ALLEN: BATS FROM BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 325 



African specimens, as synonymous with L. frons whose range they 

 give as including the whole of equatorial Africa from Nigeria and 

 Gambia to Uganda and British East Africa. At the same time they 

 describe from the White Nile a race affinis which is separated on the 

 basis of very small average differences in size. 



In the arid country along the Guaso Nyiro we found this bat in 

 some numbers. A large candelabra-like Euphorbia is common over 

 large tracts of the plains bordering the river, and wherever a thorn 

 tree and a Euphorbia grew close together and were partly overrun 

 by vines, was found to be a likely resting place for these bats by day. 

 They are very alert, and often the first intimation of their presence on 

 looking up into such a tangle, is the nervous motions of their long ears 

 that at once catch the eye. They easily become alarmed and flit 

 from their covert to another leafy tangle a few yards distant, their 

 wings flashing bright orange in the sunshine. Sometimes several are 

 found together or in close proximity among thorn-bushes, but never 

 more than four or five. On one occasion near midday as I was 

 standing under a large tree in the midst of an open field at Meru, a 

 bat of this species was seen flying, and shortly it came towards the 

 tree and alighted among the middle branches, where it was watched 

 for some while as it hung from a small twig. The diurnal habits of 

 this species are also attested by other observers. 



VESPERTILIONIDAE. 



PlPISTRELLUS DESERTI Thomas. 



Pipistrellus deserti Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1902, 2, p. 4. 



This species is known from but a single specimen, described by 

 Thomas from Tripoli, ten years ago. It is therefore of especial interest 

 to record a second from the arid country of British East Africa, thus 

 extending its known range southward to the equator. The specimen 

 in question is a female and was taken August 11, 1909, near a small 

 stream (the Meru River) that flows through the arid grassy plains to 

 the northeast of Mt. Kenia and joins the Guaso Nyiro. This stream, 

 near its junction with the latter, is bordered by a scattered growth 

 of ivory-nut palms and here, just after dusk, numbers of small bats 

 appeared, flitting low over the water or about the reeds growing along 

 the bank. Most of these were probably Eptesicus m. somalicus, 

 though owing to the gathering darkness and their low irregular flight 



