56 Zoological Society. 



habits, sound the caves or burrows, and rob them of their store, 

 which they eat. The jaws of the Cururo are capable of extraordi- 

 nary expansion, and by this provision of nature it is enabled to carry 

 bulbs and tubers of a large size to its granary. 



" The work of this little animal would surprise a person unac- 

 quainted with its habits ; I have frequently seen a considerable sur- 

 face of ground completely undermined by its burrows. It generally 

 selects the slopes of hills and mountains, where bulbs are found, 

 especially in the interior parts of the country : its caves are carried 

 in a horizontal course, at the depth of eight or ten inches, or rather 

 about the depth in which they meet their food. 



'*. This little animal may be considered nocturnal, seldom or ever 

 making its appearance during the day ; those which I procured were 

 obtained by waiting for them in the evening, and shooting them when 

 their head scarcely emerged from their caves. 



" Whilst residing in the elevated valleys of the Andes, on the 

 eastern side, I observed on the dry slopes of the mountains the la- 

 bours of a Rodent (probably a species of Ctenomys or Poephagomys) 

 different from any I had previously met with ; the chief difference 

 consisted in the mouth of the cave never being left open. Its mode of 

 burrowing is similar to Poephagomys ater, in being near the surface ; 

 but as I was unfortunately unprovided with traps, I could not obtain 

 one, 



" Lag otis pallipes, Bennett. — This is the mountain ' Vis each a' ; 

 the specimen brought home by me, and now in the British Museum, 

 was taken on the east side of the Andes, at an elevation of 4000 

 to 5000 feet, between Villavicencia and Uspallata. The specimen 

 alluded to I found soon after sunrise near Uspallata, in a rocky val- 

 ley ; I saw four of these animals feeding on the scanty herbage, and 

 at first took them to be young foxes, but my men assured me to the 

 contrary. I gave my dog in charge of one of the men, so that I might 

 approach them ; but, unfortunately, before I got within gunshot the 

 dog got loose. It was amusing to see these animals bound over the 

 rugged and rocky side of the mountain, swinging their beautiful 

 brushy tail and endeavouring to regain the caves in the rock. 



" There is a mountain ■ Viscacha' on the west side of the Andes, 

 but not having seen it, I am unable to say if it be the Lagotis pallipes 

 or another species of the same genus. This animal avails itself of 

 caves in the rock or situations extremely rugged, where large stones 

 lie tumbled one on another, leaving spaces between them sufficiently 

 large to admit the body of the Lagotis. 



" Notice of a new species of Didelphys. — In looking over the beau- 

 tiful plates of the ' Zoology of the Voyage of H. M.S. Beagle,' I find 

 three species of Didelphys figured, and I feel pleasure in stating that 

 I am acquainted with another species in Chile, inhabiting the pro- 

 vince of Colchagua. It is known to the natives by the name of 

 ' Llaca,' pronounced ' Yacu.' In its appearance it resembles D. 

 elegans, but is larger in size and possesses an extraordinary fleshy 

 tail. In 1835, whilst some men were taking down a cottage on an 

 estate near Curico, two of those beautiful little animals were found 



