THE CAPYBARA. 



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fur is only about one inch in length, but the golden brown hair of the 

 hinder parts is more than four inches long. In character it is coarse, 

 though glossy. 



The Capybara is a native of tropical America, and is by far the 

 largest of all the living rodent animals, rather exceeding three feet in 

 total length, and being so bulkily made that when it walks its abdomen 

 nearly touches the ground. The muzzle of this animal is heavy and 

 blunt, the eyes are set high in the head and are moderate in size, the 



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The Capybara (Hydrochoervs Capybara). 



tail is wanting, and the toes are partially connected together by a de- 

 velopment of the skin. The color of the Capybara is rather indeter- 

 minate, owing to the manner in which the hairs are marked with black 

 and yellow, so that the general idea which its coat presents is of a dingy, 

 blackish gray with a tinge of yellow. 



It is a water-loving animal, using its webbed feet with great power, 

 and fleeing instinctively to the stream when terrified by real or imag- 

 inary danger. It not only swims well, but is a good diver, and when 

 endeavoring to escape from a foe always tries to evade its pursuer by 

 diving as long as its breath will hold out, and permitting the top of its 

 head to appear above the surface only when it rises for the purpose of 

 respiration. As, how^ever, it can remain under water for a space of 

 eight or ten minutes, it finds no difficulty in escaping from any ordi- 

 nary foe, if it can only gain the shelter of the welcome stream. The 

 food of this animal is exclusively vegetable, and its curious teeth are 

 needed in order to bruise the herbage on which it feeds into a mass 

 sufficiently pulpy to enable it to pass through the very narrow 

 throat. 



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