SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 



tribution. It is a very voracious animal, 

 and readily eats its companions when trapped. 

 In certain parts where the natives laj'^ their 

 dead in holes along the rocky valley sides 

 these rats live upon the corpses. Wliile in 

 North Shansi we heard a gruesome tale, 

 how a lonely mountaineer fell ill and before 

 help came was horribly gnawed by these rats. 

 The subspecies was originally described from 

 Yen-an Fu. 



21. Apodemus speciosus peninsulce, Thos. 



Thirteen specimens, 5 (^(^, 8 ??. Lung- 

 wang Shan, 20 miles E. of T'ai-yiian Fu, 

 Shansi. 4,000 ft. 

 Four specimens, 2 cJc?, 2 ??. 50 miles N.W. 



of T'ai-yiian Fu, Shansi. 5,500 ft. 

 Five specimens, 2 ^S, 3 ??. Mountains 

 30 miles W. of K'uei-hua-ch'eng, N. 

 Shansi. 7,000 ft. 

 The last five specimens all agree with the 

 others taken further south in Shansi and 

 those recorded from Shensi, which have been 

 referred to this subspecies. So far this is the 

 most northerly point from which this species 

 has been recorded. It is one of the commonest 

 inhabitants of the mountainous and wooded 

 areas, and is found at altitudes varying from 

 3,000 ft. to 8,000 ft. It was first described 

 from Corea. 



195 



