322 ON THE MAMMALS OF CRETE. [Eov. 14, 



The following measurements (in millimetres) of the three speci- 

 mens preserved were taken in the flesh : — 



Skull. 



Head ,„ ■, tt- i i? ^ -m Extreme Zvsoraatic 



and body. ^^''- Hind foot. Ear. j^^^^^^^ /^°^^^j^_ 



19-5 ... 15-5 



No. 3 (5) 93 ... 18-5 19 30 15 



No. 12 (c?) 112 ... 19 18 ... 15 



No^l6($,type| ^^ ^^3 ^j 

 or subspecies.) J 



The three specimens obtained were trapped in the samelocality — 

 in rocky ground close to cultivated land between Khania and 

 Suda. It was not known to any of the natives questioned on the 

 subject. This discovery of an Acomys in Crete is interesting, 

 being an extension, in a somewhat unexpected direction, of the 

 recorded range of the genus. 



14. Lepus europ^us creticus Barr.-Ham. 



This Hare was described in 1903 by Major Barrett-Hamilton* 

 but as no measurements accompanied the four skins received hj 

 him, the following dimensions of a single example (a ^ ), taken 

 in the flesh, may be of interest : — 



Head and body 514 mm., hind foot 123, ear 102. The basal 

 length of the skull is 71 mm. 



Hares are found all over the island, even near the summit of 

 Mount Ida, which attains a height of over 8000 feet, where 

 Admiral Spratt mentions f having disturbed a number out of 

 their " forms" in the open snow. The same author remarks that 

 those seen on Mount Ida " seemed to be a smaller species than 

 the Hare of the lowlands." Unfortunately no specimens were 

 obtained from this locality, so that this observation still awaits 

 confirmation. 



Of late a close season has been instituted in the island, and the 

 Hare is among the number of species so protected. It was 

 recorded by Raulin i under the name of L. timidus. 



15. Oryctolagus cuisricuLus cnossius §, subsp. u. 



This Rabbit is paler and decidedly more uniformly grey in 

 colour than the typical foim ; this lightness is pai'tly caused 

 by the paleness of the reddish area on the back of the neck, which 

 more or less afi'ects the greater part of the dorsal region, and 

 fui'ther by the absence of a markedly dark ring between the 

 smoky grey of the proximal portion of the hairs and the sub- 

 terminal light band. 



In the one specimen preserved (a 5 ), which lived for some 

 months in the Zoological Society's Gardens, the hind paws are 



* Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 7, vol. xi. Jan. 1903, p. 126. 



t Op. cit. vol. i. p. 13. 



X Op. cit. 



§ " Cnossius " was employed by the early poets as equivalent to Cretan 



