KESOKIA HARD^VICKII. 191 



dense, shoi'tish, and of uniform lengtli. On the whole, I see no reason 

 against these two being considered identical. Hardioickii is stated to 

 inhabit gardens in India; and Ruttoni occurs "south of Bahawulpore ; 

 and is abundant in Afghanistan, throwing up the mould after the manner 

 of the Mole. In the gardens along the sides of watercourses, and in the 

 fields at Kandahar, their earth-heaps are abundant. It feeds on herbs i 

 and seeds, and burrows in the ground beneath hedgerows and bushes, as 

 well as along the banks and ditches. Its nest is deep-seated, and it 

 constructs so many false galleries immediately below the surface, that 

 it is difficult to find the true passage to its retreat, which dips down 

 suddenly fi-om about the middle of the labyiinth above.'' * 



Nesokia Griffithii, Horsfield, also from Afghanistan, ought to be closely 

 allied to this, but it is said to have the cutting teeth nearly vj/dte; but 

 they are represented to be, as in Huttoiii, large, flat anteriorly, and broad ; 

 tail nearly naked, short ; ears modei-ately large ; thumb of fore-feet very 

 minute ; fur soft and sUky ; abo^"e dusky chestnut-brown, with streaks of a 

 plumbeous tint ; chin, chest, and under parts of a lighter tint, passing into 

 grayish-leaden colour on the abdomen. Length of specimen 6 inches ; 

 tail 3 ; but the " body probably stretched, and tail shrunk."' Blyth, iu 

 a copy of his Memoir forwarded to me, puts this as " probably yoimg of 

 N. indica" but it appears to me just as likely A". Hardwickii vel Uuttoni. 

 Closely allied to this species must be Hodgson's Mus / hydropliUvs, olim 

 Arvkolo, now Xesokia hydrophila, Gray. Hodgson described his species 

 (which, however, was evidently a young one) as characterized by its 

 small eai-s, hardly above one-third the length of the head, also by its 

 short tail, and by a pelage that is short and fine j above dusky-brown, 

 below and Limbs nearly white ; long piles inconspicuous. Length, head 

 and body 3i inches ; tail 2| ; palm h ; planta |ths. Gray, describing 

 a specimen in the British Museum, says, " gray-brown, beneath whitish ; 

 fur very soft, with rather elongated, very slender, soft longer haii-s ; 

 ears moderate, rounded ; whiskers black at base, slender ; front cutting- 

 teeth broad, yellow ; giinders very large; hind-feet large (l^v inch), but 

 length of animal not recorded.'^ This measurement corresponds to the 

 dimension'! of the foot of J/, macropus. 



Hodgson calls this the small water-rat of Xepal, dwelling in holes on 

 the margins of ponds and rivei-s. His J/. / macropus he calls the large 

 water-rat, " like the last, but twice as large, distinguished by the large- 



* Hatton, Joninal Asiatic Soeietjr. 



