Main initis from Nyasaland. 179 



nearly always j;;cts completely hollow for all tlic Ien<rtli of 

 its trunk when very hirj;e and ohi. 1 have never exiinuiiL'il 

 one of these trees without timlinf^ nunibers of ^ycteris in it, 

 and they appear to be extremely numerous in the low country 

 up to 1000 or 2000 feet ; but, so far, I have not manajiod to 

 take them in the ' Hi-rlilands' of 3000 ft. and over. They 

 also frequent hollow fallen trees, culverts, etc., but I have 

 never found tlioni in hollow palms, althoufrh I have examined 

 liundreds of them. This is possibly because the latter are 

 almost always tenanted by numbers of Scotopkilus, Mops, etc. 

 Occasionally found in the roofs of houses and deep holes in 

 ground." 



7. Nycteris oriana, sp. n. 



? . 57, 312. Chiromo. 



A member of the athiopica gioup, with long ears and tail, 

 approaching N. luteola, Thos., in size. 



The body is clothed with long soft hairs, a dirty white 

 colour on the dorsal surface for the greater part of their 

 length, tipped with brown, the general result being a light 

 pinkish brown. The haiis of the ventral surface are ecru- 

 drab throughout their length. The edge of the wing-mem- 

 brane from the ankle for about 21 mm. is fringed with light- 

 coloured hairs. The shape of the tragus is as that figured by 

 Dobson in the ' Catalogue of Chiroptera' for iV. macrotis. 



Type. Female. B.M. no. 22. 4. 2.5. 3. Original number 

 312. Collected on June 7th, 1918, and presented by 

 Mr. Rodney C'. Wood. 



Type-locality. Chiromo, Shire Valley, Nyasaland. 



Dimensions of the type : — 



Forearm 53 mm. ; head and body 67'5 ; tail 63 ; ear 33 ; 

 thumb 15*2; third Hnger — metacarp, 44, 1st ph. 24, 2nd ph. 29; 

 tbuith finger — metacarp. 42'5, 1st ph. 16, 2iid ]»h. 15 ; tifrh 

 finger — metacarp. 45, Ist ph. 15, 2nd ph. 1G*2 ; tibia 25 ; 

 foot 11 ; tibia and foot (including claws) 37. 



aicull: greatest length to tip of canine 22*3 ; zygomatic 

 breadth 13'7 ; breadth of frontal shield 8*4 ; length of up})er 

 tooth-row 8*1; /'4 minute and internal to the tooth-row, not 

 in if, as in N. athiopica and A^ luteola. 



iV. oriana does not appear to be nearly related to any of 

 the species in the ccthwpica group. In size it approaches 

 N. luteola, Thos. (whiih Mr. Thomas now agrees should be 

 elevated to .'specific rank), but diH'crs widely from it in other 

 respects, such as in the length of the fur (13 mm. in oriana, 



12* 



