THE PIC HI CI A GO. 



631 



encircle the same member in the other Armadillos, and is only supplied with a coating of 

 brown hair. For about three inches of the extremity the under side of the tail is not even 

 furnished with hair, but is quite naked, with the exception of a few rounded scales. 









TATOU.— Piiodonta gigas. 



The last and largest of these animals is the Tatou, or Giant Armadillo {Priodonta 

 gigas). 



This creature measures more than four feet six inches in length, the head and body being 



rather more than three feet long. It is as good a 

 burrower as its relatives, and is so keen in its scent 

 after the food which it loves, that the inhabitants of 

 the same country are forced to line the graves of 

 their departed friends with boards, in order to pre- 

 vent the Tatou from exhuming and devouring them. 

 The teeth are very remarkable, there being from six- 

 teen to eighteen small molars on each side of the 

 jaws. The tail is about seventeen inches long, and 

 tapers gradually to a point from the base, at which 

 spot it is nearly ten inches in circumference. This 

 member is covered with regularly graduating horny 

 rings, and when dried and hollowed, is used as a 

 trumpet by the Botocudos. The Tatou is found in 

 Brazil and Surinam. 



Family DasyjJodidce includes several genera. 

 The Peba is the more familiar form. This is found 

 in Central America as well as in South America, 

 where it is called Texan Armadillo. Its length is 

 about 30 inches. 



Neaely related to the armadillos is the remark- 

 able little animal called the Pichiciago {Chlamydb- 

 pTiorus truncatus), a native of Chili, which looks 



PICHICIAGO.— (CMamyrlophorus trtmcatus.) -^ " ' 



like a mixture of the mole and the armadillo. 

 The top of the head, the back, and the hind quarters of the Pichiciago are covered with 

 a shelly plate, which runs unbroken to the haunches, over which it dips suddenly, looking 



