LIBRARY UWVESilTY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS flDemoirs of the flBuseum of Comparative Zoology? \ i II \ i; V \ i; ii COLLEG K. VOL. XL. No. i. SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. INTRODUCTION . BY SAMUEL HENSHAW. PISCES Bv SAMUEL GARM.AN. AMPHIBIA AND REPT1LIA BY THOMAS HARBOUR. AM . . . BY JOHN E. THAYER AND OUTRAM BANGS. MAMMALIA BY GLOVER M. ALLEN. WITH SIX PLATi.s. CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.: priuteo for tbe Aueeum. AUGUST, 1912. ADemolrs of tbe flDuseum of Comparative Zoology AT HARVARD COLLEGE. VOL. XL. No. 4. SOME CHINESE VERTEBEATES. INTRODUCTION . . BY SAMUEL HENSHAW. PISCES .... BY SAMUEL GARMAN. AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA BY THOMAS BARBOUR. AVES .... BY JOHN E. THAYER AND OUTRAM BANGS. MAMMALIA BY GLOVER M. ALLEN. WITH SIX PLATES. CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.: prtnteo for tbe flDuseum. AUGUST, 1912. SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. CONTENTS. PAO« INTRODUCTION.— BY SAMUEL HENSHAW 107 PISCES.— BY SAMUEL CARMAN .111 AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA.— BY THOMAS BARBOUK .... .125 AVES. — BY JOHN E. THAYER AND OUTRAM BANGS ...... . 137 MAMMALIA.— BY GLOVER M. ALLEN . 201 INTRODUCTION. BY SAMUEL HENSHAW. THE collections described in the following pages were made in the Chinese provinces of Hupeh and Szechwan during the years 1907 and 1908. With hardly an exception they represent the work of Mr. Walter R. Zappey while he was attached to the expedition sent out by the Arnold Arboretum, under the direc- tion of Mr. E. H. Wilson, the well-known botanical collector. Mr. John E. Thayer, recognizing the need of zoological work in lower China, secured the consent of Prof. C. S. Sargent, the Director of the Arnold Arboretum, for a trained collector to accompany Mr. Wilson, and most generously provided the necessary financial support. The obligations of the Museum to Mr. Thayer, already very great, were much increased by this recent act of liberality, and his selection of Mr. Zappey for the work was very fortunate. Mr. Zappey's zeal was such as to require a constant word of caution that he might not overtax his strength, while the size and condition of the entire series of specimens afford evidence alike of his judgment, his energy, his skill in preparation, and his care and watchfulness during the many difficulties in transportation. The results of Mr. Thayer's liberality and Mr. Zappey's zeal would have been very much less, however, had they not been supplemented by the tact and administrative ability of Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson's earlier work in China was of distinct advantage for the success of the Arboretum Expedition. It had shown that he possessed the trustworthiness characteristic of his race, and the natural and ever present suspiciousness of the natives towards aliens engaged in a line of work the object of which is not wholly clear, was happily avoided, from the beginning. It should also be recognized that all of Mr. Wilson's time and energy were required for his botanical work l and that every additional task he assumed, even though willingly and successfully, was nevertheless a burden. The transcription of Chinese geographic names presents difficulties of ortho- graphy, syllabication, and capitalization; in some works the same name is vari- ously given. It is believed that throughout the following pages a considerable degree of uniformity has been achieved, a result due to Mr. E. C. Drew, who has 'Some of the results of Mr. Wilson's work in China have been published by the Arboretum: — Plantae Wilsonianae. Part I. Cambridge July 31, 1911, 144 pp. Part II. Cambridge, April 30, 1912, 168 pp. 108 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. most kindly revised a list of the geographic names and corrected many puzzling variations due largely to phonetic spelling. The larger part of the material secured consists of birds and mammals, though other interesting vertebrates were collected together with a small series of invertebrates, chiefly insects. Messrs. Wilson and Zappey landed at Shanghai the 4th of February, 1907; while outfitting, Mr. Zappey employed his time in collecting in the immediate environs of Shanghai, but here, as in the vicinity of other large cities, the density of the population precluded effective collecting. Ichang, Hupeh, the base for much of the work of the Expedition was reached on the 26th of February, and after several weeks spent in its vicinity Mr. Zappey left that city early in April and collected for about two months among the mountains north of the Yangtze. Here at varying altitudes of from 2,400 to 9,500 feet in well forested country, pheasants were abundant and the probable occurrence of the Takin, (Budorcas), noted. With the exception of two weeks passed unfortunately in the hospital at Hankow, Mr. Zappey collected during June, July, and August in the Ichang region or between Ichang and Shasi; much rain fell during this period and the weather when fair was very hot. September and October also proved rainy in and about Ichang. Between the 5th and 20th of November, Mr. Zappey worked at higher altitudes at Shihtowya, Kwangpow, Putze, and neighboring places, good weather prevailing, but cold and cloudy days were experienced again at Ichang between the 21st of November and the 1st of December. December proved fair, with the temperature cool or cold, and a considerable series of birds and mammals was secured. The search for Serow among the mountains was unsuccessful, though their tracks were found on several occasions and the alarm note which Mr. Zappey describes as "a series of snorting squeals sounding like * * * tearing a piece of starched cloth such as a window shade" furnished additional evidence of their presence. In 1908, January, February, and early March were spent in short trips down the river; on the 15th of January at Ichanghsien the first Goral, Naemorhedus griseus, was collected; others of both sexes, young and old, were taken later. These goat-like antelopes were not uncommon on the precipitous evergreen- clothed cliffs; they were seen, however, only in open places as they jumped from ledge to ledge and their capture was thus to a certain degree a matter of chance. Kwangtitze, situated about fifteen miles below Shasi, with an abundance of HENSHAW: INTRODUCTION. 109 The river-boat was left at this point. grass cover and numerous reedy pools, proved an ideal country for deer; and here, early in February, water deer, Hydrelaphus inermis, were plentiful and a fine series was secured. Returning to Ichang the 18th of February, the interval until the 13th of March was occupied, principally, in the care of material and in the preparation for a long river trip to the west. Leaving Ichang the 13th of March the following list of localities with dates will indicate the route travelled:— 1908: March 16 — Nantow. 25 — Patunghsien. April 1 — Wanhsien. 1908: April 4 — Changchowhsien. 11 — Chungking. 21 — Juchi. 26 — Nanchihsien. 30 — Suifu. May 6 — Kiating. 12 — Lungchi. 15 — Washan. June 13 — Kiating. 21 — Hungyahsien. 29 — Nitow. July 4 — Tachienlu. 14 — Yachiakun. 18 — Lianghokow. 24 — Cheto. August 5 — Tongolow. 7 — Nachuka. 15 — Ramala Pass. 16 — Shuowlow. Farthest west. 1908: 'August 26 — Nachuka. 31 — Tachienlu. September 6 — Lianghokow. 17 — Tachiao. 23 — Tachienlu. October 9 — Yachow. 17 — Omeihsien. 22 — Washan. 110 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. November 9 — Tsaikow. 11 — Omeihsien. 15 — Chinchiang. 30 — Chiachianghsien. December 3 — Yachow. 8 — Kiating. River-boat trip resumed. 23 — Suifu. 29 — Chungking. 1909: January 14 — Ichang. 22 — Hochiaping. February 2 — Changyanghsien. 5 — Ichang. March 7 — Shasi. 18 — Nankin. 