104 MUS. 



Note. "This, the typical genus of the Family (RODENTIA) is," 

 Mr. Oldfield Thomas writes, " by far the largest of the Order, 

 and indeed of the whole Class MAMMALIA, containing not less 

 than one hundred and twenty species spread over the whole of 

 the Old World with the exception of Madagascar. The number 

 of species is, on the whole, much more considerable in tropical 

 than in temperate regions, while but few are found where the 

 climate is excessively cold." The following paragraph from the 

 same pen is of more than ordinary interest, and to it we would 

 call the attention of our northern zoologists, whose opportunities 

 of examining the t animals at different seasons and different 

 altitudes so far exceeds ours. " It is an interesting fact in 

 connection with climate that many of the species living in hot 

 countries have their fur more or less mixed with flattened spines, 

 and that these spines appear to be shed during the winter and to 

 be replaced by hairs, the latter naturally affording a warmer 

 covering for the animal than the former." 



1. Mus FUSCIPES, Waterh. (1840). 



Dusky-footed Eat. 



Form stout ; ears moderate ; tail equal in length to the body ; 

 tarsi moderate ; fur very long. General color above blackish- 

 brown with an admixture of gray ; below grayish-white. Feet 

 brown : tail black, sparingly covered with short bristly hairs. 

 Incisors orange. 



Dimensions. Head and body to six and a half inches ; tail to 

 four and a quarter inches. 



Habitat. The entire southern half of Australia ; Tasmania ; 

 Islands of Bass' Strait. 



References. Waterhouse, Voy. Beagle, Mamm. p. 66, pi. xxv. ; 

 Gould, Mamm. Austr. iii. pi. ii. 



Note. This Rat is partial to the neighborhood of water, 

 frequenting the banks of streams and lagunes, swampy localities 

 among long grass and dense brush, and swims with great ease 

 and rapidity. 



2. Mus VELLEROSUS, Gray (1847). 



Tawny Rat. 



Form stout ; ears moderate ; tail shorter than the body ; fur 

 very long, close, and rather soft. General color above reddish- 

 brown with interspersed whitish hairs ; below paler. Feet and 

 tail brown, the latter with a few short bristly hairs. Incisors 

 yellow. 



