Meeson. — On a Plague of Rats. 203 



Length of body from the tip of snout to base of tail, 4'75-5'5 inches; 

 length of tail, 4'75-5'5 inches ; length of head, about l - 6 inch ; length 

 of hind foot, about 1-25 inch; length of fore foot, about '75 inch; 

 measurement of ears, -75 X '625 inch ; whisker hairs, numerous, of vari- 

 ous lengths, largest 1*5 inch ; colour of fur (which is long, very thick, 

 soft, and glossy), except at tips, always iron or bluish-grey, intermingled 

 with perfectly white hairs at tips ; greyish-brown on back, white on belly. 

 The ears are rounded and naked ; tail long, scaly, covered with very short 

 hairs ; legs clothed in soft hair, which in the hind feet is long and covers 

 the claws ; toes, 4 in fore-feet and 5 in hind ones, each toe provided with 

 nails which are sharp and white at tip. Dental formula, i |^, m |^|=16 ; the 

 lower incisors large, rounded, and yellow. 



Now in turning over the pages of the Transactions and Proceedings of 

 the N.Z. Institute, I- see, passim, the following species of rats noticed as 

 found in the colony and distinguished from one another. It is not by any 

 means easy to gather from these scattered notices the information needful 

 for writing a clear account. Those who have examined specimens and 

 read papers or spoken thereon at the meetings of the Philosophical Societies 

 have differed somewhat from one another, and in some cases later informa- 

 tion seems to have led to the withdrawal of previously expressed opinions. 

 This seems to have arisen partly from the fact that in most cases a solitary 

 individual specimen has been the subject. Such an one was the rat, 

 ochreous in colour, found in 1853 (Trans., vol. hi., p. 3), and placed in the 

 Auckland Museum. This in size was about as big as our rat, but Dr. 

 Hector considered that it was probably a Sydney species. Again a rat of 

 large size, with a tail 8 inches long, was found in Tinakori Eoad, Wellington, 

 in 1871 (Trans., vol. iv., p. 183). It was a female, is now in the Wellington 

 Museum, and was regarded by Professor Hutton as a specimen of Mus rattus. 

 Two or three rats, again, were found by Mr. Taylor White near Napier, in 

 1876 (Trans., vol. xi., p. 343), and a skin was also found at the Port, all 

 of which Professor Hutton regards as being specimens of Mus rattus. Then, 

 again, in 1870 (Trans., vol. iii., p. 1), Dr. Buller communicated a paper to 

 the Transactions, on a specimen forwarded to him from Wangaehu, which 

 he minutely describes, and regards as the true Maori rat — the Kiore Maori. 

 This also is deposited in the Wellington Museum. Now some of these 

 specimens, I submit, had in all probability been stowaways on board vessels 

 arriving at the New Zealand ports from Europe or the Australian colonies, 

 and the accounts given of them therefore increase the difficulty of arriving 

 at a conclusion as to what species of rats are indigenous or acclimatized 

 in New Zealand. However, I think these three species are and have been 

 for some time in different parts of the colony. 



