THE PORCUPINE GROUP 
terror. He got quickly to a bush and ran away, else I believe that the old 
rabbit would have beaten him to death.” 
In addition to this familiar eastern cottontail we have in the 
United States several other species, as the little marsh hare 
and the big water hare of the southern states; the large northern 
varying hare; the arctic hares; the various long-eared, long- 
legged ‘“‘jack rabbits” of the Plains and Rocky Mountains, 
a particular account of which has been given by Palmer ®; 
and several lesser species, more or less common on the Pacific 
coast. The “‘varying hare” is so called because, as is the case 
with several foreign northern hares, its brown summer coat 
when shed as usual on the approach of winter is replaced by 
one which is white. The purpose and process of this change 
with the seasons has been explained elsewhere. 
Porcupines, Chinchillas, and Cavies 
This brings us to the suborder Simplicideniata or rodents 
with only one pair of upper incisors, which consists, as we have 
seen, of three groups: (1) porcupinelike; (2) ratlike; and 
(3) squirrel-like; but many members of each bear little out- 
ward resemblance to their types. 
The porcupines are stout-bodied animals, protected by an 
armor of stiff, sharp, quill-like spines. In the European 
species these are twelve or fifteen inches long in some places, 
and on the back are solid, but on the tail are hollow. When 
the creature is angry or trying to look dangerous, it lifts these 
spines until they stand out in all directions, shakes its tail to 
give a clicking noise, and perhaps makes an odd _ bayonet- 
charge backward, at which the enemy usually flees nem. con. 
A mane of long, whitish bristly hairs flows back from its fore- 
head. Several very similar species inhabit Asia and South 
Africa, and some others in the East Indies have long tails with 
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