474 



TEE AGOUTI. 



The two succeeding animals bear some resemblance to each other, but may be distin- 

 guished by the different shape of the head, and the structure of the feet and toes. These tech- 

 nical distinctions may be found in the list of generic differences which closes the first volume 

 of this work. There are several species of Agoutis, the Common Agouti being considered as 

 the type of the genus, and their habits being very similar. 



The Agouti is a native of Brazil, Paraguay, Guiana, and other neighboring countries, but 

 its numbers have been considerably thinned in many spots where cultivation has been indus- 

 triously carried on. In some of the Antilles, where it formerly swarmed, it is now nearly 

 extirpated, and in St. Domingo is but rarely seen. It is a voracious animal, eating almost 

 every kind of vegetable food, having, however, an unfortunate preference for those plants 



which have been reared under human 

 superintendence. It is especially fond 

 of roots, such as potatoes and yams, 

 and is so destructive among sugar- 

 canes that the planters are forced to 

 wage a war of extermination against 

 the Agouti before they can hope for a 

 good crop. Very few of these animals 

 are to be found in any spot where the 

 sugar-cane has been cultivated to any 

 extent. Besides plants and nuts, the 

 Agouti eats various fruits, displaying 

 a strong predilection for nuts. Like 

 many of the rodent animals, it is capa- 

 ble of varying its diet with animal 

 substances, and will seldom refuse a 

 piece of meat if offered. 



It is a tolerably swift animal, as 

 might be supposed from the great com- 

 parative length of its hinder limbs, but 

 does not appear to be capable of sustain- 

 ing a long chase. Open country is on 

 that account rather distasteful to the 

 Agouti, who prefers wooded districts, 

 : r where it can find shelter without being 

 forced to run for any considerable 

 distance. When running, it bears 

 some resemblance to the common hare, and, like that animal, is rather apt to overbalance itself 

 when running down hill, and to roll for some yards before it can recover itself. 



All its movements are sharp, quick, and active, and even while sitting upright and 

 engaged in feeding itself by the assistance of its fore-paws, its head is continually being 

 turned from side to side, and its bright eyes glance in every direction, in order to guard 

 against a surprise. As it is a nocturnal animal, and spends the whole of the day in its dark 

 lading-place, its ravages take place under cover of night, and are the more difficult to be 

 repelled. Its usual resting-place is in the cleft of a rock, or in the hollow of some decaying 

 tree, where twenty or thirty of these animals may be found living amicably together. 



In these dark recesses the young Agoutis are born, and are laid iipon a soft bed of leaves, 

 where they remain for a few weeks, and then sally out with their parents on their nocturnal 

 expeditions. There are generally two broods in each year, and the number of young at a 

 birth is from three to six. 



The Agouti can be readily domesticated, but is in no great favor as a pet, because it is so 

 fond of exercising its sharp teeth upon any article of furniture which may fall in its way, and 

 will in a very few minutes cut its way through an ordinary wooden door. Moreover, it ill 

 repays the trouble which has been taken in taming it, for it seems to lose all its amusing qual- 



AGOUTI. —Daeyprocta aguti. 



