58 
SECOND YAEKAND MISSION. 
having the tail longer than the body, and apparently in having a shorter head and more 
hairy ears. Another form showing considerable resemblance is G. unguiculatus 1 from 
Chinese Mongolia, which, however, is represented as wanting the dusky tip to the tail, and 
as having the tail shorter than the body. This species agrees with G. cryptorhinus in 
having hairs on the soles of the fore-feet as well as on those of the hind, but the skull is 
more convex above, and has the prominent lachrymal process united to the frontal. Erom 
the other Asiatic forms there are greater differences. Erom G. indicus 2 and G. persicus 3 the 
present species is distinguished by its hairy hind-feet and shorter head; from G. erythrums 1 2 3 4 
and G. hurriance 5 6 by its very differently shaped and much longer head, its white under 
surface, &c.; and from G. psa/mmophihis 6 by its much longer tail. It is, moreover, to the best 
of my knowledge, distinguished from all the species named by the peculiar flap covering 
the nostrils. There is certainly nothing of the kind in G. indicus , G. persicus , G. hurriance , 
or G. nanus , nor can I find it described in any other species. 
A Gerhillus 7 is described by Severtzoff from Western Turkestan under the name of 
Meriones collium. It is said to be rufescent above, white below; the hairs of the tail rufes- 
cent and black mixed; the tuft at the end of the tail of two colours, fuliginous and 
canescent; ec the black tail-tuft surrounded by a pale-grey margin.” The description does 
not agree sufficiently with the present form to render it probable that it refers to the same 
species; the description of the tail, and especially of the tuft at the end, shows the 
Western Turkestan animal to be distinct, and the tail is said to be shorter than the body. 
G. collium is, however, said to be allied to G. tamaricinus; so it probably resembles 
G. cryptorhinus very closely. G. opimus, G. meridianus, and G. tamaricinus are also said 
to be found in Western Turkestan. 
Family— DIP ODIDJE. 
89. Diptjs lagoptjs. 
Lichtenstein in Eversmatds Reise naeh Buchara, p. 121. —Brandt, Bull. Ac. Imp. St. Pet., 1844, ii, p. 218. 
1, Koshtak, South of Yarkand ; 2, Yarkand ; 3 Yangihissar. 
These specimens agree on the whole fairly with Lichtenstein’s original description and 
measurements; the ears are rather larger, but the difference does not appear great. The 
tarsi are also a little longer. The following is a short description : colour above light sandy- 
brown, slightly washed with dusky; below pure white; a white band across the outside of 
the thigh. Tail pale-brown above, whitish below, with a tuft of longer hair, altogether 
about inches long ; at the end the terminal portion pure white, the proximal portion black 
or dark-brown on the upper part and sides, but brown or white beneath the tail. The 
fur is very soft and rather long, 06 to 08 inch in the middle of the back; on the upper 
1 A. Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sc. Nat., Ser. 5, Vol. vii, 1867, p. 377.—Reck. Mam., p. 142, PI. Xa, XI. 
2 Hardwicke, Trans. Lin. Soc., viii, p. 279, PI. VII. 
3 W. Blanf., Eastern Persia, ii, p. 66, PI. VII, fig. 1. 
4 Gray, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1842, Ser. 1, x, p. 266 (nec Jerdon, Mam. Ind., p. 187.) 
5 Jerdon, Mam. Ind., p. 186.—W. Blanf., Eastern Persia, ii, p. 68. 
6 A. Milne-Edwards, Rech. Mam. p. 144. 
7 Turk. Jev., p. 83 ; Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., July, 1876, Ser. 4, xviii, p. 55. It appears to have keen first called M.montanus? 
but the name was changed because of there being a South African species called Gerhillus montanus. 
