1897.J MR. E. K. WAITE OTf THE STDIS^ET BTTSH-KAT. 859 



no single instance was the lip of the shell touched. This habit of 

 attacking the weakest part of the shell has not been learned by 

 one colony of rats only, for Mr. J. A. Thorpe tells me how in his 

 garden at Paddington, another suburb of Sydney, the rats destroyed 

 the molluscs in the manner described, to such an extent that 

 whereas formerly they were a regular pest, few can now be found: 

 the rats ensconce themselves beneath the broad foliage of the stag- 

 horn ferns {Plat y cerium alcicorne), which forms a dry and cosy 

 shelter. 



In the original notice of -this rat (Gould, Mamm. Austr. i. Introd. 

 p. XXXV, 1863) the late W. Sharp Macleay described it as inhabiting 

 the lofty eucalyptuses at Elizabeth Bay, where it " builds a nest 

 among the branches with leaves and twigs like that of a bird." 



Mr. Fletcher describes to me how he found a nest in the Linnean 

 Society's gardens at Elizabeth Bay last November. It was in a 

 tree, and taking it to be the work of a bird, he shook a supporting 

 branch, whereupon a rat ran out. Mr. George Masters has often 

 found the nest of this rat high up in bamboos ; the nests are 

 usually larger than a football and are not only used as nurseries 

 but also as permanent habitations. On one occasion Mr. Masters 

 ousted nine full-grown rats from one nest, and several times four 

 and five have been discovered occupying a common retreat. 



My informant also tells me that the rats gnaw holes in the 

 bamboo-stems and take up their abode in the internodal chambers. 

 He thinks that these shelters are formed during the wet season in 

 order to escape the rains, and although he has examined a 

 considerable number, he has never found the semblance of a nest 

 within the cavities. The hole is always cut immediately below a 

 node, so that the chamber is entered from its upper part. These 

 holes were never observed near the ground ; they were generally 

 thirty or more feet above it, and were frequently found when a 

 bamboo was cut down. Mr. Thorpe is likewise quite familiar 

 with the nests in the higher branches of the bamboos and also 

 with the rat -bored stems ; he is of the opinion that, after gnawing 

 the holes, the rats occupy the chambers in order to avoid the mid- 

 day heat. It is also possible that by this means they seek to 

 escape the Native Cats (Dasijurus) and other predaceous animals. 



So far as is at present known, the distribution of this rat is 

 very restricted — none of the places mentioned being more than 

 three or four miles from the metropolis, while, up to my personal 

 acquaintance with it, it had only been recorded from Elizabeth 

 Bay ; this, together with Paddington, Petersham, and Summer Hill, 

 is on the southern side of Port Jackson, whereas North Sydney, 

 Mosman's Bay, and Hunter's Hill, whence we have one example, 

 are on the opposite shore. 



[As I had always supposed from the original account of 

 " Hapaloiis" urboricola, these rats not only belong to true Mus, as 

 Mr. Waite rightly observes, but there appears every reason to 

 believe that they are merely introduced ship-rats : that is, forms of 



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