388 MR. J, L. BONHOTE ON THE [Nov. 28, 



Skull (of type). Greatest length 37 mm. ; basilar length 27 ; 

 palatal length 15; diastema 9*5; incisive foramina 7 ; length of 

 nasals 14 ; interorbital breadth 6 ; greatest breadth of brain- 

 case 14 ; length of molar series (alveoli) 6. 



Ty2)e. B.M. 89.11.1.16. c? ad. Collected on the 24th Ajml, 1898, 

 at Kuatun, N.W. Fokien, by Mr. J. D. La Touche. 



Habitat. Kuatun. The Museum also contains a specimen 

 indistinguishable from the type from the iSTgau-tchi-lea Mts., 

 Hainan. 



This species is evidently the representative of the true Mus 

 jerdoni, although it is more spiny than the other members of 

 that subgroup hitherto described. Its nearest ally is Mus rajiit^ 

 mihi, from Borneo, to which it bears a very close resemblance. 

 From Mtis confucianus it may be easily distinguished liy its bright 

 coloration, the absence of any white tip to the tail, and also the 

 very much shorter hairs with which the tail is clothed. 



I have called this species from its Chinese name " Huang mao 

 sliii," meaning yellow-haired i-at. 



Mus LING. 



Mus confucianus K. M.-E., 0. Thos. P.Z.S. 1898, p. 773 (partim). 



Mus ling Bonh. Abstr. P. Z. S. No. 23, p. 19, Dec. 5, 1905. 



Size smaller and paler, otherwise closely resembling Mus huang. 

 The amount of spininess varies considerably, some individuals 

 being veiy thickly beset, while iu others the fur is uniformly soft. 

 The tail is covered with short hairs and bicoloured as the Mus 

 Jiuang, but in the young and in some adult individuals we find a 

 tendency to a unicolorous tail. The general colour is fulvous 

 (ochraceous-buft", Ridgw.). 



Skull. Except for its smaller size, the skull does not differ 

 markedly from that of Mus huang. The ridges refei'red to in 

 that species may be traced as far back as the posterior margin of 

 the parietal, but are not so strongly marked. Several skulls, 

 however, are intermediate in size between those of this species 

 and those of Mus huang, but this Rat may in all cases be distin- 

 guished externally by its paler colour and shorter tail ; while in 

 no case does any single measurement overlap that of the smallest 

 M. huang. 



Dimensions (of type from skin). Head and body 132 mm. ; 

 tail 157 ; hind foot 27 ; ear 15. 



Skull (of type). Greatest length 33 mm. ; basilar length 25 ; 

 palatal length 14 ; diastema 8*5 ; incisive foramina 5*5 ; length of 

 nasals 12; zygomatic breadth 14; intei'orbital breadth 5*5; 

 greatest breadth of brain-case 14 ; length of molar series (alveoli) 

 5"5. 



Type. B.M. 98.3.7.8. Collected by Mr. C. B. Rickett in 

 December 1897, at Ching Fen Ling, KW. Fokien. 



Habitat. Ching Fen Ling, N.W. Fokien ; it also occurs at 

 Kuatun in the same province. 



This species is the representative of the cremoriventer subgroup. 



