529 
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, 
No. I—NOTES ON LYDEKKER’S “* GAME ANIMALS OF INDIA.” 
(With a Plate.) 
Bison— Bos gaurus. 
P, 56, The measurements given are wrongly quoted, from Ward’s ‘‘ Records 
of Big Game.” The ‘* widest outside’ has been quoted as the 
length. The irides of the only two bulls I have examined in this 
particular detail were brown. The blue shade seemed to be 
confined to the cornea, which appeared unusually convex and 
slightly opaque. 
P. 59. Only bulls well past their prime are permanently solitary. The finest 
bulls return to a herd periodically to find a cow in season. Young 
bulls are often found solitary owing to their having been driven from 
the herd by the master bull. 
P. 61. Ihave never seen a bull with a throat-fringein India, Burma or Siam. 
Buffalo—bos bubalus. 
P. 88. Buffalo seem to be undoubtedly wild in the hills west of Paknampo 
in Siam, but they are by no means numerous. There are a few in 
the Irrawadi delta, notably near Pyapon, which are said to be truly 
wild. Those in the Arrakan Yomas (west of Thayetmyo) are said 
to be descended from a herd which belonged to a local king about 
300 years ago, but are quite possibly truly wild and not feral. 
Oorial—Ovis vignet. 
P. 101. No reliance can be placed on horn characteristics, as individual 
variation is very great even in members of the same herd. In the 
Kala Chitta Range near Campbellpore, native shikaris recognise two 
distinct types of horn, and have separate vernacular names for 
them ; one has a wide spiral with the points turning inwards, the 
other a close flat spiral with the points diverging outwards. . 
P.102. The ruff and beard are not fully developed till early December, being 
almost entirely shed in the hot weather. I have shot a ram in Sep- 
tember in the Punjab Salt Range with as little or less ruff than a 
_Shapu ram shot in the same month at 12,000 feet near Leh in Ladakh. 
The colour of the ruff varies in individuals, also of the beard. In 
a few the beard is snow white and the ruff jet black, making a very 
handsome contrast ; in others both are grey, but the ruff always 
darker than the beard. I refer to rams from all parts of the Punjab 
and from the hills west of the Indus below Attock. I have never 
seen a Shapu ram in full winter coat, and do not know to what 
extent the ruff and beard are developed. 
Bharal—Ovis nahura. 
P. 106. The average height at the shoulder is less than 36inches :—from 34} 
to 35 is the average. A Shapuramisabout a 36 inches at the shoulder, 
and a Bharal is decidely the smaller animal. Vide measurements 
published in Miscellaneous Note No. 7 of the present number. 
Asiatic Ibex— Capra sithirica. 
P. 114. The determination of races is unsatisfactory. I have seen a herd of 
twenty bucks in Baltistan, no two of which were exactly alike, and 
which varied from dark brown to whitey-buff with every shade of 
these colours in patches in some of them. Ina few cases they appear- 
ed almost piebald. In the Chenab Valley the colour does not seem to 
vary to such an extent, a light brown being the usual shade, but 
patchy individuals are frequently met with. 
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