250 



twice a year, in the spring and in tlie autumn, 

 T..a has six young at a litter. In the winter the 

 male and female^ with the young of the last 

 breed, inhabit the same burrow, those of the 

 first being old enough to provide for themselves. 

 The provisions laid ip in their magazines are 

 more than suificient for the subsistence of this 

 little family, as every spring a number of the 

 old roots are found at the mouths of their holes, 

 which have been brouaht out to make room for 



o 



new. The country people are very fond of these 

 roots, and eagerly search for the burrows, which 

 they plunder and destroy without regard to the 

 fate of their innocent inhabitants. 



The cliiiicliilla (mus laoiger) is another 

 species of ground-mouse or rat. Instead of hair 

 it is covered with an extremely fine and soft ash- 

 coloured wool, of asufficieiitlength for spinning. 

 This animal is about six inches long ; it has very 

 small ears, a short nose, teeth like those of the 

 common n)Ouse, and a tail of a moderate length, 

 covered \.it\i silky hair. It lives in the fields, 

 under ground, in large companies, and is princi- 

 pally found in the southern provinces ; its usual 

 food is the bulbous roots with which that part of 

 the country abounds. The female breeds twice a 

 year, and has five or six young at each birth, ii 

 is an extremely gentle and mild animal, and may 

 be handled without the least danger of its biting, 

 nor will it attempt to escape, but on the contrary 



