CHAPTER IV.

PORCUPINES--CHINCHILLAS--AGOUTIS--CAVIES--HARES AND RABBITS--PIKAS.

HYSTRICIDÆ, THE PORCUPINES--Conversion of Hairs into Spines--Skull--Dentition--Tail--Sub-families--The True Porcupines--The Tree Porcupines--THE COMMON PORCUPINE--Distribution--Description--The Crest of Bristles--Nature of the Spines--Habits--Young--Flesh--On the Defensive--Other Species--Species of Tree Porcupines--THE COUENDOU--THE COUIY--Description--Habits--THE URSON, OR CANADA PORCUPINE--Description--Habits--Food--CHINCHILLIDÆ, THE CHINCHILLAS--Characteristics--THE VISCACHA--Description--Life on the Pampas--Their Burrows--Habits--The Chinchillas of the Andes--THE CHINCHILLA--THE SHORT-TAILED CHINCHILLA--CUVIER’S CHINCHILLA--THE PALE-FOOTED CHINCHILLA--DASYPROCTIDÆ, THE AGOUTIS--Characters--THE AGOUTI--Distribution--Appearance--Habits--AZARA’S AGOUTI--THE ACOUCHY--THE PACA--Appearance--Distribution--Habits--DINOMYIDÆ--Founded for a Single Species--Description--Rarity--CAVIIDÆ, THE CAVIES--Characteristics--THE RESTLESS CAVY--Appearance--Habits--The Guinea-Pig Controversy--THE BOLIVIAN CAVY--THE ROCK CAVY--THE SOUTHERN CAVY--THE PATAGONIAN CAVY, OR MARA--Peculiar Features--Its Burrows--Mode of Running--THE CAPYBARA--Its Teeth--Where Found--Habits--THE DOUBLE-TOOTHED RODENTS--Characteristics--LEPORIDÆ, THE HARES AND RABBITS--Structural Peculiarities--Distribution--Disposition--THE COMMON HARE--Hind Legs--Speed--Its “Doubles”--Other Artifices--Its “Form”--Habits--Food--Pet Hares--THE RABBIT--Distribution--Habits--Domesticated--THE MOUNTAIN HARE--LAGOMYIDÆ, THE PIKAS--Characteristics--Distribution--THE ALPINE PIKA--THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PIKA.

FAMILY XII.--HYSTRICIDÆ (PORCUPINES).

This second family of the section Hystricomorpha exhibits the conversion of the hairs into spines in perfection, the whole upper part of the body being in several instances completely covered with long, hollow, pointed quills, whilst in all cases great numbers of spines and stiff bristles are mixed with the hair. The form of the skull in these animals is distinctive. It is ovate, the cranial portion being more or less inflated by air-cavities in the bones, and the facial portion short, but the occipital or hinder surface is usually nearly perpendicular; the malar portion of the zygoma has no angular process as in the preceding family; the molar teeth are four in number on each side in each jaw; and the limbs are about equal in development. The incisor teeth are large and powerful. With regard to the development of the tail there are considerable differences, some species having that organ quite short, while in others it is of moderate length, or long and sometimes prehensile.

The Porcupines fall readily into two distinct groups (sub-families) characterised by structure, habits, and geographical distribution. In the strictly terrestrial species, or True Porcupines (HYSTRICINÆ), which inhabit the warmer parts of the eastern hemisphere, the skull is rather more elongated than in the others; the front margin of the orbit is over the third molar; the molars are rootless when young, but become closed after a time, and the clavicles are imperfect. The upper lip is furrowed; the tail, which may be either long or short, is never prehensile; the soles of the feet are smooth; and the female has six teats.

The arboreal species (SPHINGURINÆ), which are all American, have the skull peculiarly short, the front margin of the orbit over the first molar, the molars always rooted, and the clavicles perfect. The upper lip is not furrowed; the tail is moderate or long, and generally prehensile; the soles of the feet are covered with wart-like tubercles; and the female has only four teats.

The COMMON PORCUPINE (_Hystrix cristata_) may serve as a characteristic and well-known example of the first of these two groups. It is an inhabitant of the Mediterranean region, occurring in most parts of North Africa, and extending as far southwards as the Gambia and Soudan; in Southern Europe it is abundant in Italy, Sicily, and Greece. It measures about twenty-seven or twenty-eight inches in length to the root of the tail, which is about four inches long. The head, shoulders, limbs, and under parts are clothed with short spines intermixed with hairs usually of a dusky or brownish-black hue; the neck is marked with a whitish collar; from the back of the head and neck there rises a great crest of long bristles, many of them fifteen or sixteen inches in length, which can be elevated and depressed at the pleasure of the animal, are gently curved backwards, and are either dusky with the extremities white, or whitish throughout; the hinder portion of the body is entirely covered by a great number of long, sharp spines, ringed with black and white, but always having the extremities white. These spines vary considerably in size, some of them being very long (fifteen or sixteen inches), comparatively slender and flexible; others shorter (from six to twelve inches), but much stouter. They are all hollow, or filled only with a sort of spongy tissue, but from their structure are exceedingly resistant, and when the animal erects them, which he is able to do by contracting the muscles of the skin in which their roots are imbedded, they constitute a most formidable armature. They appear to be but loosely attached to the skin, and readily fall out, a circumstance which no doubt gave rise to the belief prevalent among the ancients (and many moderns) that the Porcupine was able to shoot his spines at an approaching enemy, or even to project them behind him at a pursuer when he was rushing away in search of a place of safety. The tail of the animal bears at its tip about twenty spines of very curious construction; they are about two inches long, hollow, open, and cut off square at the end, and about a quarter of an inch in diameter for the greater part of their length, but they are inserted into the skin by the extremity of a thin stalk half an inch long.

