EAST AFEICAN MAMMALS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM. 17 



have been described by Mr. Heller in a series of special papers in the 

 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 1909-1914. Other specialists 

 have described forms in certain groups, mostly in the same serial pub- 

 lication. 



The Paul J. Rainey Expedition to East Africa was planned by 

 Mr. Rainey us a hunting and collecting trip, and he offered to present 

 to the institution the natural liistory material obtained if the museum 

 could send a trained field naturalist with his party. The services of 

 Mr. Edmund Heller as a collector were again obtained, and the 

 results of his Vv^ork later fully justified the selection. All of the 

 expenses were met by Mr. Rainey. 



The collection made lias been estimated to contain eome 4,700 skins of mammals, 

 together with many birds, reptiles, and other animals, making very valuable additions 

 to the present African collections in the Museum. Nearly all of the material is from 

 localities not covered by earlier expeditions, and some of it comes from points never 

 before visited by naturalists. The collection includes the famous series of lions 

 taken by Mr. Rainey mth his American hounds, as described in his well-known lec- 

 tures. There are also many specimens of different kinds of antelopes, including the 

 hartebeests, wildebeestes, and waterbucks, as well as buffaloes, zebras, cheetahs^ 

 monkeys, and rodents. A few hippopotamus and rhinoceros skins and one elephant 

 were also collected.* 



The Rainey Expedition remained in the field about a year, having 

 sailed from New York for Mombasa on February 18, 1911, and dis- 

 persing about February 15, 1912, at Nairobi. The region explored 

 was mostly to the north and east of that covered by the Smithsonian 

 African Expedition and included the country lying to the north of 

 Mount Kenia toward the Abyssinian border. Important work also 

 was done in the vicinity of Kavirondo Gulf; along the German East 

 African border; in the Tail a Hills; and along the coast region, near 

 Mombasa. 



Numerous nev7 forms of mammals have been named in preliminary 

 papers on the resvdts of this expedition by Mr. Heller and others. 



During the summer of 1914 Mr. Elton Clark and Mr. Thomas P. 

 Lindsay, both of Boston, visited German East Mrica on a hunting 

 trip. Tliey were fully equipped for collecting mammals, large and 

 small. Their work unfortunately was cut short by the war, but a 

 number of desirable specimens which reached the outside were pre- 

 sented to the Museum. These are mostly from the vicinity of Speke 

 GuK and from the Serengeti Plains, and are therefore of great 

 interest to the Museum, as nothing had been previously received 

 from that part of German East Africa. 



» Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for the year ending June 30, 1912, p. 8. 1912. 

 100468— 18— Bull. 99 2 



