844 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



told on the plains, in the immediate vicinity of Kurrachee. I first came across 

 mobs of hoppers on the 28th of September. They covered a space of 5 or 6 

 feet square and were all proceeding more or less in the same direction, tumbling 

 over each other. I brought some home and kept them until they got their 

 winijs, ■which they did from 24th September onwards, after the third moult. 

 They were less than ^ of an inch long when I got them and had probably cast 

 their skins twice. If they were a fortnight old then, and I do not think they 

 can have been more, their larval life had lasted six weeks. I may mention that 

 there had been heavy rain on 27th August and 1st and 8th September, which 

 perhaps hatched the eugs. 



Kurrachee, Wh November 1906. E. H. AITKBN. 



No. XXXIII —THE SMALL CIVET CAT IN SIND. 



It may be worth noting even in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History 

 Society that the little Civet Cat (Viverricula malaceensis) has been found in 

 Sind. Blanford says that it occurs in all India, except Sind, the Punjab and 

 the Western parts of R-ijputana, and Murray does not mention it in his Verte- 

 brate Zoology of Sind, although he describes some more noticeable animals of 

 the occurrence of which in the Province I can find no record. My suspicions 

 about the Civet Cat were first aroused by an account I received from a native 

 of a wild cat which he called Mushki Btlo (to convert any common Indian 

 word into Sindhi you put an to the end of it) and of which he said that the 

 fragrance was so permanent that, if a dog killed one, its mouth was scented 

 for some time after. I set inquiries on foot in all directions until I had satis- 

 fied myself that a civet of some species was known about Sukkur and central" 

 Sind. At last I found that Mr. D. G\ Ommanney, District Superintendent of 

 Police in Hyderabad, had killed one near that city. He was kind enough to 

 send me the skin to see, which left no doubt. It was a fine specimen of V. 

 malaccensis. Its proper native name is Khathori or Kashturi (the same word 

 as Castor) Bilo. 



Kurrachee, 16th November 1906. E. H. AITKEN. 



No. XXXIV— A MALFORMED BLACKBUCK HEAD. 



The description at page 519, Vol. XVII (No. 2) of the Society's Journal, of a 

 malformed blackbuck head, reminds me of one I personally came across some 

 years ago, to be exact, on 27th March 1887. 



It was near Sougadh in Kathiavad and my shikari said he saw a buck lying 

 under a solitary tree in an open plain. The distance was too great for my vision 

 even with glasses, but I had faith in my shikari and promptly started for the 

 tree. 



The last 300 yards I accomplished painfully in the attitude of the serpent of 

 the Scriptures after the fall, leaving portions of my anatomy on my trail. 



When I reached the vicinity of the tree I much marvelled that the buck^ 

 who was on the other side, concealed, did not become aware of the fact of my 



