MUS RUFESCENS. 199 



remarks, often found resting during the day on fhejhil mil, or Venetian 

 blinds. It makes a nest in mango-trees, or in thick bushes and hedges. 

 Hodgson calls it the common house-rat of Nepal, and Kelaart also calls 

 it the small house-rat of Trincomalee. Blyth writes me that it comes 

 very near Mus alexaiidrinus of Africa. 



I have given Hodgson's brunneus as the name of this species on 

 Blyth's authority. Whether M. cequicaudalis be the same or not is yet 

 doubtful. He describes it as "pure dark-brown above, with a very 

 slight caste of rufescent in some aspects ; underneath, from chin to vent, 

 with interior of thighs, yellowish-white ; head and ears long." 



180. Mus rufescens. 



GRAY, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837. M. flavescens, ELLIOT, Cat. BLYTH, 

 Cat. p. 115. M. arboreus, BUCHANAN HAMILTON apud HORSFIELD, Cat. 

 Mamm. J/. brunneusculiis, HODGSON. Gachua indur, Beng. 



THE RUFESCENT TREE-RAT. 



Descr. Pale yellowish-brown or rufescent-brown above, white 

 beneath, with numerous bristles on the back tipped with black. Head 

 long, muzzle pointed ; face narrow ; eyes large ; incisors yellow ; ears 

 very large, subovate, nude. 



Length of one, head and body 5 J inches ; tail 6J : another measured, 

 head and body 7 J inches ; tail 8J ; and some are recorded as even larger 

 than that. 



It varies a good deal in the character of the upper fur, some being 

 described as above dark iron-gray, with the lower parts white, the hairs 

 black and tawny, the former the most numerous. This variety, however, 

 may be a distinct species, M. niveiventer, q. v. Some are much browner 

 than others, and the lower surface is sometimes very white, often pale 

 yellow, at other times not much paler than the upper surface. The 

 white is generally abruptly separated from the hue above, rarely gradu- 

 ally blending. It comes very near the last, but differs in its smaller 

 size, in the more general rufescent tone of colouring, and the lower parts 

 being whiter. In the south of India, specimens are generally pale rufes- 

 cent above, yellowish- white below, and it is rare to meet with dark- 

 brown specimens, as is said to be often the case at Calcutta. Perhaps 



