OCR Text |
Show 2/2 MESSRS. DANFORD AND ALSTON ON [Mar. 20, Canon Tristram, the common Shrew of North Palestine is C. aranea auct.l ; and closely allied (if distinct) species have been described from Persia and Georgia. 3. ERINACEUS EUROPCEUS, Linn. ? A Hedgehog which is not uncommon in various parts of the country probably belongs to this species, which is known to inhabit the Lebanon and the Caucasus ; but specimens obtained in the Smyrna district on Danford's visit to the country were not preserved. 4. FELIS UNCIA, Schreb. Kaplan. Not common, but generally distributed in the mountains near Smyrna and on those bordering the southern coasts. The Ounce of Asia Minor was specifically separated by Valenciennes under the name of Felis tulliana2, but our friend Mr. D. G. Elliot, who has examined the typical specimens, can find no trustworthy distinctive characters. This animal, though generally very shy, sometimes shows great daring. On one occasion, after firing several shots at a small herd of Wild Goats, Danford was following up a wounded male, which shortly afterwards fell over a cliff. To reach the spot where he lay, a circuit had to be made, which took not more than ten minutes ; but on coming to the place nothing remained but a pool of blood and a few handfuls of hairs; the tracks of two Ounces were easily discernible in the patches of snow; nor did he ever see any thing more either of the Goat or the thieves. The natives both trap and shoot Ounces, and great value is set upon their skins. 5. *FELIS CATUS, Linn. Yaban kecli (Wild Cat). A male and female of this species were obtained among the rocks near Zebil, at an elevation of 3000-4000 feet. The natives say they are not uncommon. Their principal food appears to be a species of Mouse (Mus mystacinus, see p. 279), of which no less than fourteen were found in the stomach of one of the Cats trapped. In these skins the ground-colour is of a clearer grey, and the dark markings of the flanks are much more broken up into distinct spots, than in European examples of the species. [*FELIS LYNX, Linn. A fine skin obtained in Constantinople, and stated to be from Asia Minor, is nearly uniform light rufous above, with obscure spots on the flanks, and markings on the limbs hardly darker than the colour of the back ; the terminal third of the tail is black. It agrees well with Blyth's F. isabellina3 from Tibet; but we do not think that the form is more than a variety of F. lynx, which has 1 Sorex russulus (Zimm.), not S. araneus, Linn. 8 Compt. Bend. Ac. Paris, xiii. p. 1035. Figured by Tchihatcheff, As. Min., Zool. pl. i. 3 Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xvi. pt. ii. p. 1178. |