Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/236

 The wild animals of the Munni-ula are less plentiful than one would have expected. Of the larger mammalia the only representatives are the stag (Cervus elaphus), the pygarg (Cervus pygargus), the mountain antelope (Antilope caudata), the wolf (Canis lupus), and the fox (Canis vulpes), but not one of the feline race, although, as we heard from the inhabitants, there used to be panthers and even tigers. Of the class of Rodents there are probably mice and weasels in the forest, hares (Lepus Tolai), common throughout Mongolia and marmots (Spermophilus sp.) in the valleys on the outskirts of the mountains. The last-mentioned animal is about the size of a rat, and at the sight of man, or merely from fright, it sits up on its hind legs near its burrow and whistles.

Birds are more plentiful, yet the ornithology of the Munni-ula is poor in comparison with the extent of its woods. The sudden changes of temperature, from calms to storms, from excessive dryness to great moisture, probably prevent many of the Chinese birds from penetrating to even the best parts of the plateau of Mongolia, In the wildest and most inaccessible cliffs of the alpine zone the vulture (Vultur monachus) and lammergeier (Gypäetos barbatus) build their nests, two enormous birds with a nine-feet stroke of wing. Side by side with them live the swifts (Cypselus leucopyga), the noisy red-legged crow (Fregiluis graculuis), and the rock dove (