THE HAMSTERS AXL THE TREE MICE. 



113 



MOLAR TEETH OF THE HAMSTER. 



The best known species is the HAMSTER (Cricetus frumentarius, see Plate 28), a rather pretty 

 little beast, of about ten inches long, with bright, prominent, black eyes, short, membranous ears, 

 and a tapering hairy tail, about two inches and a half in length. 

 The fur, which is thick and somewhat lustrous, is usually of a 

 light yellowish-brown colour above, with the snout, the neigh- 

 bourhood of the eyes, and a band on the neck reddish-brown, 

 and a yellow spot on each cheek ; the lower surface, the 

 greater part of the legs, and a band on the forehead are black, 

 and the feet white. Many varieties occur. This Hamster is 

 widely distributed, ranging from the Rhine, through Europe 

 and Siberia, to the Obi ; and in most localities where it occurs 

 it appears in great numbers, and causes great injury to the 

 crops. Its burrows are exceedingly spacious, and consist of 

 numerous passages and chambers. In its temper it is ex- 

 ceedingly irascible, and at the same time very courageous, 

 defending itself bravely against its enemies, and standing 

 boldly on the defensive the moment any danger appears to 



threaten it. Its diet is by no means of a purely vegetable nature, but it will destroy and devour 

 all sorts of small animals that come in its way. Besides the corn, which forms its chief winter 

 provender, green herbage, peas and beans, and roots and fruits of various kinds, are welcome articles 

 of diet, and in confinement it will eat almost anything. 



The Hamsters pass the winter in their burrows in a torpid state, but waken up very early in the 

 spring, generally in March, but frequently in February. At first they do not open the mouths of 

 their burrows, but remain for a time subsisting on the stores laid up during the preceding autumn. 

 The old males make their appearance first, the females about a fortnight after them, the latter about 

 the beginning of April. They then set about making their summer burrows, which are not so deep 

 or so complicated as the winter dwellings ; and shortly afterwards the sexes pair. The young are 

 produced twice in the year, in May and July ; their number varies from six to eighteen. They have 

 teeth when first born, and their development as babies is very rapid. Their eyes open in little more 

 than a week after birth, and in another week they begin to burrow in the ground, and then their 

 hard-hearted parent drives them off to take care of themselves. 



The other species of this sub-family generally very closely resemble the Hamster, both in 

 appearance and manners. Most of them are found in Central Asia and Siberia, extending southwards 

 as far as Persia and South Tartary. Cricetus songarus has been obtained at Kumaon. The recorded 

 African species belong to two peculiar genera : they are Saccostomus lapidarius and fuscus, and 

 < ' ricetomys gambianus. 



Other African forms constitute the small sub-family of the TREE MICE (Dendromyince), which 

 are entirely confined to the southern portion of the continent. They are characterised by having 

 the incisors rounded and grooved in front, the infra-orbital opening not narrow below, and the 

 coronoid process of the lower jaw very small. The ears are clothed with hairs; and the feet, 

 which are five-toed, are furnished with long claws, which are serviceable to the little rat-like animals 

 in climbing up the trunks of trees. The BLACK-STREAKED TREE MOUSE (Dendromys mesomelas) 

 is a rather pretty little species, of a greyish colour, with a black line down the middle of the 

 back. It is slender in form, with a long, scaly tail, rounded ears, and the two outer toes in each 

 foot shorter than the rest. Steatomys jwatensis, from Mozambique, is stouter in form than the 

 preceding, and has a short, densely hairy tail; and in Loplmromys ater, from the same locality, 

 the incisors are not grooved, and the fur is developed into fine flattened bristles. 



The GERBILLES (GerbUlirue) are distinguished from all other Muridse (although approached by 

 Hapalotis) by the great length of the hind limbs, which are converted into powerful leaping organs, 

 somewhat as in the Jerboas and Kangaroos, although not quite to the same extent. Like all the pre- 

 ceding forms, they have the molars furnished with roots, but not with tuberculate crowns, these being 

 divided into transverse plates formed by separate elliptical or rhomboidal coats of enamel. The 

 incisor teeth are narrow, the infra-orbital opening as in the Murinae, and the tail long and hairy. 



