*74 



RODENTS. 



Yiscachas are essentially nocturnal. Mr. Hudson states that in winter they 

 " seldom leave their burrows till dark, but in summer come out before sunset ; and 

 the viscachera is then a truly interesting spectacle. Usually one of the old males 

 first appears, and sits on some prominent place on the mound, apparently in no 

 haste to begin his evening meal. When approached from the front he stirs not, 

 but eyes the intruder with a bold indifferent stare. If the person passes to one 

 side, he deigns not to turn his head. Other viscachas soon begin to appear, each 

 one quietly taking up his station at his burrow's mouth, the females, known by 



their greatly inferior size 

 and lighter grey colour, 

 sitting upright on their 

 haunches, as if to command 

 a better view, and indicat- 

 ing by divers sounds and 

 gestures that fear and curi- 

 jiilirTff \ sity struggle in them for 



FniliTlmiiM ti/.'f. ITT 



the mastery. With eyes 



/ 



A VTSCACHERA. 



fixed on the intruder, at intervals they dodge the head, emitting at the same time 

 an internal note with great vehemence ; and suddenly, as the danger comes nearer, 

 they plunge simultaneously, with a startled cry, into their burrows." When driven 

 to the recesses of their burrows they utter a peculiar kind of growling sound. 



The viscacha is a far from prolific animal, the female producing in September 

 a single litter, which usually contains two, but occasionally three young. As the 

 animal takes about two years in reaching maturity, the vast numbers in which it 

 existed on the pampas, previous to a war of extermination waged against it by the 

 agriculturists, is not a little remarkable. 



The habit of accumulating the remains of its food around the entrance of its 



