384 

 SCIENTIFIC RESULTS FROM THE MAMMAL SURVEY. 



No. XYIII — {continued). 

 Report on the House Rats of India, Burma, and Ceylon. 



BY 



Martin A. 0. Hinton. 

 Part II. 



{Gonthmed frmn 2Mge 88 of this Volume.) 

 7. Rattus rattles wroughtoni, subsp. n. 



1912. E]:mnys rufescens, variety with white underpai'ts, 

 Wroiighton, Report No. 6, Dhar\\'ar, /. Bomhay Nat. 

 Hist. Soc. xxi, p. 1189 ; Ryley, Report No. 9, Mysore,^ 

 vol. xxii, p. 293 ; Report No. 11, Coorg, vol. xxii., p. 



Ty2>e:—A male (B. M. No. 98.3.5. 26 ; Original No. §J) collect- 

 ed at Coonoor, Nilgiri Hills, on 25 December 1897, by Mr. R. C. 

 Wroughton and presented by him to the British ]Mnseum. 



Distrilndion : — Sovithern India ; its range as at present known 

 extending from Travancore and eastern ]Madura northwards to 

 Dharwar and eastern Mysore. 



Material examined: — 4 ( d) from Coonoor, Nilgiri Hills ; 8 (4 (j , 

 45) from Travancore ; 1 ( J ) from eastern Madura ; 1 2 (4 j , 

 8 $ ) from South Coorg ; 12 (5 j , 7 $ ) from North Coorg ; 13 

 (9 c? , 4 ? ) from southern and eastern Mysore ; 13 (8 c5' , 5 $ ) 

 from northern Mysore and Kanara ; and 12(7 j , 5 § ) from Dhar- 

 war (South Mahr'atta). Total 75 (39 j , 36 $ ). 



Descri'ption : — This race differs apparenth^ from arboreus, 

 narbadoi, gi'irensis and satarce in having the body larger, the head, 

 tail and ears relatively shorter. 



The fur is usuall}'- thick but rather short ; intermixed with it, 

 particularly upon the back and flanks immediately behind the 

 shoulders, are short, weak, spiny bristles in greater or less profu- 

 sion. These bristles are M'hitish in colour ; in some specimens 

 they are not sufficiently abundant to affect the general quality of 

 the pelage, but more frequently they are verj- numerous and render 

 the fur quite harsh to the touch. 



The general dorsal coloiir is much more nearly rufous than in 

 anj" of the other Indian subspecies. The ground colour of the 

 back is a light reddish brown and it is lined with a greater or less 

 number of long black hairs; as in other races {cf., p. 87)^ 

 these black hairs seem to be gradually eliminated by bleaching, so 

 that older specimens have their backs of a purer or clearer 



