158 records of the australian museum. 



Mammalia. 

 (Mr. E.'^R. V7 kiiR,' Assistant- in- Charge.) 



Mr. Waite reports that "both the exliibited and duplicate 

 collections are in admirable order. The local Zoological Society 

 was again a most liberal donor. The principal animals received 

 were a Dromedary (Camelus dromedaritis, Linn.), two Collared 

 Peccaries ( DicotyUs tajacu, /Lmn.), and a Japanese Macaque 

 ( MacacusJ'uscatus, Blyth). Among other donors may be mentioned 

 Messrs. E. G, W. Palmer, W. Hawken, A. M. N. Rose, J. Stein, 

 and J. Stringer. Two small objects only were added to the 

 exhibited collection, namely a peculiar nest of a House Mouse 

 ( Mus mus''ulus, Linn.), and a thick-tailed Pouched Mouse (Sinin- 

 thopsis crassicaudata, Gould, sp. ). The latter was presented by 

 Mr. R. Grant. 



The Mouse nest in question (Plate xx., fig. 1 ) is a very interesting 

 piece of architecture. It is oval in shape, and composed of bits 

 of gnawed wood. The aperture is small and round and opens into 

 a most comfortable habitation. It was presented by Mr. Waite. 



A very much brighter day is dawning for our Mammalian 

 Collection. It is my intention to utilize the lower hall of the 

 new South Wing, when completed, in conjunction with the space 

 already occupied in the main^building, from which the former will 

 open, wholly for the display of Mammalian and Osteological speci- 

 mens. This will afford ample room for some years to come, and 

 enable me to exhibit with advantage the rich stores at present 

 existing in the Museum, and put an end to the unavoidable over- 

 crowding from which the specimens now suffer. 



To the kindness of Mr. J. Hogan we owe an example of the 

 Great Blood-sucking Bat ( Alegaderina gigas, Dobson) from North- 

 west Australia. This appears to be the first recurrence of this 

 interesting Bat, since its description by Dobson, twenty years ago.^ 



In addition to the gifts already enumerated by Mr. Waite, the 

 Council of the Zoological Society of New South Wales added to the 

 collection two Sambur Deer (Cervus unicolor, Smith), an Egyptian 

 Mungoose ( Herpestes ichneumon, Linn.), an Indian Wild Boar 

 (SiLS cristata, Wagner), a Mungoose Lemur (Lemur mongoz, Linn.), 

 a Jackall (Canis aureus, Linn.), a Puma ( Felis unicolor, Linn.), 

 a Langur Monkey ( Seni'iiopithecus cephalopterus, Zimm.), and a 

 Dorcas Gazelle (Gazella dorcas, Linn.). 



I would ask our country friends and correspondents to note 

 one of our chief desiderata, examples of indigenous Rats. Last 

 year Mr. E. G. W. Palmer, j.p , of Lawson, presented examples 

 of Mus f^jbscipes, Waterhouse, which enabled Mr. Waite to prepare'* 

 a more extended description than any yet published. 



3 Waite — Recurrence of Megadenna gigas, Dobson. — Rec. Austr. Mus., 

 ill., 7, 1900, pp. 188-189. 



4 Waite — An extended Description of Mus fuscipes, Waterhouse - 76icJ., 

 pp. 190- 193. 



