visited 
by  members  of  our  Society,  that  I  have  compiled  this  catalogue, 
which    furnishes  a    ready   method    of    learning    the  scientific  name 


A  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  FLORA  OF  MATHERAN.  205 

*■  i 

of  a  plant  of  which  the  vernacular   name   is  known.     Almost   every 
coolie  at  Matheran  knows  the  names  of  most  of  the  Matheran  trees. 
Indeed  for  some  plants    you    may    get  a  brace  of  names  or  more, 
if  you    will    only    question   your  informant   long   enough.     My  own 
particular  coolie,  Krishna,  in  the  course  of  two   hours  spent    in  the 
Primeval  Forest  and  below    Chowk  Point,  gave  me  no  less  than  75 
names,  which  he  told  me  he  had  learnt  in  the  forest,  with  an  air  as  if 
the  trees  themselves  had  told  them  to  him.    With  full  confidence  in  the 
sources  of  his  information,  I  have  included  these  names  in  the  third 
column  of  the  catatogue  and  in  the  index  appended   to  it,  with  many 
others  furnished  by  Mr.  Jaykrishna  Indraji,  Curator  of  Forests  in  the 
Porbandar  State,  a  keen  botanist,  who  lent  much  efficient   aid  to  the 
late  Dr.  Sakharam  Arjun  in  the  collection  of  his  Bombay  herbarium. 
I    am  much    indebted  indeed   to   him,  and    also    to    Dr.    Kirtikar, 
for   carefully  revising  the  whole  of  the  catalogue,  which  can  now, 
with  the  aid   of  Krishna    or   any  other  hill   florist,  be  used  for  the 
purpose   for    which   it   is   intended.     I  would  only  add   that  those 
who   so    use   it   must    not    expect    to   find   it  by  any  means  a  com- 
plete list  of  the  flora  of  Matheran.     It  is  a  fair-weather    catalogue, 
written  in  the  month  of  May   and  the  early  days   of  June,    when 
nniny   plants   which    blossom  in  the  rains  or  the    cold-weather  are 
dried   up,    past   all    recognition.     It   is   a   completer  list,  therefore, 
of  trees  and  perennial  shrubs  and  climbers  than  of  herbaceous  plants  , 
though   it    contains  also  the  names  of  a  few  such  plants,    inserted 
either  from   memory   of   past    cold-weather    visits  to   the  Hill,   or 
obtained  from   friends   or   from   Mr.    Campbell's    Gazeteer,    or   the 
Revd.  Mr.  Gell's  Catalogue,  published  now  many  years  ago,  and  after- 
wards republished  by  Dr.  Theodore  Cooke.    Such  as  it  is,  it  is  as  com- 
plete as  it  could  be  made  in  the  course  of  several  very  pleasant  rambles 
in  the  company  of  our  Vice-President,  Dr.  D.  MacDonald,  Mr.  Chester 
MacXaghten,  and  Mr.  Jaykrishna.  Such  as  it  is,  I  offer  it  to  the  Society 
as  an  instalment  only  of  a  work  which  I  hope  will  be  taken  up,  conti- 
nued, and  enlarged  by  others,  if  not  by  myself,  till  we  are  in  posses- 
sion of  tolerably  complete  catalogues   of  the  flora  of  all  parts   of  the 
Presidency.     I  can  only  hope  that  members  of  the  Society  who  have 
the  good  fortune  to   visit   Matheran  during  the  next  six   months   will 
remorselessly  criticize  and  amplify  my  work  and  favour  our  editor  in 
due    course  with  the   result   of  their  labours.     To  this  end,   I  have 
asked  Mr.  Sterndale  to  issue  a  few  interleaved   copies   of  the   cata- 
logue in  pamphlet  form,  and  these  can  be  procured  from  the  Secretary. 


206 


NATURAL   HISTORY. 


CATALOGUE. 

NOTE. — In  {he  first  two  columns,  the  nomenclature  adopted  for  the  first  51  orders, 
exclu&ive  of  Order  33,  "  Loranthaceai"  is  that  of  Hooker's  "  Flora  of  British  India" 
Vols.  I — IV,  which  do  not  include  "  Loranthaceos,"  or  the  Orders  52 — 78  repre- 
sented in  this  catalogue.  The  synonyms  given  in  the  second  column  are  the 
names  under  which  the  plants  are  described  in  Dahell  and  Gibson's  "  Bombay, 
Flora."  Where  no  synonyms  are  given,  the  plants  are  described  under  the  same 
names  in  both  Hooker  and  Dahell.  In  the  third  column,  the  names  are  spelt,  for  the 
mostpart.  according  to  the  Hunterian  system.  The  word  "  veV  or  uyel,"  which  recure 
frequently  as  a  component  part  of  a  name,  means  a  "  creeper  "  or '  climber.''  The  words 
"  lahan"  and  " dhakta" (fern.  "  dhakti")  mean  'small,'  "mota"  Qfem.  "moti") 
means  'big,1  ltpandhra  "  means  '  white,'  "  kala,"  'black' "  tamra,"  'red,'  and  "  karu  > 
'bitter.'  The  prefix1  il  ran"  indu  ates  a  "  jungle  plant,"  or  as  we  should  say  "  a 
wild  plant,"  thoughall  the  plants  in  the  list  are  of  course  wild  or  indigenous  plants 
on  the  hill,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  the  Jack-tree  (Artocarpus  integrifolia'). 


Natural  Order. 

Genus  and  Species. 

Vernacular  Name. 

Clematis  triloba 

Mor-vel,  Rarjjai. 
Karambe),    D^khta  Kar- 

mal. 
Naram-panal. 

4  Menispermaceae  ... 

Sajeri,  Hir-kinjal. 

Yatoli,  Vat-yel. 

Tan,  Yasanvel  (Sanskrit 

Vrfsadani). 
P^r-yel. 
Kolisna. 

C^pparis  pedunculosa    

(Near  Alexander  Point.) 
Jao,  Sarub,  Sar^ta. 

7  Guttiferae    

Kokam,    Ratamba  (Wild 
Mangosteen). 

Syn.  Xautbochymusovali-  V 

Oebrocarpus  lonpiioliuB    ...\ 
Syn.  Calyeaccion  loDgifo-  > 

A.nci8tr<>clarius  Heyneauus  ... 
Hibiscus  birtus  

Haldi. 

Harkia,  Surangi. 
Kardor,  Kardori. 

Rcfn-bbendi  L/ahan-bhendi 

Syn.  Salmalia  malabarica. ) 

bawar,  Tdnari  s£war 
(Silk-ror.ton  tree). 
(S  inskrit  Rakht-sr  almali). 
Goldor,  Gordar,  Kukar. 
Hhaikui,Kbava*i,Kbausbi, 

Srfldbawal,  Karai,  Kuari. 

Dliaman. 

Erinot  arpus  Nimmoaiius 

Ciiauri,  Chor,  Cher. 
Kntre  varjdre  f"  Dogs  and 

Monkeys"). 
Necharda. 

CATALOGUE, 


207 


Na'ural  Order. 

Genus  and  Species. 

Vernacular  Name. 

12  Geraniactaa 

Laban  Tirda,  Berki. 

Sarimukh  pain,  Tirda 

(Wild  Balsam). 
Makar-limbu    ("  Monkey 
Lime"). 

Karepat,  Karu-nimb. 

P^ndri,  KuDti. 

P..ia<rf. 

Syn.  Bervera  Koenigii 
,,    exotica  (vur.  panicu 

:::i 

aia) 

Cbloroxylon  Switrtenia  

Billu,  Haldi. 

Gymnosroria  montana  ... 
Syn.  Celastru?  montarja 
f-ymnosporia  Rotbiana... 
Syn.  Celastiue  Rotbiana 
Hippooratea  Grahami    ... 

:::} 

Yekdi. 

Moti  Ytkdi. 
Ye-vti. 

16  Rhamneee    

Kanvel,  Lokbandi. 

Guti,  Ghuti  (Hart  Point 

and  elsewhere). 
Toran. 

17  Ampelidese 

Telitsa  yel. 

Nadena. 
Kajgolitaa-yel. 
Dhindi,  Dindi. 

Syn.  Cisaus  dis-color,. 
Syn.  Cissus  latifolia . 

>» 

18  SapindacfEe 

Syn.  Leea  staphylea  ... 

Hunigyrosa  canescens  ... 

Syn.  Cupania  canescens*. 

-i 

::} 

19  Anacardiace  fe 

KarpS. 

Kusimb,    Kosamb,    Ko- 

sham. 
Amba  (Mango). 
^undjir. 

Connama  monocarpus  

D\li  Dingala. 
Gharri. 

Paugara,  Paramga. 
Palas,       Kbikra,         the 

''  Flame  of  tbe  Forest" 
(San-krit,  Palasa). 
Bondar. 

Dalbergia  latif ol ia 

Sisu,  S  swa,  S'ssm,  Tali. 

volubilis    

(Blackwood  Tree). 
Alt-i. 

Phansa. 

Peudyuli-yel,  Yek-yel. 
Va^ti. 

Ra'gi. 

Bahawa,  Garmala.     (In- 
dian Laburnum). 
Apra. 
KancbaD. 

Chikakai,  Shikikai. 

Kher. 

*  Ihe  leaves  of  the  Palas  tree  are  given  as  fodder  to  buffaloes.  Tbe  flowers  are 
made,  with  alum, into  tbe  yellow  dye  used  at  the  Eoli  festival  (Brandis).  This  tree 
gives  its  name  to  the  memorable  plain  of  Palasi,  vulgarly  called"  Plassey"  (Birdwood's 
Vegetable  Products).    It  yields  a,  kino  and  a  lac — {lb.) 

t  Catechu  is  manufactured  in  the  Konkan  from  the  wood  of  the  Kher  tree. 


208 


NATURAL   HISTORY. 


Natural  Order. 


Genus  and  Species. 


'Vernacular  Name. 


21  Leguminosas 


22  Crassulaceee. 


23  Rhizopborese 

24  Combretacere 


25  Myrtaceee. 


26  Melastomaceae. 

27  Lytbractsa   .... 


28.  Onagraceae 
29  Samydacese 


30  Cucurbitaceee 

31  Begoniaceaa 

32  Umbellifeiae 


33  Lorantbaceaa 

>i 
ii 
ii 

n 


34  KubiacEsa 


»» 
ii 
n 
ii 
ii 
n 


35  Compositae 


Albizzia  stipulata 


amara 


Yigca  vexillata 


Cylista  scariosa  

Bryopbyllum    calycinum...  ) 
Syn.  Kalancboe  pinnata...  j 
Carallia  iutegerrima  , 


Terminalia  belerica 
,,  Cbebula 


„  Arjuna 

Combretnm  ovalifoliuiu  

Calycopteris  floribunda ) 

Syn.  Getonia  floribunda...  j 

Eugenia  Jambolana   \ 

fifyji.Zizygium  Jambulanum  J 

Careya  arborea  

Memecylon  edule  

Lagerstrcemia  parviflora  

„  flos  regina  

Woodfordia  floribunda 1 

Syn.  Grislea  tomt  ntosa...  f 

Ludwigia  parviflora    

Casearia  graveolens    

,,         esculenta 

Trichosantbies  palmata 

Cucumi8  trigonus    

Begonia  crenata , 

Hydrocotyle   asiatica® , 

Peucedanum  grande  ) 

Syn.  Pastinaca  grandis  ...  J 

Lorantbus  involucratus    

loniceroides 

lageniferus    

cuneatus  •    , 

Wallicbianus  

Viscum  arjgulatum , 

Musfoenda  froDdosa  

Randia  dumetorum    

Cantbium  umbellatHirj 

„         angustifolium  

VaDgueria  edulis , 

Ixora  nigricans 

Pavetta  indica    


ii 
ii 
ii 
>i 


36  Campanulacese 


:::} 


Adina  cordifolia 

Syn.  Nauclea  cordifolia 
Stephegyne  parviflora    ) 

Syn.  Nauclea  parviflora...  ) 

Vernonia  coDyzoides 

Cyatbocline  lyrata 

Blumea  bolosericea    

Lobelia  nicotiarjsefoha   


Lullei,  Laeli. 

Siras     (near     Alexander 

Point). 
Pirambol,  Halula(Matbe- 

ran  Sweet  Pea). 

Panpbue 

Phansi. 

Beht-i  a,  Y.  la. 

Hirda    (Chebulio     Myro- 

bo  Ian  Tree). 
Ain. 
Mal-vel. 

Bsgvel,  Yakshi. 

J&mbul,     Jambu        (tbe 
common  Jambul  tree). 
Kumbba. 

Anjan  (Iron-wood  tree). 
Naneh. 
Taman. 

Dhaurit 

Bokhara^ 
Mori. 
KaundeJ. 
Kat-vel. 

Brahmi,Karivana,Khopri 

Baphli. 

Bandguli. 

Banda,  V^nda 
(Parasitic  plants). 

(Indian  M'sletoe.) 
Bbiit  kes,  Sarwad. 
Gela. 

Arsul,  Tupa. 
Obap-jel. 

Alu  (Indian  Medlar). 
Lckbandi,  Atkura. 
Pbapbat,    Papat,   Phapti 
(Matbeiau  Coffee). 

Hed. 

Kalam, 

Moti-eadori,  Sabadevi, 
Gangotri. 
Bhamburda. 
Dh&wal,  Devnal. 


*  An  infusion  of  the  leaves  of  this  plant  was  used  by  the  late  Dr.  Bhau  Daji  in  his 
treatment  of  leprosy, 


CATALOGUE. 

209 

Natural  Order. 

Genus  and  Species. 

Vernacular  Name. 

37  Myrsinacese 

Ambafci. 

38  Sapotacese     ■. 

Mohra',       M;'iwa,      Moha 

Mimusops  Elengi 

(Mowrah  tree). 
Bokal,      Bakuli      (below 
Simpson  Lake). 

Kanta-kumbal. 

Sideroxylou  tomentosum...  1 
Syn.  Sapota  tomentosa...  J 

Syn.  Diospyros   nigricans  J 

Maha  (Indian  Ebony). 
Goindu. 

Jasminum  arborescens  (va» 

} 

Kiisar. 

PaVirfmbul,           Pa'rjatn 

(Wild  Olive). 
Karwand,  Corinda, 

Carissa  carandas     

Holarrhena  antidysenterica 
Taberncemontana  crispa  .. 

•  •  • 

(Corinda  busb). 
Kura,  Indrajav. 
Pandhra  kura. 
Krfla-kura. 

Larobtani(Dr.MacDonald's 

"  Seed  Traveller  "). 
Rui,  Ak,  Madar. 

Gymnema  snlvestris 

Kawali. 

Dndh  yel  (Wax-plant). 
Kbar-kbodi. 

Leptadenia  reticulata    

43  Loganiareee 

Kanal,    Ka'jer-vel     (near 

Simpson  Lake). 
Niwali,       Nirmali    (near 

Hart  Point). 
Ja'ali. 

,,         potatorum 

44  Gentianacese    

Exacum  pumilum 

Paracaryumcailestinum 

Syn.  Gynoglossum  ccelesti 

\ 

Nechurdi. 

46  Convolvulacese    ... 

Gavel. 

47  Solan  act  a?    

Solanum  indicum 

Chiturti,  Bhui-vangi. 

Wa*ras. 

Padel. 

Eri-yel. 

Ka'rvi  (Indian  Wattk). 

Akra. 

Pahadi-atffan. 

48  Bignoniact-Ee    ...... 

Heterophragma  Roxburejhii  ... 

,,                adenophyllum 

Thunbergia  fragrans 

Strobilanthes  asperrimus 
Blepbaris  asperrima   -- 

Haplanthus  verticillaris 
Barleria  strigosa 

\ 

Ka'la-kirat,  Kala-;ikra. 

Var.  terminalis 

Barleria  courtallica     , 

Koranta. 
Itari. 

Hygrophila     s  err  p  y  1 1  u  m 

Syn  Physichilu8  serpyllum 

Ecbolium      Linneanum 

Syn.  Justicia  Ecbolium... 
Pbaylopsis       parviflora 

Syn.  Aethei'.eina  reniforme 
Callicarpa    lanata 

Tectona  grandis 

} 
} 
} 

} 

Ran-tewan. 

Dhakta-adulea. 

Waiti. 

Yesur,  Esbwar. 

Sag,  Sagwan  (Teak  tree), 

Cbamba'r-vel. 

Shewan. 

Premna  coriacea 

Syn.  Premna  scandens,, , , 
Gmelina  arborea 

} 

Vitex  Neyundo . 

Negud,  Nirgundi. 

2iu 


NATURAL   HISTORY; 


Natural  Order. 

Genu8  and  Species. 

— — ZJ 

Vernacular  Name. 

Pbgosteifion          parviflorus 
Syn.  Pogostemon  purpu- 

} 

Pangla,  Paogli.« 

Rharnan , 

Chodbara. 

Gum^. 

52  Chenopodiacese    ... 

Chenopodium  amb'rosoides 
Lasiosiphon  speciosus    

... 

Danni. 
Rametta. 

Machilus  glaiicescens 

Guliim 

Actinodaphne    lanceolata...... 

Elseagrius  Kologa  

Pisbd 

Ambulgi. 
Dongri-mirchi(Hill  Perj- 

per); 
Kulti             (Sting-nettld 

Creeper). 
Cband&ra\ 

Piper  silvestris 

57  Euphorbiace*     ... 

Macaranga   Itoxhurgbii 

Rohio,  Roen,  Kapila 
Pandurai. 

BorambL 

Asana. 

Phyllanthus  madraspatana 
Ceratogynum  rhamnoidea 

... 

Kanocbai 

Chikli. 

Awala  (Gooseberry  tree). 

Bhoma. 

Pandhar-phali. 

Gol. 

Sponia  Wightii 

Fleurya  interrupta 

Khajoti. 

Moti-kba'joti,  Agia. 
Pahir. 

Gerardina  beteropbylla... 

)> 

Urostigma  cordifolium 

Nandruk,   Raneknit. 

j> 

Var.  (?) 

I 

Ashta  +    (Sanskrit,  Ash- 

watb). 
Kel. 

Wad  (Btnyan    tree;  le- 
low  Chowk  Point.) 

Umbar    (the   "  Sycamore 
tree"  of  the  Bible). 

Datir. 

. 

>> 

Ficus  heterophylla    

i  > 
62  Gnetaeice 

Kharoti. 

Phanas  (Jack  tree). 

Umli. 

Got-veh 

Dioscorea   pentaphylla.. 

Shend-vel; 

Karu-karanda,    Nor-vel. 

Chlorophytum      breviscapum 

Kula. 

iifi  Aroideaa 

Sampatsa-kbinda(ftnakf  - 
root,  the  "Cobra  Lil)"); 

Suran. 

Rokh-a'lu; 

Amorpbophallua  campanu- 
latus. 

} 

*  The  leaves  of  the  Piingli  are  believed  in  the  Konkan  to  be  a  cure  for  snake-bite; 
A  case  of  an  alleged  cure  was  lately  brought  to  the  notice  df  the  Revd.  Fr.  Dreckmann  iu 
Bombay.  A  man  had  been  bitten  by  a  poisonous  snake  and  was  said  to  have  recovered 
after  the  application  to  the  wound  of  the  leaves  and  other  parts  of  two  plants,  which 
were  produced  ;  and  one  of  these  was  apparently  the  Pangli. 

t  The  Ashta  is  distinguished^  the  Hill-people  from  the  Pipalof  the  plains,  of  which 
k  is  i  eihaps  a  va'iety; 


CATALOGUE. 


211 


Natural  Order. 

Genus  and  Species. 

Vernacular  Name. 

Ichw&cb. 

,,     cblorops      

Platanthera  Susannse? 

Kilabi. 

68  Burmanniaceae    .., 

Burmannia  triflora    

(On    the     road    to     £he 

Governor's  bund.) 
Ban-kel,  Kawadar,    Ch£- 

Musa  ornata „.„.. 

Curcuma  Zedoaria 

wan-ke](WildPlantaiu) 
Kachora,  Kachola. 

71  Amaryllidacese    ... 
73  Palmse 

Pancratium  parvum 

Rao-haldi.    (Wild     Tur- 
meric). 
Kbandalu. 

Curculigo  malabarica 

Kajuri. 

Bherli-mar°       (Fish-tail 

Palm). 
Kasai,  Kan-makai  (Job's 

Tears). 
Vins,  Bambu  (Bamboo). 
Wala-kha8khas(Khaskbas 

Grass). 
A  Grass,  with  the  smell  of 

Caryota  urens 

(Palrm) 

Coix  Iachryma    

(Grasses) 

Bambusa  stricta 

Andropogon  ?     

75  Filices  

Syn.  Aspidium  ciciitarium.  j 

At-plenium  planicaule ( 

Syn.  Asplenium  laciniatum.  ) 

Pteris   aquilina  

„     quadriaurita. 

turpentine,       near      the 

Neral  Station. 
Kajaryatse  Bashing  (Jn- 

dian  Beech  Fern). 

