THE ASIATIC STEPPES AND THEIR FAUNA. 109 



— by far the prettiest of the steppe-mammals — is much less fre- 

 quently seen, not indeed because he occurs less frequently, but 

 because, as a nocturnal animal, he only shows himself after sunset. 

 About this time, or later if the moon be favourable, one may see 

 the charming creature steal cautiously from his hole. He stretches 

 himself, and then, with his pigmy fore-limbs pressed close to his 

 breast, trots off on his kangaroo-like hind-legs, going as if on stilts, 

 balancing his slim erect body by help of his long hair-fringed tail. 

 Jerkily and not very rapidly the jerboa jumps along the ground, 

 resting here and there for a little, sniffing at things and touching 

 them with its long whisker-hairs, as he seeks for suitable food. 

 Here he picks out a grain of seed, and there he digs out a bulb; 

 they say of him also that he will not disdain carrion, that he will 

 plunder a bird's nest, steal the eggs and young of those which nest 

 on th« ground, and even hunt smaller rodents, from all which 

 accusations I cannot venture to vindicate him. Precise and de- 

 tailed observation of his natural life is difficult, for, his senses 

 being keen and his intelligence slight, timidity and shyness are 

 his most prominent qualities. As soon as man appears in what 

 seems dangerous proximity, the creature takes to flight, and it is 

 useless to try to follow; even on horseback one could scarce over- 

 take him. With great bounds he hurries on, jerking out his long 

 hind-legs, with his long tail stretched out as a rudder; bound after 

 bound he goes, and, before one has rightly seen how he began or 

 whither he went, he has disappeared in the darkness.^^ 



The fauna of the steppe-mountains differs from that of the low- 

 grounds, differs at least, when, instead of gentle slopes or precipitous 

 rocky walls, there are debris-covered hillsides, wild deeply-cut 

 gorges, and rugged plantless summits. In the narrow, green valleys, 

 through which a brook flows or trickles, the sheldrake feeds — an 

 exceedingly graceful, beautiful, lively bird, scarce larger than a 

 duck — the characteristic duck of the central Asiatic mountains. 

 From the niches of the rocks is heard the cooing of a near relative 

 of the rock-dove, which is well known to be ancestor of our 

 domestic pigeons; from the rough blocks on which the wheatear, 

 the rock-bunting, and the rock-grosbeak flit busily, the melodious 



