700 RODENTIA. 



The Pouched JerbOa, Dipodomys Philippi, is a native of California, 

 where it lives in the most desert-like districts. It is probable that it can 

 live without water for a long time, or is satisfied with the dewdrops 

 which form on some plants. Audubon writes that in Western Mexico 

 and California they were so tame that they could have been caught by 

 the hand without difficulty. " This species hops about kangaroo-fashion, 

 and jumps pretty far at a leap. Where the men encamped they came 

 smelling about the legs of the mules., as if they were old friends. These 

 animals appear to prefer the sides of stony hills, which afford them secure 

 places to hide in, and they can easily convey their food in their cheek- 

 pouches to their nests." 



GENUS GEOMYS. 



The Fur Country Pouched Rat or Mulo, Geomys bursarius (Plate 

 LIV), is the most remarkable of the five species of the genus. 



It is of a pale-gray color, but the exterior of the pouches, the abdo- 

 men, and the tail are covered with white hair. The teeth are yellow, 

 and are marked with deep longitudinal grooves. The central claw of 

 the fore feet is very strong, and measures nearly half an inch in length. 



It is rather gregarious in its habits, associating together in moderately 

 large bands, and undermining the ground in all directions. Its burrow 

 is not very deep, but runs for a considerable distance in a horizontal 

 direction, and along its course occasional hillocks are thrown up, by 

 means of which it may be traced from the surface. A more detailed 

 account is found in the following extract from Audubon : 



" Having observed some freshly thrown up mounds in M. Chocteau's 

 garden, several servants were called and set to work to dig out the 

 animals, if practicable, alive; and we soon dug up several galleries 

 worked by the Muloes, in different directions. 



" One of the main galleries was about a foot beneath the surface of 

 the ground, except when it passed under the walks, in which places it 

 was sunk rather lower. We turned up this entire gallery, which led 

 across a large garden-bed and two walks into another bed, where we 

 discovered that several fine plants had been killed by these animals eat- 

 ing off their roots just beneath the surface of the ground. The burrow 

 ended near these plants under a large rose-bush. We then dug out 

 another principal burrow, but its terminus was among the roots of a 



