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Show 202 DR. J. SCULLY ON THE MAMMALS OF GILGIT. [Jan. 18. hiding during the day in rocky ground or in the dry beds of smal mountain-streams. In winter the Wolves frequently prowl about houses during the night, to the great annoyance of the dogs; and they often kill goats and sheep. The young are born early in May. M y specimens of this animal from Gilgit have the upper carnas-sial tooth slightly longer than the two upper molars, and are therefore probably distinct from C. pallipes and C. laniger, in which the fourth. upper premolar is shorter than the two upper molars together (Blanford, P. A. S. B. 1877, p. 116). In size and coloration, moreover, the Gilgit Wolf agrees with the European species. 13. CYON PRIM^EVUS, Modgs. Cuonprima?vus, Hodgson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1833, p. Ill ; Asiatic Researches, xviii. p. 221. This species appears to be widely distributed in the Astor and Gilgit districts, and is said to be found in Yassin and Chitral; its habits are very well known. A specimen from Gilgit agrees in all particulars with examples from Nepal and other parts of the Himalayas. In all the skulls of this species which I have examined the upper sectorial tooth is longer than the two upper molars taken together ; the reverse is the case in C. alpinus of Pallas, from the Altai. 14. VULPES MONTANA, Pearson. Vulpes montana, Pearson, J. A. S. B. 1836, p. 313; Blanford, J. A. S. B. 1877, ii. p. 324, and 1879, p. 95. Foxes are very common in the Astor and Gilgit districts, in Hunza, Nagar, Yassin, and Chitral. About Gilgit the Hill-Fox is found on stony ground, in the vicinity of cultivation, at elevations of from 5000 feet to 10,000 feet. The young are born in May. In a large series of these Foxes which I have, there "is great variation in colour, some being pale yellowish fulvous above and white below {V. flavescens, Gray), while others are very dark and rufous above, with the underparts black; but all intermediate forms occur. There are also some minor differences in the skulls and in the size of the teeth ; but I cannot find that these are correlated with the differences in colour of the pelage. According to Mr. Blanford's views there are in the Gilgit district, besides V. montana, three other species or races, viz. V. melanotus (?), V. griffithi, and V. flavescens; but I doubt if these forms are more than varieties. A fox shot by Major Biddulph in Chitral is not distinguishable from some examples of V. montana from Simla. 15. MARTES FOINA (Erxl.). Mustelafoina, Erxleben, Syst. Reg. An. p. 458 (1777). The Beech-Marten is common in the Gilgit district, and in Hunza, Nagar, and Yassin, where great numbers are killed by the natives for the sake of the fur. This Marten usually keeps high up |