ARMADILLOS. 219 



not on the contracted claws, carrying its inflexible tail, which it has no power to 

 raise, trailing along the ground, and much inclined downwards from the body. 

 As it commences to excavate, the fore-feet are first employed ; and, immediately 

 afterwards, supporting its body on the tripod formed of these and the extremity of 

 the tail, both hind-feet are set to work simultaneously, discharging the sand with 

 incredible swiftness. The burrows, which are never left open, usually have but 

 slight, if any, inclination to the horizon. Sluggish in all its movements, except as 

 a fodient, in which capacity it perhaps excels all other burrowing animals, the 

 Chlamydophorus performs the operation of excavation with such celerity that a 

 man has scarcely time to dismount from his horse before the creature has buried 

 itself to the depth of its own body." Mr. White believes that the use of the bony 

 .shield at the hinder extremity of the body is to act as a rammer in closing up the 

 entrance to its burrow, and he is further of opinion that when the creature desires 

 to come above ground, it emerges by digging a new exit. When in search of a 

 .spot in which to burrow, the pichiciago utters a sniffing sound, but is otherwise 

 silent. " So extremely sensitive is this delicate little burrower to cold," writes Mr. 

 White, "that my living example, after passing a night in a box of earth covered 

 with flannels, was found the following morning in a very exhausted condition. 

 Wrapped in warm clothing, and placed near a tire, it soon revived. On taking it 

 in my hand under a Mendozan midday sun it shivered violently; but whether 

 through fear or chill it is impossible to say. Its normal paradise seems to be when 

 the temperature of its residence is such as is produced by sand so hot as almost to 

 scorch the hand : and yet, if cold be unfriendly, no less so is wet, for although its 

 winter is spent beneath the earth, a fall of rain quickly drives it from its retreat. 

 During summer it leaves its burrow at dusk to search for food ; and being truly 

 nocturnal, moonlight nights are very favourable for discovering it." A second, 

 and rather larger species of pichiciago (C. retusus) inhabits Bolivia, and is dis- 

 tinguished from the typical form by the mantle being attached to the skin of the 

 back throughout its whole extent. 



The remaining members of the family, with the exception of the 

 rue a os. ^ a armadillo and its allies, are included in a single subfamily, 

 characterised by the division of the bony carapace on the back into scapular and 

 lumbar shields, separated from one another by a variable number of movable 

 bands. They all have moderate-sized ears, set at a considerable distance apart ; 

 and the first and second claws of the fore-feet are, when present, slender ; while 

 the females have but a single pair of teats on the breast. 



six Banded The weasel-headed, or six-banded armadillo {Dasypus sexcinctus) 



Armadillos. ; s fa e typ e f a g enus characterised by having usually six or seven, 

 but occasionally eight, movable bands in the carapace ; each bony plate of which is 

 marked by an elliptical row of punctures. The head is broad and flattened, with 

 an obtusely pointed muzzle, and rather small or moderate-sized ears; and the 

 body is broad and much depressed. In length the tail is less than the head and 

 body ; and the plates on its basal portion form well-defined rings. Of the five toes 

 in the fore-feet, the first is the most slender, the second is the longest, while the 

 three outer ones are the stoutest, and gradually diminish in size from the third to 

 the fifth. They have a rounded inner border, and a sharp outer ami lower edge. 



