72 Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol. Ill, 



The tails of these rats are of a dark greyish brown colour, of 

 exactly the same shade above and below. 



Rng. 3— 



One young specimen was obtained which measures 113, 97 

 (tip broken), 28, 16 ; this exactly resembles many of the imma- 

 ture members of the group Rng. 2, but differs from them in that 

 the under side of the tail is completely devoid of pigment. In this 

 respect, therefore, it resembles Mus jerdoni, niveiventer , vicerex, 

 bukit, rapit, etc. It is regarded as a sport born from one of the 

 race Rng. 2, for it is unique among many hundreds of rats which 

 it otherwise resembles, and it is too 3'oung to be an importation. 

 Its immaturity is shown by its small size and large feet, also by 

 the fact that the third molar is not cut. 



Rng. 4, Gunomys varius — 



Rats of this species were called '' bandicoots " b}' the officials 

 m charge of the rat-catching operations. This name was a good 

 one, for, besides closely resembling bandicoots in the bristly nature 

 of their fur, these rats have skulls which are hardly to be distin- 

 guished from those of small specimens of Bandicota nemorivaga , 

 but considerably different from Gunomys bengalensis (plate iii). 

 In general appearance, however, they differ from bandicoots in being 

 less in length but relatively stouter, and in having shorter tails 

 and shorter feet, peculiarities which belong to the Gunomys type. 



Probably not less than 10 % of the rats of Rangoon belong to 

 this species. Estimations made at the collecting station ma}^ show 

 figures som.ewhat less than this, but like the bandicoots of Madras 

 city this outdoor rat must be difficult to capture. It is too 

 large to enter cage traps with ease. Questions as to the place and 

 mode of their capture almost always met with the same response, 

 " killed with a stick in a back drainage space." 



It seems that this rat has never been noticed in Burma be- 

 fore although it has been long known from countries further south. 

 It can be traced back in scientific literature as far as 1824, when 

 Horsiield discovered it in Java and published a long account of it 

 with an excellent engraving [14J. It was named Mus setifer by its 

 discoverer, who considered it akin to Mus giganteus, the name which 

 used to be applied to the Indian bandicoots. Cantor recorded it 

 under the same name from Penang [15], and held the same view of its 

 affinities. Blanford, in the Fauna of British India, 1891, regards 

 Mus setifer as a doubtful synonym of Nesokia {i.e., Bandicota) nemo- 

 rivaga, but he mentions that the Burmese form of Nesokia bengal- 

 ensis is larger than the Bengal form. This statement may have 

 arisen from the presence of Gunomys varius in Burma. 



In 1907 this rat appeared as Gunomys varius, sp. nov. The 

 author who gave it this name regarded it as the Malayan repre- 

 sentative of Gunomys bengalensis. He states clearly, " This is 

 Mus setifer, Horsfield." The species is a most interesting one. 



