re
"2-1/8 inches long, hairy above, nude below, and blind; the ears also
closed." Jerdon writes: "Mr. Atkinson found it under fallen trees
and stones on the top of Tonglo, near Darjeeling, 10,000 feet, whence
also I had a specimen brought me."

* * * * *

The next species is one described and figured by Professor
Milne-Edwards, and from Thibet he has two illustrations of it--one
of an entire blackish-brown, the other darker above, but with the
black belly.

NO. 395. ARVICOLA MELANOGASTER.

HABITAT.--Moupin in Tibet.

DESCRIPTION.--"It is characterised by the colour of the lower parts,
which are a blackish-grey. The upper parts are sometimes as black
as a mole, sometimes grizzled with brown" ('Mammiferes,' p. 284).
The brown specimen with the dark belly is evidently a rarity.

FAMILY SPALACIDAE.

The members of this family are characterised by very large incisors;
some have premolars, as in _Bathyergus_ and two other genera, but
not in the _Spalacinae_, of which our bamboo-rat (_Rhizomys_) is the
representative in India. "The grinding teeth are rooted, not
tuberculate, but with re-entering enamel folds; infra-orbital
opening moderate or small, with no perpendicular plate; occipital
plane high, often sloped boldly forward; palate narrow; form
cylindrical; eye and ear-conch very small, sometimes rudimentary;
limbs short and stout; claws large; tail short or absent" (_Alston_,
'P. Z. S.' 1876, p. 86). There are two subfamilies--_Spalacinae_ and
_Bathyerginae_.

_GENUS RHIZOMYS--THE BAMBOO-RAT_.

"Form robust; eyes very small; ears very short, naked; pollex
rudimentary; tail rather short, partially haired; skull broad;
occipital plane only slightly sloped forward; infra-orbital opening
small, sub-triangular; upper incisors arched forward; no premolar;
upper molars with one deep internal and two or more external
enamel-folds; the lower molars reversed."--_Alston_.

NO. 396. RHIZOMYS BADIUS.
_The Chestnut Bamboo-Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 201_).

NATIVE NAME.--Known to the Chingpaws or Kakhyens as the
_Yewcron_.--_Anderson_.

HABITAT.--The Sikim and Nepal Terai; Burmah; Arakan; Kakhyen Hills.

[Illustration: _Rhizomys badius_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Fine fur, of a grey or slaty grey for two-thirds of
the basal portion, the remaining upper third being from a deep to
a bright chestnut. "Most intense on the head, and dullest on the rump"
(_Anderson_). "Below dark ashy grey" (_Jerdon_)