1908.] FROM THE MONGOLIAN PLATEAU. 107" 



Accepting Dr. Biichner's identification of the pale Central- 

 Asian White-bellied House-Mouse as M. iuagneri, I feel compelled 

 to give a I'acial name to its representative in Eastern Mongolia 

 and China, on account of its much darker colour, which is quite 

 uniform in all the specimens obtained by Mr. Anderson, Of the 

 true M. tvagneri we have for comparison two specimens from the 

 Prjewalski collections, received from the St. Petersburg Museum. 



" Found only about the tents of the Mongol village where I 

 lived. They were very bold, but did not do much damage." — 

 M. P. A. 



5. Cricetulus griseus obscurus M.-Edw. 



d. 1513, 1522, 152.3, 1529, 1530, 1536, 1537, 1545. 



§. 1518, 1519, 1524, 1528, 1538, 1543, 1544. 



2 in spirit. 



These specimens, all in summer pelage, differ from the Chefoo 

 series of griseus, which are in winter dress, by being slightly 

 darker in tone, as compai'ed with the very grey colour of the 

 latter animals. Whether this difference in colour is solely due 

 to season remains to be seen when further specimens representing 

 other seasons are available for examination 



In addition, the Mongolian specimens seem to have on the 

 average rather larger teeth, but the difference is not quite 

 constant. 



Milne-Edwards's Cricetulus obscurus was described from 

 Sartchy, some 200 miles S.W. of the present locality, and I 

 think Mr. Anderson's specimens may be provisionally referred to 

 it, and that it might be considered as a subspecies of 0. griseus. 



6. Cricetulus campbelli Thos.* 



c?. 1465, 1466, 1468, 1498, 1525, 1527, 1534, 1535, 1546. 



$. 1467, 1482, 1497, 1526, 1547, 1548. 



Although there are certain discrepancies between the measure- 

 ments of these specimens, as taken in the flesh by Mr, Anderson, 

 and those recorded by me from Mr. Campbell's spirit- specimens, 

 the agreement in all other respects is too exact, and the localities 

 are too close to each other, for there to be any genuine racial 

 difference between the two. Probably variations in the method 

 of measuring the minute tail, and the contracting effect of 

 alcohol on the ears would account for such differences as exist. 



The beautifully marked Hamsters of this group have hitherto 

 been exceedingly rare in collections, and the nice series obtained 

 by Mr. Anderson is of much value. 



The following are the flesh-measurements of two old examples : — 



c? . Head and body 88 mm. ; tail 14 ; hind foot 12 ; ear 13. 



90 • 11 • 12 • 14. 



* Ann. Mag. N. H. (7) xv. p. 322 (1905). The position of the type locality was 

 incorrectly given in this description, owing to a confusion between two similar 

 names. The proper position is about 42° 40' N., 116° 20' E. 



