304 BOTIKJj. 



According to Hodgson it also occurs in the Himalayan Terai, probably 

 however only towards the eastern portion, and here it is rare, for I have 

 spoken to many sportsmen who have hunted in various parts of the Terai, 

 from Sikim to Rohilcmid, and none have ever come across the Gaur at the 

 foot of the Himalayas. 



It also occurs in the countries to the east of the Bay of Bengal, from 

 Burmah to the Malayan peninsula. Horsfield, in his Catalogue, considered 

 that a distinct race which he named Bibos asseel, from the native name 

 Asseel gayal, i. e., the genuine gayal, in contradistinction to the ordinary 

 Gai/al, Gavaus frontalis. Blyth, however, states that he knows the indi- 

 vidual specimen on which this supposed race was founded, and that it is 

 only a female Gaur. 



It was also formerly an inhabitant of Ceylon, but has been extinct there 

 for above 50 years. 



Hodgson states in the Sub-Himalayan forests it does not ascend the 

 hills, and that it is not a mountain race at all. Sportsmen in Southern 

 India could tell Mr. Hodgson a different account of its habits there, for 

 it undoubtedly prefers hilly and even mountainous coimtries, and I have 

 seen it killed at above 6,000 feet of elevation. 



The Gaur associates in herds of various numbers up to thirty and forty 

 or more, though perhaps generally met in smaller numbers, and a bull is 

 often seen alone. The herd generally consist of from ten to fifteen cows 

 and a bull. They feed mostly at night, or early in the morning, chiefly 

 on grass, but also browzing on the tender shoots of the bamboo, and durmg 

 the heat of the day retire to some cool and shady spot, the thick bed of a 

 dry nullah, a dense clump of bamboos, or long grass. Hodgson states 

 that they never venture into the open Terai to depredate on the crops as 

 the wild buffaloes constantly do. In southern India, however, they do 

 occasionally at least, according to Mr. Fisher, as quoted by Mr. W. Elliot. 

 " The chief food of the bison seems to be various grasses, the castor oil 

 plant, and a species of convolvulus, but they will eat with avidity any species 

 of grain commonly cultivated in the hills or plains, as the ryots find to 

 their cost. The bison is particularly fond of the Avary catty {Dolichos 

 lablab) when in blossom ; that they will invade and destroy fields of it in 

 open daylight in despite of any resistance the villagers can offer. In 

 other respects it is a very inoffensive animal, rarely attacking any one 

 it encounters, except in the case of a single bull driven from the herd. 

 Such a one lias occasionally been known to take up his location in some 



