Gaur 



29 



as far west as Nepal. South of the Ganges it exists in suitable tracts in 

 Chutia-Nagpur, Orissa, and the Northern Circars, the Central Provinces, 

 Hyderabad territories, Mysore, and throughout the Western Ghats, where- 

 ever it has not been exterminated or driven away." 



Habits. — All who have had the opportunity of seeing gaur in their native 

 wilds describe them as displaying marvellous activity in getting over the 

 hilly ground on which they are generally found. Although they nearly 

 always keep to forest or high grass, they are sometimes found away from 

 hills. In the south of India their fivourite haunts are rocky hills, with 

 open grassy tablelands at the summit ; and here they are found at eleva- 

 tions of from 2500 to 5000, or even 6000 feet above sea-level, although 

 in the Terai districts of the Himalaya they never ascend nearly so high. 

 Usually they go about in small parties or herds numbering from five or 

 six to about twenty head, but occasionally more may be seen together. 

 The old bulls, which, as Colonel Pollok remarks, are so short-haired as 

 to look almost as though they had been shaved, keep much to themselves, 

 and in some instances are solitary ; and even young bulls may be seen alone, 

 or in parties of two or three. Although grass, especially that which 

 springs up after the periodical jungle-fires, forms their staple food in most 

 districts, at certain seasons of the year they browse largely on the young 

 and succulent shoots of the bamboo, which, after all, is only grass of a 

 larger kind. Feeding at morning and evening, they retire during the 

 heat of the day to the depths of the forests, or to thick grass-brakes, where 

 they escape the torments of gadHies. The early evening or afternoon 

 appears to be the general time for drinking. Although shy and timid, 

 and for the most part avoiding the neighbourhood of cultivated lands, in 

 undisturbed districts they are not excessively wary and difficult of approach. 

 Neither are they, as a rule, vicious, although a solitary bull has been 

 known to charge without provocation ; and in all cases when hotly 

 pursued they are apt to turn on their assailants. Colonel Pollok describes 



