Part 63 (1/2)

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 ma.s.s of leaves and gra.s.s, 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 spa.r.s.ely 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 dent.i.tion, 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 dent.i.tion 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.