546 THE SECRETARY ON ADDITIONS TO THE MENAGERIE. [June 20, 



chef phone" (i.e. Mesomyodian), having "the muscles of lower 

 larynx quite indistinct." In three specinnens, however, of that genus 

 examined by me I find a perfectly Oscinine syrinx with its muscles 

 as well developed as in other birds of the same size. Whether the 

 statement made by that author to the same effect about Sittella is 

 accurate still remains to be seen. 



June 20, 1882. 

 Prof. Flower, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. 



The Secretary read the following report on the additions to the 

 Society's Menagerie during the month of May 1882 : — 



The total number of registered additions to the Society's Mena- 

 gerie during the month of May was 159, of which 11 were by 

 birth, 71 by presentation, 69 by purchase, 4 were received on deposit, 

 and 4 by exchange. The total number of departures during the 

 same period, by death and removals, was 102. 



The most noticeable additions during the month of May were 

 as follows : — 



1 . Four Pygmy Hogs, Porcula salvania, Hodgson (one male and 

 three females), purchased May 15th of Mr. B. H. Carew, who has 

 kindly furnished me witli the following notes on this rare and inter- 

 esting animal : — 



" ThePygiry Hog is indigenous to the Western Dooars ofBhootan, 

 where the few that are found live in the thickest grassy jungles, and 

 are only now and then seen in the daytime when the jungle is burnt. 

 The natives do not attempt to catch them when netting deer and 

 pigs, on account of their size, as being so small they always escape 

 through the meshes of the nets which are used for the capture 

 of the larger animals. There are but few natives who know of the 

 existence of these animals at all ; and some of those who know them 

 say they are very pugnacious and plucky, and are able in fighting 

 to" defeat the wild boar ; but I should doubt the truth of this story. 

 " The tracks of the Pygmy Hog are often found in the rice-crops 

 (of the aborigines of the Dooar) which are cultivated in patches in 

 the middle of the jungle. The animals come out of the jungle at 

 night, and root up the paddy-crops like the wild boar. I believe 

 they live on the same food as the wild boar. I used to feed my 

 specimens when caged in India on ripe plantains and paddy. I had 

 a separate partition made in the cage ; and I filled it with straw, as 

 I found they required warmth. I found afterwards that from the 

 rice-straw they all got a sort of mange or itch ; so I had them rubbed 

 well with sulphur and oil and changed the straw for dry grass. 



" When in India I sold a pair of these animals to the Cooch Behar 

 Maharajah for a fancy price ; and he presented them to the Zoolo- 

 gical Gardens in Calcutta. But on going to see them when I was in 

 Calcutta, I was sorry to learn that they had both died. They had 

 given me no trouble to keep as long as they were well and regularly 



