MAMMALS OF KASHMIR— TIWE. 



ARCTOMYS CAUDATUS, J a c q u e m o n t . 



Two .specimens of tbis fine marmot were collected, as follows: 

 §ai5|j Female. Vigli Niillali, August 1, 1891. 

 lull Male. Vigil Vullali, August 1, 1891. 



MUS ARIANUS GRISEUS, new subspecies. 



Similar to typical Mus arianus, Blanford, iii size and proportions, but 

 having the upper surfaces ochraceous gray, instead of rufous. 



The Long- tailed Field-mouse has already been recorded by Dr. Scully 

 as occurring in Gilgit. There are three skins in Dr. Abbott's collec- 

 tion which are referable to this species, but appear to represent a 

 distinct color variation. Mr. Blanford describes M. arianus as being 

 "rufous brown above," and Mr. Thomas as "dark red."* Dr. Abbott's 

 specimens are grayish, ochraceous brown above, which color is produced 

 by the mingling of hairs having ochercolored lips, with others which 

 are black. No. 20151, which is immature, is especially gray above, 

 and coincides in color almost exactly with ordinary specimens of Mus 

 muscuUis. 



The three specimens on wliicli this subspecies is founded were 

 obtained by Dr. Abbott in pine forests at high elevations — two of 

 them in Central Kashmir and the third in the Pir Panjal Pass. He 

 gives the following dimensions of the fresh specimens: 



Measurements. 



Length of head and body 

 Length of tail. 



201.51, cT. 20139, ? . 



Central Central 



Kashmir. Kasliiuir. 



Inches. 

 3i 



Inches. 

 4 



20144, d]. 



Pir Panjal 



Pass. 



Inches. 

 4i 



As Mr. Blanford and Mr. Thomas have remarked, Mus arianus is 

 very closely related to the Mus sylvaticus of Europe, if not identical 

 with it specifically. Mr. Thomas has brought forward the greater 

 length of the hind foot as a distinguishing character of M. sylvaticus. 

 Dr. Abbott's specimens, being dry skins, are not entirely available for 

 critical comparisons of this kind. The length of the hind feet in two 

 of them, measured after soaking the feet in water, are as follows: No. 

 20144, male, 0.833 in.; No. 20139, female, 0.875 in. 



The larger of these two dimensions is still a little less than an aver- 

 age of measurements of ilf. sylvaticus given by Mr. Thomas, which is 

 0.88 in. 



I may here remark incidentally that a specimen of M. sylvaticus, from 

 Switzerland (No. 2995), in the Nntional Museum, is of exactly the same 

 color as is shown in the figure of the type of M. arianus in Mr. Blan- 

 ford's Zoology of Persia.* If this figure is correctly colored, it seems 



- Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1881, 548. 



