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Transcriber’s Notes
This e-text is based on ‘Cassell’s Natural History, Vol. III,’ from
1893. Inconsistent and uncommon spelling and hyphenation have been
retained; punctuation and typographical errors have been corrected.
The spelling of toponyms might differ slightly from today’s
orthographical conventions.
_Underscores_ have been used to indicate italic text in the
original. Small capitals have been converted to UPPERCASE LETTERS.
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[Illustration:
CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LITH. LONDON.
DEER FAMILY.
1. Indian Muntjac (_Cervulus muntjac_).
2. Reindeer (_Rangifer tarandus_).
3. Javan Deerlet (_Tragulus napu_).
4. Fallow Deer (_Dama vulgaris_).
5. Wapiti Deer (_Cervus strongyloceros_).
6. Porcine Deer (_Hyelaphus porcinus_).
7. Roebuck (_Capreolus caprea_).
8. Elk (_Alces machlis_).
9. Chinese Water Deer (_Hydropotes inermis_).
]
CASSELL’S
NATURAL HISTORY
EDITED BY
P. MARTIN DUNCAN M.B. (LOND.) F.R.S. F.G.S.
PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN AND HONORARY FELLOW OF KING’S COLLEGE LONDON
CORRESPONDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES PHILADELPHIA
VOL. III.
_ILLUSTRATED_
CASSELL AND COMPANY LIMITED
_LONDON PARIS & MELBOURNE_
1893
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
UNGULATA:--
RUMINANTIA.
A. H. GARROD, M.A., F.R.S.
RODENTIA.
W. S. DALLAS, F.L.S.
EDENTATA.
P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M.B. (LOND.), F.R.S., F.G.S.
MARSUPIALIA.
P. MARTIN DUNCAN, M.B. (LOND.), F.R.S., F.G.S.
AVES.
R. BOWDLER SHARPE, F.L.S., F.Z.S.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
ARTIODACTYLA--RUMINANTIA:
BOVIDÆ--SHEEP, GOATS, AND GAZELLES. PAGE
Ruminantia--Chewing the Cud--Metaphorical Expression--The
Complicated Stomach: Paunch, Honey-comb Bag, Manyplies,
Reed--Order of Events in Rumination--Feet and
Dentition of Ruminants--Brain--Classification--HORNED
RUMINANTS--Divided into two Groups--Difference
between them--BOVIDÆ--Horns--Aberrant Members--SHEEP
AND GOATS--General Characteristics--Sheep of
South-Western Asia--Merino Sheep--Breeds of Great
Britain--Dishley, or Improved Leicesters--Mr. Bakewell’s
Description--Southdowns, Cheviots, Welsh, and other
British Breeds--Table of the Importation of Colonial
and Foreign Wool into the United Kingdom--MARCO POLO’S
SHEEP--OORIAL--SHAPOO--MOUFLON--AMMON--BURHEL--AMERICAN
ARGALI--WILD SHEEP OF BARBARY--THE GOAT--Compared with
the Sheep--Descent--Cashmere Goat--IBEXES--PASENG--Their
remarkable Horns--Old Theories as to the Use of
the Horns--MARKHOOR--TAHR--GAZELLES--General
Characteristics--Sir Victor Brooke’s Classification--THE
GAZELLE--Appearance--Habits--ARABIAN GAZELLE--PERSIAN
GAZELLE--SOEMMERRING’S GAZELLE--GRANT’S
GAZELLE--SPRINGBOK--SAÏGA--CHIRU--THE PALLAH, OR IMPALLA--THE
INDIAN ANTELOPE, OR BLACK BUCK 1
CHAPTER II.
ARTIODACTYLA--RUMINANTIA:
BOVIDÆ: (_continued_)--ANTELOPES.
THE STEINBOKS: KLIPSPRINGER, OUREBI, STEINBOK, GRYSBOK,
MADOQUA--THE BUSH-BUCKS--Appearance--Distinctive
Marks--THE FOUR-HORNED ANTELOPES--Peculiarity in
the Chikarah--THE WATER ANTELOPES: NAGOR, REITBOK,
LECHÈ, AEQUITOON, SING-SING, WATER-BUCK, POKU,
REH-BOK--THE ELAND--Beef--Appearance--Captain
Cornwallis Harris’ Description--Hunting--Scarcity--THE
KOODOO--Appearance--King of Antelopes--ANGAS’ HARNESSED
ANTELOPE--THE HARNESSED ANTELOPES: GUIB--BUSH BUCK, OR
UKOUKA--Appearance--Pluck--THE BOVINE ANTELOPES--THE
BUBALINE--HARTEBEEST--BLESBOK--BONTEBOK--SASSABY--THE
GNU--Grotesque Appearance--Habits--BRINDLED
GNU--THE CAPRINE ANTELOPES--SEROW--Ungainly
Habits--GORAL--CAMBING-OUTAN--TAKIN--MAZAMA--THE
CHAMOIS--Distribution--Appearance--Voice--Hunted--THE
ORYXES--BLAUBOK--SABLE ANTELOPE--BAKER’S
ANTELOPE--ORYX--BEISA--BEATRIX--GEMSBOK--ADDAX 17
CHAPTER III.
ARTIODACTYLA--RUMINANTIA:
BOVIDÆ (_concluded_)--OXEN, PRONGHORN ANTELOPE, MUSK [DEER],
AND GIRAFFE.
THE NYL-GHAU--Description--Habits--THE MUSK OX--Difficulties
in associating it--Distribution--Habits--THE
OX--Chillingham Wild Cattle--Their Habits--Domestic
Cattle--The Collings, Booth, and Bates Strains--American
Breeding--Shorthorns, and other Breeds--Hungarian
Oxen--Zebu--Gour--Gayal--Curious mode of Capturing
Gayals--Banting--THE BISONS--Description--European Bison,
or Aurochs--Almost extinct--Cæsar’s Description of
it--American Bison--Distribution--Mythical Notions regarding
it--Their Ferocity and Stupidity--“Buffalo” Flesh--THE
YAK--Habits--THE BUFFALOES--Varieties--Description--Fight
between two Bulls--THE ANOA--THE PRONGHORN
ANTELOPE--Peculiarity as to its Horns and Skull--Professor
Baird’s and Mr. Bartlett’s Independent Discovery of
the Annual Shedding of the Horns--Habits--Peculiarity
about its Feet--Colour--Difficulties as to its
Position--THE MUSK [DEER]--Its Perfume--Where is it to be
placed?--Description--Habits--Hunters for the Perfume--Their
Sufferings--THE GIRAFFE--Peculiarities--Skull processes--Its
Neck--Habitat--Running power--Habits--Hunting 29
CHAPTER IV.
THE CERVIDÆ, OR ANTLERED RUMINANTS:
THE ELK, ELAPHINE, SUB-ELAPHINE, AND RUSINE DEER.
The Deer Tribe--Distinguishing Characters--Exceptions to
the rule--The Musk (Deer) and Chinese Water Deer--Other
Characters of the Cervidæ--Antlers, their Nature,
Growth, and Shedding--The Knob--“Velvet”--Getting rid
of the “Velvet”--Full equipment--Contests--Interlocking
Antlers--Distribution--Classification--Development
of Antlers in the Common RED DEER--Explanation of
the various stages--Splendid “Heads”--Simple and
Complex Antlers--Types of Antlers--THE ELK, OR MOOSE
DEER--Appearance--Antlers--Habits--Hunting--THE ELAPHINE
DEER--THE RED DEER--Distribution--Appearance--Hunting--THE
WAPITI--Acting of the Fawns--THE PERSIAN DEER, OR
MARAL--THE CASHMERIAN DEER, OR BARASINGHA--Habits and
General Appearance--BARBARY DEER--SUB-ELAPHINE DEER--THE
JAPANESE, FORMOSAN, AND MANTCHURIAN DEER--THE FALLOW
DEER--Peculiarity of its Antlers--THE PERSIAN FALLOW
DEER--THE RUSINE DEER--THE SAMBUR, OR GEROW--Habits--Species
of Java, Formosa, Sumatra, Borneo, Timor, Ternate, and The
Philippines--THE HOG DEER--THE AXIS DEER--PRINCE ALFRED’S
DEER--THE SWAMP DEER--SCHOMBURGK’S DEER--ELD’S DEER, OR THE
THAMYN--Description--Habits--Hunting--Shameful havoc 46
CHAPTER V.
THE MUNTJACS--THE ROEBUCK--CHINESE DEER--REINDEER--AMERICAN
DEER--DEERLETS--CAMEL TRIBE--LLAMAS.
THE MUNTJACS--Distribution--Characters--THE INDIAN MUNTJAC,
OR KIDANG--Hunting--THE CHINESE MUNTJAC--Habits--DAVID’S
MUNTJAC--“Shanyang”--THE ROEBUCK--THE CHINESE WATER
DEER--Peculiarity--Chinese Superstition regarding it--THE
CHINESE ELAPHURE--Peculiarity of its Antlers--THE
REINDEER--Distribution--Character--Colouration--Antlers--Canadian
Breeds--Food--THE AMERICAN DEER--THE VIRGINIAN DEER--THE
MULE DEER--THE BLACK-TAILED DEER--THE GUAZUS--THE
BROCKETS--THE VENADA, OR PUDU DEER--THE CHEVROTAINS,
OR DEERLETS--Antlerless--Their Position--Bones of
their Feet--General Form and Proportions--Species--THE
MEMINNA, OR INDIAN DEERLET--THE JAVAN DEERLET--THE
KANCHIL--THE STANLEYAN DEERLET--THE WATER DEERLET--THE
CAMEL TRIBE--Their Feet--Stomach--Its Peculiarity--The
Water Cells--THE (TRUE) CAMEL--Description--The Pads of
Hardened Skin--Its Endurance--Its Disposition--Anecdote
of its Revengeful Nature--THE BACTRIAN CAMEL--THE
LLAMAS--Description--Habits--Used as Beasts
of Burden--Wild and Domesticated Species--THE
HUANACO--THE LLAMA--THE VICUNA--THE ALPACA--The Alpaca
Industry--FOSSIL RUMINANTIA--Strata in which they are
Found--_Chœropotamus_--_Hyopotamus_--_Dichobune_--_Xiphodon_
--_Cainotherium_--_Oreodon_--_Sivatherium_--Fossil
Deer, Oxen, Goats, Sheep, Camels, Llamas, Antelopes,
Giraffes--The Irish Elk--Its huge Antlers--Its
Skeleton--Ally--Distribution 61
ORDER RODENTIA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION--THE SQUIRREL, MARMOT, ANOMALURE, HAPLODONT, AND
BEAVER FAMILIES.
Character of the Order--A well-defined Group--Teeth
Evidence--Kinds and Number of Teeth--The Incisors: their
Growth, Renewal, and Composition--The Molars--The Gnawing
Process--Skeleton--Brain--Senses--Body--Insectivora
and Rodentia--Food of Rodents--Classification--THE
SIMPLE-TOOTHED RODENTS--Characteristics--THE SQUIRREL-LIKE
RODENTS--SCIURIDÆ--Distinctive Features--THE
COMMON SQUIRREL--Form--Distribution--Food--Bad
Qualities--Habits--THE GREY SQUIRREL--THE FOX
SQUIRREL--Flying Squirrels--Their Parachute Membrane--THE
TAGUAN--Appearance--Habits--Other Species--THE
POLATOUCHE--THE ASSAPAN--The Genus _Xerus_--THE GROUND
SQUIRRELS--THE COMMON CHIPMUNK--THE MARMOTS--Distinguishing
Features--THE SPERMOPHILES--THE GOPHER--THE SISEL,
OR SUSLIK--THE BARKING SQUIRRELS--THE PRAIRIE
DOG--Description--Species--Habits--Burrows--Fellow-inmates
in their “Villages”--THE TRUE MARMOTS--THE BOBAC--THE
ALPINE MARMOT--THE WOODCHUCK--THE HOARY MARMOT, OR
WHISTLER--ANOMALURIDÆ--Tail Peculiarity--Distinctive
Features--HAPLODONTIDÆ--Description--THE
SEWELLEL--CASTORIDÆ--THE BEAVER--Skeletal
Peculiarities--General Form--Appearance--Distribution--The
Beavers of the Old and New World--Habits--Wonderful
Sagacity--The Building Instinct--Their Method of Working--The
various Stages--Their Lodges--Their Dams--Activity by
Night--Flesh--Hunted--The _Castoreum_ 81
CHAPTER II.
THE DORMOUSE, LOPHIOMYS, RAT, AND MOUSE FAMILIES.
THE MOUSE-LIKE RODENTS--MYOXIDÆ--Characteristics--THE
DORMOUSE--Description--Habits--Activity--Food--Winter
Condition--THE LOIR--THE GARDEN DORMOUSE--LOPHIOMYIDÆ--How
the Family came to be Founded--THE LOPHIOMYS--Milne-Edwards’
Opinion--Skull--General Form--Habits--MURIDÆ--Number of
Species--Characteristics--Variety of Forms--Distribution--The
Murine Sub-Family--THE BROWN RAT--History--Fecundity
and Ferocity--Diet--At the Horse Slaughter-houses of
Montfaucon--Shipwrecked on Islands--Story of their
Killing a Man in a Coal-pit--In the Sewers of Paris
and London--THE BLACK RAT--THE EGYPTIAN RAT--THE
COMMON MOUSE--Habits--Destructiveness--Colours--THE
LONG-TAILED FIELD MOUSE--Description--Food--THE HARVEST
MOUSE--Description--Habits--In Winter--Agility--Their
Nest--THE BANDICOOT RAT--THE TREE RAT--THE STRIPED
MOUSE--Allied Genera--THE WHITE-FOOTED HAPALOTE--The
American Murines--THE WHITE-FOOTED, OR DEER MOUSE--THE
GOLDEN, OR RED MOUSE--THE RICE-FIELD MOUSE--THE AMERICAN
HARVEST MOUSE--THE FLORIDA RAT--Description--Their
Nest--Food--Mother and Young--THE BUSHY-TAILED WOOD
RAT--THE COTTON RAT--THE RABBIT-LIKE REITHRODON--THE
HAMSTERS--Characteristics--Appearance--Distribution--
Burrows--Disposition--Food--Habits--THE
TREE MICE--THE BLACK-STREAKED TREE MICE--THE
GERBILLES--Characteristics--Habits--Other Genera--THE
WATER MICE--Characteristics--Species--THE
SMINTHUS--THE VOLES--Characteristics--THE WATER
VOLE--Appearance--Distribution--Food--THE
FIELD VOLE--THE BANK VOLE--THE SOUTHERN FIELD
VOLE--THE SNOW MOUSE--THE ROOT VOLE--THE MEADOW
MOUSE--THE PINE MOUSE--THE MUSQUASH, MUSK RAT, OR
ONDATRA--Distinguishing Features--Habits--His House--THE
LEMMING--Description--Food--Habits--Disposition--Their
Extraordinary Migrations--Other Lemmings--THE ZOKOR 101
CHAPTER III.
MOLE RATS, POUCHED RATS, POUCHED MICE, JERBOAS, AND
OCTODONTIDÆ.
SPALACIDÆ, OR MOLE RATS--Characteristics
of the Family--Habits--Food--THE MOLE
RAT--Distribution--Description--THE CHESTNUT MOLE RAT--THE
NAKED MOLE RAT--THE STRAND MOLE RAT--Description--Habits--THE
CAPE MOLE RAT--GEOMYIDÆ, OR POUCHED RATS--Characteristics
of the Family--The Cheek-pouches--THE COMMON POCKET
GOPHER--Distribution--Description--Burrowing--Runs--Subterranean
Dwelling--THE NORTHERN POCKET GOPHER--HETEROMYINÆ,
OR POUCHED MICE--Difficulties as to
Position--Characteristics--PHILLIPS’ POCKET MOUSE--Where
Found--Description--THE YELLOW POCKET MOUSE--THE LEAST
POCKET MOUSE--DIPODIDÆ, OR JERBOAS--Organisation for
Jumping--Characteristics--Distribution--THE AMERICAN
JUMPING MOUSE--Description--Characters peculiar to
itself--Habits--THE TRUE JERBOAS--Characters--THE
JERBOA--Distribution--Habits--Mode of Locomotion--THE
ALACTAGA--THE CAPE JUMPING HARE--THE PORCUPINE-LIKE
RODENTS--OCTODONTIDÆ--Characteristics--Sub-Family
CTENODACTYLINÆ--THE GUNDI--THE DEGU--Description--Habits--THE
BROWN SCHIZODON--THE TUKOTUKO--THE CURURO--THE ROCK
RAT--Sub-Family, ECHINOMYINÆ--THE COYPU--One of the Largest
Rodents--Description--Burrows--Habits--Mother and Young--THE
HUTIA CONGA--THE HUTIA CARABALI--THE GROUND RAT 120
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 133
CHAPTER V.
FOSSIL RODENTIA.
Families of Rodents represented by Fossil
Remains--State of the “Record of the Rocks”--THE
SCIURIDÆ--Sciurine Genera now Extinct--No Fossil
ANOMALURIDÆ and HAPLODONTIDÆ--ISCHYROMYIDÆ--_Pseudotomus
hians_--_Gymnoptychus_--CASTORIDÆ--Mr.
Allen’s CASTOROIDIDÆ--THE MYOXIDÆ--No Fossil
LOPHIOMYIDÆ--THE MURIDÆ--THE SPALACIDÆ--THE
GEOMYIDÆ--THE DIPODIDÆ--THE THERIDOMYIDÆ--THE
OCTODONTIDÆ--THE HYSTRICIDÆ--THE CHINCHILLIDÆ--THE
DASYPROCTIDÆ--THE CAVIIDÆ--THE LEPORIDÆ--THE
LAGOMYIDÆ--_Mesotherium cristatum_--Difficulties
concerning it--Mr. Alston’s Suggestion--THE
HEBETIDENTATA--Teeth--Skull--Skeleton--Conclusions regarding
it--Table of Rodent Families--Concluding Remarks 151
ORDER EDENTATA, OR BRUTA (ANIMALS WITHOUT FRONT TEETH).
CHAPTER I.
SLOTHS.
The South American Forests--Discovery of the Sloth--How it
derived its Name--Peculiarities of Dentition--Food--Fore
Limbs and Fingers--Hind Limbs and Heel--Other
Modifications of Structure--Kinds of Sloth--Waterton’s
Captive Sloth--Habits of the Animal--Burchell’s Tame
Sloths--Manner of Climbing Trees--Disposition--Activity among
Trees--Naturalists’ Debate about Anatomy--Probable Conclusion
regarding it--Skeleton--Vertebræ--the Rudimentary Tail--Most
Distinctive Skeletal Characters--Arm, Wrist, Hand, Fingers,
Claws--Mode of Walking--Great Utility of the Claws--Face of
Sloth--Skull--Teeth--Classification--_TARDIGRADA_--BRADIPODIDÆ--Genus
BRADYPUS--Characteristics--Genus
ARCTOPITHECUS--Characteristics--CHOLŒPODIDÆ--THE COLLARED
SLOTH--Description--Skull Bones--Habits--Circulation of the
Blood--_Rete Mirabile_--THE AI--THE UNAU--Appearance--Skull
and Teeth--Skeleton--Interesting Anatomical
Features--Stomach--HOFFMANN’S SLOTH--Description--Habits 158
CHAPTER II.
THE ANT-EATERS.
THE CAPE ANT-EATER--The Cage at “the Zoo”--Appearance
of the Animal--Its Prey--The Ant-hills-How the
Orycteropus obtains its Food--Place in the
Order--Teeth--Skull--Tongue--Interesting Questions concerning
the Ant-eater--THE PANGOLINS, OR SCALY ANT-EATERS--THE
AFRICAN SCALY ANT-EATERS--Differences between the Pangolins
and Cape Ant-eaters--Their Habitat--Description--TEMMINCK’S
PANGOLIN--Habits--Food--How it Feeds--Superstitious Regard
for it shown by the Natives--Scarcity--Appearance--THE
LONG-TAILED, OR FOUR-FINGERED PANGOLIN--THE
GREAT MANIS--THE ASIATIC SCALY ANT-EATERS--THE
SHORT-TAILED, OR FIVE-FINGERED PANGOLIN--The Species of
_Manis_--Skull--Stomach--Claws fitted for Digging--Other
Skeletal Peculiarities--THE AMERICAN ANT-EATERS--General
Appearance--Genera--THE GREAT ANT-BEAR--Habits--Diet--How
it Procures its Food--Distribution--Mode and Rate of
Locomotion--Stupidity--Manner of Assault and Defence--Stories
of its Contests with other Animals--Appearance--THE
TAMANDUA--Description--Where Found--Habits--Odour--THE
TWO-TOED ANT-EATER--Appearance--Two-clawed Hand--Habits--Von
Sach’s Account of his Specimen 169
CHAPTER III.
THE ARMADILLO FAMILY.
The Armour-plates--How the Shields are formed--Their
connection with the Body--Description of the
Animals--Mode of Walking--Diet--Skeleton--Adaptation of
their Limbs for Burrowing--Classification--THE GREAT
ARMADILLO--Appearance--Great Burrower--THE TATOUAY--THE
POYOU, OR YELLOW-FOOTED ARMADILLO--THE PELUDO, OR HAIRY
ARMADILLO--THE PICHIY--THE PEBA, OR BLACK TATOU--THE MULE
ARMADILLO--THE BALL ARMADILLO--Dr. Murie’s Account of its
Habits--Description--The Muscles by which it Rolls itself
up and Unrolls itself--THE PICHICIAGO--Concluding Remarks:
Classification of the Order, Fossil Edentates, the Allied
Species of _Manis_ in South Africa and Hindostan 181
ORDER MARSUPIALIA, MARSUPIAL OR POUCHED ANIMALS.
SUB-ORDER MARSUPIATA.
CHAPTER I.
THE KANGAROO AND WOMBAT FAMILIES.
THE GREAT KANGAROO--Captain Cook and the Great
Kangaroo--Habitat--Appearance of the Animal--Marsupials
separated from the other Mammalian Orders, and why
(Footnote)--Gestation and Birth of Young (Footnote)--Mode
of Running--The Short Fore Limbs--The _Marsupium_, or
Pouch--Head--Dentition--Peculiarities in the Teeth--Hind
Extremities--Foot--Great Claw--How the Erect Position is
maintained--Whence their Jumping Power is derived--Other
Skeletal Peculiarities--Kangaroo Hunts--Becoming
Rarer--Mode of Attack and Defence--Hands--Bones of the Fore
Limbs--Skull--Stomach--Circulation of Blood--Peculiarity
in Young--Nervous System not fully developed--Brain--The
Baby Kangaroo in the Pouch--THE HARE KANGAROO--THE
GREAT ROCK KANGAROO--THE RED KANGAROO--THE BRUSH
KANGAROO--THE BRUSH-TAILED ROCK KANGAROO--THE COMMON
TREE KANGAROO--THE KANGAROO-RATS--Characteristics--THE
RAT-TAILED HYPSIPRYMNUS--Description--THE WOMBAT FAMILY--THE
WOMBAT--Peculiarities--Description--Habits--Teeth--Skeleton 191
CHAPTER II.
THE PHALANGER, POUCHED BADGER, AND DASYURE FAMILIES.
THE PHALANGER FAMILY--THE KOALA--Habits--Characteristics--THE
CUSCUS--THE VULPINE PHALANGER--THE DORMOUSE
PHALANGER--Habits--Remarkable Characters--THE FLYING
PHALANGERS--Its Flying Machine--Habits--THE SQUIRREL FLYING
PHALANGERS--Habits--The Parachute-like Membrane--Exciting
Scene on board a Vessel--Characteristics--THE OPOSSUM
MOUSE--THE NOOLBENGER, OR TAIT--A Curiosity among
Marsupials--Distinctive Features--THE POUCHED BADGER
FAMILY--Characteristics--THE RABBIT-EARED PERAMELES--THE
BANDICOOT--THE BANDED PERAMELES--THE PIG-FOOTED
PERAMELES--Discussion regarding it--Characteristics--THE
DASYURUS FAMILY--Characteristics--THE POUCHED
ANT-EATERS--THE BANDED MYRMECOBIUS--Description--Great
number of Teeth--History--Food--Habits--Range--THE URSINE
DASYURE--Appearance--“Native Devil”--Ferocity--Havoc
among the Sheep of the Settlers--Trap to Catch them--Its
Teeth--A True Marsupial, though strikingly like the
Carnivora--Skeletal Characters peculiar to itself--MAUGE’S
DASYURE--THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS--Description--Resemblance
to the Dog--Habits--Peculiarities--THE BRUSH-TAILED
PHASCOGALE--Description--Other Varieties 203
CHAPTER III.
THE OPOSSUMS.
Prehistoric Opossums--Description of the Animal--Their
Teeth--Habits--THE COMMON OPOSSUM--Appearance--Use of its
Tail--Food--The Young--How they are Reared--D’AZARA’S
OPOSSUM--THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM--THE THICK-TAILED
OPOSSUM--MERIAN’S OPOSSUM--Pouchless Opossums--Their
Young--THE MURINA OPOSSUM--THE ELEGANT OPOSSUM--THE
YAPOCK--Classification of Marsupial Animals--Geographical
Distribution of the Sub-Order--Ancestry of the
Marsupials--Fossil Remains 219
SUB-ORDER--MONOTREMATA.
CHAPTER IV.
THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED ECHIDNA AND DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.
Why the Monotremata are formed into a Sub-order--The lowest
of the Mammalian Class--THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED
ECHIDNA--An Ant-eater, but not an Edentate--Its
Correct Name--Description of the Animal--Habits and
Disposition--Manner of Using the Tongue--Where it is
Found--Anatomical Features: Skull, Brain, Marsupial
Bones--The Young--Species of Van Diemen’s Land and New
Guinea--THE WATER-MOLE, OR DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS--The
most Bird-like Mammal--Various Names--Description--Their
Appearance and Movements in Water--Their Burrows--Habits
of an Individual kept in Confinement--Used by Natives
as Food--How they are Captured--The Young--A Family in
Captivity--The Snout--Jaws--Teeth--Tongue--Fore and Hind
Feet--Heel--Spur--The Shoulder Girdle--Breastbone--Concluding
Remarks on the Sub-orders--Postscript 227
THE CLASS AVES.--THE BIRDS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION--WING STRUCTURE AND FEATHERS--DISTRIBUTION.
Introduction--Distinctive Characters of the Class Aves--Power
of Flight--The Wing--Its Structure--The Six Zoo-geographical
Regions of the Earth--Birds peculiar to these Regions 235
CHAPTER II.
THE ANATOMY OF A BIRD.
The Three Divisions of the Class Aves--ANATOMY OF A
BIRD--The Skeleton--Distinctive Features--Peculiar Bone
Character--The Skull--Difference between the Skull of
Birds and that of Mammals--The Jawbones--Vertebral
Column--Sternum--Fore-limbs--Hind-limbs--Toes--The
Muscular System--How a Bird remains Fixed when Asleep--The
Oil-gland--The Nervous System--The Brain--The Eye--The
Ear--The Digestive System--The Dental papillæ--The
Beak--Tongue--Gullet--Crop--Stomach--Uses of the
Gizzard--Intestine--The Liver, Pancreas, and Spleen--The
Blood and Circulatory System--Temperature of Blood of
a Bird--Blood Corpuscles--The Heart--The Respiratory
System--Lungs--Air-sacs--The Organs of Voice--The
Egg--Classification of the Class Aves 239
CHAPTER III.
DIVISION I.--THE CARINATE BIRDS (CARINATÆ).
THE ACCIPITRINE ORDER--BIRDS OF PREY.
VULTURES AND CARACARAS.
The Birds of Prey--Distinctive Characters--The Cere--How
the Birds of Prey are Divided--Difference between a
Hawk, an Owl, and an Osprey--The Three Sub-orders of the
Accipitres--Sub-order FALCONES--Difference between the
Vultures of the Old World and the Vultures of the New
World--THE OLD WORLD VULTURES--Controversy as to how the
Vultures reach their Prey--Waterton on the Faculty of
Scent--Mr Andersson’s, Dr. Kirk’s, and Canon Tristram’s
Views in Favour of Sight--THE BLACK VULTURE--THE
GRIFFON VULTURE--Its Capacity for Feeding while on the
Wing--THE EARED VULTURE--One of the Largest of the
Birds of Prey--Whence it gets its Name--THE EGYPTIAN
VULTURE--A Foul Feeder--THE NEW WORLD VULTURES--THE
CONDOR--Its Appearance--Power of Flight--Habits--THE KING
VULTURE--THE TURKEY VULTURE--THE CARACARAS--Distinctive
Characters--Habits--THE SECRETARY BIRD--How it Attacks
Snakes--Habits--Appearance--THE ÇARIAMA 254
CHAPTER IV.
THE LONG-LEGGED HAWKS AND BUZZARDS.
THE BANDED GYMNOGENE--Habits--Its Movable Tarsi--THE
HARRIERS--Distinctive Features--THE MARSH
HARRIER--Habits--Its Thievish Propensities--THE
HARRIER-HAWKS--Colonel Greyson’s Account of
their Habits--THE CHANTING GOSHAWKS--Why so
Called--Habits--THE TRUE GOSHAWKS--Distinctive
Characters--THE GOSHAWK--Distribution--In Pursuit of
its Prey--Appearance--THE SPARROW-HAWKS--Distinctive
Characters--THE COMMON SPARROW-HAWK--Habits--Appearance--THE
BUZZARDS--Their Tarsus--THE COMMON BUZZARD--Where
Found--How it might be turned to Account--Food--Its
Migrations--Habits--Appearance--THE HARPY 267
CHAPTER V.
EAGLES AND FALCONS.
THE EAGLES--THE BEARDED EAGLE, OR LÄMMERGEIER--A Visit
to their Nest--Habits--A Little Girl carried off
Alive--Habits in Greece--Appearance--Von Tschudi’s and
Captain Hutton’s Descriptions of its Attacks--THE TRUE
EAGLES--THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE--Eye--Crystalline Lens--How
Eagles may be Divided--THE IMPERIAL EAGLE--THE GOLDEN
EAGLE--In Great Britain--Macgillivray’s Description of its
Habits--Appearance--THE KITE EAGLE--Its Peculiar Feet--Its
Bird’s-nesting Habits--THE COMMON HARRIER EAGLE--THE INDIAN
SERPENT EAGLE--THE BATELEUR EAGLE--THE WHITE-TAILED EAGLE--A
Sea Eagle--Story of Capture of some Young--THE SWALLOW-TAILED
KITE--On the Wing--THE COMMON KITE--THE EUROPEAN HONEY
KITE--Habits--ANDERSSON’S PERN--THE FALCONS--The Bill--THE
CUCKOO FALCONS--THE FALCONETS--THE PEREGRINE FALCON--Its
Wonderful Distribution--Falconry--Names for Male, Female,
and Young--Hawks and Herons--THE GREENLAND JER-FALCON--THE
KESTRELS--THE COMMON KESTREL--Its Habits and Disposition 277
CHAPTER VI.
THE OSPREYS AND OWLS.
THE OSPREY--Distribution--Food--How it Seizes its
Prey--Nesting Communities--STRIGES, or OWLS--Distinctions
between Hawks and Owls--Owls in Bird-lore and
Superstition--Families of the Sub-order--THE FISH OWL--PEL’S
FISH OWL--THE EAGLE OWL--Dr. Brehm’s Description of its
Appearance and Habits--THE SNOWY OWL--HAWK OWLS--PIGMY
OWLETS--THE SHORT-EARED OWL--THE LONG-EARED OWL--THE BARN
OWL--The Farmer’s Friend--Peculiar Characters--Distribution 296
THE SECOND ORDER.--PICARIAN BIRDS.
CHAPTER VII.
THE PARROTS.
Characteristics of the Order--The
Sub-orders--ZYGODACTYLÆ--THE PARROTS--Their Talking
Powers--Sections of the Family--THE GREAT PALM COCKATOO--THE
PYGMY PARROTS--THE AMAZON PARROTS--THE AMAZONS--THE
GREY PARROT--Court Favourites--Historical Specimens--In
a State of Nature--Mr. Keulemans’ Observations--THE
CONURES--THE ROSE-RINGED PARRAKEET--Known to the
Ancients--Habitat--Habits--THE CAROLINA CONURE--Destructive
Propensities--THE PARRAKEETS--THE OWL PARROT--Chiefly
Nocturnal--Incapable of Flight--How this Fact may be
accounted for--Dr. Haast’s Account of its Habits--THE
STRAIGHT-BILLED PARROTS--THE BRUSH-TONGUED PARROTS--THE
NESTORS--THE KAKA PARROT--Skull of a Parrot--The Bill 308
THE SECOND ORDER.--PICARIAN BIRDS. SUB-ORDER I.--ZYGODACTYLÆ.
CHAPTER VIII.
CUCKOOS--HONEY
GUIDES--PLANTAIN-EATERS--WOODPECKERS--TOUCANS--BARBETS.
THE CUCKOOS--THE BUSH CUCKOOS--THE LARK-HEELED CUCKOOS,
OR COUCALS--THE COMMON CUCKOO--Its Characteristics--Mrs.
Blackburn’s Account of a Young Cuckoo Ejecting a
Tenant--Breeding Habits--The Eggs--The Call-notes of
Male and Female--Food--Its Winter Home--Its Appearance
and Plumage--THE HONEY GUIDES--Kirk’s Account of their
Habits--Mrs. Barber’s Refutation of a Calumny against
the Bird--THE PLANTAIN-EATERS--THE WHITE-CRESTED
PLANTAIN-EATER--THE GREY PLANTAIN-EATER--THE COLIES--THE
WHITE-BACKED COLY--THE WOODPECKERS--How they Climb and
Descend Trees--Their Bill--Do they Damage Sound Trees?--THE
WRYNECKS--THE YAFFLE--THE RED-HEADED WOODPECKER--THE SPOTTED
WOODPECKER--THE TOUCANS--Mr. Gould’s Account of their
Habits--Mr. Waterton’s Account--The Enormous Bill--Azara’s
Description of the Bird--Mr. Bates’ History of a Tame
Toucan--THE BARBETS--Messrs. Marshall’s Account of the
Family--Mr. Layard on their Habits 323
THE SECOND ORDER.--PICARIAN BIRDS. SUB-ORDER
II.--FISSIROSTRES.
CHAPTER IX.
THE JACAMARS, PUFF BIRDS, KINGFISHERS, HORNBILLS, AND HOOPOES.
THE JACAMARS--THE PUFF BIRDS--THE
KINGFISHERS--Characters--THE COMMON
KINGFISHER--Distribution--Its Cry--Habits--After its
Prey--Its own Nest-builder--Mr. Rowley’s Note on the
Subject--Nest in the British Museum--Superstitions
concerning the Kingfisher--Colour--Various Species--CRESTED
KINGFISHER--PIED KINGFISHER--Dr. Von Heuglin’s Account
of its Habits--New World Representatives--OMNIVOROUS
KINGFISHERS--THE AUSTRALIAN CINNAMON-BREASTED
KINGFISHER--Macgillivray’s Account of its Habits--THE
LAUGHING JACKASS of Australia--Its Discordant
Laugh--The “Bushman’s Clock”--Colour--Habits--THE
HORNBILLS--Character--Their Heavy Flight--Noise
produced when on the Wing--Food--Extraordinary Habit of
Imprisoning the Female--Native Testimony--Exception--Fed
by the Male Bird--Dr. Livingstone’s Observations on
the point, and Mr. Bartlett’s Remarks--Strange Gizzard
Sacs--Dr. Murie’s Remarks--Mr. Wallace’s Description
of the Habits of the Hornbills--Capture of a Young
One in Sumatra--THE GROUND HORNBILLS--South African
Species--Kaffir Superstition regarding it--Habits--Mr.
Ayres’ Account of the Natal Species--How it Kills
Snakes--The Call--Habits--Mr. Monteiro’s Description of
the Angola Form--Turkey-like Manner--Wariness--Food--THE
HOOPOES--Appearance--Distribution--THE COMMON
HOOPOE--Habits--The Name--How does it produce its Note?--THE
WOOD HOOPOES--Habits 343
CHAPTER X.
THE BEE-EATERS--MOTMOTS--ROLLERS--TROGONS--NIGHTJARS, OR
GOATSUCKERS--SWIFTS--HUMMING-BIRDS.
THE BEE-EATERS--Their Brilliant Plumage--Colonel Irby’s
Account of the Bird in Spain--Shot for Fashion’s
sake--THE MOTMOTS--Appearance--Mr. Waterton on the
Houtou--Curious Habit of Trimming its Tail--Mr. O.
