338 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIII. 
I only once tried to identify a specimen, which proved to be the common 
Nycticejus kuhli, Flying foxes are not usually numerous, but in October and 
November, 1898, there seemed to an extraordinary quantity about, I presume 
that some fruit must have attracted large numbers from elsewhere, as I have 
never seen so many anywhere as I saw then, The common Squirrel (Sciurus 
palmarum) is a perfect nuisance to anyone having a garden, as it does con- 
siderable damage by eating off young shoots, The article in the Fauna of 
India Series on this species seems to leave it doubtful whetherit destroys 
birds’ eggs or not, Ihave not the least doubt that it doesso whenever it 
finds them unprotected, and on one occasion I purposely left an egg on the 
ground where it could be seen by a squirrel, with the result that it was sucked 
dry before my eyes in a few minutes, Ratsand Mice are of course common 
enough, but I never tried to identify any of them. A Gerbdillus, but whether 
G. indicus or G. hurriane Iam not sure, is extremely common, I often 
wonder how they fare in the present famine year, but they seem as numerous 
as ever, | 
The Porcupine is apparently common, but owing to its nocturnal habits, 
seldom seen. Hares are very numerous in some places; they all seem to 
belong to one species, the common Lepus ruflcaudatus. On one occasion 
two guns shot twenty-five, besides other game, in a day’s sport, but this was 
of course exceptional. Nilgai are extremely common and very tame, but are 
not allowed to be shot. During the past cold weather they have always seemed 
in good condition, although nearly all the cattle in the country have died of 
starvation, I have several times seen them feeding at night in jowari fields, 
notwithstanding the fact that the latter are fenced all round and generally 
watched day and night. This is probabty the reason that they appear so fat 
and well, as there is little or nothing for them to eat in the jungle. 
Black buck are scarce in the immediate vicinity of Deesa, but Chinkara 
are common enough, though somewhat wild. Sambar are numerous in the 
hills round Abu; I am told that many of them have died of famine during 
the past year, and the shooting, which had become more easy than usual, 
owing to the thinness of the jungles, has consequently been stopped. Chital 
I have not personally come across, but I believe that they are not uncommon 
in suitable localities near the foot of the hills, The “ Mighty Boar’’ is not 
nearly so numerous as many of us could wish, and pigsticking, which once 
flourished in this neighbourhood, is at present at a somewhat low ebb. 
As regards Birds, Butler’s list in “Stray Feathers” of the avsfauna of this 
neighbourhood is pretty exhaustive, and I made no attempt to add to it. 
Birds, in fact, appealed to me more asa sportsman than as a naturalist. 
Though I had heard of Bustard on several previous occasions, I did not 
come across them until the past cold weather, when I saw two and shot one. 
Houbara were also numerous this season, though they had hitherto been very 
scarce, Icame across a shikari who was a perfect artist in driving both 
