1882.] ON A NEW LAND-RAIL FROM EAST AFRICA. 93 



to that colony ; but I have seen so few specimens with exact loca- 

 hties, that I am unable to determine its precise range. It may 

 always be readily distinguished from all other Mungooses by its 

 elongated nose and claws and its peculiar coloration, especially its 

 black ears, no other species having ears differing in colour from the 

 rest of the head. 



Smuts says of its habits : — " This animal lives in various parts of 

 the Colony, mostly in mountain caves ; it is easily tamed and 

 kept in a state of domestication." 



Molars of Suricata. 

 S. tetradactyla, a .... 





* 



* 



4. Description of a New Species of Land-Rail from East 

 Africa. By H. B. Tristram, F.R.S., C.M.Z.S. 



[Eeceived December 28, 1881.] 



I have lately received from Mr. R. C. Ramshaw, a medical 

 missionary who has been stationed for four years in East Africa, a 

 small collection of birds, chiefly of Ploceidae and Cinnyridse, formed 

 by him at Ribe, a little to the north of Rabai, and at Jomon, a 

 district extending S. lat. 3°-5° and E. long. 39°-40°. 



Among the specimens occurs a Land- Rail which both Mr. Shai'pe 

 and Capt. Shelley consider to be undescribed. I therefore venture 

 to describe it as 



Crex suahelensis, spec. uov. 



C. capite et regione parotica caslaneis ; collo superiore fusco ; 

 dorso inferiore nigricante ; supracaudalibus castaneo niar- 

 ginatis ; cauda nigricante, caslaneo marginata; mento et thorace 

 albis ; pectore rufescente ,• abdomine albescente ; crisso et subcau- 

 dalibus Icete castaneis ; scapularibus brunneis, qua que plum a albo 

 marginata ; remiyibus nigrescentibus, pogonio externa remigis 

 primi albo ;' subalaribus brunneis; rostro, tarsis et pedibus olivaceis. 

 Long, tota 9, alee 3'92, caudce 2'3, rostri a rictu '85, tarsi 1*4, 

 digiti mcd. 1'9. 

 Hab. Ribe, East Africa. 



The white edgings to the scapulars and some of the feathers of 

 the back seem to indicate immaturity. In other respects the bird 

 has all the appearance of being adult : and the measurements certainly 

 do not correspond to those of any known species. 