Salvin’s Observations on this point--Mr. Bartlett’s
Evidence--THE ROLLERS--Why so called--Canon Tristram’s
Account of their Habits--Colour--Other Species--THE
TROGONS--Where found--Peculiar Foot--Tender Skin--Inability
to Climb--Their Food--THE LONG-TAILED TROGON, OR
QUESAL--Mr. Salvin’s Account of its Habits--Its
Magnificent Colour--How they are Hunted--THE NIGHTJARS,
OR GOATSUCKERS--Appearance--Distribution--The Guacharo,
or Oil Bird--“Frog-mouths”--Mr. Gould’s Account of the
Habits of the Tawny-shouldered Podargus--How it Builds its
Nest--Mr. Waterton’s Vindication of the Goatsucker--What
Services the Bird does really render Cattle, Goats, and
Sheep--Its Cry--THE COMMON GOATSUCKER--THE SWIFTS--THE
COMMON SWIFT--Migration--Their Home in the Air--When they
Breed--Nest--TREE SWIFTS--The Edible-Nest Swiftlets--Mr. E.
L. Layard’s Visit to the Cave of the Indian Swiftlet--THE
HUMMING BIRDS--Number of Species--Distribution--Professor
Newton’s Description of the Bird--Mr. Wallace on their
Habits--Wilson on the North American Species 360
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
The Chamois _Frontispiece._
The Water Deerlet, or Chevrotain 1
Stomach of a Ruminating Animal: exterior and interior 2
Brain of a Sheep 3
Merino Sheep 5
The Ammon 8
The Ammon 9
The Barbary Wild Sheep 10
The Ibex 11
The Markhoor 12
The Dorcas Gazelle 14
The Saïga 15
The Indian Antelope 16
Head of Female Bush-buck 18
The Water-buck 19
The Eland 20
The Koodoo 22
The Bubaline Antelope 24
The Gnu 25
The Goral 26
Head of the Chamois 27
The Oryx 28
The Nyl-ghau 30
Musk Oxen 31
Chillingham Cattle 32
The Hungarian Bull 33
The European Bison 36
The American Bison 37
The Yak 38
The Anoa 39
Skull of the Pronghorn Antelope 40
The Pronghorn Antelope 41
Skull of the Musk [Deer] 42
The Musk [Deer] 43
Skeleton of the Giraffe 44
Giraffes 45
Head of Red Deer, in which the growing Antlers are seen
covered with “velvet” 46
Head of Red Deer, in which the Antler is fully developed and
the “velvet” has disappeared 47
Various Types of Antlers 49
Elk Hunt 50
Young Elk 51
The Red Deer 53
Red Deer and Fallow Deer in Winter 54
Red Deer Fighting 55
The Fallow Deer 56
The Sambur Deer 57
The Borneo Rusine Deer 58
The Axis Deer _To face page_ 59
Schomburgk’s Deer 60
The Indian Muntjac 62
The Roebuck: Male, Female, and Young 63
The Chinese Water Deer 64
The Chinese Elaphure 65
Reindeer at a Lapp Encampment 66
The Reindeer 67
The Guazuti Deer 69
The Javan Deerlet 70
The Stanleyan Deerlet--Foot of Camel 71
Stomach of the Llama--Water Cells of the Camel 72
Head of the (true) Camel 73
The (true) Camel 74
The Bactrian Camel 75
Huanaco attacked by a Puma 76
The Alpaca _To face page_ 77
The Llama 77
Skeleton of the Irish Elk 79
The Irish Elk (_Restored_) 80
The Prairie Dog 81
Skull of the Taguan, a Flying Squirrel--Dentition
of the Hare 82
Skeleton of the Rabbit 83
Brain of Beaver, from above and in profile 84
Teeth of the Taguan 85
The Common Squirrel 86
The Black Fox Squirrel 88
The Taguan 89
The Polatouche 90
The Common Chipmunk 91
Molar Teeth of the Marmot--The Striped Spermophile, or Gopher 92
Burrows of the Prairie Dog 93
The Alpine Marmot 95
The Fulgent Anomalure--Molar Teeth of the Anomalure 96
Molar Teeth of the Beaver 97
The Beaver 98
Molar Teeth of the Dormouse--The Dormouse 102
The Garden Dormouse 103
Skull of Lophiomys--The Lophiomys 104
Molar Teeth of the Black Rat 105
The Brown Rat 106
The Black Rat 107
Harvest Mice 109
Molar Teeth of the Hapalote 111
Head of the Rabbit-like Reithrodon 112
Hamster _To face page_ 113
Molar Teeth of the Hamster 113
Molar Teeth of the Gerbille--Skull of the Water Mouse--Teeth
of Sminthus 114
Molar Teeth of the Water Rat 115
The Southern Field Vole 116
The Musquash 118
The Lemming 119
Skull of Mole-Rat--The Mole-Rat 121
Molar Teeth of the Mexican Pouched Rat--Under Surface of the
Head of Heteromys 122
Skull of the Mexican Pouched Rat 123
Skull of the Cape Jumping Hare 124
The American Jumping Mouse--Molar Teeth of the Jerboa 125
The Jerboa 126
The Alactaga--Molar Teeth of the Jumping Hare 127
The Cape Jumping Hare 128
The Degu 129
Dentition of the Rock Rat--Teeth of the Spiny Rat 130
The Coypu 131
The Hutia Conga--Teeth of Plagiodon--Molar Teeth of
Loncheres 132
Skull of Loncheres 133
Skull of the Porcupine--The Common Porcupine 134
The Tree Porcupine 136
Mexican Tree Porcupines 137
Viscachas _To face page_ 139
Molar Teeth of the Chinchilla--The Chinchilla 139
Molar Teeth of the Agouti--Azara’s Agouti 140
Skull of the Paca--The Paca 141
The Dinomys 142
The Patagonian Cavy 144
Molars of the Capybara 145
The Capybara 146
The Common Hare 148
The Alpine Pika 150
Side View of Skull and Lower Jaw of Mesotherium
Cristatum--Dentition of Mesotherium Cristatum 155
Group of Sloths 158
Skeleton of the Sloth 161
Bones of Hand of Three-toed Sloth 162
Skull of Sloth 163
The Collared Sloth 164
The Ai 165
Skull of Ai 166
Stomach of Sloth 167
Hoffmann’s Sloth 168
The Cape Ant-eater 170
Skull of the Cape Ant-eater 171
Temminck’s Pangolin 172
The Four-fingered Pangolin 173
The Five-fingered Pangolin 175
The Great Ant-Bear 177
The Two-toed Ant-eater 180
Bones of Claw of Great Armadillo 181
Skeleton of the Armadillo--Skull of the Armadillo 182
The Great Armadillo--Brain of the Armadillo 183
The Poyou 185
The Ball Armadillo 188
The Pichiciago 189
The Great Kangaroo _To face page_ 191
Skeleton of the Great Kangaroo 192
Teeth of the Great Kangaroo 193
Stomach of the Great Kangaroo 195
Brain of the Great Kangaroo 196
The Brush-tailed Rock Kangaroo 197
The Common Tree Kangaroo 198
The Kangaroo Rat--Teeth of the Kangaroo Rat 199
Fore and Hind Foot of Hypsiprymnus 200
Skeleton of the Wombat 201
The Wombat--Lower Jaw of the Wombat 202
Teeth of the Wombat 203
The Koala 204
The Cuscus 205
The Vulpine Phalanger 206
The Squirrel Flying Phalanger 208
The Banded Perameles 210
The Dasyure 213
Teeth of the Dasyure--Brain of the Dasyure 214
Upper and Under View of Skull of Dasyure 215
The Dog-headed Thylacinus 216
Skeleton of the Dog-headed Thylacinus 217
The Brush-tailed Phascogale--The Antechinus 218
Opossum and Young _To face page_ 219
Teeth of the Opossum 219
Skeleton of the Crab-eating Opossum 220
The Crab-eating Opossum 221
Merian’s Opossum 222
The Yapock 223
Pelvic Arch of the Echidna 227
The Porcupine Echidna 228
Mouth and Nose-snout of Echidna 229
Jaws of the Duck-billed Platypus 231
Fore and Hind Foot of the Duck-billed
Platypus--Shoulder-girdle and Sternum of the Echidna 232
The Duck-billed Platypus 233
The Imperial Eagle 235
Bones of Wing of Bird--Feathers of Wing of Bird 237
Parts of a Feather 238
Skeleton of Eagle 241
Skull of Young Ostrich from above and from below 242
Sternum of Fregilupus varius--Pelvis of an Adult Fowl, side
view 243
Section of the Eye of the Common Buzzard 246
Digestive Organs of the Kingfisher 248
Front View and Section of Inferior Larynx of
Peregrine Falcon 251
Diagrammatic Section of a Fowl’s Egg 252
Head and Bill of Sea Eagle 255
Bill of Egyptian Vulture, to show form of Nostril--Bill of
Turkey Vulture, to show the perforated Nostril 256
The Griffon Vulture 259
The Egyptian Vulture 261
The Condor 262
The Brazilian Caracara 264
The Secretary Bird 266
The Marsh Harrier 269
The Goshawk 272
The Sparrow-Hawk 273
Hind View of Tarsus of Buzzard, showing the plated
arrangement of Scales--Hind View of Tarsus of Serpent Eagle,
showing the reticulated arrangement of Scales 274
The Common Buzzard 275
The Harpy 276
The Bearded Eagle, or Lämmergeier 279
Eye of Eagle, showing Crystalline Lens 280
The Golden Eagle 282
The Bateleur Eagle 285
The White-tailed Eagle 287
The Common Kite 289
The Peregrine Falcon 292
A Hooded Falcon--Falcon’s Hood 293
The Common Kestrel 295
The Osprey 296
Skull of Tengmalm’s Owl 297
The Little Owl 298
The Eagle Owl _To face page_ 301
The Snowy Owl 303
The Short-eared Owl 304
Face of the Barn Owl 305
Breast-bone of the Barn Owl 307
Cockatoos _To face page_ 309
The Amazon Parrot 311
Great Macaws _To face page_ 313
The Grey Parrot 313
The Rose-ringed Parrakeet 314
The Rosella 316
The Owl Parrot 317
The Lorikeet 319
Tongue of Nestor 320
The Kaka Parrot 321
Skull of the Grey Parrot 323
The Common Cuckoo 326
The Great Spotted Cuckoo 328
The Honey Guide 329
The White-crested Plantain-eater 331
Colies 333
“Hyoid” Bone of Adult Fowl--Side View of Dissection of Head
of Common Green Woodpecker 334
Upper View of Skull of Green Woodpecker--Dissection of Head
of Green Woodpecker, viewed from below 335
The Wryneck 336
The Great Black Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker _To
face page_ 337
The Green Woodpecker 337
The Toucan 340
Bill of Toucan 341
The Pearl-spotted Barbet 342
The Common Kingfisher 345
The Pied Kingfisher 348
The Laughing Jackass 350
The Great Hornbill 352
The Ground Hornbills of Abyssinia 355
The Common Hoopoe 358
The Australian Bee-eater--Bill of Motmot 361
The Motmot 362
Tail-feathers of Motmot 363
The Blue Roller 365
The Long-tailed Trogon, or Quesal _To face page_ 367
Mouth of Goatsucker--The Oil-bird 368
The Common Goatsucker 369
The Whip-poor-will 370
The Lyre-tailed Nightjar 371
Foot of the Common Goatsucker 372
The Common Swift 373
The Tree Swift 374
The Edible-nest Swiftlets 375
The White-throated Spine-tailed Swift 376
The Sword-bill Humming Bird 377
The White-booted Racket Tail 378
The Common Topaz Humming Bird 379
The Crested Humming Bird 380
[Illustration: CHAMOIS.]
CASSELL’S NATURAL HISTORY.
[Illustration: WATER DEERLET, OR CHEVROTAIN.]
CHAPTER I.
ARTIODACTYLA--RUMINANTIA: BOVIDÆ--SHEEP, GOATS, AND GAZELLES.
Ruminantia--Chewing the Cud--Metaphorical Expression--The
Complicated Stomach: Paunch, Honey-comb Bag, Manyplies,
Reed--Order of Events in Rumination--Feet and Dentition of
Ruminants--Brain--Classification--HORNED RUMINANTS--Divided into
two Groups--Difference between them--BOVIDÆ--Horns--Aberrant
Members--SHEEP AND GOATS--General Characteristics--Sheep of
South-Western Asia--Merino Sheep--Breeds of Great Britain--Dishley,
or Improved Leicesters--Mr. Bakewell’s Description--Southdowns,
Cheviots, Welsh, and other British Breeds--Table of the Importation
of Colonial and Foreign Wool into the United Kingdom--MARCO
POLO’S SHEEP--OORIAL--SHAPOO--MOUFLON--AMMON--BURHEL--AMERICAN
ARGALI--WILD SHEEP OF BARBARY--THE GOAT--Compared with
the Sheep--Descent--Cashmere Goat--IBEXES--PASENG--Their
remarkable Horns--Old Theories as to the Use of the
Horns--MARKHOOR--TAHR--GAZELLES--General Characteristics--Sir Victor
Brooke’s Classification--THE GAZELLE--Appearance--Habits--ARABIAN
GAZELLE--PERSIAN GAZELLE--SOEMMERRING’S GAZELLE--GRANT’S
GAZELLE--SPRINGBOK--SAÏGA--CHIRU--THE PALLAH, OR IMPALLA--THE INDIAN
ANTELOPE, OR BLACK BUCK.
The Swine, together with those animals which most nearly approach them,
namely, the Peccaries and Hippopotami, form but a small division of the
cloven-hoofed order of the Mammalian animals; by far the greater number
of the species of the Artiodactyla being included in a group known
familiarly as that of the Ruminantia, because, as part of the digestive
process, they chew the cud.
This chewing the cud is a phenomenon restricted to the group of animals
now under consideration, although it may be mentioned that some
naturalists have thought that the Kangaroos among the Marsupials do the
same to a certain extent.
As to the details of the process, the individual, a Cow, for instance,
whilst grazing, nips off the grass between the large cutting teeth
in the front of the lower jaw, and the tough pad which replaces in
these creatures the similarly situated teeth of the upper jaw. After
each mouthful it does not proceed to masticate the food, but swallows
it forthwith, and continues thus to graze until it has satisfied its
appetite. Seeking a quiet and shaded spot, it then seats itself that
it may ruminate, or chew the cud, at leisure. If watched it will be
seen that it commences shortly to perform a slight hiccough action, in
which some contraction of the flanks is to be noticed. Its mouth, which
was previously empty, is found to be full of what it is not difficult
to recognise to be coarsely-masticated grass, which has been forced up
into it; and this it immediately proceeds to chew between its back or
grinding teeth, in a slow and continuous manner, moving its lower jaw
uniformly from one side to the other--from right to left. When this
chewing process has lasted for a time sufficient to convert the food
into a pulpy state, it is again swallowed, after which another bolus
is brought up to undergo a similar operation. And this is repeated at
frequent intervals until most of the food swallowed has been masticated.
A complicated stomach is necessary for the operation of this elaborate
chewing process, the undisturbed duration of which has led to the word
by which it is designated being applied metaphorically to a brooding
condition of mind. Thus the poet of the “Night Thoughts” says:--
[Illustration: STOMACH OF A RUMINATING ANIMAL: (A) EXTERIOR, (B)
INTERIOR.]
“As when the traveller, a long day past
In painful search of what he cannot find,
At night’s approach, content with the next cot,
There ruminates awhile his labour lost.”
This complicated stomach is not identical in all the Ruminantia. In the
Camels and the Llamas it presents many points of difference from that
of all the other members of the group, and in the Chevrotains it has
slight peculiarities of its own.
This organ, as found in the Ox--and it is almost identically the same
in the Giraffes, the Antelopes, the Sheep, and Deer--is seen to be
divided into four well-defined compartments, as represented in the
accompanying figures. These are known as--
1. The Rumen, or Paunch (_b_).
2. The Reticulum, or Honey-comb Bag (_c_).
3. The Psalterium, or Manyplies (_d_).
4. The Abomasum, or Reed (_e_).
The paunch (_b_) is a very capacious receptacle, shaped like a
blunted cone bent partly upon itself. Into its broader base opens the
œsophagus, or gullet (_a_), at a spot not far removed from its wide
orifice of communication with the second stomach, or honey-comb bag
(_c_). Its inner walls are nearly uniformly covered with a pale skin
(known as mucous membrane), which is beset with innumerable close-set,
short, and slender processes (known as villi), resembling very much
the “pile” on velvet. It is this organ, together with its villi, which
constitutes the well-known article of food termed “tripe.”
The honey-comb bag (_c_) is very much smaller than the paunch. It
is nearly globose in shape, and receives its name on account of the
peculiar arrangement of the ridges on the mucous membrane which lines
it, these being distributed so as to form shallow hexagonal cells all
over its inner surface, as seen in the figure on the previous page.
It is situated to the right of the paunch, with which, as well as with
the manyplies (_d_), it communicates. Running along its upper wall
there is a deep groove coursing from the first to the third stomach.
This groove plays an important part in the mechanism of rumination; its
nature must therefore be fully understood.
Its walls are muscular, like those of the viscus with which it is
associated, which allows its calibre to be altered. Sometimes it
completely closes round so as to become converted into a tube by the
apposition of its edges. At others it forms an open canal.
The manyplies (_d_) is a very peculiar organ. It is globular, but most
of its interior is filled up with folds, or laminæ, running between its
orifices of communication with the second and fourth stomachs. These
folds are arranged very much like the leaves of a book, and very close
together. They are, however, not of equal depth, but form series of
greater or less breadth. Their surfaces are roughened by the presence
of small projections or papillæ.
The reed (_e_) is the stomach proper, corresponding with the same
organ in man. Its shape is somewhat conical. The valve which partially
obstructs its communication with the intestine is at the left of the
foregoing figure. Its walls are formed of a smooth mucous membrane,
which secretes gastric juice, and it is this stomach that, in the
manufacture of cheese, is employed to curdle the milk.
Whilst grazing, the possessor of this complicated stomach fills its
paunch with the imperfectly masticated food, and it is not until it
commences to chew the cud that any of the other parts are brought into
play.
In the act of rumination, the following is the probable order of
events:--The paunch contracts, and in so doing forces some of the
food into the honey-comb bag, where it is formed into a bolus by the
movement of its walls, and then forced into the gullet, from which,
by a reverse action, it reaches the mouth, where it is chewed and
mixed with the saliva until it becomes quite pulpy, whereupon it
is again swallowed. But now, because it is soft and semi-fluid, it
does not divaricate the walls of the groove communicating with the
manyplies, and so, continuing on along its tubular interior, it finds
its way direct into the third stomach, most of it filtering between
the numerous laminæ on its way to the fourth stomach, where it becomes
acted on by the gastric juice. After the remasticated food has reached
the manyplies, the groove in the reticulum is pushed open by a fresh
bolus; and so the process is repeated until the food consumed has all
passed on towards the abomasum, or true digestive stomach.
[Illustration: BRAIN OF A SHEEP.]
There are other features also which are characteristic of the
ruminating animals. Their symmetrical four-toed feet (in which the
thumb on the fore and the great toe on the hind are entirely absent)
have the toes so proportioned that the axis of the limb runs down
between the two middle toes at the same time that both the inside and
outside toes are much reduced in size, and lost entirely in the Camel
tribe, the Giraffe, and the Cabrit.
Another peculiarity which exists in all ruminating animals is the
absence of cutting-teeth in the middle of the upper jaw; and it is only
in the Camels and their intimate allies, the Llamas, that there are any
upper cutting-teeth at all, they being replaced in all the others by a
callous pad, on which the lower cutting-teeth impinge in mastication.
The canine teeth, which correspond to the tusks of the Lion and Dog,
also deserve attention. Those of the lower jaw are always present, and
are modified so as to appear like lateral cutting-teeth. In the upper
jaw they are most often absent, but are enormous, projecting far down
outside the lip, in the Musk, the Chinese Water Deer, and the Muntjacs.
In some other Deer they are present, but small, and generally they are
wanting.
The grinders are six on each side of each jaw, and are so formed that
their surfaces wear down unevenly by the lateral movement to which
they are subject during mastication. As in the Elephant, this depends
upon each tooth being made up of alternate layers of enamel, dentine,
and cementum, which, being of different degrees of hardness, are
differently affected by the grinding action.
The ruminating animals exhibit a fair amount of intelligence, never,
however, attaining that power of perception and memory exhibited by
the Carnivora and other higher forms. The figure of the surface of the
brain of the Sheep indicates that the convolutions of the brain are far
from inconsiderable in number, and its allies of the same size agree
with it in this respect, whilst larger species have more, and smaller
less elaborate brain-markings, as is nearly always found to be the case
in every group.
The accompanying table gives an outline sketch of the classification of
the ruminating animals which has been adopted by zoologists:--
_Sub-order._ _Section._ _Division._ _Group._
{ Ox-tribe
{ (_Bovidæ_).
{ HORNED RUMINANTS. {
{ { Deer-tribe
{ TRUE RUMINANTS. { { (_Cervidæ_).
{ { CHEVROTAINS OR
RUMINANTIA. { { DEERLETS
{ CAMEL TRIBE. { (_Tragulidæ_).
{ (_Tylopoda_).
The large sub-order of the Ruminantia is seen to be primarily divided
into two sections, namely, the typical Ruminants and the aberrant
Ruminants (the _Tylopoda_). The typical Ruminants, in which the stomach
is formed upon the plan of that described above in the Oxen, fall
into two divisions, the smaller of which--that of the Chevrotains
or Deerlets--possesses no psalterium, or third stomach, except in
a rudimentary condition. The Horned Ruminants, including the Deer,
Muntjacs, Elk, Oxen, and Antelopes, compose by far the largest number
of the whole sub-order, and will be first described.
HORNED RUMINANTS.
The Horned Ruminants--with which, anomalous as it may at first
seem, have to be included one or two hornless species, on account
of their so closely resembling them in other respects--have their
_cranial appendages developed after one or other of two principles_.
In one group, which, from the fact that the Oxen are included with
them, are named the _Bovidæ_, the horns are hollow, straight, or
variously-twisted cones, supported upon bony prolongations from the
forehead, resembling them in shape upon a smaller scale. These horns
are permanent, except in the American Antelope, increasing in size each
year, at the same time that they often exhibit transverse markings,
which indicate the annual increase. In the other group--the _Cervidæ_,
or Deer Tribe--the horns or antlers are deciduous, being cast off each
year, to be shortly replaced by others, which share the fate of their
predecessors. These antlers are entirely made of bone, and when fully
grown are not covered with any less dense investment.
To commence, then, with the _Bovidæ_, or Oxen, and their allies.
THE BOVIDÆ, OR HOLLOW-HORNED RUMINANTS.
In these ruminating animals the permanent bone-cones on the forehead
are covered with a black horny coating, which is not shed during the
whole life of their owners, and in which, as they continue to grow
until adult life at least, the tips are the oldest parts. The females
in some species have horns like their mates, but smaller, as in the
Ox and Eland; while in others--the Koodoo and the Sing-Sing Antelope,
for example--the males alone are horned. The most aberrant members of
this group are the Giraffe, the Cabrit, and the Musk, which will be
considered after the less peculiar genera have been discussed. These
include the Oxen, Bush-Bucks, Antelopes, Koodoos, Goats, Sheep, &c.,
which will be referred to more in detail.
[Illustration: MERINO SHEEP.]
THE SHEEP AND GOATS.[1]
Between the bearded Goat and the beardless Sheep there exist
intermediate species, which so completely fill up the gaps that it
is almost impossible to separate the two into different genera. With
triangular, curved, and transversely-ridged horns in both sexes,
a characteristic general appearance, and feet formed for mountain
climbing, the species present differences which are recognised with
facility.
With reference to the domestic Sheep, it is the opinion of most
naturalists that it has descended from several distinct species. “Abel
was a keeper of Sheep,” is a Biblical statement from which the immense
antiquity of a domestic breed may be inferred, whose origin cannot
be better studied than by a comparison of the different forms found
wild in Asia, the head-quarters of the genus. That no Sheep existed
in Australia when that continent was first discovered is a well-known
fact.
“Endowed by nature,” as Mr. Spooner, in his work on the Sheep aptly
puts it, “with a peaceable and patient disposition, and a constitution
capable of enduring the extremes of temperature, adapting itself
readily to different climates, thriving on a variety of pastures,
economising nutriment where pasturage is scarce, and advantageously
availing itself of opportunities where food is abundant,” it is not to
be wondered at that the animal has become the companion of man from the
earliest times.
The fleece of the wild species of Sheep is composed of hair with wool
at its roots, in the same way that in the Duck there is a covering of
feathers and down. In the domesticated species the hair, by selection,
has been reduced to a minimum, so that the wool forms the only coat.
In the southern parts of Western Asia many of the Sheep have a curious
tendency to the deposition of fat on the tail rather than under the
skin of the body generally, and this may occur to such an extent that
the thus loaded caudal appendage may contain a large part of the entire
weight of the body.
The Astracan breed, of small size, has a fine spiral black and white
wool, sometimes entirely black, which is obtained from the lamb when
the finest furs are required.
Of all the breeds of Sheep the Merino of Spain is one of the most
important, on account of the excellence of its wool. In England the
breed can hardly be said to exist, because the dampness of the climate
does not suit its constitution. It is extensively found in Germany,
and is _the_ Sheep of Australia. The animal is small, flat-sided, and
long-legged. The males have long horns, these appendages being absent
in the females. The face, ears, and legs are dark, and the forehead is
woolly, at the same time that the skin about the throat is lax. The
body-wool is close-set, soft, twisted in a spiral, and short.
In Great Britain the breeds of Sheep are very numerous, some of the
best being of quite recent origin. First among the heavy breeds are
the Dishley, or Improved Leicesters, which, from their early maturity,
aptness to fatten, smallness of bone, and gentle disposition, well
deserve the high repute in which they stand. It is to the persevering
energy and acuteness of Mr. Bakewell that we are indebted for the
present animal, which in origin is far from pure bred. His aim was
entirely in the direction of the carcass, and in his object he and
his followers have quite succeeded, notwithstanding an inherent
delicacy in constitution and an inferiority of the wool. “The head of
this breed,” we are told, “should be hornless, long, small, tapering
towards the muzzle, and projecting horizontally forwards; the eyes
prominent, and with a quiet expression; the ears thin, rather long,
and directed backwards; the neck full and broad at its base, where it
proceeds from the chest, but gradually tapering towards the head, and
being particularly fine at the junction of the head and neck; the neck
seeming to project straight from the chest, so that there is, with the
slightest possible deviation, one continuous horizontal line from the
rump to the poll; the breast broad and full; the shoulders also broad
and round, and no uneven or angular formation where the shoulders join
either the neck or the back, particularly no rising of the withers or
hollow behind the situation of these bones; the arm fleshy through its
whole extent, and even down to the knee; the bones of the leg small,
standing wide apart, no looseness of skin about them, and comparatively
bare of wool; the chest and barrel at once deep and round; the ribs
forming a considerable arch from the spine, so as in some cases--and
especially when the animal is in good condition--to make the apparent
width of the chest even greater than the depth; the barrel ribbed
well home; no irregularity of line on the back or the belly, but on
the sides, the carcass very gradually diminishing in width towards
the rump; the quarters long and full, and, as with the fore-legs, the
muscles extending down to the hock; the thighs also wide and full;
the legs of a moderate length; the pelt moderately thin, but soft and
elastic, and covered with a good quantity of white wool, not so long as
in some breeds, but considerably finer.”
The large-sized Lincoln Sheep, with lengthy fleece, those of the
Cotswold Hills, the Teeswater, and Romney Marsh, are also heavy breeds,
not equal in the totality of their points to the Improved Leicesters,
although excelling them either in quantity of wool or hardiness of
constitution.
The Short-woolled Southdowns, with close-set fleece of fine wool, face
and legs dusky brown, curved neck, short limbs, and broad body, is one
of the oldest and most valuable unmixed breeds that we possess. Their
mutton greatly excels that of the Improved Leicesters, which, taken
in association with their other good qualities, has caused them to
extend to nearly every county. In parts of Hampshire, Shropshire, and
Dorsetshire there are local breeds of Short-woolled Sheep which replace
the Southdowns.
The Cheviot and the Black-faced, or Heath breed of our northern
counties are mountain Sheep, of small size and hardy constitution, the
former horned, the latter hornless and with a white face.
Welsh mutton is obtained from the small, soft-woolled Sheep with a
white nose and face. The rams alone have horns, wherein the breed
differs from that of the higher mountains, in which the ewes also are
horned, at the same time that a ridge of hair is present along the top
of the neck.
As wool forms so important an element of the mercantile transactions
of Great Britain, and as Sheep-farming has so rapidly increased in
Australia and New Zealand, a few words with reference to the statistics
of the subject will not be out of place.
In 1788, when Governor Phillip landed at Port Jackson, there was not a
Sheep in all Australia, and it was not until 1793 that about thirty of
the Indian breed reached Sydney, their number being shortly augmented
by the importation of breeding-stock from England and the Cape of
Good Hope, principally Merinos. The progeny soon spread towards the
interior, where the growing of wool became a lucrative pursuit. Sheep
were first imported into New Zealand in 1840. It is estimated there are
now one hundred million sheep in Australia, and nearly thirty million
in New Zealand.
The following table of the number of bales of wool imported into Great
Britain at twenty-year intervals, that is, in 1836, 1856, and 1876,
gives a better idea than can be otherwise obtained as to the changes
in the sources of wool as well as to the richness of each colonial
district:--
IMPORTATION OF COLONIAL AND FOREIGN WOOL INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM
(IN BALES).
-------------------------------+----------+---------+----------
| =1836.= | =1856.= | =1876.=
-------------------------------+----------+---------+----------
New South Wales and Queensland | 19,066 | 59,342 | 169,874
Victoria | None | 64,843 | 306,803
Tasmania | 15,449 | 17,951 | 20,480
South Australia | None | 16,618 | 102,067
West Australia | None | 1,267 | 7,510
New Zealand | None | 6,840 | 162,154
+----------+---------+----------
_Total Australasian_ | 34,515 |166,861 | 768,888
Cape of Good Hope | 1,740 | 50,607 | 169,908
+----------+---------+----------
_Total Colonial_ | 36,255 |217,468 | 938,796
+----------+---------+----------
German | 90,426 | 22,272 | 29,580
Spanish and Portuguese | 20,451 | 8,106 | 7,906
East Indian and Persian | 1,981 | 45,236 | 86,678
Russian | 15,072 | 4,181 | 34,511
River Plate } | | 5,151 }|
Peru, Lima, and Chili } | 16,653 } | 52,477 }|
Alpaca } | } | }| 118,593
Mediterranean and Africa | 14,714 | 13,665 }|
Mohair |No returns| 13,515 }|
Sundry | 12,784 | 10,735 }|
+----------+---------+----------
_Total Foreign_ |172,081 | 175,338 | 277,268
+----------+---------+----------
TOTAL IMPORTATION |=208,336= |=392,806=|=1,216,064=
-------------------------------+----------+---------+----------
So much for the domestic Sheep; of other species of the genus _Ovis_
we have Marco Polo’s Sheep.[2] This splendid Sheep, one of the finest
species of the genus, has horns, describing a spiral of about a circle
and a quarter when viewed from the side, pointing directly outwards,
and sometimes measuring as many as sixty-three inches from base to tip
along their curve, and as much as four and a half feet from tip to tip.
At the shoulder the animal measures just under four feet. It inhabits
the high lands in the neighbourhood of the lofty Thian Shan mountains,
north of Kashgar and Yarkand, not descending below an elevation of
9,000 feet above the sea level, often ascending much higher. It is on
account of the rarefaction of the air in these regions that there is
considerable difficulty in obtaining specimens which have been wounded,
because Horses at these heights are much distressed in their breathing,
whilst the Sheep are not so. Mr. N. A. Severtzoff, an eminent Russian
naturalist, has described three or four other species closely allied to
Marco Polo’s Sheep, which are smaller than it, from Turkestan and the
district east of it. In this Sheep, during the winter, the sides of the
body are of a light greyish-brown, changing to white below. There is a
white mane all round the neck and a white disc round the tail. A dark
line runs the whole length of the middle of the back. In summer the
grey changes to dark brown.
[Illustration: AMMON.]
The OORIAL and the SHAPOO are bearded Sheep, from Ladakh and the
Suliman range of the Punjab respectively, with large horns, which form
not more than half a circle in the Shapoo and nearly a complete one in
the Oorial. The colour of the Oorial is a reddish-brown above, paler
beneath, the abdomen being white. A lengthy dark beard, reaching to the
knees, fringes the whole length of the neck from the chin to the chest.
The points of the horns are directed inwards. It is found at altitudes
of 2,000 feet. The Shapoo is brownish-grey, white below, with a short
brown beard. Its horns turn outwards at the tips. It is never found at
altitudes lower than 12,000 feet.
The MOUFLON at one time abounded in Spain, but is now restricted to
the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. The species is a small one, of a
brownish-grey colour, with a dark streak along the middle of the back,
at the same time that there is a varying amount of white about the face
and legs. The horns, present in the males only, are proportionately not
large, curve backwards and then inwards at the tips. The tail is very
short, in which respect they differ strikingly from the domestic Sheep,
to which otherwise they are intimately related. The Mouflon frequents
the summits of its native hills in small herds, headed by an old ram.
Its skin is used by the mountaineers for making jackets. It breeds
freely with the domestic species.
[Illustration: AMMON.]
The AMMON of Tibet has been known to measure as much as four feet and
an inch at the shoulder, and has a most imposing appearance on account
of the erect attitude in which it holds its head. Its horns attain a
great size, being sometimes as much as four feet long and twenty-two
inches in circumference at their bases, forming a single sweep of
about four-fifths of a circle, their points being turned slightly
outwards and ending bluntly. Its body colour is dark brown above, paler
posteriorly and below. A mane surrounds its neck, white in the male,
dark brown in the female. The tail measures only an inch in length. In
the female the horns do not exceed twenty-two inches in length.
The BURHEL, or Himalayan “blue wild Sheep,” stands three feet at the
shoulder, and has horns which, commencing very close together on the
forehead, describe a half circle of two feet or so, and are directed
very much outwards and backwards. In the female the horns do not exceed
eight inches in length, and stand backward instead of diverging. The
coarse fleece of winter is of an ashy-blue colour, which, in summer, is
replaced by one that is much darker. The abdomen is white, and a black
stripe runs along each side of the body, the front of the legs and the
chest being also black. It has no beard.
The AMERICAN ARGALI, or BIG-HORN, inhabits the range of the Rocky
Mountains. Its height is three and a half feet at the shoulder. The
horns form a complete circle, and are nearly three feet long in the
male. They are said to come so far forward and downward that old rams
find it impossible to feed on level ground. Its flesh is peculiarly
well flavoured.
The WILD SHEEP OF BARBARY, known also as the TRAGELAPHUS, is a large
and handsome species, with a comparatively lengthy tail, tufted at
its end. The hair on the chin is short, whilst that along the lower
margin of the neck, as well as on the front of the knees, attains a
great length. The horns are not massive, and hardly exceed two feet in
length. They are black, and are directed outward as well as backward.
THE GOATS.[3]
Modern naturalists, as intermediate forms become more numerous, find
much difficulty in separating off the Goats (which constitute the genus
_Capra_ of earlier authors) from the Sheep (_Ovis_). In the Goats the
horns are flattened from side to side, and rough in front and arched
backwards, whilst in the Sheep they are more uniformly cylindrical,
turned laterally, curling downwards, and often cork-screwed. A beard is
a common addition to the former animal, and a most unpleasant odour is
emitted by them.
[Illustration: BARBARY WILD SHEEP.]
The domestic Goat is almost certainly descended from the Paseng, or
Ibex, of the mountains of Asia, with little or no admixture of other
blood. In it, however, the female is bearded as well as the male, which
is not the case with the Paseng. It has been subjugated from time
immemorial, when the flesh of the kid was considered a delicacy. Its
sure-footedness and its boldness are proverbial, as is its unpleasant
odour. The power possessed by the species of ascending precipitate
heights is marvellous. On more than one occasion it has been
recorded--contrary to the teaching of Æsop--that whilst two individuals
have met on a path too narrow for both to pass, one has lain down in
order that the other might go over its back. With no great bulk of
body; coarse hair of different lengths and tints, springing from out
of a mass of much shorter wool; horns of varying size, but always
out-turned at the tips; narrow ears, an almost entirely hair-covered
nose; sight, hearing, and smell all acute; powerful thick-set legs, and
a short tail naked below, it stands its own in mountainous and less
civilised districts. Varieties occur with large pendulous instead
of upright ears; others with extra horns, occasionally spiral as in
Nepaul, or none at all. In the Angora and Cashmere breeds the hair is
white.
The Goat of Cashmere is famous on account of the long and very fine
wool with which it is covered, which is employed in the manufacture
of Cashmere shawls. It is said that the wool of ten of these Goats is
required for the material of a single shawl.
[Illustration: IBEX.]
