MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. ir>3 



green frog that has the thin white stroak from nose to rump tirmly attach- 

 ed to the back of the ordinary frojjj and whon touched would not leave or 

 let loose his grip. 'J'ho groon frog had the skin of tho other frog in its 

 mouth and when teased ho jumped quite 2\ feet with the other frog in its 

 mouth. 



N. DAVIDSON. 

 Raichur, 

 19«A October 19 lb". 



[The ' two trog:s' when received were found to be a medium sized Bull Frofj 

 {Rana tigrina) and a youn<jr common Toad (Bufo melanostictus) which was 

 evidently beinj:: eaten by the former. — Eds. ] 



No. XIII.— THE GREAT INDIAN SPIDERS, (GENUS 

 Pa'.ClL O THERIA) . 



In a very interesting account of the Great Indian Spiders, by R. I. 

 Pocock of tho British Museum of Natural History, which appeared in the 

 Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 7, Vol. Il in January 

 1899, and was reprinted in Vol. Xllt, No. I of our Journal, it was stated 

 that eight different species of the spider were then known to the Museum, 

 which also possessed specimens of one or both sexes of each species. 

 These were : — 



No. 1, P. fasciata, irom Ceylon. 



The males of 1*2 and 4 only were known, so there was much room for 

 further research, but I am not aware that any further discoveries have since 

 been made. 



'Ihese spiders are not, I believe, as rare as is generally supposed, but 

 living as they do, in burrows and trees, they escape observation. 



Last April, one was brought to me at Khandala, it havii g been found in 

 a hole half way up a post in the stables at the Convalescent Home. Not 

 a single person there, either European or Native, to whom I showed it, had 

 ever seen one before. I have since had no difficulty in identifying it as 

 P. 7-eyalis ; Pocock mentions having identified this species from Matheran, 

 so it may be the commonest, if not the only species found in this part of 

 India. I tried my best to get another specimen but with no success. 



In May last, I was more successful, when encamped at Potoli, Supa 

 Taluka, North Kanara, where I captured two females, but they belonged to 

 quite a different species which I have not as yet been able to identify. 

 Their description tallies more nearly with that of P. metallica, than v^ith 

 any of the others on Pocock's list, being of a uniform chocolate colour all 

 over the body and legs, but wanting the single orange spots on the tibice, 

 which is the distinguishing mark of P. metallica. At the first opportiinity 

 I intend to have them identified at the Natural History Museum, when I 

 will communicate the residt. 



The measurements of the largest of the two are as follows, n 

 millimetres : — 



Total length of body . . . . . . . . 55 



Length of carapace . . . . . . . . 26 



Width of carapace . . . . . . . . _. . 20 



SO 



