# The Zoologist/3rd series, vol 1 (1877)/Issue 3/Notices of New Books

Published in The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1, issue 3, p. 116–120
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
The object of the mission of which these two handsome volumes detail the result was to settle the disputed boundaries on the ​eastern frontier of the Persian empire, the disputants being virtually the Shah of Persia on the one hand, and the Amir of Afghanistan (in right of certain acquired interest through rebel feudatories) on the other. By the settlement arrived at through this Commission, Persia got the position which is designated as Sistán Proper, while to Afghanistan was allotted the country on the right bank of the river Helmund, and, above a certain point on that stream, all the cultivated land on both banks.
Owing to numerous delays and difficulties which our diplomacy apparently created rather than averted, the labours of the Commissioners were tediously prolonged during several years, and the first volume of the work before us is occupied with narratives of the various journeys necessitated or undertaken, and an account of the observations and researches made en route by the different members of the Staff. It is in fact a kind of Blue Book of the Persian Boundary Commission, and undoubtedly embodies a large amount of valuable information, although of a nature somewhat foreign to the scope of this journal.
The second volume demands a more lengthy notice at our hands. Fortunately for all who are interested in Natural History, there was one amongst the above-named officers, Major O.B. St. John, who was actuated by far higher views than those of an ordinary traveller and sportsman, and, with the aid of a native collector sent from the Indian Museum at Calcutta, he amassed during the years 1869–70–71 no less than 500 specimens of mammals and birds from such hitherto little-known districts as the forests south and west of Shiraz and its vicinity, and also from the hill ranges between Shiráz and Isfahán, from Tehrán and the Elburz mountains, and from the neighbourhood of Resht, near the Caspian. The consequence of this able pioneering was that when a highly trained scientific observer like Mr. Blanford arrived in the country, in 1872, he found the road considerably smoothed for him, from a naturalist's point of view, and indeed the valuable co-operation of Major St. John is most fully acknowledged by him in these pages. These two naturalists then made a journey in company from Gwádor, in Balúchistán, to Shiráz, Isfahán, and Tehrán, and the result of their joint observations and collections, the latter carefully worked out in Europe with the aid of the best public and private museums for comparison and identification, appear in the present volume.
​The author's systematic catalogue principally relates to mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibia, 347 species and 2051 specimens of which were obtained, exclusive of collections of individuals of the two latter groups previously examined and described by Dr. Anderson, of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Mr. Blanford's scientific descriptions are supplemented by many valuable and interesting remarks by Major St. John, relative to the habits of the various species he observed during his prolonged residence in Persia, an advantage from which Mr. Blanford was necessarily debarred. He modestly states that even the present cannot pretend to be other than a very imperfect list of the fauna of this vast—and to a great extent, unexplored—country, the northeastern portion of which is still almost a terra incognita, whilst there is much to be learned respecting the animals inhabiting the plains extending from the Tigris to the Zagros mountains, the western slopes of which are covered with forest, as are also the southern shores of the Caspian. Prior to the present expedition our knowledge of the Zoology of Persia proper was extremely limited, the explorations of Pallas and Eichwald having been restricted to the shores of the Caspian, whilst those of Gildenstadt were principally confined to the Caucasus, and by far the most important, although still meagre, information was to be derived from the "Noté di un viaggio in Persia" (Milan, 1865), by Professor De Filippi, of Turin, who accompanied an Italian embassy in 1862. In this work a list is given of 30 species of mammals, 167 birds, 39 reptiles, 3 amphibia, and 22 fishes; but the investigations of Major St. John and Mr. Blanford have increased this catalogue to no less than 89 mammals, 384 birds, 92 reptiles, and 9 amphibia! The number of species is not surprising when we consider the great variation in soil, climate, and temperature to be found in a country like Persia, which consists to a great extent of desert plateaux of varying and often considerable elevation, for the most part destitute of vegetation, whilst on the shores of the Caspian is a moist forest region, and a thick belt of woodland also extends from the Zagros mountains to Shiráz; and again towards the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean the vegetation becomes more tropical, though rarely luxuriant. Mr. Blanford analyses the character of the distinctive fauna of each of the various regions, and sums up that of the Persian highlands as being Palæarctic, with a great prevalence of desert forms, remarking ​upon the great difficulty of establishing a desert province, although there can be little doubt as to the existence of a true desert fauna.