Brake  Fein. 

(Ferm) 

Adiantum  lunulatum    ,... 

Cheiianthes  farinosa 

Hansrij,  RaVjhsn* 

(Goo«tfoot  Maiden-hair 

Fern). 
Pa'tkuri  (Silver  Fern). 
Hansraj-yel        (Creeping 

Fern). 

Rooting  Fern. 

Kadik-pan     (Indian   Oak 
Fern). 

76  Lycopodiacese 
(Club-mosses) 

77  Musci 

Lvgodium         pinnatifidum  1 
Syn.  Lygodium  flexuosum.  J 

Pulybotya  appendiculata 

Acrostichum  virens   ") 

Syn.  Psecilopteris  virens,  V 

Gymnopteris  contaminant.  J 

Polypodium      quercifolium  ) 

Syn.     Drynaria      querci-  V 

folia.                                   J 

Lycopodium  irnbricatum 

Hypnum  curratum  ..  . 

,.       equarrosurn 

„        bryoides 

78  Fungi   .'. 

Agaricus  campestris 

Alamben  (Mushroom), 
Bhoiphor  (Puff  Ball). 
K.6rambi    P;iran7n 

Lycoperdon  prateDse    

Dcedalia  gibbosa 

„       versicolor  

Polyporus  giganteus 

*  The  long  trailing   fruit  racemes  of  this  Palm  are  likened  by   the  Hill  people  (o  the 
flowing  locks  of  the  long-haired  Bheravs,   attendants  of    Shiv  :  hence  the  name  "  Bherli- 


212 


NATURAL    HISTORY, 


INDEX  OF  VERNACULAR  NAMES. 


(The  references  are  to  the  figures  in  the  first  column  of  the 

Catalogue.} 


Agia  ... 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

•  •  • 

59 

Cbambarvel 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  50 

Ain     ... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

24 

Cbandara 

•  •  • 

•  •  a 

...  57 

Ak 

* 
•  •  • 

■  •  • 

■  •  • 

42 

Chap-yel 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  34 

Akra  ... 

■  •• 

•  •  • 

•  «  • 

49 

Chaura 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  11 

Alamben 

■  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

78 

Chawan-kel 

•  •• 

•  •  • 

...  69 

Alei    ... 

•  •  • 

*  •  • 

•  •  • 

21 

Cher  ... 

•  •  ■ 

... 

...  11 

Alu     ... 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

•  •  • 

34 

Chikakai 

•  •  • 

•  •  ■ 

...  21 

Amba 

■  •  • 

■  •  • 

•  •  * 

19 

Chikli 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  57 

Ambati 

■  ■■ 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

37 

Chiturti 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  47 

Ambulgi 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

55 

Chodhara 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

...  51 

An  Jan.. . 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

•  •  • 

26 

Chor  ... 

■  ■  • 

■  •  ■ 

...  11 

Apta  ... 

•  •  • 

•  *  • 

•  •  ■ 

21 

Corinda 

•  •  • 

•  •■ 

...  41 

Arsul ... 

•  •  • 

•  •  « 

•  •> 

34 

Asana... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

57 

Danni 

■  •• 

•  •  • 

...  52 

Ashta... 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

•  •  • 

60 

Datir... 

■  *• 

•  •  • 

...  60 

Awala 

•  «  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

57 

Devnal 

■  «  • 

■  •  • 

...  36 

Dhakta-adulsa 

•  •  • 

...  49 

Bagvel 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

24 

Dhakta-karmal 

•  •  • 

...     2 

Bakerli 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

•  •  • 

38 

Dhaman 

•  •  • 

•  «  • 

...  11 

Bahawa 

■  *  * 

■  •  • 

•  •  . 

21 

Dhauri 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  27 

Bambn 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

74 

Dhawal 

•  •• 

•  «  • 

...  36 

Banda 

•  «  • 

•  «  • 

•  •  • 

33 

Dhindi » 
Dindi    j 

...  17 

Bandguli 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

•  •  * 

ib. 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

Bapbli 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

... 

32 

Dingala 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  21 

Behera 

•  •  « 

•  •  • 

■  •  « 

24 

Dongri-mirchi 

•  •  • 

...  56 

Berki 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  «  • 

11 

Dyli   ... 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

...  21 

Bhaikui 

•  *  • 

«  •  -» 

•  •  ♦ 

10 

Bhaman 

■  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

51 

Eriyel 

•  •  • 

•  «  • 

...  49 

Bbamburda 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  * 

35 

Eshwar 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  50 

Bberli-mar 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

•  •  • 

73 

Bhoiphor 

•  •  • 

•  •  * 

•  •  • 

78 

Gavel... 

•  t  • 

•  •  • 

...  46 

Bboma 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

57 

Gangotri 

•  •  ■ 

•  •  • 

...    OO 

Bhui-vangi 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

.    •  • 

47 

Garmala 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

...  21 

Bbutkes 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

34 

Gela  ... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  34 

Billu  ... 

•  •  * 

■  •  ■ 

■  •■ 

14 

Ghagri 

•  *  * 

■  *• 

...  21 

Birambol 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  *  • 

21 

Ghuti... 

•  «• 

•  •  ■ 

...   16 

Bokhara 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

29 

Goindu 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...     0«7 

Bokal 

■  «• 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

38 

Gol     ... 

■  •• 

•  •• 

...  58 

Bondar 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

21 

Goldor) 
Gordar  j 

...  10 

Borambi 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

57 

•  •• 

f  •• 

Brahmi 

•  •  • 

•  t  • 

•  ♦  • 

32 

Gotvel 

•  •• 

•  «• 

...  63 

INDEX. 


213 


Gulum 

■  •  a 

54 

Kasai 

•  •  ■ 

ft  •  • 

...  74 

Gum  a 

... 

•  •  • 

51 

Katvel 

•  •• 

•  •  ft 

...  30 

Guti  ... 

•  •  • 

•  •  ft 

■  •  • 

16 

Kawadar 
Kawali 

•  •* 

•  ft  ft 

•  •  • 

...  69 
...  42 

Halda... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

14 

Kel     ... 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

...  60 

Haldi ... 

•  •  ft 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

7 

Kerambi 

<>•• 

•  •  • 

...  78 

Halula 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

21 

Khavas 

•  •  • 

•  ft  ft 

...  10 

Hansraj 

I 

75 

Khajoti 

•  •  • 

ft  ft  ft 

...     0»7 

Hansraj-yel 

J 

•  •  • 

■  •  • 

i  t/ 

Khand-alu 

•  •  « 

•  ft  • 

...  71 

Harkia 

•  •  • 

•  ft  ft 

•  •  • 

7 

Khar-khodi 

»  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  42 

Harkinjal 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

3 

Kharoti 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  60 

Hed    ... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  ft 

34 

Khaskhas 

•  *  • 

•  •  ft 

...  73 

Hirda... 

•  •  • 

•  •  ft 

•  •  • 

24 

Khaushi 
Kher  ... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•   •  • 
ft  •  ft 

...  10 
...  21 

Ichwach 

•  ft  • 

•  •  ft 

•  •  • 

67 

Kbopri 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

...  32 

Indrajav 

•  •  • 

•  «  • 

•  •  • 

41 

Kokam 

•  «  • 

•  ft  • 

...     7 

Itari  ... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

49 

Kolisna 
Koranta 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  «  ft 

ft  ft  ft 

•  ••       0 

...  49 

Jambu    ) 
Jambul    | 

25 

Kaundel 

•  •  • 

ft  ft  ft 

...  30 

•  •  * 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

Kukar 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  10 

Jao 

•  •  • 

•  •# 

•  •• 

6 

Kula  ... 

•  •  • 

ft  ft  ft 

...  65 

Jatali 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  ♦  • 

44 

Kulti... 
Kumbha 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 
ft  •  • 

...  57 
...  25 

Kachola  ^ 

69 

Kunti 

•  •  • 

•  ft  ft 

...  13 

Kachora  [ 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

Kura... 

•  •  • 

...  41 

Kadik-pan 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

75 

Kusar 

•  •  • 

ft  ft  ft 

...  40 

Kajgolitsa-yel 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

17 

Kusimb 

•  •  • 

•  ft  • 

...  18 

Kajar-vel 

•  *  ■ 

•  «  ■ 

•  •  • 

43 

Kutre-vandre 

ft  ft  ft 

...  11 

Kajuri 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

72 

Kalabi 

••  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

67 

Laeli  ... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

...  21 

Kalam 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

34 

Lahan-tirda 

•  •  ■ 

ft  ft  ft 

...  12 

Kala-akra 

•  *  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

49 

Lahan-bhendi 

ft  ft  ft 

•  •  •          *. 

Kala-kura 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

•  •  • 

41 

Lambtani 

•  •• 

•  ft  ft 

...  41 

Kala-kirat 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

49 

Lokhandi 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

16,34 

Kanal 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

43 

Lullei 

•  •  • 

•  •  ft 

...  21 

Kanvel 

•  •  « 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

15 

Kanchan 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

21 

Madar 

•  «  • 

•  ft  • 

...  42 

Kanocha 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

57 

Madvel 

•  •  • 

••• 

...  24 

Kanta-kumbal 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

38 

Makar-limbu 

L  ... 

•  •• 

...  13 

Karambel 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  *  • 

1 

Malia  ... 

•  •  ■ 

•  •• 

...  o\) 

Kapila 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

57^ 

Mawa  "J 

Karai... 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

10 

Moha    > 

•  •• 

•  •• 

...  38 

Karu-nimb 

•  •  « 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

13 

Mohra  J 

Karu-karanda 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

64 

Morvel 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

...     1 

Karvi... 

•  •• 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

49 

Mori  ... 

ft  ft  ft 

•  ft  ft 

...  29 

Kardor  \ 
Kardori  / 

8 

Moti -khajoti 

•  •  • 

...     Oo 

•  •• 

•  •  • 

•  •  • 

Moti-sadori 

ft  •  ft 

•  •  • 

...    Do 

Karepat 

•  •• 

•  •• 

•  •  • 

13 

Moti-yekdi 

•  •• 

•  •  ft 

...  15 

Karivana 

•  •  • 

•  •• 

•  •  • 

32 

Karpa 

•  •• 

•  •• 

•  •  • 

18 

Nadena 

ft  ft  ft 

•  •• 

...  17 

Karwanda 

•  •• 

•  «  ft 

•  ft  • 

41 

Nandruk 

•  •• 

•  •• 

...  60 

214 


NATURAL  HISTORY. 


Naram-panal.. 
Naneh 
Neckarda 
Nechurdi 
Negud      ) 
Nirgundi  j 
Nirmali  > 
Niwali    J       ' 

Padel... 

Pahadi-atgan 

Pahir... 

1  IXuXS  •  *  •  • 

Pandharphali 
Pandhra-kura 
Pandri 
Pandurai 
Pangara 
Pangla  \ 
Pangli  J 
Panphue 

Paramga 
Paranza 
Par-jam       ( 
Par-jambul  J 
Par-yel  . 

Patkuri  , 

Pendguli-yel . 
Phanas  . 

Phansa 
Phansi    ) 
Phaphat  J 
Phapti 
Pis  ha  ... 
Polara 

Ragi  ... 

Rajhans 

Rametta 

Rau-bkendi    . 

Ran-haldi 

Ranjai 

Ran-kel 

Ran-rnakai     . 

Ran-tewan 

Ran-tuer 

Ratamba 


3 

27 
11 
45 

50 
34 


...  48 

...  49 

...  60 

...  21 

...  57 

...  41 

...  13 

...  57 

...  21 

...  51 

...  22 

...  34 

...  21 

.,.  78 

...  40 

...  4 

...  75 

...  21 

...  61 

...  21 

...  23 


■  •  • 

34 

... 

54 

•  *  • 

14 

»  •  • 

21 

•  *  • 

75 

•  •  • 

53 

•  •  • 

9 

•  •  ■ 

70 

•  •  • 

1 

•  •  • 

69 

•  •  ■ 

74 

•  •  • 

49 

•  •  • 

21 

•  •  ■ 

7 

Roen  \ 
Robin  J 
Rokhalu 
Rui 

Sag     ...      ) 

Sagwan      J  ' 

Sahadevi 

Saldhawal 

Sampatsa-kkanda 

Santnukh-patri 

Sarwad 

Skendvel 

She  wan 

Shikekai 

Sisam 

Sis 

Sundar 

Suran 


isam     ) 

isu  ...  j      — 


Tamri-sawar. 
Taman 
Tan     ... 
Tali    ... 
Telitsa-yel 
Tirda 
Toran 
Tupa  ... 

Umbar 
Umli  ... 

Vagati 

Vanda 

Vans  ... 

Vasanvel 

Vatoli 

Vat-yel 

Waiti 
Wala  ... 
Waras 

Yakshi 

Yekdi 

Yek-yel 

Yevti 

Yesnr... 


57 
42 


...  50 

...  35 

...  10 

...  66 

...  12 

...  34 

...  64 

...  50 

...  21 

...  ib, 

...  20 
...  6Q 

•  •  •         «/ 

...  27 

...  4 

...  21 

...  17 

...  12 

...  16 

...  34 

...  60 
...  62 

...  21 

...    GO 

...  74 


...  49 

...  74 

...  48 

...  24 

...  15 

...  21 

...  15 

...  50 


A  LIST  (}F  THE  BOMBAY  BUTTERFLIES  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S  COLLECTION.    215 

A  LIST  OF  THE  BUTTERFLIES  OF  THE  BOMBAY 
PRESIDENCY  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S  COLLECTION. 

With  Notes  by  E.  H.  Aitken-. 

The  two  following  species  were  omitted  by  me  in  the  first  part  of  this  paper 
which  appeared  in  July.     I  have  nothing  to  note  about  either  of  them : — 

39.  Mycalesis  mineus. — There  is  a  single  specimen  in  the  collection, 
without  locality. 

40.  Ypthima  singula. — This  also  is  without  note  of  locality.  The 
Society's  collection  is  rather  weak  in  SatyrinaB. 

I  find  that  I  also  omitted  to  mention  that  in  Bombay  I  have  found  the 
larva  of  Jwionia  limonias  on  Barleria  prionitu,  a  near  ally  of  Asteixicanihd 
longifolia,  the  favourite  food  of  /.  almana. 

I  will  now  proceed  with  my  list-. 

LEMONIDjE. 

41.  Abisara  fratVrna. — When  the  rainy  season  is  drawing  to  a  close,  in 
September  or  October,  every  bush  on  the  hills  is  enlivened  by  the  attitudes 
and  frolics  of  this  little  embodiment  of  vanity.  In  all  its  ways  it  is  unique, 
perching  in  the  middle  of  a  leaf,  on  the  upper  side,  with  wings  half  open^ 
turning  jerkily  from  one  side  to  another,  then  hopping  to  another  leaf  and 
strutt:ng  round  it.  Sometimes  a  pair  join  in  these  performances,  It  is  one 
of  the  easiest  Butterflies  to  catch,  having  no  fear.  I  have  found  it  in  Poonaj 
but  rarely,  if  ever,  in  Bombay,  though  it  is  common  in  the  low  jungles  of 
the  Tanna  District. 

LYCjENIDM. 
I  divide  the  LycaBnidse  by  form  and  habits  into  two  strongly  contrasted 
tribes  ;  the  one,  robust  in  body  and  brilliant  in  colour,  swift  and  wary, 
given  to  basking  on  high  trees,  may  be  illustrated  by  such  genera  as  Vira- 
thola  and  Tajuria  ;  the  other,  a  feeble  folk,  without  Character,  fiittirjg 
mostly  hear  the  ground,  or  resting  on  low  bushes  with  their  wings  very 
slightly  opened,  includes  such  genera  as  Catdchrysops,  Polyommains,  Zizera-, 
and  their  kindred.  The  former  have  the  thorax  very  stout,  few  Butterflies 
comparing  with  them  in  this  respect,  except  the  species  of  Gharaxes  and 
'some  Hesperida ;  but  they  pass  gradually  into  the  weaker  forms  through 
such  genera  as  Aphnceus,  and,  as  I  do  not  propose  to  be  the  founder  of 
a  new  classification,  I  will  merely  place  the  genera  in  such  order  as  seems 
best  to  illustrate  my  idea. 

42.  Anops  phcedrus. — This  little  gem,  though  nowhere  plentiful,  may 
be  met  with  in  every  part  of  the  Presidency.  It  appears  after,  or  perhaps 
before,  the  end  of  the  monsoon,  and  remains  till  the  end  of  the  year.  In 
the  afternoon,  when  most  other  Butterflies  have  retired  to  rest,  it  loves  to 
bask  in  the  sun  on  a  small  tree  or  high  bush,  with  wings  just  a  little  open. 


216  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


43.  Baspa  melampus. — I  have  not  often  caught  this,  which  is  rarer 
than  the  last,  and  have  seen  it  too  seldom  to  form  an  opinion  on  the 
regular  time  of  its  appearance.     It  has  the  same  habits  as  the  last. 

44.  Tajuria  longinus. — This  also  is  comparatively  scarce,  but  occurs, 
I  think,  almost  everywhere. 

45.  Trasta  marimas. — I  do  not  think  I  ever  caught  with  my  own  hands 
this  most  splendid,  surely,  of  all  the  Lycaenidae,  and  I  doubt  if  it  occurs 
in  Bombay.  The  specimens  in  the  Society's  collection  are  all,  I  think> 
from  the  Tanna  or  Nasik  District,  and  I  have  met  with  it  myself  at  Egut- 
pura  on  the  Thull  Ghat,  where  it  began  to  appear  in  October  or  November* 

46.  Virachola  isocrates, — It  is  almost  impossible  with  the  net  to  get 
a  really  good  specimen  of  this  or  the  next.  They  are  not  only  difficult  to 
catch,  being  exceedingly  swift,  wary,  and  given  to  settling  on  high  trees, 
but,  when  caught,  difficult  to  secure  without  injury.  There  is  a  delicate 
bloom  on  a  fresh  specimen  which  the  gentlest  touch  destroys.  It  is  easily 
reared  however.  As  is  well  known,  the  larva  feeds  inside  the  fruit  of  the 
pomegranate  and,  some  time  before  becoming  a  pupa,  eats  its  way  through 
the  tough  rind  and  fastens  the  fruit  with  silk  to  its  stalk,  thus  preventing 
it  falling  off  in  case  it  should  wither  before  the  Butterfly  escapes,  as  it 
generally  does.  This  operation  is  performed  at  night,  and  generally 
repeated  night  after  night.  I  have  taken  a  pomegranate  infested  with  these 
larvae  (several  usually  inhabit  each  fruit)  and  made  it  stand  in  an  egg-cup ; 
in  the  morning  it  was  so  securely  fastened  that  in  taking  up  the  fruit  I  lifted 
the  cup.  Of  all  animal  instincts  that  I  have  seen  or  heard  of,  this  is  one  of 
the  most  astonishing  and  certainly  the  most  difficult  to  reconcile  with  any 
theory  of  development.  As  far  as  I  have  observed  it,  the  larva  never 
leaves  its  shelter  except  for  the  definite  purpose  so  necessary  to  its  safety, 
and  it  taxes  ordinary  ingenuity  to  suggest  any  possible  conditions  under 
which  some  larvae  might  have  performed  the  act  in  the  first  instance 
without  purpose.  I  have  found  this  Butterfly  pretty  common  in  Bombay 
and  Poona  from  December  or  January  till  March  at  least. 

47.  V.  perse. — I  do  not  think  I  have  met  with  this  except  on  the  hills, 
where  it  is  common,  appearing  in  December  when  the  fruit  of  the  Ghela 
(Randia  dumetoram),  on  which  the  larva  feeds,  is  ripening,  and  remain- 
ing till  March  or  April.  The  larva  has  the  same  curious  instinct  as  the 
last  species  and  needs  it  more,  for  the  Ghela  fruit  withers  at  once  when 
attacked  and  would  inevitably  fall  before  its  tenant  had  reached  the  pupa 
state  if  not  artificially  supported.  I  have  found  only  one  larva  in  each 
fruit,  and  have  sometimes  noticed  ants  going  in  and  out  of  the  hole  made 
by  it,  for  what  purpose  I  cannot  say.  The  stony  hardness  of  the  fruit 
turns  the  edge  of  one's  penknife  and  of  one's  curiosity  too.  This  Butterfly 
has  the  habit  of  taking  its  station,  during  the  hottest  hours  of  the  day,  on 


A.  LIST  OF  THE  BOMBAY  BUTTERFLIES  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S  COLLECTION.    217 

a  particular  leaf,  from  which  it  darts  out  in  pursuit  of  every  other  Butterfly 
that  passes  by,  This  habit  characterises  a  few  brilliant  genera  in  families 
widely  different.     It  Is  strong  in  Charaxes. 

