306 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [I, IV

decades ago they were of better breed and quality but now they have degenerated
on account of restricting the grazing area, non-observance of breeding principles
and the increase in the tick infestation. All bulls above five or six years of age
are mulled or castrated leaving scarcely any one for breeding purposes. A. large
number of cattle are imported every year from round about districts.

The cattle shed is generally built of kutcha-mud walls, soft murum floor and
thatchings of rice straw, palm leaves or hay. The manger is made of bamboos or
stumps. The shed structure and the floor present a most shabby appearance and
are unhealthy to the extreme, the exposed sides adding to it. Quantities of green
leaves and dry leaves are usually spread under the feet of cattle as litter in order
that they may be turned into humous condition by the action of animal excreta
and be thus useful as manure. The leaves, green or dry, spread as litter is
left uncollected at the average of six days to more than a week and then are
stored in the manure pit which is ordinarily maintained in close proximity of the
shed. The cattle shed is not only used for housing cattle but also for storing fodder
on its upper portion.

                                    TICK FAUNA OF KANARA.

Through the courtesy of the Zoological Survey of India, the ticks collected by
the writer from cattle in Kanara have been identified as follows:—

    1. Haemaphysalis bispinosa, Neumann.

    2. Haemaphysalis spinigera, Neumann.

    3. Boophilus australis, Fuller.

    4. Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, Supino.

    5. Amblyomma integrum, Karsch.

    6. Hyalomma aegyptium ssp. isaaci, Sharif.

A short description of these forms is given below :—

                                     Haemaphysalis species.

These are reddish brown in colour and when replete the females are dark grey.
They are sluggish in movements, belong to the class of intermittent feeders,
easily dislodged from the skin of the host, of common occurrence in Kanara, attack
several species of domestic animals and sometimes man.

                                       Boophilus australis.

The male is pale or dark brown and the female when replete is slate blue in
colour resembling a castor seed. A continuous feeder and attacks all domestic