The ox tribe is represented in India by some of its noblest species. The _gaur_ (_Bos gaurus_), the "bison" of sportsmen, is found in all the hill jungles of the country, in the Western Ghats, in Central India, in Assam, and in Burma. This animal sometimes attains the height of 20 hands (close on 7 ft.), measuring from the hump above the shoulder. Its short curved horns and skull are enormously massive. Its colour is dark chestnut, or coffee-brown. From the difficult nature of its habitat, and from the ferocity with which it charges an enemy, the pursuit of the bison is no less dangerous and no less exciting than that of the tiger or the elephant. Akin to the gaur, though not identical, are the _gayál_ or _mithun_ (_B. frontalis_), confined to the hills of the north-east frontier, where it is domesticated for sacrificial purposes by the aboriginal tribes, and the _tsine_ or _banting_ (_B. sondaicus_), found in Burma. The wild buffalo (_Bos bubalus_) differs from the tame buffalo only in being larger and more fierce. The finest specimens come from Assam and Burma. The horns of the bull are thicker than those of the cow, but the horns of the cow are larger. A head has been known to measure 13 ft. 6 in. in circumference, and 6 ft. 6 in. between the tips. The greatest height is 6 ft. 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. Rat tribe. The rat and mouse family is only too numerous. Conspicuous in it is the loathsome bandicoot (_Nesocia bandicota_), which sometimes measures 2 ft. in length, including its tail, and weighs 3 lb. It burrows under houses, and is very destructive to plants, fruit and even poultry. More interesting is the tree mouse (_Vandeleusia_), about 7 in. long, which makes its nest in palms and bamboos. The field rats (_Mus mettada_) occasionally multiply so exceedingly as to diminish the out-turn of the local harvest, and to require special measures for their destruction. Birds.