302 Mammals of Eastern Asia 
the tail 7 to 8 inches. The general dorsal color is a mixture of 
russet and black, that of the underparts and inner sides of the 
limbs pure white. The white brush at the tip of the tail has a 
black band encircling it. This animal hibernates, becoming active 
again about the middle of April. It inhabits plains country and 
lives in small colonies, in burrows closed with a plug of earth 
while the animal is inside. It is active at dusk and is reputed to 
make jumps from 2 to 6 feet in length. Its food consists of 
bulbs of Gagea and other vegetation. The eyes reflect light 
readily. 
THE OLD WORLD PORCUPINES 
(SUBORDER HYSTRICOMORPHA) (FAMILY HYSTRICIDiE) 
The Porcupines of the Old World, though related to those of 
America, belong to a different family. Unlike our Porcupines, 
they do not climb trees but spend their lives on the ground. Both 
long-tailed and short-tailed genera occur. The bodies are clothed 
with quills that can no more be "shot" at enemies than can the 
quills of North American "porkies." 
The Brush-tailed Porcupines, Atherurus, have the tail 
about twice as long as the hind foot. The tail ends with a tuft of 
very peculiar bristles, which at intervals along their length are 
expanded into flattened, capsule-like or globule-like portions 
about the size of a wheat grain. Each bristle, therefore, some- 
what resembles a string of beads. Most of the quills on the back 
are strongly flattened ; only a few slender ones are round in sec- 
tion. The ears are small and rounded, the claws rather straight 
and blunt. The only species in southeastern Asia, Atherurus 
macrourus, is gray-brown, sometimes with a few white bristles ; 
the flanks and hips are paler, the underparts white. The tassel of 
beaded hairs at the tip of the tail is white. The average length 
of head and body is 20 inches, of the tail 9 inches, and of the 
hind foot 3 to 3% inches. These Porcupines are found in the 
