MUS SETIFER. 



East India Company's Museum, in Colonel Mackenzie's collections. The Mus 

 perchal is identified with the Mus giganteus by Fischer ; but GeofFroy, in his Genus 

 Echimys, distinguishes it with the specific name of perchal ; and Desmarest has 

 placed it in the second section of the genus Mus, to which likewise the Mus setifer 

 belongs. 



The Tikus-wirok is found in Java at the confines of forests and woods, and, 

 agreeably to my observations, it rarely approaches the villages and dwellings of the 

 natives. It is very shy in its habits, and is with great difficulty surprised and 

 seized. Nowithstanding continued and careful research, I obtained but a small 

 number of specimens, and by my inquiries I learned but few particulars as to its 

 food and manners. The natives describe it as a bold and mischievous animal ; the 

 robustness of its form, and the remarkable size and strength of its front teeth, agree 

 with this character. In its more prominent features, our animal agrees with several 

 species of the first section of this genus ; its nose is evidently employed in burrowing 

 the ground in search of its food, and its tail has the character of those species which 

 are in the habit of fi-equenting the water. 



A species of Rat, which greatly resembles the Mus setifer, and which belongs 

 to the same section of the genus, is described and figured by Dr. Hamilton, with 

 the name of Mus Icria. It has, in a very conspicuous degree, the character of the 

 projecting dorsal and anal bristles. In its size it somewhat exceeds the Mus decu- 

 manus. It lives in the neighbourhood of lakes, and the native name of Icria is 

 significant of its superior strength and size. 



