Descriptive, List of the Rodents of South Africa. 199 



hind limbs elongated and slender, toes long, all clawed except the 

 first, which has a flat nail ; tail as long or longer than the head and 

 body, slender, with rings formed of a series of scales, which are some- 

 what concealed by the numerous bristles, dark above, lighter below. 

 A black dorsal stripe from behind the head to the root of the tail is 

 sometimes present, but is not noticeable in the specimens on which the 

 above descriptions are founded. 



Dimensions (from a stuffed specimen). Head and body 3-80 ; tail 

 (somewhat contracted), 3-80 ; hind foot '75 ; from ear-opening to tip 

 of nose -90. 



Distribution. East and South Africa, from Gallaland through 

 Nyassaland to Cape Colony ; the type is said to have come from the 

 Sondags Eiver in Uitenhage ; the South African Museum possesses 

 examples from the immediate neighbourhood of Cape Town. 



DENDROMYS PUMILIO, THE SMALL TREE MOUSE. 

 Dcndromys piimilio, WAGNER, Munch. Gelehrt. Anzeiger, xii., 

 p. 437 (1841) ; MATCHIE, Saugeth. Deutsch Ost Afrika, p. 49 (1895). 



Description. Smaller than D. mesomelas, and without the black 

 dorsal stripe ; reddish brown above, cheeks, lower side and feet 

 white ; tail longer than the head and body (Matchie) ; is very doubt- 

 fully distinct from D. mesomelas. 



Dimensions. Head and body 2-38 ; tail 3'12 to 3'75. 



Distribution. East and South Africa ; this tree mouse is recorded 

 from various parts of German East Africa, and was originally 

 described from Cape Colony. Unrepresented in the South African 

 Museum collections. 



DENDROMYS MELANOTIS, THE GREY TREE MOUSE. 



Dendromys mclanotis, A. SMITH, S. Afr. Quart. Journ., ii., p. Io8 

 (1834) ; ID., Illustr. S. Afr. Zool. Mam., pi. xlix., fig. 2, (1849) ; PISK, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc., p. 340 (1887) [habits]. 



Description. General colour above ashy grey with a slight tinge of 

 rufous, below dull white ; a well-marked black line from between the 

 shoulders to the root of the tail ; fur soft and thick, slaty at the base 

 as in the other species ; ears broad and patulous, larger than in 

 D. mesomelas, the tips dark, covered with sparse silvery white hairs, 

 a white spot on the side of the head at the base of the outer margin 

 of the conch ; fore limbs slender, only the three middle toes clawed, 

 the first and fifth inert- rudiments ; hind feet long and slender, 



