CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER V. RODENTIA. 
416 
Cuming's Octodon, 0, Cumingii or 0. degus^ the Sciurus degus of Molina, in size and 
shape resembles the water-rat. The fur is long and moderately soft; upper parts of the body 
penciled Avith black and pale brownish-yellow; dirty white beneath. The length of the body is 
four and a half inches ; that of the tail two inches. It is a native of Chili, and may be seen by 
hundreds in the liedgerows and tluckets in the central parts of that country, where they make 
burrows close together, leading one into the other. They feed by day in a fearless manner, and 
are very destructive to fields of young corn ; when disturbed, they all run together toward their 
burrows, in the same way that rabbits do when feeding outside a covert. When running they 
carry their tails elevated ; they may be often seen seated on their haunches, like squin-els. They 
lay up a store of food for the winter, but do not become dormant. Occasionally they climb 
among the branches of the bushes. They have a very extended range, from 28" N. latitude to 
the 35th parallel south. In the province of Coquimbo, where the country is sterile, they take 
up their abode among the loose stones on the sides of the mountains, and are frequently met with 
in the holes of the chinchillas. Their food consists of the herbage which grows at the roots of 
the hedges ; in the winter months, when pressed by hunger, they feed upon the tender bark of 
the Mimosa Cavenia, and also on that of the Cestrum Palqui. They breed but twice in the 
year, and have from four to six young at a birth. 
Bridges's Octodon, 0. Bridgesii, has the fur very long and moderately soft ; upper parts 
strongly penciled with brown, yellow, and black ; abdomen white suffused with pale brown, yel- 
low, or cream-colored. It inhabits Chili. 
The Dormouse Octodon, 0. gliro'ides. — In this species the fur is soft, ashy-gray on the upjDcr 
parts of the body, and Avhite beneath ; is a very pretty animal, the body being five inches long, 
and the tail three and a half. It is found in the Bolivian Andes, 10,000 feet above the level of 
the sea, where it may be seen among the cactus hedgerows. 
Genus ABROCOME : Abrocoma. — The animals of this genus, of which there are two species, 
seem to form a transition from the Ctenomydes to the Chinchillielis. Cuvier's Abrocome, A. 
Cuvieri, is grayish-yellow above, and gray beneath. It is seven or eight inches long, and is 
found in Chili. Bennett's Abrocome, A. Bennettii^ resembles the preceding, and is also found 
in Chili. 
CANADA POUCHED-EAT. 
THE PSEUDOSTOMIDES, OR POUCHED EATS. 
This family comDrises several small rodents, all of which are American, and some of which 
are burrowers, and others climbers. They possess large cheek-pouches, and are divided into two 
