INTRODUCTION. 



An arid country like Sind, with an extra-tropical cliroate, a scanty 

 Tain-fall, and temperature during the hot months ranging from 95 to 

 102° Fahr., allow of only a comparatively moderate flora, and necessarily 

 a fauna less abundant, than in more moist climates, where the mean 

 average rain-fall — a potential factor in the distribution of vegetable and 

 animal life — is above 40 inches. 



In some respects the fauna of Sind differs widely from that of other 

 parts of India, having members of an Indo-African character, which 

 do not extend far to the south or east of the Province, while animals 

 peculiar to heavy forest lands are practically absent. Gn the other 

 hand, owing to the remarkable similarity of climate, and nearly the 

 same average rain-fall, the fauna is almost identical with that of the 

 Punjab, N. W^. Provinces, Beloochistan, the shores of the Persian Gulf, 

 Eajputana, and parts of the Western Presidency, south of Sind. A 

 glance at the distribution table (pp. 402-404) will sufBciently prove this. 

 Of the 73 mammals known to inhabit Sind, 20 belong to the order 

 Chieroptera, 4 to the Insectivora, 20 to the Garnivora, 4 Cetaeea, 15 

 Rodentia, 9 UngVilata, and 1 to the JSdentata. Six of these occur only 

 to the westward ; 12 are found both west and northwards, extending 

 into the Punjab, N. W. Provinces and Bengal. Those extending 

 northwards are Vesperugo serotinus el maurus, Scotophilus pallidus 

 (not beyond the Punjab), Erinacews jerdonii (not beyond the Punjab), 

 Herpestes persicus, Yulpes vusillus, Nesokia HardwicMi, Mus bactrianus 

 et alexandrinus, Gapra wgagrus and Ovis cydoceros ; 19 extend to 

 Afghanistan ; 22 do not occur east or south of the Province ; 5 are 

 peculiar to it, and the rest are generally distributed. The forms 

 characteristic of the Persian fauna are Felis chaus, GerUUus erythrourus* 

 et indicus,* Lepus craspedotis,* Mus bactrianus* Ovis cydoceros* 

 Capra mgagrus* Herpestes persicus* and Phyllorhina tridens. These 

 do not occur to the south, nor to the east of Sind, but those marked with 

 an asterisk, with a few others, as Gynonicteris amplexicaudata, Pipistrel- 

 lus leucotis, Sciurus palmarum, Nesokia HardwicMi, Vesperugo ahramus 

 et maurus and Felis caracal occur also in Beloochistan and along the 

 shores of the Persian Gulf. A better idea of their distribution will be 

 gained by reference to the table at pp. 402-404. 



