490 APPENDIX B 



Thnmnomys Loritu/i Heller (ii. s.) (Masked Tree Rat). In the Rift Valley : 

 common around Naivasha. Has a black ring' around each eye^ the colour 

 spreading over the nose like a mask. Arboreal and nocturnal. Much 

 the habits of our Neotoma, but do not build large nests. Build nests 

 about six inches in diameter, made of sticks, placed in the branches of 

 the thorn trees ; also in burrows near the bottom of the trunks ; runways 

 lead from the trees containing the nests to the burrows. Trapped on the 

 ground and in traps set in notches of the trees. 

 (Enoviys hypoxanthus bacchante (Rusty-nosed Rat). Found in same country 

 as above, and with similar habits, but somewhat less arboreal. A hand- 

 some species. 

 Dasyinus helukas Heller (n. s.) (Swamp Rat). In appearance much like the 

 Alexandrian or roof rat, but with longer hair and sliorter, much less 

 oonsnicuous ears. Found all over the Athi Plains where there was brush, 

 especially along stream beds. Nocturnal. 

 Arriiantliis abysshdvn-s nairohce (Athi Grass Rat). The commonest mouse in 

 B. E. A. on the plains. Outnumbers any other species. Found every- 

 where in grass and brush, but not in deep forest. Often lives in shallow 

 burrows round the bases of thorn -trees, from which its well-marked 

 runways radiate into the grass. Strictly diurnal. Often seen running 

 about in bright sunlight. Never found in traps at night. A striped 

 mouse that has lost its stripes, vestiges of which are occasionally found in 

 the young. 

 Ar i-icanihis piilchrllns niasainiii {Na\rohi Striped Mouse). Diurnal. Common 

 on the Athi Plains, and on the Sotik and in Rift Valley. Around Neri 

 we often saw them running about through the shambas. Live in brush 

 and cultivated fields. In pattern of coloration mucli like our thirteen- 

 striped gopher. 

 Arviranthis ])uniilio dhninutu)^ (Naivasha Striped Rat). Common in Rift 

 Valley, and on the Aberdares and around Kenia. Sometimes occurs in 

 company with Nairobi mouse, but less widely distributed ; much more 

 abundant where found, and ascends to much higiier altitudes. 

 FeloDiy.s roosevelH Heller (n. s.). About the size of our cotton rat, and with 

 much the same build. Coarse, l)ristly hair ; the dorsal coloration is 

 golden yellow, overlaid by long hairs, with an olive iridescence ; the 

 under parts are silky white. It is a meadoAv mouse, found at high 

 altitudes, seven to nine thousand feet high ; usually lives close to streams 

 in heavy grass, through which it makes runways. Not common. 

 SuceostomiLs vnihriventer (Sotik Pouched Rat). Heller trapped several on the 

 Sotik, at the base of the southernmost range of mountains we reached. 

 Found in the longish grass along a dry creek bed. Trapped in their 

 rather indistinct runways. The pockets, or pouches, are internal, not 

 external, as in our pocket mice. 

 Tuc/iyroycte-'i /■plendens ibeanus (Nairobi Mole Rat). A mole rat of B. £. A., 

 with general habits of above, but avoiding rocky places, and not 

 generally found many miles out on the plains away from the forest. 

 Rarely found in the bamboos, in spite of its name. 

 Myosca'opif kapiti Heller (n. s.) (Kapiti Blesmole). On the Kapiti and Athi 

 Plains, and in the Sotik. Smaller than German East African form, and 

 no white occipital spot ; a cinnamon wash on its silvery fur. Burrows 

 like our pocket gophers, and has same squat look and general habits. 

 Lives in rocky ground, where bamboo rat does not penetrate. It does 

 not run just below the surface of the soil, as the pocket gopher does in 

 winter. The blesmole's burrows are about a foot below the surface. 

 Eats roots. 

 Pedetes surdaster (Springhaas). (See body of book.) One young at birth. 

 A colony of four to eight open burrows, all inhabited by a single animal. 



