THE FIVE-TOED JERBOAS 



1285 



that even when mounted on a swift horse it is impossible to overtake these creatures. 

 The burrows constructed by the Kirghiz jerboa are very complicated, having several 

 branches radiating from a central chamber; one of these branches, it is said, always 

 stops a short distance below the surface of the ground, and is only used as an exit in 

 time of danger, when the animal removes the barrier and escapes in an unsuspected 

 direction. Usually, two or three pairs occupy the same burrow. In addition to the 

 usual vegetable diet, the alagdaga also eats insects, and the eggs and young of the 

 steppe lark, if not the old birds themselves. The young are born in summer, in a 

 nest placed deep down in the burrow, and are usually from five to six in number, 

 although occasionally there may be as many as eight in a litter. How long the 

 young remain with their parents is unknown, but it is quite probable that they do 



C 



THE KIRGHIZ JERBOA. 



(One-half natural size.) 



not depart till the spring following their birth. In cold weather these animals 

 do not leave their nests, and the winter sleep is a long one, enduring, according to 

 Radde, from the beginning of September till the latter part of April. The flesh 

 of the alagdaga is eaten by the Kirghiz and other dwellers on the steppes; the capture 

 being effected by surrounding the burrows with a fence and pouring water down the 

 open holes, when the animal seeks to escape by breaking through the closed entrance. 

 The Afghan jerboa (A. indica) is a smaller species of the same 

 genus, with proportionately-longer ears and tail; the length of the 

 head and body being about three and one-half inches, and that of the tail, inclusive 

 of the tuft at end, upward of seven and one-half inches. This species inhabits 

 Afghanistan, the southeast of Persia, and Northern Baluchistan, and is found com- 

 monly on the plains of Quetta at an elevation of about six thousand feet. In habits, 



Afghan Jerboa 



