138 BULLETIN &9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



teeth little worn, and all of the specimens from Taita Hills are much 

 older, with the teeth showing more wear. There are several speci- 

 mens from Changamwe and from the Taita Hills which are virtually 

 indistinguishable in color. The color of the ears is alike in both series. 



For the use of the specific name griselda in place of dorsalis, see 

 a paper in 1916 by Thomas.^ 



Measurements of specimens of the subspecies of Lemniscomys 

 griselda are given on page 137. 



LEMNISCOMYS GRISELDA MEARNSI Heller. 



1914. Lemniscomys dorsalis mearnsi Heller, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 63, 

 No. 7, p. 12. June 24. (Fort Hall, British East Africa; type in U. S. Nat. 

 Mus.). 



Specimens. — ^Three, as follows: 



British East Africa : Fort Hall (Loring) . 



This is a well marked subspecies, distinguished from L. g. maculosus 

 by its much richer color. The skull measurements given in the 

 original description are very misleading as they were taken from a 

 skuU of the much larger Arvicantliis abyssinicus nairohx (U. S. N. M., 

 163601, from Nyeri), mismatched with the skin of dorsalis from Fort 

 HaU which was selected by Heller as the type-specimen of mearnsi. 

 The original field label on the skull plainly corrects the obvious error, 

 but the skull really belonging with the type skin can not be found. 

 Measurements of the skulls of two male topotypes are given in the 

 table on page 137. 



LEMNISCOMYS MACCULUS MACCULUS (Thomas and Wroughton). 



1910. Arvicanthis macculus Thomas and Wroughton, Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond., 

 vol. 19, p. 515. March. (Mokia, S. E. Ruwenzori, Uganda; type in 

 British Museum.) 



Specimens. — ^Ten, from the following localities: 



Lado: Rhino Camp, 2 (Loring). 



Uganda: Gondokoro, 1 (Loring); Kabula Muliro, 2, including 1 in 

 alcohol (Loring); Kisingo, 2 (Loring); Nimule, 1 in alcohol (Heller). 



British East Africa: Nzoia River, Guas Ngishu Plateau, 2, 

 including 1 in alcohol (Heller). 



This species, which apparently differs from Lemniscomys sinatus 

 massaicus only in its smaller size, has a wide distribution in the north- 

 ern Victoria Nyanza region; but although there are large series of 

 Lemniscomys in the collection from British East Africa, no specimens 

 of macculus appear from east of the Nzoia River, Guas Ngishu 

 Plateau. It would therefore seem that macculus is essentially a 

 species of central Africa. Throughout its range it is found associated 

 with massaicus, and as the two species are of exactly the same color, 

 each exhibiting the same wide variations in this character, it is 

 readily separated only by the small size of the hind foot and by the 



> Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, vol. 18, p. 69. July, 1916. 



