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Show 3 1 8 MISS D. M. A. BATE ON THE [N o v . 1 4 , tendency towards a sandy colouring; this is especially noticeable in a skin from Zoulla (B.M. 6 9 .10.24 .9 .), in which the transverse dorsal bars are much broken up, causing a somewhat " spotty " appearance. In the specimens from Crete the proximal portion of the fur is decidedly dark over almost the entire body ; this feature is hardly noticeable in those from Abyssinia, and is not so strongly marked in the examples examined from Egypt. The increased richness in colour of the Cretan race is no doubt chiefly due to climatic influences : a still further divergence in this particular direction is exemplified by the wild cat, F. o. sarda Lataste, from the more westerly island of Sardinia. Hybrids between F. o. ayrius and the domestic cat of the island appeal1 to be not uncommon, and this can easily be accounted for by the fact that formerly small villages were often totally deserted for a considerable time, or possibly entirely, during the insurrections which occur so frequently in Crete, when the cats, as well as the villagers, are forced to take to a life in the hills. Skins of these hybrids, which are generally of large size like the true wild race, may often be seen hanging up in the bazaars at Khania and Candia. F. o. ayrius was recorded by Raulin* as F. catus. 7. M e l e s m e le s m e d i te r r a n e u s Barr.-Ham. t Only twTo immature specimens of this Badger were obtained ; these came from an earth in a rocky mound, on the crown of which is perched one of the several monasteries of the Lassethe Plain. The local name for the Badger is " Arkalos" (apKaXos) ; it is plentiful in the island, and is killed in some numbers by the natives, the richer of whom use the skins for saddle-cloths and for making into purses &c. 8. M ustela fo in a b u n it e s J, subsp. n. Five skins of the Cretan Beech-Marten were obtained, and have been carefully compared with those of M. f. leucolacknea Blanf., from Turkestan, with which two specimens from Crete, already in the British Museum collection, were formerly identified §. However, the examples from these two localities are found to differ considerably and to be easily distinguishable ; therefore it is proposed that the island form be knowrn by the above-given subspecific name. In length and woolliness of coat M .f . bimites is intermediate between the typical M. foina and A1. f leucolacknea, though in general appearance it most closely resembles the latter. From this it differs in its much duller and more uniform colouring, * Op. cit. vol. ii. p. 1033. t Alin. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 7, vol. iv. pp. 383-4. J From /3odht-i/s, a dweller on hills. § Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 7, vol. iv. Nov. 1899, p. 313. |
