142 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



many donkeys. The white marks on the head seem to indicate 

 relationship with the Black Rat, an animal which in this country is 

 frequently marked with white on the head or breast. The Brown Rat is 

 occasionally marked with white, as 1 have heard of two white and brown, 

 and two albino specimens. I should be glad to know if anyone has ever 

 met with a similar specimen, and also whether you think it was a hybrid, 

 or merely a " freak " of nature. With regard to the occurrence of hybrid 

 rats here, all the common people say that they are to be met with, and 

 indeed they seem to look upon it as a matter of course. Unluckily their 

 testimony does not carry much weight with it. I myself have seen the 

 half-grown young of both species playing together as if they belonged to 

 one litter, but whether that was really the case, or not, L am unable to say. 

 With regard to the Black Rat it is still found in this county from New 

 Ross to Duncannon, a distance of about fifteen miles along the course of 

 the rivers Barrow and Suir, but it is rapidly becoming extinct, and it is 

 now not found at all in several places, where twenty years ago it was 

 extremely plentiful. Specimens I have had measured were from 18£ in. 

 to 14 in. in (total) length. One 17£ in. in length, measured ty in. from 

 the tip of the nose to the ear, 8 in. from the ear to the tail, while the tail 

 itself was 7 in. long, girth 8 in. Our steward, an old Irishman, told me a 

 curious story about one of the albino rats mentioned above, which was 

 killed many years ago at Newtownbarry. He said it was caught and 

 skinned by a gentleman who lived near that town, but that by the time it 

 had been skinned (twelve months) it assumed the colour of an ordinary 

 Brown Rat! Is any belief to be given to this story? — G. E. H. Bakuett 

 Hamilton (Kilmarnock House, New Ross, Co. Wexford). 



[The change of colour referred to was very likely caused by the skin 

 having been imperfectly cleaned, and the fat which ought to have been 

 removed having oozed through and taken up dust. — Ed.] 



A Plague of Rats in Mongolia. — The Pekin Gazette publishes a 

 memorial to the Emperor of China from the Governor of Uliassutai stating 

 that, owing to the appearance of swarms of rats, it has been found necessary 

 to alter the routes of the Government courier service in three of the postal 

 stations in the Khalkha region in Outer Mongolia. For two years past the 

 pasturage of the districts in questiou has suffered severely from the 

 ravages of these vermin, and last year nearly every blade of grass was 

 eaten up. The whole country has been honeycombed with their burrows, 

 the horses and camels are in a famishing state, and there is no means of 

 keeping them alive. The burrows are a source of great danger to the 

 mounted couriers, and the want of forage renders it impossible to maintain 

 a supply of animals for the service. 



