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