72 EINAR LONNBERG, MAMMALS COLLECTED By THE SWEDISH ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITION ETC. 



tiess of the lower side etc. in H. hirtula, it is probably the nearest ally of this race, 

 and I prefer to regard the present form as a subspecies of H. hirtula, which I name 

 H. h. ahlselK for my friend Mr. Rudolf Ahlsell who kindly and generously has 

 assisted my expedition to Brit. East Africa. 



The characteristics common to both H. hirtula and the new race are the follo- 

 wing: the large size of the teeth in which the new race is superior even to H. hir- 

 tula; the presence of black hair at the claws, even if this is not quite constant; 

 scantiness of the hair around the eye. 



H. hirtula has been described from »Gabridehari, 60 miles west of Gerlogobi», 

 Somaliland, This is rather far to the northeast from the place where this new race 

 has been found, viz. in the thornbush country north of Guaso Nyiri at Njoro (about 

 1° N. lat.), and below Chanler Falls. 



H. hirtula ahlselli is a rather common animal in that country. It lives in holes 

 in the ground and takes also often its refuge into old termite hills. It appears to 

 live in small colonies, and more than once I observed such a colony to my great 

 astonishment in the same place where a colony of Ground Squirrels had their burrows. 

 When running the Helogale looks, if seen from some distance, rather like a dark 

 Ground Squirrel. They sit also sometimes upright on the haunches as such. As 

 soon as danger approaches the animals disappear at once in their holes, and even 

 wounded specimens are apt to reach the burrows, if not killed on the spot. I suc- 

 ceeded in shooting three old males. 



Since the above was written Thomas has described three more species and 

 subspecies of Helogale.'^ Of these H. vetula from Lamu is »finely grizzled grey> and 

 much smaller. »Hind foot 44 mm. H. percivali has the »head between burnt umber 

 and vandyke-brown» which is completely different from the present race. It is also 

 smaller. H. hirtula lutescens from Lake Rudolf is perhaps the closest relative to the 

 present but it is somewhat smaller and appears also to differ in colour to judge from 

 the description. 



Felidae. 



Felis leo sabakiensis Lonnbbrg. 



LOnnbeeg: Mammals in: SjOstedts Kilimandjaro-Meru Expedition Upsala 1908, p. 22. 



After having examined skulls of Lions obtained at Nairobi Hollister has arri- 

 ved to the conclusions^ that they represented the same race which the present author 

 a few years ago described from the Kilimanjaro district. Not having had any oppor- 

 tunity of shooting Lions near Nairobi I cannot add anything to Hollister's com- 

 munication except that I can confirm his statement about the variability of the 

 colour of these animals as I saw several skins brought in to Nairobi, The amount 

 of black in the mane of the males varies for instance a great deal. 



1 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 8, Vol. VIII, p. 724—725. 



2 Smithsonian Misc. Coll. Vol. 56 n:o 2. Washington 1910, p. 11. 



