94 BULLETIN 99, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Specimens. — One hundred and sixtj-nine, from the following locali- 

 ties: 



British East Africa : Fort Hall, 22, including 2 in alcohol (Loring) ; 

 Juja Farm, 46, including 5 in alcohol (Loring, Mearns); Kapiti Plains, 

 1 (Mearns); Lake Naivasha, 2 (Mearns, Loring); Meru Boma, 6 in 

 alcohol (Heller); Mount Kenia, west slope, 3, including 2 in alcohol 

 (Heller); Njoro Osolali, 1 (Loring); Nyeri, 7, including 1 in alcohol 

 (Loring); Saba Saba, 16, including 3 in alcohol (Loring); Southern 

 Guaso Nyiro, 1 (Loring); Suswa Plain, 2 (Heller); Ulukenia Hills, 

 16, including 4 in alcohol (Loring); Wambugu, 46, including 5 in alco- 

 hol (Loring, Mearns). 



This rat appears to be the most common species about fields and 

 dwellings throughout its range in British East Africa. It is an 

 exceedingly variable species ai\d the large series of specimens listed 

 above contains skins presenting a wide degree of difference between 

 the darkest, almost blackish animals and the palest, buffy brown 

 individuals. There are skins from almost every general locality with 

 light grayish or creamy white underparts and others with buffy or 

 even drab bellies. Loring found seven embryos in a female from 

 Juja Farm, May 18, and 10 in another female from the same place 

 May 21. 



Specimens of multimammate rats from Meru Boma and Fort Hall 

 have been listed by Doctor Lonnberg^ under Ejnmys ejf'ectus Dollman, 

 described from Baringo. I can not find sufficient difference between 

 skins from the Athi Plains and other southern localities and those 

 from the vicinity of Kenia to recognize two races in our collection. 



RATTUS COUCHA HILDEBRANDTn (Peters). 



1878. Mus hildebrandtii Peters, Mon.-ber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1878, 

 p. 200. (Ndi, Taita, British East Africa; type in Berlin Museum.) 



Specimens. — Sixty-six, from localities as follows: 



British East Africa: Macharra, Taita Hills, 1 (Heller); Mount 

 Mbololo, 18, including 8 in alcohol (Heller); Mount Sagalla, 19, in- 

 cluding 2 in alcohol (Heller) ; Mount Umengo, 2 (Heller) ; Mtoto 

 Andei, 12 (Heller); Ndi, 6 (Heller) ; Voi, 5 (Heller). 



German East Africa: Mount Kilimanjaro, 3 (Abbott). 



The series of specimens of this subspecies of Rattus coucJia presents 

 a very uniform appearance in color and size. The upperparts are 

 a dull reddish brown and the underparts rather light grayish buff. 

 Heller examined the type-specimen in the Berlin Museum and made 

 the following jnanuscript notes: 



Mus hildebrandtii 'Peters. Type. Skull perfect; old, molars worn flat. Skin stuffed, 

 ears and tail perfect. Color quite brownish, not gray; dorsal region blackish; sides 

 buffy ochraceous; belly suffused with buff. Foot on skin measures 23 millimeters. 

 Labeled Noi, Taita. The " Noi " doubtless means Ndi. 



1 Kungl. vSv. Vet. Akad. Handl., vol. 48, No. 5, p. 92. 1912. 



