1851.] species of Birds inhabiting Ceylon: 173 



Pachydermata. The Pachyderms of Ceylon are the Elephant, 

 the wild Hog, and the Duyong ; which last, according to Mr. Layard, 

 is common in the Bay of Calpentya, on the western coast, and bears 

 the name of Talla Maha among the natives, who highly esteem its 

 flesh. A skull of a Cinghalese wild Boar, sent by Mr. Layard, differs 

 much in contour from skulls of the wild Boar of India ; indeed so 

 much, that we feel justified in denominating it as a peculiar species — 



Sus zeylonensis, nobis, n. s. Skull longer than that of the Indian 

 Boar, nearly straight in profile, very much contracted at the vertex.* 

 Palate contracting posteriorly to less than 1 in., from the magnitude 

 of the last molar, which is considerably larger in both jaw3 than in 



Length of head and body 3 in., and of tail 3§ in. M. dubius, M. homourus, 

 and M. urbanus, Hodgson, require to be compared with it. 



Here, too, may be indicated a remarkable species from Mergui (of which we 

 possess an imperfect specimen) by the name M. Berdmorei. Length about a 

 foot, of which the tail is not quite half. Ears posteriorly | in. Hind-foot If in. 

 Fur shortish, even, coarse and hispid, but not spinous, of one quality, with no long 

 hairs intermixed : its colour grizzled grey above, unmixed with rufous ; below and 

 on the feet pure white. Rodential tusks white. Tail rather more copiously clad 

 than usual with short hairs. 



* There are two races, if not even species, of Indian Wild Boars, distinguished 

 respectively by a broad and by a uarrow vertex in specimens of the same age. In 

 the former, the vertex, where narrowest, measures 2\ in. wide ; in the other barely 

 If in. In other respects they are similar, except that the molars are larger in the 

 race with narrow vertex. This, so far as we have seen, is the Bengal animal; 

 whereas that with broad vertex inhabits Kutak, and perhaps the Indian peninsula 

 generally. A skull from Arakan exhibits an intermediate character, with vertex 

 1$ in. wide, and the molars large. The Bengal Boar has long borne a reputation 

 for higher courage than that of the Upper Provinces at least, which may depend 

 upon its specifical distinctness. While so many affined species of Sus have been 

 distinguished by the Dutch zoologists in the archipelago, it is not unlikely that a 

 plurality of continental species may have remained undetected. 



In Dr. Solouaon Mullet's figures of the skull of Sus verrucosus, the young 

 but full grown animal is represented to have a broad vertical plane, which is exces- 

 sively contracted in an old animal : but the oldest Indian skull of several now 

 before us is one with the broad vertical plane. 



Since writing the above, we find that Mr. Gray distinguishes a Boar skull from 

 the Nilgiris by the name Sus affinis ; while specimens from the Nepal u hills" 

 and Tarai, and one from Malabar, he designates Sus indicus. List of the Osteo- 

 logical specimens in the collection of the British Museum, 



