2342 The Zoologist— October, 1870. 



The Lesser One-horned Rhinoceros in England. — Happening to tale up the volume 

 on pacLydeimatous tnanimalia in ihe' Naluialist's Library,' I was surprised to discover 

 that the " Indian rhinoceros," of which two figures are therein supplied, is the lesser 

 one-horned species, R. sondaicus, and not R. indicus as heretofore considered. This 

 is at once shown by ihe fold at the base of the neck — in addition to that behind the 

 shoulders — being continued across, which is never the case with the larger R. indicus, 

 and also by the uniformity of size of the small tubercles which stud the body, shoulders 

 and haunches. The dimensions of the adult animal equally prove the correctness of 

 this identification: " height from the highest part of the back 4 ft. 8 in," &c. The 

 specimen was " a male, and was brought from Bengal, having been for some lime kept 

 in the gardens of the Guvernor-General at Calcutta," i.e. in Barrackpore Park. It is 

 now ascertained to be the species which inhabits the Bengal Sundarbans. " He has 

 been sixteen months in Britain," it is added, "during which lime he has visited 

 London, GlaS},'ow and Edinburgh, and is at present" {circa 1835) " the property of 

 the proprietors of the Zoological Gardens at Liverpool. It is stated to be six years 

 old, and to weigh two tons ; is a beautiful specimen, and appears to be in the highest 

 state of health." Upon a former occasion {loc. cil.) I showed that both the R. javanicus 

 and the R. sumatranus of F. Cuvier are founded on native drawings of the latter spe- 

 cies, which I prefer to call the Asiatic two-horned rhinoceros, and the other the lesser 

 one-horned rhinoceros, now that we know that both of them have an extensive range 

 on ihe mainland of S.E. Asia. Whal I here bring to notice is ihe fact that we have 

 had R. sondaicus alive for many years in this country without anyl^dy knowing it. 



Note or^ Cervus Alfredi, ihe new Indian Deer, at the Zoological Gardens. — Your 

 correspondent R. A., of Bangalore, pronounces authuratively (p. 173) that " the Cervus 

 Alfredi is no other than the common hog deer, C. porcinus, the 'dray' of Burma and 

 the Malay coast." I beg to assure him that he is mistaken. Undoubtedly it is a 

 species akin to the " para '' of Eastern Bengal, " dray " or " durai " of Arakan and the 

 Tenasseriui provinces, which I know familiarly to be the true porcinus; but in the 

 Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, both species may now be seen, and their identifi- 

 cation as the same is out of the question. One remarkable feature of C. Alfredi is the 

 smallness of its ear-conch as compared either with C. porcinus or C. axis; and, 

 moreover, this part is uniformly filled up with shortish hairs interiorly, not partly nude 

 within, with the usual stripes of long hair seen in its immediate congeners. It is, 

 moreover, different in shape from — not so broad as — that of ihe hog deer. The tail 

 is like that of ihe axis deer, but shorter, and black insiead of brown above; not bushy 

 like that of the hog deer, as it holds it up when running. I may add that I never 

 before heard of C. porcinus anywhere in ihe Malayan peninsula ; but it is worthy of 

 remark thai the C. axis, or Indian spotted deer, is staled to have been introduced both 

 in Province Wellesley and Sumatra, where it is nol impossible that C. Alfredi may 

 have been mistaken for it. — From the 'Field.' 



Otter in the Tame.— A dog otter was shot last night in the River Tame, about a 

 mile below this town. Length from nose to tip of tail 49 inches; girth 18^ inches.— 

 Egbert D. Hamel ; Bole Hull, Tamworth, September 20, 1870. 



Lesser Kestrel near York.— l regret that I have not before answered the editor's 

 summons to give some additional information about the lesser kestrel {Tinnunculus 



