Natural History of Hawaii. 



SEicTioN five: 



THE AMMAL LIFE OF THE GROUF. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



VARIOUS AXLMALS FRO.M LAND AND SEA. 



lI.wv.viiAx Rats. 



The Hawaiian rat ^ was the lai-uest land animal inhabitinu' the islands ;it 

 the time of their discovery by Captain Cook. Unt\)rtunately. the species 

 appears not only to have completely disappeared, but so far as is known not 

 a single specimen has been preserved in any natural history collection or 

 museum.- This seems most singular, as we know from Hawaiian tradition 

 that at one time they were -very abundant, and for many years w-ere trouble- 

 some in cane tields. 



From all accounts, they were small in size, and for that reason it is sug- 

 gested that their place was taken shortl.y after the discovery of the islands 

 by the common, wide-ranging grey and black rats, as these two species have 

 traveled all over the world in ships and were no doubt passengers on the first 

 ships to touch at the group. It is thought that the early and complete disap- 

 pearance of the native species may have been due to the aggressive disposition 

 of the new comers, particularly of the brown or Norway species, as wherever 

 this rat has gone — and it is a great traveler — it has gained a footing and, in 

 many places, completely replaced the less pugnacious native forms. 



The brown rat * is the larger of the two common species in Hawaii at the 

 present tinu'. It is generally believed that this species is a native of Western 

 China, b\it it was known in England as early as 1730, where it came to be 

 generally, thongh erroneously, called the Norway rat. It can be at once recog- 

 nized b.v its heavy build, massive blunt muzzle, comparatively small ears and 



- Mr. J. F. G. Stokes, of the Bishop Museum, secured bones of what is supposed to have been 

 the Hawaiian rat on Kahoolawe, April. 1913. ' Mus demumanua — Mus norvefficus. 



(Dffiri-iptian of Plate Continued from Opposite Page.) 



period of .svibsidence formed the channel between Kauai (2a) and the Oahu, Molokai. Maui. 

 Lanai, Kohala land (2b). 3. The second marked period of subsidence separated Waianac (3bl 

 and probably Koolau (3c) as islands at one end and Kohala (3e) at the other end of the 

 Molokai, Lanai, Maui area (3d). 4. Shows the last stage of subsidence; the island of Niihau 

 (4a) separated from Kauai (4b) ; the two islands (3b and 3e) united to form Oahu (4c) and 

 the islands of Molokai (4d), Lanai (4e), Maui (4f) and Kahoolawe (4g) separated by chan- 

 nels less than 100 fathom,s deep. 



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