Whitk. — Oit liata Kiul Mice. 199 



Fingland, and some have said the cause was owing to ship- 

 ments of weasels to New Zealand. From their being in such 

 numbers (one farmer poisoning thirteen hundred in his yard 

 during one night), it is evident that it is not from natural 

 increase, but the result of an ordinary migration. 



I lived in the South Island over twenty years and never 

 found a Black Eat {Mas ratUis), but, on coming to Hawke's 

 Bay, I soon noticed them ; as also the connnon Norway Eat 

 {Mns decumanus), which is said formerly to have found its 

 way, by ship, to England, and to have superseded the 

 black rat or destroyed it, which was the rat indigenous to 

 Britain. The black rat seems never to come into buildings or 

 stacks, but to live in the fields or bush. I have taken speci- 

 mens having a yellow-brown mark or line leading from the 

 angle of the jaw down the breast to each fore-leg. On read- 

 ing Mr. Eutland's paper, giving an accoimt of the so-called Maori 

 liat {Mus ■maorimn) in the north of the South Island, I set 

 to work to try and find the same rat in the forests here where 

 I am located — Wimbledon, Hawke's Bay. The grey or brown 

 rats had so great a variety of shades of colour and size that 

 this was no easy matter ; and a collection of skins had to be 

 made, wliich varied so much that, for a time, I could come to 

 no decision. Now, I feel sure we also have Mus maorium, and 

 very likely a second native rat, or, rather, third, counting M. 

 rattus. But as yet I have proved nothing certain about No. 2. 

 There may be various stages of hybridism among these rats 

 with Mus decumanus, which would make a difficulty in fixing 

 on the originals. My new rat, in description, seems to agree 

 somewhat with the M. maoriuyu in Mr. Eutland's paper. For 

 some time, owing to its small size, I thought it the young 

 of the larger species. In colour it is brownish-grey mixed 

 with black hairs ; black hairs plentiful from forehead to nose, 

 which is pinkish-skinned ; belly dirty-white, also light slate- 

 colour, very dark fur underneath ; yellowish-brown strij^e down 

 breast-bone (not always) ; coloured on legs down to claws, 

 which are pink with white hairs ; ears are often or always 

 jhnped as with small excrescences on edges from disease, but 

 this seems a distinct peculiarity of the species; face broad, out- 

 line Eoman, possibly from hair standing outward naturally ; 

 ridge of bone between ears, on back of head, very prominent, 

 sometimes with patches of black colour on inside of skin ; hair 

 on back beautifully iridescent in sunbeam when looked at 

 from a certain angle, giving a bright delicate colour of light- 

 green^ — in fact, the whole surface of the back looks a beautiful 

 green. It is possible this may also be seen on the coats of 

 ordinary rats ; I have not yet put it to the proof. If so, it is 

 worth any one's while to see this wonderful effect— an ordi- 

 nary grey animal changed to a delicate shade of green b}' 



