_Plate II.--Characteristic Mammalia of Western Tartary._--Several of the most remarkable animals of the Palæarctic region inhabit Western Tartary, and are common to the European and Siberian sub-regions. We therefore choose this district for one of our illustrative plates. The large animals in the centre are the remarkable saiga antelopes (_Saiga Tartarica_), distinguished from all others by a large and fleshy proboscis-like nose, which gives them a singular appearance. They differ so much from all other antelopes that they have been formed into a distinct family by some naturalists, but are here referred to the great family Bovidæ. They inhabit the open plains from Poland to the Irtish River. On the left is the mole-rat, or sand-rat (_Spalax murinus_). This animal burrows under ground like a mole, feeding on bulbous roots. It inhabits the same country as the saiga, but extends farther south in Europe. On the right is a still more curious animal, the desman (_Myogale Muscovitica_), a long-snouted water-mole. This creature is fifteen inches long, including the tail; it burrows in the banks of streams, feeding on insects, {219}worms, and leeches; it swims well, and remains long under water, raising the tip of the snout, where the nostrils are situated, to the surface when it wants to breathe. It is thus well concealed; and this may be one use of the development of the long snout, as well as serving to follow worms into their holes in the soft earth. This species is confined to the rivers Volga and Don in Southern Russia, and the only other species known inhabits some of the valleys on the north side of the Pyrenees. In the distance are wolves, a characteristic feature of these wastes. Plate II. [Illustration] CHARACTERISTIC MAMMALIA OF WESTERN TARTARY. _Birds._--But few genera of birds are absolutely restricted to this sub-region. _Podoces_, a curious form of starling, is the most decidedly so; _Mycerobas_ and _Pyrrhospiza_ are genera of finches confined to Thibet and the snowy Himalayas; _Leucosticte_, another genus of finches, is confined to the eastern half of the sub-region and North America; _Tetraogallus_, a large kind of partridge, ranges west to the Caucasus; _Syrrhaptes_, a form of sand-grouse, and _Lerwa_ (snow-partridge), are almost confined here, only extending into the next sub-region; as do _Grandala_, and _Calliope_, genera of warblers, _Uragus_, a finch allied to the North American cardinals, and _Crossoptilon_, a remarkable group of pheasants.