THE EGYPTIAN JERBOA. 



The remarkable little rodents known as jerboas 

 are mainly Asiatic and African in their distribu- 

 tion, although a few forms occur also in Europe. 

 Their extraordinary appearance and quaint habits 

 together with their small size renders them pre- 

 eminently suitable as pets, and one species in 

 particular — the Egyptian Jerboa — is now sold in 

 such numbers in this country every summer, that 

 but little apology will be needed for devoting a 

 few pages to a consideration of its form and 

 habits. 



The Egyptian Jerboa (Dipus orieiitalisj- ozzwrs 

 in considerable abundance in North Eastern 

 Africa. It measures about 14^ inches from the 

 snout to the tip of the tail, only about 6 inches of 

 this measurement being taken up by the dimen- 

 sions of the head and body. Rat-like in appear- 

 ance, sparrow-like in movements, the jerboa's 

 rotund person is absurdly supported on an 

 attenuated pair of hind legs, and propped up 

 when standing by a flexible tail, curved in an 

 S-shape with the tip closely pressed against the 

 eround. The head is short, the muzzle broad, 

 rounded and truncated : the eyes, separated by a 



1 A smaller light-coloured species (Dipus jaculus) — the dwarf 

 jerboa — occurs near Alexandria with the larger one. The dwarf 

 jerboa Avas aptly described |by Hasselquist as "??t«s aegyj)tii(s 

 pedihus posticis longissimis." 



