Descriptions of East Asiatic Mammals 275 
Chiropodomys). They are found only in the tropics of south- 
eastern Asia, from India through Burma and Indo-China to 
southern Yunnan in China. In common with Chiropodomys they 
have the great toe of the hind foot opposable and thumb-like, 
just as monkeys do. The teeth are substantially like those of 
True Mice and True Rats. The upper incisors are weakly 
grooved. The number of nipples is 8, 2 pairs on the chest and 
2 on the belly. 
In Ceylon a specimen was captured alive in a nest 30 feet up 
a tree. The animal proved to be nocturnal and strongly arboreal, 
using its long tail as a balancing organ as it ran out to the tips 
of slender twigs. The nest was made from a broad-bladed grass 
that had been carried up from the ground. 
The Indian Field Mouse, V. oleracea of central India, the 
type species of Vandeleuria, is colored "bright pale chestnut" 
above, yellowish white beneath. The very long tail is not pre- 
hensile. The second and fifth digits of the hands are shorter 
than the third and fourth; the first (much reduced in size) 
and fifth digits have each a nail instead of a claw. The great 
toe is (apparently) opposable to the other toes as in Chiropo- 
domys and Hapalomys. The number of nipples is 2 thoracic pairs 
and 2 inguinal, totaling 8. The length of the head and body 
is 2% inches, tail 4*4 inches, hind foot % inch. Three related 
forms are found eastward: V. dnmeticola of Nepal, the race 
V. d. scandens of Tonkin and eastern Yunnan, and V. sibylla of 
southern Siam. The first of these is also a buffy rufous-colored 
Mouse with white underparts, but the tail is dusky. The hands 
and feet are white. The head and body measure 3 inches, tail 
5% inches, hind foot % inch. The race V. d. scandens is as 
small as sibylla; it has a wash of ochraceous buff over the white 
underparts. Like the Indian Field Mice, those of Yunnan build 
nests of grass among low shrubs. 
The Pencil-tailed Tree Mice, genus Chiropodomys, which 
means "hand-footed Mouse," from the thumb-like great toe on 
the hind foot, is a genus of tropical Mice, the greatest concentra- 
