THE CANE RAT 133 



frightening it away to covert. If not alarmed, and 

 curiosity satisfied, a pair will soon begin to play, chasing 

 each other up and down among the branches with great 

 agility, and often scampering backwards and forwards 

 across the open to neighbouring trees ; they can race 

 up the bare trunks without any perceptible check of 

 speed. These squirrels seem to be active all day, except 

 during the hottest hours, when they lie up among the 

 branches, or in holes in the trees. Apparently their food 

 consists mainly of berries, fruits, ground nuts, and 

 tubers, many of which are found on the ground, so that 

 the animals are frequently discovered at quite a con- 

 siderable distance from any large trees. 



THE RED-HEADED SQUIRREL. This animal is brighter 

 in colour than the last, owing to the reddish yellow 

 colour of the coat, while the insides of the limbs are 

 bright brownish red. It is not met with habitually 

 on the ground like the Grey-Footed Squirrel, but 

 favours the branches of large trees, and clumps of 

 thick bush, so that it is much less frequently seen. 

 It carries its tail high, and is constantly jerking it up 

 and down. 



THE CANE RAT. The cane rat belongs to the same 

 division of the animal kingdom as the porcupine, and is 

 found throughout most of Africa south of the Sahara. 

 It attains a total length of about thirty inches, and is 

 stoutly built, averaging about twelve pounds in weight 

 when full grown, and sometimes scales a couple of pounds 

 in excess of this. It is entirely destitute of fur, being 

 covered instead with coarse bristles of a generally light 

 brown colour, yellow at the bases, and turning to black 

 at the tips ; on the chin they are whitish. These bristles 

 come off very easily, and in fact the nature of the skin 

 is very remarkable ; it is thick, but at the same time 



