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Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon
Mr. Mason remarks of this rat that they are only second to the white ants for the mischief they perpetrate. "They burrow in the gardens, and destroy the sweet potatoes; they make their nests in the roofs by day, and visit our houses and larders by night. They will eat into teak drawers, boxes, and book-cases, and can go up and down anything but glass. In the province of Tonghoo they sometimes appear in immense numbers before harvest, and devour the paddy like locusts. In both 1857 and 1858 the Karens on the mountains west of the city lost all their crops from this pest." They seem to migrate in swarms, and cross rivers by swimming. Mr. Cross captured one out of a pair he observed swimming the Tenasserim river at a place where it is more than a quarter of a mile wide. M. Berdmorei is the same as this species.
The following three are Burmese rats collected by Dr. Anderson during the Yunnan Expedition, and are new species named by him:—
NO. 336. MUS SLADENISladen's RatHABITAT.—Kakhyen hills; Ponsee at 3500 feet.
DESCRIPTION.—Head rather elongated; snout somewhat elongate; muzzle rather deep; ears large and rounded, sparsely clad with short hairs; feet well developed, hinder ones rather strong; claws moderately long and sharp; the feet pads markedly developed, indicating an arboreal habit of life; tail slightly exceeding length of head and body, coarsely ringed, there being three rings to each one-tenth of an inch; the hairs sparse and brown; general colour of upper surface reddish-brown, more rufous than brownish, palest on the head, many hairs with broad yellow tips; cheeks greyish-rufous; chin, throat, and chest whitish, also the remaining under-parts, but with a tinge of yellowish; ears and tail pale brownish. (Abridged from Anderson's 'Anat. and Zool. Res.' p. 305.)
SIZE.—Head and body of one, about 6·30 inches; tail, 7·20 inches.
Dr. Anderson says this species is closely allied to Hodgson's Mus nitidus, but its skull is less elongated, with a shorter facial portion, with very much shorter nasals, and with a more abruptly defined frontal contraction than either in M. nitidus or M. rufescens so called. He adds that this appears to be both a tree and a house rat.
NO. 337. MUS RUBRICOSAThe Small Red Rat of the Kakhyen HillsHABITAT.—Kakhyen hills and the Burma-Chinese frontier at Ponsee, and in the houses of the Shan Chinese at Hotha.
DESCRIPTION.—"Snout moderately pointed and long; ears small, and somewhat pointed; hind foot long and narrow; claws moderately long, compressed and sharply pointed; upper surface dark rusty brown, darkest on the middle and back, and palest on the muzzle, head and shoulder; on the sides and lower part of shoulder the reddish brown tends to pass into greyish; feet greyish; the sides of the snout greyish; all the under-parts silvery grey tending to white, without any trace of rufous, or but with a very faint yellowish blush; the tail, dull brown, is somewhat shorter than the body and head, and it is coarsely ringed, 2½ rings to one-tenth of an inch, the hair being short, sparse, and dark brown" ('Anat. and Zool. Res.' p. 306).
SIZE.—Head and body, 5·70 inches; tail, 5·15 inches.
NO. 338. MUS YUNNANENSISThe Common House Rat of YunnanHABITAT.—Yunnan, at Ponsee; Hotha and Teng-yue-chow.
DESCRIPTION.—"Muzzle rather short and broad; ear large and rounded, its height considerably exceeding the distance between the inner canthus and the front of the muzzle, sparsely clad with short hairs; feet well developed; hind foot moderately long; pads prominent; claws compressed, strong, curved, and sharp; tail coarsely ringed, three rings to one-tenth of an inch; upper surface dark rich brown, with intermixed pale hairs, with broad brown tips, the sides of the face below the moustachial area, chin, throat, and all the under-parts yellowish washed with rufous; the ears and tail dusky brown; feet pale yellowish, and more or less brownish above; the tail varies in length, but is generally longer than the body and head, although it may occasionally fall short of that length" ('Anat. and Zool. Res.' pp, 306, 307).
