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Show 84 REV.H. B.TRISTRAM ON THE MAMMALS OF PALESTINE. [Feb. 13, 2. Report on the Mammals of Palestine. By the Rev. H . B. T R I S T R A M , M.A., F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. The subjoined catalogue contains eighty species, all of which, excepting when the contrary is stated, were collected by us in our expedition in 1864. The mammalian fauna contains a much larger proportion of African species than any other branch of the fauna of the country. Twenty-three species may be considered strictly African or Arabian. All the others belong to the types of the Mediterranean basin, though several species are peculiar. It is remarkable that we have scarcely any trace of Indian forms. I believe that the list, considerable as it is, will be largely extended by further research in the southern and desert regions, especially as regards the Cheiroptera and Rodentia; for many species eluded our efforts to capture them, and, as all collectors know, no class of animated life so easily escapes observation. Of the Phocidae and Cetacea of the coasts I am unable to give any information. 1. HYRAX SYRIACUS, Schreb. " Shaphan," Hebr. " Tiibsoon," Arab. The Coney is not uncommon by the shores of the Dead Sea, in rocky gorges, rare in the rest of the country, but is occasionally found in the mountainous ridge north of the plain of Acre. Not known in Hermon, or the Lebanon ; extremely abundant in the Sinaitic peninsula. Has three or four young at a birth. 2. Sus SCROFA, L. Abundant in the wooded hills and maritime plains alike. Swarms in all the thickets by the Jordan and Dead Sea, and in the forest country east of Jordan. Extends even to the bare wilderness of Judaea, and almost into the desert, where there is no cover, and where its only food is the roots of the desert bulbs. 3, Bos TAURUS, L. Neat cattle are not extensively reared in the central districts. In the south, and on the east side of Jordan, they are the principal stock. There are two very marked varieties :-(1) A small rough one, not unlike the Scotch horned cattle in appearance, but rather larger, which is the breed of the southern wilderness. There is also a larger race in the forests of Gilead. The colour of this breed is generally black or red, rarely with any white. (2) A very large Ox, apparently allied to the Tuscan breed, generally light-coloured, and called in the country the Armenian cattle. I have only observed it in the northern plains. 4. Bos BUBALUS, L. The Buffalo takes the place of the common Ox in the Ghor or Jordan valley, especially in the northern districts and marshes of |