The IBEX is found in the Alpine heights of Europe and of Western Asia,
including the Himalayas. The large scythe-blade-shaped horns of the
male curve boldly upwards and backwards, diverging all the way. Along
the front of their convex surfaces there is a series of protuberances
or partial rings, which are only just indicated laterally. The largest
specimens reach three feet and a half in height at the shoulder, which
is a little less than the length their horns sometimes attain. The body
colour is a yellowish-grey, white below, with a dark brown line along
the middle of the back. The soft and close-set hair hides an under-fur
still finer. The beard is black. European specimens are smaller than
those from Asia, rarely exceeding two feet and a half in height, with
horns three feet in length. The species inhabits the most precipitous
and dangerous parts of mountain regions, and is wonderfully sure-footed.
The PASENG is the wild Goat of Western Asia; it is also found on the
northern side of the Caucasus and in some of the islands of the Ægean.
In height the male measures two feet and three-quarters at the withers,
the female being nearly six inches less. In the male the horns may
measure as much as four feet in length. They are flattened, slender,
curved backwards as part of a large circle, having their points turned
sometimes inwards, so much so as now and again to cross, whilst at
others they are directed outwards. Along their anterior edges are
protuberances, separated by a greater distance as they approach the
tips, indicative of the age of the animal, as after the third year a
fresh knob is formed in each succeeding one. Mr. Danford, who has made
a special study of the species, remarks, with reference to the reputed
use to which their owners turn their immense cranial appendages, that
“regarding the use of the great horns carried by the Ibex family,
the general idea among the older authors was that they were employed
to break the animal’s fall in leaping from a height. Pennant relates
that Monardes was witness to the wild Goat saving itself in this way;
and Gesner says: ‘Cadens ab alto totum corpus inter cornua protegit a
collisione et ictus lapidum magnorum excipit cornibus!’[4] This view
is confirmed by Mr. Hutton, whose tame Aegagrus [Paseng] repeatedly
used his horns for this purpose. I made many inquiries among the
native hunters, and they all agreed in saying that the horns were
never so used, or for any purpose except fighting; and the result of
my own observations is, that during the leap the head is carried as
far back as possible, though it may be that the situations in which I
observed the animals did not necessitate the employment of the horns
in the way referred to.” The horns of the female are not more than a
foot long, the knobs being almost obsolete. Unlike its consort, also,
it has no beard. The general colour of the species is grey, shaded
with reddish-brown. A blackish-brown line extends from the similarly
coloured forehead along the spine.
[Illustration: MARKHOOR.]
The MARKHOOR, or “Serpent Eater,” of North-east India and Cashmere,
is a fine Goat of larger size than the Ibex, with much-flattened
triangular horns, which, while running upwards from the head, are
spiral and attain an immense size, sometimes as much as five feet along
their curve. The spiral twist is much more open in some specimens than
in others, depending on the locality in which they are found. The body
colour is a dirty light blue-grey, the lengthy beard being of a darker
colour. It inhabits very similar localities to the Ibexes and is very
shy.
The TAHR of the Himalayas is a not common Goat, with small horns curved
directly backwards, not much more than a foot in length, flattened
from side to side, with a notched anterior margin. The body colour
is a fawn-brown; the hair of the neck, chest, and shoulders being of
great length and reaching to the knees. In the female the horns are
much smaller and of lighter colour. According to Captain Kinloch,
“the Tahr is, like the Markhoor, a forest-loving animal, and although
it sometimes resorts to the rocky summits of the hills, it generally
prefers the steep slopes which are more or less clothed with trees.
Female Tahr may be frequently found on open ground, but old males hide
a great deal in the thickest jungle, lying during the heat of the day
under the shade of trees or overhanging rocks. Nearly perpendicular
hills, with dangerous precipices, where the forest consists of oak and
ringall cane, are the favourite haunts of the old Tahr, who climb with
ease over ground where one would hardly imagine that any animal could
find a footing. Tahr ground, indeed, is about the worst walking I know,
almost rivalling Markhoor ground; the only advantage being that, bad as
it is, there are generally some bushes or grass to hold on to.”
THE GAZELLES.[5]
Under the title of Gazelles are included several strikingly elegant,
small, slender, sandy-coloured species of ruminating animals, in which
the males always, and the females in most cases, carry horns, which
are transversely ringed, and vary considerably in the direction which
they take, many having them curved in such a way that the two together
form a lyre-shaped figure, at the same time that in others they are
nearly straight, turned slightly backwards or forwards, and diverging
or converging at the tips. Where present, the horns of the females are
more slender than in the corresponding males.
The Gazelles inhabit Africa, Arabia, Persia, India, and Central Asia
only. They rarely exceed thirty inches in height at the shoulder; the
largest, the Swift Antelope of Pennant (_Gazella mohr_), reaching
nearly three feet. In all the Gazelles the face is marked with a white
band running from the outer side of the base of each horn nearly down
to the upper end of each nostril, cutting off a dark triangular central
patch, and bordered externally by a diffused dark line. The under
surface of the abdomen is white, and there is a dark line traversing
the flank which bounds this. The rump is also white, which in many
cases encroaches more or less upon the haunches.
Of the twenty species of Gazelles known to naturalists, only a few
of the best known will be specially mentioned here. By Sir Victor
Brooke they have been thus arranged, in accordance with certain easily
ascertained distinctive features in coloration and shape of horn:--
I.--BACK UNSTRIPED.
A. _The white colour of the rump not encroaching on the fawn colour
of the haunches._
_a. Both sexes bearing horns._
1. HORNS LYRATE OR SEMI-LYRATE.
The Gazelle (Arabia and N.E. Africa).
Isabelline Gazelle (Kordofan).
Korin (Senegal).
Sundevall’s Gazelle (Sennaar).
Black-tailed Gazelle (Bogosland).
2. HORNS NOT LYRATE.
Cuvier’s Gazelle (Morocco).
Small-horned Gazelle (Sennaar).
Speke’s Gazelle (Somali Country).
Muscat Gazelle (Muscat).
Arabian Gazelle (S. Arabia).
Bennett’s Gazelle (India).
Dusky-faced Gazelle (Persia).
_b. Females hornless._
Persian Gazelle.
Mongolian Gazelle.
Ladakh Gazelle.
B. _The white colour of the rump projects forward in an angle into
the fawn colour of the haunches._
Dama Antelope (S. Nubia).
Swift Antelope (Senegal).
Soemmerring’s Antelope (E. Africa).
Grant’s Gazelle (Ugogo).
II.--BACK WITH A MEDIAN WHITE STRIPE.
Spring-bok (S. Africa).
The GAZELLE _par excellence_, from Syria, Egypt, and Arabia, stands
scarcely two feet high. The elegance of its proportions are too well
known to need description. The beauty of its eyes is not to be
compared with that of some of the other ruminating animals, the whole
face being far too sheep-like, and this remark equally applies to all
its near allies. The Dorcas Gazelle is a name by which it is also
known. Like many other members of the genus, it has a tuft of hair
upon each knee. The tail is long and tapering; the body hair rather
coarse and of a pale fawn colour. The hips, as well as the breast and
the abdomen, are white. As to their habits, Mr. Blanford, in his work
on Abyssinia, tells us that, so far as his observation went, “neither
the Dorcas nor Bennett’s Gazelle is ever seen in large flocks, like
the animals of the Spring-bok group. Usually both are seen solitary,
or from two to five together, inhabiting thin bushes generally on
broken ground. They feed much upon the leaves of bushes. The male has a
peculiar habit, when surprised, of standing still and uttering a short,
sharp cry. Like most Antelopes, they keep much to the neighbourhood
of some particular spot. After long observation, I am convinced that
Bennett’s Gazelle never drinks; and all that I could ascertain of the
Dorcas Gazelle leads to the same conclusion in its case.”
[Illustration: DORCAS GAZELLE.]
Captain Baldwin says that, “like other Antelopes, the little Ravine
Deer [by which is meant Bennett’s Gazelle] has many enemies besides
man. One day, when out with my rifle, I noticed an old female Gazelle
stamping her feet, and every now and then making that ‘hiss’ which
is the alarm-note of the animal. It was not I that was the cause of
her terror, for I had passed close to her only a few minutes before,
and she seemed to understand by my manner that I meant no harm. No;
there was something else. I turned back, and on looking down a ravine
close by, saw a crafty Wolf attempting a stalk on the mother and young
one. Another day, at Agra, a pair of Jackals joined in the chase of a
wounded Buck.
“The Chikarah [again another name for Bennett’s Gazelle] is as easily
tamed as the common Antelope; they are favourite pets, and become
strongly attached to those who rear and feed them. I have seen tame
ones driven out with a herd of Goats to graze, and never attempt to
make their escape. It is not at all unusual to find the wild Gazelles
feeding close to, sometimes almost mingling with, herds of Goats, when
the latter have been driven out to pasture.... Like all Antelopes, the
eyesight of the Chikarah is very acute, and the animal is perpetually
on the watch against danger. It, however, appears to be gifted with
only a moderate sense of hearing, and still less so of smell.”
THE ARABIAN, OR ARID GAZELLE, is the same size as the preceding,
differing, as may be gathered from the table given on page 13, in the
shape of its horns, which, from being directed upwards and outwards,
turn at their tips more outward and also forward. The speed of the
Gazelle, like that of most of its allies, is very great; its eyes are
large and lustrous, and its general colour a rich yellowish-brown.
The PERSIAN GAZELLE stands twenty-six inches. Its body colour is grey
fawn colour, the breast and abdomen being white. Of its habits, Major
St. John says that, “like the wild Ass, it especially affects the
neighbourhood of the salt deserts. It appears to retire generally to
the valleys at the base of hills to breed, and is most commonly seen in
small parties of three to half a dozen. The fleetest Greyhound cannot
come up with the Gazelle when it gets a fair start; but when suddenly
roused from a hollow, or when the ground is heavy after rain, good Dogs
will often pull down males. The does are more difficult to catch.”
[Illustration: SAÏGA.]
SOEMMERRING’S GAZELLE stands two feet and a half high. The body colour
is sandy fawn above; the horns are massive and lyrate, more slender in
the female. It lives in pairs, and is a powerful species.
The horns of GRANT’S GAZELLE are larger than in any other of the
species.
The SPRING-BOK derives its name from the habit it has of leaping
straight up in the air for several feet when alarmed or whilst running.
Its height is two feet and a half. The horns are lyrate, being very
small in the females. Its colour is yellow dun, with the under parts,
as usual, white. A peculiar white line along the middle of the back can
be varied in extent within certain limits by the animal at pleasure.
Major C. Hamilton Smith, when writing of this species, tells us that
it assembles in South Africa in vast herds, “migrating from north to
south and back with the monsoons. These migrations, which are said to
take place in the most numerous form only at the interval of several
years, appear to come from the north-east, and in masses of many
thousands, devouring, like locusts, every green herb. The Lion has been
seen to migrate and walk in the midst of the compressed phalanx, with
only as much room between him and his victims as the fears of those
immediately around could procure by pressing outwards. The foremost of
these vast columns are fat, and the rear exceedingly lean while the
direction continues one way; but with the change of the monsoon, when
they return towards the north, the rear become the leaders, fattening
in their turn.”
The SAÏGA[6] and CHIRU[7] differ from the Gazelles but slightly, and
approach the Sheep; the former belonging to Eastern Europe and Western
Asia, the latter to Tibet.
The Saïga is as large as a Fallow Deer, tawny yellow in summer, light
grey in winter; being specially peculiar about the nose which is much
lengthened, at the same time that the nostrils are expanded to such a
degree that in feeding they have to walk backwards. The horns, found
only in the males, are not a foot long, slightly lyrate, and annulated.
In its native haunts--which are barren, sandy, and salt--it assembles
frequently in vast herds. It runs rapidly when pursued, but is soon
exhausted.
[Illustration: INDIAN ANTELOPE.]
The CHIRU is slightly smaller, of a reddish fawn colour, with the face
and front of the limbs black. The slender jet-black horns, very small
in the female, are ringed nearly to the tips, curved forward, and about
two feet long. From Captain Kinloch’s account we learn that “in the
early part of the summer the Antelope appears to keep on the higher and
more exposed plains and slopes where snow does not lie; as the season
becomes warmer, the snow which has accumulated on the grassy banks
of the streams in the sheltered valleys begins to dissolve, and the
Antelope then comes down to feed on the grass which grows abundantly
in such places, and then is the time that they may most easily be
stalked and shot. They usually feed only in the mornings and evenings,
and in the day-time seek more open and elevated situations, frequently
excavating deep holes in the stony plains in which they live, with only
their heads and horns visible above the surface of the ground.”
THE PALLAH.[8]
THE PALLAH, OR IMPALLA, of South and South-east Africa, is another
closely-allied form of large size, being more than three feet high at
the shoulder. Its colour is dark red above, yellow dun on the sides,
and white below. There are no false hoofs in the usual situation on
the lengthy legs: a peculiarity which it shares with the Cabrit and
the Giraffe. The eyes are very large and liquid. The horns, wanting in
the female, are twenty inches long in the male, and lyrate; they are
ringed nearly to their tips. They are abundant on or near to hills,
and collect in herds of from twenty to thirty. Mr. Drummond, vividly
describing his South African experience, on an occasion whilst hunting
Buffalo, “saw something red moving among the trees, and stopped to
watch it. It turned out to be a troop of Impalla coming back from water
and making for some of the grassy glades. There might have been seventy
or eighty of them, picking their way along in Indian file, nibbling
here and there, but always moving, and seeming like a troop of ghosts
in the dim twilight and silence.”
THE INDIAN ANTELOPE.[9]
THE INDIAN ANTELOPE, OR BLACK BUCK.--This species differs but little
from the Gazelles in many respects, whilst its peculiarities are
striking. Like the Nylghau, the male differs greatly from the female in
its colour. The female has no horns; those in the male are black and of
great size, spirally twisted for three or four turns like a corkscrew,
slightly divergent, and often reaching thirty inches in length. It
stands a little over two feet and a half at the shoulder. The colour of
the males is deep brown-black above, with an abrupt line of separation
from the pure white of the belly. This dark colour extends down the
outer surface of each limb. The face is also black, with a white circle
round the eyes and nose. In the females and young of both sexes the
black and brown are replaced by a light fawn colour. The tail is very
short and white below. At certain seasons of the year the glands below
the eyes are much enlarged and form a prominent feature in the face of
the male.
The Black Buck is one of the swiftest of the Antelopes, no Greyhound
having any chance against it. Its flesh, being dry and unsavoury, is
rarely eaten. The species falls a frequent prey to the Tiger, and is
generally found in herds, fifty does, or so, accompanied by a single
buck. The height to which they can bound is very great. According to
Major C. Hamilton Smith, the native Indians “have raised the common
Antelope among the constellations, harnessed it to the chariot of the
moon, and represented it as the quarry of the gods. In the opinion of
Hindoos the animal is sacred to Chandra, female devotees and minstrels
lead it, domesticated, by the harmony of their instruments, or the
power of their prayers, and holy Brahmins are directed to feed upon
their flesh, under certain circumstances prescribed by the _Institutes
of Menu_.”
CHAPTER II.
RUMINANTIA: BOVIDÆ (_continued_)--ANTELOPES.
THE STEINBOKS: KLIPSPRINGER, OUREBI, STEINBOK, GRYSBOK, MADOQUA--THE
BUSH-BUCKS--Appearance--Distinctive Marks--THE FOUR-HORNED
ANTELOPES--Peculiarity in the Chikarah--THE WATER ANTELOPES:
NAGOR, REITBOK, LECHÈ, AEQUITOON, SING-SING, WATER-BUCK, POKU,
REH-BOK--THE ELAND--Beef--Appearance--Captain Cornwallis Harris’
Description--Hunting--Scarcity--THE KOODOO--Appearance--King of
Antelopes--ANGAS’ HARNESSED ANTELOPE--THE HARNESSED ANTELOPES:
GUIB--BUSH BUCK, OR UKOUKA--Appearance--Pluck--THE BOVINE
ANTELOPES--THE BUBALINE--HARTEBEEST--BLESBOK--BONTEBOK--SASSABY--THE
GNU--Grotesque Appearance--Habits--BRINDLED
GNU--THE CAPRINE ANTELOPES--SEROW--Ungainly
Habits--GORAL--CAMBING-OUTAN--TAKIN--MAZAMA--THE
CHAMOIS--Distribution--Appearance--Voice--Hunted--THE
ORYXES--BLAUBOK--SABLE ANTELOPE--BAKER’S
ANTELOPE--ORYX--BEISA--BEATRIX--GEMSBOK--ADDAX.
THE STEINBOKS.
THE KLIPSPRINGER, the OUREBI, the STEINBOK, and the GRYSBOK form a
small section of the African Antelopes, elegant and small, with horns
only in the males, these being straight, or nearly so. Their body hair
is harsh. The Klipspringer stands a little under two feet high; it is
the heaviest in build of the four; its horns are four inches long and
curved a little forward. Its colour is olive. It lives singly or in
pairs, in mountainous districts, and it was at one time so abundant in
the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope that its hair was employed
to stuff saddles with.
The Ourebi, in height and length of horn, resembles the last-mentioned
species. Its build is very delicate, its general colour being a
tawny yellow, white below. Its speed is very great. According to Mr.
Drummond, “its peculiar colour so much resembles the soil on which
it lies that, trusting to remain unobserved, it often allows you to
get within fifteen or twenty yards of where it is squatting. It is a
handsome and peculiarly graceful Antelope, extremely good eating, and
well worth the hunter’s attention. One thing he should bear in mind is,
that however slightly they may be wounded, they will go and lie down
within a few hundred yards, if not chased by a Dog, and will in such
cases very generally allow him to get within shot again.” The Steinbok
is twenty inches high, with straight horns four inches long, large
ears, and a mere stump of a tail. Its colour is red-brown, white below.
[Illustration: HEAD OF FEMALE BUSH-BUCK.]
The Grysbok, with the same measurement, is chocolate-red.
The MADOQUA of Abyssinia is not bigger than a Hare, standing fourteen
inches high, the slender legs being comparatively long. The horns,
present only in the males, are not more than half the length of the
head, being nearly straight, and curved a little forward. The tail is
a mere stump. The back is reddish-brown, the sides grey; the face,
together with a peculiar tuft between the horns, is red, as are the
legs. The under parts are white.
THE BUSH-BUCKS.[10]
The Bush-bucks form a clearly-defined group of small Antelopes peculiar
to tropical and Southern Africa. They are also known by sportsmen as
Duykers, or Bush-goats. They are characterised by the possession of
horns in the male sex, which are short, straight, and simple cones,
very much depressed, or slanting backwards, and rising some distance
behind the eyes; at the same time that there is a tuft of lengthy
hair, directed backwards, which is arranged in a kind of horseshoe
shape between the ears. The crumen or gland in front of each eye is
also peculiar. Instead of it being a sac with a circular opening, it
is spread out in the form of a curved line, and not contracted to form
an orifice at all. This feature, which is not observed in any other
animal, may be seen in the drawing of the head of the female Bush-buck.
The muffle, or extremity of the nose, is much like that of the Ox,
comparatively large and always moist. The tail is very short, whilst
the ears are of a fair size and oval in form. The legs are particularly
slender and delicate, terminated by minute hoofs. In most the forehead
is strongly convex. The coloration of the many species is not striking,
being a uniform red-brown, dark bluish-grey, or sooty-black. The
smallest of the species, the Pigmy Bush-buck, is not bigger than a
Rabbit, and might at first sight, especially the female, be mistaken
for a Deerlet. According to Mr. Drummond, “it feeds principally on
certain berries and shrubs found growing in the jungles, and seems to
be on the move, more or less, the whole day, though, in common with
the rest of the animal creation, it is most often to be seen at early
morning and evening.”
Of the Bush-bucks, the Philantomba, of West Africa, is grey-brown; the
Blau-bok, of Southern Africa, a bluish-grey; the Duyker-bok, of South
Africa, a yellowish-brown; the Coquetoon, a deep reddish-bay; the Bay
Antelope, of West Africa, a dark bay, whilst there are other species
black, brown, &c.
[Illustration: WATER-BUCK.]
THE FOUR-HORNED ANTELOPES.[11]
In India and Tibet there are two peculiar species of small Antelopes,
the true Four-horned and the Brown Indian Antelope. In the former of
these, known also as the Chikarah, different from what is found as a
natural condition in any other living animal, there are two pairs of
well-developed horns; the hinder, which are the larger, being five
inches long, in the usual situation; the smaller, an inch and a half
long, are close together not far behind the eyes. In the Brown Indian
Antelope the anterior pair of horns are rudimentary, and nothing more
than knobs. All these horns are straight and conical. Neither species
is common. Their size is about that of the Arabian Gazelle; their
colour a reddish-brown, becoming lighter below; the hair is coarse;
the female is hornless. Captain Kinloch says of them that “four-horned
Antelopes are generally found alone, or frequently in pairs; they
conceal themselves in long grass or among low bushes, and somewhat
resemble hares in their habits. They are seldom to be seen out feeding,
but usually jump up at the feet of the hunter and bound away at a great
pace.”
THE WATER ANTELOPES.[12]
The NAGOR, the REITBOK, the LECHÈ, the AEQUITOON, the SING-SING, and
the WATER-BUCK are closely allied African Antelopes, with good-sized
horns (only present in the males), which are transversely wrinkled,
curved forwards, and a little inwards at the tips. Most of them are
water-loving animals, and abound in marshy districts on the banks of
rivers.
The Nagor is a little more than two feet and a half in height at the
shoulder, the horns being six inches long, and the tail ten inches. The
colour of the long, loose hair is fulvous-brown above, white below. The
Reitbok is of a grizzly ochreate colour. Its height is nearly three
feet, the horns being twelve inches long. According to Dr. Kirk, the
species is “commonly found feeding in small herds; in the heat of the
day it rests in long grass, and may be approached within fifty yards
before starting. It seldom runs far without stopping to look round.
Before again making off it gives a shrill whistle, as it does often
when first started. Should the female have young unable to run far, and
danger near, she places her foot on the shoulder and presses it to the
ground; after which it never moves until almost trodden upon, and is
expected to remain in the same spot until the return of the mother.”
The Lechè is of a pale brown colour above and white below. Sir John
Kirk says it “is a water Antelope, frequenting damp, marshy places,
and taking to impassable swamps, among reeds and papyrus. It goes in
considerable herds, accompanied by several males, mingling often with
the ‘Poku,’ another Antelope peculiar to that region (the valley of
the Zambesi). In the distance the Lechè may be known by the peculiar
way in which it allows its horns to recline back, almost touching the
withers.” The POKU, Vardon’s Antelope of Livingstone, is smaller than
the Lechè, and thicker in the neck; otherwise it closely resembles it.
[Illustration: ELAND.]
The Sing-sing Antelope and Water-buck are much alike, the former
wanting a white elliptical patch, which is found near the base of the
tail in the latter. The body colour is a greyish-brown. Long hair on
the neck produces a mane. At the shoulder they stand four feet six
inches, and the pale horns are two feet and a half long. “The Water
Antelope,” says Mr. Drummond, “is an extremely fine animal, and so
plentiful that there are, perhaps, more of them shot than of any of
the other large Antelopes. The large ringed horns which, in the male,
crown its brow, bear a strong resemblance to those of the Reedbuck
[Reitbok], while the habits and general appearance of both species are
almost identical. Both frequent thickets and reedy places near water,
and are principally found in pairs or small groups. The hair of the
species [of Water-buck] inhabiting Eastern Africa is very long and
coarse, though that of the one found in Central Africa [the Sing-Sing]
is remarkably soft, and is highly prized by the natives as being so.”
The REH-BOK of South Africa, “though almost approaching a Fallow Deer
in size, more nearly,” says Mr. Drummond, “resembles a Chamois in
other particulars; indeed, it has been called the African Chamois,
and so far deserves the title, that it certainly possesses many of
the characteristics and habits of the European species--decidedly
more so than any other of the Antelope genus found in South Africa,
with the exception of the Klipspringer. Their colour is light grey,
the hair being somewhat long and coarse, and the horns are straight
[bent forwards at the tips], and by no means unusually large for the
animal’s size. They are never found but on the bare hills, among rocks
and stones, and their powers of springing are wonderful. It seems
extraordinary how their delicate limbs escape injury, when they take
bound after bound like an indiarubber ball, in places that a Cat would
shudder at.” According to Major C. H. Smith, “it is an animal of great
swiftness, moving with wonderful rapidity by lengthened stretches,
close to the ground, so as to seem to glide over the desert like a mist
driven by the winds, and, favoured by the indistinct colours of the
fur, is immediately out of sight. The Bushmen and western tribes [of
South Africa] make lance-heads, awls, and other tools of the horns, and
occasionally cloaks of their skins for the women.”
THE ELAND.[13]
This fine species attains to the size of an Ox, the bull standing six
feet and a half at the withers. Attempts have within the last few years
been made to breed it in England for the sake of its flesh, which is
as good as the best beef. It is, however, found to be impossible to
get the price sufficiently low for market purposes. Two varieties are
known, one of a pale fawn colour from Central Africa, the other, from
South Africa, of a bright yellow tan colour, marked transversely with
narrow white lines, about fifteen in number, running from a black
line which goes along the back, to the belly. These marks are present
in all young individuals, and disappear or fade considerably in the
adults. The full-grown bull has a broad tuft of lengthy slight brown
hair on the forehead, between and in front of the horns, which are
situated some distance behind the eyes, being straight, a foot and a
half in length, and at their bases carrying a thick and conspicuous
screw-like ridge which extends in some cases nearly to their ends. In
the females the horns are never quite so large as in the males. A large
dewlap hangs from the throats of the bulls, whilst a dark, short mane
continues from the forehead backwards. The tail is about two feet and a
quarter in length, with a large tuft of brown hair at its end.
According to Captain W. Cornwallis Harris, “in size and shape the body
of the male Eland resembles that of a well-conditioned Guzerat Ox,
not unfrequently attaining the height of nineteen hands, and weighing
two thousand pounds. The head is strictly that of an Antelope, light,
graceful, and bony, with a pair of magnificent straight horns, about
two feet in length, spirally ringed, and pointed backwards. A broad and
deep dewlap fringed with brown hair reaches to the knee. The colour
varies considerably with the age, being dun in some, in others an ashy
blue with a tinge of ochre; and in many also sandy-grey approaching
to white. The flesh is esteemed by all classes in Africa above that
of any other animal; in grain and colour it resembles beef, but is
better tasted and more delicate, possessing a pure game flavour, and
the quantity of fat with which it is interlarded is surprising, greatly
exceeding that of any other game quadruped with which I am acquainted.
The female is smaller and of slighter form, with less ponderous horns.”
When writing on the hunting of these creatures, known in South Africa
as the _Impoofo_, the same author remarks that, “notwithstanding the
unwieldy shape of these animals, they had at first greatly exceeded the
speed of our jaded horses, but being pushed they soon separated; their
sleek coats turned first blue and then white with froth; the foam fell
from their mouths and nostrils, and the perspiration from their sides.
Their pace gradually slackened, and with their full brilliant eyes
turned imploring towards us, at the end of a mile, each was laid low by
a single bullet.”
With reference to these animals, the Hon. W. H. Drummond tells us
that “more Eland are killed from horseback than on foot; for as it is
utterly out of the question to make a practice of running them down,
and as they generally inhabit the treeless flats, where they cannot,
except by chance, be stalked, while the uncertainty of their movements
and their keeping out of cover render it impossible to find them, like
the large animals, by the aid of their spoor, some more certain method
is needed than the chance meetings which occur to the hunter when in
pursuit of other game, more especially as their hide is held in great
repute by the Dutch colonists, who make trek-tows for their wagons, and
reins for their oxen from it, even preferring it to that of a Buffalo.
The demand thus induced has so diminished their numbers as to have
restricted this noble Antelope to a few favoured localities, even in
which it is becoming more scarce every day, while not many years ago it
formed a component part of almost every landscape in the southern and
eastern portions of Africa.”
THE KOODOO.[14]
[Illustration: KOODOO.]
This is one of the handsomest of all the Antelopes. It is more slender
in build and smaller than the Eland, which it somewhat resembles. The
horns are about four feet long, and form most graceful open spirals
like corkscrews, there being a ridge along their whole length. The
females are hornless. The ear is large and trumpet-shaped, moved at
the slightest noise towards its source. The eyes are large and liquid.
The body colour is slaty-grey, with transverse white markings, like
those on the striped variety of the Eland. A small mane extends along
the neck and withers, and another from the chin to the throat and
breast. The tail is of moderate length, and hairy. This species is most
abundant in Southern Africa, but it extends as high as Abyssinia. It is
able to travel with very great speed, and makes prodigious bounds. It
stands about five feet in height at the shoulders.
“Majestic in its carriage,” writes Captain Harris, with all the
enthusiasm of a true sportsman, “and brilliant in its colour, this
species may with propriety be styled the king of the tribe. Other
Antelopes are stately, elegant, or curious, but the solitude-seeking
Koodoo is absolutely regal! The ground colour is a lively French grey
approaching to blue, with several transverse white bands passing over
the back and loins: a copious mane, and deeply fringed, tricoloured
dewlap, setting off a pair of ponderous yet symmetrical horns,
spirally twisted, and exceeding three feet in length. These are thrown
along the back as the stately wearer dashes through the mazes of the
forest or clambers the mountain-side. The old bulls are invariably
found apart from the females, which herd together in small troops, and
are destitute of horns.”
ANGAS’ HARNESSED ANTELOPE.[15]
This elegant animal, much like the Koodoo in its proportions, stands
three feet four inches high at the shoulders. In the male, which alone
bears horns, these appendages are nearly two feet long, twisted and
sub-lyrate, having sharply-pointed tips of a pale straw colour, their
other parts being of a brownish-black, deeply ridged for half their
length from their bases. The colour of the body is greyish-black,
tinged with purplish-brown and ochre, white transverse stripes, like
those of the Koodoo, being present on the neck, flanks, and cheeks.
A black mane courses down the neck, whilst from the neck and belly
depends long shaggy hair in abundance, reaching to the knees. The ears
are large, and the face is of a bright sienna-brown. The tail is one
foot eight inches long, black above, with under side and tip white. The
female is small, and of a bright rufous colour, with transverse stripes
more numerous than in the male.
This species is found in troops of eight or ten together, feeding on
the mimosa bushes in the Zulu country. Closely allied to it is a second
from Central Africa, which is of a dull bay, nearly uniform, colour,
the horns reaching thirty inches in length. It is known as Speke’s
Antelope.
THE HARNESSED ANTELOPES.[16]
The HARNESSED ANTELOPES proper are all of small size, the elegant GUIB
not being larger than a Goat, its proportions being infinitely more
delicate. It is of a pale bay colour, and the distinct transverse white
streaks, running down from the middle of its back with connecting
bands, have given the origin to its name.
The BUSH BUCK differs in wanting any body stripes. It is also African.
Writing of it, Mr. Drummond remarks that the Bush Buck, “the male of
whom is known as the ‘Ukouka,’ and the female as the ‘Umbabala,’ and
which differ so greatly that experience is necessary to teach one that
they are of the same species, is undoubtedly the finest in every way of
all the Antelopes, whether found in the [Cape] Colonies or interior,
that are known to the hunter as ‘small game.’ In size it resembles
a full-grown Fallow Buck, weighing, according to age and condition,
from nine to thirteen stone; its colour is a dark reddish-brown,
often verging into black, and with indistinct markings on the sides,
haunches, and legs; it has a great deal of hair, and a considerable
mane, while the neck, which is thick out of all proportion, is nearly
bare. The last mentioned peculiarity detracts from the otherwise
graceful outlines of its body, the more so, perhaps, from the head
being so finely shaped and small. The horns are nearly straight, rough,
and ringed for about three inches from their base, and then taper away,
smooth and polished, to an almost invisible point; they vary from nine
inches to a foot long, and from the way in which they are set on the
skull, the immense strength in the neck and shoulders of the animal,
and their extreme sharpness, form about as formidable weapons as
could well be imagined, especially as their owner is the most plucky
Antelope, without exception or consideration of size, with which I have
become acquainted in Africa. I do not think that in all my experience
... I remember a single instance in which a Ukouka has not tried to
charge when wounded and brought to bay; and no one, even after a very
moderate experience, would ever allow any Dog on which he placed any
value to attack them.”
THE BOVINE ANTELOPES.[17]
The BUBALINE ANTELOPE, together with the HARTEBEEST, has a peculiarly
elongated and narrow head, at the same time that the body is not
elegant in its proportions, being triangular in form, heavy in the
shoulders, and falling away behind. The horns, which are smaller in
the females, are turned abruptly backwards at their tips after having
been directed forwards and upwards in a lyrate manner. The Bubaline of
North Africa is of a uniform bay colour, and the much more recently
discovered TORA ANTELOPE of Eastern Africa resembles it in this
respect, whilst its horns differ slightly in their direction and size,
being more divergent and slender. The Hartebeest is grey-brown, and
black on the outer sides of the limbs, with large, triangular white
spots on the haunches; a black line also runs down the middle of the
face from between the horns.
Mr. Pringle, when writing on the Hartebeest, says of it that it “is one
of the largest and handsomest of the Antelope family.... In the nooks
of the narrow ravines, through which the game are wont to descend from
the steep and stony mountains, for change of pasturage, or to drink at
the fountains that ooze from their declivities, I have frequently found
fresh skulls and horns of the Hartebeest, those slight relics being all
that remained to indicate that there the Lion had surprised and rent
his prey, and that the ferocious Hyæna had followed and feasted on the
fragments, devouring even the bones, except the skull and a few other
unmanageable portions.”
[Illustration: BUBALINE ANTELOPE.]
The BLESBOK, BONTE-BOK, and SASSABY are about the size of a calf three
months old. Their horns are lyrate and ringed at their bases. The two
former are of a purple-red colour, white faces and white rumps. Of the
Blesbok, Mr. C. J. Andersson remarks--“It is of a beautiful violet
colour, and is found in company with black wilde-beests and Spring-boks
in countless thousands, on the vast green plains of short, crisp,
sour grass occupying a central position in South Africa. Cattle and
Horses refuse to pasture on the grassy products of these plains, which
afford sustenance to myriads of this Antelope, whose skin emits a most
delicious and powerful perfume of flowers and sweet-smelling herbs.”
The Sassaby, or Bastard Hartebeest of the Cape colonists, stands four
feet and a half in height. It has strong horns a foot in length,
crescentic, with the points directed inwards. Its body colour is a
dark purple-brown above, which changes into dusky-yellow underneath, a
slate-coloured patch extending from the shoulder and the hip down to
the knee and hock, at the same time that the rump is fawn-coloured. The
tail is nearly two feet long.
THE GNUS.[18]
The GNU and the BRINDLED GNU are two of the most grotesque of
creatures. With the head not unlike that of a small Cape Buffalo,
it has the limbs and hind-quarters not unlike those of a pony, in
proportions as well as size. The nose is broad and flattened, with a
bristly muzzle. The horns are broad at the base, where they nearly
meet, and after turning downward as well as forward, they again turn up
abruptly in a hook-like manner. They are found abundantly in Southern
Africa, where, as their flesh is worthless, they are not much hunted.
They are extremely wild and fearless, and remarkably tenacious of life.
Their speed is great, and they have a habit of prancing about and
kicking out furiously when suspecting danger. Both species have a mane
along the neck, and lengthy hair between the forelegs. In both the tail
is long, covered with a mass of hair not unlike that of the Horse.
[Illustration: GNU.]
The Common Gnu is of a deep brown-black, the tail and mane being white,
whilst the bushy beard, running back to the chest and between the
forelegs, is black. Lengthy black hairs, diverging and ascending from
a median line, cover the upper part of the nose, at the same time that
other smaller tufts under the eyes help to give a most ferocious aspect
to the face. From Captain Harris’s description of the animals of South
Africa, an excellent idea of the peculiarities of the creature may
be gained. “Of all quadrupeds,” he writes, “the Gnoo is probably the
most awkward and grotesque. Nature doubtless formed him in one of her
freaks, and it is scarcely possible to contemplate his ungainly figure
without laughter. Wheeling and prancing in every direction, his shaggy
and bearded head arched between his slender and muscular legs, and his
long white tail streaming in the wind, this ever-wary animal has at
once a ferocious and ludicrous appearance. Suddenly stopping, showing
an imposing front, and tossing his head in mock defiance, his wild red
sinister eyes flash fire, and his snort, resembling the roar of a Lion,
is repeated with energy and effect. Then lashing his sides with his
floating tail, he plunges, bounds, kicks up his heels with a fantastic
flourish, and in a moment is off at speed, making the dust fly behind
him as he sweeps across the plain.”
In the Brindled Gnu the front of the face lacks the lengthy hair of its
ally; the tail is also black instead of white. Its body colour is a
dirty dun, variegated with obscure pale streaks. This species, as well
as the Common Gnu, is the constant companion of the equally abundant
Quaggas of the same region.
THE CAPRINE ANTELOPES.
The SEROW (sometimes written Surrow) of India, the CAMBING-OUTAN
of Sumatra, with the GORAL of North India, form a small group of
strongly-built Goat-like Antelopes, with short, conical, upright horns,
ringed at the base, and of nearly equal size in both sexes. The feet
are large, and the tapering tail short.
