Chapter 35

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 OLERACEUS. _The 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 2-1/2 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 NILAGIRICUS. _The 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, 3-1/2 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 BADIUS. _The Bay Tree Mouse_.

HABITAT.--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 GLIROIDES. _The Cherrapoonjee Tree Mouse_.

HABITAT.--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]

[Footnote 24: See Appendix A for description and dentition of _Myoxus_.]

NO. 354. MUS PEGUENSIS. _The Pegu Tree Mouse_.

HABITAT.--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, 4-1/2 inches.

* * * * *

We now come to the terrestrial or house mice.

NO. 355. MUS URBANUS. _The 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 (_Palaeornis 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 9-1/2 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 HOMOURUS.

HABITAT.--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 mammae when he noted the number.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/2 inches; tail, 3-1/2 inches.

NO. 357. MUS DARJEELINGENSIS.

DESCRIPTION.--Dusky brown, with a slight chestnut reflection; under-parts pale yellowish-white.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3 inches; tail, 2-1/2 inches.

NO. 358. MUS TYTLERI.

HABITAT.--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, 2-3/4 inches; tail, 2-3/4 inches.

NO. 359. MUS BACTRIANUS.

HABITAT.--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 2-1/4 to 3-1/4 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.

The mice had been driven out, and the sleeping-chamber barred, for they were having their portraits taken. Whilst we were talking we found, to our surprise, that one mouse was inside the chamber, although the bars were down. There seemed hardly space for it to squeeze through; however, it was driven out, and we went on with our conversation, but found, on looking at the cage again, that our little friend was once more inside, so he was driven out again, and we kept an eye on him. To our great surprise and amusement we saw him trot up his sloping board, put his little head on one side, and seize one of the wires, which worked very loosely in its socket, give it a hitch up, when he adroitly caught it lower down, hitched it up again and again till he got it high enough to allow him to slip in underneath, and then he was quite happy once more. He had only been in the box two days, so he was not long in finding out the weak point. I begin to believe now in rats dipping their tails into oil-bottles, and other wonderful stories of murine sagacity that one reads of. Mice, are supposed to live from two-and-a-half to three years. I had the English albino above mentioned for three.

NO. 360. MUS CRASSIPES. _The Large-footed Mouse_ (_Jerdon's No. 188_).

HABITAT.--Mussoorie and, according to Jerdon, the Neilgherries.

DESCRIPTION.--This is stated to be like _M. homourus_, but the difference is well marked in a very much longer tail and much larger feet.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-3/4 inches; tail, 3/4 inch; hind foot, 3/4 inch.

NO. 361. MUS SUBLIMIS.

HABITAT.--Ladakh, 13,000 feet.

DESCRIPTION.--Brown above; whitish below; the colours gradually blending; fur soft and long; all except the tips dark slaty grey, the terminal portions of the shorter hairs being light brown, and of the longer hairs dark brown; upper whiskers black; lower white; ears oval; feet thinly clad with short light brown hairs; tail with short bristly hairs, dusky brown above, whitish below; tail longer than head and body.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2.6 inches; tail, 3.05; length of hind foot, 0.83 inch.

Mr. Blanford, who named the above species, which was procured in the expedition to Yarkand, is doubtful whether it may not be referable to the last species.

NO. 362. MUS PACHYCERCUS.

HABITAT.--Yarkand.

DESCRIPTION.--Sandy brown above; under-parts white; fur soft and very like _M. bactrianus_; ears large, rounded, hairy; feet clad above with white hair; soles naked; tail thick, shorter than head and body, and thinly clad with white bristles throughout; skin dark above, pale below; incisors deep yellow.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2.35 inches; tail, 1.9 to 2 inches.

Mr. Blanford says this is a house mouse. It is figured in Blanford's 'Mammalia of the Second Yarkand Mission.'

NO. 363. MUS ERYTHRONOTUS.

HABITAT.--Yarkand, Persia.

