igog.] R. E. Lloyd : The Races of In.lian Rats. 



33 



15 



10 



13 13 



iLUi 



105 



_Lb 



zto 



no 185 



Fig. 3. — Diagram showing the length-frequency of 105 Mus rattus from Lyall- 

 pur (Davys). 



Rawal Pindi. 



Captain H. H. Broome has sent measurements and skins of 

 fourteen Mus rattus from Rawal Pindi. They were selected from 

 among a large number in order to show the extent of the colour 

 variation. Two of them are white-bellied, the others are pigmented 

 below but are variable above ; in some the colour is light reddish 

 brown, while in others the coloured element is much reduced and 

 the general tone is much darker. The average length is approxi- 

 mately 180, but there is one specimen of 220 mm. 



Bai,uchistan. 

 Quetta . 



Mr. W. A. Cummings has sent us a well-preserved collection 

 of over fifty field rats from the neighbourhood of Quetta. He 

 has also informed us that, so far as he can ascertain, there are no 

 house rats in Quetta. His excellent collection of field rats gives 

 support to this statement, for, as a rule, house rats are caught with 

 much greater ease than field rats The relative number of the 

 two kinds obtained from all parts of India shows this, but it must 

 be remembered that Mr. Cummings, as the Honorary Curator of 

 the Quetta Museum, has approached the subject as a naturalist, 

 whereas most of our contributors have been Medical and Sanitary 

 officers whose interest in house rats is special. For this reason I 

 think that Mr. Cummings's statement requires confirmation. If it 

 could be shown that the grain-sellers' shops of the Quetta bazaar 

 are not infested with Mus rattus , and if the cause of their absence 

 could be discovered, we should be in possession of important in- 

 formation. 



More than half the collection is made up of Gerbillus erythrura, 

 the well-known Afghan antelope rat, the feet of which have hairy 



