Mammals from Lake Ngami, &c. 397 



15. Steatomys pratensis, Pet. 



S . 70 ; $ . 66, 71, 72. Mababe Flats, Ngamiland. 



" I found these mice living in small colonies in the dry 

 mopani forest near the marshes; their holes do not go deep 

 into the ground, but spread out for a considerable distance 

 into numerous ramifications. They refused all kinds of baits, 

 and were only obtained by digging them out." 



16. Epimys nigi'icauda, Thos. 



? . 11. Molopo River, South Africa. 



tl These mice frequent the kameel-thorn forests all over 

 the Kalahari, especially where the trees are large, and they 

 seem more numerous in the neighbourhood of water. They 

 breed and spend all the daytime in the trees, only coming- 

 down on to the ground at night to feed. They generally 

 choose an old hollow tree, into which a great quantity of dry 

 grass is packed, sometimes as much as 20 feet from the 

 ground. By setting fire to the nest they are easily smoked 

 out, but not so easily caught, as they are very expert 

 climbers and jump from the ends of a bough into a bush and 

 so to the ground and escape in the grass." 



17. Epimys damarensis, de Wint. 



S .41, 48, 50, 74 ; ? . 40, 42, 49. Lake Ngami. 



This series is of considerable interest, as with the exception 

 of the type the only other representative of the species 

 in the Museum collection is an imperfect and rather faded 

 example collected by Andersson more than fifty years a«-o. 

 Hitherto it has been impossible to decide with certainty the 

 relationship of the species, but it is now evident, from exami- 

 nation of the skulls, that E. damarensis is closely allied to 

 E. nigricauda, Thos., and from Mr. Woosnam's field-notes it 

 appears that both species are semi-arboreal. 



"The habits of this species are identical with those of 

 E. nigricauda." 



18. Epimys namaquensis, A. Smith. 



? . 5, 12. Molopo River, S. Africa. 



c?- 20; ? . 19. Lehutitung, Kalahari. 



<?. 37. North of Okwa, Kalahari. 



? . 67. East bank of Tamalakan River, Ngamiland. 



" This species does not climb trees, but I have frequently 

 found their nests in old hollow trees which were lyiuo- on the 

 ground. They are fond of frequenting rocks and the dry 