SIZE.—Head and body, 5·70 inches; tail, 5·65 inches. An adult female had a much longer tail.
NO. 339. MUS INFRALINEATUSThe Striped-bellied Rat (Jerdon's No. 178)HABITAT.—Madras; Bustar forests.
DESCRIPTION.—"Above, the fur fulvous, with the shorter hairs lead coloured; throat, breast, and belly pure white, with a central pale fulvous brown streak; tail slightly hairy."—Jerdon.
SIZE.—Head and body, 5½ inches; tail, not quite 5 inches; another about 5 inches; tail, 4¼ inches.
Jerdon calls this a field rat in his popular name for it, but I think that the term should be restricted to the Nesokia or true field and earth-burrowing rats. He is of opinion that Gray's Mus fulvescens from Nepal is the same, the description tallying to some extent, concluding with: "in one specimen a central yellow streak," i.e. on the belly.
NO. 340. MUS BRUNNEUSThe Tree Rat (Jerdon's. No. 179)HABITAT.—India and Ceylon. The common house rat of Nepal.
DESCRIPTION.—Above rusty brown; below rusty, more or less albescent; extremities pale, almost flesh-coloured; ears rather long; head rather elongated; tail equal to and sometimes exceeding head and body.
SIZE.—Head and body, from 8½ to 9½ inches; tail, from 9 to 9½ inches.
Jerdon states that this rat, which Dr. Gray considered identical with M. decumanus (see 'Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.' vol. xv. 1845, p. 267), "is to be found throughout India, not habitually living in holes, but coming into houses at night; and, as Blyth remarks, often found resting during the day on the jhil-mil or venetian blinds. It makes a nest in mango-trees or in thick bushes and hedges. Hodgson calls it the common house rat of Nepal, and Kellaart also calls it the small house rat of Trincomalee." It is probable that this is the rat which used to trouble me much on the outskirts of the station of Nagpore. It used to come in at night, evidently from outside, for the house was not one in which even a mouse could have got shelter, with masonry roof, and floors paved with stone flags. Kellaart evidently considered it as distinct from M. decumanus, which he stated to be rare in houses in the town of Trincomalee, though abundant in the dockyard.
NO. 341. MUS RUFESCENSThe Rufescent Tree Rat (Jerdon's No. 180)NATIVE NAMES.—Gachua-indur, Bengali; Ghas-meeyo, Singhalese.
HABITAT.—India generally; Ceylon.
DESCRIPTION.—Fur above pale yellowish-brown; under fur lead coloured, mixed with longer piles of stiff, broad, plumbeous black tipped hairs; head long; muzzle narrow; whiskers long and black; ears large, subovate, slightly clad with fine hairs; eyes large; incisor teeth yellow; feet brownish above, but the sides and toes are whitish; tail longer than head and body.
SIZE.—Head and body, from 5½ to 7½ inches; tail from 6½ to 8½ inches.
This is M. flavescens of Elliot, and is so noticed in Kellaart's 'Prodromus.' He calls it "the white-bellied tree-rat of Ceylon," and he states that it lives on trees or in the ceiling of houses in preference to the lower parts. Sir Walter Elliot observed it chiefly in stables and out-houses at Dharwar. According to Buchanan-Hamilton it makes its nests in cocoanut-trees and bamboos, bringing forth five or six young in August and September. "They eat grains, which they collect in their nests, also young cocoanuts. They enter houses at night, but do not live there." Kellaart's M. tetragonurus is a variety of this, if not identical.
NO. 342. MUS NIVEIVENTERThe White-bellied House Rat (Jerdon's No. 181)HABITAT.—The lower Himalayan ranges.
DESCRIPTION.—"Above blackish-brown, shaded with rufous; below entirely pure white, tail and all."—Blyth.
SIZE.—Head and body, 5¼ to 7 inches; tail, 6 to 7½ inches.
Hodgson stated this to be a house rat in Nepal, but not very common. Jerdon found it common at Darjeeling. Specimens have been received from Mussoorie.
