336 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



"Dimensions. This appears to be the largest of existing 

 bovines. Large bulls are said to exceed 6 feet in height at 

 the shoulder, but this is rare and exceptional, 5 feet 8 inches 

 to 5 feet 10 inches being the usual height. Cows are much 

 smaller, about 5 feet high. A huge bull measured by Elliot 

 was 6 feet \\ inches high, 9 feet 6 inches from nose to root of 

 tail, tail 2 feet 10 inches long, girth behind shoulders 8 feet. 

 A cow 4 feet 10 inches high measured 7 feet from nose to 

 rump over curves, and 6 feet 9 inches in girth. A large male 

 skull from the Western Ghats measures 18 inches in basal 

 length and 9*9 inches zygomatic breadth. Average male horns 

 measure 20 to 24 inches round the outside curve. Horns 

 from Travancore have been recorded 39 inches in length and 

 19 inches in girth at the base ; whilst other Travancore horns 

 measure 2075 in girth, and a pair from the Malay Peninsula 

 22, though only 32 long. 



" Large cow-horns measure 23 and 24 round the outside curve, 

 with a girth of 13*25. The girth of each horn in freshly- 

 killed specimens is about an inch more than in dried skulls. 1 



" Distribution. (With regard to India and Burma) All the 

 great hilly forest tracts of the Indian Peninsula, Assam, and 

 Burma. 



" The gaur keeps to forest or high grass generally, but not 

 always near the hill, and is found in herds of from five to six 

 to about twenty or occasionally more. Bulls often wander by 

 themselves, and the finest and oldest bulls are said always to 

 occur solitary ; still, very large bulls are found with herds, and 

 young bulls are frequently seen alone, or two or three together. 

 All are shy and avoid cultivated tracts as a rule, though in- 

 stances occur in wild parts of the country of gaur feeding on 

 growing crops. 2 Their food consists chiefly of grasses ; they do 

 not commonly browse, though they occasionally eat the leaves 

 and even the bark of particular trees, and they are fond of the 

 shoots of bamboos. They feed generally in the early morning 

 and evening, and lie down to rest from about 9 a.m. to about 



1 This applies to Indian gaur the Burmese variety has been described 

 accurately by Col. Pollok. 



2 I have seen whole fields devastated by a herd of gaur in the northern 

 Circars. F. T P. 



