190 FAUNA AMERICANA. 



fruits, grains and roots ; digging holes, or else liv- 

 ing in the hollows of old trees. 



Inhabit North and South America, Southern 

 Europe, Africa, and India. 



1. Subgenus. Porcupines properly so called : 

 tail not prehensile. 



Species. 



1. Hystrix dorsata, Gmel. Erxleb. Bodd. Schreb. 

 tab. 169. Hystrix hudsonis, Briss. Regn. Anim. 

 p. 128. Hystrix pilosus americamis, Catesby, Ca- 

 rol, app. p. 30. Cavia hudsonis, Klein. Quad. p. 

 .51. Urson, Buff. 1. 12. pi. 5.5. (Encycl. pi. 65. 

 fig. l.j 



Bear Porcupine. 



Char. Esscnt. Spines short, in part concealed 

 by brown hair; tail elongated; no mane; long 

 bristles on the head and neck. 



Dimensions. Total length two feet one inch : 

 of the tail eight inches ; the longest nails one inch 

 three lines. 



Description. Snout thicker and shorter than 

 that of the common Porcupine ; ears very small, 

 entirely covered by the hair; base of the hairs 

 very thick, and beset with spines, the largest of 

 which are two inches and a half long, and are 

 situated about the rump; these spines being partly 

 white and partly brown or blackish, tipped with 

 black; those of the rest of the body are covered 

 with long, strong hairs, of a blackish-brown colour. 



