THE RODENTS, OR GNAWING ANIMALS 137 
of reeds piled in a mound, in the lakes and 
swamps. The body is only 12 inches long, 
but the fur is thick and close, and much used 
for lining coats and cloaks. The vast chains of 
rivers and lakes in Canada make that country 
the favourite home of the musk-rat. This crea- 
ture lives upon roots of aquatic plants, fresh- 
water-mussels, and stems of juicy herbs. Be- 
sides making the domed houses of grass, reeds, 
and mud, it also burrows in the banks of 
streams. There it makes rather an elaborate 
home, with numerous passages leading to the 
water. The odour of musk is very strong even 
in the skin. The tail is narrow and almost 
naked. This species is the largest of the vole 
group. 
Tue TypicaL Rats anp MICcE. 
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons 
These animals were originally an Old SHORT-TAILED HUTIA 
World group. .Though the brown rat is now 
common in America, it is believed to have 
come originally from China. 
The butias are another group of octodonts, found in the West India, 
Islands 
A very large number of animals are now almost dependent on man and his belongings. 
Such creatures are said to be “commensalistic,’ or eaters at the same table. They are often 
very unwelcome guests, whether they are flies, sparrows, or cockroaches ; but probably the least 
welcome of all are the rats and mice. The Brown Rar is the best known of any. It has come 
into worse repute than usual of late, because it is now certain that it harbours the plague-bacillus, 
and communicates the disease to man. 
Its habits and appearance need no description. The 
Brack Rat is the older and smaller species indigenous in Europe, which the brown rat has 
almost extirpated from England. A few old houses still hold the black rat, and there are always 
a few wild ones at the Zoological Gardens which feed in the animals’ houses. The BLACK-AND- 
WHITE Rar (not the albino white rat) kept tame in this country is probably a domesticated form 
of the ALEXANDRINE Rat of Egypt. 
The HovusE-mousE is now found in all parts 
of the world to which Europeans have access. 
In England its main home is in the corn-ricks. 
Were the farmers to thresh the grain, as is done in 
the United States, as soon as it is cut, mice would 
be far less common. Besides these parasitic mice, 
there are a host of field- and forest-mice in this 
and other countries. One of the best-known Eng- 
lish species is the Harvest-mousE, which makes 
a globular nest of grass in the wheat-fields, at- 
tached to stems of corn or weeds. In this the 
young are born. In winter the mouse lives in 
holes in banks, and lays up a store of kernels 
and grain. The Woop-mouse is larger than the 
former, or than the Housg-mouse. It is yellow- 
ish brown in colour, lays up a great store of 
winter food, and is itself the favourite prey of the 
weasel. 
ED a > 
By permission of the Hon. Walter Rothschild, Tring 
PORCUPINE 
Lhe common porcupine is found in North Amertca, Italy, 
Spain, and North Africa 
