HAMILTON: HETEROCEPHALUS, AFRICAN Bl'RROWING RODENT. l8l 
found no mention of such above ((round activity on the part of this 
animal. When handled, it gave vent to its displeasure in a few^ short 
coughs, but did not attempt to bite. . . . The soil along the river valley 
where it was captured is light and sandy, and suitable for burrowing. The 
elevation at this point is probably 3,000 to 4,000 feet, practically at the 
upper limit of growth of the ivory-nut palm. 
Dr. Ansorge (Thomas, 1903) noticed HetcrocephaJits ausorgci throw- 
ing out earth with its hind feet from a tiny circular hole at the bottom 
of a small crater-shaped mound of red earth. Dr. Dulio (Thomas, 1903) 
states that these animals in Italian Somaliland live in colonies of from 
fifty to one hundred in the sandy districts near the coast, that they 
burrowed very rapidly in the loose soil and for that reason were difficult 
to obtain. 
Phillips (Thomas, 1885), in a letter to the British Museum concerning 
the habits of this rodent, has the following notes to contribute : "On 
being placed on the ground, it commenced to dig furiously, using its 
teeth to loosen the earth with ; its eyes were tiny, and its ears simply 
holes in the side of its head. This little creature, called "Farumfer" by 
the Somali, throws up in places groups of miniature craters, which ex- 
actly represent volcanoes in active eruption. When the little beasts were 
at work I used frequently to watch them, and found that the loose earth 
from their excavations was brought to the bottom of the crater, and sent 
with great force into the air in a succession of rapid jerks, but they them- 
selves never ventured forth from the shelter of their burrows." 
Mrs. Delia J. Akeley, who captured the two Brooklyn Museum speci- 
mens of HetcrocepJmlus, has the following field note: "They are very 
difficult to obtain. I worked with my boys day after day without success 
until I finally ofi:'ered a rew^ard of ten shillings for them. Then a little 
Somali boy sat over a hole the better part of a day before he finally 
speared two. Apparently they never come above the surface of the 
ground. They dig their runways in places two or three feet below the 
surface and their runways branch out from the main passage in all direc- 
tions like the tributaries of a river. W^ien the animals are working near 
the surface they can evidently hear a footstep overhead and although they 
have not been molested — for the natives were as much surprised as I was 
at their appearance — they rush back to the deep runway. They excavate 
and ventilate by cutting a round hole at the surface. This hole is about 
the size of a half dollar when finished and, regardless of the loose sand, 
it is a perfect circle and rarel}' varies in circumference. Through this 
