SPECIES OBTATXED RV HETJ.ER 491 



Hystrix ga/eata. (See body of hook.) Heller found in stomach the remains; 

 of a root or tuber, and seeds like those of the nightshade. 



Lepu-s victoria. Generally distributed on plains ; much the habits and look 

 of a small jack-rabbit. Does not burrow. 



Elephuntnlus pnlchvr (Elephant Slirew). Fairly common throughout IJ. E. A. 

 in IiU'^h and on hills, not in deep forests or on bare plains. Often out 

 at dusk, but generally nocturnal. A jrravid female contained a sinfj:le 

 embryo. One in a trap had its mouth full of partly masticated brown 

 ants. A e:entle tliinfr, witliout tlie fierceness of the true slirews. Trapped 

 in the runways of Arnicau'hifi. 



I'riiKireux (i/birr)i()'is- {Ued'^ehoij:). Fairly connnon in the Sotik. In certain 

 places, under trees. Heller found accumulations of their sj)iny skins, as 

 if some bird of prey had been feeding on them. 



('vfiiifliira fishfri. The common shrew of tlie Athi I'lains and the fSotik, in 

 the Uift \ alley. Largely diurnal. .Males (juite yollowisii, females smoky 

 brown, (ienerally trapped in runways of J racaH^Aj.v. Pregnant females 

 contained three to five embryos, usually four. Not found in heavy 

 forest or swamp. 



Crondura fiunosa (Dusky Shrew). .V darker form found in the rusli swamps 

 and sedgy places of tlie same region. Number of young usually three. 

 Diurnal. Occasional in forests. 



Crocidura alcheniillo' I Idler (n. s.). Aberdare shrew ; a diurnal form, occur- 

 ring above timber line on the Aberdare ; perhaps identical with the 

 foregoing.^ 



Crocidura allcx. A pigmy shrei\-, taken at N'aivasha. 



Croridura nj/diisa'. Very l>ig for a shrew. Chiefly in the high country, near 

 watercourses ; found round the edge of the forest at Kenia and Kijabe. 

 A tierce, carnivorous creature, preying on small rodents as well as 

 insects ; habitually ate mice, rats, or shrews which it found in the traps, 

 and would then come back and itself lie readily trapped. 



Surdisorex iiorcf. A shrew in shape, not unlike our mole shrew. On the 

 high, cold, wet Aberdare plateau. Diurnal. 



Scntophilus nntjrita colias. ( ommon at Nairobi ; flying among the tree-tops 

 in the evenings. Oreenish back, with metallic glint ; belly sulphui-. 

 Has the sanie flight as our l)ig brown hat— Vespertiliofusciif. 



Pipigfre//i(.s kahlii fuscntrin. Common at Naivasha and Nairobi, ^'ery closely 

 kin to our Myotis, or little bi-own bat, with same habits. Flies high in the 

 air after dusk, and is easily shot. We never found its day roosts. 



Xyitiiiomus liindei (Free-tailed Hat). At Naivasha. \'ery swift flight, almost 

 like a swallow's ; fairly high in the air. Live in colonies ; one such in a 

 liouse at Naivasha. On the Atbi Plains they were found in daytime 

 hanging up behind the loose bark of the big yellow-trunked acacias. 



' Crocidura alchemillce, new species (Heller). Type from the summit of the 

 Aberdare Range; altitude. 10,500 feet; British East Africa; adult male, number 

 163,087, U.S. Nat. Mus ; collected by Edmund Heller, October 17, 1909 ; original 

 number, 1,177. 



Allied to funtosa of Mount Kenia, but coloration much darkei', everywhere clove- 

 brown, the under parts but slightly lighter in shade ; feet somewhat lighter sepia 

 brown, but much darker than in fumosa; hair at base slaty-black. Hair long and 

 hea^'y, on back 6 to 7 mm. long ; considerably longer than in fumosa. Musk-glands 

 on sides of body, clothed with short brownish hairs, the glands producing an oily 

 odour verj' similar to that of a petrel. Skull somewhat smaller tlmn fumosa , with 

 relatively smaller teeth. 



Measurements: Head and body, 90; tail, 55 ; hind foot, 15'3. Skull: Condylo- 

 incisive length, 21 ; mastoid breadth, 97 ; upper tooth row (alveoli), S^S. 



This species is an inliabitant of the dense beds of AhhemiUa which clothe the 

 alpine moorland of the Aberdare range. 



