The Nilgiri Tahr, or Ibex 



spots. Their teeding-times are morning and evening, 

 the hottest hours of the day being passed in repose and 

 cud-chewino- beneath the shelter of tall rocks. Some 

 of the does act as sentinels, and keep watch so vigilantly 

 that to approach within range requires all the skill. of 

 the sportsman. There does not appear to be any 

 definite breeding-season ; and it is stated that there 

 are commonly two kids at a birth. If this be true, and 

 also that the Himalayan species has usually but one, 

 the smaller number ot teats in the Nilgiri tahr is very 

 remarkable. Leopards, and more rarely tigers, thin 

 the flocks to a great extent ; while the packs ot 

 dholes, or wild dogs, which hunt on the Nilgiris must 

 likewise take their quota. Of recent years the tahr 

 herds have been protected by law ; and their numbers 

 are now steadily increasing. 



THE SEROW 



(^Nemorlnedus sumatrensis) 



Native Names. — Tau-tshiek^ Burmese ; Kambing-utan^ 

 Malay ; Sarao in the North-West Himalaya ; 

 RamUj Halj^ Salabhir^ Kashmiri ; Goa in Chamba ; 

 Aimu IN Kunawar ; Tamu in Kulu ; 7>^r in 

 Nepal ; Gya among the Bhotias of Sikhim ; 

 Sichi OF THE Lepchas. 



(Plate v, figs. 2, la) 



In the case of popular names of animals which, 

 although originally applied to one species, have been 

 expanded so as to include a group of more or less 

 nearly allied forms, there is often a difficulty in deciding 

 the limits to be employed in this more extended usage. 

 No better example of this difiiculty exists than in the 

 use of the term "antelope." Originally applied to 

 the blackbuck of India, the name has been in later 



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