211 
M U S. 
eafhvnrd from the Cape of Good Hope. It is one of the 
leaftof the genus, being little more than two inches long 
from nofe to tail. Its colours and other particulars are 
fufficiently defcribed in the fpecific character. 
20. Mus ftriatus, the ftriated moufe, called by Pennant 
the oriental rat: rufous-brown, with longifti naked tail, 
and the body marked with feveral longitudinal rows of 
white lpots. This beautiful little animal was firft de- 
fcribed and figured by Seba, from whom other authors 
have taken their defcriptions. It is about half the lize of 
a common moufe ; and is of a rufous or fulvous colour, 
with feveral parallel rows of roundiili white lpots, dif- 
pofed longitudinally along the upper parts of the body ; 
the ears are Ihort and roundilh ; the nofe blunt; the tail 
thick and whitifh, and of the fame length with the body, 
and nearly naked. This fpecies is, according to Seba, a 
native of India. He allures us that he purchafed it alive 
of a faiior, who had brought it from India, and had tamed 
it to fuch a degree, that every day it would come out of 
its cag;e to be fed, and would lit on its mailer’s Ihoulders, 
and even feed occafionally from his lips. Seba adds, that 
it continued equally tame while it lived with him 5 but, 
as if lamenting the lofs of its former mailer, died in a Ihort 
time. After this defcription, fo particularly detailed by 
Seba, it feems llrange that fome authors have appeared to 
doubt the real exiltence of the animal as a genuine fpecies. 
Dr. Pallas, however, feems to fufpeft, that either the fame 
or a limilar fpecies inhabits the regions about Mount 
Caucalus, having heard fome reports of fuch an animal; 
yet confelles his doubt as to the fpec.imen defcribed by 
Seba, on account of his having difcovere.d in Seba’s col¬ 
lection a fpecimen inlcribed “ Mus llriatus, Indicus,” 
which was nothing more than the young of the Sciurus 
getulus, or llriped Barbary fquirrel, with the tail Hill 
naked, or refembling that of a moule. 
21. Mus Barbaras, the Barbary moufe: body brown., 
with ten pale ftreaks ; tail of middling length, fore-feet 
tridaftyle, hind-feet pentada&yle. This appears, from 
the defcription of Linnaeus, to be fo nearly allied to the 
preceding, as fcarcely to be ieparated from it. It is, fays 
Linnaeus, linaller than a common moufe ; and is brown 
above, pale or whitilh beneath; on each fide the back are 
ten pale Itripes, and fometimes a fcarcely-perceptible line 
occurs between the lateral Itripes. The tail is naked, ob- 
fcurely annulated, and of the length of the body. The 
animal is a native of Barbary. 
22. Mus Mexicanus, the Mexican moufe : a large red- 
dilli fpot on each fide of the belly. This fpecies is in ge¬ 
neral of a whitilh colour, mixed with red : head whitilh. 
Inhabits Mexico ; and is about the lize and proportions 
of the common moufe. Defcribed and figured by Seba. 
III. Tail round , hairy. 
23. Mus.Virginianus, the Virginian moufe: tail en¬ 
tirely hairy, thick at the bafe, long, tapering. This alfo 
is from Seba; and is about the fize of the field-moufe. It 
has pointed ears, ablack pointed nofe, and long whilkers : 
its furis very Ihort; and its limbs very (lender. The co¬ 
lour of this animal is univerfally white: the thicknefs at 
the bafe of its tail is its lpecific difference. It is found in 
Virginia. 
24. Mus faxatilis, the rock-moufe : tail longilh ; ears 
longer than the fur; fore-feet three-toed, with the ap¬ 
pearance of a fourth. The rock-moufe has an oblong 
head, nofe rather pointed, ears oval and downy, at the 
edges brown ; whilkers Ihort, limbs ftrong, tail not half 
fo long as the body, with a few hairs fcattered over it. 
The colour above is brown, (lightly mixed with grey; the 
fides incline more to the laft colour; belly of a light ci¬ 
nereous ; fnout dulky, furrounded with a very (lender 
ring of white. It is in length four inches, the tail one 
and a half. It inhabits Siberia, and particularly beyond 
Lake Baikal, and the Mongolian delert. It makes its 
burrows in a wonderful manner, confidering the weaknels 
of its feet, between the crannies of the rocks which flad 
Vol. XVI. No. nog, 
been forced open by the violence of froft, or the mfih.ua- 
tion of roots of plants; it choofes its habitation amidlt 
the rudeft rocks, and lives chiefly on the feeds of Aftra- 
galus, or milk-vetch. The burrows confift, firft, of a 
large winding oblique paflage, through which the animal 
flings out the earth ; lecondly, of one or more holes 
pointing downwards, which likevvife wind among the 
rocks; and at the bottom is the neft, formed of foft 
herbs. It was firft defcribed by Pallas.. 
