THE BROWN HYAENA 45 



striped rather than with the spotted species ; this 

 depends on anatomical characters, and not merely 

 on the marking of the pelt. It is, however, 

 interesting to note that in Somaliland there occurs a 

 variety of the striped hyaena which, in its greyish 

 ground colour and purple-brown bands, forcibly 

 recalls the strandwolf; especially is this evident 

 when one has had, like the present writer, the 

 opportunity of comparing living specimens of either 

 animal side by side. This Somali hyaena is quite hand- 

 some, paradoxical though such a statement may seem. 

 A specimen presented to the Zoological Gardens 

 by Mr. Wm. Northrup Macmillan on September 

 21, 1903, was still living there in May, 1907. Now 

 young hyaenas are more clearly marked than their 

 seniors, whose coats tend to become uniform in tint; 

 hence this individual, which was at least three years 

 old and yet retained some brilliancy of markings, is 

 well worth passing notice. The animals of Somali- 

 land, by the way, seem to tend to special variation ; 

 witness the local form of the leopard (van nanopardus) 

 and the small variety of the wild hunting-dog, which 

 also occur in this region. 



The first example seen in England was the specimen 

 brought over by Steedman ; it taped four feet four 

 inches from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail, 

 and stood two feet four inches at the shoulder ; the 

 tail (with hair) measured fourteen inches. Steedman 

 also had a young one, being one of three taken alive 



