52 ME. J. L. BONHOTE OK [Feb. 5, 



upper parts o£ the body, with stripes on the belly and legs. As 

 soon as I reached the Belgian post of Mbeni I began questioning 

 my host, who at once acknowledged the existence of this animal 

 and promised to send me where I could shoot one. They stated 

 that it frequented the deepest parts of the Forest, went usually in 

 pairs, was dark iron-grey on the upper part of the body, and had 

 brownish stripes on the belly aud legs. I found the Bambuba 

 natives dwelling alongside the dwarfs called it ' Okapi.' The 

 Belgians state that the head is very long ' et tres effilee.' One 

 man said that the muzzle was particularly ' effile " — or drawn out. 

 At first they excited me by declaring that there was a skin lying 

 about which I could have ; eventually it was found that the skin 

 had been cut up by the native soldiers to be made into waist-belts 

 and bandoliers. Two of these fragments were found and given to 

 me, and I shall send them home to you by first opportunity. 

 Whatever the animal may be to which these pieces belong, it is 

 not any one of the known Zebras or wild Asses ; the pieces of 

 skin unfortunately exhibit chiefly the stripes of the belly and legs. 

 These are very irregular with a chestnut border, and they look 

 as though from above they emerged from a uniform dun or dark 

 grey." 



5. On a Second Collection of Mammals made by Mr. Tb. H. 

 Lyle in Siam. By J. L. Bonhote, B.A. 



[Eeceived Januai-y 10, 1901.] 



This second consignment of Mammals from Mr. Th. H. Lyle 

 has proved to be of exceptional interest, almost every specimen 

 having added to our knowledge of the species to which it belongs. 

 One new race of Sciurus macdellandi is now described, which, apart 

 from being distinct in colour, differs in undergoing a seasonal 

 change of pelage, a feature unknown among the other forms of 

 that species. From a study of Funambulus herdmorei suggested 

 by Mr. Lyle's specimens, that species also appears to have a 

 seasonal change ; and it should be observed that the seasonal change 

 observed in these two species must be carefully distinguished from 

 the hreedhig-pelage of two other species, viz., Sc. caniceps and 

 Sc. atrodorsalis. In these latter a distinctive and brighter pelage 

 is assumed in mid-wiuter during the rutting-season by both sexes ; 

 whereas in F. herdmorei the brightest pelage, which is merely a more 

 intense form of the duller dress, is assumed, as one would expect, 

 during the summer months. 



A Bat, Eomjcteris spelcea, is recorded for the first time from this 

 region; and the specimens of Megaderma spasma are the first 

 received in the Museum from Siam. 



Another specimen of Petaurista lylei showing the immature 

 pelage, and a Mongoose {Herpestesexilis)\diQjitiGVi\ with Capt. Flower's 

 specimen recorded in his paper, also form part of the consignment. 



The collection is made in Mr. Lyle's usual careful style, each 



