FROM THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 403 



Dimensious of skull, see next page. 



Type. B.M. 97. 3. 1. 4. 



This Rat is one of the group allied to Mus rattus, so widely distributed over the 

 East Indian Archipelago. The Bornean examples of the group I have provisionally 

 termed M. neglectus, Jent, and have hitherto also used this name for Philippine 

 specimens. The five highland Mindoro skins before me are, however, so uniformly 

 different from any other specimens seen that they evidently ought to have a distinctive 

 name. 



On the other hand, as already noticed, a coast-level specimen from Mindoro is in 

 no way separable from ordinary Philippine examples of M. neglectus. No doubt the 

 highland forms are more or less indigenous, while those from the coast have been more 

 lately introduced. 



"I obtained several specimens of a variety of Mus rattus as high as 5000 feet in 

 the forests of Mount Dulangan, Mindoro, and also on the Canloan volcano in Negros 

 at an altitude of over 6000 feet. Like all the forms of Mus rattus, they were a great 

 nuisance, entering my tent at night and biting holes in my rice-bags, often running- 

 over my body. 



" The specimens from the two islands differ slightly in outward appearance of the 

 fur. The Mindoro Rat is peculiar in being of a much darker brown on the back, and 

 the belly is mouse-grey. The fur is fine and short, and the tail is nearly black. The 

 Negros specimens, on the other hand, are more common looking, sandy brown on the 

 back, with the underparts nearly white ; the far is also much longer, and the tail grey. 

 Mus rattus seems to turn up in some form or other over the whole world, especially on 

 high mountains." — J. W. 



Mus chrtsocomus Hoffm. 



a. <$ . Monte Data, Lepanto, 8000 feet, Feb. 1895. 



This interesting species, which differs from almost every other member of the 

 genus in the entire absence of sharp supraorbital edges or ridges, has hitherto been 

 recorded only from Celebes. The present specimens, however, seem to agree closely 

 both with Heir Hoffmann's description and figure, and also with the notes which, 

 by the kindness of Dr. Meyer, I was allowed to take on the typical specimen when in 

 Dresden. 



" Common in the potato-fields on the top of Monte Data." — J. W. 



MUS EPHIPPIUM NEGRINUS subsp. 11. 



a, b. 6 2 • Negros, 6600 feet, a, type. 



c. 6 . Monte Data, Luzon, 8000 feet, Feb. 1895. 



Similar in essential characters to the small, coarse-haired, brownish or rufous animal 



^ ,-, O 



'--. 



