122 THE INDIAN FAUNA 



its head bent downward, but in hot weather it lies on its back with its membrane 



extended, and, as the membrane hinders its movements, is not so active as the true 



squirrels, either among the trees or on the ground. Its flight from tree to tree is 



remarkable ; at first it drops straight down from above, then takes a curved, and 



at last a horizontal direction, in order to ascend again towards the stem or branch 



where it intends to alight. It is thus enabled to influence the direction of its 



flight, which sometimes carries it a distance of 80 yards. 



The large red flying-squirrel (P. inornatus) inhabits elevations of from 6000 



to 10,000 feet in the western Himalaya; it is common in Kashmir, and is also 



found in Nepal. A third species, the grey-headed flying-squirrel (P. caniceps), 



occurs at elevations of from 5000 to 7500 feet from Nepal and Sikhim as far as 



Landour to the west, while a fourth species, Hodgson's flying-squirrel (P. inagnificus), 



is found on the Himalaya from Nepal eastwards at a height of 5000 to 6000 feet, 



as well as from the Assam valley southwards. 



The mouse tribe, and especially true mice and rats, are plentifully 

 Rats and Mice. . . r J ... 



represented in India. The brown rat inhabits villages, banks of 



rivers, and high roads, and in Calcutta and other cities grows so large as to be 



often mistaken for the bandicoot. This rat is unknown in most of the interior of 



India, and would thus appear to have been introduced. The European black rat, 



which has also probably been introduced, is found in various parts of the country, 



especially in large ports. Besides the typical form, India possesses three other 



races of the black rat. One of these is the roof-rat (Mus rattus alexandrinus), a 



rather large form, whose colour is brown and somewhat reddish above, and 



generally white below ; the tail is longer than the body, its lower part, as is the 



case in Simla, being sometimes white. This rat inhabits the western parts 



of India, whence its range extends into North Africa. The second form is the 



glossy black rat (M. rattus nitidus), distinguished from the roof -rat by its thinner 



fur, partly interspersed with bristles, and by the tail being but little if at all 



longer than the body, as well as by the white soles of the feet. The tree black rat 



(M. rattus rufescens), which inhabits India, Ceylon, and Burma, is much smaller, 



with a very long tail, and generally bristly hair of a red or yellowish brown colour. 



The tree-rat lives principally in trees, and in the Laccadives and elsewhere is found 



in the crowns of cocoa-nut palms. It is said never to come to the ground, and to 



feed on cocoa-nuts. 



The universally distributed house-mouse is not absent from India, except from 

 the Punjab, Sind, Rajputana, and some of the north-western provinces. Whether it 

 has been introduced by ships into India, or whether it originated there, is difficult 

 to say. The Himalayan form of this mouse (M. musculus homurus) generally 

 has a shorter tail, and longer and smoother hair than the mouse of the Indian plains, 

 and may therefore be regarded as a distinct race, as may also the Indian house- 

 mouse (M. musculus urbanus), which differs in many respects from its European 

 relative. 



The common Indian field-mouse (M. buduga) does not, like the European 

 field-mouse, belong to the voles, but to the typical group of the family. 

 It is common in fields, in burrows, and holes beneath stones and roots, 

 and also occurs in gardens, woods, and even houses. The burrows, which are 



