SUBORBITAL PITS OF THE INDIAN ANTELOPE. 17 
en passant, that my friend Dr. Parker, of Gosforth, reported that 
he had seen a single Grey Shrike on a property of his, at the 
beginning of June. 
On New Year’s day was shot a Black-tailed Godwit, Limosa 
melanura, which I selected out of some Bar-tailed Godwits, all 
shot together with one of the numerous punt-guns that render 
Wild-fowl unapproachable by owners of shoulder-guns on the 
Solway. In January also I saw, but could not approach within 
gun-shot, a bird closely resembling Larus melanocephalus. I 
wrote to my friends the Manns of Aiglegill, and asked them to 
look out for a strange Gull. They did not turn up the doubtful 
bird, but a close investigation added a nice specimen of Larus 
minutus to their collection. 
Other scarce birds have since occurred here,—the White- 
fronted Goose, Black-throated Diver and Sclavonian Grebe,— 
and when the number of trained observers is increased we shall 
hope for better things. Mr. Saunders’ ‘Manual’ is a monthly 
source of pleasure to the four working men whom I supply with 
copies; I wish that ‘The Zoologist’ could circulate amongst 
them, to encourage their taste for Natural History. 
THE SUBORBITAL PITS OF THE INDIAN ANTELOPE. 
By Procter 8. Hurcuinson, M.R.C.S. 
Ir may be of interest to those who have not already noticed 
them to draw attention to the well-marked suborbital pits on the 
face of the Indian Antelope, Antilope cervicapra, now in the 
Zoological Gardens. 
These pits, or glands, are found on various parts of the body 
in several species of Antelopes, Deer, and most Sheep and Goats, 
though small in the latter. They occur chiefly on the face, but 
are found behind the ear in the Chamois, and near the tail in 
the Musk-deer. They bear some relation to the reproductive 
functions, and are larger in the male than the female, being 
entirely absent in the latter in some species. Prof. Owen, in his 
‘ Anatomy of the Vertebrates,’ associates them with the various 
scent-glands found in the Beaver, Peccary, certain tropical Bats, 
the Shrew-mice, Civet-cats, Skunk, and many other animals. 
ZOOLOGIST.—MayY, 1889. P 
