694 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HLrr. SOCLETY, Vol. XXI. 



3. " The Green or Edible Turtle {Chelone viydas). Common on the 

 Madras Coast. This species is usually described as herbivorous, but local 

 specimens are quite as carnivorous as any of the other turtles " (p. 13), 



4. " [This tank] contains at present a shoal of a single species of Sea- 

 Ferch {Lutianus jalmfjarali) which .... are noticeable for the high 

 degree of intelligence which they exhibit at feeding times. The appear* 

 ance of an attendant bearing a pail, even half-way across the Aquarium, is 

 sufficient to throw them into a state of wild excitement" (p. 16). 



The difference in intelligence ( ? or eyesight) between these fish and 

 other species in the Aquarium is most marked, as I can testify from per- 

 sonal observation in the circumstances described by Dr. Henderson. 



5. " The species of Serranus exhibited in the Aquarium regularly go to 

 sleep every night at the bottom of the tank, where they remain motionless 

 till morning. Several fish in the Aquarium ha^e the same habit, while 

 others at night simply remain motionless in the water and do not rest on 

 the bottom. On the other hand many fish do not appear to sleep, as they 

 keep constantly moving all night " (p. 17). 



I understand that the Serrani when asleep lie on one side on the 

 bottom. 



N. ANNANDALE. 

 Calcutta, January 1912. 



No. XLIII.— THE LIFE OF A DOG TICK. 

 The small brown tick on a dog sucks up the blood until it swells up and 

 then it falls off. It will be noticed that there is always a small tick 

 attached to every swollen one — this is the male. After the swollen tick 

 has fallen off, it climbs up the wall into the ceiling or hides in any con- 

 venient crack and deposits its eggs (some thousands), 40 per cent, of these 

 in turn hatch out and become minute ticks which get on to the dog and 

 suck its blood till they in turn swell up to the size of about six pins' heads, 

 they then drop off and seek some crack in the wall or some picture on it 

 and in time change into the ordinary brown tick. Anyone who keeps a 

 dog in his room might notice ticks on the wall. 



W. J. MASSY, Capt,, 



12th Pioneers. 

 KiRKEE, 2Qth August 1911. 



[Mr. F. M. Hewlett, 2nd Imperial Entomologist, Pusa, has kindly supplied the 

 following note on the above : — • 



" Ticks are generally divided into two main families, Argasids and Ixodids • 

 the coinmoaest argasid ia this country is the flat fowl-tick (Argas persicus), 

 while the dog-tick { Bhipicephalus sanguineus) is an ixodid. Ixodids 

 have a characteristic homy shield on the back, which nearly covers the 



