1362 THE RODENTS 



inhabiting the steppes of Eastern Europe, Siberia, and Kamchatka. This animal 

 may be compared in size to a guinea pig, its length being from nine to nine and one- 

 half inches. The general color of the long and soft fur is grayish brown on the 

 upper parts, although the individual hairs are of a deep gray near the skin; while 

 beneath it is gray tinged with yellow. The feet are pale, suffused with brownish 

 yellow, and the ears have white margins. The common Himalayan pica (Z,. roylei}, 

 which ranges to elevations of from eleven thousand to fourteen thousand feet, or 

 more, is a much smaller species, measuring only six and one-half inches in length, 

 with fur of a dark brown or bay color. Other species from the inner Himalayas, 

 such as the L,adakh pica (L. ladacensis] , are, however, larger; the one named 

 measuring nine inches in length, and inhabiting regions situated at an elevation of 

 from fifteen thousand to nineteen thousand feet above the sea level. During the 

 Pliocene and Miocene divisions of the Tertiary period picas were common in Central 

 and Southern Europe, while in Sardinia they lived on into the Pleistocene. Some 

 of these Tertiary picas differed from the living forms in having only one pair of pre- 

 molar teeth in the lower jaw; while in others there were but a single pair of these 

 teeth in both jaws. 



Picas inhabit only cold and desert regions, and, therefore, in the 

 greater part of their range, are found at great elevations, although in 

 Siberia they can exist at much lower levels. They either form burrows among 

 rocks, or live in the crevices between the rocks themselves; in the Eastern Hima- 

 layas, Lagomys roylei is, however, found in the pine forests. Although mainly noc- 

 turnal in their habits, picas will often venture abroad in the daytime, especially if 

 the sky be overcast, and the writer has several times seen them in the Himalayas, 

 darting about in the full glare of the sun. Their movements are so quick, that 

 they are exceedingly difficult to shoot. Their food consists of various plants, more 

 especially grasses, and of these a large store is accumulated foY winter use. In 

 Siberia this provender is piled up into heaps like small haystacks, which gradually 

 disappear during the winter, unless they are plundered by the sable hunters as 

 fodder for their horses. None of the picas appear to hibernate, although in most of 

 their haunts they must be buried deep beneath the snow for several months in the 

 year. Although often found in the Himalayas in pairs or small parties, picas are 

 generally more or less gregarious, sometimes associating in very large numbers. In 

 Northern and Southeastern Mongolia, where they are exceedingly abundant, their 

 burrows consist of a vast number of separate holes, which may be counted by 

 hundreds, or even thousands. From the peculiar loud chirping or whistling 

 cries uttered by many of the species while feeding, picas are often termed piping 

 hares; but this habit does not appear to have been observed in the Himalayan 

 forms. 



All the picas drink but little. In summer some amount of rain falls in many 

 of the districts they inhabit, while in winter the snow supplies them with as much 

 liquid as they require; but in spring and autumn there is scarcely even dew in the 

 Mongolian steppes, so that at such seasons they must exist entirely without water. 

 According to Pallas, the females give birth at the commencement of the summer to 

 about six naked young, to which she attends with the greatest care. 



