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 orientals) 1 occurs 

 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 

 ground. 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 was aptly described jby Hasselquist as "mus aegyptius 

 pedibus posticis longissimis." 