48.  Nilasera  amantis. — This  is  not  common,  and  I  am  not  sure  of  the 
limits  of  its  season.  I  have  seen  it  oftener  about  the  beginning  of  June 
than  at  any  other  time,  and  oftener  at  Karanja  across  the  Bombay  Harbour 
than  at  any  other  place.     It  flies  very  fast. 

49.  Ajrfinceus  (or  Spindasis)  vulcanus. — This  species  is  not  to  be  met 
with  in  Bombay  gardens  ;  but  in  the  Deccan  it  is  not  rare,  and  on  Karanja 
I  have  found  it  abundant  in  the  hot  season.  I  think  it  rarely  opens  its 
wings,  except  to  fly. 

50.  A.  acamas. — Mr.  Newnham  sent  specimens  of  this  from  Bhooj. 

51.  A.  trifurcata. — These  are  without  note  of  locality,  and  I  know 
nothing  of  them. 

52.  A.  elima. — These  are  without  note  of  locality  and  I  know  nothing 
of  them. 

53.  CatapcBcilma  elegans. — A  single  specimen  of  this  was  caught  by 
Mr.  R.  0.  Wroughton  at  Bassein  in  the  Tanna  District  last  March  or  April. 

54.  Rahinda  amor. — This  occurs  almost  everywhere,  but  is  common, 
nowhere.  It  appears  at  the  close  of  the  rainy  season.  It  is  fond  of  taking 
its  stand  on  the  point  of  a  prominent  leaf,  with  wings  closed  and  an  air  of 
decision  not  easy  to  describe.     Spindasis  has  the  same  habit. 

55.  Jamides  bochus. — This  is  not  uncommon  in  Bombay  and  the  sur- 
rounding country,  and  also  in  Poona,  chiefly,  I  think,  after  the  monsoon, 
but  I  have  no  notes. 

56.  Tarucus  theoplirastus. — Common  both  in  Bombay  and  the  Deccan 
after  the  rains.  Fpecimens  vary  much  in  size  and  in  the  intensity  of  the 
spots  on  the  under  side.  The  larva  feeds  on  the  tender  leaves  of  the  Beyr 
or  Bor  tree  {Zizyphus  jujuba). 

57.  T.  plinius. — This  is  not  so  common  as  the  last,  but  not  rare 
coming  out  at  the  same  season.  I  have  found  the  larva  on  Sesbcmia 
aculeata,  an  annual  which  springs  up  everywhere  in  Bombay  during  the 
rains  and  shoots  up  to  a  height  of  6_or  7  feet  and  withers  away  in  October. 
Its  fragile  leaves  wither  up  a  few  minutes  after  being  plucked,  and  it  is  no 
easy  matter  to  rear  a  minute  larva  on  them.  I  was  successful  with  only 
one.  I  find  it  described  in  my  notes  as  green  and  of  the  usual  wood-louse 
form,  with  a  dorsal  ridge  of  small  protuberances.  The  pupa,  which  came 
out  in  seven  days,  was  greenish,  smooth,  not  £th  of  an  inch  long,  and  closely 
attached  to  the  bottom  of  the  pill-box  in  which  it  was  kept. 

58.  Castalkis  rosimon. — Very  common  from  August  to  the  end  of  the 
year  at  least,  alike  on  the  hills  and  the  plains.     It  settles  much  on  the  ground. 

59.  C.  decided. — I  believe,  but  am  not  quite  certain,  that  I  have 
caught  this  in  Bombay.     It  is  not  uncommon  on  the  hills. 


218  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


60.  Talicada  nyseus. — This  peculiarly  distributed  insect  is  not  found 
at  all  in  Bombay,  nor  do  I  recollect  once  meeting  with  it  at  Khandalla, 
Matheran,  or  Egutpura  ;  but  in  a  particular  spot  at  Maliableslrwar  it  was 
swarming  last  March,  and  I  have  a  faint  recollection  of  its  being  equally 
abundant  at  the  hill  forts  of  Singhur  and  Poorundhur  near  Poona,  while 
at  Poona  itself  it  is  never  wanting  during  the  diy  months.  Mr.  H.  Wise 
informs  me  that  in  Kanara  he  finds  it  at  an  elevation  of  1,500  feet.  It 
lies  very  low  and  settles  much  on  the  ground,  wings  always  closed. 

61.  Lycaene&thes  lycaenina. — There  is  one  specimen,  a  male,  in  the 
collection,  without  note  of  locality.  I  have  a  strong  impression  that 
I  myself  caught  it  in  Bombay  and  forgot  to  label  it  at  the  time. 

62.  Lampides  celianus. — This  is  not  confined  to  the  hills,  but  decidedly 
more  abundant  there  than  on  the  plains.  About  Christmas  there  is  no  insect 
more  abundant  at  Khandalla. 

63.  Catochrysops  cnejus. — This  is  very  common  everywhere  after  the 
monsoon.  There  is  little  to  note  about  these  commoner  Lycaenidaa.  They 
are  very  much  alike  in  their  ways,  flying  low  and  often  basking  with  their 
hind  wings  more  expanded  than  their  fore  wings,  a  habit  which  they  share 
with  some  of  the  Hesperidae.  Some  of  them  have  also  the  curious  habit  of 
rubbing  their  hind  wings  against  each  other. 

64.  C.  strabo, — This  appears  also  after  the  monsoon,  about  August, 
but  is  not  so  common  in  Bombay,  I  think,  as  the  last. 

65.  Tolyommatus  loeiicus. — This  is  common  everywhere. 

6G.  Chilades  vanmana. — There  are  five  specimens  in  tie  collection 
without  note  of  locality,  but  certainly  from  the  Tarma  or  Nasik  District 
I  know  nothing  about  it. 

67.  Pathalia  albidisca. — There  are  a  few  specimens  from  different 
parts  of  the  Presidency. 

68.  Azanas  crameri. — A  single  specimen  without  note  of  locality. 

69.  Spalgws  epius.—  I  have  found  this  on  Karanja  in  February, 
August,  and  September,  but  it  is  not  common. 

70.  Zizera  Jcarsandra. — I  find  myself  obliged,  with  shame,  to  confess 
that  I  am  not  quite  sure  whether  this  is  the  species  which  swarms  all  over 
the  Esplanade  in  Bombay  some  time  after  the  rains.  I  assumed  that 
I  knew  it,  and  now,  when  a  doubt  has  arisen  in  my  mind,  I  am  no  longer  in 
Bombay.     It  can  scarcely  however  be  any  other  species, 

71.  Z.pygmaea. — This  is  a  Bombay    species  too,  but  not  so  abundant. 

72.  Z.  ossa. — This  has  been  described  by  Colonel  Swinhoe  for  the  first 
time  in  the  paper  which  I  have  already  referred  to.  It  is  not  by  any 
means  uncommon, 

E.  H.  A. 


■-.,'(.  V       j,';-- 


ft: 

S 
I 


ZOOLOGICAL  NOTES.  219 


ZOOLOGICAL  NOTES. 


NOTE  ON  THE  B03JALOPS1DJE  IN  THE  SOCIETY'S 

COLLECTION. 
By  Mr.  James  A.  Murray,  Curator,  Karachi  Museum. 

In  August  last  I  had  the  pleasure  of  examining  a  good  part  of  the  Society's 
collection  of  reptiles,  and  among  them  the  specimens  (six  in  numher)  of 
the  Homalopsidte,  described  in  No.  I  of  the  Society's  Journal  by  the 
Rev.  F.  Dreckmann.  The  specimens  were  correctly  referred  to  the  Homalopsida3, 
but  were  not  assigned  to  any  group  evidently  owing  to  the  difference  in  the  number 
of  scales  round  the  body.  The  other  characters  agreed  quite  with  those  of  tbe 
genus  Ferania,  and  I  had  no  hesitation  in  identifying  the  specimens  as  Ferania 
Sieboldi,  (Schbg.,)  on  finding  that  the  specific  characters  of  tbe  only  species  known 
also  agreed.  When  Dr.  Gray  founded  the  genus  Ferania  (Zool.  Misc.,  p.  67),  he 
had  but  a  single  specimen  from  Province  Wellesley  in  Bengal,  and  one  with  only 
twenty-seven  series  of  scales  round  the  body.  Lieutenant  Barnes  has  done  good 
service  in  unearthing  several  more  specimens,  and  thus  being  the  means  of  bring- 
ing about  an  amendment  of  the  generic  characters  of  one  of  the  four  genera, 
constituting  the  group  of  Homalopsidas,  having  no  nasal  appendage  and  more 
than  five  upper  labials.  The  generic  characters  of  Ferania,  as  now  amended, 
will  shortly  stand  as  under  : — < 

Snout    without    appendage  ;    more    than  five   upper  labials ;  two    anterior 
frontal s  ;  scales  in  27—31  series. 

One  species,    F.  Sieboldi,  (Schbg.,)  characters  as    described     in    Gunther's 

Reptiles  of  British  India,  p.  284  ;  scales  in  27 — 31  series. 

J.  A.  M. 

LIST  OF  BUTTERFLIES  RECEIVED   FROM  MAJOR  YERBURY, 

Campbellpue,  Punjab. 


5 

Hipparchia  parisatis 

2 

C.  sareptensis. 

2 

Auloeera  swaha. 

3 

Euchloe  lucilla. 

1 

A.  saraswati. 

2 

Mancipium  canidium. 

2 

Amecera  schakra. 

3 

M.  nipalensis. 

1 

Callerebia  daksha. 

2 

Catopsilia  pyranthe. 

2 

Ypthima  asterope. 

2 

Teracolus  faustua. 

2 

Y.  bolanica. 

1 

T.  fimbricata. 

2 

Y.  nareda. 

5 

T.  protracts. 

1 

Danais  limniace. 

1 

T.  etrida. 

1 

Vanessa  cashmiriensia. 

5 

Deudorix  epijarbas. 

2 

Jun^nia  asterie. 

1 

Baspa  nissa. 

1 

J.     orithyia. 

6 

Spindasis  acamas. 

1 

Argynnis  niphe. 

3 

Catochrysops  cnejus. 

1 

A.  lathonia. 

1 

Tarucus  nara. 

4 

M.  Robertsii. 

1 

Lycasna  putli. 

2 

Libythea  lepita. 

3 

Zizera  maha. 

2 

Dodona  durga. 

2 

Z.  trochilus. 

1 

Papilio  erithonius. 

1 

Chrysophanus  phlseas. 

1 

Belenois  mesentina. 

1 

Hesperia  evanidus. 

2 

Gonypterix  nipalensia. 

5 

Gegeues  karsana. 

5 

Colias  Fieldii. 

220  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


.NOTE  ON  THE  CONDUCT  OF  A  TAME  PIGEON. 

By  E.  H.  Aitken. 

The  curious  example  of  conjugal  infidelity  among  pigeons  given  by  Mr.  Hart 
in  the  last  number  of  the  Journal  reminded  me  of  two  incidents,  illustrating  the 
characters  of  the  same  birds  as  husbands  and  fathers,  'which  may  interest  members. 
By  way  of  parenthetical  preface,  I  will  say  that,  if  the  Journal  of  the  Bombay 
Natural  History  Society  awakens  a  livelier  interest  in  the  behaviour  of  animals 
as  intelligent  beings,  it  will  do  a  valuable  work. 

In  1879  a  baby  pigeon,  not  more  than  a  week  old,  in  one  of  the  nests  in  my 
pigeon-house,  was  left  an  orphan  by  the  sudden  death  of  its  mother.  It  was  toe- 
young  to  be  fed  by  hand  and  I  supposed  it  must  die,  but  I  was  mistaken.  The 
bereaved  father,  instead  of  giving  himself  up  to  sorrow,  at  once  took  sole  charge 
of  his  helpless  offspring  and  reared  it  successfully.  He  had  not  sense  to 
make  any  change  in  his  habits.  Among  pigeons  the  female  sits  alone  on  the 
nest,  except  for  three  or  four  hours  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  when  she  is  relieved 
by  the  male  ;  so  this  bird  went  in  every  day,  about  10  or  11  o'clock,  and  kept  the 
nest  warm  till  2  ;  but  all  night  he  slept  as  he  had  been  accustomed  to  do,  in  another 
chamber,  leaving  his  naked  little  child  exposed  to  the  cold  of  a  February  night. 
It  survived  however  and  was  doubtless  all  the  hardier  for  its  Spartan  nurture. 

Whether  this  parent's  conduct  is  attributed  to  intelligence  or  stupidity  will 

depend  upon  the  direction  in  which  we  have  accustomed  our  feelings  to  run  ;  but 

there  can  be  no  question  about  the  following  case.     In  my  flock  there  was  one  old 

male  bird    who  w5s  quite  a  character   in    the    community.      He  was    a  fat 

easy-going,  good  natured  bird,  but  pampered  and  self-indulgent  to  an  uncommon 

degree.     It  was  a  favourite  sport  of  mine  to  fit  him  into  the  mouth  of  a  stone 

jar,  like  a  cork,  only  his  head  and  shoulders  out,  and  in  that  position  to  give  him 

grain,  which  he  would  eat  with  the  most  composed  enjoyment.     His  wife  was 

a  blue  rock  with  all  the  strong  instincts  and  affections  of  a  wild  bird.     Finding 

her  always  willing  to   take  more  than  her  share  of  the  family  cares  he  shirked 

his  and,  during  the  hot  season,  gave  up  taking  his  turn  on  the  nest  altogether 

leaving  her  to  sit  day  and  night,  which  she  did,  excepting  a  very  short  interval 

which  she  allowed  herself  for  food.     When  the  cold  season  came  round,  he  found 

his  opportunity  to  repay  her  by  taking  all  the  night  work  duty  on  himself.     He 

actually  turned  her  off  the  eggs  and  slept  in  the  nest  himself,  while  she  roosted 

at  the  entrance  and  kept  out  the  cold  air  I 

E.  H.  A. 

NOTE  ON  DANAIS  DORIPPUS. 

By  Mr.  A.  T.  H.  Newnham,  S.  C,  10th  N.  I. 

Mr.  Aitken  mentions  in  his  paper  on  Bombay  Butterflies  that  he  has  never 

met  with  this  variety,   but  in  the  last  month  I  have  seen  here,  in  Cutch,  two 

specimens,  one   of  which   I  added  to    my    collection.      Besides  these,  another 

collector  obtained  two  more  at  Mandvie,  and    said  he  had  seen  others  which 

escaped  him.     Also  the  same    collector    had    caught    the    variety    known   as 

D.   alcippoides,  but  haviDg  the  lower  half  of    the  hind  wings    pale  lavender 

seaintd  of  white. 

A.  T.  H.  N. 


ZOOLOGICAL  NOTES.  222 


NOTE  ON  LOCALITY. 
By  Mr.  A.  T.  H.  Newnham,  S.  C,  10th  N.  I. 

Extraordinary  Coincidence. — During  a  recent  visit  to  Ceylon  I  happened  to 
go  again  to  a  certain  spit  of  shingle  on  which  I  had  a  month  previously  found 
several  eggs  of  8terna  melanog aster.  I  was  again  successful  in  finding  two 
eggs  of  the  above-mentioned  bird,  and  on  lifting  the  eggs  up  to  deposit  them  in 
cotton-wool,  my  eye  was  caught  by  something  glittering  on  the  spot  from  which 
I  had  just  removed  the  eggs.  On  picking  it  up,  I  found  it  to  be  an  "  entomological 
pin,"  and  presumably  one  which  I  dropped  when  I  was  there  before,  as  it  is  in 
the  highest  degree  improbable  that  any  one  else  would  have  had  entomological 
pins  in  such  an  out-of-the-way  place.  The  question  arises,  was  it  a  mere  coinci- 
dence that  the  Tern  laid  its  eggs  on  that  very  spot,  or  was  it  attracted  by  the 
glittering  appearance  of  the  pin  ? 

The  Bower-bird  of  Australia,  I  believe,  collects  gaily-coloured  and  glittering 
objects  and  places  them  round  about  its  nest.  Could  then  this  Tern  have  been 
actuated  by  some  similar  freak,  and  have  brought  the  pin  from  some  place  where 
it  had  found  it  ? 

A.  T.  H.  N. 

NOTE  ON  THE  BREEDING  OP  PARRA  INDICA. 

By  Lieut.  H.  Edwin  Baenes. 

Mr.  Hume  in  his  Nests  and  Eggs  of  Indian  Birds  lays  stress  upon  the 
alleged  fact  that  the  Bronze-winged  Jacana  lays  a  much  greater  number  of 
eggs  than  its  nearest  Indian  ally,  the  Pheasant-tailed  Jacana  (Hydrophasianus 
chirurgus). 

At  page  591  of  the  above-quoted  work,  Mr.  Hume  writes  : — "  Of  six  nests 
examined,  none  contained  more  than  seven,  but  the  boatmen  averred  that  the  birds, 
sometimes  at  any  rate,  laid  ten" 

Again,  on  the  next  page,  quoting  from  Mr.  K.  Blewitt's  experiences  in  the 
Jabulpur,  Saugor,  and  Jhansi  Districts,  he  writes  : — "  The  regular  number  of  eggs 
I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  accurately,  but  from  eight  to  ten  may  be  taken 
as  the  maximum  number." 

I  have  had  opportunities  of  examining  great  numbers  of  these  nests  in  situ, 
and  I  have  never  yet  found  more  than  four  eggs  in  any  one  of  them, 
although  many  have  been  in  an  advanced  stage  of  incubation  ;  the  fishermen, 
too,  assert  that  four  is  the  number  invariably  laid.  I  cannot  help  suspecting  that 
pome  mistake  has  occurred.  I  actually  took  with  my  own  hands  over  two 
hundred  eggs,  on  four  different  dates,  in  August  and  September  1880,  from  jheels 
in  the  vicinity  of  Neemuch,  and  I  have  taken  at  least  fifty  eggs  from  the  Saugor 
and  Chundrapur  Lakes  this  season,  and  had  I  wished,could  easily  have  taken  four 
times  as  many.  The  Saugor  Lake  is  within  half  a  mile  of  my  bungalow,  and 
is  much  frequented  by  these  birds,  and  as  I  am  continually  boating  and  fishing 
upon  it,  I  have  exceptional  opportunities  of  noting  facts  in  reference  to  their 
habits  and  nidification. 


222  NATURAL     HISTORY. 


I  cannot  help  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  four  is  the  normal  number  of  eggs 
laid  by  this  bird,  and  that  whenever  a  greater  number  has  been  found,  it  is  th« 
joint  production  of  two  or  more  birds. 

I  do  not  remember  seeing  the  fact  noticed  anywhere  that  these  birds  often 
deposit  their  eggs  on  a  heap  of  floating  weeds  without  preparing  any  nest  at  all. 

It  would  be  interesting  if  other  zoologists  would  state  if  their  experiences 
coincide  with  mine  or  not. 

H.  E.  B. 

NOTE  ON  REVERSION  TO  PRIMITIVE  TYPES. 
By  R.  A.  Sterndale. 

I    have    mentioned  in  the  Mammalia  of  India,  quoting  from  a  writer  in  the 
India  Sporting   Review,   a   case  of   cross-breeding  between   jackals  and   dogs, 
in  which  in  the  third  generation,  or  one-eighth  jackal  and    seven-eighths    dog, 
three  out  of   five  pups  had  gone  back   to  the   jackal  type.     I  have  s-ince  then 
been  noticing   cases  of   reversion  in    domestic  cats'.     We  have  an    English,  or 
rather  Scotch,  black   cat  which  we  brought  out   from  home   three  years   ago. 
Her  first   kittens  in  India  were    all   white,  with  patches  of    the  usual    Indian 
grey  or  Indian  tabby,  which  consists  of  small  spots  in  lines  on  a  grey    ground. 
We  destroyed  all  except  two,  a  son  and  daughter,  the  latter  a  very  pretty  cat, 
with  decidedly  English  points  about  her  :  this   cat,  in  her   third  family  of    the 
usual  grey-and-white  kind,  bad  one  very  handsome  tabby  kitten,   which,   with 
a  white  one,  was  kept.   Now  this  tabby  kitten,  who  was  Darned,  "  Joe,"  because 
like  Dickens'   fat  boy,  he  was  always  sleepy,  afterwards  softened  into  "Joey," 
turned  out  a   true  English  tabby,    a  type  I  have  never    seen  in   India  (see  the 
sketch  I  have  given  of  him  in  this  journal),  and    a  tabby    of  a  very  handsome 
kind,  unusually    so.     Were  he  to   escape  in  suitable  jungles  and  be   shot,  he 
would  probably,  but  for  his  tail,  be  identified  as   Felis   marmorata,  for  he  is 
nearer  in  colouring  to  tint  species  than  any  domestic  cat   I  have   come  across. 
Even  pure  English  tabbies  have,  like  their  remote  ancestor  the    wild  cat  (Felis 
catus),   certain   stripes    down  the  side?,  but   Joey,  with  the   exception  of   the 
bars  on  his    limbs,  is  clouded    like    the  Rimaudaban    (Felis  diardi),  or    the 
smaller  marbled  cat     [F.  marmorata).     English  tabbies  do    occasionally  have 
their  side  markings  in    irregular    concentric  circles,    but    the  colour    of  the 
ground-work  is    generally  grey  instead  of  Fandy  fulvou?.     However  I  take  it 
that  Joey  gets  his  Joseph's  coat  of  many  colours   from  his    Eoglish  ancestor 
and  not   from   his    Asiatic  grandfather.      He   is  a  queer  tempered   cat,  shy 
with  most  people,  although  his  sisters  and  his  cousins  and  his  aunts  will  go 
to  anybody ;  but   he  is  devoted  to  me,    and  at    times  will  not  leave  me    for 
a  moment.    Lately,  whilst  laid  up  with  the  fever  which  has  delayed  the  issue 
of  this  journal,  I  had   to  keep  to    bed  for  a  day  or  two  and  Joey  never  left 
my  side,  and  his  meals  had  to  be  brought  into  my  room. 