26 — Leave Shanghai. As shown by the above itinerary, the Expedition was planned as a recon- naissance and covered too much ground to allow successful intensive collecting. At five localities only were fifty or more species obtained; the largest number, 194, was taken at Ichang, and 91, the next in number, at Washan. This last locality proved of great scientific interest and ten of the thirty-six new forms discovered were found there. It was at Washan that a herd of Takins, Budorcas tibetanus, was observed. Two individuals, a young male and a young female, said by the natives to be about a month old, were taken. The herd was feeding on the side of the steep mountain at an elevation of about 10,000 feet and was well concealed in the dense bamboo thicket. The flesh of these Takin proved palatable and in taste resembled mutton. The native names for the Takin are Yare niu ngai nu and Parn nyang. Serow, Capricornis argyrochaetes, were also found at Washan, where they frequented the recesses of the most precipitous cliffs. The native name of the Serow is Ngailu (Cliff donkey). Though formerly abundant throughout the region traversed by Mr. Zappey, the Musk deer, Moschus sifanicus, has been so persistently hunted for the sake of its valuable secretion that it is now practically exterminated. One specimen was shot at Shuowlow the 19th of August, 1908. The odor from the scent-gland was most powerful though quite different, Mr. Zappey notes, from that of the refined perfume. The habit of this species of frequenting the trunks of fallen trees is well known to the Chinese. PISCES. BY SAMUEL GARMAN. The fishes, twenty-nine species, secured by this Expedition were taken at various points on the Yangtze Kiang and its affluent the Min, between Kiating and Shasi sixty miles or more below Ichang, Hupeh. Three of the species are Chinese perches, Siniperca, also said to be found in Japan ; one is a clupeoid, Coilia, heretofore known as marine,. the presence of which so far from the mouth of the river is probably due to a habit of spawning in fresh water; another is an Ophicephalus of wide range in eastern Asia; three others are siluroids, one of them very widely distributed, another peculiar to the locality, and a third apparently undescribed; twenty are cyprinoids which taken together might indicate rather less dependence on barbels in their region than farther to the south or to the west; three of these species appear to be undescribed; and finally one of the species is an eel, Monopterus, which has been taken in numerous localities of China, India, the East Indian Archipelago, and Japan. In early days the fishes of the valley of the Yangtze were more distinct, because more isolated, than at present. By means of the Grand Canal all streams of moderate length between Hangchow on the south and Pekin on the north were linked together so that the basin of the Hwang Ho, draining into the Gulf of Chihli, and that of the Yangtze Kiang drained into the Yellow Sea are no longer so far as concerns their fishes to be treated as distinct faunal regions. This connection by the Canal accounts for the fact that Basilewsky, 1855, has de- scribed so many of the species contained in the present series, from collections in great part made in streams flowing into the Gulf of Chihli, and also for the fact that his types and specimens from the Yangtze differ so little. The Chinese types described by Bleeker were mainly taken near the mouth of the Yangtze, as were those described by Steindachner and the earlier of those of Giinther. By later contributions Sauvage, Giinther, and Regan have added to the knowl- edge of the species much nearer the sources of the river. The localities tra- versed by Mr. Zappey were thus pretty well surrounded by the localities of earlier workers. In the following list additions to original descriptions and variations of individual specimens are recorded by the partial diagnoses appended. 112 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. SERRANIDAE. SINIPERCA CHUA-TSI (Basilewsky) Gill. A number of specimens of the Chinese perch that would usually be placed under S. chua-tsi separate readily into two groups : — one, the species proper, char- acterized by an eye about one sixth of the length of the head, or one and one half times the interorbital width, and on which the maxillary reaches beyond a vertical from the hind edge of the eye, and another in which the eye is nearly one fourth of the length of the head, or about twice the interorbital width and in which there is a considerable distance behind the end of the maxillary in -y front of a vertical at the hind border of the orbit. In the numbers of fin-rays or in markings the two groups show little difference, but the scales on the speci- mens with the small eyes appear to be smaller. The presence of the two forms in the same locality may be ascribed to individual variation in a single species, or may be credited to an intermixture of two quite distinct species at some time or in some parts of their respective ranges. The two figures pub- lished by Basilewsky, 1855, represent the small-eyed form. Kner, 1867, under the same name, figured a specimen, in which the eye is much larger and the maxillary approaches a vertical from the hind edge of the orbit, which might better be placed in the group with large eyes, though the type of the latter described below has a still larger eye and an orbit extending farther backward than the end of the maxillary. As the theory of a mixing of two forms originally distinct is favored here, the large-eyed one is described as Siniperca knerii and certain characters of the specimen chosen for a type are noted. Ichang. SINIPERCA KNERII, sp. nov. D. 12 + 14, A. 3 + 9, V. 6, P. 2 + 14; LI. 125$ ca. Similar to S. chua-tsi, but differing in a much larger eye. Diameter of orbit five sixths of its distance from the extreme end of the snout, nearly twice the width of the interorbital space, or twice the greatest width of the maxillary, or equal to the distance from the orbit to the front of the intermaxillary. Maxil- lary subtending the anterior three fourths of the eye. Dorsal origin above that of the pectoral; spinous portion twice as long as the soft; spines increasing in length to the fifth, which is about one third of the length of the head, a little shorter than the soft rays, or than the second anal spine which last is the longest and most robust on the body. First and third anal spines shorter and CARMAN: PISCES. 113 more slender than the second. Markings differing little from those of the small- eyed form. Type: — No. 29844 M. C. Z. Hupeh: Ichang. SINIPERCA SCHERZERI Steindachner. Agrees closely with the figure by Steindachner, the most noticeable differ- ence being in the larger size and greater number of the teeth on the posterior edge of the operculum. Ichang. OPHICEPHALIDAE. OPHICEPHALUS ARGUS Cantor. D. 48, A. 32; LI. 63&. Kiating. CLUPEIDAE. • COILIA NASUS Schlegel. D. 13, A. 98, P. 6 + 11; LI. 76. Ventral serration with twenty-two teeth in front of the ventral fins and thirty-six behind their origins. Intermediate between C. nasus and C. ectenes Jordan and Starks but not to be separated from the former. Kiating. CYPRINIDAE. CYPRINUS CARPIO Linns'. D. 22, A. 8, V. 9, p. 17; LI. 35i; Phar. teeth 3.1.2 | 2.1.3; 4 barbels. Shasi. CARASSIUS CARASSIUS (LinneO Nilsson. D. 20, A. 8, V. 9, P. 16; LI. 29?; Phar. teeth 3 | 3; no barbels. Ichang. PARABRAMIS PEKINENSIS (Basilewsky) Bleeker. Abramis pekinensis BASIL., 1855, Nouv. mem. Soc. nat. Mosc., 10, p. 237, pi. 6, f. 2. Acanthobrama pekinensis BLEEKER, 1860, Ichth. Arch. Ind. Prodr., 2, Cypr., p. 282. Culler pekinensis KNER, 1867, Novara fisehe, p. 360, pi. 14, f. 4. Chanodichthys pekinensis GUNTHER, 1868, Cat., 7, p. 327. Parabramis pekinensis BLEEKER, 1871, Nat. verb. k. akad., 12, p. 80. 