ALLEN: AIAMMALS FROM THE BLUE NILE VALLEY. 343 



de Winton the locality "Senaar" is very doubtful, and it is probable 

 that the name is a synonym of E. aethiopicus of lower Egypt. 



Crocidura sericea (Sundevall). 



Silky Shrew. 



Sorex sericeus Sundevall, ex Hedenborg MS., Kongl. Svenska vet.-acad. Handl. 

 for 1842, 1S43, p. 173. 



In his essay on the genus Sorex above cited, Sundevall in 1S43 de- 

 scribed three new Crociduras from Sennar and the ^Yhite Nile on the 

 basis of specimens sent by Hedenborg, the Swedish traveller. The 

 first of these, Sorex (= Crocidura) hedcnborgianiis, is characterized as a 

 rather large species, head and body 140 mm., tail 52, skull 31 mm. 

 long, of a uniform chocolate-brown above and below. We found 

 nothing of this animal. The second species S. (= C.) fidmster is 

 said to be pale gra^^sh bro\\ii above, ashy white below, the tail about 

 half the length of head and body. The single specimen came from 

 the White Nile, and measured: — head and body 90 mm., tail 44, skull 

 21 mm. long and 5 mm. between the orbits. The third species <S. 

 (= C.) sericeKS is reddish bro^^^l above, beneath ashy, with a tail 

 slightly more than half the length of head and body. The skull is 22 

 mm. long. For this animal the name sericeus is proposed, with Heden- 

 borg as authority, but the latter merely suggested the name in a manu- 

 script catalogue of the collection. 



Two specimens taken on the Blue Nile some ten miles above Karkoj 

 and a third from Kuka, a camp site on the Binder River, agree very 

 closely with Sundevall's description of sericeus and undoubtedly 

 represent that animal. The measurements of the three are:— 



The skull of the type was 22 mm. long, interorbital breadth 4.5, 

 breadth of rostrum 2.5. These measurements are practically the 

 same in our specimens. C. fulvaMra is said to have a trifle shorter 

 but actually broader skull. 



All three specimens were caught among dry grass and weeds, two 