Now  to  go  back  to  Joey's  grandmother,  the  old  black  Scotch  cat.  For  two 
years-and-a-balf  she  had  a  constant  succession  of  grey-and-white  kittent' 
between  twenty  and  thirty,  and  we  wondered  why  none  of  her  children 
resembled  her.     Lately  however,  out  of  a  batch  of  five,  three  were  jet  black. 


ZOOLOGICAL   NOTES.  223 


Her  eldest  daughter  (Purry)  had  lately  five  kittens,[of  .which  one  was  jet 
black  and  two  others  partly  so  ;  but  it  is  only  recently  that  this  colour  has  begun 
to  shew  itself :  of  some  thirty  or  forty  preceding  kittens,  only  two  had  a  few 
black  patches — now  blackies  are  getting  common. 

I  forgot  to  state  that  Joey's  markings  are  perfectly  symmetrical,  each 
side  being  alike.  As  you  hold  him  up  with  his  back  towards  you,  the 
pattern  runs  off  on  each  side  from  the  central  stripes  as  evenly  as  if  they 
had  been  marked  off  with  compasses,  which  is  characteristic  of  the  feraa. 

R.A.  S. 

SOME   NOTES   ON  ABNORMALITIES  IN   THE    HORNS   OF 

RUMINANTS. 
By  Mr.  J.  D.  Inverarity. 

The  most  curious  instance  of  abnormal  horns  I^have,  met  with  was  an  old 
stag  samber  I  shot  some  years  ago  near  the  Taptee.  .His  right  horn  was  36 
inches  long  and  nothing  peculiar  about  it.  The  left  horn  was  a  few  inches 
shorter,  and  Lad  no  brow  antler  at  all  nor  the  slightest  rudiment  of  one.  About 
three-quarters  of  an  inch  from  the  left  horn  was  a  third  horn,  a  mere  knot  but 
growing  on  a  separate  bony  pedicle  of  its  own.  It  was  entirely  distinct*  from 
the  main  horn,  the  skin  covering  the  intervening  space.  No]  sign  of  disease  or 
injury  to  any  of  the  organs. 

Single  Samber  Horn  (Sketch  No.  1). — A  very  massive  heavy  horn.  Either 
shed  or  killed  by  tiger.  I  thiiik  the  latter.  The  horn  had  the  appea;ance  of 
having  dripped  overall  round  the  burr  and  hung  down  in  what,  for  a  better 
term,  I  will  describe  as  numerous  icicles.  This  horn,  for  mouths  after  I  picked 
it  up,  sw<  ated  some  oily  matter  of  a  most  offensive  odour. 

Four-horned  Antelope. — The  bony  core  curves  inwaids  of  one  horr.  Had 
anterior  horns,  but  I  have  lost  them. 

Wild  Cow-buffalo. — R:ght  horn  norma',  about  3  feet  long  ;  left  hoin 
not  more  tl  an  18  inches  long,  probably  less,  growing  almost  stiaight  down 
close  to  the  check  and  turning  backwards.  I  was  close  to  her  for  several  minutes 
and  observed  it  wel1,  but  did  not  fire  at  her.  The  misshaped  horn  appeared 
much  thinner  and   smoother  than  the  other  one.     The  end  was  blunt. 

There  is  a  curious  malformed  cow-biscn's  head  in  the  Madias  Museum  of 
which  you  might  get  a  sketch. 

I  have  in  my  possession  in  Siotland  a  small  samber  head  the  left  horn  of 
which  bends  dowD,  forming  a  club  close  to  the  skull  just  like  the  horn  of  the 
Cashmere  stag  pictured  No.  2.  This  club  shape  is  the  natuial  shape  of  deer's 
horns  while  growing.  Any  one  who  has  seen  stags  while  their  horns  are  grow- 
ing, before  they  have  reached  the  point  where  the  upper  tines  bianch  out  will 
corroborate  me  that  the  top  of  the  horn  is  then  club-shaped.  The  Cashmere 
stag  No.  2  and  the  small  bead  I  am  speaking  of  have  bal  their  growth 
arrested  at  this  stage. 

Doe  Chinkara. — I  have  never  shot  one,  but  I  think  their  horns  are  frequently 
misshapen.  One  I  have  a  note  of  had  one  horn  bent  forward  and  the  other 
backwards,  but  having  omitted  to  take  a  drawing  of  it  my  note  is  not 
sufficiently  full  to  enable  me  to  give  a  more  accurate  description. 


224  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


See  too  the  curious  bison  head  of  mine,  shot  iu  1885,  in  the  Society's  Rooms. 
The  bony  core  being  only  a  few  inches  long,  there  was  nothing  to  give  the 
usual  bend  to  the  horns,  which  have  accordingly  grown  straight  out  and  curved 
forward.  This  was  a  very  old  cow,  the  incisor  teeth  being  worn  level  with 
the  gums — a  thing  I  have  never  seen  before.  I  shot  her  by  a  fortunate  accident. 
There  were  a  lot  of  three  bison.  I  noticed  something  peculiar  about  the  head 
during  the  stalk,  but  did  not  see  wbat  the  real  state  of  the  case  was.  Firing 
at  the  Jarge  bull,  I  broke  his  shoulder.  The  second  barrel  was  intended  for  the 
bull,  but  the  cow  rushed  alongside  as  I  pressed  the  trigger  and  got  the  bullet  in 
the  neck,  dropping  dead. 

I  also  send  for  inspection  a  small  samber  head.  lam  not  sure  whether  the 
right  horn  has  ever  bad  a  brow  antler.  There  has  been  a  fracture  of  soma 
sort.  Whether  tbe  brow  antler  has  been  broken  off  and  the  fracture  worn 
smooth,  or,  as  lam  induced  to  think  from  there  being  no  fracture  visible  on 
the  inside  of  the  horn,  that  there  was  no  brow  antler,  is  doubtful.  If  the  latter 
ss  tbe  case,  the  long  brew  antbr  (for  the  size  of  head)  of  the  left  horn  is 
remarkable. 

Pteropus  Edwardsi. 

I  saw  on  9th  May  this  year  at  Nara,  on  the  banks  of  the  Jouk  River,  a  number 
of  Flying-foxes  fanning  themselves  in  the  way  described  by  Mr.  Aitken.  The 
fanners  however  were  only  about  10  per  cent,  of  the  population. 

J.  D.  I. 

Editor's  note  on  above.— Mr.  Inverarity  was  kind  enough  to  send  me  the 
above  notes  to  help  me  in  a  continuation  of  my  previous  paper  on  horns; 
but  ill-health  has  prevented  my  taking  up  the  subject  more  fully  this  time 
so  I  have  published  his  notes  without  any  addition  of  my  own.  I  have 
copied  his  sketch  of  the  very  curious  samber  horn  he  picked  up  ;  and  have  also 
to  thank  him  for  the  loan  of  a  book  on  sport  in  Madras  by  "the  Old  Shi- 
karry"  (G.  A.  R.  D.),  in  which  is  a  photograph  of  a  cheetal's  head  with  an 
abnormal  bez-tine  of  extraordinary  length.  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of 
copying  this,  and  it  forms  No.  2  sketch  in  the  accompanying  plate. 

E.  A.  S. 

Neomeris  Kurrachiensis.— (Murray). — The  following  description  of   the 

Porpoise,  mentioned  in  the  paper  on  the  Waters  of  Western  India ,     page  159, 

of  which  I  have  given  an  illustration,  has  been  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Murray, 

and  is  in  fact  a  draft  of  his  paper  on  the  subject  in  ths  Ann.  and  Mug.   Nut. 

History,  Vol.  XIII.,  1884.    It  will  interest  our  readers  and  supplement  Keswal's 

description. 

R.  A.  S. 

':  A  castacean  of  the  family  Delphinidse,  which  I  sball  describe  under  the 
name  Neomeris  Jcurrachiensis.  The  characters  of  the  genus  are  : — Dorsal  fin 
none;  nose  of  skull  short,  rounded  in  front,  flat  and  shelving  above  ;  teeth 
numerous,  compressed,  nicked,  acute,  extending  nearly  the  whole  length 
of  the  jaw  (Gray,  'Seals  and  Whales',  &c. ). 

"Neomeris  phocaenoides  is  the  only  species  of  the  genus,  and  its  dentition 
is    given    as   \i  (Delphinu3  melas)   or    f§    on    each    side.       The     species 


BOTANICAL  NOTES.  225 


under  notice  has  £§  on  each  side,  and  there  are  besides  a  set  of  f 
which  were  scarcely  visible  through  the  gums,  and  situated  out  of  the  line 
of  the  other  teeth  ia  front  of  the  jaws.  In  shape  these  \  teeth  are 
quite  unlike  the  rest,  being  conical  instead  of  flattened  or  compressed.  The 
measurements  of  the  animal  taken  in  the  flesh  are  as  under  : — 

Inches. 
Length  along  curve  from  tip  of  snout  to  notch  between 

caudal  flukes  52 

Ditto  straight 45 

Tip  of  snout  to  pectoral  fin 10 

Caudal  flukes  9x3 

Distance  of  blow  hole  from  tip  of  snout  along  curve 6*5 

Ditto  from  angle  of  mouth  to  eye 1'62 

Vent  from  root  of  caudal  fin 14 

Snout  rounded ;  head  very  convex,  rising  posteriorly  high  to  the  dorsal 
surface;  blowhole  semilunar;  back  with  a  longitudinal  band  of  spinous 
tubercles  on  the  vertebral  area,  beginning  nearly  opposite  the  root  of  the 
pectoral,  widening  to  15  inch  about  the  middle,  and  again  contracting  and 
ending  narrowly  opposite  or  in  line  with  the  vent  ;  no  dorsal  fin  ;  pectoral 
subfalcate  ;  teeth  \%  ;  colour  shining  black  throughout,  except  a  purplish 
red  path  in  front  of  the  snout  (on  the  upper  lip)  and  on  the  threat  ;  intestine 
31  feet  in  length  ;    contents  of  stomach  Crustacea  (species  of  Penaeus). 

Inches. 
Length    of   skull   over   curves   to   upper  edge  of  foramen 

magnum 10 

Ditto  straight  from  below 8 

Height  of  skiall  (vertex  of  super-occipital) 425 

Tip  of  snout  to  llow-hole 4  25 

Ditto  to  interparietal 625 

Interparietal  toupperedge  of  foramen  magnum 3-75 

Across  m axilla r its 4'75 

Across  blow- hole 15 

Length  of  molar 2  0 

Ditto  ofbiain  cavity  4*0 

Greatest  space  between  occipital  condyles  (upper) 1"5 

Across  paroccipitals  3*37 

Smallest  fpace  between  occipital  condyles  at  lower  third 10 

Vertical  diameter  of  foiamen  magnum 1'75 

Breadth  across  last  teeth  on  each  tide  (upper  jaw)  2  5 

Ditto  ditto  (lower  jaw)    2-5 

Teeth-line  in  upper  and  lower  jaw 25 

Length  of  lower  jaw  to  coronoid  process 5"62 

Greatest  vertical  depth  of  ramus  2-62 

Palate  4.0 

The  super-occiprtal  is    sub  globular  aLd  very  convex  above  ;  rcstrum  short, 

rounded    in    front  j    foramen    magnum    vertically    ova1,  with  the  occipital 


22G  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


condyles  vertically  elongated  and  convex,  wider  at  their  lower  third  ;  teeth 
email,  flattened  or  compressed,  with  a  sharp  sub-crescentic  crown,  faintly 
nicked,  and  with  the  middle  of  their  outer  and  inner  sides  slightly  swelled  ; 
they  are  rather  obliquely  arranged  in  line,  about  one-fifth  of  each  succeed- 
ing hinder  one  overlapping  its  fellow,  but  not  in  contact. 


BOTANICAL  NOTES. 


NOTE  ON  THE  GLORIOSA   SUPERB  A  (N.  0.  LIU  ACE  A), 

"  SUPERB  LILY." 
By  Mr.  Frank  Rose,  P.  W.  D. 

Several  writers  have  pronounced  the  root  of  this  handsome  climbing  plant 
a  violent  poison,  and  next  to  the  Wild  Aconite  (Aconitum  ferox).  I  much 
doubt  the  assertion,  as  I  have  seen  Brinjaris  using  it  for  medicinal  purpose?, 
and  it  doubtless  has  active  properties.  Native  Surgeon  Mohideen  Sheriff 
(Madras-)  has  already  removed  the  doubts  expressed  by  certain  of  the 
Medical  Faculty  by  giving  it  to  his  patients,  and  has  himself  taken  "12-grain 
doses  three  times  a  day."  In  case  an  experiment  may  be  wished  to  be  tried, 
I  send  you  by  this  day's  post  the  tuberous  root  of  this  shrub  obtained  from 
my  garden. 

Florists  should  not  lose  this  opportunity  of  collecting  the  roots  for  next 
rains.  This  ornamental  plant  flowers  early  in  Augus'.  lasting  only  eleven 
days  :  the  petals  open  with  a  light  green  tint,  and  then  gradually  assume  the 
crimson  and  yellow  on  the  sixth  day,  when  it  is  then  clad  in  its  richest  and 
gayest  colour,  after  which  the  whole  flower  becomes  crimson  and  then  fad*s. 

This  perenial  plant  is  easily  identified.  The  root  is  bulbous  ;  stem,  green 
herbaceous  ;  leaves,  lanceolate,  ending  with  tondrils  or  cirrbiferous  ;  calyx,  nil  ; 
and  corolla,  reflex,  G-petalled  ;  habitat,  fi  dds  and  forest?.  Willdenow  is  said  to 
have  discovered  this  shrub  in  1G90.  The  Indian  synoniyms  are  Nag-dhan 
or  Nai-kabachnag  derived  from  the  Wild  Aconite  ;  Olot-chandal,  Bengali  ;  and 
Kalaijpak-Jcirhangu,  Tamil.  In  Ba  If  our  &  Botany  (Ed.  1854)  nothing  is  ?  aid 
about  this  plant. 

F.  R. 

NOTE  ON  THE  GLORIOSA  SUPERB  A. 
By  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar. 

With  reference  Mr.  Rose's  remarks,  I  say  at  once  state  that  I  am  not 
personally  able  to  bear  testimony  to  the  violently  poisonous  qualities  of  the 
roct  of  Gloriosa  superba.  I  have  neither  used  it  medicinally,  nor  have  I  seen 
any  cases  of  men  poisoned  by  it.  Dr.  Nornoau  Chevers  however,  in  his  work 
on  Indian  Medical  Jurisprudence,  menth  ns  two  fatal  cases  (pp.  284-285) 
in     Edition    of     1870,     and     attributes     to     the     root     naicotico-ir.itan'i 


BOTANICAL  NOTES.  227 


properties.     Gribble  in  bis  recent  work  on  Indian  Medical  Jurisprudence  is 
silent  on  the  point. 

In  bi-j  Forest  Flora  of  British  Bvrmah  (Yol.  II.,  p.  542),  Kurz  says  : — "  The 
Phoongyees  often  collect  tbe  poisonous  roots  of  Gloriosa  for  medicinal  purpose?." 
Sir  George  Birdwood,  in  his  Bombay  Vegetable  Products,  says  it  was  first 
described  by  Hermann.  It  is  said  to  be  a  substitute  for  Colchicum.  In  Bapu 
Gangadhar  Josbi's  Nighanta  Prakdsh,  based  on  various  Sanskrit  works  onthe  use 
and  properties  of  indigenous  drugs,  the  plant  is  called  "  Kalikari,"  "Kalalavi," 
or  "  KhadiyanaV."  It  is  said  to  be  destructive  of  biliousness,  pruritus,  oedema, 
intense  thirst,  colic,  &c.  It  is  therefore  not  unknown  as  a  remedial  agent. 
It  is  said  to  be  abortive  also.  It  is  deserving  of  a  trial  as  tonic  and  alterative, 
especially  as  Mobideen  Sheriff  finds  it  useful  in  his  own  practice. 

K.  R.  K. 

USES  OF  THE  FLOWER  OF  P AND AN  US  ODORATISSIMUS. 
By  Mr.  Fkank  Rose,  P.  W.  P. 

In  forwarding  for  identification  two  samples  of  the  extract  from  the 
flower  of  this  tree,  known  as  the  "Attar  of  Keura"  aud  the  "Water1' 
{Kevada-ku-aaraq)  manufactured  last  year  at  Aurangabad,  Deccan,  but  which 
have  lost,  to  a  certain  extent,  their  aromatic  properties  from  length  of  time, 
and  with  reference  to  tbe  very  interesting  paper  on  the  uses  of  the  tree 
by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterndale,  F.R.G.S.  (Journal  No.  IT.  for  April),  I  am  induced 
to  follow  up  Dr.  Kirtikar's  "  Notes,"  and  say  a  few  words  anent  the  uses  of 
this  achlamydeous  flower. 

The  Flower  is  certainly  of  a  very  fragrant  nature,  more  powerful  than 
any  of  the  Indian  Flora,  and  it?  perfume  is  considered  to  be  the  richest  by 
the  Mahomedan  community.  The  flowers  are  used  for  a  double  purposes 
viz.,  scenting  wearing  aj  parel  and  keeping  away  insects,  especially  the  cock- 
roaches {Blatta.  orientaltti). 

Perfumery. — Tue  Aaraq,  or  water,  is  issued  extensively  by  tbe  well-to-do 
of  the  Mahomedan  class,  chiefly  in  flavouring  their  drinking-water  during  the 
hot-weather  by  adding  a  few  drops  to  it.  Although  it  may  be  palatable  to 
some  Europeans  in  their  beverages,  confectioneries,  et  hoc  genus  omne,  I  am  no 
advocate  for  it;  but  tastes  differ,  hence  my  reason  for  sending  a  sample  for 
trial. 

The  Attar  is  prized  as  much  by  the  Native  community  as  any  of  Piesse 
and  Lubiu's  perfumes  are  by  Europeans.  A  superior  kind  of  Attar  is 
exported  from  Northern  India. 

Synonym. — A  respected  botanist  says  that  the  word  Pandanus  has 
its  derivation  from  Pandang  (Malay  name  of  the  genus),  signifying 
"Regard,"  owing  to  "the  beauty  of  the  tree  and  its  exquisite  odour." 
Daniel  Olliver,  F.R.S.,  F.L.S.,  says  that  the  "Screw-pine"  derives  it, 
appellation  from  the  Pine-apple  order  (Bromel'acas)  owing  to  the  similarity 
of  their  foliage.  It  is  also  known  as  the  "  Caldera  Bush"  and  "  Screw-palm," 
and  in  Mauritius  as  the  "Variquois  Plant."  The  plant  was  first  recognized 
in  India  in  1771   by  that   great    German   botanist   Willdenow.     I  find  that 


228  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

Mahadeva    (q.  v.,  "  Hindu  Theatre" — Malati  and  Mahadeva)  is  reported  to 
have  sung  the  praises  of  the  Kitaki  (Sanscrit)  in  the  following  strain  :~ 

"  Faint  in  the  East  the  gentle  moonlight  gleams 
"  Pale  as  the  Palm's  sear  leaf,  and  through  the  air 
"The  slowly  rising  breezes  spread  around 
"  The  grateful  fragrance  of  the  KUalci." 

In   Burmah   the  plant  is    known    as     Sasava   and   in   Madras    as     TazJian- 
cheddi. 

Habitat. — This  tree  I  have  seen  growing  in  Southern  India  and  in 
H.  H.  the  Nizam's  dominions:  common  in  the  vicinity  of  Aurangabad* 
Deccan.  Having  an  excellent  fibre,  I  am  surprised  that  it  is  not  cared 
for  and  utilized  for  rope-making  in  the  Nizam's  tenitory;  but,  if  so,  it 
must  be  to  a  very  limited  extent  ;  the  fibre  could  be  more  profitably  used 
also  in  manufacturing  paper.  The  Japanese  cultivate  the  plant  extensively 
for  its  odoriferous  nature  ;  similarly  Burmah,  where  the  tree  grows  wild 
and  luxuriantly,  could  augment  her  revenue  by  utilizing  it  too.  The  tree 
is  largely  resorted  to  by  the  Ophidia  family. 

