  We report evidence for an ~ 80 d periodicity in the X-ray flux of the hard
transient pulsar XTE J1946+274. The 1.3-12 keV light curve obtained with the
RossiXTE All Sky Monitor shows five regularly spaced flares over a ~ 1 year
baseline starting from the outburst onset in Sept. 1998. The first and
strongest flare is somewhat longer than the subsequent four flares, which recur
in a fairly periodic fashion. This suggests that the profile of the first flare
is dominated by the time variability of the Be star ejection episode, while the
following four flares are primarily caused by the neutron star motion along an
eccentric orbit.
