310 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XI. 



seated on the ground picking up and eating fallen fruit. In addition, in its 

 wild state, D. bicomis is said to feed on insects or lizards. I cannot say I 

 have ever noticed this, and I am certain that it is more exclusively frugi- 

 vorous than its ally Authroceros albirostris, the Indo-Burmese pied hornbill as 

 Blanford calls it. This bird I have frequently seen picking up lizards, and 

 even dabbling in a stream for small fish. 



C. T. BINGHAM, Lieut.-Colonel. 



Rangoon, August, 1897. 



No. IV.— THE KOL-BHALU. 



Last Sunday evening at about 7-40 as I was returning from a walk with 

 two brother-officers, we heard a Jackal calling out about a quarter of a mile 

 away on the other side of a small river. This Jack was not making use 

 of the ordinary call, so well-known to all, but a most unearthly cry, which, 

 no doubt, is familiar to many members of the Society, and which, I believe, 

 has given rise to the Jackal using it being dubbed a " Balu " by natives. I 

 have often heard this cry, but have never been able to identify the 

 particular animal from which it emanated, though I believe it to be a Jackal. 

 It being sufficiently light to see, we three went in the direction of the sound. 



One of my companions, A , had a small rifle with him, which he put in my 



hands for a shot should we see the animal. Arriving at the near bank of the 

 river, we saw, on the opposite side, close down to the water's edge, a Jackal ; 

 the light was bad, but so far as I could tell, he was a good specimen ; he did 

 not notice us, but repeated his weird cry, once or twice, with his head down ; 

 so as there was no doubt from whence the sound came, I fired at him, and 

 though I missed, must have gone close, for he bolted up the steep bank. "We 

 then heard a lot of puffing and blowing beneath us, and on looking down we 

 saw an animal swimming towards the place where the Jackal had just been 

 standing. We at first thought it was another Jack. On closer inspection it 



turned out to be a bull-dog belonging to B of my regiment. Almost 



simultaneously we saw another of B 's dogs, a large greyhound, in the water 



near the opposite bank, and not ten yards off where the Jack had been stand- 

 ing when fired at. Approximately, within a minute of my firing, the Jackal 

 reappeared and ran down the bank towards the water, and at the same time 



a second Jack put in an appearance but kept in the offing. A bad a shot 



at the first Jack, but, as it was dark, did no damage, though it effectually drove 

 the Jack away. The two dogs then went up the river for about twenty yards 

 along the further bank. Presently we heard a row and saw a scuffle going on, 

 which turned out to be a third Jack. There was a bit of a scrimmage ; the 

 Jackal getting away eventually and running up the bank, closely followed by 

 the bull-dog. They sat contemplating each other, at about eight yards 



