1908.] . MAMMALS PROM N. CHINA. 9 



fore-quarters ; this pallor appears to be clue to the hau'S being- 

 light, almost whitish subterminally, their extreme tips being of 

 the usual reddish-brown tone. Belly hairs white-tipped. Dorsal 

 streak fairly uniform throughout the series examined, very slightly 

 marked and often obsolete anteriorly, fah-ly well-defined 

 posteriorly ; never so strong as in agrarius, manicJvuricus, and 

 the more strongly marked specimens of corece, but on the other 

 hand much more evident than in ningjjoensis, which usually has 

 almost no trace of a stripe. 



Dimensions of four specimens : — 



Head & body. Tail. Hind foot. Ear. 



mm. mm. mm. mm. 



d (Type)... 93 100 19 13 



d 89 82 20 13 



2 97 83 20 11 



2 82 77 20-5 13 



Skull of type — greatest length 27*5 mm.; basilar length 22-5; 

 length of upper molar series 4"1. 



Hab. Shantung Peninsula. Type from near Chefoo. 300'. 



Tijpe. Old male. B.M. No. 8.2.8.29. Original number 1419. 

 Collected 5th April, 1907. 



This subspecies is no doubt most nearly allied to " Mus ning- 

 poensis " Swinh.* (i/. ha7-ti Thos.), which I should now consider as 

 a subspecies of the Ajjodemvs agrarius group. It differs, however, 

 both by its paler colour and by the uniform presence of a dorsal 

 stripe, this being but rarely perceptible in the more southern 

 animal. 



" Caught usually in traps set under rocks near water-courses. 

 At Ai-san their ears were nearly always diseased, and I think 

 thereby shortened." — M. P. A. 



4. Cricetulus TRITON de Wint. 



J. 1415, 1416, 1418. $.1366. Chefoo, Shantung. 100'. 



c?. 1454. $.1450,1451. Wei-hai-wei. 300-400'. 



These welcome examples, practically topotypes, of the hitherto 

 little-known C. triton vary unexpectedly in size among themselves, 

 but none of them equal in tooth-length, and only one very old 

 specimen in hind-foot-length, the immature type of C. nestor, dis- 

 covered by Mr. Anderson in Korea. Their tails also show an 

 unusual amount of variation in length. 



A specimen referable to C, triton has recently been presented 

 to the Museum by Mr. E. B. Howell, who trapped it at Tientsin, 

 thus carrying its known range to the west of the valley of the 

 Hoang-ho. 



Curiously enough, both Mr. Anderson and Mr. Howell note a 

 predilection on the part of these animals to make their burrows 

 in human grave-movinds, on the south side of which they sink a 

 perpendicular hole. 



* P. Z. S. 1870, p. 637 ; cf. Boiihote, P. Z. S. 1905, ii. p. 397. 



