278 Mr. H. J. Elwes’ catalogue of the 
accurate and complete, though I have omitted many 
names which do not represent distinct species. I have 
also omitted in the north-west list all those species 
which, as far as we know, only occur in Ladak, and do 
not strictly belong to the Himalayan fauna. ‘The 
majority of the Sikkim species no doubt extend to the 
Khasia and other hill-ranges of Assam, but we have 
no sufficiently complete list from those ranges with 
which to make a comparison. 
A study of these three lists will show how much richer 
Sikkim is in species, than the countries on either side of 
it, the reason being that the very hot and wet climate of 
the lower valleys enables a large proportion of the 
Malayan species, and many peculiar ones of similar 
character to exist in them; whilst the immense forests 
of the middle zone contain a large number of species 
for which the Malay Peninsula, as far as we at present 
know it, is not equally well fitted. In North-west 
Himalaya it will be seen that the number of these 
Malayan and peculiar Himalayan forms is much less, 
and, though a proportion of them occur as far west as 
Kumaon, yet they rapidly diminish as we go towards 
Kashmir; whilst, on the other hand, a number of 
genera and species of more Palearctic character begin 
to appear in Kumaon, and increase in the extreme 
north-west on account of the great diminution in the 
rainfall and much drier and sunnier climate of the 
middle and upper zones as compared with the Eastern 
Himalayas. 
I think, however, that if it were possible to explore 
thoroughly the valleys and mountains of the Mishmi 
and Abor hills in the extreme Eastern Himalayas, we 
should find a fauna, if not so rich in number of species, 
yet even more peculiar and interesting than that of 
Sikkim, and including probably a number of species 
which are more closely allied to those of Western China 
and Eastern Tibet, of which at present we know so little, 
though that little is of surpassing interest. 
