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Show 104 MR. HAROLD SCHWANN ON [Feb. 6, but they are now very scarce and hardly ever leave the tall reeds by the river's bank to go on to the veldt. They are said to make a nest of reeds, grass, and sticks, which floats in the middle of the thickest reed-bed. On this they rear their young. Then-food consists chiefly of fish, frogs, and crabs."-R. B. W. 9. CYNICTIS PENICILLATA LEPTURA Smith. cT. W . 53. 2- I>. 128. Kuruman. In view of the close resemblance of the teeth of these specimens to those of the type of Smith's leptura*, and the proximity of Kuruman to the type locality, it seems best to refer them provisionally to that race, although, owing to their immaturity, their identity is rather uncertain. They are, however, smaller and more slenderly built than specimens of the same age from other localities, and it seems probable that a further series from this region would show the existence of a small desert race extending from Kuruman to the northern limit of Bechuanaland. On laying out geographically the British Museum series of Cynictis skins for purposes of comparison, the specimens fell naturally into well-marked local races, as was the case with the Suricates described by Mr. Thomas and myself in the second paper t dealing with the Rudd exploration of South Africa. The Namaqualand or western race has already been described as C. penicillata pallidior t, a pale veldt form not found in the low-lying country near the coast. The Great Karroo possesses, as might be expected, a race, peculiar to itself, of a light lemon-yellow colour, described by Smith as Cynictis ogilbyi. The type specimen is still the only example in the British Museum of this subspecies, described by Smith in 1849. The type of C. steedmianni Ogilby, obtained at Uitenhage, is indistinguishable from the series collected by Major G. E. H . Barrett- Hamilton at Vredefort Road in the north of the Orange River Colony. It is possible that Steedman, who travelled through the Orange Colony, made a mistake as to the locality of his specimen, or that the race represented by Major Barrett-Hamilton's specimens extends as far south as Uitenhage. The local race inhabiting central Cape Colony, and represented by Mr. Grant's specimens from Deelfontein, appears to need description. It may be called Cynictis penicillata intensa, subsp, n., and is distinguished by the strong tawny ochraceous suffusion on the back, upper surface of hind limbs, and tail. Individual long hairs of back about 25 m m . in length, basal half light buffy yellow, subterminal ring black, tip tawny ochraceous on the middle line, lighter on the flanks. Under-fur dark smoky-brown basally, terminal half ochraceous. General colour of the whole under surface, including fore and hind limbs and tail, between clay- * Smith, 111. Zool. S. Afr. pi. 17 (1849). f P. Z. S. 1905, vol. i. p. 132, £ P. Z. S. 1904. vol. i. p. 175. |