Captain Kinloch gives us the following account of the Serow. He says
it “is an ungainly-looking animal, combining the characteristics of
the Cow, the Donkey, the Pig, and the Goat! It is a large and powerful
beast.... The body is covered with very coarse hair, which assumes
the form of a bristly mane on the neck and shoulders, and gives the
beast a ferocious appearance, which does not belie its disposition.
The colour is a dull black on the back, bright red on the sides, and
white underneath, the legs also being dirty white. The ears are very
large; the muzzle is coarse.... The Serow has an awkward gait; but
in spite of this can go over the worst ground; and it has, perhaps,
no superior in going down steep hills. It is a solitary animal, and
is nowhere numerous; two or three may be found on one hill, four or
five on another, and so on. It delights in the steepest and most rocky
hillsides, and its favourite resting-places are in caves, under the
shelter of overhanging rocks, or at the foot of shady trees.”
[Illustration: GORAL.]
Of the Goral, the same author remarks that it “is an active little
beast, and much resembles a small Goat, but the back is more arched.
The prevailing colour is a brownish-grey, with a dark stripe along the
back, and dark markings on the legs. Underneath the throat is a large
white spot, which is very conspicuous when the animal is standing
above one, and often betrays its presence when it would otherwise have
escaped observation. The hair is soft but rather coarse, and about two
inches long.” In the male the horns reach nine inches in length.
The Cambing-outan stands about two feet and a quarter at the shoulder.
Its long, coarse hair is brown-black in colour, the mane and throat
alone being white. The horns are not more than six inches in length,
cylindrical, slightly annulated and curved backwards at their lips.
Mountain forests, where it leads a particularly active life, are its
haunts.
Dr. J. Anderson remarks of the TAKIN, or BUDORCAS, another allied
species, “Major Stewart informs me that it is found in all the high
ranges of the north-east of Debrooghur, and is far from uncommon. The
Mishnees, with their very inferior appliances to shoot and catch them,
are, nevertheless, frequently dressed in their skins, or have a part of
a skin with the hair on as an ornament, which would seem to indicate
that they are numerous.... They are seen in pairs, and sometimes in
herds of twenty or more. They are swift of foot and good climbers.”
In Formosa and Japan there are also Goat-like Antelopes, that from
the former locality being named after Mr. Swinhoe, who discovered it.
Its horns are short and conical, its brown fur harsh and crisp. Both
closely resemble the Cambing-outan. There is still another with a long
tail inhabiting Northern China.
The MAZAMA, or Mountain Goat of California and the Rocky Mountains,
is an allied species, with short, thick, conical, recurved horns, and
long, straight, soft hair of a white colour, specially abundant in the
region of the throat, shoulders, sides, and tail. Its size is that of
a large Sheep, which it much resembles in physiognomy. The flesh has
an unpleasant musky flavour, the skin is thick and spongy, at the same
time that the hair is considered of but little value.
THE CHAMOIS.[19]
This well-known Goat-like Antelope inhabits the snow-clad mountains
of Europe, from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus, ascending during the
summer, and in winter going below the line of snow in search of food.
Both sexes possess horns--black, short, and cylindrical--rising
perpendicularly and parallel from the forehead for some distance, then
forming a small hook directed backwards to their pointed tips. These
rarely exceed seven inches in length. The female is slightly smaller
than the male, which stands a little over two feet at the shoulder.
In winter the colour of the lengthy, hairy coat is dark brown, which
becomes a brownish-yellow in the summer, a darker streak along the
back alone remaining. The head is pale yellow, darker from the nose
upwards to between the ears and around the eyes. Behind the horns and
between the ears is a pair of peculiar glands, opening externally, the
function of which is unknown. The voice of the species is a rough bleat
under all ordinary circumstances; but when the one which watches whilst
the others feed--and there is always found to be one such in every
herd--finds cause to fear, it gives a shrill whistle as a danger signal
to its companions.
[Illustration: HEAD OF THE CHAMOIS.]
The senses of sight, hearing, and smell of the Chamois are developed
to a maximum, and this fact, taken in association with the animal’s
great sure-footedness among the lofty, snow-covered Alps, in which it
has its home, makes hunting it a task of no mean difficulty and danger.
Dogs are of no service on the rocky eminences to which the Chamois
will retreat when it is pursued, and the sportsman has to rely upon
his own sure-footedness and courage in climbing the steep and slippery
precipices, whither he is tempted by the sight of game. If so hard
pressed that it is driven to some height beyond which it cannot go, it
is said that it will precipitate itself upon its pursuer, sending him
down into the depths below. Besides man, the eagle is an enemy whose
constant endeavour is to obtain the kids from their watchful mothers.
Its skin is much valued for its toughness combined with its pliability.
Its flesh is also greatly esteemed.
THE ORYXES.[20]
Of the Antelopes there is a fairly well-marked section, distinguished
by the possession of horns in both sexes, at the same time that the
body is peculiarly deep at the shoulder, whilst the lengthy tail is
cylindrical and tufted at the extremity. Among these there is a mane
along the neck in three closely-allied species, the BLAUBOK, or Equine
Antelope of South Africa, the SABLE ANTELOPE of the Transvaal and the
eastern coast of Africa, and BAKER’S ANTELOPE, or the Maarif of Upper
Nubia, as well as in the ORYX, which is found in many parts of Africa,
the BEISA of Abyssinia, the BEATRIX ANTELOPE of Arabia, and the GEMSBOK
of South Africa; whilst in the not distant ADDAX ANTELOPE of North
Africa there is no nape-mane, but a slight one on the throat.
[Illustration: ORYX.]
In the Blaubok, which stands more than four feet and a half at the
shoulder, with a glaucous, grey coat upon a black skin; in the Sable
Antelope, which stands four feet and a half, being black except upon
the abdomen, as well as in streaks upon the face, which are white;
and in Baker’s Antelope, which stands four feet eight inches, being
of a pale fulvous liver colour, the horns are two feet and more in
length, and curved gently backwards, being ringed transversely except
at the tips, where they are smooth. In the Oryx, the Beisa, the
Beatrix Antelope, and the Gemsbok, the lengthy conical horns, although
similarly ringed, are much more slender, starting backwards in a line
with the face, whilst in those previously mentioned they rise at an
angle from it, being straight in the Gemsbok and Beisa, very slightly
curved backwards in the Beatrix, and more so in the Oryx. In the nearly
allied Addax the similarly-constructed horns are gently twisted in
a corkscrew manner. All these last-mentioned Antelopes are pale in
colour, being almost white, with the throat protected by long black
hair.
Whilst speaking of the Beisa Antelope, Mr. Blanford remarks that “the
appearance of a herd of Oryx is very imposing. They are some of the
most elegant and symmetrical of animals, the motions being those of
a Wild Horse rather than of an Antelope. Their favourite pace appears
to be either a steady quick walk or a trot; they rarely break into a
gallop unless greatly alarmed. When frightened they dash off, sometimes
snorting and putting their heads down, as if charging, raising their
long tails, and looking very formidable. They are wary animals, though
far less so than some other Antelopes. It is said that they frequently
attack when wounded, and their long, straight horns are most deadly
weapons.”
Of the Gemsbok, Captain Harris tells us that it “is about the size of
an Ass, and nearly of the same ground colour, with a black list stripe
down the back and on each flank, white legs variegated with black
bands, and a white face, marked with the figure of a black nose-band
and head-stall, imparting altogether to the animal the appearance of
being clad in half-mourning. Its copious black tail literally sweeps
the ground; a mane reversed, and a tuft of flowing black hair on the
breast, with a pair of straight, slender horns (common to both sexes)
three feet in length, and ringed at the base, completing the portrait.”
The resemblance between the Gemsbok, when seen from the side view, and
the Unicorn of heraldry, is sufficiently striking to make it more than
probable that the conception of the latter originated in the former.
The author just quoted says of the Blaubok, or Roan Antelope, by which
name it is also known, that it “is an inhabitant of the elevated
downs and ridges about the source of the river Limpopo [four degrees
to the west of Delagoa Bay, and a little north of it], and being
utterly destitute of speed, may be ridden to a standstill without
difficulty.... It is heavily built, and has an upright mane, long
asinine ears, and robust scimitar-shaped horns.”
CHAPTER III.
ARTIODACTYLA: RUMINANTIA--BOVIDÆ (_Concluded_).--OXEN, PRONGHORN
ANTELOPE, MUSK [DEER], AND GIRAFFE.
THE NYL-GHAU--Description--Habits--THE MUSK OX--Difficulties in
associating it--Distribution--Habits--THE OX--Chillingham Wild
Cattle--Their Habits--Domestic Cattle--The Collings, Booth,
and Bates Strains--American Breeding--Shorthorns, and other
Breeds--Hungarian Oxen--Zebu--Gour--Gayal--Curious mode of
Capturing Gayals--Banting--THE BISONS--Description--European Bison,
or Aurochs--Almost extinct--Cæsar’s Description of it--American
Bison--Distribution--Mythical Notions regarding it--Their
Ferocity and Stupidity--“Buffalo” Flesh--THE YAK--Habits--THE
BUFFALOES--Varieties--Description--Fight between two Bulls--THE
ANOA--THE PRONGHORN ANTELOPE--Peculiarity as to its Horns and
Skull--Professor Baird’s and Mr. Bartlett’s Independent Discovery
of the Annual Shedding of the Horns--Habits--Peculiarity about its
Feet--Colour--Difficulties as to its Position--THE MUSK [DEER]--Its
Perfume--Where is it to be placed?--Description--Habits--Hunters for
the Perfume--Their Sufferings--THE GIRAFFE--Peculiarities--Skull
processes--Its Neck--Habitat--Running power--Habits--Hunting.
THE NYL-GHAU, OR BLUE OX.[21]
This is the largest of the Antelopine animals found in India, the adult
male standing over four feet in height at the shoulders, which are at
a considerably higher level than the haunches. The female is about
one-third smaller than her consort, and without horns, which in the
male are but short, rarely exceeding nine inches in length, and rising
perpendicularly from the head. Each horn is black, smooth, angular, and
turned slightly forward, ending in a sharp point.
The body colour of the male is a slate blue, darker about the head
and under parts of the body, whilst the legs are black; the female
is tawny-red; the aged bull is nearly black. A short mane runs along
the neck and over the highest part of the shoulder, in which latter
situation it is of greater length. There is a considerable tuft of
dark hair hanging from the middle of the front of the neck, over six
inches in length, which is situated just below a conspicuous white,
anchor-shaped throat-patch, the shank of which runs up between the two
halves of the lower jaw almost to the lip. On each cheek also there is
a circular white spot below and behind the eye. A transverse white
line above and below each fetlock stands out conspicuously also. The
inner sides of the thighs are white, this colour extending for some
distance upwards and inwards. There is a white patch also in front
of each pastern joint. The tail is lengthy, and tufted at the end.
The ears are nearly of the same length as the horns. The limbs are
elegantly shaped, though rather heavy, and their proportions show a
tendency towards those of the Giraffe, which animal it also resembles
in the employment of its tongue for seizing food, and not its lips.
The Nyl-Ghau is found only in continental India, where it abounds in
parts, not being a favourite with sportsmen, because its small horns
are so insignificant a trophy, but more so with the larger members of
the Cat tribe--the Tiger and the Leopard--as well as the wild Dog, with
whom it is a frequent meal. Its temper is uncertain, which fact, when
taken in connection with its powerful build, makes it a dangerous pet.
It lives well in confinement. When attacking, it drops on its knees,
and thus advances until it feels itself within a sufficient distance
of its foe to make a sudden leap upon it, which it can do with great
velocity and force. The leather manufactured from its skin is valuable,
but its flesh is never eaten by the Hindoos, on account of their belief
that it belongs to the Ox tribe, which it is not lawful to slay. With
a good Horse in open country, the Blue bull may be hunted successfully
with spears. It is very tenacious of life. The first specimens
introduced into England were brought from Bombay by Lord Clive in 1767.
[Illustration: NYL-GHAU.]
THE MUSK OX[22]
is an animal whose exact affinities it is not easy to determine. By
some naturalists it has been thought to be intermediate between the
Sheep and the Ox, whence its scientific generic name, _Ovibos_. It
is found only in Arctic America north of latitude 60°, and exhales a
strong musky odour at certain seasons of the year, an approach to which
is recognisable in several of the Bovidæ. It is a heavy-built, but not
large creature, with short legs, and a very lengthy brown hairy coat,
which almost reaches to the ground. Its horns are very similar in form
to those of the Cape Buffalo, and in the bulls they meet in the middle
line of the forehead. The tail is very short, being entirely hidden
by the fur of the haunches. The nose is not naked, as in the Oxen,
but is almost entirely covered with hair, as in the Elk and Reindeer,
both Arctic ruminants also. The spread of their feet is considerable,
and they can cover the ground at no little speed. Captain Franklin
describes their habits as follows:--“The Musk Oxen, like the Buffalo,
herd together in bands, and generally frequent barren grounds during
the summer months, keeping near the rivers, but retire to the woods in
winter. They seem to be less watchful than most other wild animals, and
when grazing are not difficult to approach, provided the hunters go
against the wind. When two or three men get so near a herd as to fire
at them from different points, these animals, instead of separating or
running away, huddle closer together, and several are generally killed;
but if the wound is not mortal they become enraged, and dart in the
most furious manner at the hunters, who must be very dexterous to evade
them. They can defend themselves with their powerful horns against
Wolves and Bears, which, as the Indians say, they not infrequently
kill. The Musk Oxen feed on the same substances as the Reindeer; and
the prints of the feet of these two animals are so much alike, that
it requires the eye of an experienced hunter to distinguish them. The
largest killed by us did not exceed in weight three hundred pounds.”
[Illustration: MUSK OXEN.]
THE OX.[23]
It being quite unnecessary to describe the general form and proportions
of this animal, as seen among us in a domesticated state--Shorthorns,
Alderney, Highland, &c.--we will at once proceed to notice the famous
cattle of Chillingham Park, in Northumberland, which are known to have
been in existence in the thirteenth century. The wild cattle there are
all cream white, with a brown muzzle, with the insides and tips of the
ears reddish-brown, at the same time that the horns are white tipped
with black, of which latter colour are the hoofs. Calves more or less
coloured are occasionally born, but these are promptly destroyed by
the keepers. Some of the bulls have a thin, short mane. Their habit,
on strangers approaching them, is to “set off in a full gallop, and
at a distance of about two hundred yards make a wheel round and come
boldly up again, tossing their heads in a menacing manner. On a sudden
they make a full stop at the distance of forty or fifty yards, looking
wildly at the object of their surprise; but upon the least motion being
made, they all again turn round and fly off with equal speed, but not
to the same distance, forming a shorter circle; and again returning
with a bolder and more threatening aspect than before, they approach
much nearer, probably within thirty yards, when they again make another
stand, and then fly off. This they do several times, shortening their
distance, and advancing nearer and nearer, till they come within such
a short distance that most people think it proper to leave them, not
choosing to provoke them further.” They differ from domestic cattle in
that they feed at night, and generally sleep during the day. They also
hide their calves.
[Illustration: CHILLINGHAM CATTLE.]
In all the so-called wild cattle of Great Britain the forehead is flat
or slightly concave, the head is small, the back is straight, and the
legs are short.
It is now almost universally agreed that domestic cattle are descended
from two or three species of the genus Bos, which existed in late
geologic or prehistoric times, the remains being found in Switzerland,
Ireland, and other parts of Europe. The Zebu, Yak, Gayal, and Arni, to
be referred to immediately, have also been domesticated.
Cattle have been so distributed and mixed in breeding that any precise
arrangement of the breeds according to their ancestral affinities
can scarcely be tabulated. Most important of the heavy breeds are
the well-known Shorthorns of the north of England, so carefully and
successfully developed by Charles and Robert Colling between 1780
and 1818, at Ketton and Barmpton, close to Darlington, in Durham, by
a process of in-and-in breeding--“Hubback,” _the_ “Duchess,” “Lady
Maynard,” “Young Strawberry,” “Foljambe,” and “Comet,” the last bull of
which, at Charles Colling’s sale in 1810, fetched a thousand guineas.
[Illustration: HUNGARIAN BULL.]
Following close upon the Collings came the Booths--Richard, Thomas, and
J. Booth--between 1814 and 1864, at Studley, Killerby, and Warlaby,
where “Isabella,” the twin sisters “Necklace” and “Bracelet,” were
parents of goodly herds, “Commander-in-Chief” being one of the latest
gems. On one occasion, it is stated, Mr. Richard Booth, of Warlaby,
refused the unique offer of fifteen hundred guineas for a cow named
“Queen of the May.”
In 1810 Thomas Bates, of Ridley Hall, and afterwards of Kirkleavington,
then a well-known breeder of cattle, purchased at Charles Colling’s
sale “Young Duchess,” daughter of “Comet,” a granddaughter of
“Duchess” by “Daisy” bull, and she became the founder of the famous
“Duchess” tribe. In 1831, with the accession of the bull “Belvidere,”
a descendant of Robert Colling’s “Princess” tribe, the “Duchess” breed
produced “Short Tail” and the renowned “Duke of Northumberland.” The
“Matchem” cow, purchased at the same date, did much to improve the
stock. Mr. Bates died in 1849.
Several enterprising American breeders have, since 1817, introduced
Shorthorns into the United States and Canada, Colonel Lewis Sanders,
of Kentucky, being the first who did so on anything like thorough
principles. Others followed his example with success, especially about
the year 1852, when a fresh impulse was given to their production
because of the rise of price in meat, as well as the foreign demand for
it. The Booth and Bates bloods predominate in these animals, and form
the basis of much of the beef now re-shipped to England.
The great advantage of the Shorthorn breed is that they, together
with a good temper, combine the advantages of great size and aptitude
to fatten, rapidly reaching maturity. For dairy purposes they are
excelled by the Suffolk Duns and Ayrshire cattle, the latter, with
their enormous udders, broad hips, and deep flanks, being the best
as milkers. Hereford, North Devon, and Scottish black Shorthorns
are inferior to those of the northern counties in their slowness of
growth and power of filling out. Those of North Devon are particularly
symmetrical in form. The mountain cattle of the western Highlands,
otherwise known as the Kyloe breed, are best known from the hardiness
of their constitutions, protected as they are by their thick hides
and shaggy coats. The Welsh and Shetland cattle resemble them in many
respects.
In Hungary, Turkey, and Western Asia there is a breed of large cattle
with peculiarly long and slender outward-spreading horns, black-tipped,
and greyish throughout the rest of their length.
In India, the Sacred Cattle, or ZEBUS, with convex forehead, short
horns, large drooping ears, and a short head, possess a high hump upon
the withers, as well as an ample dewlap falling in undulating folds
along the whole length of the neck. Their disposition is mild, as is
indicated by their expression, and the liberty they are allowed in
India is wonderful. They vary greatly in size, some being not bigger
than an average month-old calf. The breed has extended in times gone by
through Persia into Eastern Africa, where it is found with a narrower
and flatter face, at the same time that the hump is smaller.
The introduction of steam, as well as the extension in the employment
of the Horse, has almost entirely superseded the use of cattle as
beasts of burden or draught in highly civilised nations.
The GOUR, the GAYAL, and the BANTING are three species of wild cattle
found in the Oriental world from India to Java, peculiar in possessing
a ridge running along the middle of the back, and horns which, after
running outwards from the head, are directed upwards and not backwards.
Of these the Gour of Central India is the largest, measuring six feet
at the withers, having also a convex profile, very high withers, and
an arched back, which makes the line from the nose to the root of the
tail, along the spine, a fairly continuous curve. Its colour is a deep
brown glossy black, excepting a ring of white encircling the base of
each hoof, and a white tuft on the forehead. There is not any trace of
a dewlap in either sex. The horns are not more than two feet in length,
strong, and curved boldly upwards at their tips. The Gour is found
abundantly in herds of twenty or so around the tablelands, especially
of South Bahar, feeding on the young leaves of the trees and shrubs. It
appears to have resisted all attempts at domestication. The Gayal is
found in the hill-region east of the Brahmaputra. It is much the size
of English cattle. The bull is bold, and the cow easily domesticated.
Its home is the deep jungle, where it can obtain the young leaves and
shoots of the brushwood. According to Mr. Macrae the following is the
method employed by the Kookies of the Chittagong hill-region to catch
the animal:--“On discovering a herd of wild Gayals in the jungle, they
prepare a number of balls, of the size of a man’s head, composed of
a particular kind of earth, salt, and cotton. They then drive their
tame Gayals towards the wild ones, when the two herds soon meet and
assimilate into one; the males of the one attaching themselves to the
females of the other, and _vice versâ_. The Kookies now scatter their
balls over such parts of the jungle as they think the herd most likely
to pass, and watch its motions. The Gayals, on meeting these balls
as they pass along, are attracted by their appearance and smell, and
begin to lick them with their tongues; and relishing the taste of the
salt, and the particular earth composing them, they never quit the
place until all the balls are consumed. The Kookies, having observed
the Gayals to have once tasted their balls, prepare a sufficient supply
of them to answer the intended purpose, and as the Gayals lick them
up they throw down more; and it is to prevent their being so readily
destroyed that the cotton is mixed with the earth and the salt. This
process generally goes on for three changes of the moon, or for a month
and a half, during which time the tame and the wild Gayals are always
together, licking the decoy balls, and the Kookie, after the first
day or two of their being so, makes his appearance at such a distance
as not to alarm the wild ones. By degrees he approaches nearer and
nearer, until at length the sight of him has become so familiar that
he can advance to stroke his tame Gayals on the back and neck without
frightening the wild ones. He next extends his hand to them, and
caresses them also, at the same time giving them plenty of his decoy
balls to lick. Thus, in the short space of time mentioned, he is able
to drive them, along with the tame ones, to his parrah, or village,
without the least exertion of force; and so attached do the Gayals
become to the parrah, that when the Kookies migrate from one place to
another, they always find it necessary to set fire to the huts they are
about to abandon, lest the Gayals should return to them from the new
grounds.”
The Gayal carries its nose forwards, as a rule, like a Buffalo. Its
ears are longer than those of the Ox. It possesses a dewlap smaller
than in the Zebu. The tail is short, not descending below the hock.
Its general colour is a varying and generally dark brown, the abdomen
and the legs being white in parts. Its cry is a shrill, insignificant
lowing. Its horns are conical, turned directly outwards, and a little
upwards at their tips, not exceeding one foot and a half in length.
The Banting extends from Cochin China, through the Indo-Malay
archipelago, to the islands of Bali and Lombok. Its colour and
proportions are almost exactly those of the Gour.
THE BISONS.[24]
Closely related to the Oxen are the Bisons of Europe and of North
America, together with the Tibetan Yak. The two species of Bison agree
closely with one another in general appearance, the American form
being shorter and weaker in the hind-quarters, and a little smaller
altogether.
The hair of the head and neck is very abundant and long, forming a
mane of very dark colour, at the same time that it nearly conceals the
eyes and ears as well as the base of the short conical horns, which
are directed outwards and upwards. Under the chin there is a lengthy
beard. A line of lengthy hair also extends along the back nearly to the
tail, which is itself only covered with short soft hair, except at the
end where there is a lengthy tuft. There is a hump developed on the
shoulders, at which spot the adult male is nearly six feet in height,
the female being smaller.
The European Bison, or Aurochs, is on the verge of extinction,
surviving only in the forests of Lithuania, Moldavia, Wallachia, and
the Caucasus, on account of the severe laws against its destruction.
The horns are longer and more curved than in the American species. The
females are less hairy and smaller than their mates. Its strength is
very great, and an old bull is said to be a match for at least four
Wolves. Its speed is considerable, and it raises its hoofs above the
level of its lowered head whilst galloping.
In his description of the Black Forest (_Sylva Hercynia_) Cæsar
describes the species (the Urus) thus:--“They are but little less than
Elephants in size, and are of the appearance, colour, and form of a
Bull. Their strength as well as their speed is very great. They spare
neither man nor beast that they see. They cannot be brought to endure
the sight of men, nor can they be tamed, even when taken young. The
people, who take them in pitfalls, assiduously destroy them; and young
men harden themselves in this labour, and exercise themselves in this
kind of chase; and those who have killed a great number, the horns
being publicly exhibited in evidence of the fact, obtain great honour.
The horns, in magnitude, shape, and quality, differ much from the horns
of our Oxen. They are much sought for, and after having been edged
with silver at their open ends, are used for drinking vessels at great
feasts.”
According to some authorities, however, it is a mistake to identify the
European Bison with the Aurochs.
To all intents and purposes the American Bison is an extinct animal,
killed off by the rifle and the rail and the encroachment of man upon
its haunts. A few specimens are preserved with what may be described as
laudably jealous care in the Yellowstone Park, and small herds may be
found in Montana, Texas, and Canada.
[Illustration: EUROPEAN BISON.]
Huge herds, numbering millions of individuals, “so numerous as to
blacken the plains as far as they can reach,” were once a common sight
on the prairies, and repeatedly stopped the Kansas Pacific Railway
when first formed. Hunters spread false notions as to the organisation
of these herds, which was of a most simple character, excellently
explained by Mr. Allen, who says that the timidity and watchfulness of
the cows, accustomed as they were to the care of their offspring, led
them to take the initiative in the movements of the herd, and this kept
them near the front, especially when the herd was moving. The popular
belief that the bulls kept the cows and the young in the middle of the
herd, and formed themselves, as it were, into a protecting phalanx,
had some apparent basis; but the theory that the old bulls, the least
watchful of all the members of the herd, were sentinels posted on the
outskirts to give notice of an approaching enemy, was wholly a myth, as
was also the supposition that the herd consisted of small harems.
[Illustration: AMERICAN BISON.]
These “Buffaloes,” as they were generally called, were much like
domestic cattle in their habits. They were, however, fond of wallowing
in the mud, and so coating themselves with a protection from their
insect pests. Their ferocity of appearance was not evident in their
true natures, for their disposition was sluggish and fearful. Colonel
Dodge remarked of them that, “endowed with the smallest possible
amount of instinct, the little he has seems adapted rather for getting
him into difficulties than out of them. If not alarmed at sight or
smell of a foe, he will stand stupidly gazing at his companions
in their death-throes, until the whole herd is shot down. He will
walk unconsciously into a quicksand or quagmire already choked with
struggling dying victims. Having made up his mind to go a certain way
it is almost impossible to swerve him from his purpose.”
The flesh of the “Buffalo” was thought equal to the best beef if from
the young animal, but dry and insipid when from the adult. The tongue
and hump were esteemed great delicacies. Pemmican was made mostly from
the dried flesh, pounded fine and mixed with an equal weight of tallow.
The YAK differs from the Bisons mostly in the distribution of
its long hair, which, instead of being situated on its hump and neck,
forms a lengthy fringe along the shoulders, flanks, and thighs, and
completely invests the tail, which latter is much prized in India,
where it is known as “Chowry,” and is employed as a fly-switch in great
ceremonials.
The Yak is a native of the high ground of Tibet, where it is rigorously
protected by the native government against the foreign sportsman. Its
colour is black, except some spots upon the face, which are white or
grey. Its tail is often white, as is frequently the long hair tuft on
the top of the withers. Its horns reach nearly a yard in length, and
are directed outwards, forwards, and then upwards. Its voice is much
like that of a Pig, whence the name Grunting Ox, by which it sometimes
goes.
As to the habits of the creature, Captain Kinloch tells us that “the
Yak inhabits the wildest and most desolate mountains; it delights in
extreme cold; and is found, as a rule, at a greater elevation than any
other animal. Although so large a beast, it thrives upon the coarsest
pasturage, and its usual food consists of a rough, wiry grass, which
grows in all the higher valleys of Tibet, up to an elevation of nearly
20,000 feet.... Yak seem to wander about a good deal. In summer, the
cows are generally to be found in herds varying in number from ten
to one hundred, while the old bulls are for the most part solitary
or in small parties of three or four. They feed at night or early in
the morning, and usually betake themselves to some steep and barren
hillside during the day, lying sometimes for hours in the same spot.”
[Illustration: YAK.]
THE BUFFALOES.[25]
The BUFFALOES have the horns flattened and triangular in section,
inclined outwards and backwards, turning up at the tips. The Common
Buffalo is found in Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Indian
region. The huge Indian variety, with most lengthy horns, is also known
as the Arni. Its horns are elongated and narrow, sometimes reaching
six feet and a half in length. It stands nearly or quite six feet
at the shoulder, its proportions are bulky, and its general colour
dusky-black. It lives in small herds numbering not more than twenty,
and solitary bulls are often met with which attack sportsmen in a
most vicious manner without provocation. The Cape Buffalo has shorter
horns, expanded at their bases, so that they almost meet in the middle
line of the forehead. It is found all over Central and South Africa,
and is a formidable animal when wounded, as, quite regardless of the
cloud of smoke which follows the shot aimed at it, it charges right
through it, and so does frequent injury to the experienced hunter.
Its general colour is blue-black, but in some cases it has a reddish
tinge. The Hon. W. H. Drummond gives the following account of a fight
between two bulls of which he was an eye-witness. After having had
his attention attracted by a loud clattering noise, he remarks that,
“on looking through the edge of the last thicket which had concealed
them, I saw two Buffalo bulls standing facing each other with lowered
heads, and, as I sat down to watch, they rushed together with all their
force, producing the loud crash I had before heard. Once the horns were
interlocked they kept them so, their straining quarters telling that
each was doing his best to force the other backwards. Several long
white marks on their necks showed where they had received scratches,
and blood dripping over the withers of the one next me proved that he
had received a more severe wound. It was a magnificent sight to see
the enormous animals, every muscle at its fullest tension, striving
for the mastery. Soon one, a very large and old bull, began to yield
a little, going backwards step by step; but at last, as if determined
to conquer or die, it dropped on to its knees. The other, disengaging
its horns for a second, so as to give an impetus, again rushed at him,
but, whether purposely or not I could not tell, it did not strike him
on the forehead, but on the neck, under the hump, and I could see that
with a twist of his horns he inflicted a severe wound. However, instead
of following up his seeming advantage, he at once recoiled, and stood
half facing his antagonist, who, getting on his legs again, remained
in the same position for several minutes, and then with a low grunt of
rage, rushed at him. This time he was not met, and his broad forehead
struck full on his rival’s shoulder, almost knocking it over. The
old bull then went a few yards off and stood watching the other for
fully a quarter of an hour, when he walked slowly away in the opposite
direction.”
The Cape Buffalo, which is found all over Africa south of the equator,
is replaced in the north-eastern portion of the continent by a smaller
variety, of a browner colour, and with much shorter horns, which
are not closely approximated at their bases, at the same time that
they spread out almost horizontally instead of curving downwards and
backwards.
[Illustration: ANOA.]
In western and the western-equatorial parts of Africa there is again
another still smaller variety in which the hair is yellowish-red
instead of nearly black or brown, the short horns being, as well,
directed considerably upwards instead of directly outwards.
In the Island of Celebes the smallest species of Buffalo is found,
which differs but little in appearance from the young of the Cape
species. It is known as the ANOA; is black, with short, wavy
hair, and has short, parallel prismatic horns directed upwards from the
forehead.
THE PRONGHORN ANTELOPE.[26]
This Antelope of North America, one of the few forms of the
Hollow-horned Ruminants which inhabit the New World, is different from
all the other members of the group in two respects at least, namely,
that its horns are branched, as implied in the name, and that they are
annually shed.
The accompanying figure is a side view of the skull of the animal,
whose size is nearly that of a Fallow Deer, although its build is not
so heavy. It is there seen that each horn-core forms a blade-shaped
projection six inches long, with the pointed end behind, situated above
the eyes perpendicular to the line of the face, rounded posteriorly and
sharpened in front. Each horn itself is a foot or so in its greatest
length, is pointed and gently curved backwards, at the same time that
from the front of it, very slightly above the middle of its height,
a short branch arises which is directed forwards, the whole there
dividing into two. Each horn is flattened from side to side, is not
annulated, and in its structure scarcely differs from that of a Sheep
or Goat.
For some years before it was certainly known to be the case, it had
been rumoured by the hunters of Fort Union that the Pronghorn Antelope
shed its horns each year; and in the year 1858 Dr. C. A. Canfield,
of Monterey, California, in writing to Professor Baird, of the
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, informed him that in specimens in
his possession “their horns drop off annually.” This letter remained
unprinted until in England Mr. A. D. Bartlett, Superintendent of the
Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park, London, in 1865 drew attention to
the same fact, which was observed by him in a male animal living in the
Gardens at the time.
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE PRONGHORN ANTELOPE.]
The horns--not antlers, be it noticed--are, it is now certain, detached
each year from their supporting cores, and subsequently dropped, to be
replaced by others which at the time of shedding have already advanced
some way in growth, although at first they are very pale and soft. In
this respect the Pronghorn is not resembled by any other Antelope, and
differs entirely from the Deer.
Of the species Dr. Canfield, in the letter above referred to, gives
several interesting details as to its habits, from which we may infer
that they are not so cunning or so fleet as their allies in Africa and
India:--“From the 1st of September to the 1st of March they run in
bands, the bucks, does, and kids all together,” shortly after which
time the young are born, upon which the bucks separate and wander about
alone until the following season. “A band of Pronghorn Antelopes, when
frightened, never run directly away from you, but cross over in front
of you, running across your path from one side to the other repeatedly,
and keeping about a hundred yards ahead. On this account it is
sometimes easy, on a smart Horse, to run into a drove of them and catch
one of them with a noose. When one is alone, and is watched by a person
or animal and becomes frightened, it makes a sort of shrill blowing
noise like a whistle, and then commences bounding off. On the neck it
has a heavy, thick, chestnut-coloured mane, five or six inches long,
and on the rump a white patch of coarse hair; and when the animal is
frightened it always erects the mane and the hair and this white spot,
thus giving it a very singular and characteristic appearance as it runs
bounding away from you. The Antelope has a very peculiar odour, strong
and, to some people, offensive.... On the whole, I consider the meat of
the Pronghorn to be very excellent.”
[Illustration: PRONGHORN ANTELOPE.]
There is a peculiarity in the feet of the Pronghorn in which it
resembles the Giraffe, a few Antelopes, and the different members
of the Camel tribe, namely, that the false hoofs, as well as their
supporting bones, are entirely absent, from which it may be inferred,
as is the case, that the number of digits in each foot is only two.
In the females of the species the horns are present, but they are much
reduced in size, and almost hidden in the hairy covering of the head.
The end of the nose--in other words, the muffle--is hairy, and not,
therefore, damp at all times in any part, as is that of the Ox and most
ruminants. The tail is very short; the fur is very short and close set,
being stiff and wavy. Its colour is a pale fawn above and on the limbs,
whilst the breast as well as the abdomen are a yellowish-white, at the
same time that the tail and round about it are pure white, as is the
inside of the ear.
Although the Pronghorn is here described after all the more ordinary
hollow-horned Ruminantia, it is far from impossible that it is much
more intimately related to some one of the above-mentioned families
than to the others. It must either have originated direct from the
earliest type of Bovine Ruminant, and from that time continued
isolated until the present day, or it may have been a straggler from
some already differentiated group, like the Gazelles, for instance,
that, arriving in a land so unlike the haunts of its progenitors,
took on itself from altered circumstances peculiar modifications in
its horn-growth and foot-form which have resulted in its present
characteristics.
THE MUSK [DEER].[27]
This interesting animal, from the male of which is obtained a powder
contained in a pouch about the size of an orange, on the surface of
the abdomen, and which is one of the most fragrant of perfumes, is
generally included among the Cervidæ. Nevertheless, there are many
reasons in favour of its being considered an Antelopine animal. Apart
from the fact that it has a gall-bladder, which is not found in any
Deer, but in almost all Antelopes, its pale grey hair is peculiarly
coarse and Goat-like, and the absence of antlers or horns in both sexes
tells in neither direction, for, as in the Brockets of South America
and the Chinese Muntjac, the antlers are rudimentary, so are the horns
in the Bush-bucks of Africa, and in some domestic Sheep as well as Oxen.
The presence of enormous canine tusks, three inches long, would at
first sight seem to be in favour of its relations with the Deer,
because in the Muntjacs they are also found. Nevertheless there is no
_à priori_ reason why these formidable weapons should not be developed
in a hollow-horned ruminant; for, cropping up independently in genera
so distant as the Deerlets, the Muntjacs, and the Water Deer, why
should they not do so in the Antelopes as well?
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE MUSK [DEER].]
The Musk is twenty inches in height, its ears large, and its tail
rudimentary. Its hoofs are small, but their spread is large, because
of the yielding attachment of the false hoofs, as in the Reindeer. The
coarse and brittle hair is grey and slightly brindled. Its habitat is
Central Asia, from the Himalaya Mountains to Pekin, at elevations above
8,000 feet.
