i56 



RODENTS. 



Habits. 



The degus are some of the commonest Rodents in Chili, and 

 associate in large companies. They are generally found in hedges or 

 bushes, and in the neighbourhood of towns may frequently be observed running 

 across the high-roads, while they often resort to gardens and orchards, where they 

 commit considerable damage. Their burrows are constructed in hedge-banks or 

 under bushes, and those of the whole colony communicate more or less freely with 

 one another. When disturbed, they scamper off at once to seek refuge in their 

 burrows, with their tails raised over their backs. In many respects they resemble 

 squirrels in their habits, climbing trees with facility, and laying up stores of food 

 for winter use, although, owing to the mildness of the climate of the regions 

 they inhabit, they do not hibernate. Their food usually consists of the various 



the degu (j nat. size). 



Habrocoma. 



plants growing round their burrows, supplemented in winter by bark. It is 

 believed that two litters are produced annually, each containing five or six 

 young. 



There are other species of Octodon inhabiting Chili and Bolivia ; 

 and in addition to these the latter country possesses two representa- 

 tives of the allied genus Habrocoma, so named from the extreme softness of the 

 fur, which approaches that of the chinchilla. The habrocomas are about the size 

 of an ordinary rat, and distinguished bv their larger ears, the absence of a tuft to 

 the tail, and by the lower molar teeth being more complex than the upper ones. 

 Another allied Rodent from the Southern Andes, known as Aconcemys, is 

 distinguished by the enamel-folds of the molars meeting in the middle line. The 

 regions where these animals are found are buried in snow for several months of 

 the year. 



