134 



DlPODID^.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-MUEID^. 



son, it is a sly and timid animal, li\'iug in societies, 

 and constructing bmTOws imdergi-ound ; and is ■with 

 difficulty preserved in a state of domestication. Some 



naturalists consider this species as identical with the 

 variety found iuliabiting the waste country between the 

 Don and Wolga rivers, and in the southern steppes at 



rig. 45. 



The jEgTptian Jerboa (Dipus iEgyptius). 



the Irtitsch ; but the limits of our space prevent om' 

 discussing this question or giving further details. The 

 accompanying drawing (fig. 45) represents the Jerboa 

 about to take a leaj). 



MITCHELL'S JERBOA {Dijms Mitchellii) has been 

 so named by Mr. Ogilby after the origuial discoverer, 

 Sir Thomas Mitchell, who foimd this species on the 

 marshy grounds near the jmiction of the Murray and 

 the Murrumbidgeo, on the northern boundaries of 

 Australia Felix. In size it scarcely exceeds our com- 

 mon field mouse. The tail is particularly long, and 

 ends in a hairy tuft, two inches in extent. 



HABDWICKE'S JEBBOA [Dipns Indicus), is a native 

 of Hindostan, frequenting the cidtivated districts, and 

 pro'sing highly destructive to the wheat and barley 

 crops. It feeds principally on gi'ain, but wA\ in times 

 of scarcity consume other kindi? of vegetable food. 

 Dm'ing its leaps, which extend over a space of foui' or 

 five yards at a single jimip, the tail is stretched out 

 horizontally. At evening time hundreds issue forth 

 from their snug retreats, but they disappear on the 

 slightest alarm. 



THE CAPE JEKBOA {H,-!ami/s C'<yjc».sjV)— Plate 14, 

 fig. 4G — is a nati\e of South Africa. The hind feet 

 are tetradactylous, and armed with very long, sharply- 

 pointed claws. The ears are largely developed ; so is 

 also the tail. The molar teetli have no roots ; their 

 crowns also are divided mto two equal, oval-shaped 

 portions, by a fold from the outer side in the upper 

 series, and from the inner side below. The fur is of 

 a bright yellow-brown colour generally. The Cape 

 Jerboa is a very powerful animal, leaping as much as 

 thirty feet at a single bound. Duruig sleep it assumes 

 a sitting posture. 



THE ALAK-DAASGHA (Soirtetes jaculus) is the name 

 given by the Mongols to a species of jerboa itdiabiting 

 the steppes between the Donau and the Don ; this 

 animal is also fomid in the Crimea. The feet are 

 pentadactylous, but the tln-ee central toes of the hinder 

 extremity are very cogcntlj' developed. The molar 



teeth are rooted, and have their crowns sui'movmted by 

 contorted ridges of enamel. The ears are fully as long 

 as the head. 



Family IV.— MURID^. 



The Fiats and Mice, properly so called, have largely- 

 developed ears. The cla%ic'ies are distinct. There are 

 usually twelve molar teeth, uniformly covered with 

 enamel ; and the hiferior incisors are compressed and 

 sharply pointed. The fore-feet are tetradactylous, the 

 several digits wide-spread, and the thumb represented 

 by a warty tubercle, which in some cases is clawed ; 

 the hhid feet are pentadactylous. The skeleton — 

 Plate 33, fig. 106 — is comparatively sHm tliroughout. 

 The tail is mostly very long, naked, or only thinly 

 haired. The species are extremely nimierous, and 

 aboimd everpvhere. 



THE COMMON MOTTSE {Mus musculus) is almost 

 too well kiiuwii to require more than a passing notice. 

 The fur exhibits an ashy-brown coloiu', which becomes 

 lighter underneatli the belly. Its ears are about half 

 as long as the head ; the tail being rather shorter tlian 

 the body. This elegant little animal is extraordinarily 

 prolific, the female breeding at all seasons of the year, 

 and usually producing five or six young at a birth. 

 Wliite varieties are very common. 



Speakuig of the methods adopted for destrojnng these 

 pests, Mr. BeU remarks as follows : — " In addition to 

 the usual means employed for their extermination, such 

 as traps of various kinds, and the carnivorous instinct 

 of the cat, the fen-et, and the w-easel, tliere still exists 

 in Wales a custom so disgustingly cruel tliat the very' 

 mention of it would be scarcely pardonable but for the 

 possibility of thus producing some degi-ee of shame m 

 the perpetrators of it, and consequently saving some 

 poor little mice from bemg the victims of such barbarity. 

 It is customary in some parts of AVales to roast a mouse 

 alive, hanguig it before the fire by its tail tied to a string, 

 that its screams may scare tlie rest from the house." 