“The Musk Deer,” according to Captain Kinloch, “is a solitary and
retiring animal; it is nearly nocturnal in its habits, remaining
concealed in some thick bush during the daytime, and only coming out
to feed in the mornings and evenings. It frequents the highest parts
of the forest, preferring the birch, rhododendron, and juniper, and is
almost always found alone, rarely in pairs, and never in flocks. No
animal seems more indifferent to cold, from which it is well protected
by its thick coat of hollow hair, which forms as it were a sort of
cushion, which acts as an insulator, and enables the Deer to lie even
on snow without much loss of animal heat. It is amazingly active and
sure-footed, bounding along without hesitation over the steepest and
most dangerous ground. Its usual food seems to be leaves and flowers,
but the natives say that it will kill and eat Snakes.”
The value of the Musk perfume causes the animal to be persecuted beyond
measure. From Chardin we learn that the hunters are obliged to cover
the nose and mouth with linen when removing the scent-sac, to prevent
pulmonary hæmorrhage. “I have,” says he, “gained accurate information
respecting this circumstance, and as I have heard the same thing talked
of by some Armenians who had been to Boutan, I think that it is true.
The odour is so powerful in the East Indies that I could never support
it, and when I trafficked for musk I always kept in the open air, with
a handkerchief over my face, and at a distance from those who handled
the sacs; and hence I know by experience that this musk is very apt to
give headaches, and is altogether insupportable when quite recent. I
add that no drug is so easily adulterated, or more apt to be so.”
[Illustration: MUSK [DEER].]
THE GIRAFFE.[28]
Apart from its unique proportions and its size, the Giraffe presents
peculiarities in its organisation which compel us to separate it from
the Deer on the one hand, and the hollow-horned ruminants on the other.
In both these groups the appendages on the head, whether developed
as antlers or as horns, are distinct prolongations from the forehead
bones themselves. In the Giraffe, however, the three bony appendages,
one median and two lateral, all covered with skin, instead of being
produced as outgrowths from any portion of the skull, are separate
and independent conical bony “processes” which stand upon the skull,
capping roughened conical prominences destined to support them. Neither
are horns, like those of Sheep or Oxen, nor antlers like those of the
Deer, ever found upon these processes, a tuft of hair alone surmounting
the lateral pair.
The neck of the Giraffe is longer than that of any other living animal,
notwithstanding which it conforms to what, on account of its almost
constant applicability, may be termed a law, namely, that there are but
seven vertebræ which go to form the neck of a mammalian animal. In this
animal, such being the case, each vertebra is very long, which makes
the neck correspondingly awkward and inflexible; so that when the head
is much carried to the side, the conformation and enumeration of the
bones in the cervical region is not a matter of any difficulty.
The Giraffe is a native of Africa south of the Sahara. Most of the
specimens which reach Europe in a living state are brought from Nubia
and the north-east of the continent generally. The adult male attains
a height of sixteen feet, the female rarely exceeding fourteen feet.
They live and have bred well in captivity, although, as may be readily
imagined, they are most delicate, and require much special care,
particularly to prevent the joints of their lengthy limbs from being
injured.
M. Thibaut, who, in 1836, obtained the first specimen of the Giraffe
alive for the Zoological Gardens in Regent’s Park, tells us that “the
first run of the Giraffe is exceedingly rapid. The swiftest Horse,
if unaccustomed to the desert, could not come up with it unless with
extreme difficulty. The Arabs accustom their coursers to hunger and to
fatigue; milk generally serves them for food, and gives them power to
continue their exertions during a very long run. If a Giraffe reaches
a mountain, it passes the height with rapidity; its feet, which are
like [not exactly in structure] those of the Goat, endow it with the
dexterity of that animal; it bounds over ravines with incredible power;
Horses cannot, in such situations, compete with it.”
“The Giraffe eats with great delicacy, and takes its food leaf by
leaf, collecting them from the trees by means of its long tongue. It
rejects the thorns, and in this respect differs from the Camel.... It
is extremely fond of society, and is very sensible. I have observed one
of them shed tears when it no longer saw its companions or the persons
who were in the habit of attending it.”
By Le Valliant and other sportsmen most graphic accounts have been
given of the hunting of the Giraffe. Quoting from Captain Harris, we
learn that “the rapidity with which the awkwardly-formed animals can
move is beyond all things surprising, our best Horses being unable
to close with them under two miles. Their gallop is a succession of
jumping strides, the fore and hind leg on the same side moving together
instead of diagonally, as in most other quadrupeds; the former being
kept close together, and the latter so wide apart, that in riding by
the animal’s side the hoof may be seen striking on the outside of
the Horse, threatening momentarily to overthrow him. Their motion,
altogether, reminded me rather of the pitching of a ship or rolling
of a rocking-horse, than of anything living; and the remarkable gait
is rendered still more automaton-like by the switching, at regular
intervals, of the long black tail, which is invariably curled above the
back, and by the corresponding action of the neck, swinging as it does
like a pendulum, and literally imparting to the animal the appearance
of a piece of machinery in motion. Naturally gentle, timid, and
peaceable, the unfortunate Giraffe has no means of protecting itself
but with its heels; but even when hemmed into a corner, it seldom
resorts to this mode of defence.”
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE GIRAFFE.]
[Illustration: GIRAFFES.]
CHAPTER IV.
THE CERVIDÆ, OR ANTLERED RUMINANTS: THE ELK, ELAPHINE,
SUB-ELAPHINE, AND RUSINE DEER.
The Deer Tribe--Distinguishing Characters--Exceptions to
the rule--The Musk (Deer) and Chinese Water Deer--Other
Characters of the Cervidæ--Antlers, their Nature,
Growth, and Shedding--The Knob--“Velvet”--Getting rid
of the “Velvet”--Full equipment--Contests--Interlocking
Antlers--Distribution--Classification--Development of Antlers in
the Common RED DEER--Explanation of the various stages--Splendid
“Heads”--Simple and Complex Antlers--Types of Antlers--THE ELK,
OR MOOSE DEER--Appearance--Antlers--Habits--Hunting--THE ELAPHINE
DEER--THE RED DEER--Distribution--Appearance--Hunting--THE
WAPITI--Acting of the Fawns--THE PERSIAN DEER, OR MARAL--THE
CASHMERIAN DEER, OR BARASINGHA--Habits and General
Appearance--BARBARY DEER--SUB-ELAPHINE DEER--THE JAPANESE,
FORMOSAN, AND MANTCHURIAN DEER--THE FALLOW DEER--Peculiarity of its
Antlers--THE PERSIAN FALLOW DEER--THE RUSINE DEER--THE SAMBUR, OR
GEROW--Habits--Species of Java, Formosa, Sumatra, Borneo, Timor,
Ternate, and the Philippines--THE HOG DEER--THE AXIS DEER--PRINCE
ALFRED’S DEER--THE SWAMP DEER--SCHOMBURGK’S DEER--ELD’S DEER, OR THE
THAMYN--Description--Habits--Hunting--Shameful havoc.
The Deer tribe, known scientifically as that of the CERVIDÆ, is more
circumscribed, and therefore better defined, than are the BOVIDÆ, or
hollow-horned ruminants. Their best distinguishing character is that
in the males there is each year developed a pair of antlers which is
shed at the end of the season to be reproduced in the following spring.
The females do not carry antlers, except in the case of the Reindeer,
in which, although these elegant appendages are of the same form as in
their mates, they are constructed upon a much smaller scale. There are,
however, one or two Deer in which not even the males carry antlers, and
these are the only members of the family with reference to which there
is any serious doubt on the subject of affinity. The Musk (_Moschus
moschiferus_) may be taken as an example. In this pretty creature,
which is more fully described on pages 42-3, there are no antlers and
no horns. Nevertheless, other peculiarities in its organisation have
led most naturalists to include it among the Cervidæ, a position which
is, however, so doubtful that it is quite possible that it may be an
aberrant member of the bovine section, as we have for several reasons
thought best to consider it.
A more certain Deer without antlers is the Water Deer of China, the
flesh of which has formed an article of food among the natives of
Shanghai for years. This small Deer has lengthy tusks, as has the Musk
Deer, and nearly every member of the family in which the antlers are
diminutive. Its very existence was not known in Great Britain until the
year 1862, when Mr. Swinhoe, then our consul at Shanghai, described it,
which shows how ignorant we still may be of the creatures which inhabit
the mighty Celestial Empire.
In most other respects the Deer closely resemble the hollow-horned
ruminants. Their complicated stomach does not differ from that of the
Ox, and their other organs are constructed upon the same plan, except
the liver, which, like that of the Giraffe, lacks a gall-bladder,
this reservoir being present in nearly all the Bovidæ. Their general
proportions are also much the same. The Red Deer and the Fallow Deer
are those best known to most of us, as both are to be found living in
Great Britain, as is the Roebuck in the north of Scotland.
[Illustration: HEAD OF RED DEER, IN WHICH THE GROWING ANTLERS ARE SEEN
COVERED WITH “VELVET.”]
The nature, growth, and shedding of the antlers deserve special
consideration. In the commencement of the spring a pair of knobs is to
be seen upon the forehead of the adult male animal. This is covered
with a nearly smooth dark skin; and a scar can be detected in the
middle of each, which is that left by the antler of the year before,
where it fell off.
As the weather becomes more propitious these knobs commence to
grow, feel warm to the touch, and are evidently filled with
actively-circulating blood, supplied by special vessels which
are developed at the time. They do not increase regularly in all
directions, for if they did the antler would be a sphere, but they
sprout out, as it may be termed, around the above-mentioned scar; in
most cases there being one branch which takes a direction forward,
whilst a second larger one makes its way backward. These become, in
the fully-formed antler, the brow antler and the main beam; and it is
by other branches growing upon the beam, according to definite laws,
different in different species, that the elaborate complications of the
fully-developed structure are produced.
As long as the antler, which is composed of genuine bone of very dense
texture, is increasing in size, it will be found to be covered with
the same warm black skin as is the knob from which it sprang; and as
this skin is covered with short, fine, close-set hair, it has received
the name of the “velvet.” It is this “velvet” which secretes the bony
texture of the antler from its inner surface, just in the same way
that the outer covering (the periosteum) of any long bone of the body
is mainly concerned in the formation of the bone itself. As, also, in
the same way, if we seriously graze our shins, and scrape off this
covering, the bone exposed is very apt to die, so in the Deer any
mishap to the “velvet” injures the growth of the antler in the part
affected. The animals, therefore, during the time they are “in velvet”
are more than usually careful to protect their cranial appendages, and
are inoffensive even to strangers.
[Illustration: HEAD OF RED DEER, IN WHICH THE ANTLER IS FULLY DEVELOPED
AND THE “VELVET” HAS DISAPPEARED.]
When their antler-growth has ceased their natures change. The “velvet”
has performed its function and dries into a parchment-looking membrane,
to get rid of which the Deer adopt a very simple method. They rub their
antlers against any neighbouring trees, and force them into the soft
earth until there is none left, and the bare bone, with scarcely any
trace of hollow in the middle of it, is completely exposed. Now, in the
glory of their full equipment, they go in search of others of their
kind, having previously maintained a comparative solitude. They try
their strength by butting at imaginary enemies, and choose their wives,
unless prevented by others of their species mightier than themselves,
with whom, if fairly matched, they enter into the most formidable
contests, to win or to be driven from the herd with ignominy. During
these contests the sound of their battering antlers may be heard
for considerable distances, whilst now and then, by accident, they
interlock themselves inextricably, and perish both, as is attested by
skulls so found, and to be seen in more than one museum.
Looking upon the Deer generally, we find them inhabiting many parts of
the world--Europe, Asia, and America. In Africa none occur south of
the Sahara, they being there replaced by members of the Bovine section
of the order. None are found in Australia, and in America they are far
less common than in Great Britain. To understand the peculiar features
and the distribution of the various species, it is necessary to
classify them in groups of kindred genera, most falling into sections
which are distinguishable without difficulty.
In arranging the different members of the Deer-tribe for description,
there are peculiarities in their outward conformation which agree
with those internal differences upon which all correct notions of
relationship alone can be established. In classifying animals,
naturalists must always be guided by the totality of the structure of
each member of each group; but, as in describing them to those who
have not made the minute details of their organisation their special
study it is impossible to lay stress on all the various parts which
have to be included by the student in arriving at the desired result,
those outward features only can be mentioned which are found to tally
with their total structure, namely, their osteology, their visceral
anatomy, and their muscular arrangement. As an example of the relative
importance of different external structures, we may mention that the
late Dr. J. E. Gray, in his Catalogue of the Ruminant Mammalia in the
British Museum, gives the following arrangement of the genera, in which
the length of the tail suggests one distribution of them, whilst the
shape of the antlers is in favour of another, which is very different:--
1.--_Tail very short 2.--_Tail elongate, with
or clubbed._ longer hair at
the end._
Antlers { Mantchurian Deer.
Red Deer and its near allies. elaphine { Japanese Deer.
{ Fallow Deer.
Eld’s Deer. }
Barasingha Deer. } Antlers { Hog Deer.
Schomburgk’s Deer. } rusine { Spotted Axis.
Sambur and its near allies. }
Roebuck. } Antlers
Chinese Elaphure. } capreoline.
This table is useful as a means of comparing the tails of the different
genera; but other points of structure do not in the least support the
classification suggested by that appendage, as a result of which it has
to be ignored in the consideration of distant affinities, although,
where questions of specific proximity are concerned, it is found to be
of considerable value.
The antlers render much more trustworthy information in the
determination and expression of relationships; and their characterising
features can be most readily grasped by having an ideal type in the
mind wherewith to compare all aberrant and complicated specimens. This
ideal type may be derived in one or other of two ways. The first of
these is from the study of the antlers as they are each year developed
in any given kind of Deer, commencing with its earliest age. For
example, in the Common Red Deer: in the spring of the year following
its birth the antlers are nothing more than straight, conical, and
unbranched “beams,” the animal being then known as a “Brocket.” In
the following spring the antler has, besides the “beam,” a small
branch from its base, directed forwards, known as the “brow antler;”
it is then termed “Spayad.” In the third year an extra front branch
is formed, known as the “tres,” and the whole antler is larger. This
“tres” is sometimes seen in the smaller antler of the Spayad. In
the fourth year the brow-antler is doubled, to form the “brow” and
“bez-tyne,” at the same time that the top of the main beam divides
into the “sur-royals” of the “Staggard,” or four-year male. In the
fifth year the sur-royals become more numerous, the whole antler of the
“Stag” being heavier than previously, only to be exceeded in weight
by those of the fully adult “Great Hart,” with ten or more “points,”
each being larger and longer than the year before. In Great Britain
the conditions of life and the food are not of the quality which
develops first-rate antlers, at the same time that it is--in Scotland,
at least--the habit to shoot those with the finest heads, and so leave
the indifferent specimens to perpetuate their species. In some of the
ancient forests of Germany superb heads of the Red Deer are to be
obtained, whilst in several of the old castles of that country antler
trophies are preserved as memorials of sport in times gone by, with as
many as six-and-sixty points. Lord Powerscourt has in his possession a
pair with five-and-forty tynes.
The second way is from the study of the antlers of the species in
which they are simple, in comparison with those in which they are
particularly complex, both methods as they ought to do, leading to the
same result. There are Deer--as, for example, the American Brockets,
David’s Deer, and Reeves’ Muntjac--in which the antler is never more
than a simple dag, like that of the “Brocket” stage in the Red Deer.
There are others with never more than a single tyne besides the beam,
as instances of which may be mentioned the Indian Muntjac and the
Huamel. Others, again--and these form an important section of the
family--are triply branched, as in the Spayad, the beam bifurcating
some distance above the brow-antler. As instances of these we find
the Sambur Deer of India, with its large and thus simple antlers; the
closely-allied Javan and Swinhoe’s Deer; the Spotted Axis; the Hog
Deer, and the Roebuck.
We have now arrived at the stage in which the beam has bifurcated,
and almost all the more elaborate forms result from an excess in the
development of both, or one or other, of the limbs of this bifurcation.
In the Deer known as Elaphine--because they more or less resemble the
Red Deer (_Cervus elaphus_)--the front of these two branches (the
“tres”) does not increase or become complicated, whilst from the
much-enlarged hind one the numerous sur-royals spring in the biggest
species, such as the Wapiti, Cashmere, Red, and Barbary Deer, as well
as the Maral, of Persia. In the smaller species which follow this type
of structure the sur-royals are less developed, at the same time that
the brow-antler does not split in two to form a “bez” as well, examples
of which are to be seen in the Mantchurian, Formosan, and Japanese
Deer, as well as in the Fallow Deer and its newly-discovered ally
from Mesopotamia. These two last-named differ also in the “palmation”
of their antlers--a peculiarity referred to further in the special
description of the species.
[Illustration: VARIOUS TYPES OF ANTLERS.
(From the _Proceedings of the Zoological Society_.)]
The accompanying outline diagram represents the most important types
of antlers, to one or other of which those of almost every known Deer
can be referred. To facilitate future description, they may be named as
follows:--
Fig. 1.--Rusine type.
2.--Normal Rucervine type.
3.--Intermediate Rucervine type.
4.--Extreme Rucervine type.
5.--Sub-elaphine type.
6.--Elaphine type.
(A) Brow-tyne.
(B) Tres-tyne.
(C) Royal-tyne.
The Rusine type (1), in which the brow-tyne (A) is simple, at the
same time that the beam ends in a simple bifurcation, is found in the
Sambur Deer (_Rusa Aristotelis_) of India. The Rucervine type, in
which the bifurcate beam is further subdivided, tends to be prolonged
in the direction of the tres-tyne (B), at the same time that there
is a corresponding reduction of the royal (C). In Schomburgk’s Deer
(_Rucervus Schomburgki_) of Siam, both branches of the beam are equally
developed (2); in the Swamp Deer (_Rucervus Duvaucelli_) of India
(3), the tres (B) is larger than the royal (C); whilst in Eld’s Deer
(_Rucervus Eldi_) (4), of Burmah, there is but a small snag (C) at the
back of the enormous tres-tyne (B) to represent the royal. The Red Deer
(_Cervus elaphus_) (6), besides having the brow-tyne (A) re-duplicated,
has the royal (C) developed at the expense of the tres (B), and much
divided up in well-grown animals. In the Japanese Deer (_Cervus sika_)
(5) and its allies the relative proportions of the tynes are much the
same, although the brow-tyne (A) is simple.
THE ELK, OR MOOSE DEER.[29]
The Elk, the largest of the family of the _Cervidæ_, is found in
North America, Northern Europe, and the coldest parts of Asia, thinly
scattered in all but the first-named locality. At the shoulder it
may attain so great a height as eight feet when adult. The female is
antler-less. In the male these appendages possess quite a peculiar
shape, the two together forming a kind of basin, on account of their
being developed into huge palmated concave sheets of bony tissue, which
diverge laterally from the skull.
[Illustration: ELK HUNT.]
[Illustration: YOUNG ELK.]
At nine months old the antlers first appear, not being more than
straight and rounded dags in the first year. They reach their full
length in the fifth year, from which period for many more years they
increase in breadth and weight, and add, it is said, a fresh point
to their palmated margins until the fourteenth, when the creature is
considered quite adult.
The colour of the animal is a deep blackish-brown; the neck is short
and thick, with a peculiar bob-shaped, pendulous, and hair-covered
lap of skin hanging down from its middle, just behind the angles of
the jaw. The limbs, especially the front ones, are long; the tail is
rudimentary. The coat is formed of close-set harsh angular hair, which
breaks when bent, produced into a mane upon the neck and shoulders.
Sir John Richardson gives the following account of the habits and food
of the Elk, with the mode of hunting it:--“In the more northern parts
the Moose Deer is quite a solitary animal, more than one being very
seldom seen at a time, unless during the rutting season or when the
female is accompanied by her fawns. It has the sense of hearing in very
great perfection, and is the most shy and wary of all the Deer species,
and on this account the art of Moose-hunting is looked upon as the
greatest of an Indian’s acquirements, particularly by the Crees, who
take to themselves the credit of being able to instruct the hunters of
every other tribe. The skill of a Moose hunter is most tried in the
early part of the winter; for during the summer the Moose, as well as
other animals, are so much tormented by Mosquitoes that they become
regardless of the approach of man. In the winter the hunter tracks the
Moose by its footmarks in the snow, and it is necessary that he should
keep constantly to leeward of the chase, and make his advance with the
utmost caution, for the rustling of a withered leaf or the cracking of
a rotten twig is sufficient to alarm the watchful beast. The difficulty
of approach is increased by a habit which the Moose Deer has of making
daily a sharp turn in its route, and choosing a place of repose so near
some part of its path that it can hear the least noise made by one that
attempts to track it. To avoid this, the judicious hunter, instead
of walking in the animal’s footsteps, forms his judgment from the
appearance of the country of the direction it is likely to have taken,
and makes a circuit to leeward until he again finds the track. This
manœuvre is repeated until he discovers by the softness of the snow, in
the footmarks and other signs, that he is very near the chase. He then
disencumbers himself of everything that might embarrass his motions,
and makes his approach in the most cautious manner. If he gets close
to the animal’s lair without being seen, it is usual for him to break
a small twig, which, alarming the Moose, it instantly starts up, but
not fully aware of the danger, squats on its hams and waits a minute
before setting off. In this posture it presents the fairest mark, and
the hunter’s shot seldom fails to take effect in a mortal part. In the
rutting season the bucks lay aside their timidity, and attack every
animal that comes in their way, and even conquer their fear of man
himself. The hunter then brings them within gunshot by scraping on the
blade-bone of a Deer, and by whistling, which, deceiving the male, he
blindly hastens to the spot to assail his supposed rival. If the hunter
fails in giving it a mortal wound as it approaches, he shelters himself
from its fury behind a tree, and I have heard of several instances in
which the enraged animal has completely stripped the bark from the
trunk of a large tree by striking with its fore-feet. In the spring
time, when the snow is very deep, the hunters frequently run down the
Moose on snow-shoes, which give them immense advantage, because the
slender legs of the animal sink into the snow for their whole length
each step they take, which makes their progress very slow.”
The usual pace of the Moose is a high shambling trot, and its strides
are immense. On account of their necks being short at the same time
that their legs are long, they browse upon the bushes rather than on
the ground, which they find difficulty in reaching with their mouths.
THE ELAPHINE DEER.[30]
This group is characterised by the presence of a bez-tyne in all its
members--except that under the influence of protracted bad nutrition
individuals resident in barren parts may lose it--whilst the tres-tyne
is small, and the third main branch of the antler splits up into
several snags, sometimes arranged in the form of a cup. The deep brown
coat is varied by a conspicuous light, almost white patch upon the
rump, in which the uncovered rudiment of a tail is included. All the
species are large, the best known to us being
THE RED DEER.[31]
This species is a native of the British Isles and many parts of Europe.
Northern specimens are much the smaller, and carry far inferior
antlers, those of South Germany and Hungary possessing heads worthy,
of the species. In England they are still to be found wild in Exmoor
Forest, in Scotland north of the Forth and Clyde; and in Ireland about
Killarney, Connemara, and Erris.
[Illustration: RED DEER.]
A well-grown Stag stands over four feet at the withers, with a
thickly-coated neck of a greyish tint, a rich red-brown body-colour,
uniformly curved symmetrical antlers, and head held high. The Stag in
summer is a lordly creature. In winter its coat is longer and of a
greyer tint. As is the case in allied species, and all but a few of the
Rusine Deer, the new-born calves are brilliantly spotted with white.
[Illustration: RED DEER AND FALLOW DEER IN WINTER.]
The pairing season occupies the early part of October. The calves are
born at the end of May or the beginning of June; whilst the Stags
drop their antlers between the end of February and the earlier days
of April, the youngest latest. Up till the age of twelve the animal
continues to increase in bulk and strength, and it is highly probable
that they do not ever much outlive twenty years, although superstition
credits them with very many more.
It is towards the end of August or the beginning of September that the
well-nourished Stags, having already cleared their antlers of their
“velvet,” leave their retirement, and with swollen necks as well as
restless mien, seek out the hinds. During the rutting season, which
lasts about three weeks, they eat but little, and lose weight rapidly,
to be regained in the subsequent repose upon the summer-developed
foliage. In the southern counties of Great Britain the hunting of the
Stag has degenerated into the repeated chase of a few individuals,
deprived of their antlers, and let out of boxes shortly before the
sportsmen put in an appearance; whilst long-ranged rifles have reduced
the difficulties of what not many years ago--more especially in
Scotland--was a form of sport which very severely taxed the physical
capacities of the most determined and courageous.
[Illustration: RED DEER FIGHTING.]
The WAPITI, the PERSIAN, the CASHMERIAN, and the BARBARY DEER resemble
the Red Deer in almost every detail except size, the first and second
being considerably larger. Their antlers all branch in the same manner,
except that the proportionate sizes of some of the snags are apt to
vary. Superb heads of Wapiti are numerous in Great Britain, with their
brown beams and white burnished tips.
The Wapiti is kept in confinement without difficulty, although in
autumn the stags become savage. Its home is the woodlands and the
mountains of North America, where it is generally incorrectly called
the “Elk.” Stalking the species is a common sport, but there is not so
much interest associated with it as with Moose-stalking, because it
is a more stupid creature, and its senses are less acutely developed.
When started, a herd will make off for a short distance, and stop
to recognise the source of danger before continuing its flight. Its
food is mostly leaves of trees and shrubs, though it frequently eats
grass and weeds. Dr. J. D. Caton, of Ottawa, Illinois, who has had
much experience in the preserving of American Deer, has published
many interesting details with regard to this species. Among others
he mentions, with reference to the young, that “the most prominent
instinct of the young fawn is that of deception. I have several times
come across fawns evidently but a few hours old, left by the mother in
supposed security. They affect death to perfection, only they forget
to shut their eyes. They lie without a motion, and if you pick them up
they are as limp as a wet rag, the head and limbs hanging down without
the least muscular action, the bright eye fairly sparkling all the
time.” The venison is excellent; it is said to be more nutritious than
any other meat.
The Persian Deer, or Marāl, differs from the Cashmerian Deer but
little. Its head, however, is longer and more pointed.
The Cashmerian Deer, or Barasingha, again, is hardly distinguishable
from the Wapiti. Professor Leith Adams remarks, with reference to it,
that “the Cashmere forests seem the head-quarters of this species
on the western ranges, for it is seldom, if ever, met with between
Mussouree and the Vale of Cashmere. The dense forests and fertile
valleys of the latter country are particularly inviting to this
species. In habits and general appearance the Cashmere Stag bears a
striking resemblance to the Red Deer. Although it is seldom, nowadays,
that individuals of the latter species escape the hunter so long as to
attain the size and magnitude of the Barasingha [twelve points], yet I
think it will be found that the horns of those killed in the forests of
Scotland in former years are equal in size to any at present met with
in Cashmere. It is in the dense pine forests on the Northern Pinjal,
and in the many beautiful valleys among these ranges, that we find
the species most abundant. There are very few on the southern ranges.
In the secluded depths of these solitudes they lie all day, to issue
forth at dusk and feed on the grassy hill-sides, or descend even into
the Valley of Cashmere when forced by the snows of winter. An adult
Stag averages thirteen hands in height. The colour of the coat varies
but little in the sexes or the seasons of the year; dark liver-colour,
with reddish patches on the inner sides of the hips; belly and lower
parts white, or a dirty white. The male has the hair on the lower part
of the neck long and shaggy (wanting in the female); the horns large,
and usually very massive, with from ten to fifteen or more points,
according to age (the largest pair of horns I have measured were four
feet round the curves, with six and seven points). They are shed in
March; and the new horn is not completely formed until the end of
October, when the rutting season commences, and the loud bellowings of
the Stags are heard all over the mountains. During vigorous winters
they are frequently driven to seek for shelter and food around the
villages in the valleys, when many are destroyed by natives, who hunt
them with Dogs. The Cheetahs, Wild Dogs, and Bears are said to kill the
young.”
The very similar Barbary Deer is most interesting, in that it is the
only member of the Cervine group which is found in Africa.
[Illustration: FALLOW DEER.]
THE SUB-ELAPHINE DEER.[32]
The JAPANESE, FORMOSAN, and MANTCHURIAN DEER are all species allied
to those just described, but differing in being smaller in size, at
the same time that the antlers conform to the sub-elaphine type,
in which the bez-tyne is never present, and the sur-royals are but
inconsiderably branched. They are all strongly spotted in their
summer dress, which, especially in the Mantchurian--the largest of
the species--is most brilliant. In the winter their coats are nearly
uniform, and of a dark brown colour. A fawn-red is the groundwork
of the summer coat, the spots being yellowish-white, whilst a black
streak, in perfect contrast, runs the whole length of the middle of
the back, continuing down the tail and expanding slightly at its base.
The throat is white. The sombre winter coat is a nearly uniform dark
red-brown.
[Illustration: SAMBUR DEER.]
The FALLOW DEER (_Dama vulgaris_), so well known on account of its
being preserved in a semi-domesticated state in so many English parks,
has antlers constructed upon the same plan as those of the Mantchurian
Deer (sub-elaphine). These, however, present special peculiarities
found in none of the allied species, for they are palmated in their
upper parts, in the region of the sur-royals, the digitations or
terminal points being developed along the convex posterior margins
of the palmated surface. The buck is about three feet high at the
shoulder. The head is short and broad, the tail between seven and
eight inches long. The colour of the wild animal, both buck and doe,
is a rich yellowish-brown in summer, spotted with white all over. In
winter the tints are more sombre and greyish. Domestic varieties vary
immensely, both in the distinctness of the spotting and the general
colouration. Until six years of age the buck receives a separate name
each year from sportsmen--fawn, pricket, sorrel, soare, buck of the
first lead, and buck complete, being the terms employed--the antlers
not being developed at all in the fawn, being simple snags in the
pricket, with two front branches in the sorrel, with slight palmation
of the extremity of the beam in the soare, and the whole antler larger
and larger until the sixth year. The venison of the Fallow Deer is
fatter than that of the Red Deer, and is preferred by most.
[Illustration: BORNEO RUSINE DEER.]
The species is not a native of Britain, having most certainly been
introduced, although exactly when is not known. The dark-coloured and
more hardy breed was brought from Norway by James I. Its true wild
habitat was probably the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, both north
and south.
The PERSIAN FALLOW DEER,[33] so closely related to the species just
referred to that they breed together, was made known to us in 1875 by
Sir Victor Brooke, who described it from specimens sent to England by
Mr. Robertson, the British Vice-Consul at Busrah. It resembles the
Common Fallow Deer in almost every detail, except that it is slightly
larger, and that the antlers are not the same. As stated above, in the
Common Fallow Deer the antlers, whilst developed on the sub-elaphine
type, are palmated in the region of the royals, with several snags
projecting from the upper margin, at the same time that the lower
portion of the beam, the tres, and the brow-tynes are cylindrical, as
usually is the case in other species.
[Illustration: AXIS DEER.]
In the Persian Fallow the palmation at the extremity of the antlers is
much less conspicuous, and scarcely exists, although many snags are
present there, directed upwards. The palmation is at the bases of the
antlers instead, including the brow-tyne and the beam, so that the
general appearance of the antlers is quite peculiar to the species.
THE RUSINE DEER.[34]
The SAMBUR, OR GEROW (_Rusa Aristotelis_), of India, is found
abundantly in all the hill-districts of that country. It is nearly
five feet high, of a deep brown colour, with the hair of the neck
developed almost into a mane. The tail is of fair length. Its build is
massive, as are its antlers, which present three powerful points, and
reach over three feet in length. Above the considerable brow-tyne the
beam bifurcates high up into two fairly equal snags, and no more in
well-grown antlers. The hind is much less massive, and of a yellowish
tint. Captain Kinloch says of the species that “Sambur delight in
stony hills, where there is plenty of cover, and where they can have
easy access to water. They browse more than graze, and are nearly
nocturnal in their habits. During the daytime they seek the most
shady retreats, and old Stags especially are most difficult to find,
frequently betaking themselves to almost inaccessible places, where
the uninitiated would never dream of looking for them. The experienced
hunter, indeed, has frequently to depend more upon fortune than his
own knowledge of woodcraft.” In Java an almost identical species
differs mostly in having the hinder of the two branches of the beam of
the antler longer than the one in front. Swinhoe’s Deer from Formosa
is also almost indistinguishable, at the same time that Sumatran and
Bornean specimens agree with it in being particularly dark in colour.
Three smaller species, with antlers branched in exactly the same
manner, are found in the islands of Borneo, Timor, Ternate, and the
Philippines.
The HOG DEER of India and Ceylon is not bigger than the Roebuck
although the legs are shorter and the body heavier. Its antlers
consist of a brow-tyne and bifurcate beam, of which the posterior
tyne is short, and turned inwards; they rarely exceed a foot and a
half in length. It is of a uniform dark brown colour, rarely spotted
indistinctly with white. Their name is derived from the pig-like way in
which they run, with their heads low, when pursued.
The SPOTTED HOG DEER is a rare species, of a slightly lighter colour,
and with pale yellow spots.
The AXIS DEER of India, sometimes called the Cheetal, resembles the
Fallow Deer in size and colouration most closely, although its antlers
serve to show that its true relations are quite different. These latter
are not palmated at all, and are quite rusine in type, presenting the
three points characteristic of them, the front tyne of the bifurcate
beam being of great length. There is a beauty in the intensity of the
spotting of the coat of this species which is unequalled by any other
member of the Cervidæ, and it is interesting to know that according to
the universal testimony of sportsmen, the effect of sunlight through
foliage so much resembles it that it is almost impossible to recognise
the animal in the woods. They have a reputation for being indolent, as
they feed during the night, and sleep throughout the day, frequenting
the heavy grass jungles along the banks of rivers. Their cry is a
shrill bark at the approach of danger. The accompanying figure (see
Plate 26), drawn from a specimen in captivity, gives an excellent idea
of the immense length attained by the antlers, which in this particular
case are blunt-tipped, because not quite fully grown. The hinder tyne
on the right side, it will be noticed, is almost entirely hidden in the
hair of the flank.
PRINCE ALFRED’S DEER,[35] about the size of the Fallow Deer, was first
described by Dr. Sclater from a specimen brought from the Philippine
Islands by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1870. Its glossy coat is of a rich
chocolate colour, covered with pale yellow spots; a broad line along
the back, as in all spotted Deer, being uninterrupted; the under parts
are of a pale yellow. The antlers are only nine inches in length, but
comparatively thick, and simply branched upon the rusine type, with
three points. The legs are rather short, at the same time that the body
is heavy.
The SWAMP DEER.[36] The name Barasingha, signifying “twelve points,” is
applied to two very different species of Indian Deer, the Cashmerian
Deer, previously mentioned, and the Swamp Deer.
The Swamp Deer of India and Assam is slightly smaller than the Sambur,
not exceeding four feet in height. Its colour is a rich light
yellow. As its name signifies it delights in moist situations, where
it congregates in herds of great numbers. Its antlers are large, and
of the intermediate rucervine type. The brow-tynes reach a foot in
length, and are directed forwards with an upward turn at their tips.
The beam is long, and branches into an anterior, massive, and branched
continuation of itself, as well as a posterior smaller bifurcate tyne.
[Illustration: SCHOMBURGK’S DEER.]
In Siam this species is replaced by the closely-allied SCHOMBURGK’S
DEER, a little-known species, in which the antlers are extremely
elegant, the long brow-tyne being followed by a short beam which
bifurcates into two equal branches, these again, each of them,
bifurcating in a similar manner.
ELD’S DEER, OR THE THAMYN.[37] This Deer, which differs from the Swamp
Deer only in its antlers, was discovered by Captain Eld, in 1838. It
abounds in the swamp lands of Burmah, and extends as far east as the
Island of Hainan. Its form is slimmer than that of the Red Deer, at the
same time that it is somewhat smaller, attaining a height of over four
feet. During the summer months its body-colour is a light rufous brown,
with a few faint indications of white spots. Its under parts are nearly
white, as are the insides of the hairy ears. Its tail is short, and
black above. In winter its lengthy hair takes on a darker tint.
Lieutenant R. C. Beavan has given an excellent account of the habits
of Eld’s Deer, from which we learn that their food must consist almost
entirely of grass and paddy, which grow both cultivated and wild, in
the swamps in which they dwell. “In habits they are very wary and
difficult of approach, especially the males. They are also very timid,
and easily startled; the males, however, when wounded and brought
to bay with Dogs, get very savage and charge vigorously. On being
disturbed they invariably make for the open, instead of resorting
to the heavy jungle like Hog Deer and Sambur. In fact the Thamyn is
essentially a plain-loving species; and, although it will frequent
tolerably open tree-jungle for the sake of its shade, it will never
venture into dense or matted underwood.... When first started the
pace of the Thamyn is great. It commences by giving three or four
large bounds like the Axis or Spotted Deer, and afterwards settles
down into a long trot, which it will keep up for six or seven miles on
end when frequently disturbed.” As to the means employed to hunt them,
the same author informs us that “a large number of men would assemble
from the neighbouring villages, and gradually encircle three or four
moderate-sized herds with long strings, upon which plantain-leaves were
tied so as to flutter in the wind. The circle, originally formed at
some distance, was gradually lessened as the Deer, afraid to pass the
scarecrows, got gradually driven together, until they were completely
surrounded and at the mercy of the hunters. The object was to get them
into a corner near the heavy jungle, into which, if they attempted
to run, they either became entangled, or allowed their pursuers to
get up quite close. As many as a hundred and fifty to two hundred,
my informant tells me, he has himself seen killed in one battue in
former years. To such a length was this [shameful] system carried, and
such enormous havoc was thereby created, that the Burmese Government,
fearing the species would be utterly exterminated, wisely put a stop to
the practice.”
