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Show 36 MR. OLDFIELD THOMAS ON THE [Feb. 5, of all sorts for the Museum collection. Up to that date there bad been no Balearic mammals at all in the collection, and, as I gather from m y colleagues, very few members of any other groups. W e were able to spend about 10 days in each of the two larger islands, Majorca and Minorca, and obtained fairly representative collections in each. In Majorca our collections were made at Inca, a small town in the centre of the islands, on the low ground, but not far distant from the main mountain chain which runs the whole length of the north-western edge of the island. In this place we had the advantage of the kind assistance of Don Miguel Eiutort, himself an enthusiastic naturalist and collector, and were able to examine in his little Museum specimens of some species which w e failed to capture ourselves. From Inca w e made collecting excursions to the " Albufera" or reclaimed swamp of Alcudia, to neighbouring lignite-mines in search of fossils, and to the local cave of Santa Magdalena, and the more distant and better-known one of Mauacor in search of Bats. Of fossils from the lignite, although we found none ourselves, we were able to purchase some remarkably fine molars of Anthraco-iherium, which have been placed in the hands of Dr. Forsyth Major for determination. In Minorca, acting on the good advice of Don Bartolome Escudero, the British-Vice Consul at Mahon, we stayed at San Cristobal1, and found it in every way a most excellent locality for collecting. The natives took the greatest interest in our work, and constantly brought us in specimens which we should not otherwise have been able to get. Thanks to the suitability of both place and natives, w e obtained examples of every land mammal known to inhabit Minorca, with the exception of the Weasel, and even this has since been obtained by the kind assistance of M r . Escudero. The mammals of the islands prove to be very similar to those of the neighbouring mainland of France and Spain, and I can find no evidence of insular specialization. The occurrence in them of the Algerian instead of the European Hedgehog is of remarkable interest, although this animal had been already recorded from Spain (see below). Three species-the Wild Cat, Genet, and Hare-range eastwards from Spain to Majorca, but do not reach Minorca, where, when introduced, the last-named has failed to maintain itself and has again died out. All the other mammals are found in both islands. The only previous list of any importance of the Mammals of the Balearics is the very excellent one by Prof. F. Barcelo2, published in 1875. To this list w e have been able to add one terrestrial species (Mus spicilegus) and several Bats, to disprove the presence of the Water-Vole, and to make some corrections in the determinations. 1 San Cristobal. 2 An. Soc. Espafi. iv. p. 53 (1875). |