366 



BULLETIN 56, UHITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Description. — Upper parts plumbeous-black; under parts slate 

 color. Total length/400 mm; tail vertebrae, 215; hind foot, 37. 



Habits and local distrilution. — We did not meet with the black rat 

 on the Mexican border; but Mr. Herbert Brown, writing from Yuma, 

 Arizona, November 18, 1900, says: 



I find the black rat here. Some time ago I ofFered to send some live ones to Mr.Homa- 

 day, Central Park, New York, but he did not care for them. They were the first I ever 

 saw in the Territory. In a litter of 4 young ones, 3 were jet black and 1 brown. The 

 brown rat appears to be the more common of the two. 



MUS ALEXAND.RINUS Geoffroy Saint HUaire . 

 ROOF RATi WHITE-BELLIED RAT. 



Mus alexandrinus GEOFFnoY Saint Hilaire, Descr. de I'Egypte, Mamm., 1818, p. 733, 

 pi. V, fig. 1 (original description). — Miller and Rehn, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 

 XXX, No. 1, Dec. 27, 1901, p. 65 (Syst. Results Study N. Am. Mam. to close of 

 1900). 



[Mus] alexandrinus, Elliot, Field Col. Mus., Zool. Ser., II, 1901, p. 118 (Synop. Mam. 

 N. Am.); IV, 1904, p. 164 (Mam. Mid. Am.). 



Type-locality. — Alexandria, Egypt. 



Geographical range. — Cities and houses in Tropical and Austral 

 zones. 



Description. — Smaller than Mus norvegicus, with relatively longer 

 tail and larger ears. Color, reddish brown above, white below. Tail 

 unicolored and considerably longer than head and body. 



BemarJcs. — The roof rat at times appears in abundance in the settle- 

 ments along the Kio Grande, disappearing again later. We saw them 

 only at El Paso, Nogales, and Tucson, where they were common 

 enough to be troublesome. It is said to be abundant in the towns of 

 the San Pedro and Santa Cruz valleys. It does not extend its range 

 as high as the Transition Zone. 



Measurements of a specimen of Mus alexandrinus. 



MUS MUSCULUS Linnaeus. 

 HOUSE MOTJSE. 



[Mus] muscidus LiNNiEus, Syst. Nat., 10th cd., I, 175S, p. 62 (original description). — 

 Elliot, Field Col. Mus., Zocl. Ser., II, 1901, p. 118 (Synop. Marri; N,. Am.); IV 

 1904,p. 162(Mam. Mid. Am.). "^ 



Mus musculus, Miller and Rehn, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XXX, No. 1, Dec. 27, 

 1901, p. 65 (Syst. Results Study N. Am. Mam. to close of 1900). 



Oo-wa'-g of the Hualapai Indians. ~ si. 



Put'-cha or Ho-micht'se of the Hopi Indians, 



