3 880.] 



E. Lydekker — Note on some Ladalc Mammals. 



7 



otter {L. vulgaris), and the animal, tlierefore, may very possibly belong to 

 the same species as a skin obtained by Major Biddulph in Gilgit (? from 

 the Indus), and which Mr. Blanford, in the above-quoted note, thinks is 

 very like L. viilgaris. 



I learn from Mr. Elias, the British Joint-Commissioner at Leh, that 

 otters are said to be of common occurrence at the bridge which spans 

 the Indus below Leh ; these otters live in the stone-work piars of the 

 bridge. I may add that Mr. Elias has promised to endeavour to procure 

 a specimen of the skin and skull of one of these animals. 



Dr. Stoliczka speaks of the Leh otter as being a small species ; since, 

 however, he never procured a specimen, and as my specimen is a large skin, 

 it is probable that Stoliczka's estimate of size was not exact. 



Marmots. — I cannot quite agree with Mr. Blanford* in calling the 

 Ked Marmot {Arciomys caudatus) the common marmot of Ladak, as it 

 appears to me that the species is only found on the outskirts of that region. 

 I have procured specimens of that species on the range between Kashmir and 

 Tilel (Kishenganga valley), on the pass between Tilel and Dras, and on both 

 sides of the Zoji-La, separating the latter place from Kashmir. I have, 

 however, never seen this species in the more interior parts of Ladak, 

 where it appears to me to be replaced by Arctomys himalayanit,s, or the 

 Yellow Marmot, which appears to me to be entitled to be called the 

 " Ladak Marmot" par excellence. I have seen or procured specimens of the 

 latter species, from the mountains above Khalchi, on the Indus ; on the 

 pass separating the Markha river from the Gia river, to the south of Leh ; 

 and, still further south, on Kiang-Chu Maidan, in Eiipsu ; to the north 

 o£ the Indus in Ladak, on the Chang and Kai passes, forming the water- 

 shed of the Indus and Shyok rivers ; around the Pangong lake ; and in the 

 Chang-Chcnmo valley. Arctomys caudatus seems to me to be confined to 

 the country on the confines of the rainless districts, while A. himalayanus 

 occurs only in the inner, and thoroughly Tibetan, districts. 



In the field, the two species can be at once distinguished by their re- 

 spective cries. The cry of the Eed Marmot is a peculiar long screaming 

 whistle of great shrillness : the Yellow Marmot on the other hand utters 

 a short chirping bark. It is not easy to convey an idea of the two sounds 

 to the reader, but when tliey have been once heard in the field, they never 

 can be mistaken for one anotlier. 



I should be much inclined to doubt the suggestion of Mr. Blanfordf that 

 the marmot said by Dr. Stoliczka to range up to a height of 17,C00 feet 

 in Ladiik is A. caudatus ; it is much more likely to be A. liimalay anus , which 

 I have killed above 18,000 feet ; the former I have never seen above 1-1,000 

 feet (Dras and Tilel pass). 



* Loc. tit. p. 37. t Loc, cit. p. 39. 



