RATS AND MICE — BANDICOOT-RATS 123 



generally found near large stone-heaps, are usually inhabited by only one pair. 

 These mice are spread over India and Ceylon, but are not found in the Indus valley 

 except at Karachi, nor in the Himalaya. The general colour is light sandy or dark 

 greyish brown above, and white below. The length of the head and body is from 

 2 \ to 3 inches, and that of the tail nearly the same. 



The brown spiny mouse (M. platytJirix), which ranges over India and Ceylon, 

 and is found on the Malabar coast, in Sind, and in the Punjab, but not in Bengal, 

 is especially remarkable for its habits. Living exclusively on red sandstone soil, in 

 which it generally digs holes of moderate depth, it gathers a heap of pebbles in 

 front of its hole, with which it stops the entrance after retiring within, and makes 

 itself a bed of pebbles in the dwelling chamber. This mouse probably feeds on 

 vegetable substances, and derives its name from the nature of its fur, which is 

 covered above and below with flat spines, these being particularly stiff and coarse 

 on the back. In colour it is dark brown, sometimes a little lighter above, and 

 white below; to the root of the tail it measures 3 or 3^ inches, the tail being 

 rather less. 



In various parts of India lives the metad, or soft-furred field-rat (M. metada), 

 whose colour is earthy brown above, lighter on the sides, and white below. It has 

 a length of 5 inches to the root of the tail, the length of the tail varying between 

 4 and 5 inches. The metad lives in pairs, or in parties of five or six, in cultivated 

 fields, where it digs a slight and rude hole beneath the root of a bush, or hides 

 among stone-heaps. It makes its nest in holes abandoned by other rodents, or in 

 the crevices formed in the ground during the dry season. At the beginning of the 

 rainy season, when these crevices close up, large numbers of the rats perish in their 

 holes, but if it does not rain sufficiently, they increase to such an extent that they 

 destroy vast quantities of seed-corn. 



The bandicoot-rats, which differ in the structure of their teeth 

 Bandicoot-Ra s. ^^ ^ e ^^ rats a ^ mice, have a short body and head, short and 



wide snout, a long scaly and almost bare tail, round ears, broad feet, and, with the 

 exception of the first toe of the hind foot, strong and almost straight claws on the 

 toes. The five known species are distributed over central Asia and India. 



The common bandicoot-rat (Nesocia bandicota) inhabits India and Ceylon, 

 but is absent from lower Bengal, as well as from Sind and the Punjab, though 

 common in certain parts of Rajputana and probably elsewhere in the north-western 

 provinces. It is of considerable size, namely, 12 to 15 inches without the tail, 

 which measures from 11 to 12h inches. The hair of this rat is coarse, often with 

 bristles of 2 or 3 inches long on the back. In colour it is blackish brown above, 

 sometimes pale yellowish or greyish on the sides, and greyish brown or brownish 

 grey below. This bandicoot-rat, which, like all its kindred, is a burrower, inhabits 

 cultivated districts, and is particularly common in south Indian villages and towns, 

 and probably also in forests. It is very injurious to corn, but also feeds on fruit 

 and other vegetable substances, and is said to kill a fowl now and then. When 

 wandering about at night or attacking its prey, it grunts like a pig. It is lazy and 

 cowardly, apparently readily tamed, and much more easily killed by a dog than 

 might be supposed from its size. 



The kok bandicoot-rat (N. bengalensis) inhabits the greater part of India from 



