490 
APPENDIX B 
Thamnomys Loringi Iieller (n. s.) (Masked Tree Rat). In the Rift Valley : 
common around Naivasha. Has a black ring around each eye., the colour 
spreading over the nose like a mask. Arboreal and nocturnal. Much 
the habits of our Neotoma, but do not build large nests. Build nests 
about six inches in diameter, made of sticks, placed in the branches of 
the thorn trees ; also in burrows near the bottom of the trunks ; runways 
lead from the trees containing the nests to the burrows. Trapped on the 
ground and in traps set in notches of the trees. 
(Enomys hypoxanthus bacchante (Rusty-nosed Rat). Found in same country 
as above, and with similar habits, but somewhat less arboreal. A hand¬ 
some species. 
Dasymus helukus Heller (n. s.) (Swamp Rat). In appearance much like the 
Alexandrian or roof rat, but with longer hair and shorter, much less 
conspicuous ears. Found all over the Athi Plains where there was brush, 
especially along stream beds. Nocturnal. 
Arvicanthis abyssinicus nairobce (Athi Grass Rat). The commonest mouse in 
B. E. A. on the plains. Outnumbers any other species. Found every¬ 
where in grass and brush, but not in deep forest. Often lives in shallow 
burrows round the bases of thorn-trees, from which its well marked 
runways radiate into the grass. Strictly diurnal. Often seen running 
about in bright sunlight. Never found in traps at night. A striped 
mouse that has lost its stripes, vestiges of which are occasionally found in 
the young. 
Arvicanthis pulchellus masaicus (Nairobi Striped Mouse). Diurnal. Common 
on the Athi Plains, and on the Sotik and in Rift Valley. Around Neri 
we often saw them running about through the shambas. Live in brush 
and cultivated fields. In pattern of coloration much like our thirteen- 
striped gopher. 
Arvicanthis pumilio diminutus (Naivasha Striped Rat). Common in Rift 
Valley, and on the Aberdares and around Kenia. Sometimes occurs in 
company with Nairobi mouse, but less widely distributed ; much more 
abundant where found, and ascends to much higher altitudes. 
Pelomys roosevelti Heller (n. s.). About the size of our cotton rat, and with 
much the same build. Coarse, bristly hair ; the dorsal coloration is 
golden yellow, overlaid by long hairs, with an olive iridescence ; the 
under parts are silky white. It is a meadow mouse, found at high 
altitudes, seven to nine thousand feet high; usually lives close to streams 
in heavy grass, through which it makes runways. Not common. 
Saccostomus umbriventer (Sotik Pouched Rat). Heller trapped several on the 
Sotik, at the base of the southernmost range of mountains we reached. 
Found in the longish grass along a dry creek bed. Trapped in their 
rather indistinct runways. The pockets, or pouches, are internal, not 
external, as in our pocket mice. 
Tachyroyctes splendens ibeanus (Nairobi Mole Rat). A mole rat of B. E. A., 
with general habits of above, but avoiding rocky places, and not 
generally found many miles out on the plains away from the forest. 
Rarely found in the bamboos, in spite of its name. 
Myoscalops kapiti Heller (n. s.) (Kapiti Blesmole). On the Kapiti and Athi 
Plains, and in the Sotik. Smaller than German East African form, and 
no white occipital spot ; a cinnamon wash on its silvery fur. Burrows 
like our pocket gophers, and has same squat look and general habits. 
Lives in rocky ground, where bamboo rat does not penetrate. It does 
not run just below the surface of the soil, as the pocket gopher does in 
winter. The blesmole^s burrows are about a foot below the surface. 
Eats roots. 
Pedetes surdaster (Springhaas). (See body of book.) One young at birth. 
A colony of four to eight open burrows, all inhabited by a single animal. 
