Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon

"These mountains, the principal summit of which, the Akdagh (white mountain), attains a height of 10,000 feet (_Hoskyn_), rise abruptly from the plain and sea, and are of very i...

DESCRIPTION.--The following description was written in 1830, apparently by Mr. Brian Hodgson himself, and was published in 'Gleanings in Science' (vol. ii., p. 348), probably th...

"Well, as I was saying, I was sitting at my pass, and thinking o' my old sweethearts, and the like o' that, when a' at ance I heard a terrible stramash among the bushes, and the...

Stories have been related of wolves sparing and suckling young infants so carried off, which, if properly authenticated, will bring the history of Romulus and Remus within the b...

We now come to the second division, and a very large one, of the UNGULATA, which in itself is again subdivided into non-ruminants and ruminants. The former comprises the pigs of...

Campbell, in his notes to 'The Old Forest-Ranger,' gives the dimensions of a tiger of 9 ft. 5 in. of which the tail was only 2 ft. 10 in. From the other detailed measurements it...

This is a very savage animal, and not tameable. Jerdon and Blyth both agree in this from specimens they kept alive. Hutton also writes: "I have a beautiful specimen alive, so sa...

Mr. Sclater, with reference to the two in his paper on the Punjab Sheep living in the Zoological Society's Garden in 1860 ('P. Z. S.' 1860, page 126), says: "On comparing the sk...

Jerdon remarks that the specific name of this bear is unfortunate, since it is rare in Thibet. However the more appropriate specific name _torquatus_ is now more generally adopt...

When we consider the bulk of these well-knit muscles we can no longer wonder at the power of which this organ is capable, although, according to Mr. Sanderson, its capabilities...

In these there is an elongated process of bone on the frontals, termed the "horn cores," which are covered with a horny sheath which is never shed, but continues to grow till fu...

DESCRIPTION.--The general form of this animal resembles the porpoise, but the position of the mouth at once distinguishes it. It is small and situated, like that of the shark, c...

Dr. Anderson obtained this species at Ponsee in Burmah, at an elevation of 3500 feet, and Dr. Jerdon, at Darjeeling, at from 4000 to 6000 feet. This species is synonymous with B...

DESCRIPTION.--Colour above light sandy brown to sandy grey; no band down the back; lower parts, feet, and tail white; fur very soft, fully half an inch long in the middle of the...

Horsfield remarks that the specimens received in the Indian Museum combine the peculiarities of the Pine and Beech Martens respectively, and lead to the conclusion that both are...

DESCRIPTION.--Between the facial ridges the creases are dark brown, with a dark line running up the inside of each frontal pedestal; all the rest of the head and upper parts a b...

_The Slow Loris_, No 28.--This creature sometimes assumes the erect posture, though in general it creeps. The following illustration shows an attitude observed and sketched by C...

I have in my book on the Seonee District described the little colonies in the heart of the Bison jungles. Clusters of huts imbedded in tangled masses of foliage, surrounded by a...

We now take up the last member of the Cat family; one differing so much in certain respects as to have been classed by some authors as a separate genus, to which Wagner gave the...

DESCRIPTION.--Rabbit grey or brown, with a yellowish-grey tinge, more or less rufous on the head, neck, shoulder and sides of body; a hairy brown muzzle, with pale under-lip; lo...

The characteristics of _Vandeleuria_ are: upper incisors triangular, grooved in front; ears hairy; fur soft, with long bristles interspersed; long tail, sparsely haired; hind fe...

They regarded it in the light of a true Shrew, disguised in the form and habits of a squirrel, and they proposed for it the name _Sorex-Glis_, i.e. Shrew-squirrel (_Glis_ proper...

Buchanan-Hamilton's assertion that "these animals live in holes which they dig in the abrupt banks of rivers and ponds" is misleading. They may do so occasionally, but in genera...

DESCRIPTION.--"In size it is somewhat less than the common or domestic ox. The head is large, and the neck proportionally broad, without any mane or dewlap, having a downward te...

According to Waterhouse the European porcupine (_Hystrix cristata_ of Linnaeus) is the _Acanthion Cuvieri_ of Gray; and Gray, who afterwards modified his views of 1847 in 1866,...

Between the last genus and this should come the _Genets_, which are not found in India, but chiefly in Africa, and one species is common in the south of Europe, where in some pa...

Jerdon calls this the Madras mungoose, and separates it from the next species, but they are apparently the same. Dr. Anderson prefers the specific name _pallidus_ to either _gri...

