GERBILLUS. 309 
tie long bamboos (with thin little branches left on them to climb by) to 
the trees ; and, when the hole was reached, the man cut the entrance 
large enough to admit his hand, and took out the nest with the animals 
rolled up in it, put the whole into a bag made of’ bark, and brought it 
down. They actually reached the bottom sometimes without being 
disturbed. It was very wet, cold weather, and they may have been 
somewhat torpid ; but I started a large brown rat at the foot of one of 
these trees, which ran up the stem into a hole, and four dormice were 
out in a minute from it, apparently in terror of their large friend. There 
were no traces of hoarding in any of the holes, but the soft bark of the 
trees was a good deal gnawed in places. ‘I had two of these dormice 
alive for some time, but, as they bit and gnawed at everything intended 
to keep them in durance, I was obliged to kill both. I noticed that 
when their tails were elevated, the hairs were perfectly erect like a 
bottle-brush ” (‘ Proc. As. Soc. Beng.’ 1859, p. 290). 
SUB-FAMILY GERBILLIN. 
Incisors narrow ; molars divided into transverse laminz ; pterygoid 
fosszee short; auditory bulle usually large; hind limbs very long; tail 
long and hairy. 
GENUS GERBILLUS. 
Form murine, with the exception of the elongated hind-limbs ; muzzle 
_ pointed ; ears moderate and oval ; eyes very large and bright ; occipital 
region broad ; auditory bullz large ; upper incisors grooved ; first molar 
with three laminz, the second with two, and third with one only ; hinder 
tarsus and toes much elongated; the fore-limbs small; tail long and 
hairy, with a tuft at the end. 
No. 317. GERBILLUS INDICUS. 
The Indian Jerboa-Rat, or Kangaroo-Rat (Jerdon’s No. 170). 
Native Names. — Mirna-mus, Hindi; Jhenku-indur, Sanscrit and 
Bengali; Veri-yeka of the Waddurs; 7Zé/-ye/ka of the Yanadees ; Bil/a- 
ilei, Canarese. 
Hasirat.—All over India and in Ceylon, but apparently not in 
Burmah. 
Descriprion.—Light fulvous brown above or fawn colour, paling on 
the sides ; under-patts white ; the hairs of the back are ashy at the base. 
