300 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXllI. 



should be added in the synonymy referred to above as Journ. Sc. Beng., 

 p. 220, 1841), but I cannot see that it really differs from leucura. It is 

 certainly not the Short-crested Bengal Porcupine. 



" Porcupines are distributed throughout Kumaon up to an elevation of at 

 least 8,000 feet and I found quills at Khati 7,650 feet. I failed to obtain 

 any specimens from the hills where, from their habit of dwelling among 

 rocks instead of burrowing as in the plains, they are more difficult to locate 

 and cannot be dug out. On several occasions I sat up for porcupines at 

 night, but this is not a veiy profitable game and needs endless patience. 

 They are very common in the Terai where, during the hot weather they lie 

 up for the day in long grass and are put up by elephants when beating for 

 tiger. 



At Jerna I was pushing my way through a tangle of grass which appeared 

 to have been purposely pushed over to form a network of tunnels. In one 

 of these I perceived the motionless form of a porcupine, not more than a 

 yard from the muzzle of my rifle. The expanding bullet entered a little 

 behind the shoulder carrying away much of the animal's inside but he went 

 fully thirty yards at top speed before dropping dead. 



At Pilibhit porcupines are exceedingly common near the town and are 

 doing such immense damage to the potato and other crops that a reward of 

 Rs. 2 per head is given for their capture". — C.A.O. 

 Vernacular name — (Hindi) Sowla. 



(61) Lepits ruficaudatus, Geoff. 



The Common Indian Hare. 



1826. Lepus ruficaudatus, Geoff., Diet. Class, ch. hist. nat. IX, p. 381. 



1840. Lepus macrotus, Hodgson, J. A. S. B., p. 1183. 

 1891. Lepus ruficaudatus, Blanford, Mammalia No. 320. 



1 5 , Bageswar, 3,200'; 1 d , Takula, 5,300'; 1 S , Ramnagar, 1,100; 

 lc?,l$, Dela Ramnagar, 1,500'; \S, Jerna Ramnagar, 

 1,500'; 2S S, Philibhit, Rohilkhand, 800'. 



These specimens must be placed here until we have undoubted ruficau- 

 datus with which to compare them. Hodgson distinctly states that he has 

 compared hares from all parts of the Gangetic Valley and could detect no 

 difference. 



" Not known above the Valley below Lwarkhet. Only four were seen 

 between Bageswar and Almora. I am told hares are common near 

 Almora. Thay are plentiful in the 'Dhaba'. At Lohaghat I saw one at 

 quite 7,500 feet elevation and saw a few 2,000 feet lower down 

 but they were always difficult to get a shot at and I failed to 

 obtain a specimen." — 0. A, C. 



(62) OcHOTONA ROYLEi, Ogilvy. 



The Himalayan Mouse Hare. 



1839. Lagomys roylei, Ogiby, Royle's 111. Botany, etc., Himalaya, p. 

 LXIX, pi. 4. 



1841. Lagomys nepalensis, Hodgson, J. A. S. B., X., p. 854, p. 816. 

 1891. Lagomys roylei, Blanford, Mammalia No. 327. 



2 cJ d , 6 $ 2 , Phurkia, 10,700'; 3 d c? , 8 $ $ , Martoli. 



These Mouse Hares are small tailless animals something like a guinea 

 pig when seen at a distance. The present species is one of the most sober 

 coloured of the genus, being all over reddish brown with a whitish band 

 across the back of the neck. 



" This Mouse Hare is plentiful above Phurkia, only stragglers bein g 



