210 MB. OLDFIEI.D THOMAS ON {TNIar. 15, 



2. Ou some Mammals obtained by the late Mr, Henry 



Durnford in Chubut^ E. Patagonia. By Oldfield 



Thomas. 



[Receired March 9, 1898.] 



In the summer (southern) of 1877-8 Mr. Henry Durnford, 

 ■whose name was at that time well known as a collector of 

 Argentine mammals and birds, made a trip to Chubut ' and ob- 

 tained a certain number of mammals there. The specimens were 

 deposited at the Zoological Society's Office, but were never worked 

 out, and have been Ijing there ever since. They have now been 

 transferred to the British Museum, and Mr. Sclater has asked me 

 to contribute a list of them to the ' Proceedings.' 



None of the species represented in the collection are new, but 

 the record of their locaHty and Mr. Durnford's short notes on 

 their habits may be of service. 



1. EIiIGMODO^'TIA GEiSEOFLATA Waterh. 



a, b. Peb. 12 and Apr. 3, 1878. 



I have long realized that the animal commonly known as 

 " PhyUotis " griseojlaviis has so different a skull from that of the 

 typical species of Phyllotis, that it could not be considered as really 

 congeneric with them. But, on the other hand, its cranial cha- 

 racters are by no means so different from those of the long-tailed 

 species of Eligmodontia ; and rather than make a new generic term 

 for it I refer it to that genus, in which it bears to the other species 

 about the same relative proportion in size as Mus ratUts does to 

 M, musculus. 



" This Eat is only found close to the Colony in the summer, 

 but at that season it overruns many c^ the houses and is ex- 

 tremely destructive, eating boots, calico, &c., and is especially 

 fond of gnawing the metal spouts of teapots. What becomes of it 

 in the winter I do not know, but I believe it lies dormant under 

 the scrub and brushwood. It never burrows in the ground, but 

 lives under old logs, bushes, &c., and the female makes a nest, 

 generally in the centre of a thick bush of bark stripped into fine 

 shreds and any soft material it can find. It can jump and climb 

 with great agility." — H. D. 



2. Eligmodontia elegans "Waterh. 



a, I. Mar. 3 & 5, 1878. 



" Not uncommon among bushes, into which it climbs readily. 

 Comes out in the evening to feed. I do not think this species 

 makes holes in the ground." — H. D. 



" Like the long-tailed Eat this species is most numerous in the 

 summer, though dining the winter a few may be found. It does 

 not enter the house like its large relative, but is extremely 



1 See Mr. Durnford's article, ' Ibis,' 1878, p. 389, for an account of the 

 localities visited. 



