358 



THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. 



The Urson Indians alone know how to utilize 



Eaten by In- the Urson. The flesh is much es- 



dians. teemed by them and is said when 



properly prepared to be quite acceptable to white 



people also. The skin is of agreeable softness after 



the spines have been extracted and therefore can be 



used in the manufacture of moccasins, shoes, etc; 



the spines are used by the Indians in the decoration 



of hunting pouches, head-dresses, etc. 



Distinctive Char- The Cercolabes proper comprise the 



acteristics of the species furnished with a prehensile 



Cercolabes. tail and four-toed feet. When the 



fur is so much more copious than the spines that 



these latter project in places only and are entirely 



BRUSH-TAILED PORCUPINE. A separate group of the Porcupine family is formed by two species, one 



found in west Africa and one in the Malay region of Asia. The spines of the back are sharp pointed, and e'ach has a 

 deep groove which extends along its entire length. The tail is the most characteristic feature, the tuft consisting of a 

 bunch of spines so flattened that Buffon compares their appearance to narrow, irregular strips of parchment. The 

 African species is well portrayed in this picture. {Atherura africana.) 



absent on the throat, breast and abdomen, the vari- 

 eties are placed in the sub-species Sphingurus; those 

 in which the spines prevail are classified as belong- 

 ing to the sub-species Synetheres. 



The Mexican The eastern coast of Mexico is in- 

 Porcu- habited by the Mexican Porcupine 



pine. {Cercolabes nova hispanice), a crea- 



ture of thirty-eight inches total length, the tail occu- 

 pying about one-third of this. The glossy hair is 

 very thick and soft, slightly curly and so long as 

 to completely cover many of the spines. The under 

 parts are deficient in spines with the exception of 

 the lower portions of the throat, the inner surfaces 

 of the limbs, the muzzle and the outer half of the 

 tail. This latter organ toward the end is devoid of 

 any covering above, while below it is thickly set 

 with black bristles. Along its flanks the animal dis- 

 plays a yellow coloration. The muzzle is equipped 

 with very long whiskers. The quills are sulphur 

 yellow, tipped with black; thin at the base, of uni- 

 form thickness along their middle portions, and then 

 again taper suddenly; the middle part is smooth and 

 polished and the point is sharp as a needle and pro- 

 vided with a barbed hook. So long as the creature 

 is peacefully reposing but very little of the quills is 

 exhibited with the exception of those implanted 

 around the eyes and ears. When it is excited by 

 the presence of an enemy and its blood is up, it 

 erects all its quills so that they stand out in all 

 directions, and if one strokes the fur with one's 

 hand he feels them everywhere. These quills are 



set so loosely in the skin that they fall^ out at the 

 slightest touch, and if a person strokes the fur but 

 once, dozens of them are pulled out, some of them 

 invariably sticking to the hand. 



The Couiy a Accurate information concerning the 

 South American life in the free state of this and all 

 Species. other species of the CercolabinK is 

 very meager. We know most about a closely allied 

 species, the Couiy {Cercolabes villosus), of which 

 Azara, Rengger, Prince von Wied and Burmeister 

 have written the results of their observations. It is 

 thinly distributed all over Brazil and the country 

 south of it as far as Paraguay, being known every- 

 where but common nowhere. It usually selects 



dense forests of high 

 trees as its habitations. 

 The greater part of the 

 year it lives solitary in 

 a fixed location, always 

 keeping to the trees, in 

 the branches of which it 

 moves about with con- 

 siderable agility. Dur- 

 ing the day it rests, 

 sleeping in a curled up 

 attitude in its nest in the 

 fork of a limb; during 

 the night it prowls about, 

 climbing slowly and with 

 great circumspection. 

 Hensel lays stress on the 

 fact that it is protected 

 by what Mr. Darwin and 

 other eminent naturalists 

 term "natural imitation," 

 in that it corresponds to 

 its surroundings with re- 

 gard to shape and color- 

 ing. " Nature," says he, 

 "seems to specially favor 

 this Porcupine, for she did not content herself with 

 protecting it from foes among the inferior animals 

 and beasts of prey, but also made provision against 

 the attack of birds of prey. A quantity of long, fine 

 hairs project beyond the quills. When the animal 

 sits quietly and half curled up on the branches of a 

 treCj these long hairs give it a striking and most 

 deceptive resemblance to a lump of a certain kind 

 of gray moss (beard moss), and even a keen-sighted 

 sportsman often readily passes it by, deceived by the 

 long hair flowing in the wind, or occasionally shoots 

 into a piece of that parasitic plant, not being able 

 to exhibit a trophy of his prowess or boast much of 

 his deed afterwards." The attitude assumed by the 

 Cercolabes on trees is peculiar. It sits on its hind 

 legs, keeps its fore-feet close to them, sometimes 

 inverting them so as to support itself on the backs 

 of the fore-paws, instead of the soles; the head is 

 kept to one side, the tail is extended and curved 

 upwards, forming a hook. Usually it assures its 

 holds by coiling its tail round a branch. It sits very 

 securely without this help, however, even on the 

 smallest twigs, as the wide fore-feet, with their in- 

 ward curve, afford a firm hold. In climbing it 

 presses the broad, fleshy soles of the feet close to 

 the branches and grasps them with the toes which 

 have a prehensile power analogous to that of human 

 fingers. 



The food of the Cercolabes consists mainly of 

 fruit, buds, leaves and roots, which it carries to its- 

 mouth with its hands. 



