oS 
NESOKIA. 319 
muzzle deep and broad: eye half-way between ear and nose, moderately 
large; ears not large, rounded, sparsely covered with short hairs ; feet 
large and well developed, with strong claws, and sparsely clad ; tail 
sparsely covered with short bristles on the margins of the annuli, and 
nearly equalling the length of the body and head. Pelage coarse, with 
moderately large piles, most numerous on the back ; vibrisze moderately 
long. 
General colour, above brown, with intermixed yellowish or pale brown 
_ hairs producing much the same colour as in JZ, (V.) Bhythianus ; paler 
on the sides, and passing into greyish on the under-parts; nose and 
feet flesh-coloured ; ears dark brown ; tail blackish (‘J. A. S. B.’ 1878, 
vol. xlvii. pt. ii. p. 231). 
No. 329. Mus (NESOKIA) GIGANTEUS. 
The Bandicoot (Jerdon’s No. 174). 
Native NamMes.—J/ndur, Sanscrit ; Ghunse, Hindi; JZkria, Bengali; 
fleggin, Canarese; andi-koku, i.e. pig-rat, Telegu ; Oora-meyoo, 
Singhalese. 
Hapirat.—Throughout India ; also in Ceylon. 
DESCRIPTION.—Fur coarse, consisting of the three kinds, of which 
the coarser piles are very long, and almost hide the general pelage on the 
lumbar and dorsal regions. These piles are almost absent on the head, 
neck, and sides; general colour earthy brown, with yellowish hairs 
intermixed ; the piles blackish-brown ; under-parts dusky brown, mixed 
with grey ; limbs brownish ; nose, inside of ear and feet flesh-coloured ; 
tail black, ringed, and sparsely haired. The female has twelve mamme. 
SizE.—Head and body, from 12 to 15 inches; tail, from 1: to 13. 
Weight, about 3 lbs. 
This is a well known rat, but it is not common in Caicutta, although 
supposed to be so. People frequently mistake very large specimens of 
the common brown house-rat (AZus decumanus) for this animal, which, 
Blyth remarks, is rare here. Jerdon states that it is common in the 
fort of Madras, where he killed many, some of large size. When 
assailed it grunts like a pig, hence its Telegu name Pandi-koku, from 
which the word bandicoot is derived. McMaster states that the 
bandicoct, though so formidable in appearance, does not show so good 
a fight as an ordinary English rat, being a sluggish and cowardly 
animal; and though, from its size and weight, it takes a good deal of 
worrying, it seldom does much in self defence, and any moderately good 
dog can kill it with ease. It is however a most destructive animal, 
doing much damage to granaries, gardens, and even poultry-yards. In 
some parts of the country, as for instance Fort St. George in Madras, 
Government used to pay a reward’ of one anna for every bandicoot 
killed within the walls. 
