-1908.] 01\- SZE-CHUEN AND BHUTAN TAKINS. 795 



3. The Sze-chuen and Bhutan Takins. 

 By H. Lydekker. 



[Received September 2, 1908.] 

 (Plate XLIII.* and Text-figures 168-171.) 



The first recognition of a Takin distinct from the typical 

 -Bwlorcas taxicolor of the Mishmi Hills is due to the late 

 Professor A. Milne-Edwards, who in 1874 (' Recherches pour 

 sorvir a I'Histoire naturelle des Mammiferes,' p. 367, pis. Ixxiv. it 

 Ixxix.f) described and figured a representative of the species from 

 Moupin under the name of Budorcas taxicolor^ var. lihetanus. 

 Here I may take the opportunity of mentioning that Moupin is 

 stated in all zoological works that have come under my notice to 

 be in Eastern Tibet. As a matter of fact, it is, as pointed out 

 to me by my friend Mr. Thomas, situated in Sze-chuen ; a 

 circumstance which clears up a number of difficulties and mis- 

 conceptions with regard to the range of the animals of this part 

 of Central Asia. The name Budorcas sinensis has been applied 

 to the Takin of Kansu, which, as shown by a specimen in the 

 Tring Museum, is inseparable from the Sze-chuen animal ; the 

 authority for the name I am, however, unable to find. 



Milne-Edwards described the male of the Sze-chuen Takin as a 

 yellowish-red animal ; and also stated that the female is paler 

 and greyer. Neither his description nor his plate of the male is, 

 however, satisfactory ; and as mounted sj)ecimens of both male 

 and female are now exhibited in the public galleries of the British 

 Museum (Natural History), I consider that they should be figured 

 before their colouring is deteriorated by exposure. 



The male specimen (Plate XLIII. fig. 1), which was stated to 

 come from Sze-chuen, was purchased by the Trustees of the 

 British Museum from Rowland Ward Ltd. in 1905. The female 

 (Plate XLIII. fig. 2), on the other hand, was given by Mr. Mason 

 Mitchell, of the American Consular Service in Sze-chuen, to 

 Mr. Rowland Ward in 1908, by whom it was, in turn, jDresented 

 to the British Museum. In noticing the presentation of the latter 

 ■specimen in the ' Field ' newspaper (vol. cxi. p. 790, 1908), I stated 

 that the presumption was that it represented the cow of the race 

 described by Milne-Edwards. The original sender of the specimen 

 stated, however, in a letter to Mr. Ward that there are two 

 distinct kinds of Takin in Sze-chuen, difiering not only in colour, 

 but also in size and in habits ; the smaller red kind — known to 

 the Chinese as yea-nu (wild ox) — associating in small herds, while 

 the larger grey one — the tumo-yea (big wild ox) of the Chinese — 

 . goes about singly, or at most in pairs. I accordingly suggested 

 that if this statement wei'e borne oat by tlie facts, the lai-ger grey 

 race might be named Budorcas taxicolor mitchelli. 



When, however, the grey female was mounted and placed 



* For explanation of the Plate see p. 802. 



t The work was published in parts from 1868 to 1874; as I do not know the dates 

 of publication of the separate parts, I have given the date of completion of the work. 



