BROWN RAT. 97 



the Brown Rat, from his superior size and ferocity, has the 

 advantage, as is emphasised by an incident told by a professional 

 rat-catcher to Frank Buckland. He said that having had a suc- 

 cessful haul in infested premises he had turned all his captures 

 both Black and Brown into a large wire cage, intending to have 

 a little sport next day with a few cronies and a terrier or two. 

 To his astonishment next morning all the Black Rats had dis- 

 appeared and only the Brown or some of them remained. 



A sub-species, the Alexandrine Rat (Epimys rattiis alexan- 

 drinns\ with brown back and dusky underside, is frequently 

 introduced with shipping from North Africa, and has been 

 recorded from Lundy Island and Shetland. Another sub- 

 species, the Tree or Roof Rat (E. rattus frugivorus], common in 

 the Mediterranean region, often appears in our ports. It has 

 long, soft and dense fur, of light grey or brown on the upper 

 parts and whitish below (pure white to pale yellow), and the 

 feet usually white above. 



The Black Rat is more of a climber than a burrower ; more 

 cleanly in its feeding than its brown rival. The pink-skinned 

 young are born without fur, sight, or hearing. 



Brown Rat (Epimys norvegicus, Erxleben). 



The Brown .Rat still has two alternative names applied to it, 

 though the inappropriateness of one was shown by Pennant 

 more than 150 years ago. These names are Norway Rat and 

 Hanoverian Rat. Pennant does not mention the second, but 

 of the first he says that the Brown Rat is quite unknown in . 

 Scandinavia and is not mentioned by Linnaeus. The name 

 Hanoverian appears to have been given to it because it was 

 believed to have made its entry into England with George I. 

 Writing in 1776, Pennant says : "This animal never made its 

 appearance in England till about forty years ago." Recent re- 

 searches into its distribution make it appear that the species 



A.L. H 



