26 NOTES ON THE MAMMALS OF TASMANIA, 



v/ith Mr. Oldfield Thomas, of the British Museum, he prov- 

 ed that Mus griseo-ccertdeus, M. variabilis, and M. cas- 

 taneus were synonymous with M. rattus. Mr. Scott also 

 states that the late Mr. Petterd told him that the type 

 specimens of these species were not preserved. Under these 

 circumstances, and taking into account the fact that- 

 Messrs. Higgins and Petterd relied on mere eixternal ap- 

 pearances on which to found species, I cannot see my way 

 to include any of the foregoing except M . leucoj)us (now 

 F. higginsi) which has been recognised by Mr. Oldfield 

 Thomas. It is also included in the recently issued list of 

 Australasian Muridse by Mr. Pleber Longman, of the 

 Queensland Museum (3). M . tetragonus [jjetterdi) naay also 

 prove to be a valid species, but I have not yet been able to 

 secure specimens. Mr. Thomas states ('*) that there is in 

 the British Museum specimens of a rat closely allied to if 

 not identical with Mus liTiceolottcs, Gould (^). 



PIydromys chrysogaster, Geof. 



The Water Eat. 



Hydromys, clir y so g aster, Longman, Mem. Qld. Mus. Vol. 



v., p. 25 (1916); 

 Lucas & Le Souef, An. Aust., p. 



23 (1909); 

 Ogilby, Cat. Aust. Manim., p. 



101 (1892); 

 Krefft, P. & P. Eoy. Soc. Tas. 

 (1868). 

 The water rat is fairly common in many localities. 

 Length up to twenty inches. The coloration varies, but 

 the head and back are usually black, sides oif face and body 

 ajid the whole of the under surface orange to greyish white- 

 This rat is sometimes i-efei"red to as the "Musk Rat," but 

 the term is quite misleading. The origin error arose 

 through some of the first skins that were sent home to Eng- 

 land being packed with skins of the Musk Duck {B. lohata) 

 and as a result they inherited a distinct musky odour. 



Epimys fuscipes, Waterh. 

 Dusky-footed Rat. 

 Epiinys fuscipes, Longman, Mem. Qld. Mus. Vol. V., p. 

 28 (1916); 

 Thomas, Ann. Mag. N.H., vi. 605 

 (1910). 



(3) Lonijman, List of Australasian and Austro-Pacific Murid», Vol. v., 

 Mem. Qld. Mus. 1916. 



(4) Thomas, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. p. 415, 1882. 



(5) Gould, Mamm. Austr., Vol. iii., pi. xviii., 1865. 