Fodder.— J.  C.  Loudon,  F.L.S.,,  H.S.,  &c.  (1829),  says:— "The  branches 
being  of  a  soft,  spongy,  juicy  nature,  cattle  will  eat  them  very  well  when 
cut  into  small  pieces."  I  know  that  the  taste  is  unpleasant,  and  from  the 
fact  of  the  leaves  decaying  on  the  tree — especially  in  the  younger  plants, 
■which  are  within  the  reach  of  all  cattle — this  assertion  seems  rather  doubt- 
ful. 

Altogether  the  P.  odoratissimus  is  a  most  interesting  and  valuable  pre- 
duct  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  a  tree  so  very 
useful  for  economic  purposes — from  the  root  to  the  flower — is  not  cultivated 
and  brought  into  use  more  largely. 

F.  R. 

FREAK  IN  A  ZINNIA  PAUCIFLORA  OBSERVED  AND 

EXHIBITED 

By  Mr.  Frank  Rose,  P.W.D. 

[N.  0.  COMPOSITE  (ASTEEACE^E).-] 

{Syngenesia — Linn.     Sub-Order  Tubulifloiue.) 

It  was  Mrs.  Caroline  A  White  who  truly  said  that  "the  researches  of 
modern  botanists  have  done  much  to  simplify  and  popularize  a  knowledge 
of  the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  but  there  are  still  sufficient  mysteries  in  the 
organization,  sensation,  and  self-motive  power  of  plants  to  afford  a  wide 
field  for  inquiry  and  experiment  ;  and  the  more  we  direct  attention  to 
these  charming  wonders,  the  more  good  we  shall  be  doing  to  our  readers, 
ourselves,  and  science." 

dpi  i>2'vs  of  the  above,  I  may  as  well  here  state — en  parenthesis — that  certain 
habits  of  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  are  analogous,  of  which  I  hope 


BOTANICAL   NOTES.  229 


to  give  some  interesting  facts  in  due  course.  The  ancientB  believed  that 
plants  and  trees  have  instinct  and  vegetable  souls,  and  looked  upon  them  as 
animals !  However,  be  tbat  as  it  may,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  floral 
world  has  its  lusus  naturae  like  aDimals,  as  will  be  perceptible  in  the  specimen 
of  the  green  flower  of  the  Zinnia  panciflora  herewith  forwarded,  obtained 
from  my  bungalow  compound  from  among  many  hundred  plants  growing 
wild,  whose  corollas  are  of  different  delightful  hues. 

The  plant  from  which  this  individual  is  obtained  is  fac  simile  to  the  others, 
except  in  the  flower,  and  that  its  growth  is  stunted.  The  uncommon  colour — 
green — I  venture  to  say,  is  doubtless  attributable  to  some  chemical  change 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  internal  arrangement  of  this  only  plant  from 
among  a  number  of  others.  Science  teaches  us  that  the  leaves  of  trees  and 
grass,  being  inclined  to  be  more  dark  than  white,  have  a  greater  tendency  to 
absorb  than  to  rtflect  the  solar  rays.  For  instance,  the  grass  and  leaves  are 
green,  but  they  absorb  all  but  the  green  rays.  In  Professor  Henfrey's 
Botany,  2nd  Edition,  revised  by  Dr.  Masters,  we  are  told  that  "the 
various  tints  of  colour  are  produced  either  by  the  interposition  of  colourless 
cells  between  those  containing  coloured  juices,  or  by  the  superposition  of 
cells  with  different  colouring  matter  one  over  the  other.  Then  how  comes 
this  one  plant  to  be  affected  more  than  all  the  others  which  are  contiguouss 
to  it? 

Tne  most  striking  feature  in  this  phenomenon  I  wish  to  bring  to  notice 
is  the  abnormal  evolution  of  the  corolla  having  leafy  shoots  or  miniature 
plants  2  inches  high,  from  whence  another  flower-bud  is  shooting — an 
unheard  of  freak,  I  think,  in  this  genus  !  The  Honorary  Secretary  of  this 
section  will,  I  am  sure,  be  glad  to  explain  to  us  the  cause  of  this  meta- 
morphosis, which  will  be  a  very  interesting  lesson  to  florists  who  are  not 
versed  in  terafology. 

There  are  other  green  flowers  on  the  same  plant,  but  at  present  without 
any  hafy  shoots  besides  the  extracdinary  one  now  sent. 

F.  E. 

NOTE  ON  THE  ABOVE, 
By  Surgeon  K,  R.  Kirtikar. 

Me.  Rose's  specimen  of  Zinnia  pauciflora  is  an  instance  of  prolification 
or  proliferation,  which  means  the  production  of  one  organ  by  another  of 
a  different  kind,  as  that  of  cup-like  appendages  by  leaves  and  of  branches 
by  flowers  or  even  fruits.  For  an  illustiation  of  this  sort  of  monstrous 
development,  the  reader  is  referred  to  figures  650  and  774  in  Bentley's 
Botany  at  pages  286  and  344  respectively  (4th  Ed.).  In  the  former  is 
an  instance  of  a  flower  of  the  Rose  showing  the  axis  prolonged  beyond  the 
flower  and  bearing  true  leaves  ;  in  the  latter  a  monstrous  Pear  has  its  axis 
prolonged  bejond  the  fruit  and  similarly  bearing  true  leaves.  In  the 
5th  Edition  of  Lindley's  Elements  of  Botany  at  p.  62,  there  is  an  illustra- 
tion of   the  flowers  of  Epacris  imprma  changing  into  branches. 


230  NATURAL   HISTORY. 


This  metamorphosis  is  technically  called  descending  or  retrograde  where 
the  floral  parts,  i  e.,  petals  or  stamens  or  carpels  become  degenerated  and 
are  transformed  into  a  leaf.  This  can  be  easily  explained  from  the  homo- 
logous nature  of  the  different  parts  of  a  flower  to  the  leaf.  A  flower  in  its 
widest  sense  is  a  multiple  arrangement  of  modified  or  altered  leaves. 
"Linnaeus  f aught  it,  and  Goethe  proved  it,"  says  Lindley.  He  mentions  an 
instance  from  the  Gardener's  Chronicle,  in  which  a  Rose  is  said  to  have  its 
calyx  tube  absorbed,  at  least  not  manifest  ;  the  sepals  half  converted  into 
leaves;  the  petals  more  than  ba'f  changed  into  sepals  ;  the  stamens  fallen 
off,  apparently  little  changed;  the  exterior  carpels  partly  in  their  customary 
state  ;  those  nearer  the  centre  converted  into  small  leaves  ;  but  the  remainder 
upon  the  axis  or  centre,  which  bad  lengthened  into  a  branch,  carried  up  in 
every  conceivable  state  of  transition,  until  the  last  or  uppermost  carpel 
assumed  the  customary  appearance  of  the  leaves  of  the  stem.  A  beautiful 
illustration  is  also  given  by  Lindley  at  p.  63  of  his  "Elements"  above 
referred  to. 

The  most  highly  modified  leaves  of  the  flower,  says  Sachs,  "  are  the  stamens 
and  carpels."  By  a  freak  of  nature  they  may  not  develop  into  stamens  or 
carpels,  or  the  stamens  and  carpels  may  degenerate  into  leaves  at  any  time. 
But  though  such  instances  are  numerous,  they  constitute  merely  a  pheno- 
menal tiansition  of  an  exceptioral  kind,  not  necessary  for  the  completion 
of  the  life-history  of  a  plant.  The  floral  axis  as  a  general  rule  ceases  to  grow 
at  the  apex  as  soon  as  the  sexual  organs  make  their  appearance,  or  even 
earlier.  But  in  singular  or  abnormal  rases  like  the  one  exhibited  by 
Mr.  Rose,  and  normally  in  Gycas,  says  Sachs,  "  the  apical  growth  of  the  floral 
axis  !  ecommences,  again  produces  leaves,  and  sometimes  even  a  new 
flower." 

K.  R.  R. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  DURING 
THE  QUARTER. 

The  usual  monthly  meeting  of  this  Society  took  place  on  Monday 
the  5th  of  July,  and  was  largely  attended.     Dr.  D.  MacDonald  presided. 

The  following  new  members  were  elected  : — Mr.  E.  C.  K.  011;vant, 
Mr.  J.  A  Betbam,  Dr.  0.  H.  Channer,  Mr.  Frank  Rose,  Mr.  F.  Chambers, 
Mr.  H.  Bromley,  Mr.  W.  J.  Holland,  Mr.  T.  B.  Fry,  Mr.  J.  H.  Steel, 
Colonel  F.  W.  Major,  Mr.  Chester  Macnaghten,  Mr.  H.  E.  An^rewes, 
Mr.  J.  Maguire,  Mr.  G.  A.  Anderson,  Rev.  J.  E.  Abbott,  Mr.  Cowasji 
M.  Dadabhoy,  and  Dr.  Temuljee  B.  Nariman.  Mr.  L.  de  Niceville,  of  the 
Calcutta  Museum,  was  elected  an  honorary  corresponding  member  of  the 
Society. 


PROCEEDINGS  OE  THE  SOCIETY  DURING   THE   QUARTER. 


231 


Mr.  H.  M.  Phipson,   the    Honorary  Secretary,  acknowledged  the  following 
contributions  to  the  Society's  collections  since  the  last  meeting  : — 


Contribution. 


Description. 


Contributor. 


1  Kestrel  (alive) 

1  Sea-make 

1         do. 

A  quantity  of  Corals  ... 

3  Eggs  

A  quantity    of      Birds' 
Skins  and  Geological 
specimens. 
3  Snakes  

A  quantity  of  Fossils... 
A  Cn  w's  Nest 

1  Snake's    Skin  (15'  5").. 
3  Floricans'  Skins  

Skin    of    Pine- marten... 
3  Ibex's  Skins 

2  Snakes   

1  Snake  (4U*)     

1  Elephant's  Tooth 

6  Crocodiles'  Eggs   (since 

hatched). 

2  Snakes    

Skin  of  Albino  Mongoose 
2  Young  Crocodiles     

1  do.  

2  Snakes  (alive) 

1  White-tailed    Porcupine 

(alive). 

1  Snake     

1  Camel's  Skull    

1  Saw-fish's  Snout  

1  Sea-snake  

A  quantity  of  Fish  and 
Crustaceans. 

1   Snake     

Do 

K  itel(or  Honey-badger). 

1  Snake     

1  Musang 

1  B  toby  (alive)  

A  quantity  of  Lizards... 

1  iSnake 

A  quantity  of  Ctbia's 
Eggs. 

Bead  of  4-horned  Ante- 
lope     

A  Land  Tortoise 

A  Rat     

2  Snakes    

Pari  of  a  Porpoise's  Skull 
La'ge  Snout  of  Saw-iish 

1  Python  (alive) 


From  Khandalla 

Hydrophis  curta  

Pelamis  bicolor   

From   Arabian  C^ast  . 
Alcippe  poiocephala  . 
From   Bhooj 


Zamenis     diadema     and 
Echis  carinata. 
From  Beluchistan 

Made  of  bottling-wire 

Ophiophagus  elaps  


Mr.  Wm,  Shipp. 
Capt.  W.  P.  Kennedy. 

Do. 
Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken. 

Do. 
Mr.   A.  Newrham. 


Do. 


Dr.  H.  Yeld. 

Mr.  W.  M.  Macdonald. 

Dr.  Bccarro. 

Mr.  D.  Bennett. 

Martes  abietuin    jCapt.  Olivier. 

Capra   sihirica I         Do. 

From  Mahableshwar      [Mr.  J.  C.  Anderson. 
Cynophis  malabaricus    ...|Miss  Dewar. 
Found        at        KhandallaMr.  G.  W.  Terry. 


From  Tulsi  Lake 


5  D''P 

(Tro 


psas  gokool. 
p.    stolatus. 
From   Baroda. 
From    Tulsi    Lake 


HyBtrix    leucura 


,,    Kienzi  Walton,  C.E. 

Lieut.  Barnes. 

Mr.  H.  Littledale. 

Nowrojee  H.  Katrak. 
C  A   Stuart. 
K.  D.  Naegamvala. 
A.  S.  Ritchie. 


Trimeresurus  anamallensis 

From  Sind 
Pristis  antiquorum  ....... 

Hydrophis  Guntherii  .... 

From  Alibag 


Gongylophis  conicus  

Onycliocepbalus  acutus  .. 
Mellivora  itniica 

Sil>  buia  bicatena.ta 

Paradoxurus  musanga 


From  the  Punjab 

Zamenis  diadema 

From  Bijapur 


From  Afglianistan 


„    G.  A.  Barnett,  CLE. 

„    E.  M.  Walton. 

Do. 
Capt.  Feuton. 
Mr.  W.  F.  Sinclair,  C.S. 

Do. 
Do. 
Mr.  R.  A.  R;ddell. 
„    G.  Vidal,  C.S. 
„    W.  F.   Hamilton. 
„    W.  F.  Sinclnir,  C.S. 
Msjor  Yerbury,  R.E. 

Do. 
Mr.  E.  Reiuhold,  C.E. 


„     J.  D.  Inverarity 
Major  W.  J.  M<  rse. 


Probably  a  new  species  ...Father  Dreckman. 


fcilybura  Elliotii 

From  Alibag. 


Python  molurus 


H.  B.  And i ewes. 
W.  F.  Sinclair,  C  S. 
Eduljee  A.  Hormasjee. 
H.  M.  Phipson. 


232 


NATURAL    HISTORY. 


Minor  Contributions. 

From  Dr.  T.  S.  Weir,  Mr.  C.  B.  Lynch,  Mr.  H.  Curjel,  Mr.  M.  C.  Turner, 
Dr.  Dalgado,  Mr.  F.  Jefferson,  Mr.  E.  C.  K.  Ollivant,  Miss  Johnston? 
Mr.  F.  C.  Webb,  Mr.  A.  F.  Beaufort,  and  Mrs.  Wright. 

Contributions  to  the  Library. 
Transactions  of  the   Linngean    Society   of  New  York,  Vols.  I.  and  II. 
Becords  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India,  Vol.  XIX.,  Nos  1  and  2. 
Journal   of  the  Simla  Natural  History  Society,  Vol.  I„  Part  1. 
Paper  read  before  the  Simla  Natural  History  Society  by  Colonel  H.  Collett- 

A  vote  of  thanks  was  then  passed  to  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  had  so 
kindly  responded  to  the  request  of  the  Committee  and  had  sent  in  birds  in 
cages  for  exhibition  at  the  meeting.     The  collection  consisted  of  122  specimens. 

Father  Dreckman  exhibited  two  full-sized  living  specimens  of  the  Green 
Pit-viper  (Trimeresurus  anamallensis)  found  at  Khandalla,  which  differed  in 
a  very  curious  way  as  regards  markings  and  colour. 

Mr.  Kich  also  exhibited  some  beautiful  cases  of  stuffed  birds  from  Australia 
and  New  Guinea. 


The  usual  monthly  meeting  of  this  Society  was  held  en  Monday  2nd  August, 
Dr.  D.  MacDonald  presided.  The  following  new  members  were  elected  : — The 
Hon'ble  F.  Forbes  Adam,  Captain  W.  P.  Kennedy,  Mr.  S.  S.  Bengallee, 
Mrs.  Yorke  Smith,  Mr.  F.  deBovis,  Dr.  A.  W.  F.  Street,  Mr.  P.  C.  Petit, 
Rev.  H.  Juergens,  S.J.,  Mr.  F.  J.  Daley,  Mr.  E.  G.  Colvin,  C.S..  Mrs.  A.  F.  Turner, 
Khan  Bahadur  R.  J.  Ashburner,  Mr.  Dady  M.  Limjee,  and  Mr.  Framjee  D.  Petit. 

Mr.  H.  M.  Phipson,  the  Honorary  Secretary,  then  acknowledged  the  following 
contributions  to  the  Society's  collection  during  the  past  month  : — ■ 


Contribution. 


Description. 


Contributor. 


1  Crowned-crane. 

1  Chamelion 

1  Snake 


A  quantity  of  Tree-crabs 

Lizard  (alive)   

Cobras    : 

Panther 

Wild  Ass  (Cutch)    

Snakes    , 


of  Crusta- 


2     Lizards 

A  quantity 
ceans. 

70  Birds    

23  Snakes 

42  Lizards     

A  quantity  of    Bactra- 

chians. 
A  Foetus  of  the  Mouse- 
den-. 
A   quantity  of  Insects. 


Ardea  pavorina  

Chamasleo  vulgaris 

Tropidouotus   quincuncia- 
tus. 
From  Mahablephwar 

Varanus  draccena 

Nae-a  tripudians   

Felis  pantos 

Equus  onaser  

Cerberus  rhynchops     

Gerarda   bicolor  (?)  

Onychecephalus  acutus  ... 

Varanus  dracoena 

From  Alibag 

From  Ceydon 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 

Do. 


Victoria  Girden?. 
Mr.  H.Barrett. 
Miss  Dewar. 

Do. 
Mr.  W.  Killer. 
,,    H.  Littledale. 
Victoria  Gardens. 
Col.  Nutt. 
Mr.  W.  F.  Sinclair,  C.  S. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Mr.  A.  New n ham. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

Do. 

Do. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  DURING  THE  QUARTER.  233 


Contribution. 


Description. 


Contributor. 


Aquantity  of  Corals, 
Shell-fish,  and 
Radiata. 

A   Goat 

A  quantity  of  Sea-shells. 

1  Snake 

1  floopoo  

Specimen   of  Arraq  and 

A  ttar. 
Specimens  of  Jasper 
Pudding-stone. 

1  Hog  deer .,,, 

A  quantity  of  Geological 
specimens. 

3  Japanese  Fish  (alive).... 


From  Ceylon. 


From  Africa 
From  Aden 

Dipsas  gokool  

(Mounted  in  England).... 
Made  from   the  Pandanus 

odoratissimus. 
From  Banda 


Axis  porcinus 

From  the  volcano  on 
Barren  Island,  Bay  of 
Bengal  


Mr.  A.  Newnham. 


Victoria  Oardens. 
Mr.  J.  D.  Katelee. 
Col.  Walcott. 
Capt.  Miller. 
Mr.  Frank  Hose. 

Do. 

victoria  Gardens. 


Mr.  F.  J.  Daley. 
Revd.  Fr.  Dreckman. 


Minor  Contributions. 
From  Mr.  A.  F.  Turner,  Mr.  R.  MacEwen,  Mr.  John  Fleming,  Mr.  S.  Hcdgart, 
Miss  Whitcombe,  Mr.  A.  H.  Follet,  Mr.  J.  A.  Guider,  and  Mr.  John  Dawson. 

Contributions  to  the  Library. 

Paper  on  the  Birds  of  Aden,  by  Major  J.  W.  Yerbury,  R.  A» 

The  Utilization  of  Minute  Life,  by  Dr.   T.  L.  Phipson. 

A  Manual  on  the  Diseases   of  the  Elephant,  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Steel. 

Exhibits. 

A  Japanese  Dwarf -tree,  by  Colonel  "Walcott,  and  another  by  the  Hon. 
Mr.  Justice  Birdwood  ;  1  Orchid  (in  flower)  (Phaleonopsis  rosea),  by  Mr.  M. 
C.  Tamer  ;  a  4-horned  Ram  (from  Arabia),  by  Mr.  C.  E.  Kane  ;  1  double 
Cocoanut  (from  Seychelles  Islands),  by  Mr.  A.  S.  Panday. 

The  Fungi  of  Bombay. 

Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar  exhibited  a  few  fresh  fungi  collected  in  and  round 
Bombay.  The  spores  of  the  Bhopud  or  Lycoperdon  or  Puff-ball  and  Hydnum 
aureatum  were  exhibited  under  the  microscope,  showing  the  extreme  minuteness 
of  the  spores  of  the  latter  as  compared  with  the  spores  of  the  former. 
Dr.  Kirtikar  observed  that  fungi  form  a  very  interesting  form  of  plant-life,  and, 
though  spoken  of  somewhat  contemptuously  as  consisting  of  mushrooms  and 
toadstools,  supply  the  student  of  Nature  with  an  infatuating  subject  for 
observation  and  amusement.  It  was  a  subject,  he  said,  by  no  means  easy  of 
Btudy  in  this  country,  especially  as  previous  Indian  botanists  had  paid  no 
special  attention  to  the  Cryptogams.  Whatever  the  difficulties,  fungi  and  the 
other  cryptogams,  or  flowerless  plants,  afford  an  interesting  field,  and  would 
amply  repay  any  trouble  that  is  taken  in  investigating  this  unexplored  field 
of  some  of  the  most  interesting  objects  in  nature.  Places  around  Bombay  at 
this  time  of  the  year,  when  there  is  so  much  heat  and  moisture  in  the  air  and 
in  the  ground,  supply  abundant  materials  for  a  thorough  investigation  of  this 
hitherto  neglected  department  of  botany.    They  are  not  mere  toadstools  all 


254  NATURAL   HISTORY, 


these  fungi,  he  said,  though  he  showed  a  tiny  toad  which  he  had  found  sitting 
on  one  of  the  Agarici  exhibited.  The  toads,  he  eaid,  found  not  only  a  stool 
to  Bit  on,  but  also  a  table  where  they  could  find  their  food,  as  there  were- 
numerous  earth-worms  crawling  on  the  adjacent  Polypori.  The  fungus  known 
to  the  natives  of  the  country  as  Phanasamba  was  a  polyporus,  and  used  as 
a  medicinal  agent.  The  Puffball,  known  as  Bhodiphod  or  Bhopud  (t.  e.,  "Cleaver 
of  the  soil"),  and  scientifically  known  as  a  variety  of  Lycoperdon,  was,  he  said, 
considered  a  delicacy  when  propeily  seasoned  and  cooked  fresh  from  the  field* 
It  appeared  on  the  first  fall  of  the  rains  in  the  monsoons.  The  true  mushroom 
which  is  sold  in  the  English  markets  as  Agaricus  campeatris,  is  also  found 
in  this  country  abundantly,  but  it  is  yet  too  early  to  find  the  same  just  now^ 
It  must  however  be  admitted  tbafc  several  pounds  of  much  nutritious  food 
are  thrown  away  as  useless  on  account  of  want  of  proper  knowledge  of  the 
various  classes  of  edible  and  poisonous  fungi.  It  is  not  everybody  that  can 
relish  the  musty  smell  of  the  varied  members  of  the  Fungal  tribe,  nor  is  it  that 
the  delicacies  will  always  agree  with  the  inner  man.  But  there  is  hardly  any 
doubt  that  every  student  of  Nature  will  find  immense  delight  in  scanning  the 
minute  threads  and  spores,  and  the  mycelium  or  spawn  that  go  to  build  up  the 
delicate- structure  of  the*e  cellular  plants.  It  is  not  from  the  gastronomic  point 
©f  view  that  he  discoursed,  he  said,  on  the  fungi,  nor  was  it  that  he  wanted  to  tell 
whether  this  or  that  mushroom  was  edible  or  poisonous,  and  whether  it  would 
do  credit  to  a  generous  and  hospitable  host  to  place  before  his  guest  at  dinner 
Indian  mushroom  toast  or  stewed  or  curried  toadstools  a  Id  Indienne  t  Nor  did 
he  pretend,  he  said,  to  initate  an  energetic  mercantile  firm  into  the  mysteries  of 
fungus-trade,  and  encourage  a  body  of  speculators  to  bottle  up  a  few  edible 
varieties  and  Bend  them  to  Crosse  aud  Blackwell  to  try  their  fate  in  an  English 
market.  All  he  urged  on  that  evening  on  behalf  of  those  interesting  objects 
In  nature  which  lie  unnoticed  was  that  they  had  an  everlasting  interest  to 
the  student  of  Science,  aud  if  by  such  occasional  display  of  fungi  the  Natural 
History  Society  of  Bombay  encouraged  the  study  of  an  unexplored  field,  the 
Society  will  have  accomplished  one  of  its  principal  objects.  To  the  student  of 
Medicine  the  fungi  have  a  special  interest,  now  that  fresh  accessions  are  being 
daily  made  to  our  already  vast  knowledge  of  bacilli.  A  thorough  acquaintance 
with  their  life,  history,  and  their  surroundings,  and  an  acquaintance  with  their 
habits  and  functions,  are  essential  before  we  determine  whether  they  are  the 
cause  of  disease,  concomitants  of  it,  or  the  mere  harmless  results  of  it  as  any 
other  objects  in  nature.  Fungi  of  the  minutest  kind  have  been  known  to  exist 
on  other  larger  fungi,  apparently  not  affecting  their  host  with  disease  or  causing 
its  death.  Why  should  not  bacilli  exist  in  man  without  causing  disease  ?  All 
this  has  to  be  known.  It  was  not  his  intention  however,  he  said,  to  enter  on 
a  medical  disquisition,  but  that  he  touched  the  subject  incidentally.  He  then 
showed  from  amongst  the  specimens  of  fungi  some  of  the  typical  Agarics, 
several  polypoid  beautifully  tinted,  a  beautiful  golden  yellow-spiked  Hydnum, 
the  gelatinous  ear-like  Auricularia,  soma  needle-like  Claviarei,  thus  illustiating 
one  of  the  important  divisions  of  fungi  known  as  the  Hymenomycetes,  so  called 
from  their  possessing  tha  hymenium  or  fruit-bearing,  or  rather  spore-bearing, 
surface  exposed  to  the  air. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  DURING  THE  QUARTER.  235 

Memory  and  Reason  in  Animals. 

Mr.  Sterndale  then  read  a  paper  on  "Memory  and  Reason  in  Wild  Animals." 
He  said  that  the  beginnings  of  instinct,  or  he  would  rather  call  it  reason,  began 
very  low  down  in  the  scale  of  animal  life,  as  low  down  as  the  Rhizopoda,  and 
he  traced  it  gradually  upwards  through  the  Mollusca  and  Insecta  to  birds,  and 
from  thsm  to  the  larger  animals.  He  gave  some  interesting  cases  of  instinct, 
which  he  was  careful  to  separate  from  reason,  in  monkeys,  which  rejected  certain 
deadly  poisons  hurtful  to  them,  and  readily  took  other  poisons  equally  deadly  to 
man  and  other  creatures  but  which  had  no  effect  on  them.  He  then  gave 
cases  of  reasoning  in  monkeys  and  other  mammals,  and  passed  on  to  examples 
of  memory,  illustrating  his  cases  by  tigers,  elephants,  horses,  &c„  He  pointed 
out  that  in  desert  islands,  untrodden  by  human  foot,  there  was  no  instinctive 
dread  of  man  shown  by  wild  animals.  One  curious  genus  of  Marine  mammalia, 
Steller's  Rhytina,  has  been  exterminated  by  sailors  owing  to  this  over-confidence  ; 
but  the  advent  of  man  is  followed  by  the  loss  of  this  trusting  nature,  and  this  is 
the  outcome  of  reasoning  faculties.  The  wild  birds  soon  see  that  to  confide  is  to  be 
knocked  on  the  head.  Birds,  he  said,  exceeded  mammals,  with  the  exception  of 
monkeys,  in  imitative  power.  Parrots  are  made  to  tali?,  other  birds  to  whistle. 
There  is  no  such  mimicry  amongst  mammals,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  the 
dog,  the  bark  of  which  is  said  to  be  the  unconscious  mimicry  of  the  gruffness 
of  the  human  voice.  Wild  dogs  and  wolves  cannot  bark  but  only  howl. 
Domestic  dogs  which  run  wild  lose  in  a  few  generations  the  power  of  barking 
and  revert  to  the  howl,  as  in  the  case  of  those  on  the  island  of  Juan  Fernandez  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  wolf  cubs  brought  up  with  domesticated  dogs  learn  to  bark. 
He  concluded  by  saying  : — "  I  must  however  not  tax  your  patience  any  longer. 
Did  time  permit  of  it,  I  could  give  many  curious  instances  of  the  sagacity  of 
wild  animals,  their  skill  in  avoiding  traps,  and  their  own  cunning  in  circumvent- 
ing others.  The  most  marvellous  creature  is  the  North  American  wolverine  or 
glutton,  regarding  which  much  has  been  written  by  Dr.  Elliot  Coues.  I  think 
he  heads  the  list  for  intelligent  rascality,  and  I  recommend  such  of  our  members 
as  are  interested  to  turn  up  the  abridged  account  of  it  in  the  second  volume  of 
Cassell's  Natural  History,  and  they  will  be  amply  repaid  for  five  minutes  reading. 
We  have  nothing  like  this  thoroughpaced  villain  amongst  our  comparatively 
well-behaved  denizens  of  the  jungles.  I  will  wind  up  with  a  short  certificate  to 
his  bad  character  from  Dr.  Coues  : — '  The  desire  for  accumulating  property 
seems  so  deeply  implanted  in  this  animal  that,  like  tame  ravens,  it  does  not 
appear  to  care  much  what  it  steals,  so  that  it  can  exercise  its  favourite  propen- 
sity to  commit  mischief.  An  instance  occurred  within  my  own  knowledge,  in 
whl.'h  a  hunter  and  his  family,  having  left  their  lodge  unguarded  during  their 
absence,  on  their  return  round  it  completely  gutted  — the  walls  were  there,  but 
nothing  else.  Blankets,  guns,  kettles,  axes,  cans,  knives,  and  all  the  other  para- 
phernalia of  a  trapper's  tent,  had  vanished,  and  the  tracks  left  by  the  beast 
showed  who  had  beeu  the  thief.  The  family  set  to  work,  and  by  carefully 
following  up  all  his  paths,  recovered,  with  some  trifling  exceptions,  the  whole  of 
the  lost  property.'  It  is  well  I  nay  pay  for  our  Indian  police  that  we  have  not 
wolverines  amoug  our  criminal  classes  in  this  country." 

The  proceedings  soon  afterwards  came  to  a  close. 


236 


NATURAL   HISTORY. 


The  monthly  meeting  of  this  Society  was  held  on  Monday,  the  6th  September 
1886.     Dr.  D.  MacDonald  presiding. 

The  following  new  members  were  elected  :-— Mrs.  John  Hay  Grant,  Captain 
H.  G.  E.  Swayne,  R.  E.,  Mr.  K.  D.  Ghandy,  and  Mr.  S.  K.  Kambata. 

Mr.  H.  M.  Phipson,  the  Honorary  Secretary,  then  acknowledged  the  following 
contributions  to  the  Society's  collections  during  the  past  month  : — 


Contribution. 


Contributor. 


A  quantity  of  Butterflies 
6  Species  of  Corals 


1  Crocodile's  Skull 

Eggs  of  Monitor 

A  quantity  of  Coralines. 
1  Snake    


the 


A  quantity  of  Bats 

14  Snakes   

Nest  and  Eggs  of 

White-eyed  Tit. 

A  quantity  of  Sponges, 

Coralines,  Crustaceans, 

Sea-snakes,  Fish,  and 

other  Marine  Animals 

1  Tree-cat , 

1  Crested  Hawk-eagle    ... 

1  Snake 

22  Birds'  Eggs 

1  Markhor's  Head 

1  Oorial's  Head    

1  Jungle-cat's  Skin 

7  Rats   , 

18  Lizards 

3  Snakes  (alive)  , 

6  Rats  

A  quantity  of  Insects.. 
A  quantityofCrustaceans 

1   Lizard  

1    Snake  

A  quantity  of    Fish  and 
Marine  specimen?. 

1  Dolphin's  Skull    

A  quantity  of    Turtles' 

Eggs. 
A  quantity  of  Sea-shells 
1  Porpoise,  with  2  young 

ones. 
1  Sea-turtle  (alive) 


From  the  Punjab 
From    the    M  e  r  g  u  i 
Archipelago 
Crocodilus  palustris    .... 
Varanus  microlepis 


Tropidonotus  quincuncia- 
tus. 

From  Oorun 
From  Saugor,  C.  P. 
From  Poona 

From  the  Persian  Gulf 


Paradoxurus  musangi , 

Spilornis  cheela   

Lycodon  aulicus  

From  Ahmedabad 

Capra  megaceros 

Ovis  cycloceros    

Felis  chaus  

From  Surat 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do, 
Eublepharis  Hardwickii.. 
Tropidonotus  punctulatue 
From  Alibag 


Major  J,  W.  Yerbury,R,A. 
Mr.  F.  J.  Daley. 

Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Mr.  F.  R.  A.  Montgomery. 


» 


E.  H  Aitken. 


H.  E.  Bunes. 
,,    R.  C.  Wrooghton, 


A  beautifully  s  t  u  f£  e  d 
specimen  of  the  Duck- 
billed Platypus. 
1  Stripe-necked  Mongoose 


Delphinus  plumbeus 
From  Alibag 


Do. 
Neomeris  kurrachiensis  .. 

Covered  with   Acorn  Bar- 
nacles. 

From  Tasmania 


Herpestes  vitticollis 


Capt.  E.  Bishop. 


Mr.  J.  A.  Simpson. 
„    H.  Littledale. 
Col.  Portraan. 
Capt.  F.  B.  Peile. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Mr.  F.  Gleadow. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Mr.  W.  Willard. 
„    W.  F.  Sinclair,  0.  B. 

Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 
Do. 

Do. 

Mr.  E.  M.  Walton. 


N.  S.  Symons. 


Minob  Contributions. 
From    Mr.    C.    W.  L.     Jackson,    Captain   Becher,    Mr.   Thomas   Lidbetter, 
Mr.  Mitarachi,Mrs.  Owen  Dunn,  Mr.   Forrest,  Mr.  N.  V.  Mandlik,  Major  Morse, 
Mr.  H.Bromley,  Mr.  C.  P.  Lynch,  Mr.  H.  Wise,  and  Mr.  Krishoarao  V-  Ranjit. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY  LURING  THE    QUARTER.  237 


Contributions  to  the  Library. 

Records  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India,  Yol.  XIX.,  Part  3. 

Insects  of  India  (E.  Donovan),  by  Mr.  W.  Shipp. 

Foreign  Butterflies,  by  Mr.  W.  Shipp. 

Foreign  Moths,  by  Mr.  W.  Shipp. 

Reptiles  of  Sind  (J.  Murray),  by  the  Author. 

Transactions  of  the  N.  S.  WaleB  Lirnaean  Society,  Vol.  I ,  Part  1. 

Magazine  of    Natural    History,  Vol.    XV1IL,  Nos.    103  and  104,  from 

Mr.  W.  H.  Littledale. 
Mr.  E.  L.  Barton  exhibited  one  tiger's  head  and  two  panthers'  heads,  mounted 
by  himself. 
The  following  papers  were  then  read  :— • 

A  Matheran  Seed-traveller,  by  Dr.  D.  MacDonald. 

Links  in  the  Mammalian  Chain,  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Sterndale. 

Pollen  Grains,  by  Dr.  Kirtikar. 

a  Matheran  Seed-traveller. 

Dr.  MacDunald  said  : — "  Members  of  the  Natural  History  Society  who  have 
visited  Matheran  in  the  hot-weather  may  have  noticed  seeds  with  a  beautiful 
crown  of  spreading  hairs — termed  pappus  or  coma  by  botanists — carried  by  the 
wind,  sometimes  along  the  ground,  sometimes  high  in  the  air.  On  account  of 
their  buoyancy,  these  wind- wafted  seeds  are  often  carried  to  considerable 
distances  from  the  parent  plant.  Several  kinds  of  plants  on  summit  or  sides 
of  Matheran  Hill  produce  comose  seeds,  but  perhaps  the  seeds  of  which  I  now 
phow  some  specimens  are  the  most  beautiful.  When  I  first  saw  these  seeds  in 
May  of  this  year,  I  could  not  determine  their  botanical  origin,  even  approxi- 
mately ;  but  when  the  then  Superintendent  of  Matheran,  Dr.  MacDougall, 
kindly  '  tained  for  me  some  of  the  leaves  of  the  plant,  as  well  as  a  few  of  the 
maturing  fruits,  I  was  able  to  refer  the  plant  to  one  of  two  very  closely  allied 
Natural  Orders  or  Families — the  Apocynacecs,  or  Dogbane  Order,  to  which 
plant  so  familiar  in  Bombay  as  the  Allamanda,  the  Tabernamontana,  Vinca 
rosea,  Nerium  oleander,  Beaumontea  grandiflora,  and  others  belong  ;  or  the 
Aselepiadacece  or  Milkweed  Order,  of  which  the  Asclepias  curassavica,  the 
Stephanotis,  and  the  Hoya  carnosa  or  Wax-plant  are  well  known  in  Bombay. 
These  two  Orders  are  very  closely  allied,  and  were  at  one  time  grouped  together 
under  the  name  Apocynaceaa.  The  two  are  now  separated,  the  distinguishing 
characters  of  the  Asclepiadacese  being — (1)  the  stigma,  which  has  five  rounded 
angles  provided  with  either  cartilaginous  corpuscles,  or  a  gland  which  retains 
the  pollen  masses,  the  stalk  or  caudicle  of  the  pollen  masses  being  attached 
in  this  vray  to  the  stigma,  and  (2)  the  peculiar  pollinia  or  pollen  masses  which 
are  developed  by  the  stamens,  instead  of  the  ordinary  p» lien  grains  produced  by 
the  stamens  in  the  order  Apocynaceaa.  In  the  Asclepiads,  when  the  pollen 
masses  adhere  to  the  stigma,  the  poll?n  cells  simply  push  the  pollen  tubes  into 
the  lateral  and  inferior  stigmatic  surfaces,  and  thus  self-fertilization  is  effected." 

Dr.  MacDonald  then  contrasted  the  pollen  masses  found  in  the   Natural  Order, 
Aselepiadacece  with  those  in  the  Order  Orchidacece,  or  Orchid  Family,  in  which 
the  pollen  masses  possess  a  viscid  gland   at  the  base  of  the   stalk   or  caudicle. 


238  NATURAL    HISTORY. 


This  however  was  not  intended  as  a  means  of  retaining  the  pollen  masses  in 
the  flower  in  which  it  was  produced,  but  rather  as  a  means  of  beiDg  carried 
away  to  other  flowers,  as  it  adhered  readily  to  anything  with  which  it  came  in 
contact.  As  insects  were  frequent  visitors,  especially  bees  and  moths,  they 
were  often  the  agents  in  effecting  the  cross-fertilization  which  is  the  rule  in  this 
Order.  Pollen  masses  from  the  two  Orders  were  shown  under  microscopes' 
Returning  again  to  the  comose  seed,  Dr.  MacDonald  stated  that  he  had  identified 
the  plant  as  the  Anodendron  pmiculatum  of  Dalzell  and  Gibson's  Bombay  Flora, 
or  the  Gymnema  nipalense  of  Hooker's  Flora  of  British  India,  the  native  name 
being  Lamtani, 

The  identification  of  this  plant  illustrated  the  great  value  of  the  natural 
system  of  classification  as  compared  with  the  artificial  or  LiDnsean  system.  The 
small  twig,  with  its  milky  juice,  the  leaves,  and  the  fruit  containing  the  comose 
seeds,  supplied  data  sufficient  to  make  it  certain  that  the  plant  belonged  to  one 
of  two  Orders  ;  and  this  without  the  flower,  without  which  any  one  working  on 
the  Linnsean  system  could  not  take  a  single  step,  as  the  whole  system  was 
based  on  the  parts  of  the  flower. 

Dr.  MacDonald  then  pointed  out  that  the  stalk  of  the  fruit  turned  back  on 
itself  so  as  to  make  the  face  or  side  on  which  it  opens  turn  downwards.  As 
the  fruit  matures  the  seeds  become  loose  in  the  fruit,  and  when  it  splits  open,  as 
the  seeds  fall  out  the  wind  expands  the  crown  of  hairs,  and  they  are  thus  launch- 
ed on  their  voyage  of  life.  The  comose  crowns,  acting  as  parachutes  to 
prevent  the  seeds  falling  at  once  to  the  ground,  after  a  time  very  readily  sepa- 
rate, leaving  the  seeds  to  germinate  where  they  fall  when  the  rains  come. 

Before  concluding,  Dr.  MacDonald  recommended  members  who  might  be 
interested  in  the  wonderful  examples  of  adaptations  of  means  to  an  end  which 
occur  so  frequently  in  plants  to  read  such  books  as  Sir  John  Lubbock's  recent 
volume — one  of  the  Nature  Series  -  entitled  Flowers,  Fruits,  and  Leaves.  Although 
dealing  almost  exclusively  with  English  plants,  auy  one  reading  such  a  book  might 
learn  to  regard  the  plants  they  saw,  even  in  their  own  compounds,  with  more 
interest  than  hitherto. 

Links  in  the  Mammalian  Chain. 

Mr.  Sterndale  then  read  a  paper  on  some  links  in  the  Mammalian  Chain 
illustrated  by  drawings.  He  said  : — "  It  is  common  enough  to  talk  of  the  Animal 
kingdom  as  one  great  chain — and  so  it  is — link  is  hooked  on  to  link  till  we 
find  that  we  are  at  last  the  ten  billionth  cousin  of  the  cabbage  we  are  eating, 
and  so  our  consciences  accuse  us  of  practising  homoeopathic  cannibalism  !  You 
may  think  this  is  exaggeration;  but  look  at  the  Campanularia,  of  which  I  give 
here  a  magnified  sketch  ;  it  looks  like  a  plant,  it  has  buds  and  flowers,  and  is 
propagated,  we  may  say,  by  cutting*,  but  it  is  an  animal —  a  Zoophyte — yet  how 
little  removed  is  it  in  its  life  from  the  Drosera  rotundifolia,  the  Sun-dew,  and 
other  carnivorous  plants,  which,  with  surprising  life-like  attributes,  not  only 
catch  flies  and  other  insects,  but  hold  them  till  partly  digested. 

