124 RODENTS. 
American forms these appendages are considerably longer. The Cricetines are 
distributed nearly all over the world, with the exception of Australia, and include 
the only representatives of the Rodent order found in Madagascar. In structure 
they appear to be the most generalised group of the entire murine family, and it is 
accordingly believed that they represent the ancestral stock from which came the 
more specialised rats and mice constituting the murine subfamily. This hypothesis 
is supported by the circumstance that the hamsters are some of the oldest types of 
the family with which we are acquainted, their remains being comparatively 
common in the Miocene strata both of Europe and North America. 
Common The common hamster (Cricetus frumentarius), of Europe and 
Hamster. Northern Asia, is the typical representative of the genus under 
consideration ; the leading characters of the genus being that the incisor teeth are 
not marked by grooves, while the first upper molar tooth generally has six 
tubercles on its crown. Cheek-pouches, which may be of large size, are frequently 
present; and the tail is often very short. 
The hamster itself is a decidedly handsomely-coloured Rodent, and is by far 
the largest member of the group, measuring about a foot in length, of which some 
2 inches are taken up by the tapering hairy tail. It is stoutly built, with a 
thick neck, a rather pointed muzzle, medium-sized membranous ears, large and 
brilhant eyes, short legs, and small claws. The thick glossy coat is composed of 
hair and a woolly under-fur. The general colour of the upper-parts is usually 
light brownish-yellow, but the upper surface of the snout and the region of the 
eyes, aS well as a band round the throat, are reddish brown. There is a yellow 
patch on the back, the mouth is whitish; and the under-parts, the greater portion 
of the legs, and a stripe on the forehead are deep black, but the feet are white. 
There is, however, great individual variation with regard to colour, many examples 
being entirely black, while others are pied, and others, again, wholly white. 
The hamster inhabits suitable localities from the Rhine in Germany to the 
Obi in Siberia; but its distribution is somewhat partial. In Germany it is wanting 
in the south and south-western districts, and also in East and West Prussia, but it 
is abundant in Thuringia and Saxony. Its favourite haunts are in soft dry soils, 
but it avoids those of a sandy nature as being unsuitable for its burrows, although 
it will sometimes select gravelly ground. 
The hamster has always attracted a considerable amount of interest, from the 
elaborate structure of its burrows, and the provident nature of its habits. The 
burrow always comprises a large dwelling-chamber, situated at a depth of from one 
_ to two yards below the surface of the ground, with a nearly perpendicular entrance- 
passage and an oblique exit. There is also a store-chamber or granary communi- 
cating with the dwelling-chamber by means of a gallery; and it appears that the 
young, the females, and the males generally occupy distinct burrows, which may be 
distinguished by the size of their entrance-passages, those of the males being the 
largest. When a burrow is tenanted, the passages are kept scrupulously clean, 
and the presence of any litter in them would at once proclaim that the habitation 
was deserted ; chaff and straw may, however, be generally seen near the entrance 
of a burrow. Although the entrance-passage goes nearly straight down into the 
earth, it also has a turn before opening into the dwelling-chamber ; and in old burrows 