The Porcupine lives in holes among the rocks, or in a burrow, which he makes for himself in ordinary ground. In this retreat he passes the day in sleep, coming forth in the evening in search of food, which consists of herbage of various kinds, fruits, roots, and the bark and leaves of trees and bushes. He is slow in his movements, and does not even display much activity in burrowing. His habits are solitary except during the pairing season; and during the winter he passes most of his time in his habitation, without, however, falling into a torpid state. The pairing takes place early in the year, but varies in this respect according to the climate of the locality; and in the spring or early summer the female produces from two to four young, in a nest carefully lined with leaves, grasses, roots, and other vegetable substances. The young Porcupines are born with their eyes open, and their bodies are covered with short, soft spines, which are pressed closely to the body. These speedily harden and grow longer, and the young do not appear to remain very long with their mother. The flesh of the Porcupine, like that of most purely vegetable-feeding Rodents, is very good, and is eaten in the countries where the animal occurs. When pursued or irritated, he stands on the defensive, erects his formidable quills and crest, stamps on the ground with his hind feet after the manner of a Hare, jerks himself towards the object of his dread, as if to wound it with his spines, and at the same time produces a curious noise by rattling the open quills of the tip of his tail. But all these manœuvres are generally in vain, and the Porcupine, in spite of his defensive armour, is pretty easily captured by those who know how to set about it. The Leopard is said to manage the business at once by a single blow of his paw on the head.

A very similar Porcupine (_Hystrix hirsutirostris_) takes the place of this species in Syria and Asia Minor, and extends thence eastward to India; another (_H. javanica_) inhabits the Sunda Islands; and the district of Nepaul has a peculiar species of its own. In Siam and Malacca, and on the west coast of Africa, we find two species of an allied genus, in which the spines of the body are comparatively short and depressed, and the tail is elongated, scaly, with a few scattered bristles in the middle, and with a large tuft of long flat bristles at the tip. The Malayan species (_Atherura fasciculata_) is about eighteen inches long, the African one (_A. africana_) about fourteen inches. Both are somewhat rat-like in their form.

The Tree Porcupines, forming the second sub-family, several species with prehensile tails, range over the continent of South America, east of the Andes, and one of them, the Mexican Tree Porcupine (_Sphingurus mexicanus_), is found as far north as Guatemala and Southern Mexico. The most abundant and widely-distributed species in the Brazilian region are the COUENDOU (_Sphingurus prehensilis_) and the COUIY (_S. villosus_), inhabiting Guiana, Brazil, and Bolivia, the latter being found throughout the forest region of Brazil and as far south as Paraguay.

These animals are of considerable size, usually measuring from sixteen to twenty inches in length without the tail, which is about one-third the length of the head and body. By the aid of the prehensile tip of this organ they climb with great facility and security upon the branches of the trees, but their feet are also specially adapted for this particular mode of activity, and they are said even to climb the palm-trees in order to feed upon their fruit. They are nocturnal in their habits, passing the day in sleep concealed in the fork of a branch, and going abroad at night in search of their food, which consists of fruits of various kinds, and the buds, leaves, and even flowers, of the trees on which they live. Roots also form a part of their nourishment, probably when they reside rather among thickets than in the high forest. Their spines, although short when compared with those of the Common Porcupine, are formidable defensive weapons when the animal erects them; in some species, as especially in the Couiy, they are concealed, when depressed, by the long hair, and, according to Hensel, this serves as a protection to the animal from rapacious birds, for, when it sits in a heap, sleeping away the daylight, these soft grey hairs give it a most deceptive resemblance to a mass of the beard-moss which so commonly grows on the trees in the Brazilian forests.

The URSON, or CANADA PORCUPINE (_Erythizon dorsatus_), the only North American species of the family, according to Mr. Allen, although other writers distinguish two or three such forms, is about two feet or more in length when full grown, and is covered with woolly hair, and with long coarse hair of a dark brown colour, with the points white or yellowish, this difference in the colour of the tips of the hairs being the chief distinction between the two varieties which Mr. Allen recognises. The spines in both forms are white, with the points usually dusky or brown. The Canada Porcupine is distributed through the whole of the Eastern United States, except on the seaboard, from New York to Virginia, and north of the States through Canada, as far as the limit of trees. The Western Porcupine, which has the tips of the long hairs yellowish (whence it has received the name _E. epixanthus_), occurs west of the Missouri river, extending to the Pacific shores and going southward along the mountains to Arizona and New Mexico, and northwards at least as far as Alaska and Sitka.

Although a heavy and clumsy-looking beast, and destitute of the prehensile tail of its South American cousins, this Porcupine is a good climber, and passes nearly the whole of its life upon trees; nevertheless, according to Mr. Allen, it may be met with travelling upon the prairies, probably on its way from one suitable residence to another. On the ground it moves slowly, but its armature of spines is a protection against most of its enemies, and it has the art of striking very forcible and judicious blows with its spiny tail. Audubon and Bachmann mention many cases in which Dogs, Wolves, and even a Puma were found dead or dying in consequence of the severe inflammation caused by the spines of this animal sticking about their mouths; and the former gives an interesting account of a lesson in urbanity given by a captive Urson to a Mastiff that attacked him. The food of the Urson consists of various vegetable substances, fruits, buds, and the young shoots and leaves of trees. In the winter it subsists chiefly upon the bark, which it strips off the upper branches of the trees, and when it has taken up its abode upon a tree it stays there until the suitable bark has been consumed. As it prefers young trees this operation is generally effected pretty quickly, and in this way it is estimated that a single Porcupine may destroy hundreds of trees in the course of a winter. The Urson resides in the holes of trees, and in such situations, or in crevices among the rocks, the female prepares her nest, in which she brings forth usually two, but occasionally three or four, young in April or May.

FAMILY XIII.--CHINCHILLIDÆ (THE CHINCHILLAS).

