2 4 o GNAWING ANIMALS 



into service a species of weasel, which enters the burrows 

 and drives out the occupants. 



Of several somewhat similar species, one, the Viscacha 

 (Lagostomus trichodactylus), Plate XXV. Fig. 3, is a 

 decidedly more marmot-like creature. It is a plain 

 dweller, larger, and with a more varied coat than the 

 Chinchilla proper. It abounds on the pampas of Southern 

 Argentina, where it has a better choice of food than can 

 be found at high altitudes. Very often the Viscachas do 

 much damage in cultivated fields. While a party is 

 engaged in a foray, sentinels are posted to give the alarm 

 at the least appearance of danger, and in a flash all dart 

 off to take refuge in their holes. 



FAMILY DASYPROCTID^E (AGOUTIS). 

 AGOUTI (Dasyprocta aguti). 

 Coloured Plate XIII. Fig. 7. 



The Agouti, a beautifully formed Rodent, is about the 

 size of a rabbit ; and in its swift, active, watchful move- 

 ments it is not at all unlike that animal. The Common, 

 or Golden, Agouti will serve as an example of any 

 member of the family, which all more or less resemble 

 each other in form and habit. It is found almost through- 

 out all South America, but its home is chiefly in the forests 

 of Brazil, Guiana and Peru. 



The animal is usually eighteen to twenty inches in length 

 from the tip of its nose to its pointed and mere stump 

 of a tail, and its compact body is supported on four 

 slender legs. Its coat consists of coarse hair, olive brown 

 in colour, the longer hairs on the hind quarters merging 

 into a shade of bright orange. 



The Agouti is nocturnal, hiding itself by day in the 

 hollows of trees, or in burrowed cavities two or three feet 

 deep at their roots. Often a score or more of the animals 

 will live peaceably together, frequently wandering miles 

 from home, which is an unusual feature with most burrow- 



