Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/518

490 serious wounds, the tips of the horns being very sharp and, in Bulls, curved backwards. There is also this tendency of the horns to curve backwards in old Cows. The colouring of an adult Bull and adult Cow are so unlike that at first one would think they were different species. A separate description of each may, therefore, be useful. These animals are found in herds varying from ten to thirty in number; and in the large herds there are generally found two or three small Bulls whose heads are not worth obtaining. The largest horns, as is the case in other bovine animals, are found in solitary Bulls who keep to themselves, and only occasionally mix with the Cows during the breeding season. When the green grass sprouts up, after the yearly fires, the old Bulls wander over large areas, and seldom remain in the same locality for two successive days; while, like the Bison, they are almost always on the move, feeding as they go along, and only lying down during the day when the sun is hottest. The Tsine can go for days without water, and the Burmese say that they only drink once in seven days. I have come across herds in absolutely dry districts, miles away from water. Another peculiarity of the Tsine is that it does not seem to mind the bites of the Gad or Horsefly, with which the teak forests abound at the beginning of the monsoon. The wild Buffalo, which has apparently a much tougher skin, is almost driven mad by these pests, and is compelled to take to the rivers and swamps to avoid them; whereas the Tsine will never resort to the water, but prefers to lie down in the forest surrounded by these buzzing tormentors, when no doubt its long and bushy tail assists in driving off the blood-suckers. During the rains these animals betake themselves to the low hills, where they feed on the bamboo, with which the hills are covered; and after the yearly fires they all descend into the valley, and wander through the vast teak forests. Unlike the Bison, they never come down to the rice fields of the villagers, and this is probably owing to their extreme shyness. The Cow calves during the rains, and the young is of a light red colour, only one being produced at a birth. At the beginning of the rains Tsine are always to be found at the foot of the low hills, where they browse on the tender new bamboo shoots. These animals also travel great distances to visit the so-called "salt licks," one or two of which