112 BULLETIN 99, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



within 200 yards of the railroad station, and at dusk one evening I saw a fox emerge 

 from a burrow close to a group of natives and scamper across the flat. The eU^max^hs 

 of several were examined and found to contain about a quart of termites and other 

 insects. (Roosevelt's African Game Trails, Appendix C, pp. 486-487.) 



As will be seen from the accompanying table of measurements, 

 there is considerable variation in size and proportions of the skull 

 and teeth in this series of Otocyon from British East Africa. Con- 

 clusions based on so small a series of each form as examined and meas- 

 ured by Cabrera ^ would not seem to be of much value; and, although 

 the three forms recognized will doubtless prove to differ sufficiently 

 in color so that they may be retamed as subspecies of megalotis, the 

 characters of size and proportions of skull are of little or no use in 

 differentiating the forms. Good series of sldns and skulls from 

 Abyssinia, Somaliland, and South Africa are now much needed to 

 work out the relationships between these forms, as well as the real 

 characters which distinguish them one from another. 



For measurements see table, page 113. 



Family MUSTELID^.. 



Genus MELLIVORA Storr. 

 1780. Mellivora Storr, Prodr. Meth. Mamm., tab. A. {M. capensis.) 

 Several forms of the honey-badger have been named from various 

 parts of Africa. These have been for the most part based on single 

 specimens or very small series, and until suitable collections of 

 skins and skulls are assembled for serious monographic work the 

 status of several named species is perhaps uncertain. On geographic 

 grounds alone it would seem that most of the named forms must 

 stand in the final revision. The two species listed below, on the 

 basis of the limited material at hand, seem distinct and well marked. 



MELLIVORA ABYSSINICA HolHster. 



Plate 25. 



1910. Melluora abyssinica Hollister, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 56, No. 13, 



p. 1. October 10, (Suksukki River, Abyssinia; type in U. S, Nat, 

 Mus.) 



1911. Mellivora ahyssinim Hollisteu, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, vol. 24, p. 37. 



February 24. 



Specimen. — One, the type, as follows: 



Abyssinia: Suksukki River, 1 (Philip). 



In the original account of this species the type locality was given 

 as "vicinity of Adis Ababa," Abyssinia. Later information received 

 from the collector, the Hon. Hofl'man Philip, gives the exact locality 

 where the specimen was killed as near the "Suksukki River, a small 

 stream which connects Lake Zwai with Lake Horo Schalo, about 



» Ann. and Ma^. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, vol. 6, p. 463. Nov^ember, 1910. 



