32 
ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 
Mr. Darwin found this variety “ common about houses in the country around 
Buenos Ayres.” 
In the Maldonado variety, the shorter hairs of the upper parts of the body are 
of a rusty yellow colour at the apex, in other respects it resembles the British 
variety. The rusty yellow colour of the tips of the hairs produces a general red- 
dish hue, which is the more conspicuous, when the animal is placed near an 
English specimen. “ Was caught in a house, at Maldonado. I saw a specimen 
of the common gray English, or Norway rat, lying dead in the streets, and it cer- 
tainly had a very different appearance from these red rats. The latter, I saw 
crawling about the hedges in the interior provinces at Santa Fe, and likewise in 
the forest of the island of Chiloe. This latter fact, however, is a strong argument 
against its being aboriginal, since I did not find even one undoubted American 
species, out of the many which I collected, inhabiting both sides of the Cor- 
dillera. — D. 
The specimen from Valparaiso very closely resembles that from Maldonado; 
it is, perhaps, a little less red. “ Common about the houses in the town of Valpa- 
raiso.” 
The two specimens from East Falkland are of a brighter hue, and have less 
gray in their colouring, than in the European variety of the common rat. “ One 
of them was caught in a Bay, which is sometimes frequented by shipping, but 
which is distant thirty or forty miles from any habitation. These rats have 
spread, not only over the whole of East and West Falkland, but even on some 
of the outlying islets. When the cold, wet, and gloomy nature of the climate 
is considered, it is surprising that these animals should be able to find food to 
live on.” — D. 
The general hue of the Keeling Island specimen, is deep brown, the longer 
hairs of the upper parts of the body being, as usual, black ; but the shorter hairs, 
instead of having the pale yellow tint which we observe in the European, (or, 
rather, British) specimens of Mus Decumanus, are of a deep, rusty yellow. The 
most remarkable difference, however, consists in the colouring of the under parts 
being of a yellowish tint, and, towards the root of the tail, of a very distinct buff 
yellow : the feet are brownish. 
“ This rat is exceedingly numerous on some of the low coral islets forming 
the margin of the Lagoon of Keeling Island, in the Indian Ocean. The climate is 
dry and hot. The rats are known to have come in a vessel from the Mauritius, 
which was wrecked on one of the islets, which is now called Rat Island. They 
appeared stunted in their growth, and many of them were mangy. They are 
supposed to live chiefly on cocoa-nuts, and any animal matter the sea may chance 
to throw up. They have not any fresh-water ; but the milk of the cocoa-nut 
would supply its place.” — D. 
