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Show 1870.] MR. R. SWINHOE O N THE MAMMALS OF HAINAN. 233 blended. The amount of black on the tail also varies. The underparts of some are duskier, of others tinged with rose-colour, and of others, again, more decidedly buff. Like the last, this little Striped Squirrel is found in Formosa, in the Tingchow mountains of Fokien, and in Hainan. In the latter island I first detected it in the forests of the interior ; but I observed it later in most woody places, especially where the Areca- and Cocoa-nut occurred. It runs with great agility along the ground and up the trunks of trees, but it descends trees slowly and awkwardly. It is, however, quite an arboreal species. Dr. J. E. Gray considers the South China species the same as the Himalayan animal; so that it has rather an extended range. The Gazetteer calls this the "Hill-rat, shaped like a Rat, but incapable of hurting rice." 16. COMMON RAT. MUS decumanus, Pall. Common at Kiungchow city, and in all the large towns we visited. " Shoo [or Rat], of all hole-frequenting vermin the biggest thief. If it eats salt it gets light in body. If it eats arsenic it quickly dies. The skins of the larger ones are used for furs, which are called 'furs of the Heavenly Deer.' "-Gazetteer. 17. RED FIELD-MOUSE. MUS badius, Blyth ? I picked up near the capital city the mutilated body of a Field-mouse, with coarse yellowish chestnut hair above, and white beneath. The specimen was too bad to preserve. I refer it, with doubt, to Blyth's species from Burmah. 18. SUBCRESTED PORCUPINE. Hystrix hodgsoni, Gray, P. Z. S. 1847, p. 101. One of our party picked up a Porcupine's quill in the jungle at Nychow (S. Hainan). It is black, with white at tip and base, and answers to the dorsal quills of the Chinese animal which I have brought home from the Fokien province (China), and which appears to be an adult of the Himalayan species, hitherto only known from immature crestless examples. The Chinese specimen shows a small crest on the back of the head. The Chinese call the Porcupine the Haochoo (Bristly Pig) and Fung-che. The Hainan Gazetteer says it is "like a Dog, lives in holes in the ground; has the hair black and sharp, like awls, 4 or 5 inches long ; and a large tail. When attacked, it shoots its thorny bristles at its aggressors." 19. THE HAINAN HARE. Lepus hainanus, sp. nov. (Plate XVIII.) W e did not meet the Hare at all in our rambles in Hainan; but a Mandarin's son in the capital city gave me a live specimen taken in the neighbourhood, which I was surprised to find very different from the small species (L. sinensis of Gray) that ranges from Canton to Peking. The Hainan Hare is of about the same size as the Chinese, but has a smaller and rounder head, is more brightly coloured and |
