1881.] DR. J. SCULLY ON THIS MAMMALS OF GILGIT. 203 



in tlie hills, and is only rarely found in the vicinity of villages as 

 low as 5000 feet. In coloration and in dental and cranial charac- 

 ters my specimens from the Gilgit valley accord completely with 

 M.foina as defined by Mr. Alston (P. Z. S. 18/9, p. 469). " 



\ii. MrSTELA TEMON, IlodgS. 



Mtistela temon, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. 18.57, p. 207. 



This yellow-bellied Weasel is fairly common in the Gilgit district 

 at elevations of from GOOO to 12,000 feet. Two specimens in my col- 

 lection from Gilgit agree well with Hodgson's original description. 

 The figure of 3/. temon in Mr. Hodgson's drawings, now in the British 

 Museum, shows that the type was rather darker on the upper surface 

 than my examples ; and this is also the case in a skin from Sikkim 

 or Tibet in Mr. Blanford's collection ; but the Gilgit and Sikkim 

 animals are certainly specifically identical. 



I was disposed to identify this Weasel with M. alpina, Gebler, 

 from the Altai (Moscou Memoires, vi. 1823, p. 213) ; but Radde's 

 figure and measurements of the skull of M. alpina ' from the typical 

 locality seem to indicate a different species. A still older name, 

 which may have to be used for this species, is Mtistela altaiea, Pallas 

 (Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 98, 1811). 



17. LuTRA VULGARIS, Erxl. 



Lutra vulgaris, Erxleben, Syst. Reg. Anim. p. 448(1777); Blan- 

 ford, J. A. S. B. 1877, ii. p. 324. 



Otters are tolerably common in the Gilgit river and its tributaries. 

 Of the specimens of Otter which I obtained in the Gilgit district 

 two agree in all respects with the Common Otter of Europe. The 

 skull of one of these animals, a male, differs from the figure of the 

 type of L. nair, Cuv. (Anderson, Anatomical and Zoological Re- 

 searches in Western Yunnan, &c. pi. xi.), precisely in the points 

 mentioned by Dr. Anderson for the differentiation of L. nair and 

 L. vxdgaris. 



18. Ursus isabellinus, Horsfield. 



Ursus isabellinus, Horsfield, Linn. Trans, xv. 1827, p. 332. 



Ursus leuconi/x, Severtzoff, Turk. Jev. p. 80 (1873); Ann. & 

 Mag. Nat. Hist. 1876, xviii. p. 43. 



Bears are common in the Astor valley and (he Gilgit district, 

 where they are usually found above the forest-region. In October 

 numbers of these animals descend into the valleys as low as 6000 or 

 5000 feet to feed in the fields, and are then often killed by the pea- 

 sants. This Bear retires in winter to the shelter of rocks and caves, 

 and remains in a semitorpid state during the season of severe cold. 

 It becomes active again about March. Its usual food consists of 

 fruits and roots ; and it appears also to be fond of insects ; on the 

 grassy glades between the forests above Gilgit, at elevations of 9000 

 to 1 0,000 feet, the loose stones which lie about are constantly found 

 » Eeisen Sud. Ost-Sib. i. p. .50. 