"  These  are  links  which  carry  us  on  to  our  cousin  the  cabbage,  but  I  do  not 
-ntend  to  trace  out  the  pedigree  so  far.  Our  time  would  not  permit  of  such 
extensive  research,  so  I  propose  only  to  give  a  few  of  the  most  curious  links  in 
the  chain  as  far  as  the  mammals  go.     The  missing  link  of  course  we  have  not 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  SOCIETY   DURING  THE  QUARTER.  239 

found  yet,  nor  shall  we  ever  find  it,  for  the  impassable  gulf  of  intellect 
separates  the  brute  from  man,  and  no  moDkey  that  ever  was  created  will  bridge 
over  the  gap  ;  but  the  bairier  of  intellect  does  not  operate  between  ordinary 
mammals.  There  have  been  from  time  to  time  abnormal  creatures  brought  for- 
ward as  mis8irjg  links,  but  they  have  always  been  human  beings  with  only  some 
monkey-like  resemblances. 

"  Of  all  those  I  have  6een,  the  best  was  a  little  girl,  exhibited  about  three  years 
ago  in  Loi  don,  called  Krao,  or  the  Missing  Link.  She  was  without  doubt  an 
ordinary  child,  very  hairy,  of  the  fame  type  as  the  Burmese  family  lately- 
exhibited  here  ;  in  fact,  she  came  En  m  the  same  part  of  the  world,  not  from 
Burma,  but  from  the  adjacent  kingdom  of  Siam.  The  points  dwelt  upon  were 
her  hairiness,  flexibility  of  her  jf  ints  :  she  could  lay  ber  fingers  back  till  they 
touched  her  fore-arm  ;  a  habit  she  had  of  stuffing  [things  into  her  cheek  pouches  ; 
and  last  but  not  least  the  way  in  which  the  hair  on  her  fore-arms  turned 
upwards  as  in  the  monkeys  and  not  downwards  as  in  men.  I  looked  well  at  the- 
child,  who  seemed  about  six  or  seven  years  of  age,  nd  found  that  she  was  an 
ordinary  human  being,  a  little  more  hairy  than  usual  :  the  flexibility  of  her 
hands  was  merely  a  matter  of  training,  as  also  was  the  habit  she  had  of  stuffing 
her  cheeks  with  grapes,  &c.  The  direction  of  the  hair  on  her  arms  was  curious, 
but  not  in  itself  sufficient  to  establish  her  claim  as  a  link  ;  so  we  start  from  the 
monkeys.  The  link  between  these  and  the  insectivorous  animals  lies  in  the 
Lemurs,  which  retaining  the  four  hands  and  some  of  the  anatomical  peculiari- 
ties of  the  monkeys,  in  form  and  face  approximate  the  carnivorous  animals. 
I  have  here  a  living  specimen  of  the  mungoose  lemur. 

"  Then  from  these  we  go  on  to  the  bats.  I  am  not  sure  that  we  are  anatomically 
correct  in  this  link,  but  no  other  position  could  be  assigned  to  the  flying  lemur 
or  Galeopithicus. 

"The  Galeopitliicw  volans,  of  which  I  have  here  a  rough  sketch,  is  eithei 
a  link  between  the  lemurs  and  the  bats  or  the  bats  and  the  insectivora.  Natu- 
ralists differ  on  this  point.  From  certain  structural  peculiarities,  I  incline  to 
place  them  before  the  bats,  especially  as  they  are  vegetivorous,  and  therefore 
should  lead  on  from  the  lemurs  to  the  frugivorous  bats,  and  not  be  placed 
between  the  ins<  ct-eating  bats  and  the  insectivora.  The  animal  itself  i'b  some- 
what like  a  lemur,  but  between  its  limbs  it  has  a  membrane  exactly  like  that  of 
the  flying  squirrel,  which  I  here  show  you,  only  that  it  has  this  membrane 
continued  round  between  the  hind  legs  and  including  the  tail  as  have  seme 
genera  of  bats  ;  and  it  is  supposed  from  observations  made  of  its  flight  that  this 
arrangement  enables  it  to  steer  itself  in  its  course  from  tree  to  tree.  In  the 
numerous  families  of  the  Order  Insectivora  there  are  many  curious  links,  but 
I  have  not  time  to-night  to  go  into  them.  Anatomically,  we  must  carry  on  the 
Insectivora  into  Carnivora,  but  talking  merely  external  resemblances,  we  find 
much  more  affinity  with  the  Rodents.  Mice  and  rats  are  reproduced  in  shrews  : 
the  squirrels  are  externally  like  the  tupaia.  The  porcupines  have  their  counter- 
parts in  the  hedgehegs,  and  the  jerboas  in  the  jumping  shrews.  A  curious 
instance  of  similarity  is  to  be  found  in  the  squirrels  and  tupaia.  This  latter 
animal  is  a  tree-shrew  with  a  long  bushy  tail,  and  when  it  was  first  discovered 
it   was  considered  to  be  a  squirrel  till  dissection  proved  it  to  be  an  insectivore. 


240  NATURAL  HISTORY. 


There  was  subsequently  found  in  the  Malayan  Peninsula,  and  I  have  seen  one 
specimen  from  Burma,  a  long-nosed  squirrel  (Rhinosciurus  tujjaoides),  which 
closely  resembles  the  tupaia. 

'  However,  I  will  bring  home  to  you  a  still  more  familiar  example  in  the  case 
of  the  so-called  musk-rat — that  most  maligned  and  persecuted  little  creature 
which  I  always  encourage  in  my  house,  whilst  other  people  destroy  it  wherever 
it  is  found.  This  miscalled  rat  is  a  true  shrew,  utterly  incapatle  of  gnawing 
a  hole  through  a  door  or  box,  aod  therefore  much  mischief  done  by  true  rats  is 
wrorjgfolly  laid  to  its  charge  ;  it  comes  into  your  houses  for  an  object  which, 
should  gain  it  thanks  and  protection,  and  not  the  violent  death  it  usually  meets  ; 
it  comes  to  destroy  cockroaches,  centipedes,  scorpions,  and  other  creeping  hor- 
lors,  and  its  only  offensiveness  lies  in  its  powerful  odour,  which  however  it 
Only  emits  when  frightened  or  hurt.  I  have  let  one  run  quietly  five  times  over 
a  clean  pocket  handkerchief  without  any  smell  being  perceptible  afterwards' 
and  the  old  story  of  its  tainting  bottles  of  beer  and  wine  by  simply  running 
over  them  is  a  myth.  In  the  old  days,  when  beer  and  wine  were  bottled  largely 
in  this  country,  muskratty  liquor  was  common.  The  bottles  were  not  pi  )perly 
cleaned  ;  but  how  seldom  do  you  now  hear  of  the  complaint  ;  it  is  one  of  the  old 
Anglo-Indian  stories  on  a  pir  with  the  cobra  in  each  boot  and  a  scorpion  in 
every  keyhole,  to  say  nothing  of  tigers  sitting  and  licking  their  lirs  in  the  back 
veraudah  waiting  for  the  baby  !  I  have  had  tame  musk-rats  and  found  them 
them  smell  less  than  other  pecs,  certainly  not  so  bad  as  hedgehogs.  At  Nagpore 
a  wild  one  would  come  out  at  my  call  and  take  grasshoppers  from  my  fingers. 

"  The  most  interesting  links  in  the  carnivora  are  those  between  the  cat  and 
dog.  The  best  known  is  that  of  the  oheeta,  of  which  I  have  got  here  a  rough 
sketch  ;  but  he  is  a  true  cat,  his  dentition  and  internal  anatomy  &.re  strictly 
feline,  though  his  claws  are  not  retractile  and  his  form  is  somewhat  dog-like  > 
with  long  legs  and  thin  body,  so  he  can  hardly  be  called  a  liuk.  We  must  go 
from  the  cats  to  the  civets  and  then  on  from  the  civets  to  dogs.  There  is 
a  curious  animal  in  Madagascar  called  Cryptoprocta  ferox,  which  is  a  perfect  link 
between  the  cats  and  the  civets.  It  is  semi-plantigrade,  keeping  a  large 
portion  of  the  sole  of  the  foot  to  the  ground,  and  not  walking  on  the  tips 
of  its  toes  bke  the  cats,  yet  it  possesses  retractile  claws.  Tne  skull  partakes 
of  the  characteristics  of  both  families,  and  the  teeth  differ  only  from  the 
cats  in  having  one  more  premolar.  It  is  a  very  savage  little  creature,  muscu- 
lar and  active,  and  so  was  appropriately  termed  ferox.  The  civets  are  con- 
nected with  the  hjasna  by  the  aard-wolf,  a  Sjuth  African  animal  about  the 
size  of  a  jackall,  and  in  general  appearance  like  a  young  striped  h}8ena.  It 
is  called  aard  or  earth  wolf  from  its  habit  of  burrowing  in  the  ground.  The 
hyeenas  again  are  linked  on  to  the  dogs  by  the  Lycaon  or  Cape  hunting-dog, 
or  hyrona-dog.  Here  is  a  rough  sketch  of  one  which  shews  the  likeness  to 
both  families:  the  skull  is  dog-like,  but  the  animal  has  only  four  toes  on  eaoh 
forefoot  instead  of  five. 

""We  come  now  to  the  Bear  family,  and  we  must  go  back  te  the  cats  for  a  link. 
No  two  animals  could  be  more  dissimilar  than  the  cat  and  the  bear.  Not 
only  are  there  internal  anatomical  differences  but  exernally  they  are  unlike 
the  one  is  light  and  springy  in  action,  the  other  heavy  and  shuffling.    The 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE    SOCIETY  DURING  THE  QUARTER.  241 

tiger,  which  is  the  type  of  all  cats,  has  bat  a  few  sharp  cutting  teeth  which 
work  on  each  other  like  a  pair  of  scissors.  The  bear  has  more  molars,  and 
these  with  flat  crowns,  which  enable  him  to  grind  his  food  instead  of 
chopping  it.  The  tiger  steps  lightly  on  the  tips  of  his  toes,  with  his  heel 
well  raised.  The  bear  puts  the  sole  of  his  foot  down  flat  on  the  ground. 
I  show  you  here  skeletons  of  the  two  animals  which  will  explain  what  I  mean. 
Now  to  link  the  bears  with  the  cats  comes  a  little  animal  which  I  have 
seen  in  Darjeeling  called  the  wah  or  panda  (Ailurus  fulgens),  the  red  bear-cat. 
It  is  bat  like  in  appearace  and  has  semi-retractile  claws,  but  anatomically  it 
is  a  bear,  A  larger  animal  has  been  found  in  Eastern  Tibet  by  the  Abbe 
David,  and  has  been  called  the  Ailuropus,  Only  one  of  these  curious  creatures 
has  been  discovered,  and  it  is  still  more  a  link  between  cat  and  bear  than  the 
other.  The  Ailuropus  melanoleucos  is  about  four  to  five  feet  in  length.  The 
specimen  secured  measured  4'  10."  It  is  bear-like,  as  you  will  see  from  the 
rough  sketch  ;  but  it  is  only  semi-plantigrade,  and  its  skull  exhibits  both  feline 
and  ursine  characteristics;  its  dentition  is  feline  as  regards  the  premolars,  but 
the  true  molars  are  ursine. 

"The  skull  has  also  a  considerable  elevation  of  the  occipital  crest,  and  the 
zygomatic  arches  are  enormous,  more  so  than  in  any  other  carnivorous  animal : 
both  these  are  decidedly  feline,  as  you  will  observe  on  looking  at  these  skulls  of 
tiger  and  bear. 

"  The  racoons  and  the  glutton  link  the  bears  on  to  the  badgers  and  weasels, 
and  so  on  to  the  otters  and  sea-otters,  and  from  the  last  We  come  to  the  marine 
carnivora — the  walruses  and  seals.  The  sea-otter,  though  not  reckoned  among 
the  marine  carnipora,  is  quite  as  amphibious  as  a  seal  ;  it  is  seldom  seen  on  land, 
though  it  keeps  close  in- shore.  It  has  a  curious  way  of  floating  on  its  back, 
and  can  sleep  in  that  position,  and  the  females  do  so,  holding  their  little  ones 
between  their  fore  paws. 

"  From  these  animals  we  begin  to  link  on  towards  the  whales.  The  out- 
ward form  begins  to  be  fish-like,  though  the  skeleton  internally  pre- 
serves its  mammalian  character  in  full  ;  but  the  hands  and  feet  lose  their 
graspiDg  powers,  and  being  enclosed  in  fiDgerless  gloves  and  stockings,  as  it 
were,  become  mere  paddles  for  swimming.  Nothing  can  be  more  awkward 
than  a  seal  or  walrus  on  dry  land,  yet  how  graceful  in  the  water.  The 
transition  from  a  seal  to  a  whale  or  a  porpoise  is  easy  to  be  understood,  and 
here  is  an  argument  against  the  development  theory,  which  is  generally 
understood  to  be  a  progression  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  standard.  If  such 
transitions  take  place  at  all,  it  would  be  reasonable  to  Buppose  that  the  porpoise 
evolved  from  the  seal,  for  it  is  not  in  the  fitness  of  things  for  a  whale  or 
a  porpoise  to  go  flopping  about  on  dry  rocks  till  the  friction  produced  legs, 
whereas  we  all  know  that  the  permanent  disuse  of  any  member  will  lead  to  its 
deterioration  ;  and  therefore  if  we  are  to  have  an  evolution  theory  at  all,  let 
us  suppose  that  seals  took  to  remaining  in  the  water  so  long  that  having  no 
use  for  legs  they  left  them  off.  In  the  cetaceans  the  upper  portion  of  the 
skeleton  retains  the  normal  mammalian  form,  but  the  rest  is  merely  a  verte- 
bral column  ;  hind  legs  disappear  entirely,  although   the  rudiments  of  small 


24:2  NATURAL     HISTORY. 


pelvic  bones  are  to  be  found  embedded    in  the  flesh,  like   the  clavicles    of  the 
tiger,  useless  save  as  a  clue. 

"  Now  I  have  taken  up  my  foil  share  of  your  time,  and  have  but  half  gone 
through  my  subject.  The  links  between  the  Eodents,  Proboscidea,  Ungulata, 
and  Ruminantia  must  remain  over  for  some  future  occasion  if  the  subject  be 
deemed  of  sufficient  interest  to  call  for  more  of  it." 

Pollen  Grains. 

Dr.  Kirtikar  exhibited  under  the  microscope  the  pollen  grains  of  the  Rose 
hibiscus,  Canna  indica,  Calotropis  gigans,  Calophyllum  inophyllum,  Pandanus 
odoratissimus,  Amarjllis,  Garuga  pinnata,  &c,  and  went  on  to  explain  what 
pollen  was.  He  said  it  was  commonly  a  yellow  powder,  sometimes  gritty,  often 
impalpable,  and  was  the  product  of  the  male  portion  of  the  reproductive 
organs  of  flowering  plants  or  phanerogams  called  stamens.  It  formed  an 
essantial  element  in  the  process  of  fertilization  or  impregnation  of  the  ovule. 
The  pcllen  of  the  male  organs  or  stamens  and  the  ovule  of  the  female 
organs  or  pistil  by  themselves,  i.  e.,  alone  and  untouched  or  unaffected 
by  each  other,  were  powerless  in  the  propagation  of  the  species  to 
which  they  belonged.  The  pollen  had  to  come  into  contact,  either  directly  or 
indirectly,  by  being  carried  from  stamens  to  stigma,  from  flower  to  flower,  by 
the  busy  bee  and  brilliantly  coloured  butterflies  and  moths,  or  by  simple 
currents  of  air,  winds,  and  storms.  Mr.  Blockley's  researches  have  shown  that 
hay  fever  was  caused  by  the  migration  of  pollen  grains  of  grasses,  lilies, 
roses,  and  other  plants.  Professor  Otto  Thome,  of  Cologne,  the  lecturer  said, 
bad  stated  that  in  forests  consisting  of  those  trees  which  bore  catkins,  immense 
clouds  of  pollen  were  seen  floating  in  air,  at  the  time  of  pollination,  which 
were  sometimes  carried  to  the  earth  by  showers  of  rain  and  there  formed  the 
so-called  sulphur-rain.  Special  contrivances,  Dr.  Kirtikar  said,  existed  in 
water-plants  for  the  utilization  of  pollen  grains.  Submerged  plants  always 
threw  their  flower-stalks  above  the  surface  of  water,  as  in  Trapa  sagitta 
and  water-lily.  "Vallisneria  spiralis  however  had  a  remarkable  mode 
of  fecundation.  The  male  flowers  containing  the  pollen  were  seated 
on  very  short  pedicels  at  the  base  of  the  leaves,  often  several  feet  below 
the  surface  of  the  water.  The  female  flowers  on  the  contrary  had  very  long 
pedicels,  which  at  a  particular  time  became  greatly  elongated  and  raised  the 
flower  to  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  male  flowers  next  became  detached 
from  their  pedicels,  rose  to  the  surf  ace,  were  floated  among  the  female  flowers, 
and  thus  fertilized  the  ovule.  After  this  had  been  accomplished — and  this  is 
the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  whole  process — the  female  flower  coiled  up 
spirally  and  the  fruit  ripened  beneath  the  water.  The  subject  of  cross-fertili- 
zation which  Darwin  had  so  ably  followed,  the  lecturer  said,  was  a  study  by 
itself  vast  and  interesting,  whereby  crossing  between  different  flowers  of  the 
same  plant,  or  between  flowers  on  different  plants  of  the  same  species,  was 
explained. 

Pollen,  he  said,  was  discharged  generally  at  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the 
flower,  i.  e.,  from  the  time  it  completed  its  bud-state  to  the  time  it  expanded. 
The  process  of  pollen-discharge  however,  he  said,  might  and  did  continue 
for  some  time  after  the  flower  had  fully  opened,  but  that  this  happened 


PROCEEDINGS   OF  THE   SOCIETY   DURING   THE    QUARTER.  243 

simply  as  the  remnant  of  a  process  which  had  long  since  been  complete,  so 
far  as  fructification  was  concerned,  tbat  was  to  say,  that  pollen  might  go  on 
discharging  even  after  the  ovule  had  been  acted  upon  and  fecundated.  As 
a  general  rule,  the  period  of  the  maturity  of  pollen  and  the  suitability  of  the 
ovule  for  fertilization  were  simultaneous.  It  was  noteworthy  tbat  in  the 
Natural  Orders  Orchidacese  and  Asclepiadaceoa,  direct  fecundation  could  never 
take  place.  In  that  part  of  the  subject,  Dr.  Kirtikar  said,  Dr.  Ma'Donald 
had  anticipated  him,  and  already  ably  spoken  on  the  subject.  An  insect  mutt 
intercede  in  these  orders  and  transfer  the  pollinia  from  one  orchid  to 
another. 

The  pi  lien  cells  assumed  a  variety  of  forms.  Thirty  different  forms  were 
pictured  by  Dr.  Kirtikar  on  paper  and  handed  round  to  the  meeting.  The 
contents  of  the  pollen  grains,  he  said,  were  called  fovilla,  which  consisted 
of  coarsely  granular  protoplasm  containing  essential  oil  and  starch  globules 
suspended  in  finely  atomized  condition  and  varying  in  size  from  1-4,000  to 
1-30,000  of  au  inch.  It  was  the  essential  oil,  he  said,  that  gave  flowers  their 
value  in  the  world  of  perfumery. 


No.  1.1 


JANUARY  istiti, 


Vol.  I. 


JOURNAL 

OE      THE 

BOMBAY 


UXt% 


Edited    by 
E.  H.  ATTKEN  and  R.  A,  STERNDALE, 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
1  to  S 


•  ■  •  *  •  * 


Introduction        

Catalogue  of  the  Mammalia  in  the   Collection   of  the   Bombay  Natural    History 

Sooiety.  3  to  lU 

Catalogue  of  Birds  as  yet  in  the  Collection  of  the  Bomba  y  Natural  History  Society.  10  to  17 

...  17  to  16 
...  19  to  2i> 
...  20  to  21 
...  21  to  23 
...  23  to  24 
25 


Eggs  received  chiefly  from  Mr.  Davidson  

The  Society's  Library 

Note  on  an  Undescribed  Hamalopsida,  by  the  Rev,  F;  Dreckmann,  S.    J.  .. 
Note  on  a  probable  New  Species  of  Ibex,   by  R.  A,  Sterndale,  f.z.s  ... 

Note  on  Mygale  Fasciata,   by  Captain  T.  R.  M.  Macpherson 

Gn  the  Mimicry  shown  by  Phyllornis  Jerdoni,  by  Mr.  E,  H.  Aitkcn 


REPRINTED 


BY 


EDUCATION    SOCIETY'S   PRESS,  BYCULLA,  BOMBAY. 


