178 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
Bombay Natural History Museum. ‘The museum is very 
crowded, and very little attention has been given to 
entomological collections, There was a very fine 
Hornbill (Dichoceros bicornis) in a cage, which has 
been in captivity for over 14 years. He looked out of 
the corner of his eye when he was introduced to me, just 
as if he understood everything that was said. 
In this tropical country, where life is prolific and the re- 
ligion of the Hindoo does not allow him to take the life of 
even the smallest creature, you will find birds plentiful, not 
-only in the country districts, but in the streets of the towns. 
Most of the street trees are members of the great fig family, 
while in the country, all through the great central plains of 
Northern India, the Mango grows into a regular forest tree, 
and is the mainstay of the country. Living in the hollow 
limbs of the fig-trees are many little squirrels, that appar- 
ently range all over India. These are known as the Indian 
Palm Squirrel (Sczurus palmarum). ‘They are very pretty 
little creatures, of a grey fawn tiftt, with three distinct 
stripes, and flattened but bushy tails, and have a habit of 
running down the tree trunks, stopping head downwards 
and chattering away at a great rate, their tails moving all 
the time. They often run across the street in front of the 
horses, and are very tame, but are not looked upon with 
favour by the English residents, as they are said to contract 
bubonic plague, and often die off in great numbers; but the 
natives often let them nest in the roofs of their huts, and 
they enter. rooms without fear. I wanted to investigate a 
very sick one on the wall of the Residency at Lucknow, but 
my guide warned me not to touch it, as it probably had the 
plague. 
In crossing from Bombay to Calcutta, I broke my journey 
at Allerbhad and Campore; stopped at Pusa, in Upper 
Bengal, and also went up the foot hills of the Himalayas to 
Missorie. I only saw a few wild deer on the roadside, but 
it was curious to see numbers of large monkeys sitting on 
the roadside around the villages like a lot of children. 
These monkeys come and help themselves to any food about 
the stalls, and though the Hindoos drive them away they 
must not hurt them. We often passed a flock of semi-wild 
peacocks in the fields, and in the swamps there were plenty 
of wild fowl. 
The commonest animals are the jackals, and about Pusa 
I saw them come out of the jungle and trot across the road, 
taking no notice of our cart. Every night we had a regular 
