Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 58

Buchanan-Hamilton's a.s.sertion that "these animals live in holes which they dig in the abrupt banks of rivers and ponds" is misleading.

They may do so occasionally, but in general they choose sandy plains.

The female is prolific, bringing forth from eight to twelve young ones, and Dr. Jerdon states that it is said to have occasionally as many as sixteen to twenty. With regard to Kellaart's accusation of its being carnivorous at times, I may say I have noticed such tendencies amongst several other rodents which are supposed to be purely vegetarians. I have also known ruminants take to flesh-eating when opportunity offered.

NO. 318. GERBILLUS HURRIANAE.

_The Desert Jerboa-Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 171_).

HABITAT.--The sandy deserts west of the Jumna and Hurriana; also in Afghanistan according to Horsfield's Catalogue, and probably in Rajpootana, Sindh, and the Punjab.

DESCRIPTION.--Pale rufous or sandy above, with fine dusky lines, the hairs being blackish at the base, the rest fawn coloured, with a blackish tip very minute; sides paler, with fewer dusky lines; under-parts white, tinged more or less with fulvous or fawn on the belly; limbs pale fawn; orbits pale; whiskers whitish, a few of the upper ones dark; tail yellowish-rufous or fawn colour throughout, with a line of dusky brown hairs on the upper surface of the terminal half, gradually increasing in length to the tips.

SIZE.--Smaller than the last species. Head and body, 5 inches; tail, 4-1/2.

Jerdon says of this rat that it is "exceedingly numerous in the sandy downs and sand-hills of Hurriana, both in jungles and in bare plains, especially in the former, and a colony may be seen at the foot of every large shrub almost. I found that it had been feeding on the kernel of the nut of the common _Salvadora oleifolia_, gnawing through the hard nut and extracting the whole of the kernel. Unlike the last species, this rat, during the cold weather at all events, is very generally seen outside its holes at all hours, scuttling in on the near approach of any one, but soon cautiously popping its head out of its hole and again issuing forth. In the localities it frequents it is far more abundant than I have ever seen _G. Indicus_ in the most favourable spots" ('Mammals of India,' p. 186).

NO. 319. GERBILLUS CRYPTORHINUS.

_The Lobe-nosed Jerboa-Rat_.

HABITAT.--Yarkand.

DESCRIPTION.--after Mr. Blanford, who first described and named the species: "Colour above sandy rufescent, some specimens rather more rufous than others; below white, the two colours sharply divided on the sides; cheeks pale; supercilia whitish; feet white; tail above rather more rufous than the back, paler and occasionally whitish below, becoming dark brown or blackish above near the end, and with the slight tuft of longer hairs at the end of the same dark colour; fur soft and glossy, about half an inch long in the middle of the back, all the basal portion being at least three-quarters of the length, dark ashy; the terminal portion pale yellow brown to pale rufous, with numerous longer hairs with black tips mixed; on the under surface the hairs are white throughout; on the tail the hair is rather short, coa.r.s.e, and close together; there are a very few longer black tips mixed, but scarcely enough to produce an effect in the general colour.

"The ears are oval and of moderate length; densely clad with brown hairs on the anterior portion of the outer surface, and with a fringe of longer hairs on the anterior margin; the posterior portion of the external surface is nearly naked, except near the margin, and the anterior portion of the inner surface is completely dest.i.tute of hair, but the inner surface is more hairy near the hinder margin. The whiskers are very numerous, the longest slightly exceeding the head; the uppermost behind being black, all the rest white; all are mixed at the base with long hairs, which cover the side of the nose; soles of the fore-feet with scattered white hairs, but nearly naked; those of the hind-feet densely covered with hair everywhere except at the extreme tips of the toes and at the heel.

"Mammae, eight--four pectoral and four inguinal, as usual in the genus.

"The most remarkable character of these species is the presence at the end of the snout of a semi-circular lobe, which forms a flap completely covering the openings of the nostrils. This lobe can, of course, only be well seen in the specimens preserved in spirit. In the dried skin its presence can sometimes be detected, but not always.

In the only spirit specimen, an adult female, the flap measures about 0.3 inch in breadth, and is barely an eighth of an inch long.

"It is hairy both outside and inside, the hairs being very short and rather scattered inside; the surface below the nostrils covered by the flap is also hairy. The use of this lobe is evidently to keep out sand and dust from the air pa.s.sages" (W. T. Blanford's 'Mammalia of the Second Yarkand Mission,' p. 56).

SIZE.--Head and body, about 5-1/2 inches; tail, 5 inches; length of fore-foot, 0.5 inch; hind-foot, 1.4 inch.

The peculiarity of the lobe, which was first detected by Mr. Oscar Fraser in removing a skull from a spirit specimen, distinguishes this species from the other Asiatic forms. There is also a peculiarity in the skull noticed by Mr. Blanford, which is that the lachrymal process, instead of being anchylosed to the adjoining bones, as in others of the genus, is free, and this species is therefore distinguished from the one most resembling it, _G. unguiculatus_ from Chinese Mongolia, in which the lachrymal process is united to the frontal.

NO. 320. GERBILLUS ERYTHRURUS.

_The Red-tailed Jerboa-Rat_.

HABITAT.--Afghanistan and Persia.

