is said about its dentition,
which would at once settle the question whether the young specimen
with its imperfect tail were a true _Mus_ or a species of
_Myoxus_.[24]

[Footnote 24: See Appendix A for description and dentition of
_Myoxus_.]

NO. 354. MUS PEGUENSIS.
_The Pegu Tree Mouse_.

HABITAT.--The Sittang valley, Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--Fulvescent olive brown on the upper parts,
yellowish-white below; whiskers remarkably long; the tail very long
and conspicuously haired towards the tip; more so, Blyth remarks,
than any other mouse, especially when held up to the light.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/8 inches; tail, 3-7/8; in one specimen,
4-1/2 inches.

* * * * *

We now come to the terrestrial or house mice.

NO. 355. MUS URBANUS.
_The Common Indian Mouse_ (_Jerdon's No. 186_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Lengtia-indur_, Bengali; _Mesuri_, _Musi_, _Chuhi_,
Hindi.

HABITAT.--Throughout India and Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--Somewhat resembling the English mouse, but with very
much longer, coarser tail, larger eyes, and smaller ears; dusky
reddish-brown above, somewhat paler below; the feet paler still,
whitish in some; the tail nude, thick at base, longer by an inch than
the head and body, and of a dark brown colour. The young are more
dusky.

SIZE.--Head and body, about 2 to 3 inches; tail, 3 to 4 inches.

I have kept these mice in confinement for considerable periods, and
have had many opportunities of studying their habits of late. During
many years' residence in the Currency Office, I never once found a
mouse in my private quarters on the third story, although I
frequently observed them in the vaults and strong rooms on the ground
floor. During my absence at Simla in 1880 my quarters were unoccupied,
as the Public Works Department were giving the building a thorough
repair. It was then, I suppose, a few of the mice from the ground
floor were driven upstairs, and, being unmolested by us, as we liked
to see the little things playing about, they increased to a most
uncomfortable extent within eight months. I failed to discover their
breeding places, though I suspect they made much use of a large
doll's-house for the purpose, for on taking out the front staircase,
under which the bells of the establishment were hung, I found a nest
of torn paper, and I caught two young ones in one of the rooms. Some
of them came out every night whilst we were at dinner, and paid a
visit to a rose-