•2864 The Zoologist — November, 1871. 



I am much obliged to "J. C." for noticing my query, but he has 

 not given me the information required, viz., whether C. porosus, 

 Schneid, had ever been known to occur in the rivers of the North- 

 western Provinces. To the three species mentioned by "J. C." 

 may be added C. pondicherianus, of which species only one young 

 specimen has as yet been captured, but this has been figured by 

 Gunther in his work on Indian Reptiles. The crocodile question 

 is one of the greatest interest, and perhaps there is no branch of 

 Natural History so little known, and regarding which the synonyms 

 have been so much confused. A few words regarding the geo- 

 graphical distribution of the four species of Crocodilidae inhabiting 

 Continental India, and I have done. 



C. palustris, Lesson. — This is the crocodile of Lower Bengal 

 and Upper India, where it is associated with G. gangeticus. I con- 

 sider this to be the true muggur, twt "boach " and "kumeer," which 

 vernacular names are more applicable to the C. porosus, and are 

 used by the natives of Lower Bengal, where that species (porosus) 

 is to be found. These two names arc not known in the North- 

 West, where the crocodile in question has not as yet occurred. 

 C. palustris is rare in Burmah, but abundant in Ceylon, and it is 

 very closely allied to C. vulgaris, Cuv., of the Nile. I believe it 

 does not attain to the same size, nor is it so formidable as the wet 

 species. 



C. porosus, Schneid. — This is the crocodile of Burmah, where it 

 is abundant, and it is associated, though sparingly in Lower 

 Bengal, with the preceding species. I believe porosus to be purely 

 estuarine, and its occurrence anywhere in Upper India will be 

 accidental. It has, however, a wide southern range, being found 

 along the East and West coasts, and specimens from Australia do 

 not differ in any material respect. It is probable that those huge 

 black monsters one sees in the Sunderbunds, and in some of those 

 enormous jheels in Lower Bengal, are referable to this species and 

 not to palustris. Both species are found in Ceylon, and, according 

 to Sir Emerson Tennant, porosus inhabits the rivers and estuaries 

 throughout the low countries of the coasts, whereas palustris lives 

 exclusively in fresh water, frequenting the tanks in the Northern 

 and Central Provinces. This, therefore, favours the view that the 

 former does not occur in any of the rivers in these provinces. 



C. trigonops, Gray. — This is a species regarding which very 

 little is known. Gunther unites it with C. palustris ; but Theobald 



