PREFACE 



A GENERAL account of the remarkable series of specimens 

 described in the following pages is given by Mr. Lydekker 

 in his Introduction. 



The late Mr. Allan Octavian Hume, C.B., who bequeathed 

 the Collection, had been a benefactor of the Museum for 

 many years. The Indian Mammals which he had presented 

 were specially valuable, while his collection of skins and 

 eggs of Birds from various parts of the Indian Empire, given 

 nearly thirty years ago, consisted of some 82,000 specimens, 

 and was described by the late Dr. E. Bowdler Sharpe as 

 " one of the most splendid donations ever made to the 

 Nation." 



Mr. Hume kept the finest specimens of the heads of Big 

 Game in his own possession uotil his death, and it is these 

 specimens to which the present work principally refers. It 

 is hoped that the Catalogue will be useful to sportsmen and 

 others who are interested in the larger Mammals of our 

 Indian Empire, but it will in any case serve the purpose 

 of directing attention to the gifts of a generous benefactor 

 and of associating his name permanently with the official 

 publications of the Museum. 



The thanks of the Trustees are due to Eowland Ward, 

 Limited, for permission to use Figs. I, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 

 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, which were taken from the specimens in 

 question, while they were still in Mr. Hume's possession, for 

 the illustration of Records of Big Game. 



SIDNEY F. HAEMEE, 



Keeper of Zoology. 



BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY), 

 LONDON, S.W. 



February, 1913. 



268083 