In the Chinchillas, which form a small family peculiar to South America, the incisor teeth are short; the molars are rootless, divided by continuous folds of enamel into transverse plates, and the two series in each jaw converge towards the front; the zygomatic arch has no angular process on the lower margin; the clavicles are slender but perfect; the fore limbs are small, the hind limbs long; the tail of moderate length or long, and turned up at the end; and the fur is very fine and soft. They are Rodents of moderate size and more or less of Rabbit-like appearance, except that the tail is always elongated and bushy. Of the five known species, four are inhabitants of the mountain regions, and one lives in the plains of the region of La Plata.

The latter, the VISCACHA (_Lagostomus trichodactylus_), is a stout-built and almost Marmot-like creature, from eighteen inches to two feet long, exclusive of the tail, which measures from six to eight inches. It has four toes on the fore limbs, and three on the hind feet, the latter furnished with long, compressed, and pointed nails; the muffle is broad and covered with a velvet-like coat of brown hair; the fur, which is soft and moderately long, is of a mottled grey colour above, and white or yellowish-white beneath; on each cheek there is a dark band; a white band crosses the muzzle and runs back on each side almost as far as the eye; the tail is dusky-brown or black.

The Viscacha lives on the Pampas from Buenos Ayres to the borders of Patagonia, and where it occurs is generally to be found in great numbers, residing in extensive burrows which it digs for itself in the ground, generally in the neighbourhood of copses, and, if possible, near cultivated fields. Each burrow has a great number of passages leading down to several chambers, in which the Viscachas live in family parties to the number of eight or ten. The Burrowing Owl already mentioned as an associate of the Prairie Dogs of North America, is found about the settlements of the Viscachas, living in their burrows, but it is said that the intrusion of these birds immediately drives out the real owners of the dwelling, as the Owls will not observe those rules of cleanliness which are characteristic of their unwilling hosts. Of course the expelled family has to make itself a new residence, and in this way great stretches of country come to be so undermined that they are dangerous to ride over. According to Mr. Darwin, the most favourite resort of the Viscachas in the neighbourhood of Buenos Ayres are those parts of the plain which, during half the year, are covered with great thistles.

They are nocturnal in their habits, passing the day sleeping in the recesses of their burrows, and coming forth in the twilight one by one, until a large and lively company is to be seen playing about the neighbourhood of their holes. When all is quiet they go in search of their food, which consists of grasses and other herbage and roots, and sometimes of the bark of trees and shrubs. In cultivated fields they may do considerable damage. While engaged in feeding, one or other of the party is perpetually on the watch, and the moment anything occurs to cause alarm, the whole of them scamper away with their tails elevated, to take refuge in their holes. In their movements they are very like Rabbits, but less active.

The Viscacha has the very singular habit of dragging all sorts of hard objects to the mouth of its burrow, where bones, stones, thistle-stalks, hard lumps of earth, dry cow-dung, and other chance articles may be found collected into a heap, frequently, according to Mr. Darwin, amounting to as much as a wheelbarrow would contain. Mr. Darwin says that he was informed that “a gentleman riding on a dark night dropped his watch; he returned in the morning, and by searching in the neighbourhood of every Viscacha hole on the line of road, as he expected, soon found it.” The purpose of this accumulation of apparently useless articles by the Viscacha has never been ascertained. It has been compared to the habit of some of the Australian Bower-birds, which adorn their playing-places with bright and glittering objects.

The Chinchillas of the Andes, or Alpine Chinchillas, are much lighter and more elegant animals than their cousins of the plains; in form they more resemble Squirrels or large Dormice. Their fur is excessively soft, perhaps the softest that clothes any animal, and in all the species it is of a grey colour, mottled or clouded with darker and lighter tints. The ears are of large size. They are confined to the Andes of Chili, Bolivia, and Peru, where they live among the bare rocks at a considerable elevation, seeking refuge in natural clefts and cavities, sleeping in their holes during the day, and coming forth at twilight in search of food. They are exceedingly lively and active in their movements, and very shy.

The COMMON CHINCHILLA (_Chinchilla lanigera_), the skins of which are well known as furs, is a squirrel-like animal, nine or ten inches long, with a tail more than half this length. It has large rounded ears; its fore feet have five, and its hind four, toes. Its fur on the upper part is grey, elegantly marbled with dusky or black, on the lower surface yellowish-white; the tail is black above, and dirty white at the sides and beneath. The incisors are of a bright orange colour in front. The SHORT-TAILED CHINCHILLA (_C. brevicaudata_), a larger species, has the tail only three inches long. Its fur is of a general silvery-grey hue, tinged with black, especially along the back, and the tail has two dark bands on its upper surface. Both these animals inhabit Peru, and the former is also found in Bolivia and Chili. They are exceedingly abundant, notwithstanding the constant persecution to which they are subjected for the sake of their skins. They come out of their holes even in the daytime, but then always keep on the shady side of the rocks. Their activity is described as wonderful, and they will run with great rapidity up perpendicular walls of rock which seem to offer no hold for their feet. On the ground they are said to run very much after the fashion of our common Mice. The Chinchilla seems to breed nearly all the year round, and the female is said to produce from four to six young at a birth.

The other two species of Alpine Chinchillas are placed in a separate genus, characterised by a more hare-like form, longer ears, and the presence of only four toes on both fore and hind feet. CUVIER’S CHINCHILLA (_Lagidium Cuvieri_) is about eighteen or twenty inches long, of an ashy-grey colour with a yellowish tinge above, and pale yellow beneath; the tail, which, with the hair, is nearly as long as the body is clothed beneath with short black hairs, and above with much longer bushy hairs, gradually increasing in length towards the tip, where they are black; a black line passes down the middle of the tail, and its sides are dirty white. The PALE-FOOTED CHINCHILLA (_Lagidium pallipes_), which is about the same size as the preceding, but has a shorter tail, is ashy grey, with a brownish tinge, becoming yellowish fawn colour beneath. The range of these animals seems to be the same as that of the true Chinchilla, but the second of them passes northwards into the mountains of Ecuador. In their habits they agree with the Chinchillas.

