522 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVIII. 



before the meeting the following specimens which had been returned duly 

 identified by the Indian Museum, Calcutta : — 



(1) Nesocia hardwickei (G-ray), the Short-tailed Mole Rat. 



(2) Cricetus phaus (Blanford),the Little Grey Hamster. 



(3) Mus baclrianus (Blyth), the Persian House Mouse. 



(4) Alaclaga indica (Gray), the Afghan Jerboa. 



(5) Gerbillus meridians (Pallas), the Field Rat. 



The Honorary Secretary was then called upon by the President to read 

 the attached note which he had drawn up on the existence in Quetta of 

 Erythrospiza obsoleta (Licht) named also Rhodospisa obsoleta (Sharpe) which 

 had been briefly referred to at the last meeting. On the motion of the Presi- 

 dent a vote of thanks to the Honorary Secretary was duly passed, and it was 

 resolved to style the Erythrospiza (Rhodospiza) obsoleta the "Quetta Rose- 

 Finch" in view of its being so common in Quetta. 



Sir Henry McMahon then placed before the meeting two pairs of Ibex 

 horns presented by Mr. Beaty to the Museum, which he had procured from 

 the Chahiltan range of mountains, and pointed out the wide curve of these 

 horns and the way the horns closed in towards each other at the top, thereby 

 making them differ widely from the usual type of Markhor horns. He said 

 that there had long been an idea that there existed on the hills round Quetta 

 a cross between the Markhor and Ibex. The horns now exhibited did not show 

 any characteristics of Ibex horns, notwithstanding their shape and want of 

 massiveness. Mr. Beaty pointed out their resemblance to the horns of the big- 

 horned black domestic goats common in this country. The animals shot on 

 Chahiltan, from which these two pairs of horns were obtained, were, he said, 

 of the colour and shape of ordinary Markhor. Sir Henry McMahon expressed 

 the opinion that they were probably the result of some past interbreeding 

 between a domestic goat and a Markhor. 



Mr. Beaty exhibited a photograph in which a larger pair of horns of the same 

 type, shot on Zarghun, was shown, together with some other Markhor horns, 

 36 and 38 inches in length. The President pointed out how these other horns 

 also differed from the straight Markhor horns, known as the Suleiman and 

 Cabul variety. He added that he had seen in Baluchistan Markhor horns with 

 even greater curves, somewhat like the Astor variety. He expressed a wish that 

 members of the Society would kindly photograph any Markhor horns they 

 possessed and give them to the Society. It would then be possible to com- 

 pare them and ascertain the different kinds of Markhor horns to be found in 

 various parts of Baluchistan. 



The Honorary Secretary then read the following note : — 



Erythrospiza obsoleta (Licht) (Rhodospiza obsoleta, Sharpe). 



At our last meeting the Revd. F. Lawrence remarked that he had come 

 across a number of Erythrospiza obsoleta about Quetta, and I corroborated the 

 statement, adding that I had secured the eggs of the bird. I also remarked 

 that this bird appears to be what Capt. Marshall and Major Betham described 



