THE ALEXANDRINE RAT 599 



may be present on the forehead, and there may be some white on the 

 feet. 



The young have the fur softer, and their backs are of a richer and 

 more lustrous black than in the adults ; these features are chiefly 

 due to the feeble development or absence of the whitish bristles. 



Geographical variation : — Specimens brought from Black Sea ports 

 to London were described by Millais as a distinct sub-species, 

 E. r. ater ; this was said to differ from true rattus in its deeper and 

 richer pelage, its glossy black back, which presented a curious green 

 sheen in a bright light, white or grey hair-bases, and slightly longer 

 tail. Similar specimens were recorded by Millais from the Black Sea 

 ports, Crimea, and various parts of Africa, and he states this variety 

 to be the only one met with in the Transvaal. Miller does not 

 distinguish this form from r. rattus. We have examined the type, an old 

 male, together with specimens in the British Museum from Deelfontein, 

 and as a result are inclined to adopt Miller's view. Nevertheless, there 

 is probably some foundation' for Millais' sub-species, since r. rattus 

 may have developed independently in various parts of Europe at 

 various times from quite different "wild-coloured" invading stocks. 

 It may be added that, like all its relatives, this sub-species shows a 

 tendency to develop races adjusted to the needs of purely local condi- 

 tions. It is difficult to see where true rattus now exists, except perhaps 

 in such localities as Sark and the Orkneys (South Ronaldshay).^ 



(2.) The Alexandrine Rat. 



Epimys rattus alexandrinus^ Geoffroy. 



1803. Mus ALEXANDRINUS, I. Geoffroy St Hilaire, Cat. Mammif. da Mus. Nat. 



dHisi. Nat, Paris, 192 ; Descr. de P£gypte, Hist. Nat, ii., 733, Atlas, pi. v., fig. i, 



1812 ; described from Alexandria, Egypt ; Savi ; in part of de Selys-Longchamps 



and Blasius. 

 1905- Mus RATTUS ALEXANDRINUS, J. L. Bonhote, Proc. Zool. Soc, London, 1909, 



794, and 1910, 654. 

 1910. Mus (epimys) rattus ALEXANDRINUS, E. L. Trouessart, Faune des Mammif, 



^Europe, 144 (in part). 

 1912. Epimys rattus alexandrinus, G. S. Miller, Cat Mamm. West Europe, 854 



(in part). 



As suggested long ago by Savi {Nuovo Giorn. de'Letterati, Pisa, x., 

 74, 1825), in defining his Mus tectorum, the name alexandrinus should 

 be restricted to the sub-species figured by Geoffroy in 1812 {loc.cit.,sup.), 



' "Black and Alexandrine Rats" were taken in 1890 on a Leith steamer; the 

 wild-coloured forms are abundant on some Scotch coasting vessels (W. Eagle Clarke, 

 Scott. Nat., 1891, 36, and W. Evans, Supplement). 