FAMILY XIV.--DASYPROCTIDÆ (AGOUTIS).

In the Agoutis we have the first of three more or less pig-like families, furnished with hoof-like nails on the toes, all the members of which are inhabitants of South America. The Agoutis especially may be compared to small slender-limbed Pigs, but they bear a still closer resemblance in external form to the little Musk Deer. The Dasyproctidæ have the incisors long; the molars, which are at first rootless, and afterwards close up, have enamel folds from both surfaces; the clavicles are rudimentary; the upper lip entire; the ears short; the tail short and naked, or quite rudimentary; and the fore feet have five toes.

Of these animals eight or nine species are known. They inhabit South America, from Mexico southwards to Paraguay and Bolivia, and some of them also occur in the larger West Indian Islands. They frequent the forest region, and especially haunt the banks of rivers.

The AGOUTI (_Dasyprocta aguti_), the most abundant and best-known species, is found chiefly in Guiana, Brazil, and eastern Peru, where it is to be found plentifully in the primeval forests. Like the other true Agoutis, it has only three toes on the hind foot; its ears are of moderate size and rounded; its form compact, and supported upon slender limbs; its tail rudimentary; and the hair of its back is coarse and harsh, and longer towards the hinder parts, which thus obtain a somewhat truncated appearance. Its general colour is olive brown, produced by a mixture of black and yellow; but the long hairs covering the hinder portion of the back are usually of an orange colour, and the middle line of the abdomen is whitish or yellow. This animal is from eighteen to twenty inches long.

Although inhabiting the forests, the Agouti is not unfrequently seen on the neighbouring grassy plains, but its residence is among the trees, in the hollows of which, or in cavities at their roots, it takes up its abode, generally lying concealed in its retreat during the day. It is very quick in its movements, runs well, and springs with almost the agility of an Antelope. The food of the Agouti consists of almost any vegetable substances that come in its way. It will eat grass and herbage, the roots of plants, their flowers and fruit, and when it lives in the neighbourhood of sugar plantations and gardens its inroads may give rise to considerable injury. The animal is, however, rather solitary in its habits, living by itself in its cell, in its departure from and return to which it appears generally to follow exactly the same roads, by which means a narrow but very distinct footpath is in course of time produced. This naturally often leads to the discovery and capture of the little recluse.

The Agouti appears to breed all the year round, usually producing two young ones at a birth. The female prepares her dwelling for the reception of her family by lining it comfortably with leaves, fine roots, and hair.

In the southern parts of Brazil, in Paraguay and Bolivia, the place of this species is taken by AZARA’S AGOUTI (_Dasyprocta Azaræ_). A smaller species, the ACOUCHY (_D. acouchy_), is found not only in Guiana and the north of Brazil, but also in several of the West India Islands. The last-named species has a well-developed tail about two inches long.

Besides the Agoutis, this family includes an allied animal, the PACA (_Cœlogenys paca_), which differs generically from the Agoutis by having five toes on the hind feet. It has a broader head and a blunter muzzle, and is altogether a rather stouter animal than the Agoutis; but, like most of them, it has a mere tubercle instead of a tail. One of the most remarkable characters presented by this animal, however, is the enormous development of the zygomatic arches, which are enlarged and inflated in the most extraordinary manner, the maxillary portion, which occupies the anterior two-thirds being hollowed out beneath into a great chamber, lined with mucous membrane, and opening into the mouth by a rather small aperture. The function of these remarkable cavities is at present quite unknown. Food is not to be found in them, and, indeed, as they are enclosed by solid bone, it would seem impossible that they could act as cheek-pouches.

The Paca, which inhabits Central and South America from Guatemala to Paraguay, is about two feet long, and is clothed with short rather coarse hair of a brown or yellowish-brown colour above, white beneath, with from three to five bands of white streaks and spots upon each side of the body. In its habits the Paca very much resembles the Agouti. It usually lives singly, or sometimes in pairs, on the borders of the forests, or near the banks of rivers, taking up its abode during the day either in a hole at the root of some tree, or in a burrow excavated by its own labour, which is generally carried to a depth of four or five feet. Its food consists of the leaves, fruits, and flowers of various plants, and, like the Agouti, it occasionally does mischief in the corn-fields and gardens. The female produces only one, or at most two, young at a birth. The Paca swims well, and can cross even a broad river in this way. Its flesh, like that of the Agouti, is very well flavoured, and is consumed both by natives and Europeans.

FAMILY XV.--DINOMYIDÆ.

This family has been founded for the reception of a single species, of which only a single specimen has hitherto been obtained. It is described by Professor Peters under the name of _Dinomys Branickii_. In its external appearance it closely resembles the Paca (_Cœlogenys paca_), but may at once be distinguished from that animal by its possession of only four toes both before and behind. The ears are short and rounded; the upper lip deeply cleft; the incisors very broad; the molars four on each side, and divided into transverse plates by folds of enamel; the clavicles are imperfect; and the tail of moderate length and well clothed with hair. The animal, which inhabits the high mountain regions of Peru, is of the size of the Paca, or about two feet long, exclusive of the tail, which measures rather more than nine inches. Its general colour is grey, produced by the sprinkling of white among nearly black hairs; and on each side of the body are numerous large white spots, of which the upper ones nearly run together, so as to form two longitudinal bands. The extremity of the tail is black.

The only known example of this Rodent was obtained by M. Constantin Jelski at the Colonie Amable Maria, on the Montaña de Vitoc, in Peru, having been found at daybreak walking about the yard. It showed no fear of man, and was easily killed by a sword cut or two on the head. The species would appear to be rare, as the inhabitants of the neighbourhood were not acquainted with it. Of course nothing is known of its habits.

