May 21, 1885} 
region, where also Alpheraky travelled, and collected 
Lepidoptera, with a list of which he has favoured me. To 
Bogdanoff and Severtsoff I am indebted for information 
not previously published in English, whilst in connection 
with the immense work that bears Fedchenko’s name I 
have had the valuable help of Madame Olga Fedchenko, 
who both accompanied her husband on his scientific 
journeys and, after his lamented death, edited his works. 
When I add that I have before me proofs of between 
three and four thousand species of fauna and flora, in 
about twenty lists with introductions, the scientific reader 
will not need to be told that in the compass of a single 
article I can but touch the fringe of the subject. I have 
ventured to think, however, the readers of NATURE might 
be interested in a plain statement that would give some 
idea of the little-known fauna of Turkistan, as well as 
indicate what I hope to publish shortly in fuller form. 
The part of Russian Central Asia through which I 
recently travelled, and with which this paper will be 
mainly concerned, lies between the Oxus and Irtish 
Rivers, and between the 38th and Soth parallels of north 
latitude, which region comprises vertically all altitudes 
from the salt plains, 600 feet above the sea, to the moun- 
tain plateaus of the Pamir, 15,000 feet high. 
The species of mammals in Turkistan exceed 80 in 
number. Among them may be mentioned 7 species of 
bats, the long-eared hedgehog, and the white-clawed bear. 
To these must be added the badger, otter, and other 
Mustelide, including three species of marten. Of the 
last I was able to secure some skins and skeletons, which 
are now in the British Museum. The wolf abounds ; 
also a wild dog ; 3 species of fox ; the tiger, snow-leopard, 
cheetah, and other cats. The salt-plains are frequented 
by the souslik, and many other rodents, including the 
hairy-nosed porcupine. To these should be added the 
Persian gazelle, the Saiga antilope, the Siberian ibex, and 
the Maral stag. I saw at Kuldja and Tashkend speci- 
mens of the skull and horns of the Thian Shan sheep, 
which is bigger than a donkey. The horn is more than 
four times the length of the skull, and the head complete 
weighs upwards of 7olbs. The yak is kept by the Kara- 
Kirghese. The Russians, too, as an experiment, have 
introduced some cross-breeds into the plains. 
The birds of Turkistan number nearly 400 species, to 
which may be added 27 frequenting the Pamir. The 
diurnal birds of prey, such as vultures, eagles, hawks, 
&c., number 36 species, some of which the Kirghese 
train for hunting. Of nocturnal birds of prey there are 
9 species of owls. There are thirteen species of crows, 
and no less than 40 of the finch family, including a new 
species of sparrow. The thrush family is represented by 
the blackbird, black-throated, misletoe, and some other 
thrushes. There are more than 4o of the warbler family, 
many of them being known in Western Europe, such as 
the greater nightingale, the bluethroat, redstart, redbreast, 
and others. Six species of the titmouse family are found 
in Turkistan, only one of which, however, the well-known 
oxeye, is common also to England. Two species of dip- 
per are found throughout the country, and other small 
birds are the Nepalese and European wrens, the Syrian 
nuthatch, and no less than to forms of wag-tails. Of 
pipits there are 7 species, and 14 of larks. The hoopoe 
I saw when coming south from Sergiopol, and again in 
the streets of Vierny. Other Turkistan birds are the 
bee-eaters, the three-toed woodpecker, the ubiquitous 
cuckoo, and the wonderful Pallas’s sand-grouse, which 
last, some twenty years ago, invaded Europe in such an 
astonishing way. 
Among gallinaceous or game birds are found in 
Turkistan the black grouse, the capercailie, four 
species of partridge, the quail, Mongolian pheasant, 
pea-fowl, and common cock. Of the swan, goose, and 
duck tribes there are nearly 30 species. Wading-birds, 
again, are found in great variety, and among them a 
NALURE 
57 
red-billed curlew, thought at first to be a new species. It 
has red legs, and a remarkably long red beak, bent at the 
end, and well adapted for picking up worms from between 
the pebbles of the beds of the mountain streams it 
frequents. 
Reptiles are represented in Turkistan by 33 species of 
lizards, vipers, and tortoises. Of the last I tried to bring 
for the Zoological Gardens a species (Homopus horsfieldi), 
and it travelled asleep with me some hundreds of miles 
from Tashkend, but on approaching Odessa it was found 
to be the sleep of death. Almost all the serpents are 
non-venomous. Of amphibians there are five *species, 
including the edible frog and green toad. 
The fishes of Turkistan are composed half of European 
and half of Asiatic forms. The European forms belong 
principally to the lower course of the Syr-daria, Amu- 
daria, and part of the Zarafshan, whilst certain genera 
belong exclusively, so far as is known, to the high moun- 
tainous countries of Central Asia. The total number of 
Turkistan species probably exceeds fifty. Of these twenty- 
five at least belong to the carp family, and there are taken 
besides sturgeon, trout, pike, barbels, gudgeon, rudd, 
roach, bleak, bream, loaches, and perch. The fishes of 
the Zarafshan are particularly noticeable. Of fifteen 
species found therein not less than five belong to genera 
met with in numbers in Kabul, Kashmir, Nepal, and the 
Himalayas. To one of these genera belongs the JZas7znka, 
remarkable for its poisonous eggs. The greatest find, 
however, among the ichthyological fauna of Turkistan has 
been the Scaphirhynchus, of great importance, not only 
from a zoological, but also a biological point of view, on 
account of the extreme smallness of its eyes and the rudi- 
mentary condition of its air-bladder. This fish, and 
certain geological questions connected therewith, was 
referred to in NATURE in connection with a letter on the 
Oxus that appeared in the 7z7zes on January 7 last. 
If for Mollusca we enlarge our area to take in Kashgar 
and Ladak, then we have in “ Central Asia” thus formed 
93 species known up to the present time, the land snails 
being scarce in the desert plains as compared with the 
larger number and more peculiar forms in the mountain 
regions. Among the fresh-water Mollusca the predomi- 
nant feature is the large number of air-breathing species 
which live in stagnant water, and the almost total absence 
of the genera living in running water. It has been sug- 
gested that this scarcity may be due, as in Switzerland, 
to the low temperature and stony bed of the rivers. 
Among the 50 species of Crustacea known in Turkistan 
there was not discovered for a long time a crayfish ; but 
Madame Fedchenko informs me that one of a variety new 
to the species hitherto known in Russia has been recently 
found. Among the Crustacea inhabiting the fresh waters 
of Russian Central Asia a very large number of West 
European species is found, and the new species are, in 
the majority of instances, very similar to the commonest 
in Central and Southern Europe. 
Of the 16 families to which European spiders are said 
to belong, all, except two groups very limited in number, 
have their representatives in Turkistan. The 146 species 
known there belong to 55 genera, which constitute ap- 
proximately one-half of the total of European genera. 
Che Zurantule are remarkable in that there are found 
in the Zarafshan Valley forms which in Europe are met 
with in countries far apart from each other, and have been 
reckoned as different species. The most widely dis- 
tributed form is that with the lower part of the abdomen 
quite black; next comes the form with coloured edges ; 
and, finally, that with the lower part almost entirely 
orange. The scorpions of Turkistan are identical with 
those met with in Trans-Caucasia, and the distribution of 
one species (So/puga zntrepida) is remarkable. — First 
found in Spain, it was seen later on the Indersk Moun- 
tains, then in the Zarafshan Valley, besides which speci- 
mens of this harvestman have been found in Vierny. 
