•270 ^rr. K. Aiulerseii on Hlpposiderus caffer 



Latin description does not touch any of the characteristic 

 features of the species, the only important ])oints being the 

 len-rth of the "cubitus" (18*nini.) aiul the habitat. But 

 the British Museum possesses a mounted specimen of caffer 

 fn)m Port Natal, presented by the Stockhohn Museum, and 

 in al ]probabihty collected by Wahlberu: ; the forearm of this 

 specimen measures 475 mm., the maxiUary width 62 ram,, 

 the n])per tooth-row 6 mm.; secondly, Yngve Sjiistedt has 

 published more detailed measurements of the tyjie preserved 

 in the Stockhohn Museum''^, nicasurenicnts wliieh completely 

 agree with those of the form called coffer ii/picus in the 

 present paper ; and, thirdly, caffer typicus is the only sub- 

 species (and species) of Hlpposiderus as yet recorded from 

 Port Natal. These facts combined remove all doubt as to 

 the identification of Suudevall's species. 



Phyllurhina gracilis, Ptrs. ; 1852 f- — Type from Tete, 

 Lower Zambesi. The British ]\Iuseum has specimens from 

 other places at or near Zambesi (Shupanga, Mazoe). — Only 

 two points in the original description of gracilis need some 

 comment: — (1) the third metacarpal is stated to be a little 

 longer than the fourth, in caffer a little shorter than the 

 fourth ; this character, however interesting from another 

 point of view, has no taxonomic value; as a I'ule the third 

 metacarpal is slightly the longer (see table of measurements 

 and wing-iudices below on p. 282), but in all races of caff'er, 

 and independently of age and sex, we find it sometimes equal 

 to, sometimes a little shorter than, the fourth ; the variation 

 is purely individual : (2) the plagiopatagium is in gracilis 

 inserted " etwas oberhalb der Fusswurzel,^' in caffer on the 

 tarsus ; I find in all races of caffer, independently of age and 

 sex, the insertion of the wing-membrane to be a little variable, 

 on the tarsus (very rarely on the base of the metatarsus) or 

 between 05 and 2 mm. above the tarsal joint. — The rest of 

 the very careful description, as well as the figures, clearly 

 show that Ph. gracilis is, superspecifically at least, inseparable 

 from //. caff'er. The next question is, to which race of caffer 

 gracilis belongs. The ibiearm measures, according to Peters, 

 46 mm. ; this is prohably the length of the radius, for in the 

 life-size figure, pi. vii. fig. 1, the forearm measures 47*5 mm. ; 

 the length of the skull is 17"5 mm. ; maxillary width (pi. xiii. 

 fig. 15) 6 mm. ; length of upper tooth-series (same plate, 

 fig. 14) 6 mm. These facts, Avlien compared with the table 



• Yngve Sjostedt, Bih. Kgl. SvensLa Vet.-Akad. Handl. xxiii. Afd. iv. 

 no. 1, p. ]8; Stockholm, 1897. 



t W. Peters, ' Nuturwis.senachaflh'che Rei.se naoh Mosaambique,' 

 Siiugeth. pp. 36-38, pi. vii. fijrs. 1-4; pi. xiii. figs. 14-15; Berlin, 1852. 