The chief interest at present attaching to this animal, therefore, consists in its peculiar combination of characters. Externally, as already stated, it resembles the Paca, with which it also agrees in the S-like form of the nostrils, and in the structure of the limbs (except the number of toes). In the lamellar structure of the molar teeth, in the structure of the skull, and of the skeleton generally, and especially in the flattened form of the front of the sternum and the development of clavicles, it differs from the Paca and all other Rodents with hoof-like nails. In some minor particulars it resembles the Capybara. By the structure of the molar teeth and certain osteological characters, it is most nearly allied to the Chinchillas; while it approaches the genus _Capromys_ among the Octodontidæ in the structure of the limbs and of some other parts of the skeleton. Professor Peters is evidently inclined to regard it as most nearly related to the Chinchillidæ, but as constituting a group establishing a closer union than previously existed between the families Chinchillidæ, Octodontidæ, Dasyproctidæ, and Caviidæ.

FAMILY XVI.--CAVIIDÆ (CAVIES).

This family, the last of the simple-toothed Rodents, includes a small number of species, of which the Common Guinea-pig may serve as a sort of type. The Guinea-pig is, however, one of the smaller species of the family, and is shorter in the limbs than most of its relatives. They have the incisor teeth short, that is to say, not extending far back in the jaw; the molars are rootless, variously divided by folds of enamel into lobes, the angles of which are acute; the palate is narrow in front, so that the upper series of molars approach each other rather closely in front; the clavicles are rudimentary or wanting; the fore limbs have four and the hind feet only three toes, all armed with hoof-like nails; the upper lip is not cleft; and the tail is rudimentary or wanting. They are stout, more or less rabbit-like animals, with a soft coat, and the ears variable in length; and they are confined to the continent of South America, where they chiefly inhabit the plains.

The RESTLESS CAVY (_Cavia aperea_), which is commonly regarded as the wild original of the so-called Guinea-pig (_Cavia cobaya_ of some authors), is abundant on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, and extends thence northwards through Paraguay into Bolivia and Brazil. It is usually about nine inches long, with the fur of the upper part and sides of the body composed of a mixture of black and dingy yellow hairs, the chest greyish-brown, and the throat and belly pale dingy-yellow or brownish-grey. The incisor teeth are white. The genus to which this animal belongs may be at once distinguished from the other two genera constituting the family by the shortness of the limbs; the ears also are short; the feet are naked beneath; the hind toes are not webbed; and the molar teeth are nearly equal in size, and each composed of two angular lobes.

The specific name of the Restless Cavy seems to be derived from its popular name in the country where it occurs. According to Mr. Darwin, it is very common about the banks of the La Plata, sometimes frequenting sandy hillocks, and the hedge-rows formed of the agave and the prickly pear, but apparently preferring marshy places covered with aquatic plants. In dry places it makes a burrow; but when it frequents wet localities contents itself with the concealment afforded to it by the herbage. Rengger describes it also as generally haunting moist situations in Paraguay, and he adds that it keeps near the borders of forests, but is never found either in the forests or in the open fields. It lives in small societies of from six to fifteen individuals, in the impenetrable thickets of Bromelias, where its presence is revealed by the numerous beaten paths which it produces by going to and fro. In Bolivia, according to Mr. Bridges, it is peculiar to the low lands, and there takes shelter among the loose stones of the walls enclosing the fields. It is active in search of food early in the morning and in the evening, but will also come forth on gloomy days. Rengger and Azara both agree in the statement that the female produces only one or two young at a time; but the former says that this takes place only once in the year, whilst the latter describes the animal as breeding all the year round, and, indeed, in this way accounts for its abundance, notwithstanding its being preyed upon so extensively by rapacious birds and quadrupeds.

The question whether our common Guinea-pig is really the domesticated descendant of the animal just described can hardly be regarded as finally settled, and, indeed, independently of colour, there are sufficient differences between them to justify some doubt on the subject. The name Guinea-pig may, as Mr. Waterhouse suggests, be a mistake for Guiana-pig, and the first specimens may very probably have come from that part of America. Its prevalent colours, as is well known, are combinations of white, black, and yellow, and as these colours are shown in the drawings of Aldrovandus, dating back to within fifty years of the discovery of South America, there seems every reason to believe that the animal must have been long domesticated in America prior to its introduction into Europe. On the other hand, Dr. Rengger says that he saw fourteen Apereas representing the fifth or sixth generation from a single couple domesticated about seven years before, and that these exhibited no difference of colouring from the wild animal. Several allied species inhabit the great plains of South America.

The BOLIVIAN CAVY (_Cavia boliviensis_), which is grey in colour, with a faint yellowish tinge, with the throat and belly white, the feet whitish, and the incisor teeth orange yellow, inhabits the elevated parts of Bolivia, generally at a height of 10,000 or 12,000 feet. The ROCK CAVY (_Cavia rupestris_) is found in rocky districts in Brazil, where it shelters itself in holes and crevices. It is always found near the upper waters of rivers, and is a large species, measuring thirteen or fourteen inches in length. The SOUTHERN CAVY (_Cavia australis_), on the other hand, is a small species which inhabits Patagonia, where it ranges from 39° S. lat. to the Strait of Magellan.

This part of the world is also the abode of another and much larger species of the family, the PATAGONIAN CAVY or MARA (_Dolichotis patachonica_), an animal which somewhat resembles the Agouti in the length and comparative slenderness of its legs, and differs from all other Cavies in having tolerably long, pointed ears. It also possesses a very short tail. The molar teeth are rather small, and resemble those of the Guinea-pig in being formed of two nearly equal angular lobes, but the last molar in the upper jaw, and the first in the lower jaw, have three such lobes. The animal is somewhat Hare-like in its appearance, and has been mistaken for a Hare by superficial observers. It is, however, a much larger animal, measuring from thirty to thirty-six inches in length, and weighing from twenty to thirty-six pounds.