1887. 


No.   2.] 


APRIL  1886. 


Vol.  I. 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


BOMBAY 


Edited  by 
E.  H.  AITKEN  and  R.  A.  STERNDALE. 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Notes  on  "The  Birds  of  Bombay,"  By  H.  Littledale  29  to  35 

On   a    Hybrid,    0<vis   Hodgsoni,   cum  <vignei,  discovered  and  shot  by  Mons.  H. 

Dauvergne,  By  R.  A.  Sterndale,  F.z.s.,  &c 35  to  37 

Birds' Nesting  in  Rajputana,   By  Lieut.  H.  E.  Barnes,  D.A.C 38  to  62 

On  the  uses  of  Pandanus  or  Screw  Palm,  taken  from  the  Journals  of  the  late 
Handley  Sterndale,  with  Prefatory  Remarks,  By  his  Brother  R.  A. 
Sterndale,  f.r.g.s.,  F.z.s. ...         ...         ...62  to  68 

A  Note  on  Pandanus  Odoratissimus  or  Screw  Palm,  By  Dr.  Kirtikar,  I.M.D.       ...     68 

Zoological  Notes — 

On  variation  in  Colour  in  Ursus  Labiatus,  the  Sloth  Bear,&c,  By  R.A.  Sterndale.     69 

On  the  Flying  Squirrel  of  Western  India 7° 

On  a  Species  of  Pigmy  Shrew 70 

On  the  frequency  of  Albinoism  in  Cutch,  By  Mr.  A.  T.  H.  Newnham,  S.C., 
10th  N.  I.,  with  Notes  by  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken .V     71 

Botanical  Notes — 

On  an    instance  of  fructification  in   a  Staminiferous  Plant,  Carica  Papaya, 

By  Surgeon-Major  G.  Bainbridge,  I.M.D.    ... 7a 

On  Abnormal  Development  in  Musa  Sapientum,  By  Surgeon  K.R.  Kirtikar, 

lalVl.U*      «««  »••  •••  «••  •  ••  «••  •••  *■•  ••*  •  ••  73 

Note  on  Agaricus  Ostreatus        ...         ...         73 

On  the  Fruit  of  Trapa  Bispinosa  74 

Note  on  Kasra  or  Scirpus  Kysoor      ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...     74 

Note    on    a  supposed   Root-Parasite  found  "at  Mahableshwar  in   October  1885, 

By  Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart      ... 75  to  77 

Memorandum,  By  Dr.  D.  Macdonald,  M.D.,  Vice-President  of  the  Society,  on  the 

Species  of  Balanophora,  found  and  described  by  Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart     78,  79 

List  of  Bird  Skins  from  the  South  Konkan 80  to  83 

„  „  from  Burmah  and  other  parts  of  India 83 

Catalogue  of  Snakes  in  the  Society's  Collection ...84  to  86 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  during  the  Quarter ...        ...86  to  90 


PRINTED  AT  THE  TIMES  OF  INDIA  STEAM  PRESS. 

1886. 


Under  arrangements  entered  into  with  the  Society^ 

MR.  W.  J.  ESSAI, 

FORBES  STREET,  FORT, 

Is   prepared   to   supply   store-boxes,    pocket   collecting- 
boxes,  killing-bottles,  butterfly-nets,  &c,  at  moderate  prices. 

Members  or  others  requiring  these,  or  any  other  kind  of 
Naturalist's  Apparatus,  may  communicate  with  him. 


No.  3.J 


JULY  1886. 


Vol.  I. 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


BOMBAY 


Edited  by 
E.  H.  AITEEN  and  R.  A.  STERNDALE. 


contents; 

Page. 

• 

A  Sind  Lake,  By  Capt.  E.  F.  Beefier,  R.A.,  F.z.s.  ...        ...         „.         ...  91  to  96 

Notes  on  the  waters  of  Western  India,  By  a  member  of  the  Society  ...         .„  97  to  123 

Gn  Abnormalities  in  the  Horns  of  Ruminants,  By  R.  A.  Sterndale,  F.z.s.,  &c.     ...  12310126 
A  List  of  the  Bombay  Butterflies  in  the  Society's  Collection,  with  Notes  by  Mr. 

E.  H.  Aitken       ...        12610135 

A  new  species  of  Algai,  Conferva  Thermalis  Birdnvoodii  (with  Illustration)  discover- 
ed among  the  Hot-water  Algae  from  Vajrabai  exhibited  before  the  Botanical 

Section  on  15th  March  1886,  By  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar,  I.M.D 13510138 

Note  on  frequency  of  parasites  in  Indian  Army   Horses,  By  V.  S.  J.  H.  Steel, 

J\.,V  t±Jm      ...  •••  ...  ...  ...  •••  ...  ...  ...  •  ••I301O14* 

List  of  Birds  collected  and  presented  to  the  Society  by  Mr.  A.  T.   H.  Newnham, 

b,v_y.j  loth  JN.l.      ...  ...  •••  •••         •••  •••  ...  ...  ...  I4*i  143 

Zoological  Notes — 

On  an  Oligodon   ( Subpunctatus  ? )  found  at  Dahanu,  North  Konkan,  March 

1886,  By  Mr.  G.  Vidal,  C.S.  ...         ...         ...        ... I44 

Pteropus  Edwardsii,  By  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken       ,., ...        ...     I44 

White-ants,  By  Mr.  E.  H.  Aitken        „        r„         ...         ...     144 

Poisonous  Lizards,  the  Bis-cobra,  By  the  Editor  ...         ...     145 

On  Conjugal  Infidelity  among  Birds,  By  Mr.  W.  E.  Hart     ...        ...         ...     145 

Botanical  Notes — 

Note  on  the  Feronia  Elephantum  (Elephant  or  Wood  Apple)  as  a  timber    tree, 

By  Mr.  Frank  Rose.. ...         ...         ...         ...  146,  147 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  during  the  Quarter  ...        ,M        ...         ...        •••14710151 


-^A^«^^/v^•\*^v^*w'v"»'Wv.v■■wv\ 


garotrag: 

PRINTED  AT  THE  TIMES  OF  INDIA  STEAM  PRESS. 


1886. 


#jp ^  Spw  af  tltq  lomkg  ftatmiat  History  |>JH[i$tg. 


Hftgftrntt 

H.  E.  the  Eight  Hon'ble  LORD  REAY,  ci.e.,  ll.d.,  f.r.g.s. 

Dr.  G.  A.  MACONACHIE,  m.d.,  cm. 

Dr.  D.  MAC  DONALD,  m.d.,  b.sc.,  cm. 

The  Hon'ble  Justice  BIRDWOOD,  m.a.,  ll.m.  (Cantab). 

Secretary. 
Mr.  h.  m.  phipson. 

o  GTwasutet. 

Mr.  f.  g.  kingsley. 

1st  Section— (M4MM4LS  AND  BIRDS.) 
^rcstoent— Mr.  R.  A.  STERN  DALE,  f.r.g.s.,  f.z.s. 
S»«crctar»— Mr.  E.  H.  AITEEN. 

2nd  Section.— (REPTILES  AND  PISHES.) 

^rcsitient— Mr.  G.  W.  VIDAL,  C.S. 
Ssttctavo— Mr.  h.  m.  phipson. 

3ra  Section.— (INSECTS.) 

^jSresttfcnt — Vacant, 
gcctttarfi— Mr.  E.  H.  AITKEN. 

4th  Section— (OTHER  INVERTEBRATA.) 

^rcsiBcnt— Dr.  G.  A.  MACONACHIE,  m.d.,  cm. 

§ecr£tarfi— Mb.  J.  C.  ANDERSON. 

5th  Section.— (BOTANY.) 

^rcsftcnt— The  Hon'ble  Justice  BIRDWOOD,  m.a.,  ll.m.  (Cantab). 

^ccvctarj)— Surgeon  K.   R.    KIRTIKAR,  I.M.D.,  f.r.c.s.,  f.s.m.  (France). 


ISanfters. 

BANK  of  BOMBAY. 

©titto 

Messrs.  E.  H.  AITKEN    &  R.  A.  STERNDALE. 


RULES 

OF 

THE  BOMBAY  NATURAL  HISTORY  SOCIETY. 


1.  The  Society  shall  be  called  the  "Natural  History  Society  of  Bombay.' 

2.  Its  object  shall  be  the  promotion  o£  the  pursuit  of  Zoology,  Botany  and 
Geology  in  all  their  branches, 

3.  Members  shall  be  proposed,  seconded,  and  elected  by  ballot.  A  majority 
of  two-thirds  of  the  members  who  vote  shall  be  required  to  secure  election. 

4.  Members  shall  pay  an  annual  *  subscription  of  Rs.  10,  payable  in  advance. 
If  any  member's  subscription  remain  unpaid  for  more  than  three  months,  his  name 
shall  be  liable  to  be  removed  from  the  list  of  members  after  due  notice  given  by 
the  Secretary. 

5.  Members  absent  from  India  shall  not  pay  for  the  period  of  their  absence. 

6.  A  President  and  three  or  more  Vice-Presidents  shall  be  elected  from  among 
the  members  resident  in  Bombay. 

7.  The  President  shall  take  the  chair  and  conduct  the  business  at  all  meetings 
of  the  Society,  or  in  his  absence,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents.  If  neither  is  present, 
a  Chairman  shall  be  elected  by  the  meeting. 

8.  A  Secretary  and  Treasurer  shall  be  elected  from  among  the  members 
resident  in  Bombay. 

9.  It  shall  be  his  duty  to  record  the  minutes  and  proceedings  of  all  meetings 
of  the  Society,  and  to  conduct  all  the  details  of  business  and  carry  on  the  corres- 
pondence of  the  Society. 

10.  The  Secretary  and  Treasurer  shall  prepare  an  account  of  the  receipts  and 
disbursements  of  the  Society  to  be  presented  at  the  annual  meeting  which  shall 
be  held  in  the  month  of  January. 

11.  The  ordinary  meetings  of  the  Society  shall  be  held  in  Bombay  on  the  first 
Monday  of  each  month. 

12.  The  chair  being  taken,  the  order  of  business  shall  be  as  follows  :— 

(a)  The  minutes  of  last  meeting  to  be  read  and  confirmed. 

(b)  The  announcement  and  election  of  new  members. 

(c)  The  reading  of  letters  and  the  discussion  of  any  ordinary  business  of  the 

Society  which  shall  be  before  the  meeting. 

(d)  The  announcement  of  presents  and  donations. 

(e)  The  remainder  of  the  time  at  the  disposal  of  the  meeting  shall  be  devoted 

to  the  reading  of  papsrs,  communication  of  interesting  facts,  exhibition 
of  speei mens,  &c. 

13.  Members  having  anything  of  this  nature  to  bring  before  the  Society,  shall 
give  the  Secretary  intimation  before  the  commencement  of  the  meeting  (in  the 
case  of  papers  a  full  week  before).  The  subjects  of  which  such  intimation  shall 
have  been  given  shall  be  taken  up  in  such  order  as  the  Chairman  may  think  best. 

14.  If  necessary  a  Committee  of  Management  shall  hereafter  be  elected  from 
the  members  of  the  Society  resident  in  Bombay. 

15.  These  Rules  are  provisional  and  may  be  amended  or  added  to  at  some 
future  time.  One  month's  notice  of  any  proposal  to  alter  the  Rules  shall  be  given 
to  the  Secretary. 

*  -•-  —  ■■  ■  - 

•for  the  calendar  year 


Under  arrangements  entered  into  with  the  Society, 

MR.  W.  J.  ESSAI, 

FORBES  STREET,  FORT, 

Is   prepared  to   supply   store-boxes,    pocket   collecting- 
boxes,  killing-bottles,  butterfly-nets,  &c,  at  moderate  prices. 

Members  or  others  requiring  these,  or  any  other  kind  of 
Naturalist's  Apparatus,  may  communicate  with  him. 


NO.    4.]  OCTOBER    1886.  Vol     I. 


JOURNAL 


OF  THE 


A 


intra!  Ifetorjr 


Edited  by 
E.  H.  AITKEN  and  R.  A.  STERKDALE. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Waters  of  Western  India — Part  II.,    Konkan  and  Coast — by  a  Member  of  the  Society  ...  153  to  I75 

Bird-nesting  on  the  Ghats,  by  Mr.  J.  Davidson,  C.  S.  175  to  183 

Note  on  some  Post-pliocene  Molluscs  from  the  Byculla  Flats,  by  Mrs.  W.  E.  Hart         ...  183  to  194 

The  Birds  of  South  Gujerat,  by  Mr.  H.  Littledale,  Baroda I94  to  200 

Note  on  a  Recent  Paper  by  Dr.  Bonavia  on  the  Mango,  by  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar,  I.  M.  D., 

Acting  Professor  of  Anatomy,  Grant  Medical  College,  Bombay        200  to  203 

A  Catalogue  of  the  Flora  of  Matheran,  by  the  Hon.  H.  M.  Birdwood,  Vice-President     ...  203  to  214 
A  List  of  the  Butterflies  of  the  Bombay  Presidency  in  the  Society's  Collection,  with  Notes, 

by  E.  H.  Aitken  ...         ...         ...         ...         •••         •••         ...         ...  •••  215  *°  2I^ 

Zoological  Notes— 

Note  on  the   Homalopsida  in  the   Society's    Collection,  by  Mr.  James   A.  Murray, 

Curator,  Karachi  Museum...  ...  ...         ...         ...         ...         ...  ...         219 

Note  on  the  conduct  of  a  Tame  Pigeon,  by  E.  H.  Aitken      220 

Note  on  Danais  doripput,  by  Mr.  A.  T.  H.  Newnham,  S.  C,  10th  N.  I ib. 

Note  on  Locality,  by  Mr.  A.  T.  H.  Newnham,  S.  C,  loth  N.  I.       ... 221 

Note  on  the  Breeding  of  Parra  indica,  by  Lieutenant  H.  Edwin  Barnes  221  to  222 

Note  on  Reversion  to  Primitive  Types,  by  R.  A.  Sterndale    ...         ...         ...         .v.  222  to  223 

Some  Notes  on  Abnormalities  in  the  Horns  of  Ruminants,  by  Mr.  J.  D.  Inverarity...  223  to  224 
Botanical  Notes — 

Note    on    the    Gloriota   superba   (N.    O.    LUiacea),  "  Superb   Lily,"   by   Mr.   Frank 

Rose,  P.  W\  D.         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         •••         ...         ...         22o 

Note  on  the  Gloriosa  superba,  by  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar         226  to  227 

Uses  of  the  Flower  of  Pandanus  odoratissimus,  by  Mr.  Frank  Rose,  P.  W.  D 227  to  228 

Freak  in  a  Zinnia  paucifiora  observed  and  exhibited  by  Mr.  Frank  Rose,  P.  W.  D.    ...  228  to  229 

Note  on  the  above,  by  Surgeon  K.  R.  Kirtikar 22910230 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  during  the  Quarter  ...         ...         ...         ... 230  to  243 


PRINTED  AT  THE  TIMES  OF  INDIA  STEAM  PRESS. 

1836. 


®$W  STOiia  off  tM  Jombui)  gaittpl  History  f  otfffg, 


$rejsifient. 

H.  B.  the  Right  Hon'ble  LORD   REAY,  ci.e.,   ll.d.,  f.r.g.s. 

"fcJtce^restticnts. 

Dr.  G.  A.  MACONACHIE,  m.d.,  cm. 

Dr.  D.  MAC  DONALD,  m.d.,  b.sc,  cm. 

The  Hon'ble  Justice  BIRDWOOD,  m.a.,  ll.m.  (Cantab.) 

Mr.  H.  M.  PHIPSON. 

Creasurer. 

Mb.  F.  G.  KINGSLEY. 

1st  Section.— (MAMMALS  AND  BIRDS.) 
^rcsftent— Ms.  R.  A.  STERN  DALE,  f.r.g.s.,  f.z.s. 
5£cretar»— Mr.  E.  H.  AITKEX. 

2nd  Section.— (REPTILES  AND  PISHES.) 

^resfonrt— Mr.  G.  W.  VIDAL,  C.S. 
5>ccrctaru— Mb.  H.  M.  PHIPSON. 

3rd  Section— (INSECTS.) 

^resitient— Vac  ant. 
Sccrctaro— Mb.  E.  H.  AITKEN. 

4th  Section— (OTHER  INVERTEBRATA.) 

^icsiBent— Dr.  G.  A.  MACONACHIE,  m.d.,  cm. 
^cctctara— Mb.  J.  C.  ANDERSON. 

5th  Section.— (BOTANY.) 

^vtsiUcnt— The  Hon'ble  Justice  BIRDWOOD,  m.a.,  ll.m.  (Cantab.). 
5 unxiarw— Surgeon   K.    R.    KIRTIKAR,  I.M.D.,  f.r.cs.,  f.s.m.  (France> 


bankers?. 

BANK  of  BOMBAY, 

©Mors. 

Messrs.  E.  H.  AITKEN"    k   R    A.  STE&NDALE. 


RULES 

OP 

THE  BOMBAY  NATURAL  HISTORY  SOCIETY. 


1.  The  Society  shall  be  called  the  "  Natural  History  Society  op  Bombay." 

2.  Its  object  shall  be  the  promotion  of  the  pursuit  of  Zoology,  Botany  and 
Geology  in  all  their  branches, 

3.  Members  shall  be  proposed,  seconded,  and  elected  by  bailer..  A  majority 
of  two-thirds  of  the  members  who  vote  shall  bs  required  to  secure  election. 

4.  Members  shall  pay  an  annual  *  subscription  of  Rs.  10,  payable  in  advance. 
If  any  member's  subscription  remain  unpaid  for  more  than  three  months,  his  name 
shall  be  liable  to  be  removed  from  the  list  of  members  after  due  notice  given  by 
the  Secretary. 

5.  Members  absent  from  India  shall  not  pay  for  the  period  of  their  absence. 

6.  A  President  and  thrpe  or  more  Vice-Presidents  shall  be  elected  from  among 
the  members  resident  in  Bombay. 

7.  The  President  shall  take  the  chair  and  conduct  the  business  at  all  meetings 
of  the  Society,  or  in  bis  absence,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents.  If  neither  is  present, 
a  Chairman  shall  be  elected  by  the  meeting-. 

8.  A  Secretary  and  Treasurer  shall  be  elected  from  among  the  members 
resident  in  Bombay. 

9.  It  phall  be  his  duty  to  record  the  minutes  and  proceedings  of  all  meetings 
of  the  Society,  and  to  conduct  all  the  details  of  business  and  carry  on  the  corres- 
pondence of  the  Society. 

10.  The  Secretary  and  Treasurer  shall  prepare  an  account  of  the  receipts  and 
disbursements  of  the  Society  to  be  presented  at  the  annual  meeting  which  shall 
be  held  in  the  month  of  January. 

11.  The  ordinary  meetings  of  the  Society  shall  be  held  in  Bombay  on  the  first 
Monday  of  each  month.  , 

12.  The  chair  being  taken,  the  order  of  business  shall  be  as  follows  :— 

(a)  The  minutes  of  last  meeting  to  bs  read  and  confirmed. 

(b)  The  announcement  and  election  of  new  members. 

(c)  The  reading  of  letters  and  the  discussion  of   any  ordinary  business  of  the 

Society  which  shall  be  before  the  meeting. 

(d)  The  announcement  of  presents  and  donations. 

(e)  The  remainder  of  the  time  at  the  disposal  of  the  meeting  shall  be   devoted 

to  the  reading  of  pipers,  communication  of  interesting  facts,   exhibition 
of  specimens,  &e. 

13.  Members  having  anything  of  this  nature  to  bring  before  the  Society,  shall 
give  the  Secretary  intimation  before  ths  commencement  of  the  meeting  (in  the 
case  of  papers  a  full  week  before).  The  vabjects  of  which  such  intimation  shall 
have  been  given  shall  be  taken  up  in  sac  a  order  as  the  Chairman  may  think  best. 

14.  If  necessary  a  Committee  of  Management  shall  hereafter  be  elected  from 
the  members  of  the  Society  resident  in  Bombay. 

15.  These  Rules  are  provisional  and  may  be  amended  or  added  to  at  some 
future  time.  Cue  month's  notice  of  any  proposal  to  alter  the  Rules  shall  be  given 
to  the  Secretary. 

•For  the  calendar  year. 


Under  arrangements  entered  into  with  the  Society, 

MR.  W.  J.  ESSAI, 

FORBES  STREET,  FORT, 

Is   prepared   to   supply   store-boxes,    pocket   collecting- 
boxes,  killing-bottles,  butterfly-nets,  &c,  at  moderate  prices. 

Members  or  others  requiring  these,  or  any  other  kind  of 
Naturalist's  Apparatus,  may  communicate  with  him. 


Jipi 


M 


•A 


f 


V 


i 


\