CHAPTER V.
THE MUNTJACS--THE ROEBUCK--CHINESE DEER--REINDEER--AMERICAN
DEER--DEERLETS--CAMEL TRIBE--LLAMAS.
The MUNTJACS--Distribution--Characters--THE INDIAN MUNTJAC,
OR KIDANG--Hunting--THE CHINESE MUNTJAC--Habits--DAVID’S
MUNTJAC--“Shanyang”--THE ROEBUCK--THE CHINESE WATER
DEER--Peculiarity--Chinese Superstition regarding it--THE
CHINESE ELAPHURE--Peculiarity of its Antlers--THE
REINDEER--Distribution--Character--Colouration--Antlers--Canadian
Breeds--Food--THE AMERICAN DEER--THE VIRGINIAN DEER--THE MULE
DEER--THE BLACK-TAILED DEER--THE GUAZUS--THE BROCKETS--THE VENADA,
OR PUDU DEER--THE CHEVROTAINS, OR DEERLETS--Antlerless--Their
Position--Bones of their Feet--General Form and
Proportions--Species--THE MEMINNA, OR INDIAN DEERLET--THE JAVAN
DEERLET--THE KANCHIL--THE STANLEYAN DEERLET--THE WATER DEERLET--THE
CAMEL TRIBE--Their Feet--Stomach--Its Peculiarity--The Water
Cells--THE (TRUE) CAMEL--Description--The Pads of Hardened
Skin--Its Endurance--Its Disposition--Anecdote of its Revengeful
Nature--THE BACTRIAN CAMEL--THE LLAMAS--Description--Habits--Used
as Beasts of Burden--Wild and Domesticated Species--THE
HUANACO--THE LLAMA--THE VICUNA--THE ALPACA--The Alpaca
Industry--FOSSIL RUMINANTIA--Strata in which they are
found--_Chœropotamus_--_Hyopotamus_--_Dichobune_--_Xiphodon_--
_Cainotherium_--_Oreodon_--_Sivatherium_--Fossil
Deer, Oxen, Goats, Sheep, Camels, Llamas, Antelopes, Giraffes--The
Irish Elk--Its huge Antlers--Its Skeleton--Ally--Distribution.
THE MUNTJACS.[38]
The Muntjacs form a group of small and elegant Deer found in India,
Burmah, China, the Malay Peninsula, and the large islands of the
Indo-Malay Archipelago. They differ from all other members of the
family in that their diminutive antlers are supported on lengthy bony
pedestals, covered with a hairy skin much like the horn-processes of
the Giraffe. Most, also, have a pair of elongated longitudinal ridges
between the eyes, within the folds of which small glands are situated,
at the same time that there is a dark crest of retroverted hair,
tending to the shape of a horseshoe, upon the forehead. In the males
the upper canine teeth develop into tusks, which project externally
some way below the lip, though not so far as in the Musk, forming
efficient instruments of attack.
The INDIAN MUNTJAC, OR KIDANG, is the best known species. Its antlers
attain a larger size than those of any of the others, although they are
not more than four inches long, composed of an undivided beam, at the
base of which there is a diminutive brow-tyne. Its size is slightly
less than that of the Roebuck, its colour uniformly foxy red-brown,
with the throat, hind part of abdomen, and under surface of tail white.
A black line runs up the inner side of each antler-pedestal of the
male, instead of forming the frontal horseshoe of the female.
Dr. Horsfield tells us that in Java, where it is much hunted, “the
Muntjac selects for its retreat certain districts, to which it forms
a peculiar attachment, and which it never voluntarily deserts. Many
of these are known as the favourite resort of the animal for several
generations. They consist of moderately elevated grounds, diversified
by ridges and valleys, tending towards the acclivities of the more
considerable mountains, or approaching the confines of extensive
forests.... The Muntjac has a strong scent, and is easily tracked by
Dogs. When pursued it does not go off, like the Stag, in any accidental
direction; its flight, indeed, is very swift at first, but it soon
relaxes, and taking a circular course, returns to the spot from which
it was started. After several circular returns, if the pursuit be
continued, the Kidang thrusts its head into a thicket, and in this
situation remains fixed and motionless, as if in a place of security,
and regardless of the approach of the sportsman.”
[Illustration: INDIAN MUNTJAC.]
In China the Muntjacs are smaller than those of India and Java; their
antlers are less developed at the same time that the tint of their
coats is less rufous, and the neck is not white. They were first
described by Mr. Ogilby under the name of Reeves’ Muntjac, a larger
form having been more recently discovered by M. A. Milne-Edwards and
Mr. Swinhoe. With reference to its habits the last-named naturalist
tells us that “this species affects the low ranges of hills which
are covered with long, coarse grass and tangled thicket. It is there
usually found in small herds, basking in the sun, or lying in hidden
lairs. They are very seldom approached near, except by stealth. The
least noise startles them, and they dash away with bounds through the
yielding grass, occasionally showing their rounded backs above the
herbage. They have, however, their regular creeps and passes through
the covert, near which the natives lie when stalking them, while others
drive them. The little startled creatures hurry from danger along
these beaten tracks, and are then picked off with the matchlock.” In
captivity they soon become very docile, even when taken in the adult
state. The flesh of this animal is very tender and palatable.
The enterprising missionary Père David, among his numerous discoveries
in Chinese zoology, sent from Moupin, in Western China, to Paris,
skins of a peculiar Muntjac, which is of special interest. Having
canine tusks, a black frontal hairy horseshoe, and the proportions of a
Muntjac generally, its antlers are not more than an inch long, at the
same time that their pedestals are correspondingly reduced in length
as well as thickness. Its body-colour is mouse-brown, verging on grey,
whilst the hairy covering is coarse. It may be called DAVID’S MUNTJAC.
Very shortly after the above-mentioned skins arrived at Paris, Mr.
Michie, of Shanghai, forwarded to Mr. Swinhoe in England another
specimen from Ningpo, which, although derived so far east of Moupin, is
almost indistinguishable from that belonging to the latter district.
The animal is there known as the “Shanyang,” or Wild Goat. It is an
undoubted Muntjac, although peculiar in not possessing the glands on
the forehead found in the more common species.
THE ROEBUCK.[39]
This elegant, small, and almost tailless Deer is, like the Red Deer,
a native of Great Britain, as well as of all Northern Europe and Asia
below the line of perpetual snow. In Asia the individuals attain a
greater size than in Europe. The adult Roebuck stands a little over
two feet high at the shoulder. Its colour is a dark reddish-brown in
summer, becoming yellowish-grey in the cold weather. There is a large
patch of white on the rump. The antlers, which are peculiarly near
together at their bases, rarely exceed a foot in length, possessing
three points, the rugose unbranched beam continuing from the
considerable burr for half a foot unbranched; then bifurcating fore
and aft, the posterior branch again bifurcating. The destruction of
the forests throughout Britain has driven the Roebuck farther north,
till now it is most common in the north of Scotland, although it still
survives in the woods of Westmoreland and Cumberland. Its disposition
is wild, shy, and cautious. Its favourite resort is the thick underwood
of forests, living singly or in small companies of a pair with their
young, which latter--contrary to what we find in the case of most other
Deer--are two or three in number. Its venison makes very indifferent
food.
[Illustration: ROEBUCK: MALE, FEMALE, AND YOUNG.]
THE CHINESE WATER DEER.[40]
This is an entirely isolated small species, not bigger than an Indian
Muntjac, discovered by Mr. Swinhoe, _in which there are no antlers_,
the canine teeth of the upper jaw being developed into immense tusks
which project downwards, as in the Musk and Muntjacs. The legs are
short, and the body lengthy. The body-colour is a light red-brown
all over. There is no tuft of hair on the head as in the Muntjacs, to
which by some it might be imagined to be allied. From Mr. Swinhoe’s
account of the species we learn that “In the large riverine islands of
the Yangtsze, above Chinkiang, these animals occur in large numbers,
living among the tall rushes that are there grown for thatching and
other purposes. The rushes are cut down in the spring; and the Deer
then swim away to the main shore and retire to the cover of the
hills.... Fortunately for the Deer, the Chinese have an extraordinary
dislike for their flesh. I could not ascertain why; but it must be
from some strange superstition, as the Celestials are otherwise
pretty omnivorous. The Deer are killed only for the European markets
[of Shanghai], and sold at a low price. Their venison is coarse, and
without much taste.... The Chinese at Shanghai call this animal the
_Ke_, but at Chinkiang they are named _Chang_--the classical term for
the Muntjac.”
[Illustration: CHINESE WATER DEER.]
THE CHINESE ELAPHURE.[41]
This most interesting Deer was discovered in 1865 by the indefatigable
French naturalist, M. Armand David. In his account of the animal, Dr.
Sclater[42] tells us that M. David first observed it whilst looking
over the wall of the Imperial Hunting-park at Pekin, to which no
European is allowed admission. There it is found in a semi-domesticated
state, its native place probably being Eastern Mantchuria. In 1869, Sir
Rutherford Alcock succeeded in sending a living pair to England, which
were exhibited for some time in the London Zoological Gardens, and
from which much information has been obtained with reference to their
habits. It resembles the Swamp Deer of India (_Rucervus Duvaucelli_) in
its proportions and size, standing nearly four feet at the shoulder.
The legs are somewhat heavy and the feet expanded, but it is in its
antlers that the Elaphure is quite different from any other Deer. They
are represented in the accompanying engraving, from which the abrupt
ascent of the beam, with an enormous back-tyne arising from the lower
end, and no brow-tyne, may be most clearly seen. The beam branches
higher up, but its furcations follow none of the ordinary rules of
cervine antler-growth.
The body-colour of the animal is light and rufous, paler on the under
parts. A black line runs some way down the back, being most conspicuous
at the shoulders. The tail is not longer than in the Fallow Deer, and
is hairy at the tip. Mr. Swinhoe tells us that the Chinese name is
Sze-poo-seang, which signifies “like none of the four”--to wit, the
Horse, the Cow, the Deer, or the Goat.
[Illustration: CHINESE ELAPHURE.]
THE REINDEER.[43]
The Reindeer, which differs from all its allies in that the females
carry antlers as well as the males, forms so important an element in
the social economy of the Laplanders that more has been written on its
habits than of any other species of the family. It is found distributed
throughout the Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and America, extending
farther south in the last-named of these in the same way as the
isothermal line of 32° Fahr., as might be expected from the relation
borne by its economy to its temperature. In Spitzbergen, Finland, and
Lapland it attains the greatest size, being inferior in strength and
stature in Norway and Sweden. In Iceland it has been introduced and
thrives. The Caribou is the name by which it goes in the New World,
where it extends through Greenland, Canada, and Newfoundland. The horns
of the American variety differ from those of the Old World so much that
it is not difficult to recognise their origin; nevertheless, attempts
which have been made to establish the specific difference of the two
forms have not found much favour with naturalists generally.
[Illustration: REINDEER AT A LAPP ENCAMPMENT.]
The animal, with a characteristic deer-like form, is powerfully
built, with short limbs and heavy neck. The feet have the false hoofs
well developed, while the fissure between the median toes is so much
extended upwards, and the ligaments which bind them together are so
loose, that their hoofs spread out considerably when pressed upon the
ground, and so increase the surface for support upon the yielding
snow--their most frequent foothold. Upon raising the limbs in rapid
action these hoofs make a sharp snap at the moment when they close
together.
[Illustration: REINDEER.]
Individuals vary much in tint as well as with the season. Some are
entirely white, whilst in winter the coat is always lighter than in
summer. Deep brown is the prevailing tint, and there is generally a
band of white above each hoof. As in the Elk--another Arctic ruminating
animal--the muffle of the nose is covered with hair, and is not moist.
The fur is of two sorts--an outer covering of longer, harsh, brittle
hair, and an under-coat of closely-matted and much finer, wool-like
texture, which serves as an excellent protection against the inclement
temperature, and makes the skins so valuable for articles of clothing
in the Arctic regions.
The antlers are strikingly large for the size of their owners.
Although they vary considerably in detail, the general plan of
their construction is always the same, agreeing with that of the
Virginian Deer and the Barasingha. As in the Wapiti and Red Deer,
the brow-antlers on each side are, however, re-duplicated, so that
a bez is present. This, as well as the brow-tyne, is branched, or
palmated, wherein it is peculiar; and further, in the Caribous one
of the brow-tynes is generally aborted, in order to allow of the
great development of its fellow of the opposite side into a palmated
triangle, flattened from side to side, directed straight forward in
the middle line of the head, and attached by its apex to the beam. The
function of this share-like expansion in the economy of the animal can
hardly be other than to remove the snow which covers its favourite
food, each movement of the lowered head from side to side effecting
this result. The beam is lengthy, curved boldly upwards and forwards,
with a small snag at the back, about half-way from each end. Its
extremity is branched and often palmated, much like the horns of the
Fallow Deer. The beam may reach a length not more than three inches
less than five feet. In the females the same plan of structure of the
antlers exists as in the males. They are considerably smaller in every
respect, more slender, and scarcely palmated, if at all so.
The Woodland Caribou and the Barren-ground Caribou are the names
given to a larger and a smaller breed in Canada. Both are hunted by
the Indians for their flesh as well as for their hides, the venison
obtained from the latter being held in high estimation. The pounded
meat, when mixed with melted fat, is known as pemmican. The tongue is
esteemed a great delicacy.
The Reindeer, from the nature of the country it inhabits, is compelled
to lead a migratory life, in which the natives of Lapland, who have
to depend entirely for their sustenance on the animal, have to
participate. Troops of them during the winter months reside in the
woods, feeding on the lichens that depend from boughs of the trees, as
well as on those that grow upon the ground beneath. In the spring they
repair to the mountains in order to escape the swarms of stinging Gnats
and Gad-flies which infest the air, and inflict wounds in the skin of
most serious severity.
THE AMERICAN DEER.
In America there are several species of Deer which differ considerably
from those of the Old World. In our remarks on these animals we will
not include among them the Wapiti and the Elk: the Wapiti, because it
is nothing but a large representative of the Red Deer of Great Britain;
the Elk, because it stands very much by itself, at the same time that
it is found in the Arctic Old World as well as in America. We ourselves
think that the Reindeer conforms to the American type of structure,
and have therefore described it in relation with the New World Deer,
although most authors class it not far from the Elk.
None of the typical Deer of America attain any considerable size, and
their antlers are decidedly small when contrasted with those of the Old
World. The species which will be first described is the VIRGINIAN DEER,
which is the “Common” Deer of North America, and is slightly smaller
than the Fallow Deer. Its colour is uniform, being of a reddish-yellow
in summer and light grey in winter. The individual members of the
species are small in Mexico, and get larger as they live more north.
The antlers belong to the extreme rucervine type, their beams turning
outwards and forwards in a very characteristic manner, with several
points directed upwards from their convex border. The brow-tyne is
short and pointed upwards instead of forwards. The tail is nearly a
foot and a half in length. In disposition it is timid and wild, and is
therefore domesticated with difficulty. Its flesh was in times gone
by one of the staple articles of food of the aborigines. Audubon and
other authors have described in detail the various modes employed in
capturing these Deer, including the “still hunt,” “jack hunt,” “fire
hunt,” &c., according to the nature of the country.
The MULE DEER and the BLACK-TAILED DEER are not far distantly related
North American species. The former is slightly larger than the
Virginian and of a heavier build. Its tail is short, tufted, and white;
its colour a dark grey in winter, dull yellow in summer. Its name was
suggested from its lengthy ears. The latter is smaller, and has shorter
legs. Its colour is tawny grey, the short tail black above and white
below. Of both these species the antlers differ from the Virginian
Deer in detail, only the brow tyne of the Black-tailed species being
rudimentary, at the same time that the snags on the convex margin of
the beam spring from a single stem instead of independently. In the
Mule Deer they are smaller and less branched. Lord Walsingham, in
writing of them, remarks, “They appear to frequent the thick willow
clumps and other brushwood bordering the streams and swamps. They were
extremely difficult to distinguish among the foliage, and remarkably
quick when alarmed. As they bound off over logs and fallen trees, or
dash through the thicket, they have a habit of swinging their broad
white tails with a conspicuous flourish, which becomes annoying to a
sportsman, to whom they never afford anything but a snap shot, which is
very apt to fail.”
[Illustration: GUAZUTI DEER.]
The GUAZUS are small South American Deer with large ears and short
tails, in which the antlers want the brow tyne, and have the beam
branched in almost exactly the same way as Schomburgk’s Deer when not
quite full grown. The Guazuti, one of them, is not more than two feet
six inches in height.
The BROCKETS are equally small, with minute antlers of a most simple
form--whence the name--they being unbranched and shelving backwards.
The colour of the fur in the Guava Viva and Brazilian Brocket is pale
brown, and shining red-brown in the Red Brocket and the Eyebrowed
Brocket.
The VENADA, OR PUDU DEER, is not bigger than Reeves’ Muntjac or a Hare.
Its colour is red-brown, and it has minute antlers, not far separated
from one another. It inhabits the western coast of South America.
THE CHEVROTAINS, OR DEERLETS.[44]
It is not until within the last few years that naturalists have
separated off from the true Deer a group of diminutive animals which
look like them in miniature, but are entirely destitute of antlers.
These little creatures, known as Chevrotains, for which we take the
liberty of coining the name Deerlets, were placed together with the
Musk into a single section, characterised by the fact that the males
possess large tusks situated in the upper jaw, which project downwards,
and are conspicuous even when the mouth is fully closed, grooving the
lower lip on each side. Now, however, they are entirely separated
off from the Deer and Ox tribes, to constitute an independent family,
because of the peculiarities of many of their parts. They have a
complex stomach composed of paunch, honeycomb-bag, and reed, the
manyplies being so much reduced in size, that it may practically be
said not to be present.
From the bones of their feet it is evident, too, that they cannot be
correctly classed with the more ordinary Ruminants, and that they
tend towards the other family of the Cloven-hoofed Ungulata, namely,
the Swine. Each foot of the common Pig possesses four toes, that
corresponding to our thumb in the fore-limb, and to our great toe in
the hind being absent, as has been previously explained. The bones of
all these toes are quite separate from one another, as in those of
man, at the same time that those of the outer and inner digits in each
limb are smaller than those which bear the larger hoofs. In the true
Ruminants and in the Camel tribe these larger toes are partly fused
together, the bones of digit three and digit four corresponding to
those situated in the human palm and sole, being joined from end to end
to form the “cannon-bone;” whilst those of digit two and digit five are
reduced to mere imperfect splinters, or are sometimes altogether lost,
as in the Giraffe and in the Camel. Now, in the Deerlets, these bones
are not blended at all in the fore-limbs of the Water Deerlet of West
Africa, in which, as in all the other species, digit two and digit five
are perfect from end to end. They therefore stand, in this respect, as
in others easily explained, intermediate between the Swine and the true
Ruminants.
[Illustration: JAVAN DEERLET.]
All the Deerlets are particularly delicate, diminutive, and graceful
animals, the slenderness and clear-cut outline of their limbs being
exceedingly striking. With bodies as big as that of a Hare or Rabbit,
their legs are not so thick as a cedar pen-holder or a clay pipe-stem.
Their proportions are very much those of the small Water Bucks of
Africa, and of many of the kinds of Deer, especially the Hog Deer of
India, in which the body, as in them, is not carried very high above
the ground. The want of antlers in both sexes makes them resemble Hinds
rather than Stags at first sight, whilst their elegantly-pointed noses,
and large dark eyes, add to their general interesting appearance.
Of the Deerlets there are five species--the Meminna, the Kanchil,
the Javan, the Stanleyan, and the Water Deerlets. The first four are
confined to India, Ceylon, Malacca, Java, and Sumatra, the last being
found in Sierra Leone and the Gambia district. These differ slightly in
their size and markings, the MEMINNA, or INDIAN DEERLET, being nearly
eighteen inches long, and about eight inches high at the shoulder, the
tail being very short. As in its allies, the white spotting of the
surface is disturbed by two or more streaks of the same which run along
the flanks.
The JAVAN DEERLET, known sometimes as the Napu, is smaller than the
preceding. It is of a rust-brown colour above and white beneath, three
white stripes radiating backwards, one along the middle line, and the
other two laterally from the front of the neck. The short tail is
white-tipped. The naked and moist muzzle is black. The Javan Deerlet
is gentle in disposition, and somewhat uninteresting in captivity.
Specimens are frequently brought to Great Britain, and live if
carefully protected from the cold.
The KANCHIL is still smaller in size, at the same time that it is
darker in colour, especially along the back. Its activity and cunning
are remarkable, so much so that Sir Stamford Raffles, in his original
description of the creature, tells us that it is a common Malay
expression, with reference to a great rogue, that he is “as cunning as
a Kanchil.” Feigning to be dead when caught, its captor incautiously
releases his hold, when the animal is immediately up and away before
any means can be employed for its recapture. It is also said that when
pursued by Dogs it will jump up towards a bough, and there hook itself
by means of its lengthy tusks until its tormentors have passed under it.
[Illustration: STANLEYAN DEERLET.]
The STANLEYAN DEERLET was named after the grandfather of the present
Earl of Derby, in whose menagerie at Knowsley the species was first
recognised.
The WATER DEERLET of West Africa is slightly larger than the Meminna.
Its deep glossy brown coat is also streaked with white lines, and is
irregularly spotted.
THE CAMEL TRIBE, OR TYLOPODA.
The name _Tylopoda_, by which the Camels, together with the Llamas,
are known to naturalists, is derived from two Greek words (τύλος, a
knot or callus, and πούς, a foot), signifying that the feet, instead of
being protected by hoofs, are covered with a hardened skin, enclosing
the cushion-like soles of the feet, which are so constructed that
they spread out laterally when brought in contact with the ground, an
arrangement of evident advantage to desert-ranging animals. The tips
of each of the two toes are protected by nails, as can be seen in the
accompanying drawing.
[Illustration: FOOT OF CAMEL.]
There are also other points in which these creatures differ from the
more ordinary Ruminantia. In the front of the upper jaw there are two
teeth--one on each side, placed laterally--which correspond to the side
cutting teeth in man, and to the similarly-situated “nippers” of the
Horse. In the Deer, Ox, Sheep, and their allies there is not a trace of
these, as has been previously explained (page 4). As to the limbs, it
may also be mentioned that the true knee-joints--which in animals like
the Horse are almost entirely hidden within the general skin-covering
of the body--are much more conspicuous and free.
The stomach is peculiar; it wants the “manyplies,” or third
compartment, but possesses the “paunch,” “honeycomb-bag,” and
“abomasum,” the last-named of which is of great length. In the
walls of the paunch there are present two extensive collections of
“water-cells,” which serve their owners in good stead whilst traversing
the desert or residing in regions where fresh water is not to be
procured except with difficulty.
[Illustration: Fig. A.--STOMACH OF THE LLAMA.]
[Illustration: Fig. B.--WATER CELLS OF THE CAMEL’S STOMACH.]
Fig. A is a view of the stomach from below (or, in other words, from
the side farthest from the backbone), in which it is seen that the
clusters of water-cells (_a_ and _b_) are arranged, one (_a_) the
larger, along part of the right border of the viscus, whilst the second
(_b_) is transverse, the remainder of the walls being smooth. These
water-cells, seen from within in Fig. B, are formed by the development
of septa, both transverse and longitudinal, in the substance of the
paunch-wall. They are deep and narrow, much like the cells of a
honeycomb, and have a muscular membrane covering their mouths, in
which there is an oval orifice opposite to each compartment capable of
being further dilated or completely closed, probably at the will of
the animal. When fully distended, these paunch-cells in the Arabian
Camel are capable of storing a gallon and a half of water. The second
stomach, or reticulum, is also modified in the same direction, the
usually extremely shallow cells being deep, at the same time that
food is never found in them after death. Of the last compartment, or
“abomasum,” it may be noted that it is nearly cylindrical in shape, its
walls being very muscular. It is in this stomach that true digestion is
carried on.
Of the Camels two species are known, differing in the number of the
humps upon their backs. Nothing is known of either variety in the wild
state. We will commence with the description of
THE (TRUE) CAMEL.[45]
The One-humped Camel of Arabia is frequently termed the Dromedary, but
this latter name is correctly applicable only to the swift variety of
the species which is employed for riding, the heavier-built One-humped
Pack-Camel not being included under the designation.
[Illustration: HEAD OF THE (TRUE) CAMEL.]
It is the Arabian Camel--the _Ship of the Desert_--which is much
more serviceable to man than its Bactrian ally. Its distribution has
extended westwards along North Africa, from which attempts have been
made to introduce it into Spain. Eastwards it is found as far as India.
In the Camel the limbs and neck are lengthy. A single bulky hump
is present on the middle of the back, composed of fatty cells held
together by strong bands of fibrous tissue which cross in all
directions. Like all similar accumulations, it varies much in size
according to the condition of the animal, dwindling almost to nothing
after protracted hard work and bad feeding, being firm and full in
times of ease and plenty. When on the point of commencing a long
journey, there is nothing on which an Arab lays so much stress as on
the condition of his Camel’s hump, which, from what we have just said,
must be considered to be nothing more or less than a reserved store of
food.
Upon the chest, the elbows, the fore-knees (true wrists), knees, and
hocks, callous pads of hardened skin are found, upon which the creature
supports its weight whilst kneeling down, a position in which it
always rests, and one which it assumes when being loaded. These pads
are present in the new-born Camel-calf, proving, contrary to the view
maintained by some, that they are not the direct result of pressure,
but are special provisions in accordance with the requirements of
the species, arrived at by a process of natural selection, those
individuals alone surviving in which there is the power of resisting
the injurious effects of protracted strain upon a few spots of the skin.
The coat is, in the summer, scanty; in the winter, of considerable
length, and matted into lumps. The two-toed feet are very much
expanded, and tipped with a pair of small hoofs. The lips are
covered with hair, the upper one being split up for some distance
in the middle line. The nostrils, when closed, are linear, and from
their construction prevent sand from entering the air-passages when
the animal desires it. The tail is of fair length, reaching to the
ankle-joint. There is a fixity about its attitudes, and a formality
about its paces, which is quite characteristic. Its power of enduring
fatigue upon its scanty fare, whilst carrying a weight as great as 600
lbs., together with its endurance, makes it invaluable in its desert
home.
[Illustration: (TRUE) CAMEL.]
A stolid obstinacy is its usual disposition. Mr. Palgrave, criticising
the reputation that the animal has for docility, remarks:--“If docile
means stupid, well and good; in such a case the Camel is the very model
of docility. But if the epithet is intended to designate an animal that
takes an interest in its rider so far as a beast can; that in some way
understands his intentions, or shares them in a subordinate fashion;
that obeys from a sort of submissive or half fellow-feeling with his
master, like the Horse or Elephant: then I say that the Camel is by no
means docile--very much the contrary. He takes no heed of his rider,
pays no attention whether he be on his back or not, walks straight on
when once set agoing, merely because he is too stupid to turn aside;
and then, should some tempting thorn or green branch allure him out of
the path, continues to walk on in the new direction simply because he
is too dull to turn back into the right road. In a word, he is from
first to last an undomesticated and savage animal rendered serviceable
by stupidity alone, without much skill on his master’s part, and any
co-operation on his own, save that of an extreme passiveness. Neither
attachment nor even habit impresses him; never tame, though not wide
awake enough to be exactly wild.”
[Illustration: BACTRIAN CAMEL.]
Nevertheless the animal gives indications of intelligence when badly
treated, if we may judge from its revengeful nature, well illustrated
in the following account:--
“A valuable Camel, working in an oil-mill, was severely beaten by its
driver. Perceiving that the Camel had treasured up the injury, and was
only waiting a favourable opportunity for revenge, he kept a strict
watch upon the animal. Time passed away; the Camel, perceiving that it
was watched, was quiet and obedient, and the driver began to think that
the beating was forgotten, when one night, after the lapse of several
months, the man was sleeping on a raised platform in the mill, whilst,
as is customary, the Camel was stabled in a corner. Happening to awake,
the driver observed by the bright moonlight that, when all was quiet,
the animal looked cautiously around, rose softly, and stealing towards
a spot where a bundle of clothes and a bernous, thrown carelessly on
the ground, resembled a sleeping figure, cast itself with violence upon
them, rolling with all its weight, and tearing them most viciously
with its teeth. Satisfied that its revenge was complete, the Camel was
returning to its corner, when the driver sat up and spoke. At the sound
of his voice, and perceiving the mistake it had made, the animal was
so mortified at the failure and discovery of its scheme, that it dashed
its head against the wall and died on the spot.”
THE BACTRIAN CAMEL.[46]
The Two-humped Camel is found in the regions to the east and north of
the home of its One-humped ally, extending as far as Pekin and Lake
Baikal. It it a heavier, shorter-legged, and thicker-coated species, at
the same time that the feet are more adapted to a less yielding soil
from their greater callousness. The hair is specially abundant upon the
top of the head, the arm, wrist, throat, and humps. There is no variety
of this species corresponding to the Dromedary One-humped Camel.
[Illustration: HUANACO ATTACKED BY A PUMA.]
THE LLAMAS.[47]
The Llamas, when the term is employed in its wider sense, include the
American representatives of the Camel tribe, none of which have any
trace of the dorsal hump or humps found in their Old World allies. They
are mountain animals, found in the Cordilleras of Peru and Chili, in
this respect also differing from the desert-loving Camels, with which
they agree in all important structural peculiarities, including the
stomach, lips, nostrils, and coat. The feet are somewhat modified in
accordance with the rocky nature of the mountain regions which they
inhabit, the sole-pads being less considerable, and almost completely
divided into two hard cushions, with a long and hooked nail in the
front of each.
[Illustration: ALPACA.]
Llamas were found domesticated when South America was first discovered
by the Spaniards, and as there were then no Mules or Horses there,
these creatures were employed exclusively as beasts of burden, as well
as for their flesh, their wool, and hides. Their disposition and their
habits also resemble those of the Camel. They have their own peculiar
gait and speed, from which they cannot well be made to vary. When
irritated they foam at the mouth and spit, sulking and lying down when
overloaded. As beasts of draught their most important use is to convey
the ores from the mines of Potosi and elsewhere in the Andean range.
From the account of Augustin de Zerate, who was a Peruvian Spanish
Government official in the middle of the sixteenth century, we learn
that “in places where there is no snow the natives want water, and
to supply this deficiency they fill the skins of Sheep [Llamas being
meant] with water, and make other living _Sheep_ carry them, for it
must be remarked that these _Sheep_ of Peru are large enough to serve
as beasts of burden. They can carry about one hundred pounds or more,
and the Spaniards used to ride them, and they would go four or five
leagues a day. When they are weary they lie down upon the ground,
and as there is no means of making them get up, either by beating or
assailing them, the load must of necessity be taken off. When there is
a man on one of them, if the beast is tired he turns his head round and
discharges his saliva, which has an offensive odour, into the rider’s
face. These animals are of great use and service to their masters, for
their wool is very good and fine, particularly that of the breed called
Pacas, which have very long fleeces; and the expense of their food is
trifling, as a handful of maize suffices them, and they can go four
or five days without water. Their flesh is as good as that of the fat
Sheep of Castile.”
[Illustration: LLAMA.]
It is somewhat difficult to decide exactly the relations of the wild
to the domesticated species of the Llamas. It seems most probable that
there are two true species, known as the Huanacos (_Lama huanacos_) and
the Vicuna (_Lama vicugna_), of the former of which the true Llama is a
domesticated variety, as the Alpaca is of the latter.
The HUANACO--or Guanaco, as it is sometimes written--has a more
elongated head and more slender legs than the Vicuna, at the same
time that there are elongated warty tubercles upon the hinder limbs
not found in the latter species. Its height at the shoulder is three
feet and a half. The fur is uniformly brown, at the same time that it
is rough and short. It can be domesticated without difficulty. Its
tail is short and hairy. Its native haunts are the highlands of Peru
and Chili, as well as farther south, where it lives in herds, which
descend to the valleys in the winter months. When hunted they have a
habit of now and again facing their pursuers, after which they gallop
off afresh. When attacked at close quarters they defend themselves by
striking with their fore-feet. From Mr. Darwin’s account of the animal
in the “Voyage of the _Beagle_,” we learn that it “abounds over the
whole of the temperate parts of South America, from the wooded islands
of Tierra del Fuego, the rough Patagonia, the hilly parts of the La
Plata, Chili, even to the Cordillera of Peru. Although preferring an
elevated site, it yields in this respect to its near relative the
Vicuna; on the plains of Southern Patagonia we saw them in greater
numbers than in any other part. Generally they go in small herds, from
half a dozen to thirty together, but on the banks of the St. Cruz we
saw one herd which must have contained at least five hundred. On the
northern shores of the Strait of Magellan they are also very numerous.
Generally the Guanacoes are wild and extremely wary. The sportsman
frequently receives the first intimation of their presence by hearing
from a distance the peculiar shrill neighing note of alarm. If he then
looks attentively, he will perhaps see the herd standing in a line on
some distant hill. On approaching them, a few more squeals are given,
and then off they set at an apparently slow--but really quick--canter
along some narrow beaten track to a neighbouring hill. If, however, by
chance he should abruptly meet a single animal, or several together,
they will generally stand motionless, and intently gaze at him; then,
perhaps, move on a few yards, turn round, and look again. What is the
cause of this difference in their shyness? Do they mistake a man in the
distance for their chief enemy, the Puma, or does curiosity overcome
their timidity? That they are curious is certain; for if a person lies
on the ground and plays strange antics, such as throwing up his feet
in the air, they will almost always approach by degrees to reconnoitre
him.... On the mountains of Tierra del Fuego, and in other places, I
have more than once seen a Guanaco, on being approached, not only neigh
and squeal, but prance and leap about in the most ridiculous manner,
apparently in defiance as a challenge.... The Guanacoes readily take to
the water; several times at Port Valdez they were seen swimming from
island to island. Byron, in his ‘Voyage,’ says he saw them drinking
salt water. Some of our officers likewise saw a herd drinking the briny
fluid from Salina, near Cape Blanca. I imagine, in several parts of the
country, if they do not drink salt water they drink none at all. In the
middle of the day they frequently roll in the dust in saucer-shaped
hollows.... The Guanacoes appear to have favourite spots for dying
in. On the banks of the St. Cruz the ground was actually white with
bones in certain circumscribed places, which were generally bushy, and
all near the river. On one such spot I counted between ten and twenty
heads, some gnawed, as if by beasts of prey.”
The Domestic Llama resembles its wild ancestor in most respects. Its
colour may, however, be variegated, or even white. Its woolly coat is
longer, but not so fine, and when it is removed by shearing the animal
is conspicuously spotted.
The VICUNA is a smaller animal of a light lion-brown colour, with a
short and hairy face; its neck is lengthy, as in its allies; its height
about two feet six inches. Its wool is particularly fine, and has been
much employed, undyed, as a material for clothing. It is active and
spiteful, inhabiting a region higher and therefore colder than the
Huanaco.
The Alpaca is its domestic form, with thicker and much darker wool,
as well as shorter limbs. Its colour is often nearly black, or black
varied with white or brown.
The manufacture of alpaca stuffs dates from the year 1836, when Mr.
(afterwards Sir) Titus Salt commenced weaving the unusually long-haired
wool, which at the time found no sale in the markets on account of
its not being suited to the existing combing apparatus. Since that
period alpaca has been much employed as a fabric, possibly to be again
replaced in great measure by the sheep wool of the Australian and other
British colonies.
FOSSIL RUMINANTIA.
The study of fossil forms throws as much light upon the development
of existing types of Ruminantia as it does in the case of the
Perissodactyla. Until the last of the three great geologic epochs none
have been found; whilst in the Tertiary strata from Eocene, Miocene,
and Pliocene formations, numerous species are known, resembling
existing types more closely as they are discovered in the more recently
deposited strata.
As might be anticipated from what has been said above, and as is
indicated in the table of classification of the Artiodactyla on page
336, Vol. II., the oldest forms of cloven-hoofed Mammalia must have
been intermediate in structure between the Pigs and Ruminants. Such a
creature existed at the close of the Eocene period in _Chœropotamus_,
discovered first by the illustrious Cuvier in the palæontologically
most interesting gypsum beds at Montmartre. Another specimen has also
been found near Ryde, in the Isle of Wight. The creature was pig-like
in size, and in the tuberculated structure of its grinders, the parts,
together with the lower jaw, alone discovered as yet.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE IRISH ELK.]
