398 MUEiD.i:. 



male Madras specimen {G. cuvieri) the head and body measure 6"1 

 inches, tail 8-15, ear 0-7, hind foot 1*7 ; and in a Baluchistan male 

 the corresponding dimensions are 5"9, 6'6, 0-7, and 1'4. 



Habits. These have been described by Hardwicke, Elliot, and 

 Jerdon, The Indian gerbille is thoroughly nocturnal and very 

 rax'ely seen outside its hole by daylight. It inhabits uncultivated 

 plains and sandy downs, very often on the borders of cultivation. 

 Here it makes extensive burrows with numerous entrances, and 

 large central chambers from half a foot to a foot in length, con- 

 taining a bed of dried grass. 



These rats feed upon i-oots and grass, especially luirayuJi (Cyno- 

 don dactjjlon), seeds and grain, and sometimes cause great damage 

 to the crops. In 1878-79 they ravaged the graiu-tielils in the 

 Deccan throughout several thousand square miles (Fairbank, J. A. 

 S. B. xlviii, pt. 2, p. 143), cutting down jawari {Holciia son/ham) 

 and bjijri (H. spicatus) stalks and feeding on the grain, part of 

 which they stored in their burro\\ s. 



The ludian gerbille can make bounds of four or five yards at a 

 time, and, as McMasler relates, ofteu eludes dogs by its activity, 

 sometimes jumping over their backs. The female has 8 to 12 

 young at a birth, occasionally, it is said, even more. 



265. Gerbillus hurrianae. Tlie Indian desert Gerbille. 



(Terbillus iudicus, HiUton, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 137, nee Hardwicke. 

 Gerbillus evythrom'us, Jerdon, Mam. p. 185, App. p. iii, nee Gray. 

 Gerbillus liurriause, Jerdon, ib. p. 186 ; Blanford, Eastern Persia, ii, 

 p. 68. 



Tip of the uose projecting so as partly to cover the nostrils. 

 Tail about equal to head and body. Ears small, rounded, hairy 

 outside. Distal half of planta hairy, proximal half with a con- 

 siderable naked area. Fur short. Transverse elliptical folds of 

 anterior upper molar united in the middle at an early stage of 

 wear. BuUre very large. Eyes moderate. 



Colour light brownish grey (sandy grey) above ; sullied white 

 beloA^", the tA^'o colours passing into each other. Some skins are 

 rufescent above. Basal half of dorsal fur dark brown or leaden 

 black, tips of longer hairs, more numerous about rump, black. Tail 

 all round nearly the same colour as the back, except towards the 

 end, where the hairs are longer and black or dark brown. Face- 

 markings indistinct. Feet brownish ^hite above. 



Dimensions. Head and body 5*5 to 6'75 inches, tail 5 to ^'o, with 

 hair 5-75 to 7, ear from crown 0-25, hind foot 1. A skull measures : 

 basal length 1"25, extreme length 1*4, zygomatic breadth 0*8. 



■Distribution. The dry regions of North-western India, Sind, the 

 Punjab, and Western Ilajputana, also Baluchistan and South 

 Afghanistan up to about 4000 feet above the sea. 



Habits. This gerbille abounds in sandy desert or semi-desert, and 

 is particularly common in Sind and the Indian desert between the 



