1320 



THE RODENTS 



feeding upon earthworms, the present species and its allies make their subterranean 

 journeys in search of bulbs and roots. In Egypt, according to Dr. J. Anderson, 

 the burrows of the mole rat are made in sandy soil containing quantities of bulbs of 

 asphodels and hyacinths, upon which the creature feeds. The tunnels are of great 

 extent and complexity, some of the passages being as much as thirty or forty yards 

 in length, and are generally about eighteen inches below the surface. In certain 

 spots the borings descend, however, to a depth of some four feet, and here some 

 of them terminate in chambers packed full of bulbs, while others open out into sleep- 

 ing apartments, from which secondary passages again radiate. Dr. Anderson states 

 that " the tunnels are perfectly smooth and cylindrical, and in digging through the 

 soil above them numerous bulbs of the same kind as those found in the storehouse 

 were observed." When taken from its burrow, the first instinct of the animal is to- 





Bamboo Rats 



THE GREAT MOI,E RAT. 



(One-half natural size.) 



dig headlong into the soil; and when underground it is able to move with equal 

 facility either backward or forward. 



In Northern India, Tibet, China, Burma, and the Malayan region, 

 as well as in Abyssinia, the family is represented by a group of species, 

 commonly known as bamboo rats (Rhizomys}, which differ from the preceding by 

 the minute eyes not being covered with skin, as well as by the presence of small 

 external naked ears, and of a short tail partially covered with hair. The bay 

 bamboo rat (R. badius}, ranging from the Eastern Himalayas to Siam, is one of the 

 best-known representatives of this genus, and attains a length of from seven to nine 

 inches, exclusive of the tail, which is about two and one-half more. This species 

 generally makes its burrows among tall rank grass, but sometimes at the roots of 

 trees, and in their construction uses its teeth as well as its claws. There is some 