114 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. D. 3 + 7, A. 3 + 32, V. 9, P. 17; LI. 53^; Phar. teeth 5.4.2 2.4.4. These specimens are not as dark on the body or fins as that figured by Basilewsky, but the scales have the light centres surrounded by puncticulations of brown. Distally each of the fins is darker. The general effect of the color is silver rather than brown. Body keeled from the pectorals backward to the end of the anal base. Dorsal origin midway from end of snout to base of caudal. Kner's figure does not represent the species very well, as it is too slender; the description is good. Basilewsky described the species from affluents of Chihli; Mr. Zappey secured it at Ichang. OPSARIICHTHYS ACUTIPINNIS (Bleeker) Giinther. Barilius (Barilius) acutipinnis BLEEKER, 1871, Nat. verb. k. akad., 12, p. 81, pi. 13, f. 1. Opsariichthys aculipinnis and 0. bidens GiiNT., 1873, Ann. mag. nat. hist., ser. 4, 12, p. 249. The figure of 0. acutipinnis was made from a half grown specimen. The description of 0. bidens also was drawn from a specimen not fully developed. The specimens at hand make it evident that 0. bidens is a synonym. The notches of the jaws are very evident on some and hardly noticeable on others. There is much variation in individuals aside from the peculiar sexual changes in the fins and the tubercles of the cheeks. The pharyngeal teeth vary from 4.2 to 4.3 and to 4.3.1. The difference in numbers of rays or of scales is not great. In the adult the markings on the fins and flanks are like those of 0. platypus, but the interradial spots are more distinct, and on some the lower half of the face is blackish. Kiating, Min River. GARRA (AGENEIOGARRA) IMBERBA, subgen. nov. sp. nov. D. 13 (4 + 9), A. 8, V. 10, p. 17; LI. 50|, head to D. 17; Phar. teeth 5.4.2 | 2.4.5, slender, pointed. Body elongate, greatest depth about equal to length of head or one seventh of the total length, compressed posteriorly, depressed and broadened in front. Head wider than deep, flattened below, slightly convex, both longitudinally and transversely, on the top. Snout very wide, short, broadly rounded across the end. Eye moderate, less than one fourth as long as the head and behind its mid length, in width of orbit less than half the interocular space. Nostrils close together, nearer to the eye than to the end of the snout. Snout without a lobe above, as in G. lamta, but with a group of pits at each side of the middle CARMAN: PISCES. 115 of the upper surface. Mouth large, inferior, outline somewhat arched trans- versely; upper lip fringed, connected at the angles with a fold passing a short distance behind that at the hind edge of the disk; jaws sharp-edged. The deep transverse groove in front of the disk, behind the lower jaws, is not con- tinued at its sides. No barbels. Pectorals short, reaching more than half way to the ventrals. Middle of dorsal base half way from snout to base of caudal; fin as high as long, hind margin deeply indented. Ventrals shorter than the dorsal, but extending a little farther backward, origins below the eighth ray of the dorsal. Anal smaller than the ventrals, origin midway be- tween the bases of the ventrals and the base of the caudal. Caudal deeply notched. Total length 10.5 inches. Lower surfaces uniform yellowish; back darker yellow to brownish, each scale with a transverse darker streak on its forward portion, those on the lateral line a little more distinct. The generic diagnosis of Garra being modified so as to include G. imberba, with Bleeker's subdivisions, based on the number of barbels, the subgenera Garra, with four barbels, Discognathus with two, and Ageneiogarra with no barbels, are readily distinguished. Type:— No. 29835 M. C. Z. Western Szechuan: Kiating, Min River. W. R. Zappey. ONYCHOSTOMA LATICEPS Giinther. D. 4 + 8, A. 3 + 5, V. 9, P. 16; LI. 49f; Phar. teeth 5.3.2 2.3.5, slender, pointed. Slight differences from the type are to be seen among these specimens. Head short, about one fifth of the length to the base of the caudal, moderately broad, blunt, arched from the snout to the eyes and across the interorbital region. Eye one fourth of the length of the head, in front of its mid length. No barbels. Mouth large, arched, reaching the sides of the head below the eyes; lower jaws very strong, with a slight knob below the symphysis; upper jaws thin and protrusive (downward); upper lip thin, distinct. Pectorals small, pointed, reaching a vertical from the origin of the dorsal. Dorsal with a strong serrated spine, the fourth ray longer than the head, hind margin of fin concave, angles acute, middle of base in the middle of the total length with- out the caudal. Ventral origin below the sixth dorsal ray, outer angle acute. Anal short, pointed, origin midway from the origins of the ventrals to the base of the caudal, third ray as long as the head. Caudal deeply notched, lobes 116 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. acute. Scales moderate, longitudinally with fine striations. Lateral line in the middle of the side of the tail. Largest specimen eleven inches. Lustrous golden, darker on upper half of body and head; fins darker. Originally described from Huisien. Ichang. CTENOPHARYGODON IDELLUS (Valenciennes) Giinther. D. 10, A. 11, V. 9, P. 20; LI. 43?, 18 scales from head to dorsal; Phar. teeth 4.2 | 2.5. Top and sides of head darkened by dots of black pigment; scales of back and flanks similarly darkened near the edges; fins dark on their edges, distally thickly dotted with black; lower surfaces uniform light. Shasi. MYLOLEUCISCUS ATRIPINNIS, gen. nov. sp. nov. D. 10, A. 11, V. 9, P. 21; LI. 42?; 16 scales in front of the dorsal; Phar. teeth 5 | 5, in a single series. Form resembling that of Ctenopharygodon idellus, elongate, compressed and rather deep in the caudal region. Head about one fourth and depth two ninths of the length from end of snout to base of caudal, a little deeper than broad posteriorly, pointed in front, subquadrangular in cross section; crown broad posteriorly, convex transversely. Eye large, length two ninths of that of the head; bones of the orbital series narrow, preorbital bone little longer than deep. Mouth moderate, somewhat oblique, width and length about equal; maxillary hardly reaching a vertical from the orbit; intermaxillary protractile. No barbels. Pharyngeal teeth in a single series of five, two of which are very broad, stout, rounded molars, the remaining three being longer, more slender, and compressed with crowns of a different shape and concave. Fins rather small. Pectorals reaching two thirds of the distance to the ventrals. Dorsal origin midway from end of snout to base of caudal. Ventral origin below the third ray of the dorsal, fin not reaching as far back as the dorsal. Anal origin midway from origins of ventrals to base of caudal. Caudal notch not half the length of the fin. Body dark with puncticulations of black; fins blackish. Type:— No. 29817 M. C. Z. Hupeh: Shasi. W. R. Zappey. The genus Myloleuciscus may be characterized by a single series of pharyn- geal teeth, some of which are extremely broad, short, rounded molars and CARMAN: PISCES. 117 others are longer, more slender and compressed, and have oblique, concave, pointed crowns. It is probable that Leuciscus aelhiops Basilewsky, 1855, belongs to this genus. Giinther's use of that species as the type of his genus Myloleucus, 1873, will not interfere, since the name Myloleucus had been applied by Cope, 1871, to other species not congeneric. Myloleucus of Giinther, 1873, was "characterized by extremely broad, molar-like pharyngeal teeth, in a single series." SQUALIOBARBUS CURRICULUS (Richardson) Giinther. D. 10, A. 11, V. 9, P. 17; LI. 45f; Phar. teeth 5.3.2 | 2.3.4, compressed, pointed. Dorsal origin midway from snout to base of caudal. Origins of the ventrals below the third ray of the dorsal. Anal origin midway from the axils of the ventrals to the base of the caudal. A minute barbel at the angle of the mouth. Silvery; blackish on the bases of the scales of the flanks and the back, forming longitudinal vittae; silver-white under the edge of the opercle to the shoulders; fins dusky. Ichang. SQUALIOBARBUS ELONGATUS Kner. D. 12, A. 12, V. 10, P. 19; LI. 68-70^, 30 scales from head to dorsal. Mouth reaching to a vertical from the nostril, not to the anterior border of the eye. No barbels. Preorbital bone very large, close to the eye the nostrils and the mouth cleft; suborbitals narrow, elongate. Pharyngeal teeth 5.4.2 | 2.4.4, compressed and hooked. Peritoneum blackish, silvered. Origin of the dorsal halfway from the end of the snout to the base of the caudal, very little farther back than the origins of the ventrals. Scales lustrous silver; back darker, olivaceous. A close ally of Squaliobarbus dahuricus Basilewsky from Mongolia and Mantchuria but distinguished by fewer scales in the lateral line and by the position of the dorsal, nearer the head. Ichang. XENOCYPRIS NITIDUS, sp. nov. D. 3 + 7, A. 3 + 9, V. 9, P. 18; LI. GO^9. Body much compressed, not keeled below, depth, or length of head, about two ninths of the length, without the caudal. Eye large, two sevenths of the head, equal its distance from the end of the snout. Suborbital bones narrow, 118 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. elongate. Snout produced. Mouth inferior, transverse, bent backward at the preorbital bone. Pharyngeal teeth 6.4.2 2.4.6, larger compressed pointed and rigid, smaller slender and movable in the inner rows. Pectorals small, not reaching the ventrals. Ventral origins below the middle of the dorsal base. Third ray of the dorsal strong, as long as the head. Anal small, base