THE MARMOT. 247 



great, the odds against you so numerous, that noth- 

 ing but the rarity of the bird induces you to try 

 such thankless sport. 



My companion and I often went in pursuit of 

 these pheasants, repairing to the woods long before 

 daybreak, but only succeeded in obtaining two speci- 

 mens ; and two of the Tangutan sportsmen, whom I 

 hired for that purpose, climbed the mountains day 

 after day, but only succeeded in bringing home a 

 couple by surprising them on their nests. 



The great difhculty lies in discovering the where- 

 abouts of the bird, owing to the long, irregular 

 intervals between its cries, whilst it is sometimes 

 absolutely silent even on a fine bright morning. It is 

 remarkable, too, how quietly, for so large a bird, it 

 rises off the ground, and takes wing without your 

 havino; heard it. It is slow in its fliMit like the 

 capercailzie, and will not fly far. 



Among the mammals we noticed the marmot 

 {^Arctomys robiistiis ?), which awoke about the middle 

 of April after lying dormant all winter. This little 

 animal, called by the Mongols tarabagan, and by the 

 Tangutans shoo, was never found by us in Mongolia,^ 

 and we first saw it in Kan-su, whence its range 

 extends into Northern Tibet. It inhabits the lower 

 valleys, as well as the alpine zone, of the Kan-su 

 mountains, and we saw its burrows in Northern 

 Tibet at an elevation of 15,000 feet above the sea. 



^ The Trans-Baikalian marmot (Лг^/^;//;'л- TJ^i^^i:), is only distrib- 

 vited as far south as seventy miles beyond Urga ; where the fertile 

 steppes terminate and this little animal disappears. 



