264 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



The Burmese Gaur, or Pyoung. — It has for many years been a 

 question among naturalists whether the Gaur inhabiting the countries 

 to the eastward of the Bay of Bengal could be subspecifically dis- 

 tinguished from the typical Bos (Bibos) gaums of India. A head of a 

 bull obtained from Myitekyina, in Upper Burma, by Mr. Joseph 

 Reade, and mounted by Rowland Ward, of Piccadilly, which I have 

 recently had the opportunity of inspecting, leaves little doubt that this 

 question should be answered in the affirmative, so far as regards the 

 Pyoung, or Burmese representative of the species. And if this be so, 

 there can be little or no doubt that the Saladang (Slading), a Malacca 

 form of the species, likewise belongs to a race apart from the typical 

 Indian animal. It is true that the young bull from Penang, living in 

 the menagerie iu the Regent's Park in 1890, and figured by Mr. Blan- 

 ford in the Zoological Society's 'Proceedings' for that year, did not 

 show any well-marked features by which it could be satisfactorily dis- 

 tinguished from the Indian form ; but this may have been due to imma- 

 turity, and it has been stated that the adult Saladang is characterized by 

 the rufous (instead of pure white) colour of its " stockings." Whether 

 the Malay animal differs from the Burmese form of the species must, 

 however, await further investigation. 



In my work entitled ' Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats' reference is 

 made to certain observations which tend to show that the skulls of 

 Gaur from the countries on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal 

 differ somewhat from those of the typical Indian animal. The main 

 difference appears to consist in the greater breadth across the forehead 

 of the eastern skulls, some of which are, however, said to exhibit a 

 certain approximation towards the Gayal type. 



In the same work reference is made to certain observations of 

 Colonel Pollok, to the effect that the Burmese Gaur is taller than the 

 Indian animal, with the ridge on the shoulder extending further along 

 the back, the concavity of the forehead more pronounced, and the 