NO. 343. MUS NITIDUSThe Shining Brown Rat (Jerdon's No. 182)HABITAT.—Nepal; Darjeeling.
DESCRIPTION.—Dusky brown above, dusky hoary below. According to Hodgson it is "distinguished for its smooth coat or pelage, wherein the long hairy piles are almost wanting. It is a house rat, like M. niveiventer, but much rarer, and frequents the mountains rather than the valleys." The long hairs are 11/16 inch in length, horny at the base, with black tip, the short fur ashy, with rufous tips.
SIZE.—Head and body, 6½ inches; tail 7¼ inches.
Blyth writes of this species ('J. A. S. B.' vol. xxxii. 1863, p. 343): "We have several specimens of what I take to be this rat from Darjeeling. They are especially distinguished by the fineness and softness of the fur. One specimen only, of eight from Darjeeling, which I refer to this species, has the lower parts pure white, abruptly defined."
There is a smaller rat, only four inches in length, which agrees exactly with the above, which Hodgson named M. horietes. It is not mentioned in Blyth's Catalogue, but it has not been overlooked by Blyth, as Jerdon's remarks would lead one to suppose, for in the 'Memoir on the Rats and Mice in India,' by the former, in the 'J. A. S. B.' vol. xxxii. for 1863, it is entered with a quotation from Hodgson.
NO. 344. MUS CAUDATIORThe Chestnut Rat (Jerdon's No. 183)HABITAT.—The lower Eastern Himalayas, i.e., Nepal, Darjeeling, &c.; also in Burmah, Lower Pegu, and Martaban.
DESCRIPTION.—"Above a fine bright cinnamon colour, with inconspicuous black tips; the under-parts white, which is abruptly divided from the cinnamon hue above" (Blyth). Sometimes yellowish-white (Jerdon). Muzzle sharp; ears and tail long.
SIZE.—Head and body, about six inches; tail, 7¾ inches.
According to Blyth the Nepal specimens are darker than those from Burmah, which he says "differs only from the Nepalese animal of Mr. Hodgson by having the upper parts entirely of a bright cinnamon colour."
NO. 345. MUS CONCOLORThe Common Thatch Rat of PeguHABITAT.—Upper and Lower Burmah, Malayan peninsula.
DESCRIPTION.—I have been unable to trace any accurate description of this rat, which Blyth says "conducts from the long-tailed arboreal rats to the ordinary house mice." In his 'Catalogue of the Mammals of Burmah,' published in the 'Jour. Asiatic Soc. Beng.' for 1875, he remarks that "it requires to be critically examined in the fresh state." In the 'J. A. S. B.,' vol. xxviii. p. 295, he describes a young one as dark greyish mouse colour; but this is not reliable, as the young rats and mice change colour as they attain full growth.23
NO. 346. MUS PALMARUMThe Nicobar Tree RatHABITAT.—Nicobar Islands.
NO. 347. MUS CEYLONUSHABITAT.—Ceylon.
DESCRIPTION.—Fur soft, lead colour; hair of upper parts tipped with dark fawn and black; ears large, naked; whiskers long, black; tail longer than the head and body, scaly.
SIZE.—Head and body, 4¾ inches; tail, 6 inches.
"This small rat is found in out-houses in the cinnamon gardens at Colombo. I have no reason to think it to be the young of the former species (M. decumanus); the teeth were well developed; the darker colour and long tail will easily distinguish the species from other Colombo rats" (Kellaart). The character of the molar teeth is all that can be depended on in the foregoing description, and this may require further investigation. The young of rats and mice are always darker than the adults, and the tail is longer in proportion.
The following are doubtful species:—
NO. 348. MUS PLURIMAMMISJerdon's No. 177This, which Blyth considered a good species, is, I am informed, referable with M. Taraiyensis and M. Morungensis to Gray's Nesokia Bengalensis. The type and drawing of it are in the British Museum.
