OCR Text |
Show 1897.] FROM NORTH AUSTRALIA. 323 border of os inUrparictale strongly convex; posterior also convex, its lateral angles pointed. Teeth remarkably like those of C. penicillatus. Hab. Common all over Arnhem Land, very numerous on the plains around the Daly River. Generally it was found hidden in holes of the trees, and numbers were taken by hand by the natives. Number of young only two. Native name: Nunjala. 13. Mus RATTUS RUFESCENS, Gray, 1837. N. Australia : Glencoe, Jan. 1894 (one specimen). Skin (in spirit). Length of head and body 160 mm., tail 198 mm. Number of rings on the tail 205. Of the different varieties of M. rattus described by Thomas ' and Blanford2, the present specimen comes nearest to Mus rufescens, Gray, the colour being rufous brown, with a yellowish tint along the sides ; the belly and lower parts of head are whitish, hands and feet more reddish grey. The fur is mixed with fine spines 3. Hah. Not rare in the storehouses of the colonists in Arnhem Land. 14. HYDROMYS CHRYSOGASTER FULVO-LAYATUS, Gould, 1863. Hydromys fulvolavatus, Ogilby, Cat. Austral. Mamm. p. 102 (1892). N. Australia: Daly River, Aug. 4th, 1894 (one specimen). Daly River, Aug. 4th, 1894 (four young ones in spirit). Daly River, Aug. 13th, 1894 (one young one in spirit). Skin. The full-grown specimen, a female, belongs to the western variety (H. fulvolavatus, Gould, 1863). Whiskers mixed black and white; extreme tip (one inch) of tail white. Hab. Found nearly everywhere in the watercourses in Arnhem Land. Fam. MACROPODIDJE. 15. MACROPUS ANTILOPINUS (Gould), 1841. Macropus antilopinus, Thos. Cat. Mars. Monotr. Brit. Mus. p. 21 (1888); Ogilby, Cat. Austral. Mamm. p. 59 (1892). N. Australia: Hermit Hill, Aug. 9th, 1894 (one specimen, female). Glencoe, Jan. 1895 (skull, male). Victoria River, April 13th, 1895 (one specimen, young). Shin. The specimen from Victoria River is a young one, the second a female, scarcely full-grown. Through an accident the 1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1881, p. 533 {Mus alexanclrinus). 2 ' Fauna of British India,' Mammalia, p. 406 (1888-91). 3 Besides the specimen of M. rattus there are in the collection three specimens (skins or in spirit) of two or three species of Mus from North Australia. But without larger series from the different localities it is hardly possible at present to work them out satisfactorily ; and as the description of isolated specimens of this genus only causes further confusion, I prefer to omit them altogether. |