120 MYVRMECOBIUS. 
tender young are defended from danger by the long hairs which clothe the 
under portions of the body. 
It is a beautiful little animal, the fur being of agreeable tints and diversified 
by several bold stripes across the back. The general colour of the fur is a 
bright fawn on the shoulders, which deepens into blackish-brown from the 
shoulders to the tail, the fur of the hinder portions being nearly black. Across 
the back are drawn six or seven 
white bands, broad on the back 
and tapering off towards their 
extremities. The under parts 
of the body are of a yellowish- 
white. The tail is thickly 
covered with long bushy hair, 
and has a grizzled aspect, 
owing to the manner in which 
the black and white hairs of 
which it is composed are 
mingled together. Some hairs 
are annulated with white, red- 
rust, and black, so that the 
tints are rather variable, and 
never precisely the same in 
two individuals, 
The length of the body is 
about ten inches, and the tail 
measures about seven inches, 
so that the dimensions of the 
animal are similar to those of 
the common water vole of 
Europe. 
It is an active animal, 
and when running, its move- 
ments are very similar to 
those of the common squirrel. 
When hurried it proceeds by 
a series of small jumps, the 
tail being elevated over its 
back after the usual custom 
of squirrels, and at short in- 
tervals it pauses, sits upright, 
and casts an anxious look in 
all directions before it again 
takes to flight. Although not 
a particularly swift animal, it 
is not an easy one to capture, 
MYRMECOBIUS.-—(JZyrmecobius fasciatus.) as it immediately makes for 
some place of refuge, under a 
hollow tree or a cleft in rocky ground, and when it has fairly placed itself 
beyond the reach of its pursuers, it bids defiance to their efforts to drive 
it from its haven of safety. Not even smoke—the usual resort of a hunter 
when his prey has gone to “earth” and refuses to come out again—has the 
least effect on the Myrmecobius, which is either possessed of sufficient smoke- 
resisting powers to endure the stifling vapour with impunity, or of sufficient 
courage to yield its life in the recesses of its haven, rather than deliver 
itself into the hands of its enenues. 