twice as far from the bases of the ventrals as from the base of caudal. Dorsal origin a little forward of midway from end of snout to base of caudal, fourth ray in the mid length, spine as long as the head. Caudal deeply notched. Scales moderate. Cheeks and scales silvery; upper half of body, and top of head brownish. Intermediate between X. tapeinosoma Bleeker and X . argentea Giinther. Xenocypris nitidus is more elongate and less oval than X. lampertii Popta; the eye is larger and about half its length is in the hinder half of the head, it is also about twice as far from the upper outline of the head as from the lower; there is no keel in front of the vent; there are more scales in the lateral line and fewer in the transverse; and the origin of the dorsal is farther forward. Types:— No. 29822, 29823 M. C. Z. Hupeh: Shasi. W. R. Zappey. HEMICTJLTER LEUCISCULTJS (Basilewsky) Bleeker. D. 9, A. 16, V. 6, P. 15; LI. 45f, head to dorsal 19 scales. Dorsal origin in the middle of the length from the end of the snout to the base of the caudal, at a vertical from the hind ends of the bases of the ventrals. Pectorals acuminate, ending in front of the origins of the ventrals at a distance greater than the length of the orbit. The type of this species was taken in streams flowing into the Gulf of Chihli. The' specimens in this collection were taken at Shasi on the Yangtze Kiang. Among individual variations it is to be noticed that on some specimens the lateral line rises abruptly above the base of the anal, on four scales, then con- tinues for eight scales in the middle of the caudal pedicel in a direct line; on others the rise is as gradual as that figured by Bleeker. CULTER DABRYI Bleeker. D. 3 + 7, A. 3 + 26, V. 9, P. 15; LI. 64^2. Depth equal four seventeenths of the length to the base of the caudal; head equal two ninths of the same length. Nape slightly convex. Abdominal G ARM AN: PISCES. 119 edge trenchant from the pectorals to the anal. Eye large, diameter nearly one sixth of the head ; longer than the distance from the end of the snout. Mouth nearly vertical, maxillary reaching below the hinder nostril. Preorbital bone deeper than long; suborbitals narrow. Pharyngeal teeth 5.4.2 | 2.4.5, com- pressed, pointed, hooked at the apex. Dorsal origin half the length of the orbit behind the middle of the length from snout to base of caudal; third spine strong, as long as the head. Caudal pedicel longer than deep in the free portion. Lateral line curving downward on the flank and again up to the middle of the pedicel. Total length, six inches. Silvery; back brownish or olive tinted. Shasi. LUCIOBRAMA TYPUS Bleeker. D. 10, A. 13, V. 10, P. 15; LI. 150?§ ca. Head long, pointed, scaleless, one fourth of the total length. Eye in the foremost third of the head. Mouth little longer than the eye; maxillary reaching nearly to the orbit. Dorsal origin in the middle of the length from the eye to the end of the caudal, about one length of the dorsal base farther back than the origin of the anal. Pectorals small. Pharyngeal teeth 5.1 | 1.5 nearly straight, slender, tapering to a point. Bleeker says of these teeth, "valde gracilibus insertis uniseriatis acicularibus vix curvatis 4 | 4," which indicates a considerable variation, with need of some change in the generic diagnosis. Caudal notch deep, lobes subequal. Bright silvery, somewhat darkened on the back. Ichang. HEMIBARBUS MACULATUS Bleeker. D. 3 + 7, A. 3 + 6, V. 9, P. 20; LI. 49?. Maxillary barbels half as long as the orbit. Orbit half as long as the snout, or two ninths of the length of the head. Pharyngeal teeth 5.4.2 | 2.4.5, pointed. Dorsal origin halfway from end of snout to base of caudal. Ventral origins below the fifth ray of the dorsal. Anal origin equidistant from ventral origins and base of caudal. About eight darker blotches on the second row above the lateral line, apparently under the scales; below these the scales are silvery, above they are darker and with dorsal and caudal fins somewhat maculate with dark. Ichang. 120 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. SATJROGOBIO DUMERILII Bleeker. D. 9, A. 9, V. 8, P. 16; LI. 59|. A prominence below the symphysis of the lower jaws. Barbel reaching below the middle of the eye. Pharyngeal teeth 5 5; two of these teeth, in each series, are molar-like, resembling those of Myloleuciscus atripinnis but not so much differentiated. Dorsal origin at one third of the distance from the end of the snout to the base of the caudal, and anal origin in the hindmost fourth of this length. End of dorsal and ends of ventrals opposed. Pectorals reaching a vertical from the origin of the dorsal. Scales of the lateral line and below plain golden; three of the vertebral rows with brown hind margins, three other rows at each side of the dorsal three with a brown spot on the middle of the hinder edge of each scale, forming longitudinal vittae. Bases of fins yellow, distal portions darker. Total length 10? inches. Ichang, Shasi. CORIPAREIUS, gen. nov. Body compressed, deep in the caudal pedicel, dorsal and ventrals in the forward half; head tapering, entirely covered by thick skin; snout produced, blunt. Mouth narrow, inferior, lips thick. Maxillary barbels present. Phar- yngeal teeth 5 | 5 or 4, compressed with large crown. Scales moderate, lateral line straight, in the middle of the tail. Dorsal small, without osseous ray, above the ventrals. Anal short. Type. C. cetopsis (Kner). CORIPAREIUS CETOPSIS Kner. fGobio heterodon BLEEKER, 1864, Ned. tijd., 2, p. 26. Labeo cetopsis KNER, 1867, Novara fische, p. 351, pi. 15, f . 2. Barbus cetopsis GtiNTHER, 1868, Cat., 7, p. 135. Saurogobio cetopsis BLEEKER, 1871, Nat. verb. k. akad., 12, p. 8. D. 9, A. 9, V. 8, P. 19; LI. 54?. The body is rather narrow, depth, or length of head, about one fifth of the total. Head posteriorly as wide as deep, tapering forward, prominent and bluntly rounded at the end of the narrow snout. Nostrils large, close together, near the eye. Eye small, one eighth or less of the head, with a comparatively wide adipose ring. Mouth as wide as long, cleft broadly rounded in front or subtruncate. Lips thick. Barbels two, reaching the hind edge of the pre- opercle. Entire head, including the opercles covered with loose thick skin. CARMAN: PISCES. 121 Pharyngeal teeth 5 | 5 or 4, compressed with expanded crown. All fins acumi- nate. Pectorals reaching the origins of the ventrals, or a vertical from the fifth ray of the dorsal. Dorsal short, without an osseous ray, entirely in the anterior half of the total length, hardly reaching the mid length when depressed; height equal length of head. Ventrals short ; origins below the third dorsal ray. Anal small; origin equidistant from that of caudal and origins of ventrals. Caudal deeply notched, lobes pointed, upper longer. Lateral line on middle of flank and tail, straight. Scales moderate. Lustrous golden, more olive on back and head; each fin with a blackish area in the distal half, tipped with white behind the black. Luchow, Ichang, Shanghai. RHINOGOBIO TYPUS Bleeker. D. 10, A. 9, V. 8, P. 16; LI. 47f. Maxillary barbel reaching behind the middle of the eye. Length of orbit half of its distance from the end of the snout. Pharyngeal teeth in two series 5. 