THE RODENTS, OR GNAWING ANIMALS I4I 
Th to by Scholastic Photo. Co. 
PATAGONIAN CAVY 
This large species of cavy has been acclimatised successfully both in 
England and in France 
and England. The flesh is like that of the 
rabbit. 
The Capysara is the largest of all rodents. 
This species is, in fact, a gigantic water guinea- 
pig. Itis found in all the great rivers of South 
America, from the Orinoco to the La Plata. 
It swims as well as a water-rat, though it is as 
large asasmall pig. It feeds on weeds, water- 
plants, and grass. <A capital photograph of 
this animal appears on page 146. 
Pikas, Hares, AND RABBITS. 
The last two families of the Rodents have 
a small pair of rudimentary incisor teeth be- 
hind the large ones in the upper jaw. The 
Pikas, or CALLING-HARES, resemble the mar- 
mot tribe in general appearance. Their heads 
are short, their ears rounded, and, being tail- 
less, they still less resemble the common hare ; 
but their dentition marks them as allied. One 
species, about 9 inches long, is found in Si- 
beria; and another, only 7 inches long, in 
the Rocky Mountains. The former has a 
habit of cutting grass and storing it in small 
stacks outside its hole for winter use; the 
Rocky Mountain species carries its hay into 
its burrows. 
The Hares are a widely distributed group. They are found from the north of Scotland 
(where the gray mountain species turns white in winter) to the south of India, in South Africa, and 
across the continent of Asiato Japan. The Mounrain-nare takes the place of the brown species in 
Scandinavia, Northern Russia, and Ireland ; it is rather smaller, and has shorter ears and hind legs. 
As early as 54 B.c., Ceasar, in 
his account of Britain, writes that 
the Common Hare was kept by the 
ancient Britons as a pet, but not 
eaten by them. It was protected by 
the Normans in the second list, or 
schedule, of animals reserved for 
sport. The first list included the 
Beasts of the Forest, the second 
the Beasts of the Chase, of which 
the hare was one of the first. The 
word “ chase” has here a technical 
meaning, by which was understood 
an open park, or preserved area, 
midway in dignity between a forest 
and an enclosed park. “ Hare parks” 
were also made, perhaps the most 
recent being that made at Bushey 
for the amusement of the sovereign 
10 
By permission of Professor Bumpus] (New York 
WOOD-HARE 
This is one of the forms intermediate between the bares and rabbits 