Many of the forms of animal life are characteristic of Central Asia, especially the Ounce (F. uncia), Alactaga indica, a Jerboa hitherto only known from Afghanistan, and Spermophilus concolor, amongst mammals; whilst such more widely distributed forms as Felis pardus, F. chaus, Ovis cycloceros, Capra ægagrus, &c., are also to be found, along with species restricted to Persia, representative forms of well-known families. Such are the new species of Hedgehog, Erinaceus macracanthus, Vulpes persicus, Meles canescens, Gerbillus persicus, and Gazella subgutturosa, whilst under still closer restrictions as regards range we find three species of Bats, a Jerboa, and Lagomys rufescens, a Nuthatch (Sitta rupicola), and ten species of reptiles. The fauna of the forest district along the south-east coast of the Caspian is extremely interesting, for, although on the whole Palaearctic, there are several species apparently peculiar to the locality, and also several Eastern forms unknown in other parts of Persia, such as the Tiger, Cervus Caspius (a Deer allied to C. axis, belonging to the Indo-Malayan group), and a Viper (Halys Pallasii). The existence of the Tiger in the Caspian provinces north of the Elburz range, corresponding in part to the ancient Hyrcania, was well known to ancient writers, and allusion to Hyrcanian and Caucasian Tigers must be familiar to all readers of Virgil; but the fact of a Deer of Indo-Malayan affinities being found in the same district as Cervus morral, the only true Elaphine Deer which is found in Persia, is very remarkable, and an important addition to our knowledge of geographical distribution. The birds of this district call for little remark, as the author's new species, Erythacus hyrcanus, is confessedly only a local and brilliant form of the common Robin, and Garrulus hyrcanus is one of those local forms of the Jay which drive the systemalist to despair, with the alternative of "lumping" nearly all the races together, or of making as many species as there are varieties. With regard to the wooded slopes of the Zagros, and the oak forest as far as Shiráz, the fauna, so far as known from Major St. John's collections, appears to be mainly Palæarctic, although one of the characteristic mammals is the Lion, which is found in Mesopotamia. It does not appear to exist on the tableland of Persia, nor in Balúchistán, and, so far as can be judged ​from the limited knowledge we possess, it rather resembles the form inhabiting North-East Africa than the Guzerat animal. Major St. John's notes upon this species are extremely interesting, and the narrative of his adventure with a lioness is of far more thrilling interest than half the stories put together with which we are familiar. Indeed of late nothing less than four or five lions bolting from cover altogether at a "hot corner," and being rolled over (on paper) like rabbits, will suit the modern appetites for large bags, and it is refreshing to meet with a lioness that could look an Englishman in the face without dying on the spot.
This district produced a new species of Woodpecker (Picus Sancti-Johannis), closely allied to the European P. medius, and two new Titmice—one Parus phæonotus, allied to P. ater, but distinguishable by its olive-brown back; the other P. persicus, a pale-coloured form of P. cæruleus.
Of the fauna of Mesopotamia Mr. Blanford's regard for accuracy precludes him from saying much, as available information on the subject proved very scanty, but his remarks on the Zoology of the shores of the Persian Gulf and Balúchistán are of great interest, as he has personally explored this region, the fauna of which differs widely from that of the rest of Persia. The Palæarctic forms are now almost entirely replaced on the highlands by desert species of the Indian fauna, and in a few cases by Malayan types, whilst several others are African, and are either unknown in India or at most do not extend beyond Sind and the neighbouring districts east of the Indus, all of these last being desert types.
Space will not permit us to pick out the new and interesting species which he has described, nor would it be fair to the author to do so. Many of the mammals and birds are illustrated by beautiful coloured plates by Keulemans, as well as by woodcuts and by lithographic engravings of the reptiles by Ford, and an excellent coloured map is given of the geographical provinces. On the whole the volume is an indispensable one to naturalists, and is in every way worthy of Mr. Blanford's high reputation.