MAMMALOGY OF THE HIMALAYAS. Ixvil 
RODENTIA. 
The remark which was formerly made to account for our limited knowledge of the Cheiroptera and Insec- 
tivora of these mountains, may be applied with equal force to the present family ; viv. that the compara- 
tively diminutive size and timid habits of the animals which compose it screen them from general obser- 
vation. Still we have much more detailed accounts of the Himalayan Rodentia than of either of the two 
former families, though even these are far from being so complete as could be wished. 
The striped Squirrel of the Plains (S$. palmarum) is, according to Mr. Hodgson,* abundant in the 
lower hills of Nepal; and I have seen a second species (Sciurus Lokriah, Hodg.) of the same size, 
but of a uniform earthy brown colour, tipped with golden yellow, which is said to be an inhabitant of the 
central regions. Mr. Hodgson mentions a third (S'. Lokroides) similar to the latter, and perhaps not spe- 
cifically distinct. Two beautiful species of flying Squirrelt (Pteromys magnificus and P. alboniger, 
Hodg.) are found both in the northern and central regions, but do not extend to the very elevated parts 
of the mountains.§ Here, however, are found a small brown kind of Marmot, called Bhia\\ by the 
natives, hitherto undescribed ; and an equally undescribed species of Rat, with a tail not more than half 
an inch in length, most probably a Lemming (Georychus, Illiger), if it be not rather a Lagomys, of 
which rare and essentially arctic genus Dr. Royle has brought a beautiful specimen from the Choor 
Mountain. Capt. Herbert, in his tour up the Valley of the Sutlej,|| met with this tailless rat at an 
elevation of 12,000 feet, and observes that the ground was every where cut up into groves by it in search 
of food. He conjectures the animal to be a species of Spalax, but Dr. Royle is rather disposed to think 
that it was no other than the Lagomys, as he observed the ground similarly cut up in the vicinity of the 
spot where he obtained his specimen. The circumstance of the tail, however, which, short as it is, is 
expressly mentioned by both Capt. Herbert and Mr. Traill, appears to me to preclude Dr. Royle’s 
supposition, since the Lagomys of the Himalayas, like the rest of its congeners, is absolutely without 
any rudiment of this organ. It is not improbable, indeed, that species of all the three genera here 
mentioned may be found among the more elevated ridges of the Himalayas, of which the climate is 
perfectly adapted to their habits: and it is to be hoped that future observers will direct their attention 
‘ to the elucidation of this, as well as the numerous other unsettled points of Himalayan Mammalogy, to 
which I have already been so frequently obliged to refer. 
Dr. Falconer, in the report of his recent journey to Cashmere and Little Thibet, mentions a Rodent 
under the name of the Thibet Marmot, which he says was first found in a bleak and rocky tract of 
country, immediately after passing to the northern slope of the great Himalayan range; but we have no 
farther knowledge of its characters: however, this is precisely the locality in which Mammals of this 2 
description might naturally be expected to abound. Rats and Mice, differing little, if at all, from our 
common European species, are abundant in all the houses. Mr. _ Hodgson, | indeed, expressly states that 
both our black and brown, or Norway rats, (Mus Rattus and M. decumanus), are the common “species 
of Nepal, and Mr. Traill mentions them incidentally ; as inhabitants of the province of Kemaon. This _ 
is another interesting and important point of similarity between the Zoology of the Himalayas ond that 
of the more northern parts of Europe and Asia; nor can we attribute the presence of these animals, in 
this part of the globe, to the introduction of European conquerors, as is well ascertained to have been 
“the case in America] and Australia, since they are confined to the mountains, and altogether unknown in 
the Plains of India, except perhaps in some of the larger seaports. They must consequently have 
travelled south to reach their present habitat ; and, no doubt, exist in Thibet, Tartary, and other inter 
mediate countries, where the climate is suitable, as far as Northern Asia, from which at least one og the 
| Proc, Zool. Soe., ii. 98. + Asiat. Res, xvi, 153, prs on 
§ Journ. As. Soc., v, 252. {| Asiat. Res., xv. 5. { Proc. noe each 98. 
