Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 62

_The White-bellied House Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 181_).

HABITAT.--The lower Himalayan ranges.

DESCRIPTION.--"Above blackish-brown, shaded with rufous; below entirely pure white, tail and all."--_Blyth_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5-1/4 to 7 inches; tail, 6 to 7-1/2 inches.

Hodgson stated this to be a house rat in Nepal, but not very common.

Jerdon found it common at Darjeeling. Specimens have been received from Mussoorie.

NO. 343. MUS NITIDUS.

_The s.h.i.+ning Brown Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 182_).

HABITAT.--Nepal; Darjeeling.

DESCRIPTION.--Dusky brown above, dusky h.o.a.ry below. According to Hodgson it is "distinguished for its smooth coat or pelage, wherein the long hairy piles are almost wanting. It is a house rat, like _M.

niveiventer_, but much rarer, and frequents the mountains rather than the valleys." The long hairs are 11/16 inch in length, h.o.r.n.y at the base, with black tip, the short fur ashy, with rufous tips.

SIZE.--Head and body, 6-1/2 inches; tail 7-1/4 inches.

Blyth writes of this species ('J. A. S. B.' vol. x.x.xii. 1863, p. 343): "We have several specimens of what I take to be this rat from Darjeeling. They are especially distinguished by the fineness and softness of the fur. One specimen only, of eight from Darjeeling, which I refer to this species, has the lower parts pure white, abruptly defined."

There is a smaller rat, only four inches in length, which agrees exactly with the above, which Hodgson named _M. horietes_. It is not mentioned in Blyth's Catalogue, but it has not been overlooked by Blyth, as Jerdon's remarks would lead one to suppose, for in the 'Memoir on the Rats and Mice in India,' by the former, in the 'J.

A. S. B.' vol. x.x.xii. for 1863, it is entered with a quotation from Hodgson.

NO. 344. MUS CAUDATIOR.

_The Chestnut Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 183_).

HABITAT.--The lower Eastern Himalayas, i.e., Nepal, Darjeeling, &c.; also in Burmah, Lower Pegu, and Martaban.

DESCRIPTION.--"Above a fine bright cinnamon colour, with inconspicuous black tips; the under-parts white, which is abruptly divided from the cinnamon hue above" (_Blyth_). Sometimes yellowish-white (_Jerdon_). Muzzle sharp; ears and tail long.

SIZE.--Head and body, about six inches; tail, 7-3/4 inches.

According to Blyth the Nepal specimens are darker than those from Burmah, which he says "differs only from the Nepalese animal of Mr.

Hodgson by having the upper parts entirely of a bright cinnamon colour."

NO. 345. MUS CONCOLOR.

_The Common Thatch Rat of Pegu_.

HABITAT.--Upper and Lower Burmah, Malayan peninsula.

DESCRIPTION.--I have been unable to trace any accurate description of this rat, which Blyth says "conducts from the long-tailed arboreal rats to the ordinary house mice." In his 'Catalogue of the Mammals of Burmah,' published in the 'Jour. Asiatic Soc. Beng.' for 1875, he remarks that "it requires to be critically examined in the fresh state." In the 'J. A. S. B.,' vol. xxviii. p. 295, he describes a young one as dark greyish mouse colour; but this is not reliable, as the young rats and mice change colour as they attain full growth.[23]

[Footnote 23: Since writing the above, Dr. Anderson has kindly allowed me to examine the specimens of _Mus concolor_ in the museum, and in the adult state they are considerably more rufescent. In one specimen, allowing for the effects of the spirit, the fur was a bright rufescent brown; but, whatever be the tint of the prevailing colour, it pervades the whole body, being but slightly paler on the under-parts. Size, about 4 inches; tail, about 4-1/2 inches.--R. A.

S.]

NO. 346. MUS PALMARUM.

_The Nicobar Tree Rat_.

HABITAT.--Nicobar Islands.

NO. 347. MUS CEYLONUS.

HABITAT.--Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur soft, lead colour; hair of upper parts tipped with dark fawn and black; ears large, naked; whiskers long, black; tail longer than the head and body, scaly.

SIZE.--Head and body, 4-3/4 inches; tail, 6 inches.

"This small rat is found in out-houses in the cinnamon gardens at Colombo. I have no reason to think it to be the young of the former species (_M. dec.u.ma.n.u.s_); the teeth were well developed; the darker colour and long tail will easily distinguish the species from other Colombo rats" (_Kellaart_). The character of the molar teeth is all that can be depended on in the foregoing description, and this may require further investigation. The young of rats and mice are always darker than the adults, and the tail is longer in proportion.

The following are doubtful species:--

NO. 348. MUS PLURIMAMMIS.

_Jerdon's No. 177_.

This, which Blyth considered a good species, is, I am informed, referable with _M. Taraiyensis_ and _M. Morungensis_ to Gray's _Nesokia Bengalensis_. The type and drawing of it are in the British Museum.

NO. 349. MUS AEQUICAUDALIS.

of Hodgson, described in Horsfield's Catalogue as pure dark brown above, with a very slight cast of rufescent in a certain aspect; underneath from the chin to the vent, with interior of thighs, yellowish-white; ears nearly an inch long; head proportionately long ('Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.' new series, iii. p. 203). This, with Blyth's _M. nemoralis_, seems identical with _M. brunneus_.

_Mus arboreus_ of Horsfield's Catalogue is _Mus rufescens_. It remains to be seen whether there is sufficient difference between _M. rufescens_ and _M. niveiventer_ to warrant the separation of the latter as a distinct species.

The following species lead on to the mice--beginning with the long-tailed arboreal species, _Vandeleuria_ of Gray, which connect the arboreal rats with the house mice.

The characteristics of _Vandeleuria_ are: upper incisors triangular, grooved in front; ears hairy; fur soft, with long bristles interspersed; long tail, spa.r.s.ely haired; hind feet very long, slender; soles bald beneath; toes .45 long, slender, compressed, the pads much more strongly developed than in ground mice; the inner and outer toes with a small flattened nail.

NO. 350. MUS OLERACEUS.

_The Long-tailed Tree Mouse_ (_Jerdon's No. 184_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Marad-ilei_, Canarese; _Meina-yelka_, Telegu of the Yanadees (_Jerdon_).

HABITAT.--Throughout India from north to south, but has not been reported from Ceylon. In Burmah Dr. Anderson found it in the valley of the Nampoung, a frontier stream dividing Burmah from China.

DESCRIPTION.--Upper surface rich rufous or chestnut red, paling to brown on the ears and muzzle before the eyes; under-parts white, with a yellowish tinge; feet pale brown, shading off into white on the toes; under surface of feet yellowish; tail brownish or dusky with grey hairs; it tapers to a point, finely ringed; spa.r.s.ely haired between the rings, the hairs more numerous and longer towards the tips. The length of the head, according to Dr. Anderson, whose description ('Anat. and Zool. Res.' p. 313) is more complete than Jerdon's, is about one-third the length of the body; the muzzle is moderately long and slightly contracted behind the moustachial area; eyes large; ears ovate, spa.r.s.ely clad.