256 GNAWING ANIMALS 



There are three species, all of which inhabit the Andes 

 from southern Chile to northern Bolivia, and live in bur- 

 rows like our hoary marmot and pika. In 1912 C. M. 

 Lampson & Co., of London, sold 11,457 skins of "Real Chin- 

 chilla." 



The Viscacha (Viscacia viscacia, Molina) is an animal 

 that arouses in the author painful recollections. Last winter 

 while seated at his chaotic desk, endeavoring to burrow 

 through a mass of undigested correspondence, his telephone 

 bell was violently agitated b}^ a stranger who, like thousands 

 of others, without ceremony demanded: 



'Tell me what a vicunia is, and what it looks like." 



The imp that presides over the author's mental switch- 

 board plugged in for a South American animal that begins 

 with a V, and instantly the author responded: 



"A vicunia is a South American fur-bearing animal that 

 looks like a big, overgrown jack-rabbit with a bushy tail 

 and a swollen head, and is covered with fine, soft fur of a 

 mixed gray and black color." 



"Oh, yes! Thankyouverymuch. Good-by!" 



That was all. No telephone number, no name, no any- 

 thing. 



Then the author realized with horror that he had handed 

 out a Viscacha instead of a big, long-legged vicunia — an 

 animal that is very close to the llama, and is as large as a 

 mule deer! 



That unknown and unknowable inquirer never called 

 again. 



However, the Viscacha must be seen to be appreciated. 



