PROCEEDINGS. 285 



NOTES ON THE FOOD OF THE PANTHER (FELlS PARDUS). 



Tbe following notes on th*: fool of the panther may be of interest:— 



When walking through a jungle in the district of Canara I came upon the fre.-h 

 tracks of a panther, and following these tracks a short way, I found some fresh 

 panther's droppings, embedded ill which were the remains of a large black 

 scorpion. It was evident from the way in whioh the scorpion's remains were 

 embedded in the droppings that the panther had eaten and partly digested the 

 scorpio a. 



On another occasion I had a chance of noting the food of panthers. A male 

 panther was shot measuring 7 feet from the tip of nose to end of tail, while tha 

 girth measurement behind the fore legs was less than that of another panther, a cub, 

 measuring something under G feet. The panther was in miserable condition, the 

 cause of which seems to have been the presence of three porcupine's quilla 

 embedded in his body. Of these quills one was in the ball of the right forefoot, 

 one a short distance up the left fore leg, and the third between the ribs close 

 behind the shoulder. The quills were all broken, a length of about 3 inches 

 remaining in the wounds. Around each wound the flesh was much inflamed. 

 Panthers will also eat rats, and are very quick at catching them, which they do 

 with both mouth an 1 1 paws, 



H. S. WISE. 



NOTES ON THE CHEETAL. 



A Poona correspondent wrote to us as follows, in July last:— 



" I have a few Cheetal, or Spotted Deer {Axis maculatus) in an enclosure in my, 

 garden, very tame, and they breed regularly. A stag fawn was born in the month 

 of May last, and, with its dam and companion, would come up and literally beg 

 risiDg on its hind legs for bread, biscuits and vegetables, offered by any visitor. 

 Last week the river rose, the banks fell, and it became necessary to remove the 

 deer from their enclosure to my stables. The fawn followed its dam, being left 

 out of its enclosure, when something startled the little fellow and he jumped into 

 the raging stream just opposite the Boating Terminus called RosherriV e. Carried 

 off his legs he swam vigorously across, and, so far as we could see, landed about a 

 quarter of a mile below on the Rosherville bank. It was sundown, and we gave 

 the animal up as lost. All we could do was to send round and warn the vil- 

 lagers and police. In the middle of the night, I heard the dam calling, and in the 

 morning learnt that our little friend, who must have gone right up to Holkar's 

 Bridge for the purpose, had swam acrrtss, rfbout 2 a.m.. and joined his mother 

 to the great alarm of the sentries, who thought it was a panther visiting them. 



Proceedings of the Monthly Meeting held on 4th July 1887. 

 The Hon. Mr. Justice Birdwood presided. 



The following new members were elected:— H. H. Prince Joravarkhanji of 

 Bajana, Mr. E. von Hantelmann, Dr. W. Kay, Mr. A. C. Walker, Mr. F. E. Dempster, 

 Mr. F. L. Charles, C.S., Mr. W. N. Fleming, Capt. E. G. Reilly. Mr. C. F. Whyte, 

 Mr. G. de Boane, Mr. G. Sutton Jones, Capt. Pentland, Capt. Butler, and Mr. A. de 

 Gam a. 



3S 



