On a new Shrew and Two new Foxes. 119 
white hair, but vertex with fuscous hair; mesothorax 
elevated and gibbous in front, dull anteriorly, polished on 
disc, with strong scattered punctures; scutellum polished, 
very sparsely punctured in middle; area of metathorax 
semilunar, sharply ‘defined, with numerous longitudinal 
rug. Wings slightly dusky, stigma piceous, nervures sepia ; 
second submarginal cell variable in width; hind tibize and 
tarsi with shining white hair on inner side. Abdomen 
rather short, polished, with the punctures excessively minute, 
and no hair-bands or patches on dorsal surface; on the 
ventral side there is a broad band of white tomentum across 
the middle of the abdomen. 
? .—Length fully 8 mm. 
More robust, the broad face wholly black ; mesothorax 
strongly and closely punctured on disc, but scutellum with 
two large polished impunctate areas ; middle and hind tibiz 
and tarsi brownish. 
Launceston, Tasmania, Sept. 19, 1916 (F. M. Littler), two 
ice The female was taken at Launceston, April 18, 
16. 
Much smaller than P. dissimulator, Ckll., which it resem-- 
bles in many respects. The male has a very strong super- 
ficial resemblance to Halictus spenceri, Ckll. 
X.—A new Shrew and Two new Foxes from Asia Minor 
and Palestine. By OLDFIELD ‘THOMAS. 
(Published by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 
Tn working out some mammals obtained by Major Maurice 
Portal during the Palestine campaign, and presented by him 
to the National Museum, I have found the three following 
forms to need special names :— 
Crocidura portali, sp. D. 
Most nearly allied to the Central Asiatic species C. dlensis ; 
widely different from the European forms of the genus. 
Size small, though not excessively so. General colour clear 
pale grey, rather paler than { drab-grey ” if the darker tips 
to the hairs are included, but it may be better described as 
“pale drab-grey” overlaid with the fine brown hair-tips 
which slightly darken it. Under surface creamy white, the 