The Patagonian Cavy is clothed with a dense crisp fur of a grey colour on the upper part of the head and body, rusty yellow on the flanks, and white on the chin, throat, and belly; the rump is black, with a broad white band crossing it immediately above the tail. It inhabits Patagonia about as far south as 48°, and extends northwards into the La Plata territory as far as Mendoza. It is found only in the sterile desert part of the country, where the gravelly plains are thinly covered with a few stunted thorny bushes and a scanty herbage. The northern limit of the species, according to Mr. Darwin, is at the point where the vegetation of the plains becomes rather more luxuriant. The Patagonian Cavy usually burrows in the ground, but where it lives in the same region as the Viscacha, it will take advantage of the excavations made by that animal. It wanders to considerable distances from its home, and on these excursions two or three are usually seen together. Mr. Darwin says:--“It is a common feature in the landscape of Patagonia to see in the distance two or three of these Cavies hopping one after the other over the gravelly plains.” Their mode of running, on the same authority, more nearly resembles that of the Rabbit than of the Hare; though their limbs are long, they do not run very fast. They rarely squat like a Hare, but are very shy and watchful, and feed by day, in connection with which it is to be observed that the eyes are defended from the direct rays of the sun by well-developed eyelashes, which do not occur in the other Cavies. The female produces generally two young at a birth, which are brought forth and suckled in the burrow.

The CAPYBARA (_Hydrochœrus capybara_), the only other member of the present family, is the largest of all existing Rodents, large specimens measuring over four feet in length. It is a stout-built and massive animal, with limbs of moderate length, a large head with a very blunt muzzle, small eyes and ears, no tail, and both the fore and hind feet webbed. The upper incisor teeth have a broad and shallow groove down the front, and the molars present very remarkable characters. In the upper jaw the first three molars are each composed of two lobes united by cement, and on the outside of each of these lobes there is a fold of enamel which passes deeply into the tooth. The last molar consists of one lobe similar to those of the preceding teeth, but in place of the second there are ten or a dozen transverse plates. The first two molars of the lower jaw exhibit complex lobes and folds of enamel; the third and fourth a combination of folded lobes and transverse plates.

In its general form the Capybara is more pig-like than any of its relatives, and, indeed, its generic name, _Hydrochœrus_, Water-pig, recalls this resemblance, and at the same time intimates its aquatic habits. Its coat is composed of long and coarse hairs, often five or six inches long on the hinder parts, of a reddish-brown colour above, and a dirty brownish-yellow beneath. It is distributed over the whole eastern part of South America, from Guiana southwards to the Rio de la Plata, and ranges westwards into the lower parts of Peru and Bolivia.

The Capybaras frequent the borders of the lakes and rivers, with which all this part of the South American continent abounds, and, according to Mr. Darwin, they used to frequent the islands in the mouth of the La Plata, where the water is quite salt. In this part of America they are called “Carpinchos.” They never wander far from the water-side, and show a marked preference for the larger rivers, among the reeds and other plants fringing which they take up their abode. In populous districts they seem to pass the day in concealment, coming forth in search of food only at morning and evening, but where they are less in danger of pursuit they come out freely in the day-time. Seen from a little distance when walking they have much the appearance of Pigs, but they lose this when they sit, like the other Cavies, on their haunches. When danger threatens they emit a short, sharp bark, and immediately plunge into the water, where they swim about with little more than the nostrils above the surface; but under pressing circumstances they can dive and swim for a considerable distance under water. When swimming, the female is said to take her young ones on her back. About Maldonado Mr. Darwin observed that the Capybaras were usually to be seen only three or four together, but they are more numerous and go in larger companies more in the interior of the country. They constitute the ordinary food of the Jaguar, and are also eaten by the Indians, although their flesh is said not to be very good. The female produces five or six young at a birth, but has only one litter in the year. The young follow their mother about at a very early age.

SUB-ORDER II.--DOUBLE-TOOTHED RODENTS.

With the Cavies concludes the long series of simple-toothed Rodents, and some of them, as we have seen, present no small resemblance to the Hares and Rabbits which constitute the greater part of the second great group into which we have divided the order. The chief peculiarity of this section, as has been already stated, consists in the presence in the upper jaw of a pair of minute incisor teeth, placed immediately behind the large effective incisors; and in the newly-born animal the number of these teeth is even greater, there being six incisors in the upper jaw, two of which fall out at an early period. Though the number of species included in this section is very considerable (about fifty, according to Mr. Wallace’s estimate), it includes only two families, and each of these contains only a single genus. We will commence with that which includes the best-known forms, the Hares and Rabbits.

FAMILY XVII.--LEPORIDÆ (HARES AND RABBITS).

The general appearance of these animals hardly needs to be described, and we may, therefore, indicate merely the structural peculiarities which serve to define the family. These consist in the presence of six rootless molars on each side in the upper, and five in the lower jaw (_see_ figure on p. 82), each molar being divided into lobes by transverse folds of enamel; in the compressed form of the skull and the presence of wing-like post-orbital processes of the frontal bones; in the imperfect condition of the clavicles; the greater development of the hind limbs; and the presence of a short, bushy, upturned tail. The ears are long; the inner surface of the cheeks is more or less clothed with short hairs; the fore-limbs have five, and the hind-limbs only four toes; and the soles of the feet are hairy throughout. In all these characters, however they may differ in some respects, all the true Hares and Rabbits agree. The representatives of this family occur in nearly all parts of the world, but chiefly in the northern hemisphere, and the few species which pass down within the tropics are generally found only in mountainous regions. In the north they reach the Arctic regions in both continents. In the Old World a few species are scattered over India and Further India, and four or five occur in Africa, but chiefly in the southern part of the continent. In North America the species are numerous, and some of them range southward into Central America; but South America has only a single species, which occurs in the mountains of Brazil and upon the Andes.

