THE BLACK-TAILED RAT 



(4) It differs also from the Brown Rat in being 

 smaller in general build ; of more elegant shape ; 

 snout longer, projecting to a greater distance 

 beyond the lower jaw ; ears larger. 



THE BLACK-TAILED RAT 



(Rattus nigricaudd) 



The Black-tailed Rat is an inhabitant of the western 

 side of Africa. It is common in Angola, and 

 has been found as far south as South-West 

 Africa, and is quite common in the Kalahari. It 

 is a little over half the size of the common Brown 

 Rat, the body of an adult, including the head, 

 measuring only 7 inches. The tail is slightly 

 shorter than the head and body, and is naked at the 

 base, but towards the tip it. is thickly covered with 

 long, shiny black hairs. The fur is long and coarse 

 on the back and yellow in colour, intermixed with 

 black ; sides yellower than the back ; under parts 

 pure white from the bases to the tips of the hairs. 

 Ears large and thinly covered with light grey hairs. 



Mr. Guy DoUman, in his field notes during an 

 expedition to the Kalahari, says : 



" These rats frequent the kameel- thorn forests 

 all over the Kalahari, especially where the trees are 

 large, and they seem more numerous in the neigh- 

 bourhood of water. They breed and spend all the 

 daytime in the trees, only coming down on to the 



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