Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 68

SIZE.--Head and body, about 3.7 inches; tail; 0.7.

This vole was procured first by Capt. (now Lieut.-Gen.) R. Strachey at k.u.maon.

NO. 389. ARVICOLA WYNNEI.

_The Murree Vole_.

NATIVE NAME.--_Kannees_.

HABITAT.--Northern Himalayas; Murree.

DESCRIPTION.--Dark brown above, with a slight greyish tinge; head rufescent, and under-parts pale brown; tail dark brown; ears short and rounded, hidden by the fur; fore-feet rather large; thumb small, with a short claw; incisors orange.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 4-3/4 inches; tail 1-1/4 inch.

NO. 390. ARVICOLA ROYLEI.

_The Cashmere Vole_ (_Jerdon's No. 202_).

HABITAT.--Kashmir; Kunawur near Chini at 12,000 feet.

DESCRIPTION.--Yellowish-brown, with a rufous tint on the back, paler below; tail brown above, whitish underneath; feet concolorous with the under-part; ears small, hairy and nearly hidden by the fur; incisors yellow in front.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-3/4 inches; tail, 1-2/12 inch.

Jerdon states he got this vole at Kunawur, near Chini, again on the south side of the Barendo pa.s.s, and also in the Pir Punjal.

NO. 391. ARVICOLA BLANFORDI.

_The Gilgit Vole_.

HABITAT.--Kashmir territory; Gilgit, at an elevation of 9000 to 10,000 feet.

DESCRIPTION.--Light greyish-brown above, slightly tinged with rufous; greyish-white underneath; fur soft, the basal three-fourths being slaty grey, the rest fawn colour, in some instances with black tips, the hairs of the under-parts being white tipped; ears moderately large, well above the fur, hairy; very long whiskers, chiefly white, a few brown; feet whitish, moderate size; tail cylindrical, not tapering, and well clad with hair, which project about a fifth of an inch beyond the end of the vertebrae.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 4-1/2 inches; tail, 2 inches.

This vole was described by Dr. J. Scully in the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History,' for November, 1880, vol. vi., and he named it after Mr. W. T. Blanford. It is said to be common on the mountains around Gilgit.

The next two species come under the section _Paludicola_.

NO. 392. ARVICOLA BLYTHII.

HABITAT.--Western Thibet, Leh and Ladakh.

DESCRIPTION.--General colour above yellowish-brown, below pale isabelline; fur soft; basal two-thirds of the upper hairs, and one-half of the lower hairs, dark slaty; the upper hairs are tipped, some isabelline and some, which are coa.r.s.er and longer, dark brown; ears round, small, equal, with the fur thinly clad with pale brown hairs inside, and more thickly so with longer hairs outside; upper whiskers dark brown, lower whitish; feet pale isabelline; soles naked; tail cylindrical, distinctly ringed, covered with short light brown hair like the under-parts in colour.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 3 to 4 inches; tail, 1 to 1-1/4 inch.

Mr. Blanford has written fully regarding this species, which was the type of Blyth's genus _Phaiomys_, in the 'Scientific Results of the Second Yarkand Mission,' page 39, in which he contends, after going through a ma.s.s of literature on the subject, that there are no grounds for const.i.tuting it the type of a new species; and, if this be conceded, then the specific name given by Blyth, viz. _leucurus_, being forestalled, it is necessary to rename it, which he has done in honour of that well-known naturalist.

NO. 393. ARVICOLA MANDARINUS.

_The Afghan Vole_.

HABITAT.--Afghanistan; Chinese Mongolia.

DESCRIPTION.--Light greyish rufescent brown above, white beneath; ears short, hidden by the fur and hairy; feet whitish; tail rufescent brown.

SIZE.--About 4 inches; tail about 1 inch.

This vole, which is described and figured by Milne-Edwards, is supposed to have been found in Afghanistan from a specimen in Griffith's collection. _A. mandarinus_ comes from Chinese Mongolia, and it is figured in the 'Recherches sur les Mammiferes.'

The next species was made a separate genus, _Neodon_, by Hodgson, which has been adopted by Jerdon; but there are no good grounds for continuing this separation. Mr. Blanford is certainly of this opinion, and in his remarks on it (_see_ his 'Sc. Results Second Yarkand Mission,' pp. 41-42) he writes: "The genus _Neodon_, appears to be founded on characters of only specific importance, and the type _N. Sikimensis_ is, I think, a true _Arvicola_."

NO. 394. ARVICOLA SIKIMENSIS.

_The Sikim Vole_ (_Jerdon's No. 203_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Phalchua_, Nepalese, apparently Hindi; _Cheekyu_, Kiranti; _Singphuci_, Thibetan.

HABITAT.--Nepal; Sikim; Thibet.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur soft and silky. "Deep brownish-black above with a slight rusty shade, minutely and copiously grizzled with hairs of a deep ferruginous tint" (_Horsfield_). Or a deep golden brown from yellow hairs being intermixed; bluish-grey beneath, with a slight fulvous tint; fur leaden grey for the basal three-fourths, the terminal fourth being brownish or tawny with some tipped black; the hairs of the under-parts are dipped with dirty white; ears project beyond the fur moderately, and are hairy; feet very slender; tail thinly clad with short brown hair. The female has six mammae.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 4-3/4 inches; tail, 1-1/2 inch.

Horsfield gives 5 inches for head and body.

According to Jerdon this vole has only been procured in Sikim near Darjeeling, at heights varying from 7000 to 15,000 feet; but I believe the area it inhabits to be much larger. Hodgson found his specimens at Darjeeling, and on one occasion got a nest in a hollow tree in the forest; it was saucer-shaped, of soft gra.s.s without any lining, and contained a male, female, and two young. The latter were "2-1/8 inches long, hairy above, nude below, and blind; the ears also closed." Jerdon writes: "Mr. Atkinson found it under fallen trees and stones on the top of Tonglo, near Darjeeling, 10,000 feet, whence also I had a specimen brought me."

The next species is one described and figured by Professor Milne-Edwards, and from Thibet he has two ill.u.s.trations of it--one of an entire blackish-brown, the other darker above, but with the black belly.

NO. 395. ARVICOLA MELANOGASTER.

HABITAT.--Moupin in Tibet.

DESCRIPTION.--"It is characterised by the colour of the lower parts, which are a blackish-grey. The upper parts are sometimes as black as a mole, sometimes grizzled with brown" ('Mammiferes,' p. 284).

The brown specimen with the dark belly is evidently a rarity.