JUMPING MICE AND JERBOAS. 113 



used as an exit in time of danger, when the animal removes the barrier and escapes 

 in an unsuspected direction. Usually two or three pairs occupy the same burrow. 

 In addition to the usual vegetable diet, the alagdaga also eats insects, and the eggs 

 and young of the steppe-lark, if not the old birds themselves. The young are born 

 in summer, in a nest placed deep down in the burrow, and are usually from five to six 

 in number, although occasionally there may be as many as eight in a litter. How long 

 the young remain with their parents is unknown, but it is quite probable that they 

 do not depart till the spring following their birth. In cold weather these animals do 

 not leave their nests ; and the winter sleep is a long one, enduring, according to Radde, 

 from the beginning of September till the latter part of April. The flesh of the 

 alagdaga is eaten by the Kirghiz and other dwellers on the steppes; the capture being 



Afghan Jerboa. 



THE KIRGHIZ JERBOA (J nat. size). 



effected by surrounding the burrows with a fence and pouring water down the 

 open holes, when the animals seek to escape by breaking through the closed entrance. 

 The Afghan jerboa (A. indica) is a smaller species of the same 



genus, with proportionately longer ears and tail ; the length of the 

 head and body being about 3J inches, and that of the tail, inclusive of the tuft at 

 end, upwards of 74- inches. This species inhabits Afghanistan, the south-east of 

 Persia, and Northern Baluchistan ; and is found commonly on the plains of Quetta 

 at an elevation of about six thousand feet. In habits, this jerboa seems to be very 

 similar to the larger species ; its period of hibernation lasting from October till 

 April. Central Asia is also the home of other species of the same genus. 



The recently discovered Yarkand jerboa (Euchoretes naso) is the 



sole representative of a distinct genus characterised by certain features 

 in the skull, the great length of the nose, and the enormous size of the ears, which 

 are longer than the head. The fur is sandy -coloured above and white below ; the 

 VOL. in. 8 



Yarkand Jerboa. 



