480 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXII. 



^6 6; 1 $ • Juna Bowli. 

 3 cJ ; 3 2 $ . Muli, Muli State. 

 1 S • Moti Mojiti. 

 1 § . Sadla. Bajana, Kathiawar. 

 There seems no doubt that this fine series is Grypoviys gleadoioi, the type 

 locality of which is Karachee, Sind. 



" The very large series I have obtained may give the impression that the 

 country swarms with this species ; on the contrary I should only describe 

 it as fairly plentiful, the reason that so many were obtained being that a 

 burrow is rarely over two feet long and can be dug out in a few minutes. 



Grypomys gleadoioi is found on rather poor soil devoid of any cover 

 except short grass, the seeds and blades of which must constitute the 

 sole food of this rat. The burrows which are not in colonies are of most 

 peculiar construction (see sketch) comprising two short runs leading to a 



r 



circular chamber in which a nest of grass is placed about one foot below 

 the surface ; the run which appears to be generally used is about 18 

 inches long, and slopes gradually down to the nest ; the second run leaves 

 the surface vertically, and with a slight curve towards the bottom, also 

 enters the nest, this appears to be an emergency exit and is sometimes 

 obscured from view above by a pad of grass placed there by the rats. 

 There are no pathways in the grass and there is no deposit of earth 

 near the burrow. At this season nearly all the females were breeding 

 and were apart from the males. In one burrow I found a female No. 2313 

 with three almost newly-born young and also the previous brood of three, 

 three-quarter grown ; when the mother bolted from the burrow, the new 

 born young remained adhering to the mammae ; these juveniles 1 preserved 

 in spirit and it will be noticed that the fur on their backs is nearly black. 

 From three to five young at a birth appears to be usual. Kept in 

 confinement these rats are very active and become tame in a few days ; 

 in a fortnight I allowed some to run about on the table and found I could 

 handle them. They can scarcely be called plantigrade, for the usual 

 mode of progression is on the toes with the body raised from the ground, 

 the back well arched and the head rather high. So far as my obser- 

 vations went, they do not move in bounds as Tatera indica does ; when 



