MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1015 



pupilled spot which, however, is very variable in size and sometimes obsolete 

 in the males. I never found either pupa or larva. 



The quest of Melanitis bethami i3 now only a pleasant memory ; but I hope 

 some day to renew the encounter among the deep sandstone nullahs, which 

 guard the approaches to Pachmarhi. 



H. W. KETTLEWELL, Captain, 



85th King's Light Infantry. 

 Fyzabad, 28th November 1906. 



No. IV.— THE BRONZE-CAPPED TEAL (EUNETTA FALCATA) 



IN TIRHUT. 



After an interval of six years this beautiful teal has again been found 

 here. Yesterday I got a female on a jheel close to here. There were only 

 about half a dozen birds and they were at too great a distance for me to be 

 able to say whether there were more of this species or not. I fancy had there 

 been any drakes they would have been noticeable. 



CHAS. M. INGLIS. 



Baghownie Fcty., Dabbhanga, 4th December 1906. 



No. V.— SOME NOTES ON TIGERS AND PANTHERS. 



There are several matters of great interest dealt with in the issue of the 

 Journal of 20th September 1906 (No 2. Vol. XVII) regarding the habits of 

 tigers and panthers. 



One correspondent notes the placing by a panther of the carcase of a spotted 

 deer in the fork of a tree. This habit of depositing prey in trees is 

 not uncommon, and I have found remains of barking-deer and four- 

 horned antelope, goats and dogs so disposed of by panthers on several 

 occasions. I think an instance of the body of a Banjara boy, killed by a 

 panther, being deposited in the fork of a tree was recorded in the Journal 

 some twelve or fourteen years ago. The instances of the boldness of panthers, 

 described by another correspondent, are not unusual. It is a common occur- 

 rence for dogs to be pounced on and carried off in the presence of their 

 masters at many of our hill-stations, and I have known one enter a tent for 

 the same purpose. Panthers will frequently return to a kill after being fired 

 at and I recollect one coming back to the carcase of a nilgai three times 

 under such circumstances. Indeed the boldness of these animals appears to 

 be unlimited. In a village near which I was encamped some years ago one 

 entered a hut in which a woman, a child and a dog were sleeping alongside 

 each other. The beast stepped over the dog and the woman, and carried off 

 the child, which it devoured a few hundred yards off. 



As regards the killing of their prey by tigers and panthers, these animals 

 have certainly no fixed and invariable method of accomplishing their object. 

 Very probably one tiger will generally kill in the same way, but different 



