MUKID.E. 



MURID.E. 



bbckish in abort the same u that of Oclodon, but of a lighter tint ; 

 colour of the belly lighter thui the upper mi-face ; chin and throat 

 pair -fawn ; short hair* of feet and tail almost white. Length of head 

 and body, T'5 inches ; of the tail, 275 inches. 



Skull of Ctftmmyl. 



1, tetn horn abort; !, profile ; 3, tern from below ; 4, lower jaw Men from 

 above. 



Captain King's memoranda on the subject of this animal are : 

 " From the size of the jaw, as compared with the abundant remains 

 of thi* littlo animal which are scattered over the surface of the ground, 

 I think that the present specimen is rather a young one. On exam- 

 ining the teeth I find that it cannot be referred to any of the genera 

 of M. F. Cuvier's arrangement in his ' DenU dca Mammiftrea ' : that 

 to which it approaches most nearly U Jiclamyi; but it in sufficiently 

 distinct to constitute a new genus. The red colour of the incisive 

 teeth U Tery remarkable in all the specimens which I have seen. The 

 little animal is very timid, feeds upon gras, and is eaten by the 

 PaUgunian Indians. It dwells in holes which it burrows in the 

 ground ; and, from the number of the holes, it would appear to be 

 Tery abundant" Mr. Darwin ('Journal and Remarks') gives a cir- 

 cumstantial account of tbii curious animal, which lie well describes as 

 rodent with the habits of a mole. " The Tucutuco," says that 

 author, "is extremely abundant in some parts of the country, but is 

 difficult to be procured, and still more difficult to be seen when nt 

 liberty. It lire* almost entirely under ground, and prefers a sandy 

 oil with a gentle inclination. The burrows are said not to be deep, 

 but of great length. They are seldom open, the earth being thrown 

 up at the mouth into hillocks, not quite so large as those made by the 

 mole. Considerable tracts of country are no completely undermined 

 by these animals that hones, in passing over, sink above their fetlocks. 

 The Tucutucos appear, to a certain degree, to be gregarious. The 

 man who procured specimens for me had caught six together, and he 

 mid thii was a common occurrence. They are nocturnal in their 

 habits ; and their principal food is afforded by the roots of plants, 

 which U the object of their extensive and superficial burrows. Azaro 

 ays they are so difficult to be obtained that he never saw more than 

 one. He states that they lay up magazines of food within their 

 burrow*. This animal is universally known by a very peculiar noise 

 which it makes when beneath the ground. A person, the first time 

 he bean it, is much surprised ; for it is not easy to tell whence it 

 come*, nor U it possible to guess what kind of creature utters it The 

 noise consist* in a short but not rough nasal grunt, which is repeated 

 about four time* in quick succession ; the first grunt is not so loud, 

 bat a little longer, and more distinct than the three following : the 

 musical time of the whole is constant, as often as it is uttered. The 

 name Tucutuco in given in imitation of the sound. In all times of 

 the day, where this animal U abundant, the noise may be heard, and 

 sometime* directly beneath one's fort When kept in a room the 

 Tucutnco* move both slowly and clumsily, which appears owing to 

 the outward action of their hind leg* ; and they are likewise quite 

 incapable of jumping even the smallest vertical height Mr. Held, 

 who disMcted a specimen which I brought home in spirito, informs 

 me that the socket of the thigh bone U not attached by a ligamentum 

 tor**; and this explains in a satisfactory manner, the awkward 

 movements of their binder extremities. When eating they rest on 

 their hind leg* and hold the piece in their fore paws ; they appeared 

 also to wish to drag it into some corner. They are very stupid in 

 making any attempt to escape; when angry or frightened they uttered 



the tucutuco. Of those I kept alive several, even the first day, became 

 quite tame, not attempting to bite or to run away; others were a little 

 wililer. The man who caught them asuerted that very many are inva- 

 riably found blind. A specimen which I preserved in spirit* was in 

 this state ; Mr. Reid consider* it to be the effect of inflammation in 

 the nictitating membrane. When the animal was alive I placed my 

 finger within half an inch of it* head, and not the slightest notice wai 

 taken : it made its way however about the room nearly as well as the 

 other*." 



Tucntuco (Ctrnomyi Vagrllaniciu}. Bennett. 



This creature is found at the east entrance of the Strait of Maga - 

 haeua, at Cape Gregory, and the vicinity. (King.) Mr. Darwin says 

 that the wide plains north of the Hio Colorado are undermined by 

 these animals ; and that near the Strait of Magalhaens, where Pata- 

 gonia blends with Ticrra del Fuego, the whole sandy country forms a 

 great warren for them. 



Mr. Darwin further states that at the Hio Negro, in northern 

 Patagonia, there is an animal of the same habits, and probably a 

 closely allied species, but which he never daw. Its noise was different 

 from that of the Maldonado kind, and was repeated only twice instead 

 of three or four times, and was more distinct and sonorous ; when 

 heard from a distance it so closely resembled the sound made in 

 cutting down a small tree with an axe, that Mr. Darwin sometimes 

 remained in doubt concerning it 



The Sigmodon of Say and Ord occupies, in their opinion, a station 

 between the genera Arricola and Mm, having the habits and some of 

 the external characters of the former, with teeth remotely allied to 

 the latter. The genus Neotoma of the same zoologists, must, in their 

 opinion, be also placed near Anitola. (See 'Journal of Nat. A cad. 

 Sc. Phil.,' vol., iv. ; and 'Zool. Journ.,' vol. ii.) 



JlypudffHt (III). Closely allied to the Arricola, from which they 

 differ but little except in the number of the anterior toes, and in the 

 shortness of the tail, are the true Lemmings. They have the follow- 

 ing generic character : Molars composite, with an even crown 

 presenting enamelled angular laminae ; ears very short ; anterior feet 

 generally pentodactyle and formed for digging ; tail very short and 

 thickly hatred. 



O o o 



Dental Formula: Incisors, ; Molar*, = 16. 

 2 8 3 



II. Xortcgitiu, the Lemming. It is the Lcmmar, or Lemmus, of 

 Olaus Magnus ; the Leem, or l/cmtner, of Qesner ; Miu Norvegicui 

 vulgd Iteming of Wormius ; Hut Ltmmut of Linnicns ; Fial-Mus and 

 Sabell-Mu* of the Laplanders; Lummick of the Swedes; Le Leming 

 of Buffou; Lemming of the British; //rmmtu Nontgictu of Dca- 

 marest ; and Mtu Lemmui of Pallas and Linnaus. 



Head not quite so blunt as in the Arricola ; whiskers long ; eyes 

 small but block and piercing; mouth small; ears small. Fore legs short, 

 pentadactylc, but the thumb hardly perceptible though the claw in 

 very sharp ; hind legs pentadactyle. Skin thin. Head and body 

 block and tawny, irregularly. disposed ; belly white with a yellowish 

 tinge. Length from nose to tail 6 inches or thereabout, the tail half 

 an inch. 



The ordinary food of the Lemming consists of gross, the rein-deer 

 lichen, and the catkins, &<x, of the dwarf birch ; but at intervals of 

 time, generally once or twice in a quarter of a century, a great army 

 of them appears : |K>uring onwards in vast hosU, they devour every 

 green thing in their path of desolation. Great bonds descending from 

 the Kolen, traverse Nordlond ond Finmark, ending their journey ond 



