NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 113 



Below, nearly uniform pale yellowish brown, barely a little 

 more yellowish posteriorly . . . some are quite strongly 

 suffused with yellowish and have less black; others are faintly 

 suffused, giving the general effect above of pale yellowish gray 

 mixed with black." A notable feature of the skull is the great 

 development of the audital bullae, which in this and the other 

 Bahaman races project conspicuously beyond the level of the 

 basioccipital bone instead of ending at the same level with 

 this bone. In the lower molars, the two reentrant loops of 

 enamel from the inner side are relatively short and straight, 

 barely reaching the center of the tooth. In size this is slightly 

 smaller than the other living species. 



The discovery of this hutia still living in one of the Plana 

 Keys is due to D. P. Ingraham, who in mid-February, 1891, 

 landed there on several occasions while weatherbound under 

 the lee of the island. This key he describes as a small rocky 

 islet, the highest point probably not more than 50 feet above 

 sea level, "with crevices and caves worn in the rocks by the 

 action of water, and in many places broken strata of rocks, 

 piled upon each other." It is about half a mile wide and 4 or 5 

 miles long, quite without permanent fresh water. In the course 

 of two weeks he secured a small series of specimens for the 

 American Museum of Natural History. In none of these were 

 fetuses found. There appeared to be a concentration of 

 individuals at places where conditions were favorable in afford- 

 ing many hiding places. He once saw a number of them to- 

 gether at a distance from the rocks among palmettos, but later 

 concluded that this was a result of the beginning of the rutting 

 season. They fed mostly at night, though occasionally foraging 

 by day, were not shy, and with caution could be approached 

 within 25 or 30 feet before dashing to the shelter of the rocks. 

 They fed on the leaves, twigs, and bark of the bushes, "espe- 

 cially the black button wood, and the succulent growth of the 

 cactus plants," which doubtless supplied the necessary mois- 

 ture. They seemed " very fond of the fruit of the paw-paw, and 

 even of the body of the tree itself," for in some instances 

 trunks were found nearly as large as a man's body "so nearly 

 eaten off that they would not sustain their own weight. A 

 sweet potato left on the shore was eaten up, while the body of a 

 bird, left to tempt them, was untouched." 



So far as the writer knows, no other naturalist visited East 