25. Mus cayanus, the blue moufe; (Iky-coloured rat 
of Pennant:) blue above, whitilh beneath, with tetradac- 
tyl^is fore-feet, pentada&ylous hind-feet; and llightly- 
hairy tail of middling length. This is a fpecies defcribed 
by Molina in his Hiltory of Chili, of which country it is 
a native, and is about the lize of the M. Sylvaticus ; and 
of a fine pale blue colour, with rounded ears. It inhabits 
fubterraneous burrows, which it forms of the length of 
many feet, and on each fide of which are feveral Isoies or 
receptacles in which it depolits its winter provifions, con¬ 
fiding chiefly of tuberous roots, &c. It is a timid animal, 
and is alfo laid to be very cleanly. It breeds twice a-year ; 
producing fix at a time. The peafants of Chili frequent¬ 
ly rob the fubterraneous retreats of this fpecies of the 
hoards which they contain. 
26. Mus ampbibius, the water-rat : blackifli-brown 
above, afh-coloured beneath, with ears fcarcely projecting 
from the fur, fubtetradaftyle fore-feet, and tail about 
half the length of the body. The water-rat is a general 
inhabitant of the temperate, and even the colder, parts of 
Europe and Alia; and occurs alfo in North America ; fre¬ 
quenting rivers and ftagnant waters, and forming its bur¬ 
rows in the banks. It is of a thicker and fliorter form 
than many others of this genus, and has fomewhat of the 
lhape of a beaver. Mr. Ray, following an error of Wil- 
loughly, deferibes it as having the fore-feet webbed; and 
Linnaeus, in his Syftema Naturae, charaCterifes it from 
that very circumftance, but acknowledges that he had not 
himfelf examined the animal. In reality, however, there 
is no fuch appearance in the feet of the water-rat, and the 
notion feems to have been haftily adopted from oblerving 
the facility with which it fwims and dives. The general 
length of the water-rat is about feven inches, and the 
tail about five. Its colour is blackilh ferruginous above, 
and deep cinereous beneath : the nofe is thick and blunt; 
the eyes fmall; the ears rounded, and hid in the fur. In 
colour it appears to vary in different regions, being fome¬ 
times nearly black, and fometimes paler than ufual. It 
alfo varies as to lize, and the varieties have been miftaken- 
ly confidered as diltinft fpecies. This animal never fre¬ 
quents houfes, but confines itfelfto the banks of waters, 
and is luppofed to live on filh, frogs, &c. and probably on 
various roots and other vegetable lubftances. Dr. Pallas, 
however, is unwilling to admit that it preys at all upon 
filh, though reported fo to do by Buffon and others. At 
fome leafons of the year it is obferved to have a mulky 
fcent. The female produces her young in April, and ge¬ 
nerally brings about five or fix at a time. The meafures 
of this fpecies, as given by Mr. Schreber are as follows : 
viz. from nofe to tail fix inches and a half; and of the tail 
three inches. This is reprefented on the Plate at fig. 3. 
27. Mus fcherman, the Stralburg rat: deep brown above, 
cinereous beneath, with flightly-hairy tail of moderate 
length, fmall feet, and ears fliorter than the fur. This 
fpecies is faid to be common about the neighbourhood of 
Stralburg; and appears to have been firft defcribed by 
Mr. Hermann, who in the year 1776 communicated a lpe- 
cimen to M. de Buffon. The length of the animal from 
nofe to tail is fix inches ; of the tail about two inches and 
three quarters: the head is rather Ihort; the fnout thick ; 
the eyes fmall, and the ears almoft as Ihort as thofe or a 
mole, and concealed beneath the fur. The genera! colour 
of the fur is a blackilh brown, mixed with grey tawny; the 
hair being blackilh at the root, and tawny towards the tip ; 
the edges of the mouth are bordered with Ihort white 
flairs,- and the whilkers are black : the under parts of the 
3 Q body 
