1881.] INDIAN SPECIES OF MUS. 541 



Fur rather coarse and short, sometimes thickly mixed with 

 flattened spines, sometimes almost entirely without them. General 

 colour above grey, with a tinge of yellow. Hairs dark slate-colour 

 for nine tenths of their length ; the tip in some yellow, in others 

 black. The black-tipped hairs, which seem to be the coarser of the 

 two, are more numerous in the centre of the back, so that that part 

 is darker than the sides. Spines, when present, white, with black 

 tips. Belly hairs and spines pure white to their roots, the line of 

 demarcation sharply defined. Tail rather longer than the head and 

 body, sharply bicolor, grey above and white beneath ; hairs on its 

 distal quarter slightly elongated. 



With regard to the measurements I can only give approximate 

 ones, as I have not seen any specimens of this species in spirit. The 

 following given by Hodgson appear to be about the average : — 

 Length, head and body 5-25, tail 6-0, hind foot 0'92. Blyth's 

 two Masuri specimens were larger, viz. head and body G'O and 7"0, 

 tail 7"0 and 7' 5 in. respectively. These dimensions are sufficient to 

 show that the tail is never so very much longer than the head and body 

 as it is in J/, jerdoni, from which this species may also be readily 

 distinguished by its grey instead of rufous colour. The yellow 

 mentioned in the description seems quite to correspond with the 

 orange-red of M. jerdoni, occurring on the same parts of the hairs, 

 and becoming clearer on the sides, in both species. 



The skull, as was to be expected, is extremely hke that of M. 

 jerdoni, the only difference that I can perceive being that the nasal 

 portion is somewhat more elongated in the present species. 



This seems to be a rather scarce Rat, as Hodgson says of it, " of 

 rare occurrence ;" and the only specimens I have seen are five of his 

 original series caught in the Residency house, Katmandu, and one 

 collected at Simla by Mr. Blanford. Jerdou ', however, says that 

 he found it "very common at Darjiling ;" but I am inclined to 

 doubt his determination, as there are no specimens among the large 

 series of Darjiling Rats collected by Mr. Blanford, while M. jerdoni 

 is commonly found there, and might possibly have been mistaken 

 for it. 



10. Mus BLANFORDi. (Plate L.) 



*Miis blanfordi, Thomas, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (.5) vii. p. 24 

 (1881). 



Hab. Kadapa, Madras (Beddome), 



Since my original description of this species was published we 

 have been fortunate enough to receive a second specimen of it, also 

 collected at Kadapa by Col. Beddome, and presented by him to the 

 British Museum. This individual is a fully adult male, preserved 

 in spirit, and is so very muck larger than the type as to show that 

 the latter, though its teeth were fully grown up, yet cannot have 

 been quite full-grown. A few of the characters before given have 

 therefore been found to be due to the immaturity of the specimen, 

 and have had to be modified accordingly. The following description 



1 Mamm. Incl. p. 200. 



