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Show 470 MR. O. THOMAS ON THE MAMMALS [Dec. 4, The following papers were read :- 1. The Mammals of the Solomon Islands, based on the Collections made by Mr. C. M . Woodford during his Second Expedition to the Archipelago. By OLDFIELD T H O M A S , Natural History Museum. [Eeceived July 25, 1888.] (Plates XX.-XXII.) In the Proceedings of the Society for last year1 I had the of describing a collection of Bats which Mr. C. M. Woodford had formed at Shortland and Fauro Islands, at the western end of the Solomon Archipelago, and the present paper gives an account of a second collection made by the same gentleman in the eastern islands of the group. This second collection is larger and more important than the first, for, apart from the considerable number of duplicates, the set acquired by the British Museum consists of 42 specimens belonging to 19 species. Two species only of the ten previously found are not represented in it, and by the inclusion of these and of a Rat described by Mr. E. P. Ramsay from Florida Island, the present paper is made a complete list of the Mammals known to occur in the group. Of the specimens now described a few were collected at Rubiana, New Georgia, but the great mass of them, and all the new species, were obtained at Aola, on the north-east coast of Guadalcanar, where Mr. Woodford resided for several months2. The total number of mammals now known from the Solomons is brought up by the present collection from 13 to 22, and of these no less than 8 have been discovered by Mr. Woodford, the previous collection having contained 2 and the present one 6 new species. There are also two new genera of Bats to add to the one previously described. All the specimens are beautifully preserved in spirit, and Mr. Woodford is to be congratulated on the fact that the care and trouble he must have expended on the collection have been rewarded by the addition of so large a number of new and interesting species to the Mammalian fauna of the Australian region. CHIROPTERA. 1. PTEROPUS GRANDIS, Thos. Pteropus grandis, Thos. P. Z. S. 1887, p. 320, pi. xxv. a. 8 • Rubiana, New Georgia. Forearm 163 millim. This fine species was one of Mr. Woodford's previous discoveries, the original specimens having been obtained by him at Alu' 1 P. Z. S. 1887, p. 320. 2 Mr. Woodford has given an account of his wanderings and personal experiences in the Solomon Islands in Proc. R. Geogr. Soc. 1888, p. 351. |
