388 THE RODENTIA, OR GNAWING ANIMALS 



during the day in its nest or in some snug retreat, coming forth 

 at night in search of its food, which consists of nuts, acorns, seeds, 

 berries, and buds of trees and shrubs. It becomes very fat towards 

 the close of the autumn, when it retires to its warm winter quarters 

 to spend the cold weeks of mid-winter in sleep. 



The Pouched Rats, or Pocket Gophers (Geomyidce), constitute 

 a family distinguished from all the preceding forms by the presence 

 of a pair of great cheek-pouches opening outside and not inside 

 the mouth. These cheek-pouches are hairy inside throughout. 

 The best-known species, the Common Pocket Gopher (Geomys 

 bursarius), inhabits the whole valley of the Mississippi, and extends 

 northwards into Canada. Its form is stout and clumsy, but its 

 coat is beautifully soft and velvety, and of a dull reddish-brown 

 colour, with the feet and tail white. 



The Jerboa (Dipus agyptius) is a kangaroo-like little Rodent, 

 having very long hind legs, a long tail terminating in a tuft of 

 hair, and very short front legs. The eyes are large and expressive, 

 and the little creature has a singularly graceful, pretty appear- 

 ance. It has a fairly wide range, being found in South-Eastern 

 Europe, Northern Africa, Syria, Arabia, Central Asia, and India 

 and Ceylon. It lives in communities, the members of which con- 

 struct their burrows in dry sandy situations. When alarmed it 

 progresses at a very rapid rate, bounding over the ground so quickly 

 and lightly that the motion is more like that of a bird skimming 

 close to the surface of the ground than that of a four-footed animal. 

 Nearly related to the Jerboa is the Cape Jumping Hare, which is 

 a larger animal, and inhabits a considerable part of South Africa. 



The Coypu Rat (Myopotamus coypus), one of the largest of 

 the Rodents, is found in nearly all parts of South America and on 

 both sides of the Andes. It is usually about twenty inches long, 

 but often attains to greater dimensions. 



The most extraordinary-looking Rodents are the Porcupines, 

 in which the greater portion of the hairs on part of the upper 

 surface of the body have become converted into hollow pointed 

 spines or quills. The Porcupines fall readily into two distinct 

 groups characterised by structure, habits, and geographical dis- 

 tribution. In the strictly terrestrial species, or true Porcupines, 

 which inhabit the warmer parts of the eastern hemisphere, the 

 skull is rather more elongated than in the others ; the molars are 