DESCRIPTION.--Rufous, washed with blackish above, white below, abruptly separated; hairs on the back are slaty at the base, then blackish and bright ferruginous at the tips, the extreme points being black, except on the sides, where the black tip is wanting; upper whiskers black, lower white; ears large, rounded, naked; feet white above, dusky and naked below; tail equal to head and body, nearly naked. Mammae six.

SIZE.--Head and body, 4 inches; tail, 4.2 inches.

This mouse is figured and carefully described in Blanford's 'Eastern Persia,' vol. ii. p. 35.

NO. 364. MUS CERVICOLOR. _The Fawn-coloured Field Mouse_.

HABITAT.--Bengal, Nepal, Southern India.

DESCRIPTION.--"Distinguished by its short tail. Above dull fawn, below sordid white; lining of ears and extremities pale" (_Blyth_). "Ears large, hairy" (_Jerdon_). Of the specimens I have seen the fur is soft and of a light sandy brown above and white below, very like _M. bactrianus_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/2 inches; tail, 2-7/8 inches.

NO. 365. MUS TERRICOLOR. _The Earth-coloured Field Mouse_.

HABITAT.--India generally, I think. It has been found in the valley of the Ganges, in Bengal, in the Santal district west of Midnapore, and Southern India.

DESCRIPTION.--The colour varies according to the soil, but in general fawn brown, more or less rufescent--those from the valley of the Ganges being darker than those from the ferruginous soil of other parts. The under-parts are white, abruptly separated from the brown; fur short and soft.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-1/2 inches; tail, 2-1/8 inches.

NO. 366. MUS PEGUENSIS. _The Pegu Field Mouse_.

HABITAT.--The valley of the Sitang River, Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--"Fur very full and dense, pale fulvescent olive brown on the upper parts, slightly yellowish-white below; whiskers remarkably long" (_Blyth_). Tail longer than head and body, and well clad with hairs, especially towards the tip.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/8 inches; tail, nearly 4 inches.

NO. 367. MUS NITIDULUS. _The Shiny Little House Mouse of Pegu_.

HABITAT.--The Sitang valley in Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--The description given of this mouse by Blyth is extremely vague. He says: "A house mouse apparently, with tail equal to head and body, and uniformly furnished with minute setae to the end; ears large and ample; colour nearly that of _M. decumanus_, with the under-parts subdued white, tolerably well defined."

He remarks further on that the front teeth are conspicuously larger than those of _M. musculus_ and _M. urbanus_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/4 inches; tail, the same.

NO. 368. MUS BEAVENI. _Beaven's Mouse_.

HABITAT.--Maubhum, and, according to Blyth's Catalogue, Burmah, valley of the Salween.

DESCRIPTION.--"Above rusty brown, medially black; lips and the whole under side pale ochraceous; feet white, all the hair being slate coloured at the base; tail above brown, below with white hairs; upper whiskers black, lower white. Rather smaller and more delicately built than our common harvest mouse."--_Prof. Peters_, 'P. Z. S.' 1866, p. 559.

NO. 369. MUS CUNICULARIS. _The Little Rabbit-Mouse_.

HABITAT.--Cherrapunji, Assam.

DESCRIPTION.--"A small field (?) mouse, remarkable for its ample ears and tail shorter than head and body; colour of a wild rabbit above, below white; and the feet with brownish hairs above, but with white hairs upon the toes; tail conspicuously ringed; the setae minute and inconspicuous."--_Blyth_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-1/2 inches; tail, 2-1/8 inches; ears posteriorly half an inch.

NO. 370. MUS ERYTHROTIS. _The Cherrapunji Red-eared Mouse_.

HABITAT.--Cherrapoonji, Assam.

DESCRIPTION.--A small mouse with very deep soft fur, very long and silky, of a rich dark brown colour, grizzled and brightly tinged with rufous or rufo-ferruginous towards the tail, and upon the ears conspicuously. In such spirit specimens as I have seen the colour was darker than in life, but the soft silkiness of the fur could be seen to advantage as it floated in the clear liquid; the lower parts are whitish, tinged with fawn; feet with brown hairs above; ears small and hirsute, and the tail is also hairy.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-1/4 inches; tail, 2-3/8 inches.

