Mus. 329 
No. 342. MuUS NIVEIVENTER. 
The White-bellied House Rat ( Jerdon’s No. 181). 
Hasirat.—The lower Himalayan ranges. 
DESCRIPTION.—‘*‘ Above blackish-brown, shaded with rufous ; below 
entirely pure white, tail and all,”—BAz/, 
Si1zE.—Head and body, 54 to 7 inches; tail, 6 to 72 inches. 
Hodgson stated this to be a house rat in Nepal, but not very common. 
Jerdon found it common at Darjeeling. Specimens have been re- 
ceived from Mussoorie. 
No. 343. Mus NITIDUS. 
The Shining Brown Rat ( Jerdon’s No. 182). 
Hasitat.—Nepal ; Darjeeling. 
DEsCRIPTION.—Dusky brown above, dusky hoary below. According 
to Hodgson it is “ distinguished for its smooth coat or pelage, wherein 
the long hairy piles are almost wanting. It is a house rat, like JZ. 
niveiventer, but much rarer, and frequents the mountains rather than the 
valleys.” The long hairs are 14 inch in length, horny at the base, 
with black tip, the short fur ashy, with rufous tips. 
S1zE.—Head and body, 6% inches; tail 74+ inches. 
Blyth writes of this species (‘J. A. S. B.’ vol. xxxii. 1863, p. 343): 
“We have several specimens of what I take to be this rat from 
Darjeeling. They are especially distinguished by the fineness .and 
softness of the fur. One specimen only, of eight from Darjeeling, 
which I refer to this species, has the lower parts pure white, abruptly 
defined.” 
There is a smaller rat, only four inches in length, which agrees 
exactly with the above, which Hodgson named AZ. horietes. It is not 
mentioned in Blyth’s Catalogue, but it has not been overlooked by 
Blyth, as Jerdon’s remarks would lead one to suppose, for in the 
‘Memoir on the Rats and Mice in India,’ by the former, in the ‘J. A. S. B.’ 
vol. xxxil. for 1863, it is entered with a quotation from Hodgson. 
No. 344. Mus CAUDATIOR. 
The Chestnut Rat (Jerdon’s No, 183). 
Hapitat.—The lower Eastern Himalayas, i.e., Nepal, Darjeeling, 
&c.; also in Burmah, Lower Pegu, and Martaban. 
DescripTion.—Above a fine bright cinnamon colour, with inconspi- 
cuous black tips; the under-parts white, which is abruptly divided from 
the cinnamon hue above” (B4y/z). Sometimes yellowish-white (/erdon). 
Muzzle sharp ; ears and tail long. 