NO. 349. MUS ÆQUICAUDALISof Hodgson, described in Horsfield's Catalogue as pure dark brown above, with a very slight cast of rufescent in a certain aspect; underneath from the chin to the vent, with interior of thighs, yellowish-white; ears nearly an inch long; head proportionately long ('Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.' new series, iii. p. 203). This, with Blyth's M. nemoralis, seems identical with M. brunneus.
Mus arboreus of Horsfield's Catalogue is Mus rufescens. It remains to be seen whether there is sufficient difference between M. rufescens and M. niveiventer to warrant the separation of the latter as a distinct species.
The following species lead on to the mice—beginning with the long-tailed arboreal species, Vandeleuria of Gray, which connect the arboreal rats with the house mice.
The characteristics of Vandeleuria are: upper incisors triangular, grooved in front; ears hairy; fur soft, with long bristles interspersed; long tail, sparsely haired; hind feet very long, slender; soles bald beneath; toes ·45 long, slender, compressed, the pads much more strongly developed than in ground mice; the inner and outer toes with a small flattened nail.
NO. 350. MUS OLERACEUSThe Long-tailed Tree Mouse (Jerdon's No. 184)NATIVE NAMES.—Marad-ilei, Canarese; Meina-yelka, Telegu of the Yanadees (Jerdon).
HABITAT.—Throughout India from north to south, but has not been reported from Ceylon. In Burmah Dr. Anderson found it in the valley of the Nampoung, a frontier stream dividing Burmah from China.
DESCRIPTION.—Upper surface rich rufous or chestnut red, paling to brown on the ears and muzzle before the eyes; under-parts white, with a yellowish tinge; feet pale brown, shading off into white on the toes; under surface of feet yellowish; tail brownish or dusky with grey hairs; it tapers to a point, finely ringed; sparsely haired between the rings, the hairs more numerous and longer towards the tips. The length of the head, according to Dr. Anderson, whose description ('Anat. and Zool. Res.' p. 313) is more complete than Jerdon's, is about one-third the length of the body; the muzzle is moderately long and slightly contracted behind the moustachial area; eyes large; ears ovate, sparsely clad.
SIZE.—Head and body, from 2½ to 3 inches; tail one-half longer than the combined length of body and head.
Jerdon says of this pretty little mouse that "it is most abundant in the south of India, where it frequents trees, and very commonly palm-trees, on which it is said to make its nest generally. It, however, occasionally places its nest in the thatch of houses, on beams, &c. It is very active, and from its habits difficult to procure" ('Mammals of India,' p. 202). According to Sykes it constructs its nest of oleraceous herbs in the fields, and Hodgson states it to tenant woods and coppices in Nepal.
NO. 351. MUS NILAGIRICUSThe Neilgherry Tree Mouse (Jerdon's No. 185)HABITAT.—Ootacamund.
DESCRIPTION.—"Above deep but bright chestnut brown, beneath bright fawn yellow, with a distinct line of demarcation between the two colours; head rather elongated; ears long, oval; tail somewhat hairy."—Jerdon.
SIZE.—Head and body, 3½ inches; tail, 5 inches.
This tree mouse was discovered and named by Dr. Jerdon. He says: "The first I observed was brought into the house by a cat. I afterwards, on two or three occasions, found the nest, a mass of leaves and grass, on shrubs and low trees, from four to five feet from the ground, and on one occasion it was occupied by at least eight or ten apparently full-grown mice."
NO. 352. MUS BADIUSThe Bay Tree MouseHABITAT.—The valley of the Sittang, Burmah.
DESCRIPTION.—"Similar to M. oleraceus, but with the eye fully twice as large, and black whiskers; colour of the upper parts a more rufous chestnut or cinnamon hue, of the lower parts white, almost pure."—Blyth.
SIZE.—Head and body, 3 inches; tail, 4-3/8 inches.
NO. 353. MUS GLIROIDESThe Cherrapoonjee Tree MouseHABITAT.—Khasia hills.
