ilAMMALIA. 251 



softness of the hair, and its coloration. All of these 

 characters appear to me to be remarkably variable in 

 the genus Hyrcvx, and especially in specimens from 

 Abyssinia. 



The first specimen shot by me in Abyssinia was killed 

 on the shore of Annesley Bay. It is quite a young 

 animal, and not fully grown, but appears smaller than 

 specimens of the same age from the highlands ; the 

 few other specimens seen by me at the same time 

 were also small. The skin in question measures barely 

 a foot from nose to rump. The sole of the forefoot 

 is 1\ inches long; that of the hindfoot 1^^. The 

 fur is unusually thin and short, being scarcely half 

 an inch in length anywhere, and rather harsh in texture. 

 The general colour is brown ; the hairs are dull brown 

 at the base, with yellowish tips. There is a rudi- 

 mentary black dorsal spot. 



With some little doubt I refer this specimen to H. 

 abyssinicus. Of the tj^e specimens of that species in 

 the Berlin Museum, the largest is about eighteen inches 

 long ; it is an old animal with large teeth. The colour 

 is grey, with slight mottling, owing to the hairs being 

 brown at the base, then dirty white for about one-eighth 

 of an inch, and black at the tip. The fur is neither very 

 coarse nor very fine. The under parts are dull grey. There 

 is a small, not very distinct, black dorsal spot, the hairs 

 in which are black throughout in the older specimen, but 

 only at the tip in a younger skin. Both specimens are 

 said to have been obtained near Massowa. 



The species identified by Dr. Gray with Ehrenberg's 



