8 EINAR LONNBERG, MAMMALS COLLECTED BY THE SWEDISH ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITION ETC. 
legs are used in a stiff jointed gallop when its wariness gets the upper hand of 
its curiosity. The pretty little Thomson’s Gazelles are also still rather common, 
although strongly decimated near settled districts. At Juja farm Whitebearded Gnus 
and Grant’s Gazelles which also are typical members of this fauna were seen. The 
Zebras are together with the Kongonis with which they often join in mixed herds 
the most numerous mammals on these open plains, but they constitute also the only 
species of those hitherto mentioned which (without modification) extends north of 
Tana river. Along water courses on the steppe where there is bush or other covert 
Impalas and Waterbucks are at home, and perhaps also a Reedbuck. Here on the 
steppe among the big grazing animals the Lion hunts its prey, and the carrion feeding 
Hyenas (Crocotta panganensis(?) and Hyena schillingsi), and Jackals (Canis adustus 
and C. mesomelas) share -with the Vultures the remains. The Cheetah is also seen 
on the open steppe. Pedetes and Otocyon appear to inhabit the open plains, although 
their nocturnal habits are not easily studied. Where the growth of grass is rich and 
the bushes become numerous so that the landscape can be termed bush steppe the 
Serval, the Cheetah, the Wild Cat, Mungooses, and even the Lion and Leopard find 
suitable covert. The Duiker (Cephalophus abyssinius hindei) is fond of hiding in high 
grass, and the Steinbocks (Rhaphicerus) which I saw were all found on bush steppe. 
In similar localities Warthogs are found, although they visit the open steppe as well. 
The Zebras and Kongonis also enter the bush steppe, if the bushes are not too nu- 
merous. The Hares (Lepus victorie and L. crawshayi) lie up in patches of high grass 
or among tall herbs and bushes which as a rule grow on old termite hills which are 
deserted and have fallen down. Similar resting places are sometimes selected by 
Duikers, Wild Cats and others. Certain rodents like Arvicanthis, Zelotomys, Otomys, 
Tachyoryctes etc. inhabit the steppe as well as insectivores, chiefly of the genus Cro- 
cidura. But as the expedition only passed over a short stretch of these plains and 
only camped there a few days the collection of small mammals from this district 
does not give any fair idea of the fauna. Several species caught in the cultivated 
land and enumerated in the list above live also in the bush- and grass steppe. Along 
rivers and small water-courses in the steppe country there is often a fringe of trees 
and there is the home of the »Tumbili» monkeys (Cercopithecus pygerytherus). 
The steppe country south of Guaso Nyiri which we visited is mostly covered 
with scattered flat topped acacias, although here and there broad stretches of open 
grassy plains extend, and in some places also patches of thornbush are found. On 
the grass-covered plains the soil is often very loose but sometimes hard and dusty 
like a country road, so that a cloud of dust rises when the big game animals move. 
Among the acacias the ground as a rule is thickly strewn with sharp-edged black 
stones of volcanic origin, but there is often a rich growth of grass if the stones do 
not absolutely cover the ground which sometimes is the case.’ In the thornbush 
patches the soil is hard and dry often with very little vegetation except the bushes, 
1 A photo of a typical acaciasteppe with grass and such black stones is reproduced in the report on the 
birds of this expedition K. Sy. Vet. Akad. Handl. Bd. 47. N:o 5. Pl. 1, fig. 2. while fig. 1 on the same plate 
shows a more open steppe. 