DESCRIPTION.--Rufous brown above, with a few long black hairs, more numerous on the rump and thighs; under fur slaty; under-parts white, gradually blending with the colour of the sides; ears much larger than in the last species, hairy outside and near the margin inside; soles of hind feet and toes thickly covered with hair, except on the hinder half of the tarsus; tail very rufous--brown with a black tip, black hairs are scattered along the upper surface, and form a black band towards the end above, finally covering the whole tip.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 6 inches; tail, equal.

Mr. Blanford, to whose 'Eastern Persia' I am chiefly indebted for the above description, writes: "From _G. Hurrianae_, which Jerdon thought might probably be the same, the present form is distinguished by its much larger ears and by the hind feet, and especially the toes, being more thickly covered with hair beneath; the fur too is longer and the colour browner on the back; the tail is more rufous, and the tip blacker; the skull is larger and broader; the nasal portion more elongate and less concave above, and the hind upper molar has a distinct talon, or rudimentary second transverse ridge, in young specimens, traces of which may be detected in the form of the worn tooth."

Its habits are similar to those of the last species.

NO. 321. GERBILLUS Na.n.u.s.

_The Dwarf Jerboa-Rat_.

HABITAT.--Baluchistan.

DESCRIPTION.--The fur is soft and long, rufous brown or fawn colour above, white below, the colours being less sharply distinguished than in _G. Indicus_; the hairs of the upper parts have no black tips, and the basal two-thirds are slaty grey. There is a broad white supercilium in front, joining the white area of the sides of the face, so that the brown of the nose is reduced to a rather narrow band; ears almost naked, a few short whitish hairs near the edge only; whiskers nearly all white; a few of the upper hairs brown near the base; feet white above, naked beneath, tail light brown above, whitish beneath; towards the end a band of darker brown hairs runs along the upper portion, those at the end lengthened; but there is a less marked tuft than usual, and there are no black hairs at the end (Blanford's 'Eastern Persia,' vol. ii. p. 72, _with plate_).

SIZE.--Head and body, 2.6 inches; tail, exclusive of hair, 4.5 inches; hair, 0.55 inches.

This curious little animal was first found and named by Mr. W. T.

Blanford, who obtained two specimens, with others of _G. Hurrianae_, in a large area of ground that was flooded. He at first supposed them to be the young of _G. Indicus_, but found on subsequent examination that they were full grown.

SUB-FAMILY PHLOEMYINAE.

Incisors broad; molars divided into transverse laminae; infra-orbital opening typical; claws large.

_GENUS NESOKIA_.

Muzzle blunt; ears moderate; claws long; fur rather harsh; tail short, scaly, spa.r.s.ely haired; palate narrow; incisive foramina short; auditory bullae rather small; incisors broad; first molars with three laminae, the rest with only two.--_Alston_.

There has been some confusion regarding the species of this genus.

Jerdon, in his 'Mammals of India,' gives only two, including _Arvicola Indica_ and _Mus kok_ of Gray, _Mus providens_ of Elliot, and _Mus pyctoris_ of Hodgson, under _Nesokia Indica_, and cla.s.sifying _Nesokia Huttoni_ with _N. Hardwickii_; but Dr. Anderson, after a most careful examination of specimens from all parts of India, has proved the distinctness of _Mus providens vel kok_ from the species called by Jerdon _Nesokia Indica_, which, being a synonym of _N. Hardwickii_, he has now renamed _Mus (Nesokia) Blythia.n.u.s_ (_see_ 'Jour. As. Soc. Beng.' 1878, vol. xlvii. pt. ii.), and Mr.

Blanford had clearly demonstrated that _N. Huttoni_ is a distinct species from _N. Hardwickii_ ('Zool. of Persia,' vol. ii. p. 59).

NO. 322. NESOKIA HARDWICKII.

_Hardwick's Field-Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 173_).

HABITAT.--North-western India.

DESCRIPTION.--General colour sandy brown on the upper parts, paler on the sides, dusky grey, with a tinge of yellowish-rufous on the under-parts; muzzle, feet, and tail flesh-coloured; ears of the same, but rather darker; head short and bluff; muzzle broad and deep; eye moderately large; ears moderate, rounded, clad with minute hairs; fur soft and moderately long, of three kinds, viz. short under-fur, ordinary hairs, and mixed with them, especially on the back and rump, numerous long black hairs which project a good way beyond the fur.

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

It is probable that this species is identical with _Mus Griffithi_, though the dimensions given by Horsfield ('Cat. Mam. Mus. E. I.

Comp.') and the description do not quite agree. He gives the size of head and body at 6-1/2 inches; tail, 3 inches, and says that the teeth are nearly white.

NO. 323. NESOKIA HUTTONI.

_Hutton's Field-Rat_.

HABITAT.--Northern India, Afghanistan and Persia.

DESCRIPTION.--Colour above from ferruginous brown to sandy brown, lower parts isabelline, but frequently appear dark in consequence of the fur being thin or worn; the basal portion dark slaty grey both above and below the animal; hairs on the back soft and of moderate length, a very few black hairs being scattered amongst the brown ones; tail naked, and ears almost naked, the latter having only a few extremely short hairs, thinly scattered, and the feet are covered above very spa.r.s.ely with short whitish hairs (_see_ Blanford's 'Persia,' vol. ii., for description and plate). Nose and feet flesh-coloured; ears and tail darker and brownish; mammae eight, as usual in the genus.