2 | 2.5, crowns hooked at the apex. Origins of pectorals below the fourth ray of the dorsal, fins extending to the origins of the ventrals. Ninth ray of the dorsal in the middle of the length from the snout to the base of the caudal ; third ray shorter than the head. Anal origin about midway from ventral origins to base of caudal. Caudal deeply notched, lobes sharp; caudal pedicel elongate, not deep. Ichang. PSEUDOGOBIO FILIFER, Sp. nOV. D. 10, A. 9, V. 8, P. 13-14; LI. 42-44§. Body elongate, slender, depth about one seventh and head one fifth of the total length. Eye moderate, one fifth of the head, nearly two thirds as long as the snout. Snout one third of the head length. Mouth not reaching a vertical from the eye; upper jaws the longer. Maxillary barbels extending farther back than the eye. Dorsal origin above the origins of the ventrals. Outer angles of pectorals and ventrals thread-like, second ray longest. Pectorals reaching behind the bases of the ventrals. Ventrals reaching nearly as far back as the end of the dorsal. Anal origin about midway from origins of ventrals to base of caudal. Caudal deeply notched, lobes acuminate. Middle of dorsal base equidistant from end of snout and base of caudal. Scales large; lateral 122 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. line descending little on the flank, ending on the middle of the tail. Form more slender than that of P. rivularis, as figured by Steindachner; back less high, dorsal lower; pectorals and ventrals much more produced; colors some- what similar, but having a lateral band of silver with faint darker cloudings. Lustrous silvery below the lateral lines; above the lines darker, blotched, and clouded faintly with brown. Fins, dorsal and caudal, with several oblique rows of small spots of darker brown parallel with the hind borders of the fins and not as in P. sinensis Kner. Types:— No. 29833, 29834 M. C. Z. Hupeh: Changyanghsien, Yangtze Kiang River. W. R. Zappey. BOTIA VARIEGATA Gunther. D. 12, A. 8, V. 10, P. 15; LI. 21518; total length 15 inches. Body compressed, depth nearly one seventh of the total length. Head compressed, little less than one fourth of the total, greatest width about two fifths of the length. Snout narrower than deep, high and broadly rounded at the end. Eye small, hardly one twelfth of the length of the head. Suborbital spine strong, rather slender pointed, not bifid. Barbels six; the maxillary applied to the side of the head reach the end of the snout. Mouth moderate, as wide as long; cleft sub truncate in front; upper jaws with a prominence on the symphysis. Cheek with small scales in front of the operculum backward from the mouth. Pectorals and ventrals with a membranous fold in the axils. Dorsal origin equidistant from eye and base of caudal. Ventral origins below the third ray of the dorsal. Anal origin halfway from the origins of the ventrals to the base of the caudal. Dorsal, pectorals, and anal slightly concave on the hind margin; ventrals little convex. Caudal deeply notched. Outer angles of all fins acute. Depth of caudal pedicel two fifths of its length. Brownish; head with narrow vermiculations and spots of bluish; each fin with about four oblique irregular and broken bands of brown; body with about six broad transverse bands of dark brown; the first and narrowest behind the gill opening, the second between pectorals and dorsal, the third on the origins of the ventrals, the fourth at the end of the dorsal base, the fifth above the anal, and the sixth, as long as deep, on the base of the caudal. The specimen described shows some variations from the type, though both were from the same locality. Ichang. CARMAN: PISCES. 123 SILURIDAE. SILURUS ASOTUS Linn6. Ichang. PSEUDOBAGRUS VACHELLii Richardson. Luchow, Ichang. LIOCASSIS NASO, sp. nov. D. 2 + 7, A. 16, V. 6, P. 1 + 11. Depth of body one sixth, and length of head one fifth of the total length. Head about as broad as high at the occiput, narrowing forward, and from below to the crown. Crown straight from the nape to end of snout. Snout produced, sub truncate, and curving upward and forward from the mouth; not depressed and thin as in species of Macrones, little wider than deep at the end. No labial teeth ; palatal teeth in a transverse band narrowly divided in the middle. Eyes lateral covered by skin, folds rudimentary, above and below. Barbels eight; maxillary slender, not reaching the gill opening, narial reaching the middle of the eye. Nostrils separated; anterior in front of the snout; posterior near the eyes, with a slender barbel in front. Skull covered by thin skin, with a minute spine on each of the ridges above the snout. Denticles of the dorsal spine weaker than those of the inner side of the pectoral spines. Caudal deeply notched. Adipose fin shorter than the head. Brownish, with clouded areas at the top of the head, at the sides of the dorsal and behind it. Type:— No. 29847 M. C. Z. Hupeh: Ichang. W. R. Zappey. SYMBRANCHIDAE. MONOPTERUS JAVANENSIS Lace'pede. Muraena alba ZUIEW, 1793. Monoplerus javanensis LAcfipfcDE, 1800. The arrangement of the colors on this eel is suggestive that the back and upper surfaces are exposed to the more direct rays of light; these portions of the body are dark while the lower half is much lighter and even white. Further, the chin and throat are much darker than the balance of the lower surfaces, which is probably due to the habitual carriage of head and neck raised above the horizontal. Washan; from a marsh near the Tung River, at an altitude of 6,000 feet or more. AMPHIBIA AND EEPTILIA. BY THOMAS BARBOUR. The collection embraces twenty-three species. For the most part they are long known and wide-ranging forms. Three species, Hyla monticola, Ambly- cephalus chinensis, and Agkistrodon tibelanus, are described as new. The geographical ranges of several species have been extended by the material in hand; and one species, Batrachypterus sinensis Boulenger, is inter- esting because of its rarity. So few collections have been made in the higher regions of the Szechwan- Tibetan mountain area that even so small a series is of peculiar interest in that it affords another addition to our knowledge of a region which has doubtless been the centre of dispersal for very many different forms. AMPHIBIA. CRYPTOBRANCHIDAE. MEGALOBATRACHUS JAPONICUS (Temminck). TEMMINCK, Fauna Japon., 1837, pt. 3, Coup d'oeil, p. xxvi (fide Stejneger). STEJNEGBB, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 6-11. Stejneger says that he has no means of verifying the fact that Boulenger regards Sieboldia davidiana Blanchard from China as identical with Japanese specimens. That Boulenger, as was expected, as well as Krefft and Gray were correct in this stand is proven by material now in hand. Mr. Zappey took a fine example about two feet long at Yachow, and a young one at Hungyahsien both towns in western Szechwan. They are not distinguishable from Japanese specimens. Stejneger (loc. cit., p. 7) notes the three records of Blanchard, Krefft, and Gray from China. Other specimens are, one taken by Mr. A. E. Pratt at Kiatingfu, Szechwan, which Gtinther called Megalobatrachus maximus, a syno- nym of japonicus. Walterstorff (Abh. Mus. f. natur. u. heimkunde Magde- burg, 1906, 1, 2, p. 123) records two young examples obtained from native sources somewhere in the country back of Canton, collection of Dr. Martin 126 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. Kreyenberg. Walterstorff adds (p. 132) "Sonst in China von Muping, West- Sze-Tschuan, bekannt." Probably the species will prove widely distributed in China from the Yangtze southward. AMBLYSTOMATIDAE. BATRACHYPTERUS SINENSIS (Sauvage). Plate 1, Fig. 1. SAUVAGE, Bull. Soc. philom. eer. 7, 1, p. 117. BOULENOER, Cat. Batr. Grad., 1882, p. 37. It is a pleasure to record the capture of this rare form at Lianghokow, west- ern Szechwan, at an altitude of over 12,000 feet. Mr. Zappey tells me that the single example taken was walking over a bed of damp moss among the stunted spruces and firs at the very limit of tree growth. There was no pond or stream of running water near by. It varies considerably from Boulenger's description in that the tail is little compressed and shows much less fin than his figure does ; the digits are somewhat more slender; and the coloration is slightly different. The most important difference, however, is that the palatine teeth, instead of being "in two short transverse arched series between the choanae," are in two straight series slanting sharply and converging slightly anterior to the choanae; but still with a wide interspace, as Boulenger describes. Altogether while a series might prove that this form is specifically distinct, it seems more likely that the differences are due to individual variation, which in such characters as length of digits, for instance, so often shows such marked differences in these lowly forms. BUFONIDAE. BUFO BUFO GARGARIZANS (Cantor). CANTOR, Ann. mag. nat. hist., 1842, 9, p. 483. STEJNEOER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 68. Mr. Zappey took nine toads about Ichang. These have been referred with a certain hesitation to Cantor's subspecies as Stejneger defined its range. Unfor- tunately we have no Russian, Turkestan, or Upper Chinese material available for comparison. The specimens vary greatly in the distinctness of the tym- panum, which is easily seen, and is half as large as the eye in some, while in BARBOUR: AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 127 others it can be made out only by close scrutiny. The back of some, as well as the sides and thighs, are covered