As the whole of the family consists of animals to which in common parlance the names of Hares and Rabbits are given, we may take as examples of it the Hares and Rabbits which are so abundant in Great Britain, the other species agreeing generally with one or other of them in character and habits.

They may all be characterised as animals destitute of any means of defence against their enemies, except the rapidity of their movements, and as exceedingly shy and timid. Their general colour is a mixture of grey and brown, sometimes quite tawny, sometimes almost pure grey, and, as Mr. Bell remarks, “The admirable wisdom which has assigned such colours to a group of defenceless animals which conceal themselves amidst the brown sombre vegetation of woods and heaths, will appear more striking when it is recollected that certain species inhabiting the snowy regions of the north become wholly white in winter. All the members of the genus,” he adds, “are remarkable for their timidity, and their whole structure is such as at once to announce to them the presence of danger, and to enable them to escape from it. The eyes and ears are so formed and situate as to become instantly cognisant of even distant warnings of peril, and the limbs are admirably adapted for the most rapid flight.”

This last statement applies in a special manner to the COMMON HARE (_Lepus europæus_), which is singularly well adapted for getting over the ground rapidly by the great length and powerful development of its hind legs. These organs are nearly twice as long as the fore limbs, and, as most of us are well aware, the bones composing them are set in motion by an enormous mass of solid muscle. Owing to their great preponderance the Hare, when moving slowly in search of food, goes with a sort of lolloping gait; but the moment there is occasion for him to move with rapidity, the disproportionate hind limbs stand him in good stead, and he shoots along over the ground by a series of long leaps, and with great swiftness. At the same time, it is observed that the length of its hind legs causes the Hare to run with much greater facility up hill than down, and, in fact, it is said that in descending steep inclines the animal is obliged to run obliquely in order to escape over-balancing itself. When pursued, the Hare has the art of making sudden turns in its course, known as “doubles” or “wrenches,” by which the Dogs in chase of it are thrown out, for although most Greyhounds are swifter of foot than a Hare, they are incapable of changing their course so sharply, and thus, while they are carried some distance onwards by their own impetus, their intended victim is making off in a different direction. They adopt other cunning artifices in order to escape from their pursuers, and some of these indicate a considerable amount of intelligence. Under such circumstances, and also in search of a more plentiful supply of food, the Hare will take to the water readily, and swim across rivers. Mr. Yarrell observed a Hare even swimming across an arm of the sea about a mile broad.

The Hare lives chiefly in cultivated fields, where it resides in a small depression of the surface, which is called its “form.” It shifts the situation of this simple residence according to the season, selecting a shady spot in summer, and a sunny one in winter, and going into cover in wet weather. It is rather a nocturnal or crepuscular than a day-feeding animal, although it may not unfrequently be seen abroad in the day. In the evening and early in the morning it is most active, passing the brighter hours at rest in its form. When out in the field in search of food it goes hopping along among the herbage and cultivated plants, every now and then sitting upright on its haunches and listening with erected ears for the slightest sound indicative of approaching danger. Its food is exclusively of a vegetable nature, but it seems to embrace pretty nearly the whole round of cultivated plants. Cruciferous plants appear to be amongst its favourite articles of diet, but it also does much damage to fields of young wheat. In the winter, when the open fields are covered with snow frozen hard, and, indeed, sometimes in the summer, the Hare will make his way into gardens in search of food, or, if this resource is not at hand, into plantations of young trees, where it will gnaw off and feed upon the bark, thus destroying great numbers of the trees. Mr. S. Mawson has recorded finding the stomach of a Hare killed in winter filled with hawthorn berries. After its wanderings the Hare always returns to its own form.

Hares pair when they are about a year old, and from that time produce several broods every year, each consisting of from two to five young, which are born covered with hair and with their eyes open. From Mr. Bell’s statement, these animals would appear to breed almost all the year round; he says that in mild winters young Hares have been found in January, and that he has known breeding continue till the middle of November. When captured young, the Hare may be easily tamed, and become an amusing pet, as, indeed, will be familiar to almost every one, through Cowper’s account of his Hares. Formerly the Hare used to be trained by jugglers to perform various tricks, one of which was the beating of a tambourine with its fore-feet, with which the animal will of its own accord drum upon the back of an offending companion. A relic of this practice is to be recognised in a common toy, which shows a small Hare sitting and beating a tambourine, its fore limbs being set in motion by the turning of the wheels of its stand.

The Common Hare is found spread over the greater part of Europe, from the south of Sweden and northern Russia to the Mediterranean and the Caucasus. It does not occur in Ireland. It varies somewhat in colour in different localities, and although it does not become white in winter, the northern forms show a tendency in that direction, and the others acquire a greyish tint at the approach of the cold weather.

THE RABBIT, or CONY (_Lepus cuniculus_), differs from the Hare in various characters; its colour is a tawny brownish-grey, the disproportion between the fore and hind limbs is not so great, and the ears are shorter, not exceeding the head in length. Although the Wild Rabbit is so plentiful in England as to become a pest to the farmers in many places, it is supposed not to be a native of north-western and central Europe, but to have been naturalised in Britain, its original home being in the countries bordering the Mediterranean. It is, and always was, very abundant in Spain, the name of which country (Hispania) has been supposed to mean the “country of Conies,” from the Phœnician and Hebrew word _Schaphan_, the name of the Hyrax or Cony of the Bible. Even in the present day it is very local in its distribution north of the Alps, and is not found at all in eastern and northern Europe. In Australia it has proved to be a veritable scourge.

