MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 355 



moved off, when lie stood up and went towards the herd. Three times I 

 distinctly saw him lower his head and make a sound like a low "moo" of a 

 cow. He does not seem to interfere with the other bulls but as soon as a 

 bull approached the cow he was paying attention to, he merely stopped 

 feeding and looked at the intruder which sent the latter away pretty quick. 

 The villagers tell me that when he first appeared among their cattle he was 

 challenged by the pick of the herd and they fought for half an hour when 

 the village bull was severely punished, since then he has not attempted to 

 molest the village bulls, who have generally given him a wide berth. 



He had often followed cows in season but so far there has been no ap- 

 parent result. On enquiry from the villagers as to the reason of this they 

 informed me that owing to his build and height he could not reach down 

 low enough for the ordinary Burman cows. Whether this is so or not I am 

 unable to say. This is the fifth year that he has spent the dry weather 

 with the village cattle. He is held in great reverence by the villagers who 

 state that they have been very lucky with their crops since he appeared. 

 He has never been known to appear before crops have been harvested 

 except once when the harvest was late and then he was seen once but is 

 supposed to have gone back to the forests and returned when the harvest- 

 ing was completed. A buddhist monk who is a bit eccentric endeavoured to 

 put a bell round his neck this year, in order to reduce the chances of a 

 strange sportsman shooting the animal by mistake ; he succeeded in getting 

 within touching distance of the animal and was about to buckle on the bell 

 rope round his neck when the Tsaing moved away. I saw this monk and he 

 assured me that he would yet do this and I can quite believe he will. 



I regret very much that I had not a camera with me as I could have got 

 some very good photos. 



T. W. FORSTBR, 

 Divisional Forest Officer. 

 Mansi Division, Katha., 

 2nd July 1914. 



No. XIII.— NOTES ON BUEMESE TAKIN. 



Very many thanks for your letter about the takin and other skins. 

 I am glad they arrived safely, but I do not feel that I deserve much thanks 

 for I merely packed and brought them down from Htawgaw; they were 

 coUecbed entirely by Mr. F. C. Lowis, C. I. E., P. W. D. 



As to the exact locality, it was at the head waters of the Ngaw Chaung, 

 a tributary of the N'maikka, that they were killed — the takin, that is, the 

 other skins came from various places in the same region ; all on the Burma 

 side of the Irrawaddy-Salween divide, roughly lat. 26° to 26° 30' and long, 

 99° 15'. The range varies in height from 11,000 ft. to 14,000 ft. in this 

 region running like an immense white wall due north and south for 

 unknown miles. 



I went up with my husband this spring as far as Hpimaw Fort just on 

 the Burma side of the frontier (lat. 26°) in the course of his official inspec- 

 tion of Mr. Lowis' road construction, and as Mr. Lowis himself was not 

 coming down till the rains we brought down the skins for him. 



The Yawyins (or Lissus) hunt takin with dogs, shooting them with 

 acconite poisoned arrows when the dogs bring them to bay. Only the old 

 males stand, the females and youngsters thus escaping. 



They are I believe never found below 10,000 ft. but the range is covered 

 with fairly dense vegetation including dwarf bamboo quite up to that 

 altitude. 



CHARLOTTE T. W. CUFFE. 



XJppERPOLD, Maymyo, 27th July 1914. 



