i()oy.] Dr. Hossack: The Rats of Calcutta. 39 



NESOKIA BANDICOTA var. NBMORIVAGUS. 



(Synonymy after Blanford.) 



(?) Mus setifer, Horsfield, Res. Java (1824); Cantor, J. A. S. B., xv, p. 254 ; 

 Blyth, J. A. S. B., xxiv, p. 712, xxxii, p. 334. 



Mus {rattus) nemorivagus, Hodgson, J. A. S. B., v, p. 234 (1836), id. A. M. N. H., 

 XV, p. 226 (1845). 



(?) Mus macropus, Hodgson, A. M. N. H., xv, p. 268 (1845). ' ' 



Mus bandicota, Blyth, J. A. S. B., xxxii, p. 333, partim ; id. Mam. Birds Burma, 

 p. 39 ; Jerdon, Mam., p. 193, partim nee Bechstein. 



Mus (Nesokia) elliotanus, Anderson, J. A. S. B., xlvii, pt. 2, p. 231, pi. xiv, 

 figs, e-h (1878). 



Mus (Nesokia) nemorivagus , Thomas, P. Z. S., 1881, p. 529. 



(Nesokia nemorivaga, Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Mam., p. 426 (1888-91). 



General characters. — This is the smaller or Northern Indian type of Bandicoot, 

 characterized by its great size, rough bristly coat, very large black feet, long deep 

 narrow snout, long ears and savage behaviour. 



Fur. — The fur is very coarse and bristly, so that, as in Nesokia bengalensis , when 

 the animal erects its piles the skin can frequently be seen. It may be described as 

 consisting of four elements in place of the usual three. 



Under fur. — This is rather scanty, but fine and lanuginous compared with that 

 of Nesokia bengalensis. It is very pale grey in colour, sometimes rather a washed-out 

 brown rather than grey, and averages i cm. in length. It tends to be paler towards 

 the tips. 



2. Fine hairs about 2 cm. in length, grey or pale-brown in the lower half, and 

 the upper half pale straw or brown, so light sometimes as to be almost white. 



3. Intermixed with the above are coarse, strong, black hairs 2-3 cm. in length 

 with the tips generally coloured pale ochre or ochraceous buff in the top half. Many, 

 however, are black or brown-black all through. Sienna or buff tips are more 

 predominant about the head, shoulders and back, and below they are paler. 



4. All down the back but particularly about the rump, are long black piles 7-8 

 cm. long ; for their length they are not particularly coarse. 



Whiskers. — These are black, generally tipped with ochraceous buff ; supraciHary 

 bristles are wanting. 



Colour. — It is unnecessary to go into detail in describing the colour, as it is practi- 

 cally identical with that of Nesokia bengalensis ; so many light and pale tips are mixed 

 with the black, and the distinctly sienna or ochraceous buff tinted ones are so few, that 

 the general effect is that of a cold greyish-brown, getting greyer and lighter down the 

 sides. The throat, belly, and inside of the limbs are a hoary dirty greyish-white. The 

 feet are covered with grizzled brown short hairs, and the sides and the soles are 

 atreous, so that the general effect of the feet is black. 



Tail. — The tail, nearly equal in length to the head and body, is very thick at the 