_Hyopotamus_, _Dichobune_, _Xiphodon_, and _Cainotherium_ were
four-toed Upper Eocene transitional forms approaching the Ruminants,
but all possessing upper cutting-teeth, the last-named differing but
little from the Deerlets. _Oreodon_ is a genus of small pig-like
animals, appearing first in the Miocene of North America, and evidently
closely related to the Ruminantia. _Sivatherium_ was a gigantic
Ruminant with four horns in pairs, and evidently a trunk. Its remains
are found in the Miocene deposits of the Sewalik hills of India. Deer,
Oxen, Goats, and Sheep first appeared in the Pliocene period, as did
Camels and Llamas. Antelopes and Giraffes existed earlier, namely, in
the Late Miocene. It is a fact of interest that Camels are abundant in
the Miocene and Pliocene of North America, whilst they are only very
scantily distributed in the same strata of the Old World, Arabia and
Asia being their sole living habitat.
Among the most interesting of the Pleistocene species which has been
discovered in Great Britain is the gigantic Irish deer, a species
originally included with the Elk, on account of the palmation and
outward inclination of its huge antlers, in some specimens only a few
inches less than eleven feet in span, and each more than five feet
long in a straight line from burr to tip. In general form the antlers
do not strikingly differ from those of the Common Fallow Deer. The
brow-tyne is quite simple at its base, and generally slightly bifid at
its extremity, there being no true “bez.” The beam is cylindroid as far
as the insignificant “trez,” beyond which it is flattened out into a
gigantic triangular expansion, or “palm,” with the free base developed
into snags, usually about seven in number, and a fairly independent
posterior tyne.
[Illustration: IRISH ELK. (_Restored._)]
At the withers the skeleton, which is quite cervine in every detail,
measures as much as six feet; its great peculiarity in the male being
the large size of the cervical or neck vertebræ, necessarily extra
strong that they may support the massive antlers, about seventy pounds
in weight. In the females, which had no cranial appendages, the
vertebræ of the neck were one-third smaller.
The accompanying figure is an attempt to represent the species under
consideration, as it must have appeared when living. It is worthy of
note, however, that as the coat of the Fallow Deer, which may be its
nearest ally, is brilliantly spotted, the great Irish Deer may have
resembled it in that respect.
The first fairly complete skeleton of the species was found in the
Isle of Man. Others have been obtained from Waterford and elsewhere in
Ireland.
A. H. GARROD.
[Illustration: PRAIRIE DOG.]
ORDER RODENTIA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION--THE SQUIRREL, MARMOT, ANOMALURE, HAPLODONT, AND BEAVER
FAMILIES.
Character of the Order--A well-defined Group--Teeth
Evidence--Kinds and Number of Teeth--The Incisors: their
Growth, Renewal, and Composition--The Molars--The Gnawing
Process--Skeleton--Brain--Senses--Body--Insectivora
and Rodentia--Food of Rodents--Classification--THE
SIMPLE-TOOTHED RODENTS--Characteristics--THE SQUIRREL-LIKE
RODENTS--SCIURIDÆ--Distinctive Features--THE COMMON
SQUIRREL--Form--Distribution--Food--Bad Qualities--Habits--THE
GREY SQUIRREL--THE FOX SQUIRREL--Flying Squirrels--Their
Parachute Membrane--THE TAGUAN--Appearance--Habits--Other
Species--THE POLATOUCHE--THE ASSAPAN--The Genus
_Xerus_--THE GROUND SQUIRRELS--THE COMMON CHIPMUNK--THE
MARMOTS--Distinguishing Features--THE SPERMOPHILES--THE
GOPHER--THE SISEL, OR SUSLIK--THE BARKING SQUIRRELS--THE PRAIRIE
DOG--Description--Species--Habits--Burrows--Fellow-inmates in their
“Villages”--THE TRUE MARMOTS--THE BOBAC--THE ALPINE MARMOT--THE
WOODCHUCK--THE HOARY MARMOT, OR WHISTLER--ANOMALURIDÆ--Tail
Peculiarity--Distinctive Features--HAPLODONTIDÆ--Description--THE
SEWELLEL--CASTORIDÆ--THE BEAVER--Skeletal Peculiarities--General
Form--Appearance--Distribution--The Beavers of the Old and New
World--Habits--Wonderful Sagacity--The Building Instinct--Their
Method of Working--The various Stages--Their Lodges--Their
Dams--Activity by Night--Flesh--Hunted--The _Castoreum_.
While the last few chapters have been devoted to orders which contain
the largest and most powerful of terrestrial mammalia, we have now to
treat of a group, all the members of which are of comparatively small
size. “Mice, rats, and such small deer,” to use Shakspere’s phrase,
make up a great proportion of the order Rodentia. The biggest of them
is only about the size of a small Pig; and perhaps the common House
Rat, or, at any rate, the common Squirrel, may be taken as showing the
average dimensions of a Rodent. But, although from this point of view
they may be looked upon as “a feeble folk,” their numerous species
render them a most important section of the mammalian fauna of nearly
all countries, and this importance is greatly increased, practically,
by the immense number of individuals by which each species is usually
represented.
The Rodentia, or gnawing mammals--GLIRES, as Linnæus and some modern
zoologists call them--notwithstanding the great number of the species
and the immense variety of forms which they display, constitute,
perhaps, the most definitely circumscribed order of the Mammalia. In
most other groups of the same value, we find that some types exhibit
divergent characters, which render it difficult to frame a general
description of the order which shall include them; or else some species
present a marked tendency towards some other order; but in the case of
the Rodents, we never have any difficulty, a cursory inspection of the
dentition is always sufficient to decide whether a quadruped belongs
to the Rodentia or not; and in spite of an almost infinite variety of
form, the structure of the rest of the organism is most clearly in
accordance with the evidence derived from the teeth.
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE TAGUAN, A FLYING SQUIRREL.]
The teeth are only of two kinds--incisors and grinders (_see_ the
above figure of the skull of the Taguan)--and the number of efficient
teeth of the former kind is never more than two in each jaw. Almost
throughout the order, indeed, there are actually, even from the first,
only two incisors present; but in the Hares and Rabbits, and some
allied forms, there are in the upper jaw, in addition to the working
teeth, a pair of rudimentary incisors,[48] placed immediately behind
the large ones, but quite incapable of taking any part in the business
of gnawing, for which the latter are so admirably fitted. Their
presence is, however, of interest, as indicating the direction in which
an alliance with other forms of Mammalia more abundantly supplied with
teeth is to be sought.
[Illustration: DENTITION OF THE HARE.]
The great incisors, which are characteristic of the Rodents, exhibit
the following peculiarities:--They possess no roots, but spring from
a permanent pulp, so that they continue growing during the whole
life of the animal; and their form, and that of the cavity which
constitutes their socket, is always that of a segment of a circle,[49]
in consequence of which, they always protrude from the front of the
jaws in the same direction, and meet at the same angle. By this means,
as the teeth are worn away at their summits by use in gnawing, a fresh
supply of tooth is continually being pushed forward to take the place
of the portion thus removed, and, in fact, so intimately are the two
functions of use and growth correlated in the teeth of these animals,
that if by chance one of the incisors should get broken, or the natural
opposition of these teeth should be disturbed in consequence of injury
to the jaw, the teeth, thus deprived of their natural check, continue
growing, and, following the curve of their sockets, gradually form
circular tusks, which must always be greatly in the way of the animal
when feeding, and sometimes, by actually penetrating again into the
mouth, cause its death by absolute starvation. The teeth themselves are
composed of dentine, coated along the front surface with a layer of
hard enamel, which substance is wanting on the other surfaces of the
teeth, except in the Hares, Rabbits, and other forms with additional
rudimentary incisors in the upper jaw, in which, as further evidence
of their relationship to the other Mammalia, the whole surface of the
incisors is encased in enamel, although this coat is excessively thin
except on the front or outer face. The purpose of this structure
of the incisors is easily understood. In the action of gnawing, the
dentine, which forms the greater part of the tooth, is more easily
abraded than the harder enamel, which is thus left as a sharp front
edge, to which the mass of dentine behind it, being worn away into
a bevelled surface, gives the necessary firmness and support, the
whole forming a chisel-like instrument, constructed precisely on the
principle of those tools in which a thin plate of hard steel forms the
cutting edge, and is stiffened by a thicker bevelled plate of softer
iron.
The canine teeth are entirely deficient, and behind the incisors
we find on each side a toothless gap of considerable extent (_see_
figures p. 82), beyond which come the grinding teeth. In these it is
difficult to recognise any distinction of molars and pre-molars; the
whole series presents nearly the same structural characters, and for
all practical purposes we may speak of them as molars, although some
zoologists prefer to regard the three hindmost teeth on each side as
true molars, and any others that may be present as premolars. In one
genus (_Hydromys_) the number of grinding teeth is reduced to two on
each side in each jaw; in a great proportion of the species the number
is three; others have four or five grinders on each side, either in one
or both jaws (usually one more in the upper series); and the largest
number is possessed by the Hares and Rabbits, in which the upper jaw
has six and the lower five grinders.[50] The grinders are sometimes
furnished with true roots, but are more commonly open below, and
provided, like the incisors, with a permanent pulp. They are sometimes
tubercular, at least in youth, but generally show a flat, worn surface
with transverse bands, or re-entering folds, and sometimes cylinders of
enamel, which display a great variety of patterns. Sometimes the enamel
is confined to the surface of the tooth; in other cases each tooth is,
as it were, made up of two or more variously-shaped tubular portions
of enamel, filled up with dentine. Curiously enough, this structure
of the grinders, especially the arrangement of the transverse ridges
and plates of enamel in these little animals, reminds us strongly of
the characters of the molars of the gigantic Proboscidea, in which,
moreover, the incisors also are represented by the permanently-growing
tusks.
The articulation of the lower jaw with the skull is peculiar, and in
special relation to the armature of teeth which we have described.
Instead of articulating freely, as in man and many herbivorous mammals,
by which provision is made for a sort of rotatory action of the molars,
or by a regular transverse hinge-joint, as in the Carnivora, the
articulating surfaces are elongated in a direction parallel to the
middle line of the skull, an arrangement which, like that occurring in
Carnivora, has the effect of preventing much lateral movement of the
jaw; but, at the same time, the pits with which the jaw articulates are
open in front, so that the jaw is allowed a certain amount of play,
backwards and forwards. This motion greatly increases the gnawing power
of the large incisor teeth.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE RABBIT.]
The head in the Rodents is generally of small or moderate size in
proportion to the body, and the skull is usually rather elongated,
and flattened on the upper surface. The tympanic bullæ are generally
of considerable size; the zygomatic arch is in nearly all cases well
developed; but the orbits of the eyes are never closed behind, and only
in certain families is there even a small process of the zygomatic
arch behind the orbits, as an indication of possible closure. Of
the vertebral column we need only say that the lumbar vertebræ are
remarkable for possessing large transverse processes directed forwards,
and that the tail varies greatly in length, being sometimes longer
than the body, sometimes reduced to very small proportions, whilst
between these two extremes almost every grade of development may be met
with.
The sternum, or breast-bone, is usually long and narrow. Collar-bones
are nearly always present, but in a few forms they become rudimentary,
or even disappear altogether. The pelvis is long and narrow. The limbs
exhibit a very great variety in their development; in many, the two
pairs are nearly equal in length, but in the majority the hind limbs
are distinctly longer and more powerful than their fellows, and in some
groups they attain a most disproportionate length, and serve almost
exclusively as the organs of locomotion. On the other hand, in the
great majority of the order, the fore limbs serve in a certain degree
as hands, and are used for holding the food to the mouth; and in these
the radius and ulna, which are always distinct bones, retain the power
of rotation. The corresponding bones in the hind limbs (tibia and
fibula) are, on the contrary, firmly anchylosed together in two great
groups of the order. The feet have usually five toes, but sometimes
this number is reduced to four, or even to three, in the hind feet.
These toes are armed with claws, which, however, in one family, acquire
more or less of the appearance of hoofs.
In point of intelligence the Rodentia do not stand high. The brain is
comparatively small, and the cerebral hemispheres show no traces of
those convolutions of the surface which are characteristic of most
Mammals (_see_ figures). The Capybara alone is known to have a few
convolutions. The cerebellum is entirely uncovered by the hemispheres.
The organs of the senses are generally well developed, and the eyes
and external ears, especially, are often of large size. In the Mole
Rats and some other burrowing forms, however, the external ears are
entirely wanting, and the eyes are very much reduced in size, and in
some instances even concealed beneath the skin. The intestinal canal is
long, and in all but one family furnished with a distinct cæcum.
[Illustration: BRAIN OF BEAVER (_from above_).]
[Illustration: BRAIN OF BEAVER. (_Profile._)]
The body in the Rodents is generally plump and short, and the head is
borne upon a short neck. The limbs also are usually short, so that the
belly is close to the ground; but in some cases all four legs are of
moderate length, or, as already stated, the hind legs are enormously
developed, forming powerful leaping organs. In general structure, as
to a certain extent in habits, there is, in fact, a most striking
parallelism between the Rodentia and the Insectivora (_see_ Vol. I.,
p. 343); in both we find arboreal and terrestrial forms, and among the
latter some specially organised for burrowing in the earth, and others
equally adapted for springing lightly over its surface; a few, also, in
both orders, are aquatic. But here the parallel ceases. The dentition
in the two groups is widely divergent, and, as might be anticipated
from this circumstance, the food is very different; for, although some
Rodents, such as the common Mouse and Rat, are omnivorous, there is no
doubt that, as a whole, the Rodents must be regarded as vegetarians.
Grass and the leaves of plants and trees furnish some of them with
nourishment; whilst others feed upon fruits, seeds, and nuts, in the
consumption of which last the powerful incisor teeth come into play.
Many species lay up stores of food for the winter season, of which
they pass more or less in a state of torpidity; and some of these are
provided with cheek-pouches, often of considerable size, in which to
convey their harvest into their store-houses.
As might be expected from the great number of species belonging to this
order, and their general uniformity of structure, their classification
is a matter of some difficulty, and very different views as to their
relationships have prevailed at different times. Nowadays, however,
zoologists have arrived at something like uniformity of opinion in
this matter, and except in some minor points they may be said to be
pretty nearly agreed. In the following sketch of the natural history
of the Rodents we shall follow the classification proposed by the
late Mr. E. R. Alston in the _Proceedings of the Zoological Society_.
Mr. Alston accepted the division of the order into two primary groups
(sub-orders), proposed fifty years ago by Professor Gervais, and
characterised by the number of incisor teeth. The first of these
sub-orders, which includes by far the majority of the Rodents, is
formed by those species which never at any period of their lives
possess more than two incisors in the upper jaw, and have the enamel on
these strictly confined to the front surface of the teeth. These are
denominated SIMPLICIDENTATA, or SIMPLE-TOOTHED RODENTS. In the second
group, which includes only the Hares, Rabbits, and Calling Hares, we
have those species which in the adult state possess four incisors in
the upper jaw, namely, two large and efficient teeth, and behind these
two small, almost rudimentary incisors (_see_ figure of the dentition
of the Hare on p. 82). These are called DOUBLE-TOOTHED RODENTS, or
DUPLICIDENTATA.
SUB-ORDER I.--SIMPLE-TOOTHED RODENTS.
Besides the characters derived from the number of incisor teeth above
mentioned, several other peculiarities of structure seem to show the
existence of a decided difference between the Simple-toothed and
Double-toothed Rodents; but most of these are of a rather abstruse
nature, and need not be noticed here, the most important additional
distinctive characters of the former being that the bony palate is well
developed, and that the fibula does not articulate with the calcaneum,
or heel-bone; whereas in the Double-toothed Rodents the palate is
reduced to a mere bridge between the portions of the upper jaw in
which the teeth are inserted, and the fibula does articulate with the
heel-bone.
The Simplicidentata include a great number of families, and various
attempts have been made to group these under larger heads; but it must
be confessed that, owing to the way in which the families approach one
another, it is difficult to bring them together in sections capable of
being very strictly defined. Certain broad principles of relationship
are, however, generally recognised, and Mr. Alston represented these
by placing the Simple-toothed families under three great sections, the
first indicated by Mr. Waterhouse--the Squirrel-like, Mouse-like, and
Porcupine-like Rodents.
The Squirrel-like Rodents have four molars on each side in the lower
jaw, and either four or five in the upper. When the latter number
is present, the foremost tooth is smaller than the rest. The fibula
remains as a distinct bone through life, and is usually quite free,
although sometimes attached to the tibia at the extremity. The upper
lip is usually cleft, the muffle is small and naked, and the nostrils
are comma-shaped, with the rounded part above. The zygomatic arch is
formed chiefly by the process of the malar bone, which is not supported
below by a continuation of the zygomatic process of the maxillary. The
collar-bones are perfect. The tail is usually cylindrical and hairy.
The Mouse-like Rodents agree with the preceding in the characters of
the upper lip, muffle, and nostrils, but they have the tibia and fibula
completely united for at least the last third of their length. The
zygomatic arch is slender, and the malar process rarely extends so far
forward as in the preceding group and is generally supported below by
a continuation of the maxillary process. The collar-bones are perfect,
except in one very small family; and the tail is cylindrical, and
although sometimes hairy, more commonly covered with scales arranged in
rings. The number of molar teeth in this section varies from three to
six[51] on each side in each jaw, but three is the most usual number.
[Illustration: TEETH OF THE TAGUAN.]
The Porcupine-like Rodents, with one exception, have four molars on
each side in both jaws; the fibula distinct throughout life; the upper
lip rarely cleft; the muffle clad with a velvety coat of fine hairs;
and the nostrils either S-shaped or straight. The zygomatic arch is
stout, and the malar process does not advance far forward, nor is it
supported below by the maxillary process.
SECTION I.--(_SCIUROMORPHA._) SQUIRREL-LIKE RODENTS.
FAMILY I.--SCIURIDÆ.
This first family, which includes the true Squirrels and the Marmots,
is distinguished from the rest of the section by the possession of five
rooted molars on each side of the upper jaw (_see_ figure of the teeth
on p. 85), the first being very small and sometimes deciduous, and
four molars on each side of the lower jaw, and by the presence on the
skull and zygomatic arch of small processes, indicating the posterior
boundary of the orbits (_see_ figure of the skull on p. 82). The molars
are tubercular, at least at first; but the summits of the tubercles are
generally more or less worn down as the animal increases in age.
[Illustration: COMMON SQUIRREL.]
The true Squirrels, which may be regarded as the types of this family,
are distinguished by their slender and graceful forms, and their long
and generally bushy tails, the latter character having originated
their classical name of _Sciurus_, as a compound of two Greek words,
indicating their habit of carrying their tails thrown up, so as to
shade the back. Our COMMON SQUIRREL (_Sciurus vulgaris_) may serve
as a good example of this division of the family. It is too well
known as a pet to need any detailed description; its elegant form and
graceful movements, the rich brownish-red colour of its upper surface,
contrasting with the white of the belly, and the beautifully-pencilled
or tufted ears, which, combined with its bright black eye, give it such
a lively appearance, must be familiar to every one. When full-grown,
the Squirrel measures from eight to ten inches in length of body, and
has a tail seven or eight inches long. British specimens are generally
smaller than those from the Continent of Europe. It varies considerably
in colour with the seasons, especially in northern regions; but even
in Central Europe and in Britain the fur of the sides and back becomes
mixed with a certain quantity of greyish-white hairs in the winter,
whilst in Lapland and Siberia the whole upper surface acquires a grey
tint at that season. In the summer also the ear-tufts diminish, or
altogether disappear. In the Alps and Pyrenees, there is a variety
having the back of a dark brown colour, speckled with yellowish-white.
This has been described as a distinct species, under the name of
_Sciurus alpinus_.
The Common Squirrel is a widely-distributed species. It is abundant all
over Europe, except, according to Pallas, in the Crimea, and extends
beyond the Ural Mountains through the whole length of Southern Siberia
to the Altai and the Amoor region. It occurs in the Caucasus, and
probably in Persia. Everywhere it haunts the woods and forests, living
chiefly upon the trees, among the branches of which it displays the
most astonishing agility. On the ground--to which, however, it does
not often descend--it is equally quick in its movements. If alarmed
under these circumstances, it dashes off to the nearest tree with
lightning-like rapidity, and by the aid of its sharp claws rushes up
the trunk till it has reached what it considers a safe elevation,
when the little sharp face and bright eyes may be seen peeping at the
intruder, apparently in triumph over his supposed disappointment.
The food of the Squirrel consists chiefly of nuts, beech-mast, acorns,
and the young bark, shoots, and buds of trees. In eating the former
articles, they are held in the fore-paws, which thus supply the place
of hands, and the strong incisors soon make a way through the outer
shells into the contained kernels, which alone are eaten; for in all
cases in which the kernel is coated with a coarse brown skin (as in
the common hazel-nuts), the Squirrel carefully removes every particle
of this from the portions on which he feeds. The bark, buds, and young
shoots of trees seem generally to be attacked by the Squirrel when he
finds a deficiency of other and more congenial nourishment; but this
is so regularly the case in the spring of the year, that these animals
actually cause a great amount of damage to the trees in forest regions.
Hence, not unnaturally, the Squirrel is regarded in forest countries
as a most mischievous little animal, whose depredations are not to be
condoned on account of its elegant appearance and lively habits. As
another unamiable quality, may be mentioned its habit of plundering
birds’ nests and eating the eggs, which appears to be established upon
unquestionable evidence. In some northern regions the inhabitants
turn their Squirrels to a more profitable use than putting them, as
we so often do, into a sort of treadmill. In Lapland and some parts
of Siberia, especially on the banks of the Lena, these animals are
killed in great numbers for the sake of their grey winter-coats, which,
however, are not equal in beauty to those of the north American Grey
Squirrel.
The Squirrel passes the greater part of the winter in a torpid state,
lying coiled up in some hole of a tree, where its long bushy tail is
of service in keeping it warm and comfortable. On fine and warm days,
however, it rouses itself from its slumbers; and, as if foreseeing
the occurrence of such days, it lays up in the autumn stores of nuts,
acorns, and beech-mast, upon which it can feed when it wakes during
the winter. This winter provision is not laid up all in one place, but
stored away in several different holes in trees surrounding the place
of its own retreat.
Squirrels appear to be strictly monogamous, pairing for life, and
constantly inhabiting the same dwelling. The young, three or four in
number, are produced in June, and for their reception the parents
prepare a very beautifully constructed nest, formed of interlaced moss,
leaves, and vegetable fibres, which is placed either in the hole of a
tree, or in the fork between two branches. The young Squirrels are
very carefully attended by both parents, and the family remains united
until the following spring, when the young go out to find partners, and
settle themselves in the world.
The Common Squirrel may serve as an example of the whole genus
_Sciurus_, which includes the ordinary Tree Squirrels, the species
of which are very numerous, probably more than one hundred, and
distributed over nearly all parts of the world. The species are most
numerous in the warm Oriental regions, in India, and the countries
and islands lying to the east of it, from which nearly fifty species
have been recorded. The northern parts of the Old World only possess
half a dozen species, but North America has about eighteen, many of
which are considerably larger than the European Squirrel. The most
striking of the North American species are the GREY SQUIRREL (_Sciurus
carolinensis_) and the FOX SQUIRREL (_Sciurus niger_), both of which
are abundant in the Atlantic States, and vary considerably in colour,
presenting both grey and black individuals.
[Illustration: BLACK FOX SQUIRREL.]
Besides the ordinary Squirrels, a considerable number of other species
are arboreal in their habits, and, indeed, even more strictly so than
the true Squirrels. These are the Flying Squirrels, as they are called,
which may be at once distinguished from the others by the presence
of a large fold of skin, extending along the sides of the body, and
including the limbs as far as the wrists and heels (_see_ figure on
next page). In the case of the Common Squirrels, it is observed that
in performing leaps of any considerable extent the limbs are stretched
out, and the long, bushy tail extended, so as to give the animal as
large a surface as possible; but in the Flying Squirrels, as in the
Flying Lemur (Vol. I., p. 344), when the limbs are extended laterally
the folds of skin (_patagia_) become tightly stretched, and form a
regular parachute, which seems to give the animal essential support in
its most extensive leaps. The extent of this membrane is increased by
means of a sort of bony spur, which articulates with the wrist.
The TAGUAN (_Pteromys petaurista_) is a large species, indeed, the
largest of the whole family Sciuridæ. It measures about two feet long,
and has a bushy tail of nearly equal length. Its ears are pointed, but
not tufted, and its eyes are large and prominent. Its colour above
is greyish-black, produced by a mixture of entirely black hairs with
others having the tips greyish-white; beneath it is greyish-white.
About the head and on the limbs the fur is tinged with brown or
chestnut brown, and the lateral folds are sometimes of the latter
colour, sometimes blackish-brown above and grey beneath. The tail is
rounded in its form.
This species inhabits the peninsula of India and Ceylon, Malacca and
Siam, where it is found only in the forests, living in trees, either
singly or in pairs. Its activity is chiefly nocturnal, in which respect
it differs from the ordinary Squirrels. During the day it sleeps in
the holes of trees, but at night it comes forth, climbing and leaping
with the greatest rapidity about the trees on which it lives. While
thus engaged the lateral membranes are loosely folded at the sides of
the body; but from time to time the Squirrel wishes to pass from one
tree to another at some distance, and then it ascends to a considerable
elevation and springs off, at the same time extending all four limbs
as much as possible, when the tightly-stretched folds of skin lend
the body a support, which enables it to glide through the air to some
distance, although it seems always to alight at a lower level than that
from which it started. During these aerial excursions the long bushy
tail serves as a sort of rudder, and enables the animal even to change
its course during flight. Of the habits of the Taguan very little is
known. It appears to feed upon fruits, and is exceedingly shy and
fearful. Of a nearly-allied species which he observed in China, Mr.
Swinhoe says that the nest, which was placed high up in a large tree,
measured about three feet in diameter, and was composed of interlaced
twigs, and lined with dry grass. It contained only a single young
Squirrel; but this might be exceptional.
[Illustration: TAGUAN.]
Some nine or ten additional species of the genus _Pteromys_, which
includes the Flying Squirrels with cylindrical tails, are found in
the forest regions of India and of the countries to the east of that
peninsula, including China, Formosa, and Japan. The same region also
harbours three or four species of another kind of Flying Squirrel, in
which the long hairs of the tail are arranged in two rows, and the
tail is flat instead of cylindrical. These animals, to which the name
of _Sciuropterus_ has been given, are, however, more numerous in the
north, where their distribution extends from Lapland and Finland,
through Siberia, to Northern China and Japan. Squirrels of this genus
also occur over the whole continent of North America and as far
south as Guatemala. The best known of the Old World species is the
POLATOUCHE (_Sciuropterus volans_), which inhabits the north-eastern
parts of Europe and nearly the whole of Siberia. It is an elegant
little creature, about six inches in length, and with a broad, flat
tail, rather shorter than the body: as, indeed, is the case in all
the _Sciuropteri_. Its silky coat is in summer of a tawny brown on
the upper surface, darker on the flying membrane and the outsides
of the limbs, beneath pure white; whilst the tail is greyish above
and light rusty red beneath. In winter the fur becomes longer and
thicker, and appears of a silver grey colour on the upper surface.
The Polatouche lives in the birch woods, or in places where pines,
firs, and birches grow intermingled; but the presence of the birch
seems to be a necessity of its existence. It is met with singly or in
pairs, but always on the trees, sleeping during the day in its nest
or in the hole of a tree, and coming forth at dusk to climb and leap
about the branches with great agility. In going from tree to tree by
the aid of its lateral membranes, it is said to cover distances of
twenty or thirty yards with ease, always, however, taking its leap from
the highest branches of the tree it starts from, and alighting at a
considerably lower level. Its food consists of nuts, seeds, berries,
the buds, young shoots, and catkins of the birch, and the young shoots
of pines and firs. The nest is made in the hole of a tree, carefully
lined with soft moss and herbage. Like the Common Squirrel, the
Polatouche sleeps through the cold weather, but wakes up from time to
time and goes out in search of food.
[Illustration: POLATOUCHE.]
This group of Flying Squirrels is also represented on the North
American continent. The number of species seems rather uncertain, some
authors making it two, others four; while Mr. J. A. Allen regards all
the North American Flying Squirrels as belonging to a single species,
which varies greatly in size in different localities. This species
is the ASSAPAN (_Sciuropterus volucella_), one of the smallest of
its family, the length of its head and body being only from four and
three-quarters to seven and a half inches; the smaller specimens
(var. _volucella_) being found in the more southern States, and even
as far south as Guatemala; and the larger ones (var. _hudsonius_) in
more northern localities. In its habits this elegant little Squirrel
resembles the Polatouche, but appears to be more sociable. It thrives
well in confinement.
Besides these Tree Squirrels, a few species of the Sciurine sub-family
live upon the ground. In Abyssinia and in other parts of Africa some
curious animals, forming the genus _Xerus_, are found, distinguished
by their very small ears, longish limbs, and the singular texture of
their hair, which scantily clothes the skin and generally takes the
form of flattened spines. They have a slender body, a pointed head,
and a longish tail. These animals live in elevated forest regions,
and even upon comparatively barren steppes, where they burrow in the
ground under rocks, or among the roots of trees and bushes. They are
diurnal, and feed chiefly upon buds and herbage, but also devour small
birds, eggs, and insects. The best known species (_Xerus rutilans_) is
about twenty inches long, of which the tail makes about nine inches.
Its colour is reddish-yellow above, becoming paler on the sides, and
whitish below.
[Illustration: COMMON CHIPMUNK.]
The true GROUND SQUIRRELS (_Tamias_) are distinguished from the rest
of the Squirrels (_Sciurinæ_), and approach the Marmots, which form a
second sub-family of Sciuridæ. Like some of the latter, they possess
large cheek-pouches opening into the mouth. The ears in this genus are
short; the fourth toe of the fore feet is longer than the rest, as in
all the Sciurinæ; the limbs are short, and nearly equal in length; and
the tail is shorter than in the true Squirrels. In general form and
appearance, however, the Ground Squirrels greatly resemble the latter,
except that they are rather stouter in the body. Four species of this
group inhabit the continent of North America, where they are known as
Chipmunks; and one of these, according to Mr. J. A. Allen, is identical
with the only known Old World species (_Tamias asiaticus_), which is
found in North-eastern Europe and across Northern Asia, as far as the
mouth of the Amoor, North China, and Japan. This species, which goes
by different names in the different localities which it inhabits,
and the COMMON CHIPMUNK (_Tamias striatus_) of the United States,
agree very closely in all respects, and are exceedingly pretty little
animals, with light-coloured fur adorned with darker stripes, varied
in the case of the Chipmunk with streaks of white. They are from eight
to ten inches long, including the tail. These animals live in burrows
in the ground, and feed upon nuts, acorns, grain, and other seeds
of various kinds, of which they lay up great stores in the autumn,
carrying home their provisions in their cheek-pouches, which they
stuff as full as they can hold. In this way they do no small damage to
cultivated grounds near their haunts, plundering the corn and maize
fields very freely; over eight pounds of corn in the ear are often
found in the granaries of the Siberian form. The burrow is made deep
enough to protect the animals from frost in winter, and the sleeping
chamber contains a large nest of leaves and grass, in which several
individuals, probably the parents with their grown-up family, sleep
through the cold weather; but it must be remarked that their torpidity
is very imperfect, and that they have frequent recourse to the supplies
of food which they have stored up during the summer and autumn in
separate chambers at the ends of lateral passages. These stores are so
large that they generally greatly exceed the wants of the provident
little animals, and in the spring the residue is greedily devoured by
Wild Pigs and Bears. Even the poorer human inhabitants of the countries
frequented by the Ground Squirrels do not disdain to eke out their
scanty means of subsistence by plundering the hoards of these animals.
Many of them perish in severe winters, great numbers are destroyed by
man, by the smaller Carnivora, and by birds of prey, but, nevertheless,
they manage to hold their own, in consequence of the great fertility of
the females, which produce several young twice in the year, namely, in
May and August. At pairing time the males fight violently.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE MARMOT.]
From the Ground Squirrels we pass, by a perfectly natural transition,
to the MARMOTS (_Arctomyinæ_), the second sub-family of Sciuridæ. These
animals differ from the preceding forms by their broader incisors,
shorter tail, and stouter form of body, and by having the third finger
longer than the rest. The first upper molar, also, is larger and more
persistent than in the Squirrels, and the other molars differ in
structure (_see_ figure). The Marmots are all terrestrial animals,
living and storing provisions in burrows, which they dig in the ground,
and they are strictly confined to the northern parts of the two
hemispheres.
[Illustration: STRIPED SPERMOPHILE, OR GOPHER.]
[Illustration: BURROWS OF THE PRAIRIE DOG.]
The nearest approach to the Squirrels is made by the SPERMOPHILES
(_Spermophilus_), several species of which occur in North America
from Mexico to the Arctic regions, but never to the east of the
great central prairie region; whilst in the Old World their domain
extends from Silesia, through Russia, and across Asia, to the Amoor
and Kamstchatka. The Spermophiles are Squirrel-like in form and have
rather short tails, but in the American species this organ is generally
longer than in those of the Eastern continent. On the thumb the claw is
either very small or altogether wanting; the two series of molars are
nearly parallel, and the mouth is furnished with large cheek-pouches.
The ears are very small. These animals live in society, and prefer
a dry, sandy, or loamy soil, in which they can easily make their
burrows, which terminate in a chamber lined with grass and herbage,
and have, besides, side-chambers, in which provisions can be stored
for winter use. Like the other species of the family, the Spermophiles
pass the winter in a state of partial torpidity. In the summer they
are exceedingly lively and playful. Their food consists of roots,
berries, and seeds of various kinds, and their winter stores of these
articles are carried into the burrows in their large cheek-pouches.
The females are very prolific, producing from four to eight young at
a birth, and in some cases even as many as ten have been found. The
commonest and most widely distributed of the North American species is
the STRIPED SPERMOPHILE, or GOPHER (_Spermophilus tredecimlineatus_),
a pretty little creature of from six to eight inches long, usually of
a chestnut brown colour with seven yellowish-white lines running along
the back and between these six rows of small squarish spots of the same
colour. This species extends its range from the Red River in Canada
southwards as far as Texas, and is common on the prairies east of the
Mississippi. This and some other species of the genus are said to be
very carnivorous in their habits, preying upon small birds and mammals;
and the Gopher was even described as feeding upon the flesh of Bisons,
which it found lying dead on the prairies. The other American species
are more local in their distribution; four of them occur in Mexico, and
one of these is only known from that country. Of the Old World species
the best known is the SISEL, or SUSLIK (_Spermophilus citillus_), which
is abundant in Central and Eastern Europe and in Siberia. Several
other species are known from Asia Minor, Siberia, and Central Asia.
The BARKING SQUIRRELS, or PRAIRIE DOGS, of which two species (_Cynomys
ludovicianus_, _see_ figure on p. 81, and _C. columbianus_) are found
in the United States of America, are of a stouter form than the
Spermophiles, and have the ears and tail short. The claws are well
developed on all the toes of the fore feet, the cheek-pouches are
shallow, and the two rows of grinding teeth converge towards the back
of the mouth. These animals are peculiar to North America, where the
former inhabits the prairies east of the Rocky Mountains, and the
latter is found on the plains of the Columbia river, and in other parts
of the western territories as far south as New Mexico. The best known
of the two species is the _Cynomys ludovicianus_, to which the name of
the PRAIRIE DOG was first applied: this name being given to it from
a fancied resemblance of its voice to the barking of a small Dog. It
measures about a foot in length, and its tail is about four inches
long. Its colour on the upper surface is reddish-brown, variegated with
grey, and with a few scattered black hairs; the tail is flattened,
and brownish-black towards the end, and the lower surface is brownish
or yellowish-white. These animals live together in great societies,
especially upon those portions of the prairies where the so-called
buffalo-grass (_Sesleria dactyloides_) grows most luxuriantly, this
grass and succulent roots constituting their chief food. They live
in burrows, which they dig in the ground at a distance of twelve or
fifteen feet apart; a hard-beaten path runs from burrow to burrow, and
would seem to give evidence of the sociable disposition of the animals;
and at the mouth of every burrow there is a little hillock, formed by
the earth thrown out of it, which serves the occupant as a watch-tower.
These burrows are usually so numerous upon favourable pieces of ground
that the space occupied by them is quite populous, and presents a scene
of considerable animation when the inhabitants are out in the pursuit
of their business or their pleasure, and hence they are in common
parlance spoken of as “towns” or “villages.” Their curious appearance
is heightened by the almost constant presence in them of numerous small
Owls, of the species known as the Burrowing Owl (_Athene cunicularia_),
a widely-spread species, which in some places digs its own subterranean
habitation, but on these prairies saves itself the trouble by taking
possession of the deserted abodes of the Prairie Dogs. These birds are
diurnal in their habits, and are to be seen mixed up with the Prairie
Dogs in their settlements. Another inhabitant of the burrows is the
Rattlesnake; and some of the earlier observers thought that the Prairie
Dogs, Owls, Rattlesnakes, and some other animals, such as Horned Frogs
and an occasional Tortoise, occupied the same burrow, and lived there
on the most amicable footing. Unfortunately, this paradisaic picture
is an imaginary one. It is true that the Rattlesnake does take up his
abode in the Prairie Dog’s burrows, but he either selects a deserted
one, or dispossesses, and perhaps devours, the rightful owner; and his
object in his residence among the lively little Marmots is anything
rather than peaceful, as they constitute his favourite food. The little
Burrowing Owl has also been said by some writers to feed on the young
Prairie Dogs; but this is not proved, and the food of the Owls is known
to consist chiefly of Grasshoppers and Crayfish. According to the
latitude in which they live, the Prairie Dogs seem to be more or less
subject to torpidity during the winter.