with large round tubercles, while in one the back has only scattered spine-bearing warts. In some the second finger is con- siderably longer than the first while in others they are of about equal size. In one the parotid gland has a tendency toward a crescentic shape, while in another it is simply elongate. The amount of black both above and below varies extremely. • HYLIDAE. HYLA ARBOREA IMMACULATA Boettger. BOETTGER, Ber. Senck. naturf. ges., 1888, Abh., p. 189. STEJNEQER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 82-84. Two specimens agree perfectly with the description of this subspecies, except that there is a web between the outer fingers. Unfortunately the locality tags are missing, and it is impossible to state whether they came from about Ichang or from Szechwan. Stejneger has covered the question of the identity of the various east Asiastic tree toads so completely that there is no need of further remarks on the subject. The Chinese and Japanese specimens in the M. C. Z. collection substantiate his conclusions. HYLA MONTICOLA, sp. nov. Plate 1, Fig. 2. Type: — No. 2553 M. C. Z. Washan, western Szechwan, China. Altitude 10,500 feet. One adult specimen. W. R. Zappey. Very distinct from Hyla annectans Boulenger and Hyla chinensis Gunther with specimens of which it has been compared. Vomerine teeth in two elongate series, well separated, converging back- ward, beginning between the middle of the extremely small choanae and extend- ing considerably posterior to them. Tongue large and long, deeply nicked behind. Nostrils midway between eye and tip of snout, their distance from each other much greater than their distance from the labial margin. Inter- orbital space much greater than width of upper eyelid. Tympanum almost circular, its diameter less than half that of eye. Fingers distinctly webbed at base, slender, terminating in very small disks. Feet with rather slightly devel- oped webs, tarsometatarsal joint, reaching tip of snout. Toes long, disks 128 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. slightly larger than those of fingers. Subarticular tubercles very weak; a weak inner and no outer metatarsal tubercle. Skin above smooth, below smooth on chest, but granular on throat and strongly granular on belly. An external vocal sac in male. Color in alcohol: — blue above with ocelli of dark brown, their centres brick-red. Throat dusky gray. Belly and inner side of limbs white, with many dark spots. Color in life: — "green above, with ocelli of brown, with reddish centres. Inner side of thighs buff. Lower surfaces chrome-yellow" (W. R. Zappey). The surmise from its structure that this was a ground-inhabiting form was confirmed by Mr. Zappey, who tells me that it was taken above tree line among low bushes and grass about two feet high. RANIDAE. RANA TIGERINA Daudin. DAUDIN, Hist. nat. rain., 1803, fol. ed., p. 42; quarto ed., pt. 20, p. 64; Hist. nat. rept., 1803, 8, p. 125. STEJNEGEK, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 139-142. The forty-four specimens of this common and wide-ranging frog show no appreciable difference from specimens taken in India and Burma. As Bengal was the type locality for the species, this fixes beyond doubt the identity of the Chinese individuals. Stejneger states that Formosan specimens agree with Chinese from Hong Kong. Van Kampen (Max Weber's Zool. ergeb., 1907, 4, 2, p. 388, pi. 16, fig. C.) has separated examples from Celebes under the name of R. t. angustopalmata. This is probably a distinct species. The Bornean species is Rana schlueteri Werner. Specimens from Java show other differences, as do also those from the Malay peninsula; and those from the Philippines are recognizable as Rana vittigera Weigmann. Though of high interest and importance a complete study of this species is impossible owing to the lack of adults from the various localities. They are extremely shy. In this Ichang series not one is fully adult. I have taken specimens throughout the range of the species but have adults from Java only. The Museum has some from India. BARBOUR: AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 129 RANA NIGROMACULATA Hallowell. HALLOWELL, Proc. Acad. nat. sci. Phila., 1860, p. 500. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 94-100. Two specimens from Ichang show a slight variation from specimens from Pekin, in that the vomerine teeth-groups are rather less prominent and slightly nearer each other. Externally the two lots agree. One of Mr. Zappey's two examples shows an interesting abnormality. On the left-hand side the tym- panum is wanting and the left vomerine tooth group as well. The opposite side shows a perfectly normal condition. RANA PLANCYI Lataste. LATASTE, Bull. Soc. zool. France, 1880, 6, p. 64. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. 8. N. M. 1907, p. 101-102. Six frogs taken at Ichang belong to this species. Dr. Stejneger very kindly identified them for me, and from his account (loc. tit.) we find previous locality records as follows: — Peking (type locality), Shanghai, Chusan, Ningpo, and Formosa. These six specimens taken by Mr. Zappey extend the range of the species very greatly. REPTILIA. NATRICIDAE. PTYAS MUCOSUS (Linne). LINNE, Syst. nat., ed. 10, 1758, 1, p. 226. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 345-347. A single specimen from Ichang, about five feet long. Scale rows 17; ven- trals 196, subcaudals 100, anal divided. There are 8 supralabials, and numbers four and five enter the eye. The three middle rows of scales are not keeled. There is but one loreal. Widely distributed over all southeastern continental Asia. ELAPHE TAENIURUS Cope. COPE, Proc. Acad. nat. sci. Phila., 1860, p. 565. BOULENGER, Cat. snakes Brit, mus., 1894, 2, p. 47. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 319. The record of this wide ranging form from 10,300 feet at Laolingkung near the Tibetan frontier of western Szechwan is interesting as giving a clew to the 130 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. extent of its vertical distribution in China. The scale formula of 23 rows, 230 ventrals, and 104 subcaudals is typical. Two other specimens without data are from either Hupeh or Szechwan. Stejneger says, "Ranging from Darjeeling in the west to Formosa and the Amur Province in the east, this species has the regular Himalayo-Chinese distribution." DINODON RUFOZONATUM (Cantor). CANTOR, Zool. Chusan, 1840, pi. 11; Ann. mag. nat. hist., 1842, 9, p. 483. BOULENGER, Cat. snakes Brit, mus., 1893, 1, p. 361-362. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 358-363. A specimen in every respect typical, from Ichang, Hupeh. This species is a common one ranging throughout China and Korea. LIOPELTIS MAJOR (Gunther). G(JNTHER, Cat. coll. snakes Brit, mus., 1858, p. 120. BOULENGER, Cat. snakes Brit, mus., 1894, 2, p. 279. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 338-340. A single typical specimen increases considerably the known range of this species. Stejneger speaks of it as "apparently restricted to the lower Yangtse Valley and coasts of eastern China, between Hongkong and Shanghai, as well as to Formosa." The example in hand, however, comes from "eight days' journey northwest of Ichang, Hupeh." It has been compared with a specimen from Formosa, in this Museum (T. Barbour coll.), and found to be almost iden- tical. In both specimens the rostral shield is divided. NATRIX ANNULARIS (Hallowell). HALLOWELL, Proc. Acad. nat. sci. Phila., 1856, p. 151. BOULENGER, Cat. snakes Brit, mus., 1893, 1, p. 233. A single specimen from Ichang whence the species does not appear to have been previously recorded. A. E. Pratt reported the species common about Kiukiang much lower down the Yangtze. The species ranges over middle China and Formosa. The specimen shows only 139 ventrals, while Boulenger notes a range of from 145 to 161. Another difference is the three postoculars in addition to the subocular on one side; on the other side the normal condi- tion of 2 + 1 obtains. Again on one side the loreal is deeper than broad, while the normal opposite is found on the other side. The outer row of scales is without keel, as are also a considerable number in the second row. The tern- HARBOUR: AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 131 porals are normal 2 + 3 on both sides. There is but one preocular and nine supralabials on each side; of these 4 and 5 enter the orbit. The scales are in 19 rows, anal is divided, ventrals, as already mentioned, 139, while part of the tail has been lost, only 54 pairs of subcaudals remaining. PSEUDOXENODON siNENSis Boulenger. BOULENGER, Ann. mag. nat. hist., 1904, ser. 7, 13, p. 134. This form, which Boulenger remarks is so very nearly related to P. macrops (Blyth), is nevertheless a distinct and easily distinguishable one. As it was reported by the describer from both Yunnan and Szechwan, it is not surprising to find a typical example from Laolingkung, western Szechwan at an altitude of 10,300 feet. Not long ago I was fortunate enough to get a specimen taken at Ytinnanfu by Mr. Graham at 6,000 feet altitude. Boulenger's Yunnan records were based on specimens taken by the same collector in the same locality. Both of these examples come within the range of variation which Boulenger cites for the five previously published specimens. So far as known the species is confined to Szechwan and Yunnan. ELAPIDAE. BUNGARUS CAERULEUS MULTICINCTUS (Blyth). BLYTH, Journ. Asiat. soc. Bengal, 1861, 29, p. 98. BOULENGER, Cat. snakes Brit, mus., 1896, 3, p. 369. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 397-399. Dr. Stejneger (loc. cit.) has treated this form as one which he must consider nominally of specific value until it can be actually shown to join the Indian Krait B. caeruleus. The differences, however, are of such slight value that they do not warrant more than subspecific rank, even though our present insufficient material does not permit of our showing now the intergrading with not only the typical race, but also with the considerably more distinct Malaysian form, B. candidus. This race, which is distributed through southern China from "The moun- tains north of Kiu-kiang" on the Yangtze-kiang to Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and the islands of Hainan and Formosa. Mr. Zappey's example from Ichang, Hupeh seems the first taken in that province and extends considerably the hitherto known range into western China. 132 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. AMBLYCEPHALIDAE. AMBLYCEPHALTJS CHINENSIS, sp. nov. Plate 2, Fig. 1. Type: — No. 7326 M. C. Z. Luluping, western Szechwan, China. W. R. Zappey. Closely related to A. monticola (Cantor) from the eastern Himalayas, Khasi and Naga hills, and the Nocobar Islands. Rostral not quite as deep as broad; internasals not half as long as pre- frontals; latter entering orbit; frontal slightly longer than broad, longer than its distance from the end of the snout, much shorter than the parietals; loreal present but excluded from and entering orbit by two rather small preoculars; two postoculars, which on one side are fused into one; temporals 2+3; seven upper labials of which the fourth barely enters the orbit on one side, while on the other all are excluded by the extended inferior pref rentals and postfrontals ; three pairs of large chin shields, anterior longer than broad and in contact with the symphyrial. Scales in 15 rows, smooth; three rows of vertebrals slightly enlarged. Ventrals 180; anal entire; subcaudals 60. Color : — brown above, with vertical blackish bars on the sides ; a black line from eye extending along nape, which is connected with its fellow on the opposite side by a black line which curves forward so as to almost touch the parietals; another black line from the eye to the angle of the mouth; yellowish below with very scattered dots of blackish brown. Although there can be no doubt as to the very great similarity of this species with Cantor's A. monticola, yet it may be easily distinguished by the fact that the loreal does not enter the eye; nor does more than one labial. The very slightly enlarged vertebrals have no tendency toward becoming hexagonal, and there are rather fewer of both ventral and subcaudal scales in the type specimen than the least number recorded for Cantor's species. It shows rela- tionship also with A. malaccanus (Peters), which, however, has no preocular. CROTALIDAE. AGKISTRODON BLOMHOFFII BREVICAUDUS Stejneger. Plate 2, Fig. 2. STEJNEOBR, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 463-464. BARBOUR: AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 133 To this recently described subspecies three specimens taken by Mr. Zappey may be assigned. Two are from Ichang, from whence specimens have been recorded from the collection of the British museum (Stejneger, loc. cit., p. 454). The scales run 21 rows; 145 ventrals, 39 subcaudals, and 7 labials for one, the other is mutilated. The third specimen comes from Kweichowhsien, Hupeh. Scales in 21 rows; 141 ventrals; 35 subcaudals, and 7 labials. Occurs in Korea, eastern and part of central and of western China, Formosa, and possibly Hainan. AGKISTRODON TIBETANUS, sp. nov. Plate 2, Fig. 3, 4. Type:— No. 7327 M. C. Z. Ramala Pass beyond Tachienlu, western Sze- chwan: altitude 13,000 feet. W. R. Zappey. Rostral as high as broad, scarcely visible from above; internasals large, roughly triangular, their suture almost as long as that of prefrontals, which are broadly in contact with supraoculars; frontal longer than broad, as long as the distance from rostral supraoculars, as long as frontal but narrower; parietals considerably longer than supraoculars; nostril round in the posterior part of the anterior nasal, which is slightly larger than the posterior; two loreals, one above the other, the lower one bordering the pit anteriorly; a narrow subfoveal enters the orbit with two preoculars, one of which also borders the pit posteriorly; pit very near eye, in fact meeting the orbit; two postoculars, of which the lower is long, narrow, and concentric, reaching far under the eye, but not approaching the scales behind the pit, as in A. blomhoffii; 2+4 temporals, of which the lower ones in each row are large hexagonal shields, those above being small scales (none keeled as in A. blomhoffii) ; the lower temporal of the third row large and shaped like those in front of it ; the three lower temporals forming a series of large shields, larger than the adjoining labials; seven upper labials, second smallest, third and fourth very large, the rest gradually diminishing in size posteriorly; the third enters the eye for its entire superior margin, chin shields as in Stejneger's figure of the ventral view of head of A. blomhoffii (Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 458, fig. 364) ; twenty-one rows of keeled scales, usually with indistinct apical pits; 152 ventrals; anal entire; 43 subcaudals, all divided. The color is worthy of somewhat extended notice. The whole back is dull green with rhombic darker markings. Lower surfaces mottled black and dark grayish. Lower row of scales with light spots which alternate with light spots 134 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. on the extremities of the ventrals; between these two series of spots runs a zigzag black continuous band. On top of the head there is a dark blotch running from the edge of the frontal to a band from eye along neck. A rough horseshoe- shaped mark on the nape of the neck with the bow directed forward. The figures of this example compared with one of A. b. brevicaudus Stejneger show how radical is the difference in type of marking between the two forms, as well as the other divergences. When showing the type of this species to Dr. Stejneger, he at once confirmed my decision to describe it as new, and remarked that he did not believe it to be very nearly related to any of the described forms, but to represent. a species by far the most primitive of any in the genus. This is, of course, exactly what one might suppose would be the case with a form coming from the habitat of A. tibetanus. AGAMIDAE. JAPALURA YUNNANENSIS Anderson. ANDERSON, Zool. W. Yunnan, 1878, p. 803, pi. 66, fig. 2. BOULENGER, Cat. lizards Brit, mus., 1885, 1, p. 310. Five specimens taken among Cacti on the sandy shores of the Tung River in western Szechwan. These show no essential differences from Anderson's figure except that in none of these examples, and one is an adult male, do the spines of the weak nuchal crest reach the length which his figure shows. For in that three or four spines on the nape have a length almost equalling the diameter of the orbit, in none of these is the length one third as great. The types came from Momein or Tengyuehchow in western Yunnan. Swinhoe has collected the species in Szechwan. SCINCIDAE. ETJMECES XANTHI Giinther. GATHER, Ann. mag. nat. hist., 1889, ser. 6, 4, p. 220. A single specimen from Ichang, the type locality and the only one from whence the species has been reported, differs somewhat from the original descrip- tion. There is only one loreal, which, however, forms a suture with the fronto- nasals. There is also only one pair of nuchals. The second azygos postmental is separated from the first by the meeting on the median line of a pair of large BARBOUR: AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. 