38 FIELD MUSEUM or NATURAL HISTORY ZOOLOGY, VOL. X. 



arduous trip to it. The short visit to El Guayabal was arranged for 

 us by Messrs. Kohler and Boue, German business men of Cucuta. 

 To Mr. Boue" we were indebted also for other courtesies. Sr. Don Jose 

 Osorio, a prominent citizen of Maracaibo, went with us to the Empalado 

 Savannas and performed various services for us in Maracaibo. 



In identifying the collection of mammals, it has been necessary to 

 borrow specimens from the U. S. National Museum, the American 

 Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 

 In addition, specimens were sent to the British Museum for compari- 

 son, since it is the unfortunate fact that all American institutions com- 

 bined have not as yet sufficient material from South America to insure 

 satisfactory identification of specimens requiring only a few weeks t6 

 gather. The cordial cooperation received from the officers of these 

 institutions is most gratefully acknowledged. Special mention of 

 courtesies received from particular individuals will be found else- 

 where. 



For the final preparation oT the accompanying map, I am indebted 

 to Mr. A. B. Walcott, Assistant in the Department of Zoology, Field 

 Museum. 



Cifnolest.es obscurus Thomas. Dusky Csenolestes. 



Eleven specimens, Paramo de Tama, head of Tachira River, Col- 

 ombia and Venezuela. 



Being fortunate enough to find the home of these most interesting 

 arid little known animals, we made every effort to secure as many 

 as possible, but after a month's work our series was still quite small. 

 A limited amount of material for study of the osteology and gross 

 anatomy was preserved and this it is hoped may form the basis of a 

 subsequent paper to include also a discussion of habits and rela- 

 tionships. 



One of our specimens was submitted to Mr. Thomas of the British 

 Museum, who pronounces it specifically identical with C. obscurus from 

 Bogota, agreeing in color and cranial characters and only showing such 

 differences in proportions as are doubtless due to the unreliability of 

 measurements taken from native-made skins. External measurements 

 of 5 males average: Total length 240.6 (235-251) ; head and body 119.2 

 (113-135); tail vertebras 121.4 (118-126); hind foot (c. u.) 23.5 (23-24.5). 

 Of 5 females: 223 (209-230); 107.6 (106-113); 115.4 (103-121); 22.5 

 (22-23). 



