252 T. Bentham : Budorcas taxicolor. [Voi.. II, 



The first two specimens were both adult (a male and a female), and 

 the horns of the bull were shorter than those of the cow. The 

 second two were those of an immature male and adult female. 

 From this evidence Mr. lyydekker states that the horns of an adult 

 Bhutia bull would have been 14 to 15 inches in length as 

 compared with 20 to 24 in the Mishmi Takin. But, from the 

 statistics quoted, the same thing might be said with regard to the 

 Tibetan Takin as compared with the Mishmi form. It appears, also, 

 that the yellow colour of the hair in the animal from Bhutan is 

 intermediate in area between that of Mishmi and that of Tibetan 

 examples. The yellow colour of the hair is seemingly also intermedi- 

 ate between the two extremes in some representatives of the same 

 Mishmi race. Indeed, one example of this race in the Museum is 

 almost identical in appearance with the Tibetan animal. 



A grey Takin is mentioned by Mr. Lydekker ' as coming from 

 Sze-chuen, and he proposes to form a new sub-species for its recep- 

 tion. The animal is a female and is light grey on the upper parts. 



The gentleman who sent the specimen to Mr. Rowland Ward 

 says that there are two kinds of Takin in Sze-chuen, one a small 

 red animal and the other a large grey one. It is not improbable 

 that the female Budorcas is larger than the male, and I have shown 

 that the young are dark russet-brown, and the adults light in 

 appearance. It is probable that the small ^^race" mentioned consists 

 simply of young examples of the large grey form, and, as is quite 

 common among ungulates, that the young separate into flocks, 

 while the adult males or females, as the case may be, go about 

 singly or in pairs. An observant person could, with the greatest 

 ease, make at least three sub-species from the Mishmi skins in the 

 Indian Museum, if they had chanced to be from different localities 

 simply on the evidence of coloration and variation of horns, I 

 may also mention that we have two stuffed specimens from the 

 Mishmi Hills in addition to those already noticed. These are pre- 

 sumably adult, and though they are somewhat faded, it can easily 

 be seen that the female is larger and greyer in appearance, stand- 

 ing 3 feet 5 inches at the shoulder, while the male is reddish, and 

 is only 2 feet 8 inches in height. These animals, looked at from 

 a great distance, would be thought to be distinct species. 



On the evidence of the facts stated above, I am perfectly will- 

 ing to admit that the Mishmi and Tibetan animals are distinct, 

 not so much on the evidence of coloration, but on that of the 

 characteristics of the skull, on which the Tibetan animal perhaps 

 deserves specific rank. 



In the face, however, of the occurrence of so much variation 

 in Mishmi animals, it is quite reasonable to suppose that a like 

 variation occurs among those beyond the hills. 



Appended is a list of measurements of skulls and skeletons of 

 the & specimens in the Indian Museum and of the one described 

 by Milne Edwaids. 



I 111 the Field of May 9th, 1908. 



