THE MOUSE TRIBE. 143 
present day the European variety of this species is almost cosmopolitan; but the 
brown and rufous varieties extend from Northern Africa through India to Burma, 
and are doubtless indigenous to both these regions. 
The black rat, in addition to its inferior size, is a far less ferocious animal 
than the brown species, which accounts for the ease with which it has been 
conquered by the latter. In England it is now comparatively rare—the Isle of 
Dogs being one of its last strongholds; but it is more common in certain parts of 
the Continent. In Europe its habits are generally very similar to those of the 
brown rat; but in India it frequently ascends trees, where it makes its nests 
among the branches; while in some of the islands of the tropics it lives exclusively 
in the crowns of the cocoanut palm, upon the fruit of which it feeds. 



























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THE HOUSE MOUSE (# nat. size). 
In Britain, from the absence of any species of intermediate size, 
it is easy to distinguish between the rats, or larger species of the 
genus, and the smaller mice; but in other countries it is impossible to draw any 
line of distinction, and the two terms must consequently be employed in a some- 
what arbitrary manner. The typical representative of the mice is the common 
house mouse (JM. musculus), which is now of almost world-wide distribution, 
although probably originally a native of Asia. The characteristic features of this 
species are its relatively large ears, long tail, and nearly uniform brownish colora- 
tion, which is only slightly paler below than above. 
The distinctive peculiarity of this species is its partiality for human habitations 
and their neighbourhood; its tastes being practically omnivorous, although its 
House Mouse. 
