156 RODENTS. 
The degus are some of the commonest Rodents in Chili, and 
associate in large companies. They are generally found in hedges or 
bushes, and in the neighbourhood of towns may frequently be observed running 
across the high-roads, while they often resort to gardens and orchards, where they 
commit considerable damage. Their burrows are constructed in hedge-banks or 
under bushes, and those of the whole colony communicate more or less freely with 
one another. When disturbed, they scamper off at once to seek refuge in their 
burrows, with their tails raised over their backs. In many respects they resemble 
squirrels in their habits, cimbing trees with facility, and laying up stores of food 
for winter use, although, owing to the mildness of the climate of the regions 
they inhabit, they do not hibernate. Their food usually consists of the various 
Habits. 

THE DEGU (2 nat. size). 
plants growing round their burrows, supplemented in winter by bark. It is 
believed that two litters are produced annually, each containing five or six 
young. 
There are other species of Octodon inhabiting Chili and Bolivia; 
and in addition to these the latter country possesses two representa- 
tives of the allied genus Habrocoma, so named from the extreme softness of the 
fur, which approaches that of the chinchilla. The habrocomas are about the size 
of an ordinary rat, and distinguished by their larger ears, the absence of a tuft to 
the tail, and by the lower molar teeth being more complex than the upper ones. 
Another allied Rodent from the Southern Andes, known as Aconwmys, 1s 
distinguished by the enamel-folds of the molars meeting in the middle line. The 
regions where these animals are found are buried in snow for several months of 
the year. 
Habrocoma. 
