508 MURIDAZ—EPIMYS 
Kerville (p. 173) describes it as being still very common in the country 
districts of Normandy, but as rather rare in the towns and those 
localities in which the Brown Rat is abundant; probably many of the 
Norman Black Rats belong, however, to the “wild-coloured” sub- 
species. In Switzerland, according to Fatio, it survived in 1869 at 
Geneva, where the Brown Rat had scarcely then attained a footing ; 
the present sub-species and the “wild-coloured” forms were there 
equally abundant. 
In Britain it was formerly widely spread both on the mainland and 
the islands. It is still occasionally met with in old houses in remote 
districts, but probably the only remaining mainland colony of any size 
is that at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, studied by Patterson; further 
details of this are given above under the species (History). Other 
colonies are found in the Channel Islands, notably on Sark; perhaps 
in Scilly; on Lundy; in the Orkneys, on South Ronaldshay ; and 
perhaps in the Hebrides, on Benbecula. 
In Ireland it is now extremely rare; the only colony of “native” 
Black Rats reported in quite recent times is that at Dungarvon, Co. 
Waterford, alluded to above under History of species. 
This sub-species has been carried by shipping from Europe to all 
parts of the world. Its introduction to South and Central America 
dates from the sixteenth century; Pennant (citing Garcilasso de la 
Vega, 384. Ovalle, Churchill's Coll. iii, 44) says this happened about 
the year 1544, in the time of Viceroy Blasco Nunnez. The date of 
its introduction to North America is uncertain, but it was well 
established in the British colonies there in the beginning of the 
eighteenth century. Since the arrival of E. norvegicus its numbers 
have decreased, and it is now rare in most parts of the United States 
and Canada; it is now found in scattered colonies mostly east of the 
Mississippi valley, and on certain islands along the coast on both sides 
of the Continent. In parts of Central and South America it has been 
more persistent and is still abundant (D. E. Lantz, 11). It has acquired 
a wide distribution in Africa and Australasia. As an introduction 
to Indian ports it has succeeded in returning to the probable home 
of its ancestors; its success as a colonist varies, however, in different 
localities, for while Liston estimated (1905) it to form about 30 per 
cent. of all the rats of Bombay, Hossack found it very rare in Calcutta. 
Description :—The general colour is slaty, darker on the back, paler 
below. The dorsal fur is long, black, and silky, and often shows in 
certain lights a greenish metallic lustre; the underfur and long dorsal 
hairs have slaty bases and black tips; intermixed with them are more 
or less numerous whitish hairs and bristles. On the under parts the 
fur is short and of a uniform slaty or light leaden hue. There is 
sometimes a chest-spot or stripe of white; more rarely a white spot 

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