Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 1 (1897).djvu/519

Rh are generally found in places where the species is obtained, though many of these "salt licks" are nothing more than a mixture of mud and water which has a slightly saline taste. These "salt licks" are also visited by hundreds of Parrots, Green and Imperial Pigeons; and also by Elephants, Bisons, Pigs, and Sambar. The Tsine is often shot at these places by the hunter, who squats up in a tree close by. Bison and Tsine are never met together in a herd, although I have found both beasts within the radius of a mile of each other. The spoor of the Tsine is heart-shaped, and very pointed anteriorly, quite unlike the track of a Bison: this is owing to the hoofs of the former being much more pointed and Deer-like. These animals, either when feeding or lying down, always have a sentry, generally a Cow. When lying down they generally rest in a circle; and when the sentry suspects danger she either stamps her foot or gets up; and with a "psheu" and a snort the whole herd stampede with their tails in the air. Thus alarmed they go miles before stopping, and it is useless pursuing them under such circumstances. They are always in good condition, although at times subject to cattle disease. All specimens which I have shot had splendid coats, smooth and shining, like that of a well-groomed horse. The skin is much prized by the Burmans for making shoes. The under parts of the body in one Cow were covered with small warts, varying in size from that of a pea to a hazel-nut. The neck of the Bull is generally covered with scars, the result of wounds received in combat. The genital organs, too, in the Bull, are covered with huge ticks. In the paunch of this animal, mixed up with the grass, I have seen hundreds of a peculiar looking parasite, which in some cases are in such numbers that the stomach seems to be lined with them. These parasites are bladder-shaped, one-fourth of an inch long, and are of two kinds—one red, and the other white; they seem to adhere to the villi of the stomach, and feed on the blood or its serum; each has a distinct sucker like a leech, but they die very soon after exposure to the air. I have seen the same parasite in the stomachs of other animals, Sambar, &c.; but notably in the Tsine and Eld's Deer, Cervus eldi. These parasites do not seem to affect the animal's health, as they were always well conditioned, sleek, and fat. The human stomach is also said