﻿White. 
  — 
  On 
  the 
  Black 
  Rat. 
  34^ 
  

  

  Annelida. 
  

   Several 
  specimens 
  of 
  Clisetopod 
  worms 
  from 
  botli 
  the 
  Auckland 
  Islands 
  

   and 
  Campbell 
  Island 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  collection, 
  but 
  they 
  cannot 
  be 
  determined 
  

   until 
  the 
  New 
  Zealand 
  Chaetopods 
  have 
  been 
  examined. 
  

  

  E 
  CHINODERMATA. 
  

  

  Asterias 
  rupicdla, 
  Verrill, 
  Bull. 
  U.S. 
  National 
  Museum, 
  No. 
  3, 
  p. 
  71. 
  

   var. 
  Imvigatus, 
  Hutton. 
  

  

  Spines 
  of 
  the 
  back 
  obsolete. 
  

  

  Several 
  specimens 
  from 
  the 
  Auckland 
  Islands. 
  

  

  I 
  should 
  have 
  regarded 
  this 
  as 
  a 
  new 
  species 
  if 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  specimens 
  had 
  

   not 
  shown 
  a 
  row 
  of 
  spines 
  along 
  the 
  back 
  and 
  traces 
  of 
  a 
  lateral 
  row 
  on 
  

   each 
  side, 
  thus 
  connecting 
  the 
  two 
  forms. 
  

  

  Art. 
  XXXIX. 
  — 
  Note 
  accompamjing 
  Specimens 
  of 
  the 
  Black 
  Rat 
  (Mus 
  rattus, 
  L.) 
  

   By 
  Taylor 
  White, 
  Esq., 
  of 
  Glengarrie, 
  Napier. 
  

   Communicated 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Hutton. 
  

   [Read 
  before 
  the 
  Otago 
  Institute, 
  2Qth 
  November, 
  1878.] 
  

  

  Two 
  of 
  the 
  rats 
  were 
  caught 
  in 
  1876 
  in 
  a 
  field 
  of 
  oats 
  which 
  I 
  was 
  

   cutting, 
  eighteen 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  shipping, 
  and 
  so 
  might 
  be 
  called 
  country 
  

   rats. 
  I 
  think 
  I 
  killed 
  four. 
  The 
  two 
  kept 
  were 
  an 
  old 
  male 
  and 
  a 
  young 
  

   female 
  not 
  quite 
  full 
  grown. 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  no 
  others 
  since. 
  The 
  skin 
  I 
  

   picked 
  up 
  at 
  Napier 
  port, 
  alongside 
  the 
  shipping. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  of 
  some 
  interest 
  for 
  me 
  to 
  state 
  that 
  the 
  rats 
  on 
  the 
  Canterbury 
  

   plains 
  in 
  1855 
  had 
  regular 
  warrens, 
  and 
  lived 
  in 
  communities. 
  I 
  have 
  

   taken 
  six 
  and 
  eight 
  from 
  one 
  warren. 
  The 
  warren 
  was 
  not 
  raised 
  above 
  

   the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  ground, 
  but 
  could 
  be 
  detected 
  by 
  the 
  unusual 
  greenness 
  

   of 
  the 
  grass. 
  There 
  were 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  bolt 
  holes 
  within 
  a 
  circular 
  radius 
  

   of 
  about 
  four 
  feet. 
  At 
  the 
  time 
  I 
  was 
  under 
  the 
  impression 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  

   ordinary 
  rats 
  ; 
  but 
  not 
  having 
  seen 
  this 
  habit 
  since 
  or 
  elsewhere, 
  I 
  now 
  

   think 
  that 
  they 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  peculiar. 
  In 
  colour, 
  I 
  think, 
  they 
  resembled 
  

   the 
  common 
  rat 
  (Mus 
  decumanusj. 
  We 
  used 
  to 
  dig 
  them 
  up 
  for 
  the 
  fun 
  of 
  

   seeing 
  the 
  dogs 
  catch 
  them. 
  

  

  I 
  was 
  witness 
  to 
  the 
  first 
  migrations 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  mouse 
  fMus 
  mus- 
  

   cidiis) 
  on 
  three 
  separate 
  occasions. 
  First, 
  from 
  about 
  Christchurch 
  to 
  the 
  

   plains 
  at 
  Oxford 
  ; 
  second, 
  from 
  Oxford 
  onwards 
  over 
  the 
  first 
  range 
  of 
  hills 
  

   to 
  country 
  through 
  which 
  the 
  Hokitika 
  road 
  now 
  passes 
  ; 
  and 
  third, 
  to 
  the 
  

   country 
  bordering 
  Lake 
  Wakatipu. 
  In 
  all 
  three 
  places 
  I 
  lived 
  a 
  consider- 
  

   able 
  time, 
  and 
  never 
  saw 
  such 
  a 
  thing 
  as 
  a 
  mouse, 
  but 
  the 
  rats 
  were 
  legion. 
  

  

  