110 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



inches (390 mm.) of which the tail is about 2.25 (57 mm.); 

 hind foot, 2.50 (65 mm.). In both these species, the auditory 

 bullae do not extend below the level of the basioccipital bones. 



There is very little on record as to the habits of this hutia. 

 Lowe (1911), who visited the Swan Islands in 1908, gives an 

 excellent picture of the conditions there in his book "A Nat- 

 uralist on Desert Islands." The two islands comprise a larger 

 one, which is inhabited and serves as a signal station, and a 

 smaller lying about a quarter of a mile to the eastward, which 

 is untenanted except by wildlife and seldom visited on account 

 of the difficulty of making a landing. The latter island is the 

 home of many sea birds, which nest on the tops of the scrubby 

 bush growth or among its rocks, and is the only place where 

 this hutia is found. It is about a mile and a quarter long and 

 rises abruptly from the sea with low cliffs on all but a part of 

 its northwesterly side. "The plateau formed by the top of the 

 island is densely overgrown with trees and bushes, which form 

 a closely matted dome of vegetation above its wind-swept 

 surface." On the occasion of Lowe's visit it was entirely un- 

 disturbed and could be reached from Big Swan Island only on 

 very calm days. It appears to be a "big 'stack' of solid coral 

 limestone which has been thrust bodily up from the sea bot- 

 tom." In the central portion the surface is somewhat more 

 even, with vegetable mould and a dense canopy of trees. Here 

 Lowe and his party captured several of the hutias. They are 

 diurnal in habits and were seen running about or "bolting into 

 the big crevasses with which the island is seamed." One 

 individual ran over some rocks and tried to escape under the 

 spreading roots of a large undermined tree but allowed itself 

 to be carefully drawn out and placed alive in a fishing creel. 

 It was surprisingly mild-mannered and showed not the slightest 

 fear or suspicion, when later it was taken alive to England and 

 brought face to face with King Edward's favorite dog, which 

 it quietly inspected. The two taken captive became very tame 

 and were allowed the freedom of the yacht's deck, "drank 

 milk with avidity, and ate any form of vegetable or fruit that 

 was offered them." In 1912 George Nelson visited Little 

 Swan Island and secured specimens for the Museum of Com- 

 parative Zoology. 



At the present time the species seems safe enough in the 

 narrow limits of its island home, but should any important 



