108 Note on Lagomys Curzonie, Hodgson. [No. 2, 
Note on Lagomys Curzonie, Hodgson.—By Dr. ¥. SrourczKa. 
[Received 7th December, 1864.—Read 7th December, 1864, | 
In the catalogue of the Mammalia of the Asiatic Museum, Mr. Blyth 
mentions Lagomys Curzonie, Hodgs. as a desideratum.* Mr. Adams 
quotes a ‘“ Lagomys, sp.?’”’ as occurring plentifully in Ladak, (Proce. 
Zool. Soc. Lond. 1858, p. 520) and Major Cunningham also speaks 
of a “smaller species of hare, or Lagomys” as extremely common all — 


















over Tibet. (Cunningham’s Ladak, p. 204.) 
On my visit this year to the eastern provinces of Ladak I was 
fortunate enough to procure several specimens of what I believe to be 
Lagomys Curzone, Hodgs. (Vide Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 1857, 
Vol. XXVI, p. 207 and Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 1858, I. p. 80.) but 
Mr. Hodgson’s description of this animal is very brief, so that it is 
hardly possible to recognise the species among the numerous members 
of this genus. The following description is founded on four specimens, 
of three of which the exact measurements are given below. 
General hue of the upper body pale buff fulvous, with very slight 
rufous tint and tipped with dark brown; below whitish, with translu- 
cent dusky blue. The larger hairs of the fur measure about {th of an 
inch ; the lower part, for more than half their length, of a dark, slaty 
blue colour, with silky lustre; the next portion pale fulvous and 
the tip dark brown or black. The fur is full and very soft, as _ 
Hodgson remarks, and can be readily distinguished from that of 
L. rufescens, Gray. Chiefly in old specimens, there are, on the sides 
of the upper portion of the body, a few long hairs intermingled, which 
measure up to one and a quarter inches ; these are almost or entirely 
of a black colour. 
On the lower part of the body the hairs are, for two-thirds of their 
length, dark slaty blue, and the rest pale. 
The head measures nearly always one-fifth of the total length of the 
animal. The hairs on it are much shorter, and tinged with a dark 
rufous tint above; on the sides of the snout they are pale grey, in 
front of the eyes and below, pale white, while on the sides of the head 
itself there is a slight rufous tint marked, which is a little stronger all 
round the neck, and extends somewhat farther back on the upper body. i 
The haivs round the neck ave rather longer, but only half their length * 
* 1863, p. 133, foot note. 
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