DESCRIPTION.—Fur exceedingly dense and fine, of a light brown, tinged with fawn; the basal two-thirds of the piles are dusky ash coloured; the lower parts are white, very faintly tinged with fawn; the white purest about the lips and chin; whiskers long; feet large and sparsely clad with white hairs; a distinct brown mark on each hind foot reaching almost to the division of the toes; ears smallish, ovoid, naked.
SIZE.—Head and body, 2 inches; tail (?) mutilated.
Blyth says this animal has much of the aspect of the European dormouse (Myoxus avellanarius), but nothing is said about its dentition, which would at once settle the question whether the young specimen with its imperfect tail were a true Mus or a species of Myoxus.24
NO. 354. MUS PEGUENSISThe Pegu Tree MouseHABITAT.—The Sittang valley, Burmah.
DESCRIPTION.—Fulvescent olive brown on the upper parts, yellowish-white below; whiskers remarkably long; the tail very long and conspicuously haired towards the tip; more so, Blyth remarks, than any other mouse, especially when held up to the light.
SIZE.—Head and body, 3-1/8 inches; tail, 3-7/8; in one specimen, 4½ inches.
We now come to the terrestrial or house mice.
NO. 355. MUS URBANUSThe Common Indian Mouse (Jerdon's No. 186)NATIVE NAMES.—Lengtia-indur, Bengali; Mesuri, Musi, Chuhi, Hindi.
HABITAT.—Throughout India and Ceylon.
DESCRIPTION.—Somewhat resembling the English mouse, but with very much longer, coarser tail, larger eyes, and smaller ears; dusky reddish-brown above, somewhat paler below; the feet paler still, whitish in some; the tail nude, thick at base, longer by an inch than the head and body, and of a dark brown colour. The young are more dusky.
SIZE.—Head and body, about 2 to 3 inches; tail, 3 to 4 inches.
I have kept these mice in confinement for considerable periods, and have had many opportunities of studying their habits of late. During many years' residence in the Currency Office, I never once found a mouse in my private quarters on the third story, although I frequently observed them in the vaults and strong rooms on the ground floor. During my absence at Simla in 1880 my quarters were unoccupied, as the Public Works Department were giving the building a thorough repair. It was then, I suppose, a few of the mice from the ground floor were driven upstairs, and, being unmolested by us, as we liked to see the little things playing about, they increased to a most uncomfortable extent within eight months. I failed to discover their breeding places, though I suspect they made much use of a large doll's-house for the purpose, for on taking out the front staircase, under which the bells of the establishment were hung, I found a nest of torn paper, and I caught two young ones in one of the rooms. Some of them came out every night whilst we were at dinner, and paid a visit to a rose-headed parraquet (Palæornis rosa), mounting up on Polly's perch, and sitting down to supper in the tin receptacles for food at each end. She generally treated them with silent contempt, or gave a snappish little peck if they were too familiar; sometimes, when they were too sky-larky, she retreated to her ring above, where she swung and looked down at them from a coign of vantage. Their agility in running up and down the wires of a cage is marvellous. They have also an extraordinary faculty for running up a perpendicular board, and the height from which they can jump is astounding. One day, in my study, I chased one of these mice on to the top of a book-case. Standing on some steps, I was about to put my hand over him, when he jumped on to the marble floor and ran off. I measured the height, and have since measured it again, 8 feet 9½ inches.
I consider this species the most muscular of all mice of the same size. I have had at the same time in confinement an English mouse (albino), a Bengal field mouse, and house mice from Simla of another species, and none of them could show equal activity. I use, for the purpose of taming mice, a glass fish-globe, out of which none of the other mice could get, but I have repeatedly seen specimens of M. urbanus jump clear out of the opening at the top. They would look up, gather their hind quarters together, and then go in for a high leap. They are much more voracious than the Simla or other mice. The allowance of food given would be devoured in less than half the time taken by the others, and they are more given to gnawing. What sort of mothers they are in freedom I know not, but one which produced four young ones in one of my cages devoured her offspring before they were a week old. I have two before me just now as I write, and they have had a quarrel about the highest place on a little grated window. The larger one got the advantage, so the other seized hold of her tail, and gave it a good nip.