NO. 371. MUS FULVIDIVENTRIS.

HABITAT.--Ceylon, Trincomalee.

DESCRIPTION.--This is a small mouse very like _Mus cervicolor_, or perhaps _M. terricolor_, which it more nearly approaches in size. Kellaart in his 'Prodromus,' calls it _cervicolor_, but Blyth afterwards separated it under the name given above, though after all I think he was doubtful whether it ought to have been so distinguished. The fur is long, soft, and glossy, fulvous fawn brown above, paler below; feet dingy grey.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-9/10 inches; tail, 2-5/10 inches.

NO. 372. MUS KAKHYENENSIS. _The Kakhyen Mouse_.

HABITAT.--Burmo-Chinese frontier, Ponsee.

DESCRIPTION.--Differs from _Mus urbanus_ by its shorter tail, longer hind feet, and larger ears; muzzle moderately deep, and short; ears large and rounded; fur long, dense, and soft, reddish-brown on the upper parts, with a dark speckled appearance due to the stronger hairs having broad brown tips; sides of the head dusky greyish; chin to vent and under-parts greyish-white, with a silvery sheen; feet dusky pale brown; ears and upper surface of tail dark brown, under surface of tail pale brown.--_Anderson_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2.90 inches; tail, 3.36 inches.

This mouse was discovered and named by Dr. Anderson, who procured one example at Ponsee, where it occurs, he says, on the old rice and Indian corn clearings. The next species is also a new one discovered and named by him.

NO. 373. MUS VICULORUM. _The Kakhyen House Mouse_.

HABITAT.--The Burmo-Chinese frontier, Ponsee.

DESCRIPTION.--Muzzle rather sharply pointed, moderately long and not deep; ears moderately large, rounded; its height a little in excess of the distance between the inner canthus and the front of the muzzle; hind-feet not long; tail a little longer than the body and head, finely ringed, five rings to one-tenth of an inch; fur soft, short, dense, dull dark brown on the upper parts, tending to blackish on the back, paling to brownish on the sides, and passing into pale dusky brownish on the under parts with a silvery sheen; feet brownish; toes with shining greyish-yellow hairs; ears and tail brown. (_See_ Anderson's 'Anat. and Zool. Res.,' p. 308.)

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-9/10 inches; tail, 3.14 inches.

This species, according to Dr. Anderson, frequents the villages and houses of the Kakhyens. He obtained it at Ponsee.

* * * * *

We now come to an interesting little group of mice, of which the hairs are mixed with flat spines, which form the genus _Leggada_ of Gray, a term taken from the Wuddur name for the next species.

_GENUS LEGGADA_.

CHARACTERISTICS.--Molars high, with somewhat convex crowns; the cross ridges of the upper grinders deeply three-lobed; the front one with an additional lunate lobe at the base of its front edge; fur fine, mixed with numerous spines somewhat flattened.

NO. 374. LEGGADA PLATYTHRIX. _The Brown Spiny Mouse_ (_Jerdon's No. 194_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Leggade_ and _Kal-yelka_, of Wuddurs; _Gijeli-gadu_, Telegu, of Yanadees; _Kal-ilei_, Canarese.

HABITAT.--Southern India.

DESCRIPTION.--Sandy brown or light brown fawn above, white underneath, with a band of pale fawn separating the two colours.

The fur mixed with flat transparent spines, smaller beneath; head long; muzzle pointed; ears rather large, oblong, rounded, about half an inch in length.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/2 inches; tail, 2-1/2 inches.

The following description has been given by Sir Walter Elliot and reproduced in Jerdon's 'Mammals': "The Leggade lives entirely in the red gravelly soil in a burrow of moderate depth, generally on the side of a bank. When the animal is inside the entrance is closed with small pebbles, a quantity of which is collected outside, by which its retreat may always be known. The burrow leads to a chamber in which is collected a bed of small pebbles on which it sits, the thick close hair of the belly protecting it from the cold and asperity of such a seat. Its food appears to be vegetable. In its habits it is monogamous and nocturnal.