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Show 1877.] THE MAMMALS OF ASIA MINOR. 271 The districts which he had an opportunity of becoming personally acquainted with are as follows :- 1. The neighbourhood of Ismid, at the head of the gulf of the same name. 2. The low country to the south-east of Smyrna nearly to Denizlii, especially the valleys of the Greater and Lesser Meander. 3. The bushy plains at Adalia, and part of the mountainous district of Lycia near that port. 4. The high wooded mountain-ranges of the Bulgar Dagh and Ala Dagh, in the Cilician Taurus. 5. The country which lies between these mountains and the Black Sea, and which, with the exception of a few oak-scrub- and forest-covered ranges near the shores of the latter, consists principally of a barren undulating plateau, having a mean elevation of about 3500 feet. The time spent in most of these localities was short; and the season of the year at which they were visited was either winter or early spring. Both these facts argue strongly against the list being at all an exhaustive one, especially as regards the Bats, Insectivores, and Rodents, many more species of which will doubtless be found to inhabit the country. This paper, therefore, must be taken merely as a contribution to our knowledge of the mammalian fauna of Asia Minor. With regard to the distribution of the species in adjoining countries, we have consulted Geoffroy St.-Hilaire for Greece \ Kotschy for Cyprus2, Pallas 3 and Menetries 4 for the Caucasus, Canon Tristram for Palestines, Mr. Blanford for Persia6, and Dr. Severtzoff for Turkestan7. The species of which specimens were brought home are marked with an asterisk ; those of which the evidence of occurrence seems doubtful are not numbered and are enclosed in brackets. 1. *VESPERTJGO SEROTINUS (Schreber). Common in the central districts. Some specimens were obtained at the village of Issa-fakyr, near Yuzgat. There is a range of low rocky hills here, on which grows a little oak-scrub, and by the roadside are a few orchards, vineyards, and willow trees. This was the only Bat obtained, although many other species will doubtless be found to occur. 2. *CROCIDURA LEUCODON (Herm.). Common in the mountains. It has been found in the Caucasus by Eichwald, and in Turkestan by Dr. Severtzoff. According to 1 Exped. Scient. en Moree, Zoologie, pp. 10-18. 2 Unger und Kotschy, Die Insel Cypem, p. 570. 3 Zoogr. Bosso-Asiat. vol. i. 4 Catalogue Eaisonne\ pp. 16-25. s P. Z. S. 1866, pp. 84-93. 6 Eastern Persia, n. pp. 18-97. 7 Turkastanskie Jevotnie (the Mammal portion translated by F. C. Craemers, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist, xviii. pp. 40, 168, 208, 325, 377, 1876). |