1832-3. BURROWING RODENT. 59 



in their habits ; and their principal food is afforded by the 

 roots of plants^ which is the object of their extensive and 

 superficial burrows. Azara says they are so difficult to be 

 obtained^ that he never saw more than one. He states that 

 they lay up magazines of food within their burrows. This 

 animal is universally known by a very peculiar noise^ which 

 it makes when beneath the ground. A person^ the first time 

 he hears it^ is much surprised; for it is not easy to tell 

 whence it comes^ nor is it possible to guess what kind of 

 creature utters it. The noise consists in a shorty but not 

 roughs nasal grunt^ which is repeated about four times in 

 quick succession ; the first grunt is not so loud^ but a little 

 longer^ and more distinct than the three following: the 

 musical time of the whole is constant, as often as it is 

 uttered.* The name Tucutuco is given in imitation of 

 the sound. In all times of the day, where this animal is 

 abundant, the noise may be heard, and sometimes directly 

 beneath one^s feet. When kept in a room, the tucutucos 

 move both slowly and clumsily, which appears owing to the 

 outward action of their hind legs ; and they are likewise 

 quite incapable of jumping even the smallest vertical height. 

 Mr. Reid, who dissected a specimen which I brought home 

 in spirits, informs me that the socket of the thigh-bone is 

 not attached by a hgamentum teres; and this explains, in 

 a satisfactory manner, the awkward movements of their 

 hinder extremities. When eating, they rest on their hind 

 legs and hold the piece in their fore paws ; they appeared 

 also to wish to drag it into some corner. They are very 

 stupid in making any attempt to escape; when angry or 



* At the R. Negro, in Northern Patagonia, there is an animal of the 

 same habits, and probably a closely allied species, but which I never saw. 

 Its noise is different from the Maldonado kind ; it is repeated only twice 

 instead of three or four times, and is more distinct and sonorous : when 

 heard from a distance, it so closely resembles the sound made in cutting 

 down a small tree with an axe, that I have sometimes remained in doubt 

 concerning it. 



