Chapter 34

The two following are dwarf species--_Cricetulus_ of some authors:--[22]

[Footnote 22: Dallas mentions (Cassell's 'Nat. Hist.') a species from Kumaon, _Cricetus songarus_.]

NO. 330. CRICETUS PHAEUS. _The Persian Hamster_.

HABITAT.--Yarkand, Gilgit, Persia.

DESCRIPTION.--Cinereous above, white below; the colour varies from pure ashy grey to grey with an isabelline tinge.--_Blanford_.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 4 inches; tail, 1-1/4 inches.

NO. 331. CRICETUS FULVUS. _The Sandy Hamster_.

HABITAT.--Yarkand, Gilgit.

DESCRIPTION.--Colour above light sandy brown to sandy grey; no band down the back; lower parts, feet, and tail white; fur very soft, fully half an inch long in the middle of the back in some specimens. Rather larger than the last species. (_See_ Blanford's 'Second Yarkand Mission,' p. 45.)

SIZE.--Head and body about 4-1/2 inches; tail about 1-1/2 inches.

SUB-FAMILY MURINAE.

CHARACTER.--Molars tuberculate, at least in youth; infra-orbital opening typical; pterygoid fossae lengthened; auditory bullae moderate; cheek pouches absent or very small; tail scaly, more or less naked, cosmopolitan (_Alston_). Three molars in each jaw, the first of which is the largest and the hinder one the least. I think that, with the exception of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, some of the members of this family are known in every quarter of the globe.

_GENUS MUS_.

"Muzzle pointed; eyes prominent; ears rather large, sub-naked; fur soft (rarely mixed with spines); pollex rudimentary; claws short; tail moderate or long, scaly, with scattered hairs; no cheek pouches; skull elongate, narrow; temporal ridges nearly parallel; palate compressed; incisive foramina long; auditory bullae moderately large; coronoid process high, falcate; incisors rarely grooved; molars with transverse ridges, each composed in youth of three tubercles" (_Alston_).

NO. 332. MUS RATTUS. _The Black Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 175_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Kala-mus_, _Kala-chuha_, Hindi; _Kala-meeyo_, Singhalese.

HABITAT.--Chiefly Europe, but is said to be of south Asian origin; it is stated to occur in towns near the sea-coast in India, and Kellaart obtained it in Trincomalee only.

DESCRIPTION.--Greyish-black above, dark ashy beneath, or, as Kellaart describes it, "above blackish-brown, along the dorsal line nearly black; sides paler, some of the hairs with pale fulvous tips; beneath and inside of limbs fur very short, of a uniform sooty ash colour, separated from the colour above by a distinct line of demarcation; ears large, rounded, slightly fulvous externally" ('Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae,' p. 58).

SIZE.--Head and body about 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 inches; tail, 7-1/2 to 8 inches.

Jerdon says of this rat that the muzzle is sharper than that of the brown rat; the ears are more oval; it is lighter in its make, and has much longer hair.

Whether this rat be, as Jerdon seems to suspect, imported into India in ships or not, it is generally supposed to have had its origin in southern Asia, and is almost identical with the Egyptian rat (_M. Alexandrinus_). It was the common rat of England, and indeed of northern Europe, whence it was expelled by its formidable rival, the brown rat, before which it has gradually receded, and it is seldom found now in England.

NO. 333. MUS DECUMANUS. _The Brown Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 176_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Ghur-ka-chuha_, Hindi; _Demsa-indur_, Bengali; _Manei-ilei_, Canarese; _Gaval-meeyo_, Singhalese.

HABITAT.--Throughout India, Ceylon, and in some parts of Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur greyish-brown, mixed with tawny above, with longer piles of a dark colour, almost black; ears round; tail generally longer than head and body, scaly, with short bristles at the margins of the rings.

SIZE.--Head and body, from 8 to 10 inches; tail, from 6 to 11 inches.

The brown rat of India is identical with that of Europe, most naturalists being now agreed that it originally came from the East. It was supposed by Pallas that the brown rat crossed over into Russia about the year 1727. When frightened by an earthquake, numbers swam over the Volga from countries bordering on the Caspian Sea. It seems to have driven out the black rat before it wherever it made its appearance. In England it was introduced by shipping about the middle of the last century, and has since then increased to such an extent as to swarm over the whole country, and render the old English black rat a comparatively rare animal. From its ferocity and fecundity the brown rat is a veritable pest; if it cannot beat a retreat from an enemy it will show most determined fight, and in large numbers will attack and kill even men. A story is related by Robert Stephenson, the great engineer, that in a coal-pit in which many horses were employed, the rats, allured by the grain, had gathered in large numbers. On the pit being closed for a short time, and the horses being brought up, the first man who descended on the re-opening of the work was killed, and devoured by the starving rats. Similar stories have been told of men in the sewers of Paris. In the horse slaughterhouses at Montfaucon in Paris, the rats swarm in such incredible numbers that the carcases of horses killed during the day would be picked clean to the bone during the night; sometimes upwards of thirty horses would be so devoured. This shows the carnivorous tendencies of these abominable pests. I confess to a general love for all animals, but I draw the line at rats. There is something repulsive about one of these creatures, and a wicked look about his large protruding eye, like a black glistening bead, and his ways are not pleasant; instead of keeping, as he ought, to sweet grain and pleasant roots, he grubs about for all the carrion and animal matter he can get.

