216 ARVICOLIN^E. 



This family comprises several forms mostly Palsearctic, one or two 

 species only occurring in the Himalayas, of the same genus as the Water- 

 rat and Meadow-vole of Britain, j 



Gen. ARVICOLA, Lacepede. 

 Syn. Hypudceus, Illiger. 



Char. Incisors smooth in front ; snout short, bluntish ; eyes small or 

 moderate ; anterior feet with four toes and a hallucar wart, posterior feet 

 five-toed ; nails curved ; tail short or moderate, hairy ; otherwise as in 

 the character of the sub-family. 



202. Arvicola Roylei. 



GRAY, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842. Figd. ROYLE, 111. Bot. Himal. 

 BLYTH, Cat. p. 125. 



THE HIMALAYAN VOLE. 



Descr. Above ashy-brown with a tinge of rufous more or less 

 apparent j beneath pale brownish-ashy ; ears moderately large, rounded, 

 hairy ; tail clad with rigid pale hairs \ incisors yellow in front. 



Length of one, head and body 3 \ inches ; tail 1-^ ', hind-foot T 9 ths. 

 One procured by myself measured, head and body 3f ; tail If. 



The Himalayan Yole is noted by Blyth only from Kashmir and Find 

 Dadun Khan, in the Punjab. I obtained it in Kunawar, near Chini, at 

 an elevation of nearly 12,000 feet, and again on the south side of the 

 Barendo pass, at about the same height, in great numbers in a fine 

 meadow, where it was burrowing lightly close to the surface, and several 

 were caught in digging a light trench round my tent. I also observed 

 it in the Pir Punjal pass. Its occurring at such a low level as Pind 

 Dadun Khan is remarkable, as it is only found on the Himalayas at 

 great elevations. 



In the recent edition of Hodgson's British Museum Collections, there 

 is No. 116, Arvicola thricotis, new species, Darjeeling, in woods near 

 houses ; but it is added, compare with Neodon sikimensis. 



Gen. NEODON, Hodgson. 

 Char. Nearly allied to Arvicola; incisors similar; grinders both above 



