NESOCIA. 423 



Dimensions. Head and body 5-5 inches to 8'5, tail 3*5 to 5, ear 

 outside 0-5, hind foot 1-25 to 1-5. The above dimensions in an 

 average-sized male were 6-6, 4-4, 0'5, and T3. Basal length of 

 skull 1-65, zygomatic breadth 1-15. 



Distribution. North-western India (North-West Provinces, 

 Bajputana, Sind, and the Punjab), Afghanistan and Baluchistan, 

 up to 4000 or 5000 feet elevation. A specimen has been obtained 

 as far east as Purneah, Bengal. 



Varieties. N. huttoni is distinguished by softer fur, often bright 

 rufous or yellowish brown in colour. The hind feet are longer, 1'4 

 to 1-5 inches without claws. This form is found at higher eleva- 

 tions in Baluchistan and Afghanistan. 



Typical N. hanlwickei has harsher fur and is duller and browner 

 in colour, the hind foot measuring 1-2 to 1'3. This is found in 

 N.W. India. The two pass into each other. 



Habits. The short-tailed mole-rat is found both in cultivated and 

 in waste ground. I have often seen their holes about irrigated 

 wheat-fields, but usually drier situations are preferred. The 

 burrows run irregularly, ramifying frequently, at a depth of 6 

 inches to 2 feet below the surface. In one series of burrows that I 

 explored I found a nest lined with grass at a depth of 1| to 2 feet, and 

 I captured 4 Nesokice, 2 males and 2 females. The entrances to the 

 burrows are covered by small heaps of earth, like mole-hills, 

 thrown out by the rats. This animal feeds on grass, roots, and 

 grain. 



N. scullyi from near Tarkand, and N. brachyura from Lob-nor, 

 are Central Asiatic forms allied to N. hardwidcei. 



295. Nesocia bengalensis. The Indian Mole-Rat. 



Arvicola bengalensis, Gray fy Hardw. III. Ind. Zool. ii, pi. 21 



(1833-34). 



Mus kok, Gray, CharkswortWs Mag. N. H. i, p. 585 (1837). 

 Mus (Neotoma) providens, Elliot, Mad. Jour. L. S. x, p. 209 (1839). 

 Nesokia hardwickii, Kelaart, Prod. p. Go, nee Gray. 

 Nesokia kok, Kelaart, ibid. p. 66. 



Mus daccaensis, Tytler, A. M. N. H. (2) xiv, p. 173 (1854). 

 Mus tarayensis, plurimammis, and morungensis, Hodgson, Horsfield, 



A. M. N. H. (2) xvi, p. 112 (1855). 

 Nesokia indica, Bhjth, J. A. S. B. xxxii, p. 328 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 187 j 



Theobald, P. A. S. B. 1866, p. 239; Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, 



p. 38. 



Mus (Nesokia) indicus, Blyth, Cat. p. 112, partim. _ 

 Mus (Nesokia) blythianus, barclayanus, and providens, Anderson, 



J. A. S. B. xlvii, pt. 2, pp. 225-231, pi. xiii. 

 Nesokia barclayana, Blanford, Yark. Miss., Mam. p. 46, pi. xa, 



fig. 1 (skull). 

 Mus (Nesokia) bengalensis, Thomas, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 526 j Anderson, 



Fauna Meroui Archip. i, p. 341. 



Yenkrai, Beng. ; Kok, Can. ; Golatta koku, Tel. of Yanadis j ? Ke* 

 kyivek, Burmese. 



Fur coarse, sometimes with long black-tipped piles throughout 



