720 RODENTIA. 



GENUS LAGOSTOMUS. 



This genus, which contains only one species, has a close resemblance 

 to the Chinchilla. They have four toes on the front feet, and three on 

 the hind ; the latter armed with long claws. 



The Viscacha, Lagostomus trichodactylus (Plate LVIII), is the Vis- 

 cacha of the Pampas. Their habitat is the vast plains of South 

 America, or the basin of La Plata river. They live in communities, 

 and hollow out very deep burrows. Grasses and vegetables consti- 

 tute the chief part of their food. Their usual posture is that generally 

 assumed by rabbits ; and they use their feet to convey their food into 

 their mouths. Their movements are very active, and they are exces- 

 sively wary and difficult to approach. They are hunted for the sake 

 of their fur. Their burrows are. dug in common, and inhabited in 

 common, and are provided with countless exits and entrances ; often 

 forty or fifty tunnels have been found, and the burrow is divided 

 into as many chambers as there are families. During the day they 

 live underground, at sundown they steal out one by one, and in the 

 twilight a numerous company assembles. The horsemen of the Pampas 

 and the condor are deadly enemies to the Viscachas. These persecuted 

 creatures display an almost human affection for each other; if one is 

 wounded when outside the burrow, its companions carry it off into the 

 safest recess. The Indians believe that if a burrow is stopped up, the in- 

 habitants of the neighborhood assemble and dig out their buried kinsfolk. 



The family Octodontid^e includes a number of curious and obscure 

 rat-like animals, mostly confined to the mountains and open plains of 

 South America, but having a few stragglers in other parts of the world. 

 Of the eight genera, two are peculiar to the West India islands ; and two 

 to Africa. 



GENUS CAPROMYS. 



The generic characteristics of the three species are a short, thick body 

 with powerful hindquarters ; a short, thick neck ; a long, broad head ; 

 broad, almost hairless ears ; large eyes ; strong legs, with five toes on 

 the hind, and four on the front feet. The fur is abundant, smooth, and 

 glistening. 



The Hutia Conga, Capromys pilorides, is described by Oviedo in 



