MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 741 



moon enabled me to now discern the outlines of the panther sitting over the 

 kill, and I was thankful when he presently started to feed, thereby rendering 

 movement in the " machan '' just possible. At 7-28 p.m. precisely (as re- 

 corded by my brother), I took the best shot offered me. That the panther 

 was badly hit became at once certain. In an hour's time I left the " machan," 

 using every possible precautions, and we returned to camp, This morning 

 the panther was recovered dead fifty yards from the hill in the direction of the 

 caves. Two peculiar events had occurred : (a) The kill had been removed by 

 the male to the old lair notwithstanding the shot fired, the carcase being 

 dragged pant the dead female ; and (6) from the appearance of slight teeth- 

 marks on the abdomen and chest of the female, the male had clearly tried 

 to induce her to rise to the occasion, and this event can moreover only have 

 taken place after sunrise, as the skin where the male had seized the female 

 was still damp from saliva. It looked just as if the male, alarmed at the 

 protracted sleep of its mate, notwithstanding the rise of the sun, had decided 

 to awaken her and failed. I cannot help giving prominence also to the 

 chivalrous conduct of the male in apparently relinquishing his right to kill. 

 A careful examination of the skin revealed recent abrasions of some depth 

 on both buttocks about 6 inches from the root of the tail. Only one deduc- 

 tion of their presence in this locality is, I presume, possible. 



W. A. WALLINGER, 



Divisional Forest Officer.. 



Panch Mahal, 1th January, 1898'. 



No. XI.— REASONING POWER IN BEES. 



A friend communicates the following facts. He was out shooting in the 

 Dehra Dun when his companion disturbed a hive of forest bees which, with 

 their usual fury, attacked and defeated the enemy. As is generally the case, 

 it was also here noticed that the bees confined their revenge to the actual de- 

 stroyers of their peace ; and the incident would have closed without further 

 remark, save for the fact that the same individual was attacked later on in the 

 day on two or three other occasions. In fact, whenever he approached the 

 vicinity of a hive, the bees sallied forth, taking the initiative and confining 

 their attacks to the same luckless person. My friend informed me that it was 

 an accepted fact that an onslaught by wild bees is much aggravated if any of 

 them are killed, and suggested that his companion had in self-defence killed 

 some bees from the first hive whose corpses carried in the howdah or else- 

 where occasioned the wrath of other bees in the vicinity. I can only vouch 

 for the facts without offering any explanations. I was not aware that killing 



