Mtis. 409 



Fur coarse and harsh. Tail shorter than the head and bodv. 

 Ears short. Feet large. Mammae 10-12. 



Colour above brown, darkest on the back ; lower parts white, or 

 whity brown or light brown. Underfill* dark-coloured throughout 

 the body, on the back slaty grey ; the terminal portion of the dorsal 

 hairs in general light brown, but numerous longer black hairs are 

 intermixed. Tail brown throughout. 



Dimensions. An adult male measured : head and body 7 inches, 

 tail 6-25, ear from orifice 0'77, hind foot 1-65 ; another, head and 

 body 8, tail 6 ; a third 10'5 and 8-25, and probably even larger 

 specimens might be found. Basal length of an average skull 1'65, 

 extreme length 1'8, zygornatic breadth 0-9. " A large Calcutta male 

 skull is 2-15 inches long. 



Distribution. This rat is certainly not indigenous in India, though 

 now found in all large towns and villages, along the banks of 

 navigable rivers and on high roads. It is unknown in Persia, and, 

 it is said, in Afghanistan, but will probably be introduced when 

 wheeled carriages take the place of pack animals in those countries. 

 The source whence this rat has been distributed throughout the 

 world is probably Chinese Mongolia. 



Habits. As is well known, the brown rat is omnivorous and 

 voracious ; it is essentially parasitic, living about human habitations 

 and cultivations, burrowing in houses, banks of fields, drains, &c. 

 It is excessively prolific, breeding several times in the year, and 

 producing from 4 to 12, or at times even more, young at a birth. 



The brown rats in Calcutta grow to a large size and are often 

 mistaken for bandicoots. They probably attain similar dimensions 

 in some other Indian towns. 



275. Mus fulvescens. The chestnut Rat. 



Mus fulvescens, Gray, Cat. Mam. $c. Nepal $ Thibet B. M. (1) 



p. 18 (1846) ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 537 ; W. Sclater, P. Z. S. 



1890, p. 524. 

 Mus caudatior, Hodgson, A. M. N. H. (2) iii, p. 203 (1849) (no 



description) ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 201 ; ? Ulyth, Mam. Birds Burma, 



p. 40. 

 ? Mus cinnamomeus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 294 (1859), xxxii, 



p. 341, xxxiv, p. 193 ; id. Cat. p. 115. 



Fur soft, generally without spines, but sometimes with flat spines 

 intermixed. Tail longer than the head and body and having the 

 hairs near the end a little longer and thicker than near the base. 

 Teeth small. Anterior edge of zygomatic process of maxillary 

 nearly vertical and but slightly em arginate above, much less so than 

 in other species. Mainrnsb 8 : 2 pairs pectoral find 2 inguinal. 



Colour above bright rufous-brown, the back but little darker than 

 the sides, sometimes mixed with grey ; below white, and in one skin 

 with a fulvous band down the middle of the breast. The dorsal 

 and ventral colours sharply separated on the sides. Basal f of 

 dorsal hair leaden grey, terminal portion yellowish brown, the 



