342 



INSECTIVORES. 



many as twenty-one young were brought forth at a siingle birth, fifteen or sixteen 

 being the common number. 



Owing to its strictly nocturnal habits, our acquaintance with the 



H&bits o t '1 



mode of life of the tenrec is by no means so intimate as could be 

 wished. It appears, however, that these animals are chiefly found in the mountains 

 of Madagascar, where thej' inhabit low covert formed by fems and bushes. Earth- 

 worms form a large proportion of their diet, which is, however, estensivelj' sup- 

 plemented bj^ insects ; and it would seem that the worms and insects are rooted 

 out from their holes and hiding-places by the aid of the flexible snout with which 

 the tenrec is furnished. During the cooler season of the j'ear the tenrecs hibernate 

 for a long period, burrowing deep holes in the ground about May or June, from 

 which tliey do not emerge till the following December. Whether this is to avoid a 

 season of drought, when their natural food is difficult to procure, we are unaware. 

 Like other animals, which enjoy a periodical rest, the tenrecs at the commencement 

 of their hibernation are in a fat condition, and are then much sought after by the 

 natives of Madagascar as an article of food : the whei-eabouts of their burrows being 

 u.sually revealed bv the heap of dirt or debris covering the entrance. 



The Streaked Tenrec. 

 Genus Hemicentetes. 



The streaked tenrec {Hemicentetes semispinosus), together with a second neai'ly 

 allied species {H. n igriceps), represent a genus distinguished from the preceding 

 by having three, instead of two, upper incisor teeth, and probably only three upper 

 molars ; as well as by certain peculiarities in the structure of the skull, and the 

 smaller size of the canine teeth, which are scarcely larger than the incisoi-s, and 

 cannot properly be termed tusks. 



The streaked tenrec is an animal of about the size of the common mole, and 

 derives its name fi-om the streaks of black and j-ellow with which the body is 

 ornamented. In this and the allied species the longitudinal rows of spines on the 

 back, which disapjjear in the adult of the common tenrec, are retained throughout 

 life. 



The Hedgehog- Tlie little animals known as hedgehog-tenrecs, are so like small 



Tenrecs. liedgehogs in general appearance that they might be readily taken 

 for members of the same famil}^ Like hedgehogs, they have the whole of the 

 upper surface and sides of the body covered with short, particoloured bristles; 

 and they are also furnished with a short tail. Of more importance as a generic 

 character, is the circumstance that there are only two incisor teeth on each side 

 of both the upper and lower jaw. Although it is probable that these animals can 

 to a cei-tain extent roll themselves up into a ball, yet from the feeble development 

 of the layer of muscle beneath the skin. Dr. Dobson is of opinion that this cannot 

 be done so completely as in the case with the hedgehogs. Since it cannot be 

 considered that the hedgehog-tenrecs are in any way nearly related to the hedge- 

 hogs, it is somewhat remarkable that both should have developed such exactly 

 similar spines, which are used for defensive purposes in the same manner. The 



