THE AYE-AYE, HAMSTER, MUSK RAT AND WATER-RAT. 



The Hamster. 



A Water Rat. 



An Aye-Aye. 



The Aye- Aye presents a singular and frightened appearance; with its long, slender, middle toe, it 

 conveys food to its mouth. Its skull resembles that of Quadrumana ; it is as large as a hare, is of a chesnut 

 color, has a long, thick tail, naked ears, is nocturnal, moves slowly, lives in holes, and is a native of 

 Madagascar. 



Hamsters are very destructive, from the quantity of grain which they amass, and with which they some- 

 times fill holes seven feet long. 



Ondatras are like Arvicolse, and the Musk Rat of Canada belongs to them. It builds mud huts on the ice, 

 in which several live together, and when the frost closes the entrance to their dwellings, they eat one 

 another. The Water Rat belongs to the division Ilypudteus ; one of the species lives under ground, like a 

 mole, and fills its magazines with pieces of wild carrot. 



The Field Mouse is as great a pest in the open air as the common mouse within a house. It not only 

 devours the corn, but strips the bark of young trees, doing great mischief. 



Field Mice. 



The Musk Ral 



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