194 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 



twenty years la?er. In Warwickshire, where it is now extinct, 

 it was not uncommon even so late as 1850. 



In Ireland, remarks Mr. Harting, the Black Rat has been 

 met with in various counties, and in localities widely distant 

 from each other ; but there is no evidence to show that it was 

 ever plentiful, and it must now be regarded as very rare. 



Habits. Although a weaker animal than its supplanter the 

 Brown Rat, the habits of the species appear in this country to 

 be similar to those of the latter. In the East, where both the 

 typical form (which has probably been introduced into India in 

 ships) and the above-mentioned varieties occur, it frequently 

 exhibits very different habits. Mr. Blanford, in his " Mammals 

 of British India," observes, for instance, that "this Rat is 

 found both on the ground, where it burrows, and in trees, 

 where it builds nests among the branches. In the Laccadive 

 Islands, and other places, it inhabits the crowns of cocoa-nut 

 palms, and is said never to descend to the ground, but to live 

 on the nuts, and to do great damage by biting them off when 

 unripe. It is common in houses everywhere, often living on 

 the roofs. It feeds chiefly on fruit, grain, and vegetables, but 

 is more or less omnivorous, though less carnivorous than the 

 M. deciimanus" 



In England, when abundant, it used apparently to frequent 

 the same situations as the last-named species, and was an equal 

 pest to the farmer and owner of granaries. It is not in any 

 way owing to its want of fecundity that it has been so nearly 

 exterminated in this country, since it breeds several times 

 during the year, producing from seven to nine blind offspring 

 in each litter. 



" In feeding," writes Macgillivray, " this species holds the 

 object, if small, between its fore-feet, sits on its haunches with 

 the body bent forward, and the back arched, while its tail is 

 curved along the ground. It runs with great agility, and 



