190 MUEINJS. 



somewhat to the description of Hodgson's M. macropus, but that species 

 is said to have a fine pelage, and the Dehra rat has the usual harsh hair 

 of the kok. 



173. Nesokia Hardwickei- 



Mus apud Gray. — Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837, 585. — Nee. Huttoni, Blyth, 

 J. A. S. XV., 139 ?— Memoir on Eats, &c. 



The Shoet-tailbd Mole- hat. 



Descr. — " Reddish or yellow brown with longer dark-brown hairs inter- 

 mixed on the rump ; sides grayer and paler ; hairs lead-colored at the 

 base." Such is Gray's original brief description. Elsewhere it is described, 

 as " yellowish-brown, paler beneath, with numerous bristles tipped black ; 

 incisors broad. " Gray says, " very hlie Jcok, skull wider, stronger and 

 larger; cutting teeth nearly twice as wide, grinders very little larger." 

 Blyth writes me that the " cutting teeth of a specimen in the British 

 Museum are large, smooth, yellow, flat in front ; the thumb of the fore-feet 

 small, clawed, grinders about the same size as in kok; tail shorter.'' 



Blyth described iV. Huttoni as follows: — " Bears a near resemblance to 

 M. indica (v. hoh), but the tail is shorter, and the general color lighter, 

 resembhng that of the gerbilles. On comparison of the skulls, the 

 zygomatic arch is seen to be conspicuously broader anteriorly, and the 

 palate is much narrower and contracted to the front; but the most 

 obvious distinction consists in all the teeth, both incisive tusks and 

 grinders being considerably broader and stronger. In other respects the 

 ekuUs of these species bear a very close resemblance. Length, head and 

 body about 6 inches; tail (vertebra) 4; tarsus with toes and claws 

 1|; ears posteriorly ^. Fur soft and fine, blackish for the larger 

 basal half of the piles, the surface pale rufescent-brown, deepest along the 

 crown and back, pale below and whitish on the throat; whiskers small 

 and fine, chiefly black ; tail naked, feet light-brown ; incisive tusks buff- 

 colored. " It will be observed that Hardwickei and Huttoni are both des- 

 cribed as differing from kok or indica by the broader skull, and especially 

 the broader incisors, and also by a shorter tail ; which, however, is stated 

 by Blyth (in epistola) to be only 2| inches in a specimen of Hardwickei in 

 the British Museiun ; but the total length of that individual is not given, 

 and the description does not imply such a very short tail as typical of the 



