229 



THE PROGRESS OF THE MAMMAL SURVEY. 



In the beginning of March, the Society's Collector, Mr. C. A. 

 Crump, was sent to East Kandesh. Arriving at Jalgaon on 

 jMarch 5th, he remained there for five days and did some trapping 

 in the vicinity of the town. Nothing of any special interest was 

 obtained, but a fox was seen which appeared to be larger than the 

 Indian fox (Vtdj^es hengalensisy'' and had a white tip to its tail. 

 Apparently this must have been the Desert Fox (F. leuoo'p.is), a 

 species according to Blanford confined to the drier districts of 

 Sind, Rajputana and the Punjab. 



From Jalgaon a move was made S. W. to Parola, where 

 Mr. Crump went into camp with Mr. A. H. Simcox, I.C.S., from 

 whom he received much assistance. The country round Parola, being 

 mostly cultivated with patches of scrub jungle here and there, was 

 not very productive of specimens, and so, after a short stay, a move 

 was made on to Bhadgaon on the C I. P. Railway line and from 

 there on to Shendurni, arriving at the latter place on March oOth. 

 Round Shendurni there is extensive cultivation of betel leaf (Fi-per 

 />e^Ze!) in small gardens surrounded by grass "tattis," sometimes 

 about 15 feet high. The gardens are irrigated and make cool 

 retreats for jackals and cats during the day-time. The cats 

 (Felis cliaus) are very destructive to poultry in these districts and 

 frecjuently carry ofi" fowls, before it is dark, within sight of the 

 owner. The mungoose does not appear to be common in this 

 part of Kandesh, and hyaenas were not met with nor were their 

 tracks observed. Leaving Shendurni a short trip was made across 

 the Kandesh border to Fardapur and from there one day was 

 spent in visiting the Ajanta Caves to obtain bats. Thousands 

 of bats were found to inhabit the caves, but only two species of 

 sheath-tailed bats were obtained, and no young were seen. Both 

 sexes were found in the same cave, but, as a rule, the species were 

 not mixed. The species were Tafhozous melanopogon and T. 

 kachhensis or a species closeh^ allied to it. From Fardapur, camp 

 was moved back into Kandesh at Jamner, but as the country was 

 very similar to that which had already been visited, a move was 

 made to Ghodasgaon, where the country changes considerably . 

 The Girna river separates the forest land from the cultivated, the 



* All scientific names mentioned are merely provisional as the specimens 

 have not been -worked out at the British Museum . 



