Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 65

NO. 367. MUS NITIDULUS.

_The s.h.i.+ny 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. dec.u.ma.n.u.s_, 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. urba.n.u.s_.

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, a.s.sam.

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, a.s.sam.

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 urba.n.u.s_ 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 pa.s.sing into pale dusky brownish on the under parts with a silvery sheen; feet brownish; toes with s.h.i.+ning 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 quant.i.ty 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.