176 



RODENTS. 



yellow, and the toes dusky. The large ears are pinkish, except on their margins; 

 and the small fleshy tail is naked, and of a dusky hue. 



Although essentially forest-dwelling animals, agutis are sometimes seen in the 

 early morning or evening on the open spaces. They are mainly nocturnal, 

 remaining concealed during the day in hollow trees or in cavities or burrows 

 among their roots ; such burrows, according to Bates, being in some cases two or 

 three feet in depth. Their movements are extremely active and graceful When 

 going slowly they advance at a kind of trot ; but when running their pace takes 

 the form of a series of rapid springs, which succeed each other so quickly as to 

 give the appearance of a gallop. Cutias, as these animals are called on the 

 Amazons, can swim well, but are unable to dive. Their food consists of the 



the comjiox aguti (J nat. size). 



foliage and roots of ferns and other plants, as well as fallen fruits; their sharp 

 incisor teeth enabling them to perforate the shells of the hardest nuts. In culti- 

 vated districts they do much harm to plantations of sugar-cane and plantains. 

 Of their reproduction in a wild state but comparatively little is known. They 

 breed, however, at least twice in the year, — generally once in May, before the 

 commencement of the period of drought, and again in October, at the setting 

 in of the rainy season. In captivity, where these animals not unfrequently 

 breed, there are usually only one or two at a birth ; but in a wild state it is 

 quite probable that the number may be greater. For a considerable portion of 

 the year the two sexes remain apart; but at the pairing-season each male selects 

 a female, which he follows with squeaks and grunts, and with whom he remains 

 until after the birth of their offspring. The female brings forth her young 

 in a lair or nest carefully formed of leaves, roots, and hair ; and attends them 

 sedulously for some weeks, preventing the male from having any access to them 



