ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



833 



MALE INDIAN ELEPHANT, GUNDA, AT TWELVE YEARS OF AGE, NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 

 Height eight feet nine inches and weight 7.800 pounds, nearly four tons. This s.necimen in five years, " 

 inches in height and increased nearly two tons in weight. 



molest it when found, for the reason that it is 

 alleged that they will charge the hunter with 

 little or no provocation, and not only will the 

 leader charge, but the whole herd will jointly 

 make the attack. Mr. Frank Williamson, an 

 English trader who has lived for more than 

 thirty years in that territory and has been a 

 daring hunter, tells me that the mesalla is the 

 only animal that he avoids on all occasions. 



Another striking peculiarity of this elephant 

 is that it is more diurnal in habit than the larger 

 type, and much more given to grazing on the 

 open plains, where they are frequently seen in 

 broad daylight, and in larger herds than are 

 usual with the others. 



Anotlier habit worthy of remark is that of 

 their playing and gamboling with one another. I 

 have several times been assured that the}' period- 

 ically chase each other about in a playful man- 

 ner, scuffle, and slap each other with their 

 trunks as kittens do with their paws. 



Another thing that is alleged of these animals 

 is a gait entirely different from that of any other 

 elephant either Indian or African, one of which 

 trots, and the other paces, while it is averred 

 that the mesalla lopes or gallops when he runs. 

 I offer this information as it has been given to 



me, and without vouching for its accuracy. One 

 observant white man, who has been a success- 

 ful hunter and the only one that I know of who 

 claims to have killed a mesalla, has assured me, 

 however, that the gait of the mesalla is peculiar 

 in the fact that when running he gallops with 

 his front feet and trots with his hind ones. In 

 other words, it was stated tliat the mesalla lifts 

 its two front feet at the same time, while it al- 

 ternates with its hind ones. 



I forego any further details of anatomical 

 differences and leave them to be set forth by 

 others later on. The information Iiere offered 

 concerning the habits and general appearance 

 of the animal, I give for what they are worth, 

 but in the belief that they are entirely- new to 

 science. While I do not vouch for the accur- 

 acy of all of them, I believe they are substan- 

 tially true. 



Aquarium. — During the winter months the 

 Aquarium will be open to the public between the 

 hours of 10 A. M. and 1 P. M. 



Annual Meeting. — The Eighteenth Annual 

 Meeting of the New York Zoological Society 

 will be held in the Grand Ball Room of the 

 Waldorf-Astoria, January 9, 1912. An inter- 

 esting program has been arranged. 



