PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 37 
and Mandevillea suaveolens and the fruits of Moreton Bay 
figs. Another unusual article of diet was snails (Helix 
aspera), of which it bit off the apex of the shell to get at 
the animal inside. It formed nests in trees, and also made 
its home in the joints of bamboos. Oldfield Thomas points 
out that these rats, originally described by Macleay as 
Hapolotis arboricola, were evidently a form of Mus ratitus. 
Captain 8. A. White+ gives an interesting description of 
the habits of Black Rats which had recently appeared in 
numbers at the Reedbeds, near Adelaide. He caught them 
easily with flesh baits, and found that they hid in the day- 
time in holes in the river bank, under floors, and in old 
sparrows’ nests in hedges. It was almost impossible io 
grow maize, sorghum, sunflowers, or other plants, whilst 
they ate grapes on the vines, devoured fruit on the trees, 
and even climbed the stems of zinnias and bit off the 
flower heads in search of seeds. The device of paper twisted 
into spools, or bell-shaped, and encircling the stems of maize 
or zinnias, protected them, the rats fearing a trap. From 
the alarm calls of birds in the trees at night, he believed the 
rats were in search of birds at roost, and anticipated much 
economic harm from destruction of our native birds. 
Captain White’s notes are illustrated by photographs of 
rats eating maize cobs, of the damage done to maize and 
zinnias, and of the paper spools in situ. I remember when 
in Perth, W.A., that considerable damage was occasionally 
done by Black Rats in a florist’s shop, which is interesting 
in connection with Captain White’s observations. 
Mus tompson Ramsay, and M. variabilis H. and P., are 
apparently synonyms of EL. rattus.? 
Epimys norvegicus (Erxl.), (Mus decumanus Pallas), 
the Norway or Brown Rat.—This species has a tail less 
+ White, “The Observer,” Adelaide, April 7th, 1917, pp. 4, 26. 
+ A. EK. MeCulloch, Ree. Aust. Mus; VI., 1907, p.'-312, 
