542 MESSRS. THOMAS AND WROUGHTON ON [May 26, 



Collection we find that they may be arranged in thi^ee well- 

 marked groups, as follows : — 



A. Fore feet black. 



a. Hairs of dorsal crest and tail long (at least 50 mm. near 



base of tail); dorsal spots relatively small with a 

 distinct tendency to coalesce into longitudinal stripes ; 

 tail-tip white felina-gvow^. 



b. Hairs of dorsal crest and tail short (not more than 



35 mm. near base of tail) ; dorsal spots large, always 



distinct ; tail-tip black •_ ticfrina-gvoni^. 



B. Fore feet pale ; hairs of dorsal crest and tail short (not 



more than 35 mm. near base of tail); dorsal spots of 



medium size, not coalescing ; tail-tip black 7'iibicfinosa-gronj). 



/e^ma-group.— In his 'Mammals of South Africa,' (p. 52, 1900), 

 Mr. Sclater records a species under the name of Genetta sene- 

 galensis, from Lake IS'gami. The animal he described is probably 

 the same as Genetta luclia Thos. & Schwann * and is certainly a 

 member of our /e^ma-group. The distribution of this group 

 is thus the central plateau from Namaqualand to the Transvaal, 

 north of 30° S. lat. ; within this area, it is represented in the 

 south by typical G. felina^ and in the north b}' G. luclia. 



tigrina- gromp. — Occupies the extreme south of Africa below 

 30° lat., scarcely vai-ying at all, so far as we know, throughout its 

 range. 



ri(,higinosa-groi\-p. — G. letabce Thos. & Schw., belongs to this 

 group, and it now seems doubtful whether it can be distinguished 

 specifically from typical G. ruhiginosa. 



In his unfinished monograph of the Genets t Prof. Matschie, 

 when establishing G. zamhesiana, gives the habitat of G. I'ubi- 

 ginosa as " Caconda u. Kiiste von Deutsch Siid-West Afrika," 

 but Pucheran distinctly states in the original description that it 

 was from the Cape of Good Hope. We have compared repre- 

 sentatives of this group from Natal, Inhambane, N. and E. 

 Transvaal, Beira, Gorongoza, Tette, and Angoniland, and can 

 find no essential variation, so that if Natal be taken as the type- 

 locality, both letabce and zambesiana may have to be considered as 

 fsynonyms of Pucheran's species. The distribution of the group 

 is therefore all South Africa north of 30° lat. and east of 

 28° long., extending at least to Angoniland, in 16° S. lat. 



" Native names, ' Mpiswi ' and ' Mwili.' 



" Common, especially near kraals, whei'e they cause considerable 

 annoyance by stealing fowls. 



" Strictly nocturnal, never observed in the daytime." — 

 C. H. B. G. 



17. Crossarchus pasciatus Schreb. 

 " Native name, ' Ndembo.' 

 " Not common ; found in small troops. 



" Inhabiting the thickest parts of the bush as at Gorongoza." — 

 C. H. B. G. 



* P. Z. S. 1906, p. 579. 



t Verhandl. Internat. Zool. Congr. Berl. 1901, p. 1138, &c. 



