8o 



Records of the Indian Museum. 



[Vol.. Ill, 



West Australia. 



We have received an interesting collection of rats from Mr. 

 T H. lyovegrove of the Department of Public Health in Perth. 

 These were all caught in the port of Freemantle either from the 

 wharves or ships. The collection contains eight Mus rattus and two 

 Mus decumanus. The two latter and one black Mus rattus are 

 labelled " Freemantle wharves." The other seven Mus rattus are 

 labelled " S. S. Sultan. " They were probably taken during one of 

 the periodical destructions of vermin which are sometimes carried 

 out on ships. In regard to Mus decumanus nothing need be said ; 

 they are quite indistinguishable from others of the species obtained 

 in Calcutta and Rangoon. The seven rats from the ship are most 

 interesting. Among them are to be found examples of the three 

 chief kinds met with in India. Four of them are black, three are 

 brown and indistinguishable from one another as to their upper 

 surface, but two of them are white-bellied and the other is brown- 

 bellied. The three kinds are distinguishable from one another at a 

 glance, but each is indistinguishable from the corresponding kind 

 found in India, at a port such as Bombay, or an inland town such 

 as Cawnpore. Surely it cannot be supposed that these three kinds 

 have each arisen separately and subsequently become associated with 

 one another so as to have distributed themselves widely in the inter- 

 mingled state in which they are found. 



The measurements of the seven rats are interesting. They 

 seem somewhat higher than might be expected from the appear- 

 ance of the specimens, at the same time the tails seem somewhat 

 short. The measurements have probably been taken from the 

 first ring of the tail and not from the anus ; if so, lo mm. should 

 be subtracted from the lengths and added to the tail lengths in 

 order to bring the measurements into line with our others. The 

 measurements are all b}?^ the same hand and so may be safely 

 compared inter se. As has been noticed both at Cawnpore and 

 Calcutta, the black rats are smaller than the brown ones. 



We have also obtained a specimen of the Australian rat Hydro- 

 mys fulginosus. 



