RODENTS. 
170 
The regions which these animals inhabit are lonely and barren, with but very 
small amount of vegetation. In such places there are numerous perpendicular 
faces of rock, up and down which these tiny creatures dart with such lightning- 
like rapidity as to render it almost impossible for the eye to follow them. Although 
by no means shy, the report of a gun is sufficient to send them at once to their 
holes; and a spot which at one moment may be seen covered with hundreds of 
these creatures, will be left deserted in an instant. The natives hunt them with 
the aid of a species of weasel, which enters their burrows. From its peculiar 
softness and delicacy, the fur has long been highly appreciated in Europe, where 
large quantities are annually imported. 
the chinchilla (1 nat. size). 
Short-Tailed The short-tailed chinchilla (C. brevicaudata), from Peru, is an 
Chinchilla, animal very little known to naturalists, some of whom have even 
doubted its right to rank as a distinct species. It is, however, decidedly larger 
than the common chinchilla, with relatively shorter ears and tail. The general 
colour of the fur of the upper-parts is a very pale bluish grey, mottled with slaty 
black; the under-surface of the body, as well as the feet, being white. The tail 
gradually becomes bushy towards the tip; its fur being a mixture of greyish white 
and greyish black, becoming darker towards the tip on the upper-surface. 
Cuvier’s This (Lagidium cuvieri ) is considerably larger than either of 
Chinchilla, the preceding, the length of the head and body varying from 
about 16 to 20 inches, and that of the tail, exclusive of the hair at the tip, 
