356 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



was a chinkara buck of average size, while his pursuer was darker and seemed 

 to me to be of unusually sturdy build and to carry horns well above the 

 average. The leader carried on southwards for four or five hundred yards 

 and then swinging round in a big curve again passed quite close to me, this 

 time in a northerly direction and again swung round and repassed me. And 

 so it went on for some miinutes. The smaller buck closely followed by the 

 larger kept galloping in a large figure of eight and I happened to be just 

 at the waist of the figure. Once the animals passed me at a distance of 

 not more than fifteen yards, but neither of them took the slightest notice 

 of me. 1 did not see any does about but I suppose that marital jealousy 

 must have been at the bottom of the bigger buck's rage. He was certainly 

 feeling very savage and was snorting with indignation. Most of the time he 

 was content to keep his distance, but every now and then a curve would give 

 him the chance of creeping up closer, upon which he would put in a sudden 

 spurt redoubling his ferocious snorts. But the smaller buck was always able 

 to respond and keep out of reach. In the end the larger buck dropped further 

 and further behind and finally gave up and slowed into a trot. The smaller 

 buck carried straight on in the southerly direction in which he was then 

 moving. The larger followed him more slowly and so both the animals dis- 

 appeared, i do not know how long the chase had been going before I arrived, 

 but the pair must have covered a good four miles while 1 watched, and I was 

 surprised that the pursuer's resentment persisted for so long. I cannot 

 explain to myself why the leading buck stuck to his figure of eight. The 

 scene of the chase was an open piece of ground. On on side lay bare fields, 

 but on three sides at no great distance there was open scrub jungle which, 

 one would have thought, offered the best chance of giving a pursuer the slip. 



G. B. F. MUIR, I. c. s. 

 Mayo College, Ajmer, 



lUh September 1915. 



I 



No. VII.— on the breeding HABITS OF THE LARGER FELIB^. 



I append a note on the breeding habits of the larger Felidce. The 

 nature of the enquiry contained in this note is indicated by the manner of 

 its conception. Dr. Marshall, who is a very old friend of mine and is per- 

 haps the best known authority on the subject of the Physiology of Repro- 

 duction in animals, was interested in certain observations of my own on the 

 subject. These observations are extremely limited and at his instigation I 

 have undertaken to collect information with a view to piecing together as 

 far as possible the whole story. Records of personal experiences of any of 

 your readers which have a bearing on the subject will be gratefully ac- 

 cepted by the undersigned and in the event of publication, will be 

 acknowledged. 



In his book on Physiology of Reproduction Dr. Marshall writes : — 



" Little is known definitely regarding the breeding habits of the larger 

 lelidce in their wild state, beyond the fact that they probably agree in 

 having a single annual sexual season. In captivity certain of them, at any 

 rate, are polyoestrous. Thus, in the lioness oestrus has been known to 

 recur at intervals of three weeks until the animal became pregnant, while 

 the period of oestrus may itself last a week." 



Though the occurrence of a succession of ' heat ' periods if pregnancy 

 does not occur, is a matter difficult to determine of the daxxgexons Felid^ 

 in the wild state, it can hardly be doubted that a mass of interestitig infor- 

 mation on the breeding habits of these animals is available in. the experi- 

 ence of those who have devoted their time to shikar in this ' ^country . 



