the position which it occupies in B. pruvnosus, Blyth, and much more so than in
B. badkis,' Hodgson} so that the capacity of the posterior section of the brain-
case is relatively reduced to what that part attains in B. ladim, Hodgson. The
contraction occurs oppose to the posterior third of the zygomatic fossa in the adult,
while in B. prwnows it occupies the middle of that area. The nasals, are more or
less pointed posteriorly, and the premaxiUary suture with the frontal, is anterior to
their ends and nearly transverse. The muzzle is of variable breadth according to
age and is perhaps also influenced by difference of sex, as adult skulls axe met with
in which it is broad in some and narrower in others.
This species extends from the Malayan peninsula northwards to Siam, where it
has been obtained to the north of Bangkok.1
B h i z o m y s e b y t h k o &e n y s , n . s . P l a t e X I I I A .
Quite recently, a living adult female bamboo-rat has been received by the
Zoological Gardens, Calcutta, from Mr. A. H. Hildebrand, Assistant Commissioner,
Burma. No details regarding the habitat of the animal have been as yet received,
beyond that it had been found in the Salwin H ill Tracts.
' McLdland’s description of B. cmerem does not agree with this specimen,
and is more applicable to B. smnatrensis. I have therefore indicated this species
by its most distinctive feature, viz., its light red cheeks. I should not have done so
on this an isolated example, hut on looking over the ■ specimens of bamboo-rats
in the Indian Museum, I found a specimen, the counterpart of this living animal,
apparently specifically distinct from B. sumatremis. This specifoen came from
Tenasserim.
This form is distinguished from S. mmatrmsis by its bright golden-red cheeks
and sides of the-head generally, by the absence of white spots on the forehead, and
by the dark iron-grey of the upper parts (many of the hairs being white-tipped)
becoming almost black on the top of the head, where it abruptly ceases between
the eyes in a sharp well-defined point. The upper lip, chin, and upper part of
throat are white, also the chest and belly, which are, however, more or less tinged
with grey and reddish. The lower portion of throat is dark-grey. The feet are
sparsely dad and leaden coloured, except the toes of hind foot, which are fleshy
white. _ The tail is rather thick at the base, quite naked, not scaly, and of a leaden
hue. Claws rather broad and moderately strong.
Measurements o f the living adult $ specimen.
Tip of nose to ending o f hair over root of tail . . . . I _ 1475
Ending of hair of hody to tip of tail . . . . . 5-35
Length of hind f o o t ............................................................................................................. 2-56
Height of ear . . .. . . ..................................................... . _ .. ’ q.qq
Breadth of e a r . _ _ _ q,q^
Tip o f nose to anterior angle of e y e ...........................................................................................................
1 Becherches des Mammif. p. 295.
Inohes.
Posterior angle of eye to e a r .................................................... ......................................................1’29
Length of eye . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • 0 ’39
Breadth between eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1*38
„ „ external margin o f nostrils . . . . . . . 0*50
| „ e a r s : ..................................................................................................................................................... 2‘iO
„ of tail at b a s e ..................................................................................................................... 077^
* R h iz o m y s prtjinostts, Blyth. Plates XIII & XVI.
Rhizomys pruinoms, Blyth, Jouro. As. Soc. Beng. 1851 vol. xx., p. 519, et Cat. Mamm. As. Soc.
Beng. 1863, p. 122.
Blyth first obtained this species from CMr&punji, where it is extremely
common, and I found it equally abundant on the Kakhyen hills to the east of
Bham6, where it is associated with JR. castanem, Blyth, which is only a brightly
coloured eastern race of JR. badms, Hodg., of Nepal. I t ranges to the eastward as
far as Cambodja, and is represented in the British Museum by two specimens which
were obtained there by Mouhot. I t does not appear to exist in the high, treeless
region about Teng-yue-chow in the province of Yunnan, where the rounded hills are
covered only with short grass and braeken.
In the India Museum, London, there is a specimen of a JRhizomys, which was
obtained by the Sehlagintweits on their mission to Tibet. I t is now much faded
in its colours, but it has all the external characters of JR. prvmosus, Blyth. I have
examined the list of Mammalia collected by these travellers, but although this
bamboo-rat is mentioned, the locality from whence it is obtained is not stated. I t
measures 8'60 in length from muzzle to the root of the tail, the tail being 2’50 long,
The base of the fur is pale slaty, its terminal half being brown; but scattered
very plentifully amongst it are longer hairs which have their ends terminating in
broad white bands, so that the animal presents a grizzled appearance on the upper
surface. On the under parts, the fur is nearly the same as superiorly, but the white-
tipped hairs are shorter and much less numerous. The whiskers are dark-brown.
On the head generally, but more especially on the sides of the face, the bases of the
hairs, in the majority of specimens, pale into an almost whity-grey, and where the
fur on the sides of the head is abraded, as it frequently is, this light under tint
becomes visible. In some old females, the sides of the face, the muzzle and the
chin, are very pale owing to the tips of the hair being of a light-brown tint, and
in such examples the whole coat of fur is of a paler hue than in the generality of
specimens, and as the white-tipped hairs are not so numerous, they have less of
the mottled appearance and are of an almost uniform light greyish-brown with the
under surfaces even paler. I have observed this only in old females, but whether it
is sexual, I am not in a position to say. The ears, nose, feet, and tail have a dusky
flesh tint, and the tail is about one-third the length of the body. The foot-pads are
covered with flattened tubercles. In the young the teeth are but little coloured,
except at the bases of the lower incisors, the tips of which are nearly white.
The female appears to produce from three to four at a birth.