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Show 1870.] MR. R. SWINHOE ON CHINESE MAMMALS. 635 breast and streak down the centre of the belly white. Length from snout to root of tail 20 inches ; tail 15, soft and bushy. The red fur of the body is sparsely sprinkled with white hairs. The fur is soft, moderately long, and much in character with that of Pt. grandis ; in some lights it shows very brown. A specimen of this fine species was brought to me at Takow, S.W. Formosa, in December 1865. It seems confined to the southern mountains of Formosa. 56. Mus BANDICOTA, Bechstein (Linn. Trans, viii. t. 18). (The Bandicoot Rat.) Mus nemorivagus, Hodgson. M. setifer, Horsf. Zool. Res. in Java. I have never observed the Bandicoot in China ; but in Formosa, on the high road from Takow to the city of Taiwan, it was very abundant, living in holes at the foot of the hedges that line the way. I have not seen them in the towns. It would appear likely that this Rat was introduced into Formosa when the Dutch were in possession, in A.D. 1630. I have the skin and skull of an adult from Formosa; the former measures from snout to root of tail 11*5 inches, tail 6*75 ; ear 1*1 in length. The skull agrees with specimens from India. 57. Mus DECUMANUS, Pall. (Commercial Rat.) Mus decumanus, Swinhoe, P. Z.S. 1864, p. 382. Abundant in all large towns in South China and Formosa. The white and pied varieties of Mus rattus, L., are to be seen in cages in the towns; but these are imported. 58. Mus INDICUS, Geoffroy. (Indian Rat.) Arvicola indica, Gray ; Hardwicke, 111. Ind. Zool. i. t. 11. M y largest specimen from Formosa is 10*75 in length, tail imperfect, ear *66. A smaller one, length 7, tail 5*25. Colour above light chestnut-brown ; most of the hairs broadly tipped with black, giving in the adult a streaky appearance to the back. Long fine moustaches on muzzle white, short ones black. Sides of muzzle, feet, and underparts dingy white, with a tinge of yellow. Tail sparsely covered with short spinous bristles, brown on the upper, white on the under surface of the tail. In the city of Taiwan, Formosa, this large Rat was nearly as common as the Commercial Rat, and seemed to associate with it. I have not noticed it in the towns of the Chinese main. 59. Mus ALEXANDRINUS, Geoffroy. (South-European Rat.) Adult male measures 8*6, tail 6, ear *7. This species is a good deal like the ordinary grey Rat, but has longer and richer-coloured pile, the ear is larger and more oval, the feet smaller, and the tail proportionately longer, and with much more short hair, especially near the tip. Upper parts dark yellowish brown, with many of the |