738 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXII. 



baited either with bread or meat, several shrews, all of the same species, 

 and belonging to the Genus Pachyura. These animals are not strictly 

 nocturnal, as two or three were caught in the day. They live here in 

 holes and crevices of walls in old godowns, kitchens, stables, etc. 



The following are the measurements of three adults : — 



Head and body 108 mm. — 119 mm. ; tail 66 mm. — 71 mm. ; hindfoot 

 20 mm. ; ear 12 mm. — 14 mm. 



The following are the measurements, etc., of two adult females, captured 

 in Simla, on the 24th and 28th August 1913 :— 



Head and body 110 mm. — 125 mm. ; tail 64 mm. — 71 mm. ; hindfoot 

 18 mm. — 19 mm. ; ear 12 mm, — 13 mm. 



Basal lengths of the two skulls 25 — 26 mm. 



Six mammee — all inguinal; three on each side. The specimen captured 

 on the 24th August contained three fully developed young in her. 

 Another female captured on the 23rd June 1912, and which was unfortun- 

 ately not measured, was also pregnant. From this it seems pretty clear 

 that this Shrew breeds throughout the summer and early autumn months, 

 and probably has at least two broods in the year. 



I have already sent two specimens (in spirits) of this animal to 

 Mr. Kinnear, Bombay Natural History Society, and these are doubtless 

 available to experts for examination and identification. At present I 

 have ten specimens (5 adults in spirits ; 8 young in spirits ; and 2 

 adult skins), and am prepared to send them to anyone in need of further 

 material for working out this little known species. 



I take this opportunity of pointing out that the Shrew, which is so 

 common in Calcutta (G-enus Pachyura, sp. ? Head and body 178 

 mm : tail 90 mm.), is also not purely nocturnal, as I have caught it in 

 traps, baited with bread, in the day. On the 12th December 1912, I 

 examined a pregnant female of this species, and found that she con- 

 tained 3 fully developed young. 



Order— OHIROPTERA. 



25. Pteropus liEUCOCEPHALtJS, Hodgs. — The Flying Fox. 

 ( Blanford No. 134 [partini] ). 



A Flying Fox, apparently belonging to the above form, is common all 

 round Kalka, which is at the foot of the hills. It generally keeps below 

 2,500 feet, but last October, while walking about in the verandah of my 

 bungalow at Simla after dinner, I was much surprised to see one of 

 these bats iiy past overhead at a low height. It was a bright moonlight 

 night, and there was no mistaking it. It appeared to have come from a 

 S.-E. direction. Previous to its appearance here, we had been enjoying 

 a spell of particularly fine weather, and this makes it most difficult to 

 conjecture how this animal strayed so far from its regular haunts, and 

 found its way up here. 



Since writing these notes my friend. Alec. Jones, informs me that he 

 has seen several of these bats near Sairee which is only about nine miles 

 from Simla, 



The curious superstition in Seonee noticed by Sterndale in regard to 

 the beneficial efi'ects to be derived from tying the bones of this bat round 

 the legs as a cure for rheumatism is, I may mention, also prevalent in 

 parts of the United Provinces, but the people there are very careful to 

 use only the bones from the wing. 



In the Bird and Animal Market in Calcutta, I noticed several large 

 cages full of Flying-foxes, and on my inquiries elicited the surprising 

 information that they were bought in large numbers by the Chinamen, who 



