for the year 1916-1^. V 



water. The stony soil of the island and a rainfall probably smaller 



than that of the neighbouring mainland and certainly never excessive 



do not encourage either a luxuriant growth of vegetation or l;he ex- 



. , J , „ istence of a rich fauna, but the greater part of 

 An island in the i i • i j • j vi, i: • i i • i • 



Chilka Lake. ^*^® island is covered with fairly dense jungle in 



which bushes and even large trees flourish in 



abundance. All these trees and shrubs have tough glossy leaves 



and a rather sombre foliage. The largest are figs of two species, 



the Banyan {Ficus bengalensis) and Ficus rumyhii ; the most 



abundant shrub is Glycosmis pentaphila, a common form in waste 



lands in many parts of India. True xerophytic plants also occur, 



for example Cacti {Cereiis and Ofuntia), which have probably been 



introduced accidently, and an indigenous tree-euphorbia {Evphorbia 



nivula). 



The fauna of the island is even less rich than that of the plains 

 of India generally and many species that are abundant on the adja- 

 cent mainland are here very scarce or altogether absent. The only 

 terrestrial mammals are the Chital, of which a small herd has been 

 introduced by the owner of the island for sporting purposes, a large 

 reddish mungoose, a form of the common black rat, which is fairly 

 abundant round the bungalow, a mouse and a small shrew. Thci'e are 

 no small birds in the woods and most of the larger species that 

 occur are forms of very wide distribution. Among the land birds 

 perhaps the commonest are the Indian house-crow and the jungle- 

 crow. Both of these fly over from the mainland in large numbers 

 every evening to roost on the island, and a few individuals of both 

 also spend the day there when the fruit of the Banyan, to which 

 they are very partial, is ripe. The common green pigeon is also 

 abundant, and flocks of the grey hornbill are often to be seen or 

 heard. Five species of lizards and four of snakes were found on 

 the island. The most interesting specimen obtained was an unique 

 example of a limbless snake-like lizard to which I have given the 

 name Barkudia insularis. It was found burrowing in dry earth 

 between the buttresses of a Banyan tree. Two of the snakes are 

 small burrowing forms and only one, the common krait, which is 

 very scarce, is poisonous. Only three species of land snails were 

 seen. They form the subject of a paper by Lieutenant-Colonel H. 

 H. Godwin Austen, F.R.S., shortly to be published in the Records 

 of the Indian Museum. The most noteworthy features among the 

 Arthropoda are the small number of species represented, the absence 

 of large or conspicuous forms (except among the butterflies and 

 dragonflies) and the large proportion of predaceous species. 



Perhaps the most interesting element in the fauna is that asso- 

 ciated with the fig-trees and in particular with the Banyan. Apart 

 from the species that feed on its fruit and leaves (which do not 

 seem to be numerous), this element lives mostly either in dead 

 wood or in the earth. The great horizontal branches of the tree 

 are supported on vertical trunks that originate from them in the 

 form of aerial roots, so reach the soil and then grow stout and 



