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Show 308 MR. J. L. BOXIIOTE OX MAMMALS FROM TIBET. [Nov. 14, as the skull-characters clearly prove it to belong to the subgenus Phaiomys, and its colour is quite unlike any of the other species of that group. L epus oiostolus Hodgs. Lepus oiostolas Hodgson, J. A. 8. B. ix. p. 1186 (1840); Blan-ford, Faun. Br. Ind., Mamm. p. 452 (1891). a. Khamba Jong, Oct. 1903. Apparently the common Hare of Tibet, two more skins having been brought home by Col. Waddell. Capt. Walton states that this hare, which, as a rule, avoids cultivated land and frequents bare and rocky hillsides, was very common at Khamba Jong and also at Tuna at the head of the Chumbi Valley. It was, however, much scarcer, although still occurring, between Gyangtse and Lhasa. OCHOTOXA CURZOXLE (Hod gS.). Lagomys curzonice Hodgs. (nec Stoliczka) J. A. S. B. xxvi. p. 207 (1858); Blanford, Faun. Br. Ind., Mamm. p. 457 (1891); Bonhote, P. Z.S. 1904, vol. ii. jj. 214. a. $ . Yamdok Lake, 14,800', 29th Sept., 1904. b, c. No particulars. d. Ad. in spirit. Tuna. The specimen from the Yamdok Lake had evidently just assumed its new winter pelage, the other two skins being in old and worn fur. Tuna, where the spirit-specimen was procured, is only a few miles north of the Chumbi Valley, the type locality of the species. Capt. Walton writes of this species :- " They are exceedingly common at Khamba Jong, Tuna, and in all the open bare country from Tuna to Gyangtse, as well as between Gyangtse and Lhasa. They, however, become less common as one approaches Lhasa, probably because the country is more cultivated. They avoid cultivated fields for the most part, and were always commonest in bare sandy country. They do not hibernate at all, and on any sunny day in the middle of winter they might be seen sunning themselves at the entrance to their burrows. I dug up a few burrows during the winter. The tunnel runs more or less vertically downwards for 1 or 2 feet and then somewhat horizontally for 4 to 6 feet. The passage is dilated at irregular intervals in some two or three places. At these spots and at the end of the burrow, which is also dilated, there is a certain amount of coarse grass collected to form a kind of nest. The ground in many places is honeycombed with these burrows, which sometimes communicate with one another close to the mouth, but as a rule they are quite distinct. I never heard the animal utter a cry of any sort." |