In its habits the Rabbit differs from the Hare more than in its form and structure. Instead of contenting itself with a shallow depression as a resting-place on the surface of the ground, it digs deep holes in the ground, into which it may retire to sleep or at the approach of danger. It prefers light sandy soils for its residence, as these present great facilities for burrowing, and wherever particularly favourable conditions exist the Rabbits are to be found living together in very large societies. Furzy heaths are favourite places with them, as the ground is easily worked, and the furze bushes not only serve as a protection to the burrows, but furnish the Rabbit with an abundant supply of food, the young shoots being eaten off as high as the animals can reach when standing on their hind feet. In wet moors the Rabbits avoid burrowing, and live in runs and galleries formed in the matted heather and long herbage. Mr. Bell says that in more than one instance he has known a family to take possession of a hollow tree, ascending its inclined and decayed trunk for some distance.

Like the Hare, the Rabbit is generally quiet during the day, although it will not unfrequently be abroad at all hours. The evening, however, is its principal time for activity, and then the inhabitants of the warren may be seen playing about near their abodes, or wandering to greater distances in search of the green vegetables on which they feed. The moment there is the smallest suspicion of danger, the whole company scamper off at once to seek safety in their burrows. As they go, their white tails are the most conspicuous objects to be seen, and the spectacle of some hundreds of them rushing along at full speed, vanishing one after the other down the burrows, is lively and amusing enough.

The Rabbit begins breeding at six months old, and has several litters in each year. The young are usually from five to eight in number, sometimes even more; they are born blind and naked, and are produced in a separate burrow which the female digs for their reception, and lines with fur pulled from her own body. This brood-chamber has usually only a single entrance, and this the mother closes with earth after visiting and suckling her young family, which she is said to do only at night.

When domesticated, the Rabbit, as is well known, differs materially from its wild state. It is larger, and its colours are usually white, black, brown, or fawn colour, sometimes alone, sometimes mixed in patches. Albinoes are common, and form a permanent race. The Angora Rabbit, which is usually albino, has the hairs very long; and the so-called “fancy Rabbits” have the ears more or less pendent at the sides of the head, and often so long as to touch the ground.

A third British species is the MOUNTAIN HARE (_Lepus variabilis_), or Northern Hare, an inhabitant of all the northern parts of both hemispheres, which occurs in most parts of Scotland, and in Ireland, where, indeed, it takes the place of the common Hare. In its summer coat it is of a light fulvous grey colour, and is further distinguished from the common Hare by the shortness of the ears and tail, the former being shorter than the head, and the latter little more than half its length. In cold climates this animal becomes pure white in the winter. This Hare is absent from Central Europe, but reappears on the chain of the Alps.

It will be unnecessary to enter into details with regard to the other species of this family, all of which more or less resemble those just described, both in appearance and habits. They are distributed over nearly the whole world except the Australian region, but they are most numerous in North America, where a great many species have been described, which are reduced by Mr. Allen to twelve. Four of these, however, present well-marked local races, which double the number of recognised permanent forms.

FAMILY XVIII.--LAGOMYIDÆ (PIKAS).

In many respects the Pikas closely resemble the Hares, but they are distinguished by having only five molars on each side in each jaw, a depressed skull, with contracted frontal bones destitute of the wing-like process seen in the Hares, complete clavicles, short ears, limbs nearly equal in length, and no tail visible externally. They are much smaller than any of the Leporidæ, the largest being no larger than a Guinea-pig, to which the animals have some resemblance; while in their habits they somewhat resemble the Marmots. When feeding they often produce a chirping or whistling noise, whence the name of Piping Hares, or Calling Hares, has been applied to them. Ten or a dozen supposed species of these animals have been described, most of them inhabiting the northern and mountainous parts of Asia, and one of these is also found in Europe, about the southern part of the Volga. In Asia species have been found as far south as the Himalayas and Nepaul. In North America a single species (_Lagomys princeps_) inhabits the Rocky Mountains, where it was first discovered by Sir John Richardson.

The ALPINE PIKA (_Lagomys alpinus_), which inhabits Siberia from the Irtish eastwards into Kamtchatka, is a little animal from nine to nine and a half inches long, of a greyish-brown colour above, yellowish-grey beneath; the feet are pale, and the ears dirty yellowish-white within, becoming dusky towards the margin, which is white. This animal occurs in considerable numbers in the Alpine and sub-Alpine parts of Siberia, where it either burrows in the ground, or shelters itself in crevices of rocks or among loose stones. The Pikas generally come out only at night, although they sometimes venture forth on a cloudy day. Their food consists of the scanty herbage to be found in their elevated abode, and as this would be impossible to procure during the winter when the ground is thickly covered with snow, the Pikas take care in the autumn to collect a large supply of dried grasses and other herbage, which they pile up near their habitations like little haystacks. They are, however, sometimes deprived of the fruits of their labour by the Sable-hunters, who plunder the Pikas’ stacks to feed their Horses. The female produces about six naked young early in the summer.

The ROCKY MOUNTAIN PIKA (_Lagomys princeps_) is a small species from six inches to seven and a half inches long, of a greyish-brown colour above, yellowish-brown on the sides, and greyish below. It received its specific name from its discoverer, Sir J. Richardson, in allusion to the name of “Little Chief Hare” given to it by the Indians. It inhabits the summits of the Rocky Mountains from Colorado northwards far within British America, and also occurs in the mountains of Utah, California, and Oregon. Mr. Allen describes its habits as follows:--“The animals are everywhere found in communities, living among the loose rocks from a little below timber-line nearly up to the snow-line. They appear to rarely wander many yards from their homes; are timid, yet easily become familiar. Though retreating to their homes when first alarmed, they soon come cautiously out one after another, till one may hear their sharp little cries in every direction. Their colour so nearly resembles that of the rocks they live among, that they are not easily seen, and their cry is of such a character as easily to mislead one in respect to the point from which it proceeds, seeming to be far away when only a few feet distant. They sit erect, like little Marmots.... They carry into fissures of the rocks large quantities of grass, which they lay up for winter consumption.”