135 gular shields. There are five light longitudinal stripes on the back and sides. The central one bifurcates on the head, and the resultants meet the laterodorsal bands at the anterior margin of the eye. LEIOLEPISMA LATERALE (Say). SAY, Long's exped. Rocky Mts., 1823, 2, p. 324. BOULENGER, Cat. lizards Brit, mus., 1887, 3, p. 264. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 218. Careful comparison of a specimen taken by Mr. Zappey at Washan, western Szechwan, at 6,000 feet altitude, and another which the writer obtained, col- lected by Mr. John Graham at Yiinnanfu at the same altitude, with North American examples, has forced the same conclusion previously reached by Boulenger and Stejneger as to the identity of specimens from both continents. Among a number of examples in the collection of the M. C. Z. from Florida, Texas, and Arkansas, individuals may be picked out which can not be separated from the two Chinese examples mentioned. Thus L. reevesii (Gray) becomes a synonym of L. laterale (Say). This most remarkable distribution embraces the southeastern United States west to the Rockies, and including Mexico (Jalapa, example in British Museum), as well as almost all of southern and central China and the Riu Kiu Islands. TRIONYCHIDAE. AMYDA SINENSIS (Wiegmann). WIEGMANN, Nova acta Acad. Leop. Carol., 1834, 17, p. 189. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 524-526. A specimen from Chungking, Szechwan, which I have compared with ex- amples in the collection of the U. S. N. M. from other localities, does not differ appreciably from specimens from Honan and Formosa, nor yet from Japanese examples, so that it adds evidence in support of Stejneger (Proc. U. S. N. M. 1910, 38, p. 114). TESTUDINIDAE. GEOCLEMYS REEVESII (Gray). GRAY, Synopsis rept,., 1831, p. 73. STEJNEGER, Bull. 58, U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 497-500. Eleven specimens from Ichang. 136 SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. Stejneger says: "In China it is known from Tientsin to Canton, and in the interior at least as far as Hankow." It occurs also in Cochin China, Korea, and Japan. It will be noticed that the capture of these Ichang specimens extends the range for some distance up the Yangtze beyond Hankow. AVES. BY JOHN E. THAYER AND OUTRAM BANGS. This collection of birds numbers 3,135 beautifully prepared skins, belong- ing to 358 species and subspecies. Considering the work that has been done in this region during the last forty years the collection is rich in novelties. In a preliminary paper — Descriptions of new birds from central China. Bull. M. C. Z., 1909, 52, p. 139-141, — -we have already described eight new forms, and now add one new genus, five new species, and seven new subspecies. When Mr. Zappey started it was expected that a Chinaman, perhaps one of the "shooting-men" trained by Mr. Styan, could aid in the collection and preparation of skins, but unfortunately none was available and Mr. Zappey did all the work himself, and deserves the greatest praise for his industry and zeal. Specimens of nearly all the species seen were secured. Swans, cranes, and storks were now and then observed but were too shy to be shot with a gun, and were most frequently in places where it was too dangerous to use a rifle. The Solitary snipe, Gallinago solitaria, was seen on two occasions, one being shot near Ichang the first year, but its condition was such that it could not be preserved, and another flushed in the high grass lands of western Sze- chwan when with a rifle Mr. Zappey was stalking sheep. Another bird, a green pigeon, was seen twice, but was not taken. A flock of six or eight of these were feeding in the low shrubbery at a great altitude in the mountains of western Szechwan. They were very tame, but when approached to* within gun-shot distance they were obscured by clouds and when the weather cleared the birds had disappeared. The second flock was seen by Mr. Wilson near the same place but when he was without a gun. Time did not allow a visit to the Moupin district so famous, ornithologi- cally, from the work done there by Pere David, while the high mountains about Tachienlu, also a very famous region for birds, proved a great disappointment. The Chinese as they have gradually wrested this country from the Zolo tribes- men have burned the woods, reducing to ashes hundreds of miles of magnificent coniferous forest. This probably accounts for the absence in this collection of several of the species described from this region by Pere David, Oustalet, and others. Of the places visited, one, the Washan mountains, nesds special men- 13S SOME CHINESE VERTEBRATES. tion. This high isolated range proved the richest field explored during the whole trip, and most of the peculiar birds and mammals secured came from it. It is to be regretted that so short a time, a few days in the spring and again a few in autumn, could be spent there. All the altitudes were taken by Mr. Zappey himself with an aneroid. We have followed the systematic sequence of Sharpe's Hand list, but our use of the 10th edition of Linn6's Systema will account for the difference in many of the names employed. All measurements are in millimeters and the colors according to Ridgway's nomenclature. We have compared many of our specimens with material in the U. S. national museum, and have received the constant aid and advice of Dr. Chas. W. Richmond and Mr. Harry C. Oberholser to whom our sincere thanks are tendered. TETRAONIDAE. TETRASTES SEVERTZOVI Prjevalsky. Three specimens were taken in western Szechwan, an adult male, at Tachi- enlu, 13,500 feet, July 9, 1907, an adult female and a young female about half grown at Shuowlow, 14,000 feet, August 19, 1908. PHASIANIDAE. TETRAOPHASIS SZECHENYII Madarasz. Seven specimens, six adults of both sexes and a half grown young male | were taken in western Szechwan, Ramala Pass, Shuowlow, and Nachuka, in August, 1908, at altitudes ranging from 14,000 to 15,500 feet. The young is very different in color-pattern from the adult, the plumage of both upper and under parts being much marked and variegated with gray and buff on a dark brown ground color, giving the young bird a grouse-like appearance. PERDIX HODGSONIAE SIFANICA Prjevalsky. Five adults, both sexes, Tachienlu, Ramala Pass, and Lanerhyingpa, western Szechwan, 11,000 to 15,000 feet, midsummer. This form is certainly only a smaller and otherwise slightly different sub- species of P. hodgsoniae. The principal color difference is that P. h. sifanica THAYER AND BANGS: AVES. 139 lacks the black breast patch of true hodgsoniae; the other supposed color char- acters appear to be very variable. COTURNIX JAPONICA (Temminck & Schlegel). Twenty specimens, both sexes, Ichang, and Changyanghsien, western Hupeh, autumn, and April. This series is entirely referable to this very distinct species. Some young males have a little black on the throat, but they show the long lanceolate throat feathers. Some young females show the elongate throat feathers very slightly, but otherwise are exactly like more adult females that show this character very plainly. BAMBUSICOLA THORACICA (Temminck). Four adult males, Kiating, Chungking, and Yachow, western Szechwan, November, and December. ITHAGENES GEOFFROYI Verreaux. Eight specimens, seven adults of both sexes, and one young male less than half grown were taken at Tachienlu, Tongolow, Shuowlow, Ramala Pass, and Kaoerhshan, western Szechwan, at altitudes ranging from 12,000 to 15,500 feet, in July, and August. The young male, Tachienlu, 12,000 feet, July 19, 1908, has the head and nape blackish ashy, and the body feathers with conspicuous pale shaft-stripes; the gray tail feathers and pointed red tail-coverts of the adult plumage are just beginning to show. ITHAGENES WILSONI, sp. nov. Two adult males, Washan, western Szechwan, 9,000 feet altitude, No- vember 2, 1908. Type:— No. 52366 M. C. Z. adult