470 
MAMMALIA. 
The Agoutis are natives of South America and the West 
Indies. Woods spreading over hills and mountains are the 
localities where they generally take up their abode ; and the 
clefts of rocks, or the hollows in trees, serve for their retreats. 
If ready-made places of shelter are not procurable, they dig 
burrows. They are nocturnal in their habits, and feed princi- 
pally on roots and fruit. But when in captivity they are 
omnivorous, and manifest an unbearable voracity, for they gnaw 
everything they can get at. 
The Agouti is hunted in America, just as the Hare and Babbit 
are in Europe, with Bogs, laid in wait for and shot, or taken in 
Fig. 202.— The Agouti ( Dasyjorocta agouti). 
traps and snares, for it constitutes excellent human food. It 
can be very easily tamed. 
Beavers (Castor). — W^e now have to describe certain Mam- 
mals which are celebrated all over the world for their industrious 
habits and intelligence ; but, in the first place, let us attempt 
to draw a portrait of these interesting Rodents. 
The Beaver does not possess a pleasing appearance. Its thick- 
set shape, its large head, small eyes, cloven upper lip, which 
shows its powerful incisors ; its long and wide tail, flattened 
like a spatula and covered with scales — combine to give it 
an awkward appearance. Its hind feet are larger than the 
