224i J. Anderson — On the Suh- Genus Nesokia. [No. 4, 



The general characters o£ the skull I have already indicated under 

 M. (iV.) hardwichii. 



Mr. Blanford states that this field-rat has only 3 pairs of mammae, but 

 in a female collected by him at Kalagan, Baluchistan, I observe that it has 

 the same number of mammae as the female of II. (JV.) hardwichii^ viz., 8, 

 two inguinal pairs, one axillary pair, and one pectoral pair as in that species. 

 Mr. Blanford probably overlooked the axillary mammae which occur also in 

 M. (N.) providens, and M. (JS".) hlythianus, and in the ordinary rats, such 

 as jyr. decumanus. 



The Indian Museum has received this species from Umballa, where it 

 was obtained by the late Lieut. -Col. Tytler ; from Kalagan in Baluchistan 

 from Mr. Blanford, who has also presented examples from Shahbandar and 

 Khipra, Sind ; and from Karachi examples have been received from Mr. J. A. 

 Murray of the Municipal Museum of that town. 



Examples have also been quite recently sent to the Indian Museum 

 from Dakka, Afghanistan, by that observant naturalist Dr. Arthur Barclay. 

 He states " that this species occurs in large numbers all about that Fort, 

 which is at a low elevation, being only a little above Peshawar. The soil 

 is loose and very fine, almost like exceedingly fine sand. The holes of this 

 rat do not run deep but ramify horizontally, just below the surface of the 

 ground. It throws out a mound of earth at the exit of the hole. I have 

 never seen these rats out of their dens during the day, but frequently 

 during my evening walk I have watched them throwing out earth. The 

 mouth of the hole is usually kept shut up with earth." 



M. (Nesokia) sctjllti. 

 Nesohia soullyi, J. Wood- Mason, Proc. As. Soc. Beng., 1876, p. 80. 



Form of body and head the same as in M. {W.) hardwichii, but distin- 

 guished from it and from M. (AT.) huttoni,iQ both of which it is closely allied, 

 by its much larger feet, the hinder pair of which in an animal with the body 

 and head 6"-6 long, the hind foot and claws measure l''-72, whereas in M. 

 (N.) hardwichii and M. (AT.) huttoni, in animals of the same dimension 

 the feet measure respectively l"-26 and 1"*43. The tail is longer than in 

 M. (AT.) hardwichii, and in its proportions it more resembles the tail of 

 31. (AT.) huttoni. The fur also is longer and more silky than the fur of 

 the two foregoing species, but in this respect it is approached by M. (A^) 

 huttoni. The tail is stated by Mr. Wood-Mason to be without a sino-le 

 hair, but in the type I observe that it is very sparsely covered with hairs, 

 to the tip. The feet are clad with short brown hairs, but to a less extent 

 than in any of the other species. 



The fur is a slightly paler fawn than that of M. (A^) Jmftoni, the long 

 piles being white tipped. The sides are still paler, and the under surface is 



