1872.] W. T. Blanford— Zoology of Sikkim. 35 



and Central Asia ; L. hylridus, Pall.,* Altai mountains ; L. Tibelanus 

 Waterhouse, described from specimens from Little Tibet ; L. oiostolus, Hodgs., 

 from the snowy region of the Himalaya; and L. pallipes, Hodgs., from 

 Central and Eastern Tibet. Although Hodgson's L. oiostolus is considered 

 by Waterhouse as probably the same as his Tibetanus, and this view has been 

 accepted by Cray, Blyth and Jerdon, it should be borne in mind that the 

 opinion is founded on very imperfect materials, and that Waterhouse himself 

 was by no means certain of the identification. 



Lagomys Eotlei, Ogilby. Jerdon, Mam. Ind. No. 210, 



L. wvpalensis, Hodgs. — L. Hodgsonii, Blyth. 



L. Curzonice, Hodgs., J. A. S. B., 1857, p. 207, nee Stoliozka, J. A. S. B., 1865, 

 pt. II, p. 108. 



? L. badius, Hooker, Himalayan Journals, Vol. II, p. 156, 

 Gumchen, Butia. 



I feel some surprise at Hooker having overlooked the occurrence of this 

 tail-less hare in Sikkim. That he did so is, I think, evident, because he 

 especially refers (Vol. II, p. 156,) to the abundance of a Lagomys (which 

 he calls L. badius) in the Tibetan portion of the Lachen valley, whilst at 

 p. 132, he distinctly states that this animal, like the wild horse, fox and hare, 

 does not cross the Donkia pass. 



I first saw a Lagomys at about 12,000 feet on the Chola, range near the 

 Jelep-la ; it abounded in the pine forests below Chumanako at the foot of the 

 Chola, and I found the same kind again common in the pine forests, about 

 Yeomatang, at 12,000 to 13,000 feet, in the Lachiing valley, and at similar 

 elevation in the Lachen. I observed none above the limit of trees. 

 * It is of course quite possible that the species seen by Hooker in the 

 Tibetan part of the Lachen valley, at 16,000 to 17,000 feet, is a different 

 species from that which inhabits the Sikkim pine forests. The name given 

 by Hooker, L. badius, is probably one of Hodgson's numerous unpublished 

 terms, and it is difficult to say, whether it was intended for the species 

 subsequently named by him L. Ourzonics or not. 



I shall first describe the Sikkim Lagomys, and then proceed to the 

 difficult question of nomenclature. 



The Sikkim Lagomys is a small species, the largest specimen obtained 

 being barely seven inches long. The fur above is rufescent brown externally, 

 more rufescent and paler on the head and shoulders, mixed with black 

 towards the middle of the back and the rump, in consequence of the hairs 

 having longer black tips on those parts. All the hairs are blackish leaden 



* Gray in Ann. and Mag. N. H., Sept. 1867, p. 223, gives L. cdtaicus, Brandt, aa 

 distinct from L. hylridus, but without any reference to a description. L. altaicus 

 Eversman, is L. hybridus, teste Waterhouse and Gray. 