DESCRIPTION.--Upper parts rufous chestnut according to Kellaart, who named it _Sciuropterus Layardii_; rufescent fulvous or dark brownish isabelline hue, as Jerdon describes it;...

The concurrence of evidence as to the habits of this species is that it is chiefly found in hilly jungles preying on wild animals, wild pigs, and monkeys, but not unfrequently,...

DESCRIPTION.--A small brownish-bay animal, slightly higher at the croup than at the shoulder, which gives it a poky look, lighter beneath and whitish inside the limbs and in the...

SIZE.--About the same as the last, or Dr. Anderson says: "In the form referable to _S. Blythii_, a white spot occurs on the inguinal region of the thigh in the position in which...

"Gooral are not gregarious, like the true goats, all of which frequently assemble in large flocks, but are usually scattered about the hills, three or four being occasionally fo...

McMaster gives the following interesting account of otters hunting on the Chilka Lake: "Late one morning I saw a party, at least six in number, leave an island on the Chilka Lak...

DESCRIPTION.--"Remarkable for its naked feet and very large ears; also for the odoriferous glands on the sides being strongly developed, whereas we can detect them in no other o...

I know nothing of the habits of the tiger of the grass plains, but those of the hill tiger are very interesting, the cattle lifter especially, as he is better known to men. Each...

Bewick, who was the first to figure and describe it, got, as the vulgar phrase hath it, the wrong pig by the lug, as he translates it _Sand-bear_. McMaster also speaks of those...

This monkey is one over which many naturalists have argued; it is synonymous with _Macacus speciosus_, _M. maurus_, _M. melanotus_, and was thought to be with _M. brunneus_ till...

I am largely indebted to Dr. Anderson for information concerning it, for he has not only most carefully watched the habits of this curious animal, but has most exhaustively desc...

However, the system that most commends itself is that of Mr. E. R. Alston, proposed in the 'Proceedings' of the Zoological Society, and founded on the original scheme of Profess...

"In one earth which I opened, and which did not seem to have been originally constructed by the animal, I found two pairs, one of which were adults, the other young ones about t...

The dentition of this genus is as follows: Either four or six incisors in the upper jaw, but always six in the lower; four premolars and three molars in each jaw, upper and lowe...

It is a curious fact that most of the male elephants in Ceylon are what are called _mucknas_ in India, that is, tuskless males--not one in a hundred, according to Sir Emerson Te...

The late Brigadier-General McMaster, in his 'Notes on Jerdon,' page 248, says: "An excellent sportsman and very close observer, who, being a cavalry officer, should be able to g...

HABITAT.--Kashmir. Jerdon also gives out that it is found throughout great part of Western and Central Asia, as far as the eastern shores of the Euxine Sea, and that it is commo...

DESCRIPTION.--"Ear comparatively small, as broad as long; inner margin very convex forward; outer margin slightly concave beneath the tip; nose-leaf as in _P. larvata_, but the...

Dr. Anderson remarks on the skull of this species, that it can be easily distinguished from _entellus_ by its larger size, the supraorbital ridge being less forwardly projected,...

The wild dog dwells and breeds in holes and caves in rocks. The breeding season is from January to March, and about six whelps are born at a time. The mammae are more numerous t...

DESCRIPTION.--Above ashy blue, slaty or pale mouse colour; albescent or yellowish ashy beneath; nasal appendage large, oblong, free at the tip, reaching to the base of the ears...

According to Jerdon this vole has only been procured in Sikim near Darjeeling, at heights varying from 7000 to 15,000 feet; but I believe the area it inhabits to be much larger....

DESCRIPTION.--"Head and body above uniform light brown with a slight yellowish shade; underneath, from the throat to the vent, dark grey with a brownish tint, lighter on the sid...

SECTION _Felis Tigris_ _Frontispiece_ Skull of _Hylobates hooluck_ 1 _Hylobates lar_; _Hylobates hooluck_ 2 _Presbytes entellus_ 4 " _thersites_ 15 _Macacus silenus_ 17 " _rhesu...

ROBERT A. STERNDALE, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., &C., AUTHOR OF "THE DENIZENS OF THE JUNGLE;" "THE AFGHAN KNIFE;" "SEONEE, OR CAMP LIFE IN THE SATPURA RANGE," ETC.

260. Delphinus perniger (_Black Dolphin_) 258 261. " plumbeus (_Lead-coloured Dolphin_) 258 262. " gadamu 258 263. " lentiginosus (_Freckled Dolphin_) 259 264. " maculiventer (_...