Now we come to some doubtful species, doubtful in the sense that they should not be separated, but considered as one to be named afterwards, according to priority of discovery. Dr. Anderson is at present investigating the matter, and we must await his decision, but from such external observations as I have been able to make, it appears probable that the following will prove identical:—
Mus homourus; Mus Darjeelingensis; Mus Tytleri; Mus Bactrianus; Mus cervicolor(?)—Jerdon's Nos. 187, 189, 190, 191, and 192. These are all hill mice, except the last, and found under the same conditions.
NO. 356. MUS HOMOURUSHABITAT.—Lower Himalayan range.
DESCRIPTION.—Dark rufescent above, rufescent white below; hands and feet fleshy white; tail equal to length of head and body; "fur more gerbille-like in character than in M. musculus" (or urbanus), stated to be the common house mouse of the Himalayan hill stations from the Punjab to Darjeeling. Stated by Hodgson to have eight teats only in the female, other mice having ten. Possibly his description was founded on young specimens. I myself was of opinion for some time that I had got two species of hill mice, a larger and a smaller, the latter being so much darker in colour, but I kept them till the young ones attained full size in six months, at which time they were not distinguishable from the old ones. Hodgson may have overlooked the pectoral mammæ when he noted the number.
SIZE.—Head and body, 3½ inches; tail, 3½ inches.
NO. 357. MUS DARJEELINGENSISDESCRIPTION.—Dusky brown, with a slight chestnut reflection; under-parts pale yellowish-white.
SIZE.—Head and body, 3 inches; tail, 2½ inches.
NO. 358. MUS TYTLERIHABITAT.—Dehra Doon.
DESCRIPTION.—Fur long and full, pale, sandy mouse-coloured above, isabelline below; pale on the well-clad limbs, and also on the tail laterally and underneath.
SIZE.—Head and body, 2¾ inches; tail, 2¾ inches.
NO. 359. MUS BACTRIANUSHABITAT.—Punjab, Kashmir, Candahar, Baluchistan, and Southern Persia.
DESCRIPTION.—Upper parts brown above, with a sandy tinge, more on the head; the longer hairs with a dusky tip; the basal two-thirds deep ash; under-parts and feet white; tail clad thinly with fine whitish hair; the fur in general long, dense, and silky.
SIZE.—Head and body, from 2¼ to 3¼ inches; tail, about the same.
This is the mouse, I think, that I caught in the house at Simla in 1880. Of eight specimens I got—seven in a cupboard in the dining-room and one in a bath-room—I sent two in spirits to the Indian Museum and brought down to Calcutta three alive, which I kept for about seven months, when they died. I have since then seen living specimens of M. bactrianus from Kohat, with which they appear to be identical. They also resemble—I speak under correction—M. cervicolor, which is a field mouse found in Bengal. I made the following notes regarding them: Fur very fine, close and silky, rufescent brown, more rufous on the head, isabelline below; feet flesh-coloured, hinder ones large, much larger than those of the English mouse; the hind-quarters are also more powerful; has a very pretty way of sitting up, with the body bent forwards, and its hands clasped in an attitude of supplication. The young mice seem darker both above and below, and are much more shy than the old ones, of which one soon after being caught took bits of cake from my fingers through the bars of its cage. More delicate looking than Mus urbanus, with a much shorter and finer tail; less offensive in smell.
Dr. Anderson got, not long ago, two of these mice in a box from Kohat. They bore the journey uncommonly well, and were in lively condition when I saw them at the Museum. Whilst we were talking about them, we noticed an act of intelligence for which I should not have given them credit had I not seen it with my own eyes. They were in a box with a glass front; in the upper left-hand corner was a small sleeping chamber, led up to by a sloping piece of wood. The entrance of this chamber was barred by wires bent into the form of a lady's hair-pin, and passed through holes in the roof of the box.