NOTES ON THE EGYPTIAN JEBBOA. 307 



as it lies on its side, the long hind legs form almost a straight 

 line with the body. The next instant the little contortionist 

 flexes its body, the long legs projecting in front of its muzzle as 

 rigidly as a moment before they were extended backwards. Food 

 is the next consideration : the Jerboa begins to run about with 

 remarkable nimbleness and lightness, like some wee brown 

 gnome or " brownie " {literally, a "brownie"), ever and again 

 abruptly stopping to examine some object. Oats, corn, millet- 

 seed — any dry food is welcomed, the grains of food being clasped 

 in the tiny fore paws, and conveyed to the mouth in true rodent 

 fashion. Green-stuff is also taken freely. Although probably, 

 like the Giraffe, the Eland, and the Gemsbok, the Jerboa has 

 often, in its own African deserts, to go without water for long 

 periods, it drinks freely when it has the opportunity, and I have 

 frequently seen my own animals drink, scooping up the water 

 with the fore paws, and conveying it to the mouth so quickly 

 that at first glance the animal seems to be lapping the water like 

 a Dog. 



Jerboas are very playful : if their cage' is carpeted with sand, 

 they will stretch themselves on it with great glee, and attempt to 

 burrow in it, ploughing up the sand with their muzzles. They 

 also have a mischievous habit of nibbling woodwork, and on one 

 occasion a pair of these animals utterly ruined a small bird-cage 

 given to them for a sleeping apartment by demolishing both floor 

 and back, an enormous hole being gnawed in each. One Jerboa, 

 indeed, which was recently addressed to me, I never got, for in 

 transit the industrious prisoner nibbled his way out to freedom, 

 doubtless to the astonishment of the railway officials. Twigs 

 and branches with the bark on are quickly stripped bare; in this 

 respect these rodents are fully as destructive as Budgerigars or 

 Parrots. Jerboas climb well, running quickly up wire-netting, 

 and jumping off recklessly on to the floor from a considerable 

 height ; I once lost a nice female from a compound fracture of 

 the leg, supposed to have been caused by this habit. She per- 

 sisted even after the limb was broken in scrambling up the wires 

 on one leg, and did not die for at least a week after the injury, 

 eating and sleeping well in the interval. Jerboas are very tough ; 

 the male I now possess once fell through a hole in the floor of 

 a loft upon the concrete pavement of the room below, from a 



