10 
HORN EXPEDITION—MAMMALIA. 
Order Capnivora. 
Family CANiDiE. 
(1) Cimis 
Tliis appears to be universally distributed, occurring in the ranges, on the 
stony plains, and amongst the sand-hills. 
Order Rodentia. 
(1) Hapalotis mifchelH, Ogilby. Mitchell’s jerboa-rat. 
This is the commonest form of jerboa-rat in the central districts, where it forms 
burrows in the sandy, plain country amongst the scrulis formed by mulga (^Acacia 
aueura), desert oak i^Casuarina decaisneana)^ and such smaller shrubs as various 
species of Eremophila and Cassia. The small entrance to the burrow is not 
indicated by any mound, but is simply a hole in the earth, sometimes on the 
open ground, at others close to the root of a shrub and just large enough to 
admit the body of the animal. The burrow may go down for a deiiith of three or 
four feet. In each burrow lives apparently a pair of animals, and when young 
ones are present a rough nest is formed of cut pieces of grass-stalks. In one 
burrow we found an adult female with four very young and five larger young ones, 
evidently two successive broods, and in another an adult female with four large 
young ones. These numbers indicate the number of young produced at one birth. 
They are nocturnal in their habits, burrowing in search of food at the bases of 
shrubs, and can only be obtained by digging during the daytime. 
Ogilby,* in speaking of Hapalotis allipes, quotes certain remarks of Sir George 
Grey with regard to the manner in which that species carries its young. The 
latter writer says :—“ The mother has no pouch, but the young attach themselves 
with the same or even greater tenacity than is observable in the young of 
Marsupiata.” Ogilby states that he has failed to elicit any further information, 
either confirmatory or rebutting, from zoologists on this subject. At all events, 
in H. mitchelli there is no such attachment of the young to the teats, and though 
the very small young ones were being suckled, the mother, when disturbed, 
attempted to escape, leaving the young ones behind. 
The native name at Charlotte Waters is Ulabaiya.f 
Habitat. —South, West, and Central Australia. 
* Catalogue of Australian Mammals, Sydney Museum, 1892, p. 115. 
t I insert the native names, as tliese are very useful when collecting amongst he blacks. To secure many 
animals, especially the burrowing nocturnal forms, the assistance of the blacks is indispensable. 
