of the Himalaya by the entirely different character of its coloration, M.. homurm
having a yellow muzzle and brownish-yellow feet.
The skull has the parietal region more contracted than in M. urba/nus, and much
more so than in M. homurm, and the posterior margins of the frontals are back-
wardly prolonged into the parietals, more so than in M. homurus. The nasals of
M. urbanm contract to a point posteriorly, while those of M. homu/rm are posteriorly
truncated, hut in this species these hones are more elongated than in either of
these small mice, and their posterior ends are narrower and more backwardly
prolonged. The molar lines of teeth are about the same length in these three
species.
Inferior border of foramen magnum to tip of premarillæ . . . .
Tip of premarillæ to anterior end of p a l a t e .................................................
Length of p a la t e .............................................................................................................
’ „ molar line . . . . . . . . . . .
Inferior margin of external border of infraorbital foramen to tip of premaxillæ
Breadth across parietals . . . . . . . . . .
Inches.
Aged<J.
.0-80
0-82
015
0-14
Q-21
0 3 7
I procured only one example of this mouse at Ponsee, where it occurs on the old
rice and Indian-com clearings.
*Mus viculoetim, n. s.
Muzzle rather sharply pointed, moderately long and not deep. Ear moderately
large, rounded, its height a little in excess of the distance between the inner canthus
and the front of the muzzle, its breadth equalling that distance. Hind feet not long,
equalling the interval between the tip of the lower lip and the base of the eai
posteriorly; claws compressed, moderately long and sharp. Tail a little longer than
the body and head; finely ringed, five rings to the one-tenth of an inch. Eur short,
soft, and dense, dull dark-brown on the upper parts, tending to blackish on the back,
paling to brownish on the side, and passing into pale dusky-brownish on the under
parts, with a silvery sheen. Eeet brownish; toes with shining greyish yellow hairs;
ears and tail brown.
. Mature 9.
Tip of snout to vent 2'90
Vent to tip o f tail . . . . . . ; . 3\L4
Hind foot . . . , , , . . . . . . . . . . 0?67
Height of e a r .......................................................... , . . . , 0 45
Breadth of e a r ................................................ . . 0‘37
This mouse is perfectly distinct from M. horrmrm and M. wrba/nm and also from
the previously described species. Erom the latter it is distinguished by its relatively
shorter tail and smaller ears, and from M. horrmrm by its proportionally longer tail
and larger feet.
The skull is very much less globose than the skull of M. homurus, and the
posterior ends of the frontals are nearly transverse, and the molar line is a little
shorter. The posterior portions of the anterior palatine foramina are much contracted.
Indies.
Inferior border of foramen maguum to tip of p r e m a x i l l c e ...................................................... . 0'70
Tip of premaxillm to anterior end of palate . . . .' . . . . . . 0'27
Length of palate . . . . .' . . 016
„ molar line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 ‘14
Inferior margin of external border of infraorbital foramen to tip of premarillee . . 0'19
Breadth across parietals . . . . • • • . . . . . . 0 ‘38
I t frequents the villages and houses of the Kakhyens, and I obtained it at
Ponsee.
Sub-genus V a n d e l e t j e ia , Gray, 1842.
Sykes, in his Catalogue of Mammalia1 inhabiting the Deccan, published in
1831, mentioned a mouse which he believed to be new, and which he characterized
as light chestnut above, reddish-white below, and with a tail much longer than
the body. This little rodent he described as of the size of a field mouse, and as
inhabiting only fields and gardens.
In the following year, his specimens of this mouse had been forwarded to
London and were described by Mr. Bennett under the name of Mm oleracem. The
great length of the tail and the comparative length of the tarsus as compared with
other mice were considered as characters sufficient to distinguish the species from all
its congeners.
In 1839, Mr. now Sir Walter Elliot included this mouse in his tabular statement
of his Catalogue of Mammalia2 inhabiting the Southern Mahratta country as Mus
longica/udatm, but in the text he described it under the name of M. oleracem, and
explained that the former term had been applied by himself to the species many years
before Bennett’s description had appeared, but the name had never before been
published. He did not give any information regarding its structure, but recorded that
it lives exclusively in trees and bushes, up which it is able to run with great facility.
Sir Walter Elliot had forwarded specimens of this mouse to the British Museum,
and in December 18423 Dr. Gray proposed the genus Vandeleuria for their reception.
About the same time Sir Walter Elliot sent to the Calcutta Museum a series of
specimens of a small, very long-tailed mouse with grooved upper incisors, which
Blyth regarded as Mm oleracem and the Vandeleu/ria of Gray.
I obtained in the valley of the Nampoung, a frontier stream dividing Burma
from China, a small mouse which agrees in its grooved incisors and other characters
with the mice forwarded by Sir Walter Elliot.
This mouse being preserved in spirit has enabled me clearly to make out the
characters of the feet which were not very distinguishable in the mounted specimens
of the mouse from Southern India which, however, are structurally identical with the
ï Proo. ZooL Soo. July 1831, p. 99 ; Proc. Zool. Soc. June 1832, p, 121.
2 Madr. Joum. Lit. & So. vol. x. July 1839, p. 94.
* Ann, and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. x. Bee. 1842, p, 265.