1905.] MAMMALS AND BIRDS FROM JAPAN. 183 



MUSTELA MELAMPUS BEDFOKDI TllOS.* 



Thos. Abstr. P. Z. S. No. 21, p. 10, June 13, 1905. 



Size as in true melamj^us, or slightly larger. Genei'al colour 

 above, in winter pelage, near " Isabella," Ibut rather darker and with 

 an olivaceous tone, nearer to the yellowish brown of 31. m» 

 tsuensis t than to the golden yellow of melatiiipus. Wool-hairs 

 of back bi'own at base, then dark yellowish. Long hairs brown. 

 Muzzle dark chocolate-brown, passing backwards, on the crown, 

 into silvery greyish. Ears whitish both externally and internally. 

 Nape more yellow than back. Sides of neck brilliantly yellow 

 (" deep chrome "), sharply conti'asted with the upper colour along 

 a line halfway up the neck, and in continuation with the deep 

 orange ochraceous of the chest-patch. Lips pale bro^^^l, lighter 

 than the top of the muzzle ; sharply definecl from the whitish 

 interramia, which in turn passes without line of demarcation 

 into the orange of the throat and chest. Belly brown, not unlike 

 back, the throat-patch extending to the sternum and continued in 

 some specimens as an irregular line of spots to the inguinal region. 

 Limbs deep brownish black from halfway down the forearms and 

 on the hind feet. Tail pale brown for the greater part of its 

 length, the underfur dull yellowish as on the body ; tip sharply 

 contrasted j^ellowish or cream-colour, forming a conspicuous 

 terminal tuft. 



Skull as in tsuensis, slightly larger than in raelampus so far as 

 material for comparison existed. 



Dimensions of the type, measured in the flesh : — Head and body 

 425 mm. ; tail 220 ; hind foot 87 ; ear 40. 



Skull — greatest length 84 ; basal length 75 ; zygomatic breadth 

 48 ; interoi'bital breadth 20 ; mastoid breadth 37'5 ; palatal length 

 42 ; length of upper p* on outer edge 9'5. 



Hah. Washikaguchi, JSTara District, E. of Osaka, Southern 

 Central Hondo, Japan. 



Type. Adult male. B.M. No. 5.5.30.3. Original number 123. 

 Collected 13 January 1905 by Malcolm P. Anderson, and pre- 

 sented by the Duke of Bedford. Four specimens. 



This very handsome Marten is conspicuously different from 

 the yellowish M. melampus, and is cuiiously more similar in 

 general colour to the M. on. tsuensis of the Tsu-shima Islands. 

 From both, however, it is readily distinguished by its brilliant 

 yellowish throat and neck patches and its contrasted tail-tip. 



Mr. R. I. Pocock, F.L.S., the Superintendent of the Gardens, 

 exhibited a female specimen of the Jamaican Scorpion, Centriirus 



* [The complete account of the new species described in this communication 

 appears here ; but since the name and preliminary diagnosis were published in the 

 'Abstract,' the species is distinguished by the name being underlined. — Editok.] 



t Thos. Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xix. p. 161 (1897). 



