306 The Naturalist in La Plata. 
violently backwards with the hind claws. Now 
these straight, sharp, dagger-shaped claws, and 
especially the middle one, are so long that the 
vizcacha is able to perform all this rough work 
without the bristles coming into contact with the 
ground, and so getting worn by the friction. The 
Tehuelcho Indians in Patagonia comb their hair with 
a brush-comb very much like that on the vizcacha’s 
toe, but in their case it does not properly fulfil its 
office, or else the savages make little use of it. Viz- 
cachas have a remarkable way of dusting themselves : 
the animal suddenly throws himself on his back, 
and, bringing over his hind legs towards his head, 
depresses them till his feet touch the ground. In 
this strange posture he scratches up the earth with 
great rapidity, raismg a little cloud of dust, then 
rights himself with a jerk, and, after an interval, 
repeats the dusting. Usually they scratch a hole 
in the ground to deposit their excrements in. 
Whilst opening one of the outside burrows that had 
no communication with the others, I once discovered 
a vast deposit of their dung (so great that it must. 
have been accumulating for years) at the extremity. 
To ascertain whether this be a constant, or only 
a casual habit, it would be necessary to open up 
entirely a vast number of vizcacheras. When a 
vizcacha dies in his burrow the carcass is, after 
some days, dragged out and left upon the mound. 
The language of the vizcacha is wonderful for its 
variety. When the male is feeding he frequently 
pauses to utter a succession of loud, percussive, and 
somewhat jarring cries; these he utters in a leisurely 
manner, and immediately after goes on feeding. 
