34 SECOND YARKANI) MISSION. 



corporis capitisque cequante,fulvd, nigro breviler terminatd ; pilis elongatis corporis omnibus 

 ad basin fuscis. Long, a rostro ad basin cauda? circiter 18 {in corio dessiccalo), caudce 

 vertebrarum 6, palma? 2, plantar fere 3, cranii 3'7 poll. 



1, 2, 3, skins; 4, 5, skulls, Kaskasu pass, 13,000 feet high, on the road from Kashghar to Sarikol and the 

 Pamir. 



General colour tawny to rich brownish yellow, the dorsal portion conspicuously tinged 

 with black from all the hairs having black tips, but these are far more conspicuous in some 

 specimens (? males) than in others ; face grey to blackish with a rufous tinge, covered with 

 black and whitish hairs mixed, about half an inch long on the forehead. The black hairs 

 on the face are more prevalent in those specimens (perhaps males) which have the blackest 

 backs ; the middle of the forehead is, in some cases, more fulvous. On the end of the nose 

 is a blackish-brown patch, and there is a narrow band of black hairs with a few white mixed 

 round the lips ; the sides of the nose are paler ; whiskers black. Hairs of the back 1^ to 1^ 

 inches long, much mixed with woolly fibres, dark slaty at the extreme base for about \ inch, 

 then pale straw colour, becoming deeper golden-yellow towards the extremity, the end black. 

 In the blackest specimens the black tips are wanting on the posterior portion of the back. 

 Tail yellow, the same colour as the rump, except the tip, which is black for a length varying 

 from an inch to about 1\ inches (in 3 specimens out of 4 it does not exceed an inch) ; 

 hairs of the tail about 2 inches long, brown at the base. Lower parts rather browner and 

 sometimes with a rufous wash, the hairs shorter and thinner, chocolate brown at the base, 

 without the short woolly underfur, which is very thick on the back. Feet above yellowish 



tawny like the sides. 



The lengths measured on the dried skins are — 



Nose to insertion of tail . . . . . . 16^ to 1 Si inches. 



Tail 5 to 6| „ 



Hairs at the end . . . . . . . . 1 \ to , 1 f „ 



Fore-foot (palma) measured to the end of the toes, but not 



including' the claws . . . . . . .21 



Middle toe without claw measured below .... 0*8 



Claw measured above ........ 0"6 



Hind- foot (planta) similarly measured ..... 2 - 9 



Mid toe without claw ........ 0*8 



Claw 0-52 



This is a much smaller species than A . caudatus ; the tail is rather shorter in proportion, 

 and is paler in colour, with less black at the end. The animal is also distinguished by the 

 absence of the ferruginous tinge on the legs, and the underparts generally are much less 

 rufous. It is a very different species from A. himalayanus {A. bobacoi several authors), 

 being smaller, much more yellow and less grey in colour, with a longer tail. 



Of all the Himalayan species it agrees best with A. hemachalanus, Hodgson, but" the 

 latter is a yet smaller form with shorter tail, shorter hair, and different in colour, being 

 described as " dark-grey with a full rufous tinge, which is rusty and almost ochreous red 

 on the sides of the head, ears, and limbs." Now A. aureus cannot be called dark-grey, and 

 in the specimens obtained the ferruginous tint is confined to the abdomen. The skin and skele- 

 ton of a marmot from Sikkim in the old Asiatic Society's collection (C, Ca, of the list in Blyth's 

 catalogue) belong, I believe, to A. hemachalanus. The skull differs widely from that of 

 aureus, being smaller and much shorter in proportion to its length, besides numerous minor 



