858 MR. B. R. WAITS ON THE SYDNEY BUSH-RAT. [NoV. 16, 



upon fruit, the traps were rebaited with bananas aud peaches, and 

 next morning there were three exuniples in the traps and again on 

 the following day three more. Afterwards they were caught in 

 ones and twos until they were either exterminated or scared from 

 the dwelling. ■ 



On mentioning the circumstance to others at Mosman's Bay, I 

 learned that it is quite common for Bush -Eats to take possession 

 of new houses, and one man, a builder, who has had many oppor- 

 tunities of seeing these animals, tells me that while the common 

 House-Eat (Mus decumanus) is nsually found on or near the ground, 

 the Bush-Eats invariably ascend into the upper regions ; this is 

 quite in accord with their habits as observed in the bush. The 

 reason that new houses are more frequently occupied by Bush-Eats 

 than older tenanted ones may be partly accounted for by the cat, 

 which, commonly introduced with the human inhabitants, speedily 

 clears them away. 



Of the rats obtained, a number were kept alive in a suitable 

 cage and became very tame ; they were fed upon fruit — grapes, 

 bananas, peaches, and apples, and would also eat bread and drink 

 milk, bub flesh foods were left untouched. 



Dr. James C. Cox informs me that at his residence at North 

 Sydney, these Bush-Eats have for several years occupied the roof, 

 and that they emerge at dusk, descend by means of the vines, and 

 feed upon the seeds of various plants in the garden, notably Tecoma 

 austraUs and MandevilUn suaveoUns ; they also ascend the highest 

 native fig-trees (Ficus macrophi/l/a) and feed upon the fruit. 



Mr. Eobert Btheridge, Jr., while residing at Summer Hill, a 

 suburb of Sydney, was similarly troubled with these rats in his 

 house, and only obtained some immunity on cutting down a 

 large branch which the rats used to traverse in order to reach 

 the roof. 



Mr. J. Douglas Ogilby also describes to me how at Petersham, 

 Sydney, these rats infest the peach, apple, and other orchard trees, 

 and destroy large quantities of fruit; he has also repeatedly 

 mtnessed them seize and devour the singing locusts (Cicadidce), 

 and describes them as frisking about the branches with great 

 agility. 



One other article of diet is still to be mentioned. Many of the 

 Sydney suburban gardens are overrun with a common English 

 snail, HelLv aspersa, which flourishes to a far greater extent than 

 I ever saw it at home '; during the cooler weather, when they 

 congregate in thousands, and hibernate beneath upturned flower- 

 pois, old boxes, and similar retreats, the rats make speedy war 

 upon them by biting off the apex of the shell and extracting the 

 succulent mollusc. By the kindness of Mr. J. J. Fletcher I have 

 examined a number of empty shells, and all have, without 

 exception, been treated by the rats in the manner indicated ; in 



^ This is but another instance of how objects introduced from Europe 

 luxuriate in Australia. Eabbits, Sparrows, Carp, and Weeds are still more 

 familiar examples. 



