r«l(i l\ (;()\I>:|;KM;K IMKliXAÏKtWI.K 1»K CKNKïlnlK. 



Oi'cur Logcllior :is |);irts of owc nllrilmlc. No-.», llic i|iii'sli(iM wliicii .■iri^(^'- in 

 lliis rnse is Ihis llow is il liml Iwo iiiKoircialcil rlijir.-iiicrs dcciir in carii 



oiic (il',-! fonsidcralileniinibcr of animais? 

 An answcr is. lîocaiise al! of liicm nio 

 (Icsccndcil froni a siiii^ic indixidnnl wliicli 

 |]a|iiii'nc(l 1(1 |i,,ssess llidsc cliarai-liTS. 

 One l)ocomos coiiviiiced thaï lliis answ or 

 is riglil hy soarcliinii- for an allcrnativo. 



C'i>i,- -I {ni p,„nv,).~- ky Ibis luwn in 

 NNosIcni Imlia anollier exain|)lc of a 

 laiiiily i;ron|i was foiiiid, 'l'hcrc is otijy 

 ono rodent spccips in Poona, tlic coni- 

 nion whole colourcMl M. i'<lli/s. The 

 niembors of Ihe altnormal gronp posscs- 

 scd Ibe (•haracler of albivcntralism liy 

 wiiiili lliey were dislinguisbed from tlic 

 w linle-coloured niajorily. 



Tbcfacls concernint; Ibis groii]) werc 



lirst noliced by olliei' obscrvers. At llie 



lime of my vlsit to Poona, in May 19()S, I 



was inforined Ihal wliile bellied ralswero 



very rare in thaï lown. Ont of the 4.') iS7 



rats wliieh bad been enlered and briefly 



deseribed in Ibe register, only l!l wereof 



the \vbile-b(dlied kind and of thèse li bad 



beeii laken from a group of six adjaeent 



bouses sitnated in Ibe beart of the lown. 



Traps were again sel al uiy requesl in lliose parlicular 



bouses \vith Ihe resull Ibal Ibrei^ niorc of the same kind 



were oblained, alliiougb Ihe iliance of a wiiite bellied rat 



being canght in any bouse of the lown selected at random, 



was very sinall indeed, Hence Ihere was no donbl abonl 



I he présence of Ibc group. This ease is somewhal dilTerent 



from Ibe last, because the wbiLe-bellied rats did not occupy 



the bouses to Ibe exclusion of the common kind, a conside- 



ralde number of wbich were caplured in the same bouses, 



from t inie to lime, during the year. The subséquent history 



of Ibis group \\as ascertained. In the montb of February 



l',)l 1, Ibc gronp was sougbt for again ; belween Ibe 'Jnd an<l 



Fig' 5- I itb of the montb, '200 traps were set in Ihe same six bouses, 



72 rats were caughl in ail but only one of them was wbite 



bellied. Tlius iii less than two years Ibe group bad practically died oui. 



No doubt this is Ibe usual laie of sucb groups nnless tbey are isolated by 



somc means. 



Allhough the whole évidence cannot be deseribed hère, Ihere is good reason 

 lo believe that tbc wbile-bellied kind are appearing sporadically in many parts 

 of India. Gronps sucb as tbe one tlescribed at Poona cannot be explained on 

 the assuniplion Ibat tbey were founded by immigrants, because therc is no main 

 body of wbilc-belli(>d rats in the peninsnlar wbich ean reasonably be regarded 



Fig. 4. 



