THE CHINCHILLA. 



139 



MOLAU TEETH OF THE CHINCHILLA. 



colour, mottled or clouded with darker and lighter tints. The ears are of large size. They are 

 confined to the Andes of Chili, Bolivia, and Peru, where they live among the bare rocks at a consider- 

 able elevation, seeking refuge in natural clefts and 

 cavities, sleeping in their holes during the day, and 

 coming forth at twilight in search of food. They 

 are exceedingly lively and active in their movements, 

 and very shy. 



The COMMON CHINCHILLA (Chinchilla lanigera), the 

 skins of which are well known as furs, is a squirrel-like 

 animal, nine or ten inches long, with a tail more than 

 half this length. It has lai-ge rounded eai-s ; its fore 

 feet have five, and its hind four, toes. Its fur on 

 the upper part is grey, elegantly marbled with dusky 

 or black, on the lower surface yellowish-white ; the 

 tail is black above, and dirty white at the sides and 

 beneath. The incisors are of a bright orange colour in 

 front. The SHORT-TAILED CHINCHILLA (C. brevicau- 

 data), a larger species, has the tail only three inches 

 long. Its fur is of a general silvery-grey hue, tinged 

 with black, especially along the back, and the tail has 



two dark bands on its upper surface. Both these animals inhabit Peru, and the former is also found 

 in Bolivia and Chili. They are exceedingly abundant, notwithstanding the constant persecution to 

 which they ai-e subjected for the sake of their skins. They come out of their holes even in the day- 

 time, but then always keep on the shady side of the rocks. Their activity is described as wonderful, 

 and they will run with great rapidity up perpendicular walls of rock which seem to offer no hold for 

 their feet. On the ground they are said to run very much after the fashion of our common Mice. 



The Chinchilla seems to breed 

 nearly all the year round, and 

 the female is said to produce 

 from four to six young at a 

 birth. 



The other two species of 

 Alpine Chinchillas are placed in 

 a separate genus, characterised by 

 a more hare-like form, longer ears, 

 and the presence of only four 

 toes on both fore and hind feet. 

 CUVIER'S CHINCHILLA (Lagidium 

 Cuvieri) is about eighteen or 

 twenty inches long, of an ashy- 

 grey colour with a yellowish 

 tinge above, and pale yellow 

 beneath ; the tail, which, with 

 the hair, is nearly as long as the 

 body is clothed beneath with 

 short black hairs, and above with 

 much longer bushy hairs, gradu- 

 ally increasing in length towards 

 the tip, where they are black ; a 

 black line passes down the middle 

 of the tail, and its sides are dirty white. The PALE-FOOTED CHINCHILLA (Lagidium pallipes), which 

 is about the same size as the preceding, but has a shorter tail, is ashy grey, with a brownish tinge, 

 becoming yellowish fawn colour beneath, The range of these animals seems to be the same as that 



CHIXCHILLA. 



