NO. 7 MAMMALS FROM EQUATORIAL AFRICA HELLER 7 



This race approaches in its Hght coloration closely schmidti of 

 Somaliland but it differs from this form by the absence of rufous 

 on the head and the white tipped tail. The tip of the tail is marked 

 l)y a tuft of white hair, a feature not found in the series of 35 skins 

 from the Loita Plains and the northern Guaso Nyiro districts, all 

 of which have black tips. The type is in fresh pelage and has the 

 l)lack back well marked and sharply contrasted from the bright 

 ochraceous-rufous sides and legs. The hair of the back basally is 

 hair-brown of Ridgway. The backs of the large ears are ochraceous 

 and the chin is white like the throat in color. 



The flesh measurements were: head and body, 690 mm.; tail, 350; 

 hindfoot, 140; ear from notch, 95. The skull shows considerable 

 age and has a high, well developed sagittal crest. Condylo-incisive 

 length, 137; greatest length, 146; zygomatic breadth, 82; interorbital 

 width, 29.5; postorbital constriction, 31.5; nasals, 13.2x53; length 

 of upper cheek teeth including canine, 62.5 ; length of palate, 67 ; 

 width of mesopterygoid fossa, 15.5; length of upper carnassial, 15. 



The type is unique in the possession of the distinct white tail tip 

 bvit a large series (35) of specimens from the Loita Plains, the 

 northern Guaso Nyiro district, Athi Plains and Taveta, Kilimanjaro 

 district, which are closely similar to the type in their white underparts, 

 have the tail black tipped. This race is confined to the coast drainage 

 and the lower parts of the Rift Valley and is the only jackal which 

 is found in the low desert nyika country. 



Named for William N. McMillan to whom the Smithsonian 

 African Expedition is indebted for his generous hospitality at Juja 

 Farm and in Nairobi. 



HELIOSCIURUS RUFOBRACHIATUS SHINDI, new subspecies 

 Taiti Red-legged Squirrel 



Type from the summit of Mount Umengo, Taita Hills, British 

 East Africa, altitude, 6,000 feet; adult male, number 182768, U. S. 

 Nat. Mus. ; collected by Edmund Heller, November 11, 1911 ; original 

 number 4731. 



Characters. — Most closely related to Heliosciurus riifobrac hiatus 

 undiilatiis of Kilimanjaro but differing by having paler underparts, 

 buft'y-ochraceous in tone without the rufous cast of that form. The 

 dorsal surface is lighter with less black lining than in undulatus. 

 The feet dift'er by being ochraceous and never as dark as the rufous 

 of undulatus. There are no apparent differences in size or propor- 

 tion of parts. 



