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Show 3 2 0 MISS 1). M. A. BATE ON THE [N o v . 1 4 , Considering the great distance by which the habitats of these two forms are separated, and that a number of other races occupy the intervening and neighbouring countries, the only plausible explanation of such a remarkable likeness seems to be that in this we have a striking case of similar characteristics independently acquired. This does not seem so improbable when it is remembered that among the Weasels variation acts only within very narrow limits; the chief points in which differences occur being in size, in the line of separation between the two colours, and in the presence and amount of white on the upper surfaces of the paws. In connection with the Cretan form it may be suggested that its large size is, at any rate partly, due to prolonged isolation in a locality where food is plentiful and competition not keen, owing to the absence of Stoats in the island. P. n. galinthias may be distinguished from P. n. atlas by its richer colouring and in having only a scarcely perceptible " pencil '' of darker hairs at the tip of the tail, which in one of the dried specimens measures 89 111111. exclusive of the terminal hairs. P. n. siculce B a r r .-I lam .* , although differing from these species in size and colouring, agrees with them not only in the well-defined line of separation of the colours along the flanks, but also in having white on the upper surfaces of the hind as well as the fore paws. The colour of the under side in one of the skins from Crete (No. 33, 3 ) is dirty white ; while in the larger of the two (No. 15), the type, probably an old male, this colour is washed with huffish yellow. The " white " extends in a narrow line along the upper lips to the base of the nose. This Weasel is common and frequently abroad in the daytime, when it may be seen running along the loosely-built stone dykes which are a noticeable feature of many parts of the country, being built for the purpose of lidding the ground of some of the overwhelming number of stones with which it is cumbered. It probably feeds largely 011 the lizards of various kinds that abound in the island: one day in an olive-grove at Phaestos a weasel was seen to spring out of some thick undergrowth at the edge of a stream and seize a large green lizard (Lacerta viridis major Blgr.), which, 011 becoming aware of my presence, it hurriedly carried off' in its mouth. It is known to the natives by different names in different parts of the island : in the west it is called " Kalajannou," in the east " Sinteknaria " (aurreki'apta "f-), and in the Lassethe Mountains a modification of the former term which I neglected to make a note of at the time. 10. Mus r a t t u s Linn. This Rat is found in the port-towns on the northern coast, but * Ann. Mao;. Nat. Hist. sev. 7, vol. v. Jan. 1900, p. 46. t " KaXoovi'TeKrapict," according to Dr. Forsyth Major, op. cit. p. 63. |