85 
1872.] W. T. Blanford — Zoology of Sikkim. 
and Central Asia ; L. hybridus, Pall.,* Altai mountains ; I. Tibetanus 
Waterhouse, described from specimens from Little Tibet ; L. oiostolus, Hodgs., 
from the snowy region of the Himalaya ; and L. pallipes, TIodgs., from 
Central and Eastern Tibet. Although Hodgson’s L. oiostolus is considered 
by Waterhouse as probably the same as his Tibetanus, and this view has been 
accepted by Gray, Blyth and Jerdon, it should be borne in mind that the 
opinion is founded on very imperfect materials, and that Waterhouse himself 
was by no means certain of the identification. 
Lagomys Eoylei, Ogilby. Jerdon, Mam. Ind. No. 210. 
L. nipalensis, Hodgs. — L. Hodgsonii, Blyth. 
L. Curzonice, Hodgs., J. A. S. B., 1857, p. 207, nec Stoliczka, J- A, S. B., 1865, 
pt. II, p. 108. 
? L. badius, Hooker, Himalayan Journals, Vol. II, p. 156, 
G&mchen, Butia. 
I feel some surprise at Hooker having overlooked the occurrence of this 
tail-less hare in Sikkim. That he did so is, I think, evident, because he 
especially refers (Vol. II, p. 156,) to the abundance of a Lagomys (which 
he calls L. badius ) in the Tibetan portion of the Lachen valley, whilst at 
p. 132, he distinctly states that this animal, like the wild horse, fox and hare, 
does not cross the Donkia pass. 
I first saw a Lagomys at about 12,000 feet on the Chola range near the 
Jelep-la; it abounded in the pine forests below Chumanako at the foot of the 
Chola, and I found the same kind again common in the pine forests, about 
Yeomatang, at 12,000 to 13,000 feet, in the Lachung valley, and at similar 
elevation in the Lachen. I observed none above the limit of trees. 
It is of course quite possible that the species seen by Hooker in the 
Tibetan part of the Lachen valley, at 16,000 to 17,000 feet, is a different 
species from that which inhabits the Sikkim pine forests. The name given 
by Hooker, L. badius, is probably one of Hodgson’s numerous unpublished 
terms, and it is difficult to say, whether it was intended for the species 
subsequently named by him L. Curzonice or not. 
I shall first describe the Sikkim Lagomys, and then proceed to the 
difficult question of nomenclature. 
The Sikkim Lagomys is a small species, the largest specimen obtained 
being barely seven inches long. The fur above is rufescent brown externally, 
more rufescent and paler on the head and shoulders, mixed with black 
towards the middle of the back and the rump, in consequence of the hairs 
having longer black tips on those parts. All the hairs are blackish leaden 
* Gray in Ann. and Mag. N. H., Sept. 1867, p. 223, gives L. altaicus, Brandt, as 
distinct from L. liybridus, but without any reference to a description. L. altaicus 
Eversman, is L. hybridus, teste Waterhouse and Gray. 
