The present species, like the foregoing, is much stouter than the common
mouse (_Mus Musculus_), its colour is much darker. In possessing a
glossy fur it differs from most of its congeners; its head is also
proportionately larger, and the incisors are much stronger.
The molars of the upper jaw are figured in plate 34, fig. 9, _a_,—and
fig. 9, _b_, represents those of the under jaw.
“Very abundant in gardens and hedges, far from houses; and was easily
caught in traps baited either with cheese or meat.”—D.
16. MUS XANTHORHINUS.
PLATE XVII.—Fig. 1.
Mus xanthorhinus, _Waterh._, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of
London, for January 1837, p. 17.
_M. suprà fuscus flavo lavatus; subtùs albus; rhinario flavo; auribus
parvulis, intùs pilis flavis obsitis; mystacibus longis, canis, ad
basin nigrescentibus: caudâ corpore breviore, suprà fuscâ, ad latera
flavescente, subtùs sordidè albâ: pedibus anticis, tarsisque flavis,
digitis albis: vellere longo, molli._
DESCRIPTION.—Fur moderately long and loose; ears rather small; tail
shorter than the body; general colour gray washed with yellow, the
yellow colour prevailing, especially on the sides of the body;
muzzle, inner side of ears, and tarsus, of a rich yellow colour;
toes, chin, throat, under parts of body, and rump, white; all the
fur deep gray at the base; the hairs on the upper parts and sides
of the body broadly annulated near the apex with rich yellow, and
at the apex dusky; on the under parts of the body the hairs are
broadly tipped with white. Tail rather sparingly furnished with
hair, that on the upper surface brown, on the sides yellow, and on
the under surface whitish. The hairs of the moustaches are
white—some of them dusky at the base. The incisor teeth are rather
slender, and of a pale yellow colour.
In. Lines.
Length from nose to root of tail 3 6
of tail 1 7½
from nose to ear 0 10
of tarsus (claws included) 0 9
of ear 0 3¾