44 FAUNA AINIERICANA. 



beneath the skin in the inferior portion of the cir- 

 cle which they form ; anterior feet very robust, 

 thick ; fingers short, armed with nails equally long ; 

 wrists concealed in the hair ; tail scaly like that 

 of the rat, but furnished with longer hair; anus 

 projecting and very distant from the origin of the 

 tail ; fur soft, shining, and of a cinereous colour, 

 taking different teints, as it is viewed in various 

 directions ; a light teint of fawn on the lower jaw 

 and middle of the belly. 



The following are varieties; spotted^ lohiic. 

 yellow, and cinereous. 



Habit. Subterraneous, affecting light and cul- 

 tivated soils ; changing locality according to at- 

 mospherical variations ; seeking elevated regions 

 during the rainy seasons ; excavating long galle- 

 ries which all communicate with each other, pa- 

 rallel to the surface of the soil, and at moderate 

 depths ; elevating the earth into what are denomi- 

 nated mole-hills ; excavating with their hands, and 

 raising the earth with their head; feeding on 

 worms, insects, roots, bulbs of colchicum, &c. ; en- 

 tering in rut early in the spring, and bringing forth 

 twice annually, four or five at a birth, between 

 the months of March and August ; raising their 

 young with the greatest tenderness ; forming their 

 nests of leaves, in a spacious chamber, the vault 

 of which is supported by pillars, and which is 

 situated in a manner to be sheltered from inunda- 

 tions. 



