1390 THE EDENTATES 



a segment of a circle, the centre of which would be the notch in its inferior border 

 through which protrudes the tail. It is firmly welded to certain bony processes 

 arising from the pelvis, and comprises five or six concentric rows of plates; the 

 number in the uppermost row being about twenty, and that in the lowest only six. 

 The entire shield is placed in a nearly vertical plane. Both externally and inter- 

 nally the mantle is smooth and devoid of hair. With the exception of the tail, the 

 soles of the feet, the snout, and the chin, which are nearly naked, the whole of the 

 skin is covered with a coat of long, silky hair, forming a fringe along the edges of 

 the mantle. This hair is longest on the flanks and limbs, and shortest on the upper 

 surface of the feet, where it is intermingled with wart-like masses of horn. The 

 female pichiciago has a single pair of teats on the breast, as in the armadillos. 



The pichiciago is a rare animal, confined to the western part of 

 . __ Argentine, and is least uncommon in the neighborhood of Mendoza; 

 of Life where, as elsewhere, it frequents open, sandy dunes, or their proxim- 

 ity, the vegetation in such spots consisting of thorny brushwood and 

 cacti. The best account of the habits of this creature is given by Mr. E. W. White, 

 who writes that, when walking, the pichiciago ' ' plants both the fore and hind-feet 

 on the soles, and not on the contracted claws, carrying its inflexible tail, which it 

 has no power to raise, trailing along the ground, and much inclined downward from 

 the body. As it commences to excavate, the fore-feet are first employed, and, im- 

 mediately afterwards, supporting its body on the tripod formed of these and the ex- 

 tremity of the tail, both hind-feet are set to work simultaneously, discharging the 

 sand with incredible swiftness. The burrows, which are never left open, usually 

 have but slight, if any, inclination to the horizon. Sluggish in all its movements, 

 except as a fodient, in which capacity it perhaps excels all other burrowing animals, 

 the Chlamydophorus performs the operation of excavation with such celerity that a 

 man has scarcely time to dismount from his horse before the creature has buried 

 itself to the depth of its own body. ' ' Mr. White believes that the use of the bony 

 shield at the hinder extremity of the body is to act as a rammer in closing up the 

 entrance to its burrow, and he is further of opinion that when the creature desires 

 to come above ground, it emerges by digging a new exit. When in search of a spot 

 in which to burrow, the pichiciago utters a sniffing sound, but is otherwise silent. 

 " So extremely sensitive is this delicate little burrower to cold," writes Mr. White, 

 ' ' that my living example, after passing a night in a box of earth covered with* flan- 

 nels, was found the following morning in a very exhausted condition. Wrapped in 

 warm clothing, and placed near a fire, it soon revived. On taking it in my hand 

 under a Mendozan midday sun it shivered violently, but whether through fear or 

 chill it is impossible to say. Its normal paradise seems to be when the temperature 

 of its residence is such as is produced by sand so hot as almost to scorch the hand ; 

 and yet, if cold be unfriendly, no less so is wet, for although its winter is spent be- 

 neath the earth, a fall of rain quickly drives it from its retreat. During summer it 

 leaves its burrow at dusk to search for food, and being truly nocturnal, moonlight 

 nights are very favorable for discovering it." A second, and rather larger species of 

 pichiciago (C. retusus) inhabits Bolivia, and is distinguished from the typical form 

 by the mantle being attached to the skin of the back throughout its whole extent. 



