MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 1021 



No. XIII— THE FOOD OF PYTHONS. 



I send herewith particulars given me by Mr. Ralph, the Executive Engineer, 

 P. W. D., of this District, as they may prove of interest' to some of our readers. 



On the 19th December 1906, at about 6 p.m., news was brought to Mr. 

 Ralph and Mr. Debrulais (Assistant Engineer, Bengal Duars Railway) that a 

 huge python (Python molurus) was lying in the Tondoo Forest between the 

 Murti and Saldacca Rivers (Nagrakhatha Sub-district). 



As the snake was reported to be only about 150 yards from the railway line, 

 the two went off at once duly armed, but on their arrival, they found the 

 snake absolutely comatose, and it was killed with sticks. It was very distended 

 and they decided to see what it had been feeding on. It was opened and 

 found to contain a leopard measuring 4 feet 2 inches from nose to rump. The 

 tail came off when removing the body and was too decomposed to be accurately 

 measured. The panther had been swallowed head first, with its forearms 

 stretched out in front of its head. 



On the snake were found seven hind-claw cuts, the first about 3 feet from 

 the head, the last about 1 foot from the tail. 



The python was 18 feet in length and the span of the skin, after removal of 

 the leopard, was 22 inches. 



ARUNDEL BEGBIE, Majoe 



(13th Rajputs). 



Baksa Duar, \Uh January 1907. 



No. XIV.— BATS FEEDING- ON SMALL BIRDS. 



For the past three years I have been puzzled to know whether my surmise 

 that the Indian Vampire Bat (Megaderma lyra) was responsible for the 

 remains of several kinds of small birds, chiefly of the Indian Bush Chat 

 (Pratincola maura), small bats and insects, which are always to be picked up 

 from the floor of my front verandah every morning in the cold weather, and 

 which is at times quite strewn with them. 



At first I suspected the culprits might be either rats or owlets (Athene 

 brama), which occupied a leaf shed close to the bungalow but were killed on 

 account of the unpleasant noise they made. I had frequently scared this bat 

 off specimens of birds that were hung up preparatory to skinning in the 

 morning, bat not before they had damaged the breast and abdomen. 



To-night, however, I have been able to confirm the fact that undoubtedly 

 small birds do form a portion, and here a substantial one, of M. lyra's food, 

 having just killed one in the act of eating a small bird, and the bat and its 

 victim lie before me as I write. On going into my office, which opens into the 

 verandah, to get some note paper, I heard something drop and saw three of 

 these bats flying round the room. Picking up a stick I knocked one down and 



