ROCK CAVY. 



Cavia Aperea. C. ccaudata, corporc c.r clnereo rufo. Lin. Syst. 



Nat. Gmel. p. 122. 



Tailless Cavy, with rufous-ash-coloured body. 

 Cuniculus (Brasiliensis) Aperea dictus. Marcgr. Raj. Quadr. 



p. 206. 



Cuniculus Indicus femina. Aldr. dig. p. 393 . 

 Rock Cavy. Pennant Quadr. 2. p. go. 



THIS animal (says the Count de Buffon), which 

 is a native of Brasil, is neither a rabbet nor a rat, 

 but seems to partake of both. It is a foot long- 

 by seven in circumference. Its general colour is 

 the same with that of our hares, .and its belly is 

 white : its upper lip is divided in the same manner, 

 and it has the same large cutting teeth, and 

 whiskers round the mouth and on the sides of 

 the eyes, but its ears are rounded like those of 

 a rat, and so short that they exceed not a finger's 

 breadth in height : the fore legs are not above 

 three inches in length, and the hind legs are a 

 little longer: the fore feet have four toes, covered 

 with a black skin, and armed with small short 

 claws : the hind feet have only three toes, and the 

 middle one is the longest : it has no tail : the 

 head is somewhat longer than that of a hare, and 

 its flesh is like that of a rabbet, which it resem- 

 bles in its manner of living : it likewise retires 

 into holes : it does not, however, dig the earth 



