PECULIARITIES OF THE HYRAX 127 
To contain this strange genus and its twelve or fourteen 
species, a whole mammalian Order had to be created. The 
exact number of species that should be recognized is unknown, 
but at all events there are as many as twelve. For the two 
species that live in trees, another genus (Dendrohyraz) had to 
be created. The Hyraxes inhabit eastern Africa all the way 
CAPE HYRAX. 
Photographed from life. In the New York Zoological Park. 
from Cape Colony to Abyssinia and beyond, and one species 
is found in Syria. Westward the genus extends across Central 
Africa to the island of Fernando Po. In elevation they range 
from sea-level up to mountain-tops eleven thousand feet high. 
In mountainous districts their haunts and habits are in gen- 
eral terms like those of the pika of the Rockies (Ochotonys). 
To escape their very numerous enemies they hide in rocky 
burrows, preferably in slide-rock; and they feed in the early 
morning or at night. Their food consists of roots, grass, leaves 
