MAMMAL SURVEY OF INDIA, BURMA AND CEYLON. 47^ 



animals and make hunting on foot difficnlt, as do the long vines 

 which envelop the trunks and hang suspended in great loops from 

 the boughs. 



Siligiiri. — About 15 miles south of Sivok and about 5 miles 

 outside the Terai. The town is surrounded by a flat alluvial plain, 

 the greater part of which is under rice cultivation. There is no 

 cover of any description in the immediate neighbourhood. 



Jal'ioaiguri. — 20 miles to the south-east of Siliguri, near the 

 Tista River. The surroundings are quite flat and generally devoid 

 of trees and bushes. Those parts of the plain which are flooded by 

 the Tista during the rains are clad with a very wiry grass. The 

 villages in the neighbourhood are peculiar, each one being com- 

 posed of bamboo houses placed in line and flanked by bamboos 

 and palms. Cultivation is principally rice. 



Haldibari. — Has the same features as Jalpaiguri from which it is . 

 distant about 12 miles. Cultivation jute and rice." 



The Collection comprises 1,025 specimens, belonging to 72 species, 

 in 53 genera. It contains several forms new to the records of the 

 Survey, e.g., Pitheeits pelops, Murinct aurata, and M. cyclotis, 

 Scotomanes ornatus, Talpa micrura, Chimarrogale hinialayica, Necto- 

 gale elegans, Ailurus fulgens, Petaurista nohilis, Ardomys himalaya- 

 nus, Pseudois nayaur, and Moschus moschiferus but it also comprises- 

 two squirrels, two rats and a mouse which, no names being available 

 for them, it has been necessary to describe, viz., Callosciurus crumpi,^ 

 Dremomys lohriah hhotia, PJ^nmys lepcha, P^jwiys e/ict and ilfws pa/tan. 

 But to my mind a far greater interest attaching to the Collection 

 is due to the peculiar geographical position of the area re- 

 presented. 



It is of course quite obvious that the huge mass of the Himalaya 

 must be a great barrier to the free migration of species north and 

 southwards. But this mechanical obstacle combined with the 

 difference of climate north and south of the range has resulted in 

 a fairly sharp demarcation at or about 28° N, between two distinct 

 faunas, viz., the Palsearctic in the north and the Oriental in the south. 

 Evidences of this in the present Collection is the juxtaposition of 

 such pala3arctic genera as Scotomanes, Soriculus, Talpa, Chimarrogale, 

 Nectogale, Ailurus, Ardomys, Microtus, Ochotona, Pseudois and 

 Moschus, with such characteristically oriental forms as Pteropus, 

 Cynopterus, Lyroderma, Tupaia, Pachijura, Viverra, Paradoxiirus, 

 Mungos, Ratufa, Callosciurus, Tomeutes, Dremomys, Cannomys, 

 Mimtiacus, &c. 



Further, however, the area represented by this Collection (or more 

 exactly a point somewhat west of it in Nepal) appears to be the 

 meeting point of the Indian and Malayan faunas of the Oriental 

 Region, for instance, the squirrels (excluding the giant squirrels 

 and flying squirrels) are represented throughout the western (or 



