CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 7. RODENTIA. 



415 



Cuming's Octodon, 0. Cumingii or 0. degus, the Sciurus degus of Molina, in size and 

 shape resembles the water-rat. The fur is long and moderately soft ; upper parts of the body 

 penciled with black and pale brownish-yellow; dirty white beneath. The length of the body is 

 four and a half inches ; that of the tail two inches. It is a native of Chili, and may be seen by 

 hundreds in the hedgerows and thickets in the central parts of that country, where they make 

 burrows close together, leading one into the other. They feed by day in a fearless manner, and 

 are very destructive to fields of young corn ; when disturbed, they all run together toward their 

 burrows, in the same way that rabbits do when feeding outside a covert. When running they 

 carry their tails elevated ; they may be often seen seated on their haunches, like squirrels. They 

 lay up a store of food for the winter, but do not become dormant. Occasionally they climb 

 among the branches of the bushes. They have a very extended range, from 28° N. latitude to 

 the 35th parallel south. In the province of Coquimbo, where the country is sterile, they take 

 up their abode among the loose stones on the sides of the mountains, and are frequently met with 

 in the holes of the chinchillas. Their food consists of the herbage which grows at the roots of 

 the hedges ; in the winter months, when pressed by hunger, they feed upon the tender bark of 

 the Mimosa Cavenia, and also on that of the Oestrum Palqui. They breed but twice in the 

 year, and have from four to six young at a birth. 



Bridges's Octodon, 0. Bridgesii, has the fur very long and moderately soft ; upper parts 

 strongly penciled with brown, yellow, and black; abdomen white suffused with pale brown, yel- 

 low, or cream-colored. It inhabits Chili. 



The Dormouse Octodon, 0. glirdides. — In this species the fur is soft, ashy-gray on the upper 

 parts of the body, and white beneath ; is a very pretty animal, the body being five inches long, 

 and the tail three and a half. It is found in the Bolivian Andes, 10,000 feet above the level of 

 the sea, where it may be seen among the cactus hedgerows. 



Genus ABROCOME : Abrocoma. — The animals of this genus, of which there are two species, 

 seem to form a transition from the Ctenomydes to the Chinchilliens. Cuvier's Abrocome, A. 

 Cuvieri, is grayish-yellow above, and gray beneath. It is seven or eight inches long, and is 

 found in Chili. Bennett's Abrocome, A. Bennettii, resembles the preceding, and is also found 

 in Chili. 



^ >« 





CANADA POCCHED-KAT. 



THE PSEUDOSTOMIDES, OR POUCHED RATS. 



This family comprises several small rodents, all of which are American, and some of which 

 Are burrowers, and others climbers. They possess large cheek-pouches, and are divided into two 



