2lt> SOME SOUTH INDIAN INSECTS, ETC. [CHAP. XXIII. 



pure-white below. Normally it probably does some good, because 

 its favourite food is the root-- ol hariali grass [Cynodon dactylon) 

 which is a most pestilential weed as a rule, but it also does consider- 

 able damage by feeding on seeds and grain. Under certain 

 conditions, whether of favourable weather or absence of enemies or 

 both is not exactly known, this little rat increases enormously in 

 numbers and it is probable that this is often the sp Kerned 



omplaints are made <>l damage to standing crops by rats. 

 In 1878-79 this Gerbille was so plentiful in the Deci an .1- to ravage 

 tin-crops ovei an area of several thousand miles. 



The Common Indian Rat (Epimys rufescens, or Mus nittus ol the 

 " Fauna ol India " volume) is common everj where, burrowing in tin- 

 ground and climbing well. It is common in houses, living especially 

 in roofs where these are made of suitable materials and is practically 

 omnivorous but I tly on grain and fruits. It often does 



considerable damage in coconut topes, destroying the young unripe 

 nuts, and nesting in the crowns of the palms. The Brown Rat 

 I Epimys norvegicus or Mus decumanus) is a typically human parasite 

 which has been carried b) shipping all over the World and which is 

 now commonly found in all large towns. It lives in burrows in and 

 houses, in field-bunds, etc., and sometimes does damage to 

 grain-crops although it is essentially a scavenger. The Indian 

 House-Mouse (Mus manei) is a household pest as a rule, but is occa- 

 sionally found doing damage near human habitations; in the fields 

 it is replaced by the Southern Field-Mouse (Mus booduga). The 

 Soft-furred Field-Rat ( Millar dia meltada) lives entirely in cultivated 

 fields, in burrows or simply in cracks in the soil, and sometimes 

 increases "so as to become a perfect plague and to destroy the 

 crops" (Elliot). The Bandicoot (Bandicota malabarica, or Nesokia 

 bandicota (part) of the " Fauna " volume) is common in many parts 

 of Southern India, both in towns and in cultivated trai ts, being 

 very destructive to grain and also eating fruits and said to kill 

 chickens. It is of very large size for a rat, the head and hotly 

 (without tail) measuring 12 1 5 inches long, blackish-brown ,1 box e. 

 grey beneath ; it grunts like a pig, whence its name, which is 

 derived from the Telugu "Pandi-koku" (pig-rat) of tank-diggers. 

 The nearly allied Southern Mole-Rat (Gunomys kok) has similar 

 habits, throwing up large piles oi earth at the entrances of its 

 burrows, which are often in the bunds of paddy-lands, and storing 

 up grain. 



The abovementioned are the commoner and more important of 

 the rats and mice found in Southern India and they are enumerated 

 here in order to emphasize the fact that very various and different 

 species may do damage, a point which is usually overlooked by 



