Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/767

743 ANIMALS.] INDIA 743 between the tips. The greatest height is G feet. The colour is a slaty black ; the hide is immensely thick, with scanty hairs. Alone perhaps of all wild animals in India, the buffalo will charge unprovoked. Even tame buffaloes seem to have an inveterate dislike to Europeans. The rat and mouse family is only too numerous. Con- i,?. spicuous in it is the loathsome bandicoot (Mus bandicota), which sometimes measures 2 feet in length, including its tail, and weighs 3 Ib. It burrows under houses, and is very destructive to plants, fruit, and even poultry. More , interesting is the tree rat (M. arboreiis), a native of Bengal, about 7 inches long, which makes its nest in cocoa-nut palms and bamboos. The voles or field mice (genus Arvicola) occasionally multiply so exceedingly as to diminish the out-turn of the local harvest, and to require special measures to be organized for their suppression. Is. Birds. The ornithology of India, though it is not con sidered so rich in specimens of gorgeous and variegated plumage as that of other tropical regions, contains many splendid and curious varieties. Some are clothed in nature s gay attire, others distinguished by strength, size, and fierceness. The parrot tribe is the most remarkable for beauty. So various are the species that we cannot even enumerate them, and must refer for details to the scientific works on the subject. 1 Among birds of prey, four vultures are found, including the common scavengers (Gyps indicus and G. btngalensis). The eagles comprise many species, but none to surpass the golden eagle of Europe. Of falcons, there are the peregrine (F. pere- grinus), the shain (F. peregrinator), and the lagar (F. jugger), which are all trained by the natives for hawking ; of hawks, the shikara (Astur badius], the sparrow hawk (Accipiter nisnn), and the crested goshawk (Astur trivir- gatus). Kingfishers of various kinds, and herons are sought for their plumage. No bird is more popular with natives than the maina (Acridotkeres tristis), a member of the starling family, which lives contentedly in a cage, and can be taught to pronounce the name of Krishna. Water-fowl are especially numerous. Of game- birds, the floriken (Sypheotides auritus) is valued as much for its rarity as for the delicacy of its flesh. Snipe (Gal- linago scolopacina) abound at certain seasons, in such numbers that one gun has been known to make a bag of eighty brace in a day. Pigeons, partridges, quail, plover, duck, teal, sheldrake, widgeon all of many varieties complete the list of small game. The red jungle fowl (Gallus ferntginesis), supposed to be the ancestor of our own poultry, is not good eating ; and the same may be said of the peacock (Pano cristatus), except when young. The pheasant does not occur in India Proper, though a white variety is found in lUirmah. tiles. Reptiles. The serpent tribe in India is numerous ; they swarm in all the gardens, and intrude into the dwellings of the inhabitants, especially in the rainy season. Most are comparatively harmless, but the bite of others is speedily fatal. 2 The cobra di capello (Naga tripudians) the name given to it by the Portuguese, from the appear ance of a hood which it produces by the expanded skin about the neck is the most dreaded. It seldom exceeds 3 or 4 feet in length, and is about an inch and a quarter thick, with a small head, covered on the forepart with large smooth scales ; it is of a pale brown colour above, und the belly is of a bluish-white tinged with pale brown or yellow. The Russelian snake (Daboia russellii), about 4 feet in length, is of a pale yellowish-brown, beautifully variegated with large oval spots of deep brown, with a white edging. Its bite is extremely fatal. Itinerant showmen carry about these serpents, and cause them to 1 See especially Jerdon and Gould. 3 See Sir J. Fayrcr s Thanutophidia assume a dancing motion for the amusement of the spec tators. They also give out that they render snakes harm less by the use of charms or music, in reality it is by extracting the venomous fangs. But, judging from the frequent accidents which occur, they sometimes dispense with this precaution. All the salt-water snakes in India are poisonous, while the freshwater forms are wholly innocuous. Sir J. Fayrer has demonstrated that there is no cure for the bite of the cobra, if the snake is full- grown, and if its poison fang is full and is not interfered with by clothing. The most hopeful remedy in all cases of snake bite is the injection of ammonia. The loss of life from this cause in India is painful to contemplate, nor does any means of diminishing the evil seem feasible. It is impossible to exterminate poisonous snakes altogether, even in England. In India the impossibility is yet more evident, from the greater number of the snakes, the character of the country, and the scruples of the people. Something, however, is being effected by the offer of rewards. In 1877 a total of 16,777 persons are reported to have been killed by snakes, as compared with only 819 by tigers. In the same year, rewards to the amount of 811 were given for the destruction of 127,295 snakes. The other reptiles include two varieties of crocodile (C. porosus and C. biporcatus) and the gavial (Gavialis gangeticus}. These are more ugly in appearance than de structive to human life. Scorpions also abound. Fishes. All the waters of India the sea, the rivers, Fishes, and the tanks swarm with a great variety of fishes, which are caught in every conceivable way, and furnish a considerable proportion of the food of the poorer classes. They are eaten fresh, or as nearly fresh as may.be, for the art of curing them is not generally practised, owing to the exigencies of the salt monopoly. In Burmah the favourite relish of nga-pi is prepared from fish ; and at Goalanda, at the junction of the Brahmaputra with the Ganges, an important station has recently been established for salting fish in bond. The indiscriminate slaughter of fry, and the obstacles opposed by irrigation dams to breeding fish, are said to be causing a sensible diminution in the supply in certain rivers. Measures of conservancy have been suggested, but their execution would be almost impractic able. Among Indian fishes, the Cyprinidae or carp family and the Siluridw or cat-fishes are best represented. From the angler s point of view, by far the finest fish is the malisir, found in all hill streams, whether in Assam, the Punjab, or the South. One has been caught weighing 60 lt&amp;gt;, which gave play for more than seven hours. Though called the salmon of India, the mahsir is really a species of barbel. The most recent authority on Indian fishes and their economic aspects is Dr Francis Day. In this connexion may be mentioned the susu or Gangctic dolphin (Platanista gangetica}, which is often erroneously called a porpoise. Both the structure and habits of this animal are very singular. It measures from 6 to 12 feet in length, and in colour is sooty-black. Its head is globular, with a long, narrow, spoon-shaped snout. Its eyes are rudimentary, like those of the mole ; and its ear-orifices are no bigger than pin-holes. Its dentition, also, is altogether abnormal. It frequents the Ganges and Indus from their mouths right up to their tributaries within the hills. A specimen has been taken at least 1000 miles above Calcutta. Ordinarily its movements are slow, for it wallows in the muddy bed of the river, and but rarely comes to the surface to blow. The susu belongs to the order Cdacea and inquiries have recently been directed to the point whether its blubber might not be utilized in commerce. Insects. The insect tribes in India may be truly said to Insects. be innumerable ; nor has anything like a complete classi fication been given of them in the most scientific treatises,