ARMADILLOS. 



217 



their claws, and carrying the body elevated high on the limbs. They are found 

 both on the open pampas and in the forests ; and, with the exception of a single 

 species which ranges as far north as Texas, they are restricted to the warmer 

 parts of South and Central America. Their burrows are frequently found in the 

 neighbourhood of the mounds erected by ants and termites ; and although most of 

 the species wander abroad in search of food, a few lead an almost exclusively 

 subterranean and mole-like life. Except in the pairing-season, armadillos are 

 solitary creatures; and they nearly always prefer flat, open country for their 

 habitations. Although generally found in dry districts, they are said to be able to 

 swim well and swiftly. In spite of the nature of their food (which in addition to 

 ants and other insects includes snails and worms), the flesh of most armadillos is 

 free from unpleasant flavour. 



The smallest, and at the same time the most curious repre- 

 Pichiciago. 



sentative of the whole group, is the tiny creature known as the 



pichiciago, or pink fairy armadillo (Chlamydophorus truncatus), which differs so 

 remarkably from the true armadillos as to constitute a subfamily by itself. This 

 Edentate was discovered by the American naturalist Harlan, at Mendoza in 1824, 

 much to the astonishment of the natives, who had no knowledge of its existence. 

 For many years it was known only by two examples the one preserved in 

 London and the other at Philadelphia ; but of recent years a considerable number 

 of specimens have been obtained; and it has been kept alive in the Zoological 

 Gardens at Buenos Aires. 



The pichiciago is only about 5 inches in length; and, while the shield or 

 mantle covering the head and body is pink, the fur is of a snowy white. The 

 head is short, widest behind, and gradually tapering to the muzzle, where it 

 terminates in a short and abruptly truncated snout, with small and rounded nostrils. 

 The small and almost rudimentary eyes are nearly concealed among the long hair ; l 

 and the ears are quite invisible, having scarcely any external conchs. The mouth 

 is very small, with the lips hard and stiff"; and the rather long and fleshy tongue 

 is conical, and covered above with warty protuberances. The teeth, of which there 

 are eight in the upper and eight or nine in the lower jaw, are small and nearly 

 cylindrical; those in the middle of the series being larger than at the two 

 extremities. The neck is short and thick; and the body long and depressed, 

 becoming gradually wider from the shoulders to the abruptly truncated hinder 

 extremity. The limbs are short, and the front pair much more powerfully made 

 than the hinder ones. Both are provided with five toes ; but whereas in the fore- 

 limbs these are connected nearly to the bases of the claws, in the hind-pair they 

 are entirely free. The second claw in the fore-foot is the largest, and the fifth the 

 smallest ; while the claws of all the hind-toes are comparatively small. The tail, 

 which protrudes through a notch in the lower border of the bony shield on the 

 hind-quarters, is short and inflexible, terminating in a flattened and pointed paddle - 

 like expansion, and covered with a leather skin, dotted over with small horny 

 plates. The whole of the upper surface of the body is covered with a continuous 

 shield, or mantle, of quadrangular horny scales, underlain by very thin, bony 

 plates. This mantle commences in a point a short distance above the muzzle, and 



1 They are made too conspicuous in our figure. 



