Sub-family: Cricetin^ 

 Genus : Mystromys 



Rat-like animals with soft, rather woolly, fur and 

 large broad ears, short tails, and a somewhat hairy 

 tarsus; skull with antorbital foramen forming a 

 long oval hardly at all narrowed below, and the 

 perpendicular plate but little developed, not extend- 

 ing forwards beyond the upper root of the zygoma ; 

 incisors ungrooved, molars rooted, those of the upper 

 jaw with tubercles arranged in a double instead of a 

 treble row, as in the Murines ; those of the lower 

 jaw, as in the Murince, in a double row (Sclater). 



The genus Mystromys is confined to South and 

 Central Africa. 



THE WHITE-TAILED RAT 



{Mystromys albicaudaius) 



This Rat has been recorded from the Cape Province, 

 Orange Free State, Transvaal and Rhodesia. It is 

 nocturnal by habit and lives in burrows on the grass- 

 veld, low hill-sides and other more or less similar 

 situations. Like many others of the rodent tribe, it 

 may often be seen abroad on cloudy days. According 

 to Smith it is especially active during rainy weather. 



146 



