398 MURIDJE. 



male Madras specimen (G. cuvieri) the head and body measure 6-1 

 inches, tail 8-15, ear 0'7, hind foot T7 ; and in a Baluchistan male 

 the corresponding dimensions are 5*9, 6*6, 0*7, and 1*4. 



Habits. These have been described by Hardwicke, Elliot, and 

 Jerdon. The Indian gerbille is thoroughly nocturnal and very 

 rarely seen outside its hole by daylight. It inhabits uncultivated 

 plains and sandy downs, very often on the borders of cultivation. 

 Here it makes extensive burrows with numerous entrances, and 

 large central chambers from half a foot to a foot in length, con- 

 taining a bed of dried grass. 



These rats feed upon roots and grass, especially Jiaraydli (Cyno- 

 don dactylon\ seeds and grain, and sometimes cause great damage 

 to the crops. In 1878-79 they ravaged the grain-fields in the 

 Deccan throughout several thousand square miles (Fairbank, J. A. 

 8. B. xlviii, pt. 2, p. 143), cutting down jawari (Holcus sorghum} 

 and bajri (H. spicatus) stalks and feeding on the grain, part of 

 which they stored in their burrows. 



The Indian gerbille can make bounds of four or five yards at a 

 time, and, as McMaster relates, often eludes dogs by its activity, 

 sometimes jumping over their backs. The female has 8 to 12 

 young at a birth, occasionally, it is said, even more. 



265. Gerbillus hurrianaB. The Indian desert Gerbille. 



Gerbillus indicus, Hutton, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 137, nee Hardwicke. 

 Gerbillus erythrourus, Jerdon, Mam. p. 185, App. p. iii, nee Gray. 

 Gerbillus hurrianse, Jerdon, ib. p. 186 ; Bkmford, Eastern Persia, ii, 

 p. 68. 



Tip of the nose projecting so as partly to cover the nostrils. 

 Tail about equal to head and body. Ears small, rounded, hairy 

 outside. Distal half of planta hairy, proximal half with a con- 

 siderable naked area. Fur short. Transverse elliptical folds of 

 anterior upper molar united in the middle at an early stage of 

 wear. Bullae very large. Eyes moderate. 



Colour light brownish grey (sandy grey) above ; sullied white 

 below, the two colours passing into each other. Some skins are 

 rufescent above. Basal half of dorsal fur dark brown or leaden 

 black, tips of longer hairs, more numerous about rump, black. Tail 

 all round nearly the same colour as the back, except towards the 

 end, where the hairs are longer and black or dark brown. Face- 

 markings indistinct. Feet brownish white above. 



Dimensions. Head and body 5-5 to 675 inches, tail 5 to 6'5, with 

 hair 5'75 to 7, ear from crown 0-25, hind foot 1. A skull measures : 

 basal length 1-25, extreme length 1-4, zygomatic breadth 0-8. 



Distribution. The dry regions of North-western India, Sind, the 

 Punjab, and Western Eajputana, also Baluchistan and South 

 Afghanistan up to about 4000 feet above the sea. 



Habits. This gerbille abounds in sandy desert or semi-desert, and 

 is particularly common in Sind and the' Indian desert between the 



