1874.] DR. J. E. GRAY ON THE STEPPE-CAT OF BOKHARA. 31 



3. On the Steppe-Cat of Bokhara (Chaus caudatus). 

 By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.K.S. &c. 



[Eeceived November 21, 1873.] 

 (Plates VI. & VII.) 



The Zoological Department of the British Museum has lately re- 

 ceived the skin and skull of a cat which is labelled "Felts servalind £ 

 Cocan." On the other side of the ticket is a Russian note, which 

 Mr. Ralston has kindly translated for me as follows : — " Bokhara 

 Steppe-cat (with skull), near the river Dyanan, 1 9th November, 1857, 

 Saliko." 



Saliko is probably the name of the collector. Mr. Ralston also 

 informs me that Daria means river ; and I see by the atlas that 

 Cocan, or Khokan, is situated on the Sir Daria ; and I suppose that 

 Dyanan is a branch of the river Sir, which falls into the sea of Aral. 



Mr. Dresser has kindly lent to me an essay, in Russian, on the 

 animals of Turkestan, which has not yet been received by the Library 

 of the British Museum or of the Zoological Society. It is by 

 N. A. Syevertzov, and is entitled "An Essay on the vertical and 

 horizontal Distribution of Turkestan animals," from the Transactions 

 of the Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology 

 and Ethnography, vol. viii. part ii. (Moscow, 1873). 



In the list of Turkestan animals, the name of Felts servalina 

 occurs, and possibly it is the same as Felts servalina on the label of 

 the specimen. M. Syevertzov does not describe or figure it as a new 

 species, but prints the name as he does those of all the well-known 

 species, not in italics as he does those which he considers new. He does 

 not give any authority for the species ; and therefore it is impossible 

 to make out which of the cats that bear the name of Felts servalina 

 he considers it to be. There are no less than three species so named 

 in the collection of the British Museum, viz. : — 



1. Felis servalina of Ogilby, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 4, from Sierra 



Leone, W. coast of Africa. 



2. Felis servalina, Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 401, from India. Now 



called Felis herschelii, Cat. Carniv. B. M. p. 28. 



3. Chaus servalinus, Gerrard, Cat. Bones B. M. p. 65, which is 



a synonym of Felis serval of W. Africa. 



But Chaus caudatus is undoubtedly distinct from all these. 



The cat is, I believe, a species not yet inscribed in the catalogues 

 of the genus Chaus. It has the close soft fur and general colouring 

 and pencilled ears of that genus ; but instead of having the short 

 tail only reaching to the hocks or heels of the hitherto known species 

 of that genus, its tail is elongate-cylindrical, reaching to the ground. 

 I therefore propose to call it Chaus caudatus. 



Chaus caudatus, n. sp. (Plate VI.) 



Fur close, soft, pale yellowish, blackish brown at the base, with 