I find there is no bait so enticing to the brown rat as a piece of chicken or meat of any kind. I have heard stories of their attacking children, and even grown-up people when asleep, but I cannot vouch for the truth of this beyond what once happened to myself. I was then inhabiting a house which swarmed with these creatures, and one night I awoke with a sharp pain in my right arm. Jumping up, I disturbed a rat, who sprang off the bed, and was chased and killed by me. I found he had given me a nip just below the elbow. I once had a most amusing rat-hunt in the house I now occupy. I had then just taken it over on the part of the Government, in 1868. The whole building is floored with polished marble, which, being new, was like looking-glass. I found an enormous rat, which I took for a bandicoot, in one of the bath-rooms, and, shutting him in for a while, I closed the doors of a very large room adjoining, which was quite empty, and then turned my friend in with a small black-and-tan terrier. The scrimmage that ensued was most laughable, as both rat and dog kept slipping and sliding all over the place. At last the former was pinned in a corner, where he made a most determined stand, and left several marks before he died. They seldom now come so high as the third story, but we had two or three last year which dug a hole through a brick wall into my study, and they were surreptitiously disposed of unknown to my eldest little girl, whose passionate love for every living creature made her take even the rats under her protection, and one of them would come out every morning in the verandah to be fed by her with crumbs and grain. This one was spared for a while, but I was not sorry to find one day that it had fallen into a tub of water in a bath-room and was drowned.

The brown rat breeds several times in the year, and has from ten to fourteen at a time, and it is to be hoped that there is considerable mortality amongst the infants. I have never kept rats as pets, but have noticed amongst mice a tendency on the part of the mother to devour her offspring. I have no doubt that this also is the case with the brown rat, and aids in keeping down its numbers. It is stated that they will attack, kill, and eat each other. The Rev. J. G. Wood remarks in his Natural History: "From some strange cause the male rats far outnumber the females, the proportion being about eight of the former to three or four of the latter. This disproportion of the sexes may possibly be caused by the cannibalistic habits of the rat, the flesh of the female being more tender than that of the opposite sex. Whatever may be the cause, it is clear that the wider increase of these creatures is greatly checked by the comparative paucity of females." During the late siege of Paris by the Germans, amongst the various articles of food which necessity brought into use, rats held a high place as a delicacy. It is a difficult matter to stop the burrowing of rats; the best plan is to fill the holes with Portland cement mixed with bits of bottle glass broken in small pieces. It is said that quicklime will temporarily prevent rats from entering a hole, as the lime burns their feet. A friend of mine lately told me of some wonderful Japanese bird-lime which he uses. It is spread on a board, and will retain any rat that puts even one foot on it. An albino variety is common, and is sold for pets. Rats are partial to certain scents, and some are consequently used by trappers. In Cooley's 'Cyclopaedia' the following receipts are given:--

1. Powdered cantharides steeped in French brandy. It is said that rats are so fond of this that if a little be rubbed on the hands they may be handled with impunity.

2. Powdered assafoetida 8 grains, oil of rhodium 2 drams, oil of aniseed 1 dram, oil of lavender 1/2 dram. Mix by agitation.

3. Oil of aniseed 1/2 ounce, tincture assafoetida 1/4 ounce.

4. Oil of aniseed 1/4 ounce, nitrous acid 2 to 3 drops, musk (triturated with a little sugar) 1 grain.

These scents are not only rubbed on traps, but a few drops are mixed with the various rat poisons, of which perhaps the most efficacious is phosphorous paste.

NO. 334. MUS ANDAMANENSIS. _The Andaman Rat_.

HABITAT.--The Andaman and Nicobar islands.

DESCRIPTION.--A little darker on the back than _Mus decumanus_, paler on the sides, and dull white below. "The long piles are at once distinguished by their flattened spinous character, which is also slightly the case in _M. rattus_, though much less conspicuously than in the present species. It would appear to be a burrower in the ground" (_Blyth_). Ears round as in the brown rat.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 8 inches; tail the same.

NO. 335. MUS ROBUSTULUS. _The Burmese Common Rat_.

HABITAT.--British Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--Dark-brown above, under-parts whitish, stoutly formed, with tail not quite so long as head and body; feet conspicuously white.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 6 inches; tail, a little shorter.

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.

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The following three are Burmese rats collected by Dr. Anderson during the Yunnan Expedition, and are new species named by him:--

NO. 336. MUS SLADENI. _Sladen's Rat_.

HABITAT.--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 RUBRICOSA. _The Small Red Rat of the Kakhyen Hills_.

HABITAT.--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, 2-1/2 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 YUNNANENSIS. _The Common House Rat of Yunnan_.

HABITAT.--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 INFRALINEATUS. _The 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, 5-1/2 inches; tail, not quite 5 inches; another about 5 inches; tail, 4-1/4 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 BRUNNEUS. _The 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 8-1/2 to 9-1/2 inches; tail, from 9 to 9-1/2 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 RUFESCENS. _The 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 5-1/2 to 7-1/2 inches; tail from 6-1/2 to 8-1/2 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 NIVEIVENTER. _The 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, 5-1/4 to 7 inches; tail, 6 to 7-1/2 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 NITIDUS. _The 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, 6-1/2 inches; tail 7-1/4 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 CAUDATIOR. _The 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, 7-3/4 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 CONCOLOR. _The Common Thatch Rat of Pegu_.

HABITAT.--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]

[Footnote 23: Since writing the above, Dr. Anderson has kindly allowed me to examine the specimens of _Mus concolor_ in the museum, and in the adult state they are considerably more rufescent. In one specimen, allowing for the effects of the spirit, the fur was a bright rufescent brown; but, whatever be the tint of the prevailing colour, it pervades the whole body, being but slightly paler on the under-parts. Size, about 4 inches; tail, about 4-1/2 inches.--R. A. S.]

NO. 346. MUS PALMARUM. _The Nicobar Tree Rat_.

HABITAT.--Nicobar Islands.

NO. 347. MUS CEYLONUS.

HABITAT.--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, 4-3/4 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 PLURIMAMMIS. _Jerdon's No. 177_.

This, 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 AEQUICAUDALIS.

of 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.

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