The true MARMOTS (_Arctomys_) are nearly related to the Prairie Dogs.
They are stout in the body, have a short tail, and a rudimentary thumb
with a flat nail; and are either entirely destitute of cheek-pouches
or have mere indications of those organs. The rows of molar teeth
are placed nearly parallel to each other in each jaw. The skull is
broad and flat above, with a depression between the orbits; and
the post-orbital processes are larger than in any other Sciuridæ.
The Marmots are confined to the Northern hemisphere, but over it
they are widely distributed in both continents. Of the Old World
species, the best known are the BOBAC (_Arctomys Bobac_) and the
ALPINE MARMOT (_A. Marmota_), of which the former extends from the
south of Poland and Galicia over the whole of Southern Russia and
Siberia to the Amoor region and Kamstchatka, whilst it is found in
elevated situations as far southward as Cashmere, Tibet, and the
Himalayas; and the latter inhabits only the higher regions of the Alps,
Pyrenees, and Carpathians. In North America the common species is the
WOODCHUCK (_Arctomys Monax_), the distribution of which is from the
Carolinas northward to Hudson’s Bay, and westward from the Atlantic
coast to Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota; the Rocky Mountain region
is inhabited by a distinct species (_A. flaviventer_); and a third
very large species, the HOARY MARMOT, or WHISTLER (_A. pruinosus_),
which measures from twenty-three to twenty-five inches in length of
body, appears to be most abundant in the north-western parts of the
continent, and is said to range northward as far as the Arctic Circle.
The Marmots live usually in large societies in extensive burrows, which
they form underground; and in some localities, as on the great plains
of Russia and Siberia, their dwelling-places are described as producing
a remarkable effect, owing to the multitude of little hillocks formed
by the earth thrown out of their burrows. During the summer they are in
a state of constant activity, playing and running about in search of
food in the neighbourhood of their dwellings. The winter they pass in a
state of torpidity, in a comfortable chamber lined with soft herbage,
and protected from the outside cold by the closure of the main passage
leading into their abode. For a time after their retirement for the
winter they continue active in their domicile, and feed upon the stores
of food which they have laid up during the summer; and as a preparation
for their winter sleep, they become exceedingly fat during the autumn.
The Marmots are the largest members of their family, and, indeed, some
of them may be reckoned among the larger Rodents. The Alpine Marmot
measures more than twenty inches in length, and the Bobac about fifteen
inches, exclusive of the tail.
[Illustration: ALPINE MARMOT.]
FAMILY II.--ANOMALURIDÆ.
Some curious African animals, closely resembling the Flying Squirrels,
and at first regarded as belonging to that group, were formed by Mr.
Waterhouse into a distinct genus, which he called _Anomalurus_, in
allusion to the peculiar characters presented by their tail. This
organ, which is long and well clothed with hair, although not so bushy
as in the true Squirrels, has on the lower surface of its basal portion
a double series of horny scales, which project from the skin, and
probably serve to assist the animal in climbing upon the branches of
trees.
Besides this peculiarity, these animals exhibit certain other
characters which have induced modern zoologists to separate them from
the Squirrels as a distinct family. Thus, the post-orbital processes
are wanting, or nearly so; the infra-orbital openings are large; the
molar teeth are four in number on each side, above and below, nearly
equal in size, and not tubercular, but with a flat surface, crossed by
transverse loops of enamel; and the palate is contracted in front and
deeply notched behind. In the skeleton we find sixteen pairs of ribs,
whereas in the Squirrels there are only twelve or thirteen pairs; and
the internal anatomy, first described by Mr. Alston, is very peculiar.
The flying membrane is quite as largely developed as in the Flying
Squirrels, and is in the same manner extended from the wrists to the
heels, and further supported by cartilaginous spurs starting from the
fore limbs; but, whilst in the Flying Squirrels this spur springs from
the wrist itself, in the Anomalures it projects from the elbow, and
thus produces a still greater extension of the membrane. The ears are
well developed, the eyes large, and the general aspect both of head and
body completely squirrel-like. Six species of this family have been
described, all from the West Coast of Africa. One of them occurs in the
island of Fernando Po. The species figured (_Anomalurus fulgens_) is
from the Gaboon. It is a handsome little creature, of a bright reddish
colour, paler below, and having a small white spot between the ears.
Its length is fourteen inches, and its tail is seven inches long. In
some of the other species the tail is as long as the body. Of the
habits of these animals little is positively known, but they are said
to feed upon fruits. They probably resemble the Flying Squirrels in
their general mode of life.
[Illustration: FULGENT ANOMALURE (From the _Proceedings of the
Zoological Society_).]
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE ANOMALURE.]
FAMILY III.--HAPLODONTIDÆ.
This is another small family, smaller even than the preceding one, for
it includes only a single known species, limited in its range to the
western coast of North America. This is the Sewellel, a little Rodent,
first observed by the American travellers, Lewis and Clarke, in 1805
or 1806, described in 1814 by Rafinesque under the name of _Anisonyx
rufa_, and afterwards, in 1829, by Sir John Richardson, as the type
of a new genus, as _Aplodontia leporina_. This generic name has been
corrected, in accordance with its derivation, by more recent writers,
to _Haplodon_, from which the name of the family has been formed.
In this animal there are five molars in the upper and four in the
lower jaw; the first upper molar is very small, and all these teeth
are rootless, simple, and prismatic, the surface of each tooth being
surrounded by a mere border of enamel. The skull is very flat, very
wide behind, and furnished with large zygomatic arches; between
the orbits and in front it is much contracted, and there are no
post-orbital processes. In the lower jaw the angular portion is twisted
so as to form a horizontal ridge. The body is stout and clumsy, the
tail very short, and the claws of the fore feet (which are five-toed,
as well as the hind ones) are very powerful; in fact, as Dr. Coues
says, “The whole organisation, viewed externally, indicates terrestrial
and highly fossorial habits.”
The SEWELLEL (_Haplodon rufus_) is about a foot long, with a tail
of an inch or an inch and a half; its colour is brownish, with an
intermixture of black hairs, lighter and more greyish below. The
whiskers, claws, and upper surface of the feet are whitish, and
the incisor teeth yellow. It inhabits the Washington and Oregon
territories, from the Rocky Mountains to the shores of the Pacific, and
extends also into the southern portions of British Columbia and the
upper parts of California.
The Sewellel is described as having very much the same habits as
the Prairie Dog, living in society, burrowing very readily in the
ground, and feeding on roots and berries. Their companies, however,
seem to be much smaller than those of the Prairie Dog, and they are
said chiefly to frequent spring-heads in rich, moist places. They are
described as having the curious habit of neatly cutting off some herb
or plant, which, when packed in bundles, they lay out and expose to
the sun to dry; this is probably for the purpose of storing for winter
consumption. It seems to be uncertain whether the Sewellel is torpid
during the winter, but probably in this respect it varies according to
local conditions or the coldness of the seasons. Dr. Suchley believes
that the Sewellel has several litters of young during the season. The
Indians trap them, and esteem them very highly as food. Cloaks or
blankets are made of their skins, which are sewn together with fibres
derived from the sinews of the Elk and Deer. A robe described by Sir
John Richardson was composed of twenty-seven skins.
FAMILY IV.--CASTORIDÆ.
Unlike as the Beaver may be to a Squirrel, it yet presents many
characters which prove that its nearest affinity is to the animals
which compose the group Sciuromorpha. This relationship has indeed
been overlooked by many zoologists, but Mr. Alston and Mr. Allen have
clearly shown that Professor Gervais was right in placing the Castoridæ
in close juxtaposition with the Squirrels. The peculiarities which make
the apparent discrepancy so striking are indeed chiefly those by which
the Beaver is adapted to an aquatic life.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE BEAVER.]
The Beaver, which is the sole living representative of this family, is
a more powerful animal than any of the preceding, and his incisor teeth
and the means of working them are especially well developed. The head
is large and the skull massive, and furnished with a distinct median
(sagittal) crest for the insertion of the strong muscles which move the
lower jaw. There are no post-orbital processes. There are four molars
on each side in each jaw, and these are nearly similar in size and
structure; but, contrary to what we have seen in the preceding groups,
the first molar is the largest, and the others diminish in size towards
the hinder end of the row. The series of teeth in the two sides of the
mouth converge toward the front; and the teeth themselves, which are
for a long time rootless, and only close up to form a simple root when
the animal grows old, show three folds or loops of enamel on one side,
and a single fold on the other: the three folds entering from the outer
surface of the tooth in the upper jaw, and from its inner surface in
the lower.
The general form is stout and heavy, especially in the hinder parts;
the tail is of moderate length, broad, flattened, and covered with a
scaly skin; the feet are all five-toed, the fore pair considerably
smaller than the hinder, but all well furnished with claws, and the
hinder pair fully webbed to the extremities of the toes. The wrist has
a large ossicle, in addition to those usually composing that part
of the body. The eyes are small, have the pupil vertical, and are
furnished with a nictitating membrane; the ears are small and short,
and their antitragus can be so applied to the head as almost entirely
to close the auditory aperture; and the nostrils are also so arranged
as to be capable of closing.
[Illustration: BEAVER.]
The Beaver is usually about two feet and a half long, and is,
therefore, one of the largest of the Rodentia, except the Capybara.
The tail, which is flattened above and below, and of an elongated
oval form, measures about ten inches. The muffle is naked; the ears
scaly; the soles of all the feet are naked, and their upper surfaces
clothed with hairs; and the second toe of the hind feet is usually
furnished with a double claw, the additional one being placed beneath
the other. The general colour of the fur is reddish-brown on the upper
surface, lighter and greyish below. The colour varies a little in
different individuals, and appears to become darker, or even blackish,
in northern localities. White or pied individuals are not uncommon.
The Beaver appears to increase in size for some years after it has
attained maturity. Mr. Allen says that in America “two-year-old Beavers
generally weigh about thirty-five to forty pounds, while very old ones
occasionally attain a weight of upwards of sixty.” The size of the
skull seems to increase throughout life; the thickness and density
of the bones also increase, and the ridges for the attachment of the
muscles become stronger in old individuals.
The Beaver is, or has been, distributed generally over all the northern
parts of the Northern hemisphere, especially in the forest regions.
Formerly it ranged over the whole of Europe, including the British
islands, where there is historical evidence of its former existence,
besides the skulls and bones which have been found in various places,
but especially in the Fen lands. At present the animal appears to be
completely exterminated in the southern parts of Europe from France
southwards, with the exception of a small colony on the Rhone, which we
believe is still in existence; and only a very few individuals survive
in Germany, where they are found on a tributary of the Elbe, and in one
or two other places. In some parts of Poland, Russia, and Austria, and
in the Scandinavian peninsula, they still, to a greater or less extent,
hold their ground; and in Asia they abound about the rivers of Siberia,
and in the streams which flow into the Caspian Sea. In North America
Beavers formerly abounded from Texas, and, according to manuscript
evidence cited by Mr. Allen, even from Mexico, northward to the extreme
limit of forest growth, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. The
constant pursuit to which the animals were subjected, in consequence of
the demand for their skins, greatly diminished their numbers, and in
many localities altogether exterminated them; but they still occur over
a very large extent of the North American continent, especially in the
western territories, where they are even abundant in some of the wilder
parts.
In the preceding statements we have spoken of the Beaver as forming a
single species; but it has long been a moot question with zoologists
whether the Beavers of the Old and New Worlds were or were not
specifically identical. The external differences are very slight,
and those observed in the skull, upon which most stress has been
laid, do not appear to be of sufficient importance for the separation
of the animals as distinct species. They consist chiefly in the
greater breadth of the anterior portion of the skull, including the
inter-orbital space; the extension farther back of the nasal bones,
the greater size and depth of the basilar cavity and the more anterior
position of the auditory bullæ, in the European Beaver; but the
examination of large series of specimens has proved that the skulls
from both hemispheres present many exceptions, in which one or more
of the peculiarities which they ought to exhibit do not occur: a
circumstance which of necessity greatly invalidates the distinction
founded upon such characters. Dr. Ely sums up the results of an
extended investigation in the following words:--“The extremes of
difference, in their aggregate, on the one side and on the other, are
sufficiently striking to justify us in regarding them as varieties
of one and the same species; while the want of constancy in these
peculiarities suggests the inference that these variations are due to
long separation of the races, and to accidental causes, rather than to
original diversity of the stock.” The Beaver may thus be regarded as a
species with two geographical forms (varieties or sub-species), viz.,
_Castor fiber_, var. _europæus_, and _Castor fiber_, var. _canadensis_.
So much has been written upon the habits of the Beaver, that the
following short statement will suffice to give the leading facts in the
natural history of the animal, the accounts of the marvellous sagacity
of which, given by the older writers, have, perhaps, invested it with
an exaggerated interest.
In populous countries the Beaver is contented, like the Otter, with a
long burrow for his residence; but in the wilder regions of Siberia and
North America his dwelling-place is a much more complicated affair. But
even in these regions, according to some authorities, a certain number
of Beavers--always males--show a lazy unwillingness to take part in the
common labours of the colony, and these, as idlers, are expelled from
the community, often with rather severe treatment, and then take up
their abode by themselves in holes, which they dig out in the banks of
rivers, whence they are called “terriers.” On the other hand, it would
appear that the building instinct which is so remarkably manifested by
the Beaver is not always extinct even in those which inhabit populous
countries, for we have a most interesting account from M. Meyerinck
of the construction of a lodge, and even of a dam, by the colony of
Beavers on a tributary of the Elbe.
In North America, from which we have the fullest accounts of the habits
of the Beavers, these animals select for their habitation some small
stream running through a locality well covered with trees, especially
willows, birches, and poplars, upon the bark of which they chiefly
feed. These trees they cut down with their powerful incisor teeth,
usually selecting those from the thickness of a man’s arm to that
of his thigh, but sometimes even felling trunks eighteen inches in
diameter. The operation, which at first sight would seem to be a rather
difficult one for an animal like the Beaver to perform, is effected
by gnawing all round the trunk for a certain distance, and gradually
working deeper and deeper into its substance in the middle of the part
attacked, until at length the tree stands upon quite a slender piece
of wood, with the trunk both above and below this tapered off into
the form of two cones, united by their apices. The work is done as
sharply and neatly as if the wood had been cut away by a chisel; and
the animals are said to have the sagacity to weaken the trunk more on
the side that looks towards the water than on the opposite side, by
which means, when it falls, it will generally do so in the direction
of the water, which materially facilitates the further operations of
the Beavers. The quantity of trees cut down by them in this way is very
great, so that in the neighbourhood of a Beaver encampment the ground
is everywhere full of the stumps which they have left.
These tree trunks are then cut up into lengths of five or six feet,
which, after their bark has been stripped off and eaten, are employed
in the formation of a lodge, to serve as a shelter for the company of
Beavers forming it. Access to the lodge is obtained by means of several
subterranean passages, which always open under water, and lead up into
the chamber occupying the interior of the lodge. The lodge is usually
of an oven-like shape, and is built close to the edge of the water;
its walls are very thick, and composed of the above-mentioned trunks
of trees, plastered over with mud, clay, &c., mixed with grasses and
moss, until the whole fabric measures from twelve to twenty feet in
diameter, and forms a hill some six or eight feet high. The larger
lodges are in the interior about seven feet in diameter, and between
two and three feet high; and the floor of this spacious chamber is
covered with fine chips of wood, grasses, and the soft bark of trees,
which serve to form the beds of the occupants. Occasionally the lodges
are said to contain store-rooms. In front of the lodge, according to
Audubon, the Beavers scratch away the mud of the bottom until they
make the water deep enough to enable them to float their pieces of
timber to this point, even when the water is frozen; and, communicating
with this, a ditch surrounds the lodge, which is also made so deep
that it will not readily freeze to the bottom. Into this ditch, and
the deep water in front of the lodge, the passages by which access to
the water is obtained always open, and thus the inhabitants can at
any time make their way out when their business requires them to do
so. In the neighbourhood of the lodge the timber cut into lengths,
as above described, is piled up, so as to furnish a supply of food
as it is required; and the pieces of timber, after being stripped of
their bark, are usually employed by the Beavers either in repairing
their lodges or in constructing or strengthening the dams which they
very frequently throw across the streams haunted by them. These dams,
which are destined to keep the water of variable streams up to the
necessary height for the convenience of the Beaver, are wonderful
pieces of work, and almost justify the marvellous stories told of its
intelligence and sagacity by the older writers. They are often of
great length--sometimes 150 or 200 yards and more--and run across the
course of the brook inhabited by the Beavers--sometimes in a straight
line, sometimes in a curved form, according to peculiarities in the
ground or the stream, and the exigencies of the engineers. They are
composed, like the lodges, of lengths cut from the trunks and branches
of trees, filled in with smaller sticks, roots, grasses, and moss, and
all plastered with mud and clay in a most workmanlike manner, until the
whole structure becomes quite water-tight. Their height is from six to
ten feet, and their thickness at the bottom sometimes as much as double
this, but diminishing upwards by the slope of the sides until the top
is only from three to five feet wide. These dams convert even small
rivulets into large pools of water, often many acres in extent; and in
districts where Beavers abound these pools may occupy neatly the whole
course of a stream, one above the other, almost to its source. Their
use to the Beavers, as constantly furnishing them with a sufficiency of
water in which to carry on their business, and especially to float to
their lodges the tree trunks necessary for their subsistence, is easily
understood; but it is a more remarkable circumstance that by this
means the Beavers exercise a considerable influence upon the external
appearance of the locality inhabited by them, which may persist even
long after they have themselves disappeared. In and about the pools
the constant attacks of the Beavers upon the trees produce clearings
in the forest, often many acres in extent; at the margins of the pools
the formation of peat commences, and under favourable circumstances
proceeds until the greater part of the cleared space becomes converted
into a peat-moss. These peaty clearings are known as Beaver-meadows,
and they have been detected in various countries where the Beaver is
now extinct.
As in the case of the majority of Rodents, the chief activity of the
Beaver is nocturnal; and it is only when driven from its lodge by a
high flood, or in the wildest and most sequestered localities, that it
goes about during the day. It swims quickly, but entirely by the agency
of the hind feet, the fore feet being used chiefly for carrying and
building operations, and for conveying the food to the mouth. Before
diving, it is said to slap the surface of the water with its tail,
producing a sound that may be heard at a considerable distance. On land
it sometimes travels a good way in the warm season, and is then stated
to indulge in a change of diet, feeding upon roots and fruits, and
sometimes upon corn. The roots of the water-lily (_Nuphar_) are also
said to constitute part of its food. The Beaver is hunted--but less
now than in former years--for the sake of its skin, the soft under fur
of which was much used in the manufacture of hats. It is asserted that
the flesh is very good, but according to some authorities, only certain
parts of it are palatable; and Audubon declares that the tail, which is
regarded as a peculiarly choice morsel, closely resembles marrow, and
is so rich that only those whose stomachs are incapable of being upset
by greasy food can eat more than a very little of it.
The Beaver has been hunted not only for its fur, but also, and from
time immemorial, for the sake of a peculiar secretion produced by it,
which, under the name of _Castoreum_, has been for many centuries a
highly-esteemed medicament. This substance is secreted in a pair of
glandular pouches, situated in the inguinal region of the male Beaver;
and it would seem that it was almost entirely in order to procure these
that the ancients hunted this animal. Even in connection with this
they had wonderful tales to tell of its sagacity: as how that, when it
was pursued and found itself unable to escape, it would throw itself
upon its back, as if to invite the hunter to take what he wanted and
spare its life. Nay, some ancient writers seem to have believed that
the Beaver would go the length of biting off its own castoreum glands,
and leaving them for the hunter to pick up! Castoreum contains some
volatile oil and resin, and a peculiar crystallisable substance called
castorine; it is used in medicine as a stimulant, and seems to act
especially on the nervous system, but is not much employed nowadays.
Its odour, which appears to spread over a considerable space, is
described as being very attractive to other Beavers. Audubon states
that it is used for this reason as a lure by the American trappers.
CHAPTER II.
THE DORMOUSE, LOPHIOMYS, RAT, AND MOUSE FAMILIES.
THE MOUSE-LIKE RODENTS--MYOXIDÆ--Characteristics--THE
DORMOUSE--Description--Habits--Activity--Food--Winter Condition--THE
LOIR--THE GARDEN DORMOUSE--LOPHIOMYIDÆ--How the Family came to be
Founded--THE LOPHIOMYS--Milne-Edwards’ Opinion--Skull--General
Form--Habits--MURIDÆ--Number of Species--Characteristics--Variety
of Forms--Distribution--The Murine Sub-Family--THE BROWN
RAT--History--Fecundity and Ferocity--Diet--At the Horse
Slaughter-houses of Montfaucon--Shipwrecked on Islands--Story
of their Killing a Man in a Coal-pit--In the Sewers of Paris
and London--THE BLACK RAT--THE EGYPTIAN RAT--THE COMMON
MOUSE--Habits--Destructiveness--Colours--THE LONG-TAILED FIELD
MOUSE--Description--Food--THE HARVEST MOUSE--Description--Habits--In
Winter--Agility--Their Nest--THE BANDICOOT RAT--THE TREE RAT--THE
STRIPED MOUSE--Allied Genera--THE WHITE-FOOTED HAPALOTE--The
American Murines--THE WHITE-FOOTED, OR DEER MOUSE--THE GOLDEN,
OR RED MOUSE--THE RICE-FIELD MOUSE--THE AMERICAN HARVEST
MOUSE--THE FLORIDA RAT--Description--Their Nest--Food--Mother and
Young--THE BUSHY-TAILED WOOD RAT--THE COTTON RAT--THE RABBIT-LIKE
REITHRODON--THE HAMSTERS--Characteristics--Appearance--Distribution--
Burrows--Disposition--Food--Habits--THE TREE MICE--THE BLACK-STREAKED
TREE MICE--THE GERBILLES--Characteristics--Habits--Other
Genera--THE WATER MICE--Characteristics--Species--THE
SMINTHUS--THE VOLES--Characteristics--THE WATER
VOLE--Appearance--Distribution--Food--THE FIELD VOLE--THE
BANK VOLE--THE SOUTHERN FIELD VOLE--THE SNOW MOUSE--THE ROOT
VOLE--THE MEADOW MOUSE--THE PINE MOUSE--THE MUSQUASH, MUSK RAT,
OR ONDATRA--Distinguishing Features--Habits--His House--THE
LEMMING--Description--Food--Habits--Disposition--Their Extraordinary
Migrations--Other Lemmings--THE ZOKOR.
SECTION II.--MOUSE-LIKE RODENTS (_MYOMORPHA_).
The Myomorphic, or Mouse-like group of Rodents, includes a much greater
variety of forms than the preceding, and the number of species is
also very great. We find in it arboreal, terrestrial, and aquatic
species; and in the second of these categories some presenting almost
every variety of habit which the Rodent type is capable of assuming.
Naturally the families and sub-families into which it is divided are
rather numerous. Mr. Alston distinguished seven family groups, the
first of which is the Myoxidæ.
FAMILY V.--MYOXIDÆ.
The Dormice, which constitute this family, have generally been regarded
as nearly related to the Squirrels; and certainly, although they fall
under the definition of the Myomorphic section, they have a plain
affinity to the Sciuridæ. In form they are Squirrel-like, and the tail
is long and hairy, although not so bushy as in the true Squirrels. They
have four molars on each side in each jaw (_see_ figure), the front
one in each series being smaller than the rest. All these teeth are
rooted, and their crowns show transverse folds of enamel. The frontal
bones are much narrowed; the fore limbs are small, with the thumbs
rudimentary and furnished with a small flat nail; and the hind feet
have five toes. The Dormice differ from all other Rodents by having
the intestine entirely destitute of a cæcum. They are confined to the
Eastern hemisphere, and chiefly to its temperate and colder regions;
although a species of _Myoxus_, and some forms on which a special genus
(_Graphiurus_) has been founded, inhabit Africa. The number of known
species is only about a dozen.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE DORMOUSE.]
The common DORMOUSE (_Myoxus avellanarius_) is an elegant little
creature, about three inches long, with a somewhat bushy, cylindrical
tail, two inches and a half in length. Its fur is of a light
reddish-tawny colour above, becoming paler and yellowish on the lower
surface. On the throat there is a small whitish mark. It is widely
distributed in Europe, ranging from Britain and Sweden in the north to
Tuscany and Northern Turkey in the south. Generally it is more abundant
in southern than in northern countries, but in the south of France it
is less common than either of the other two European species. Eastwards
it does not extend beyond Galicia, Hungary, and Transylvania.
[Illustration: DORMOUSE.]
The Dormouse is nocturnal in its habits. During the day it sleeps in
its nest or in some snug retreat, and at night comes forth in search of
its food, which consists of nuts, acorns, seeds, berries, and the buds
of trees and shrubs. It is particularly fond of the nuts of the common
hazel, whence its specific name, and the name of “Haselmaus,” which it
bears in Germany; these nuts it is said to pierce and empty without
plucking them or taking them out of their cups. The Dormouse lives in
small societies in thickets and hedgerows, where it is as active in its
way amongst the bushes and undergrowth as its cousin the Squirrel upon
the larger trees. Among the small twigs and branches of the shrubs and
small trees the Dormice climb with wonderful adroitness, often, indeed,
hanging by their hind feet from a twig in order to reach and operate
on a fruit or a nut which is otherwise inaccessible, and running along
the lower surface of a branch with the activity and certainty of a
Monkey. Detached articles of food are held up to the mouth by the fore
paws, after the fashion of a Squirrel. Towards the winter the Dormouse
becomes exceedingly fat, and having collected a small store of food,
makes for itself a little globular nest, composed of small twigs,
leaves, pine-needles, moss, and grass, and within this, coiled up into
a ball, passes into a torpid state.
Nevertheless, the winter sleep is not wholly uninterrupted; on mild
days the Dormouse wakes up for a time and takes a little of its
stored-up food. The female produces usually about four young, in the
spring according to Professor Bell, in August according to Brehm; but
the former writer thinks that in some cases two broods are produced
in the year, as he has received from the same locality in September a
half-grown Dormouse and three very young ones, evidently not more than
a fortnight or three weeks old.
Of the other common European species, the LOIR (_Myoxus glis_) is
found only in southern regions, its range extending from Spain to
Southern Russia, and passing into the neighbouring parts of Asia. It is
considerably larger than the Dormouse, measuring rather more than six
inches in length, and has a bushy tail, in which the hairs are arranged
in two rows, as in that of the Squirrel. The habits of this species
are like those of the Dormouse. Fruit constitutes a portion of its
diet, and it is said also to destroy and devour small birds and other
animals. The Loir is a very voracious feeder, and becomes exceedingly
fat in the autumn. By the ancient Roman epicures it was regarded as a
dainty morsel, and they spared no pains to fatten it for the table.
It sleeps during the day, and hibernates in some hole in a tree or in
the ground, and the nest is formed in the former situation. The female
usually produces about six young.
[Illustration: GARDEN DORMOUSE.]
The GARDEN DORMOUSE, or LEROT of the French (_Myoxus nitela_), is
common all over the southern and western parts of the Continent,
extending northwards through Germany into the Baltic provinces of
Russia. It is a little smaller than the preceding species, which,
however, it resembles in its general habits; but it dwells commonly in
gardens, and feeds on fruits, often doing much damage to the choicer
varieties. It is a lighter and more active animal than the Loir, and is
said to be even more predaceous in its habits. The female produces from
four to six young, sometimes in a beautifully-made nest of her own,
sometimes in the deserted or usurped nest of a Blackbird or Thrush, or
in that of a Squirrel.
FAMILY VI.--LOPHIOMYIDÆ.
The importance of an animal in the zoological system by no means
depends either upon its size or on its abundance in the world; its
rank in the classification is decided solely by peculiarities of
organisation which distinguish it more or less from its fellows; and in
many cases the creatures which are regarded with the most interest by
the naturalist are those which seem most to withdraw themselves from
general observation. A single genus, perhaps containing only one or two
species, may, by a singular combination of characters, be so completely
isolated from all the recognised allied groups that it cannot be placed
in any of them, and accordingly a distinct family, possibly even an
order, has to be established for its reception. Sometimes subsequent
discoveries add to the number of species forming the group thus set up,
and in this way the prescience of its founder is confirmed. Sometimes
the group remains in its original condition, leaving us, according
to circumstances, to regard the anomalous creatures of which it is
composed either as a special development of their general type, or as
the residue of a group which may have presented a greater variety of
forms at some past period of the earth’s history.
[Illustration: SKULL OF LOPHIOMYS.]
The latter is perhaps the case with the curious little Rodent which
alone forms the present family, of which its original describer,
M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards, writes as follows:--“In its general
aspect it somewhat resembles certain Opossums, and like these it is
pedimanous;[52] but these are the only analogies it presents to the
Marsupials, and in its dental system, as also in the rest of its
organisation, we easily see that it belongs to the order Rodentia. It
differs, however, from all the members of this group by characters of
considerable importance; I may even say that, by some peculiarities
of structure it departs from all other Mammals, and that we find in
it anatomical arrangements of which we have hitherto had examples
only in the class of Reptiles.” After an exhaustive discussion of the
characters of this curious little animal, M. Milne-Edwards comes to
the conclusion that it is most nearly related to the members of the
following family, and especially to the Hamsters, although he found it
impossible to unite it with them. In this course he has been followed
by other writers.
[Illustration: LOPHIOMYS.]
The general construction of the skull is the same as in the Muridæ,
but from the temporal ridges thin plates are developed, which bend
downwards, and articulate with similar plates springing from the malar
bones, and thus completely arch over the temporal fossæ after a fashion
only met with in certain reptiles, and especially in the Hawksbill
Turtle (_Chelone caretta_). The whole upper surface of the skull is
covered with minute but perfectly definite granules, arranged with much
regularity, and these, which occur in no other Mammal, give the skull
a very peculiar aspect, such as may be seen in some fishes. As in the
Muridæ, there are three molars on each side in each jaw, and these are
rooted and strongly tubercular; the foremost in each series having
three and the others each two ridges. Without entering in detail into
the peculiarities described at great length by M. Milne-Edwards, we
may say that in its general structure, and especially in that of the
skeleton, the animal is murine, but with a very important distinction,
namely, that the collar bones, which are well developed in the Rats and
their allies, are here reduced, as in the Hares and Rabbits, so as to
form only two small bony styles freely suspended among the muscles,
and that the first toe in the hind feet, although not very long, is so
attached as to be opposite to the rest, thus converting the organ into
a prehensile hand which the animal uses freely in climbing. The cæcum
is small.
In its external characters this animal is as remarkable as in its
anatomical structure. In general appearance, as stated by its
describer, it has much resemblance to a small Opossum, but the bushy
tail and the peculiar arrangement of the hair on the body are met
with in no Marsupials. The head is small; the general form stout; the
limbs short, and the hind ones not much longer than their fellows;
and the ears are of moderate size and sparingly clothed with hair.
The prevailing colour is blackish-brown, but a triangular spot on the
forehead, a streak under each eye, and the tip of the tail, are white;
and the long hairs which clothe the body and tail are dark only in the
middle, the base and tip being white, as are also a great quantity of
finer and shorter hairs which form a sort of under fur. But the chief
peculiarity of the coat is to be found in the arrangement of the hairs
of the body. The long hairs of the middle of the back and tail, some of
which are nearly three inches in length, are capable of being raised
into a nearly upright position, forming a sort of crest which gives
the animal a very peculiar aspect, and this crest is separated from
the pendulous hair of the flanks by a sort of furrow clothed with very
peculiar hair of a greyish-tawny colour. These hairs are unlike any
others known to occur among Mammals. The apical part is of the ordinary
construction; but the following portion down to the base is “very
rugose, and presents a spongy aspect, due to the interlacing, and, so
to speak, felting of a multitude of epidermic filaments emanating from
radiate cells, which constitute a perfect network of irregular meshes.
Within the sort of sheath thus formed longitudinal filaments which
break up into bundles of fibrils are to be seen.”
Very little is known as to the habitat of this animal, which M.
Milne-Edwards has named _Lophiomys Imhausi_, the former name referring
to the crested character of the back, the second commemorating the
person who first brought the creature to the notice of naturalists. M.
Imhaus, stopping for a few hours at Aden on his way home from Réunion,
saw a living specimen of this Rodent in the possession of a negro
from whom he bought it, but could learn nothing as to its origin. He
inferred, however, that it had not been brought very far, and that its
native country was either Southern Arabia, or some region in Abyssinia,
or Nubia, on the other side of the Red Sea. This specimen was brought
to France, and lived for about a year and a half in the Garden of
Acclimatization in the Bois de Boulogne, where it fed upon maize,
vegetables, and bread, slept during the day, and climbed with ease upon
chairs and other convenient objects by the aid of its hinder hands. It
never took its food in the fore-paws to carry it to the mouth as so
many Rodents do. When irritated it elevated the crest right down to the
end of the tail, and defended itself by biting vigorously.
It is doubtful whether the _Lophiomys_ inhabits Arabia, but it is found
in the neighbouring parts of Africa. Professor Peters described the
skull of the animal as representing a new generic type under the name
of _Phractomys æthiops_. His specimen was obtained by Dr. Schweinfurth
from the tombs of Maman, north of Kassala, in Upper Nubia. A third
specimen has been brought from Keren in the Bogos country, and a fourth
from the Erkanid mountains between Suakim and Singat.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE BLACK RAT.]
FAMILY VII.--MURIDÆ.
We come now to the largest and most typical family of the Rodents:
that, namely, which includes the Rats and Mice and their numerous
allies. Mr. Wallace estimates the number of known species at 330, which
is probably within the mark. All these forms agree in the following
characters:--The lower incisors are compressed; the molars are usually
three in number on each side in each jaw, in one genus only two in
the lower or in both jaws, and in another four in both jaws. They are
rooted or rootless, tubercular or flat, with folds of enamel; the
malar bone is short and slender, generally reduced to a mere splint
between the maxillary and squamosal processes of the zygomatic arch;
the thumb is rudimentary, but often furnished with a small nail; and
the tail is generally scaly, with a few scattered hairs, densely hairy
only in a few species.
As might be expected in so large an assemblage of species, the variety
of forms is very great among the Muridæ, but broadly, the common Rats
and Mice, which are only too well known to most of us, may serve as
characteristic types of the whole series. The family, however, includes
jumping forms, swimming forms, arboreal forms, and burrowing forms,
in which the peculiarities of the life-habits are very distinctly
indicated by the external appearance of the creatures. In their
distribution the Muridæ are almost absolutely cosmopolitan, the family
being represented in every part of the world, with the sole exception
of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Australia possesses about thirty
species of the family. New Zealand, at the time of its discovery,
harboured a Rat, known as the Forest Rat, or Maori Rat, which was a
favourite article of food with the natives, and is now almost extinct.
It was proved by Capt. Hutton to be identical with the Black Rat (_Mus
rattus_), and was probably introduced by the ancestors of the Maoris.
Certain species also, such as the common Brown Rat and Mouse, are now
perfectly cosmopolitan in their distribution, having accompanied man in
all his migrations on the surface of the globe.
[Illustration: BROWN RAT.]
The Rat and Mouse form the types of a great sub-family, MURINÆ, which
have the molars rooted and tuberculate when young, the infra-orbital
opening high and perpendicular, widest above, and the lower root of the
zygomatic maxillary process flattened into a perpendicular plate. They
possess no cheek-pouches, have the fore and hind limbs approximately
equal in length, the thumb rudimentary, and the tail nearly naked,
covered with scaly rings. The genus _Mus_, to which our household pests
belong, includes upwards of one hundred species, scattered over most
parts of the Eastern Hemisphere, and living sometimes chiefly in the
neighbourhood of human habitations, granaries, &c., where they often
feed indifferently upon animal and vegetable substances, sometimes in
the open country, and feeding almost exclusively upon the latter. The
common BROWN RAT (_Mus decumanus_), sometimes called the Norway Rat,
which is almost too well known to need description, is not a native of
Great Britain, but was certainly introduced there by commerce, probably
from some southern or eastern country--perhaps, as Pennant thinks,
from the East Indies. Haunting ships in great numbers, it has now been
introduced into all parts of the world, and it is quite impossible to
ascertain its original habitat. It was known in Asia long before it
made its appearance in Europe; and its passage into Russia is fixed by
Pallas in the year 1727, when, he says, after an earthquake it swam
across the Volga from the countries bordering the Caspian. Its first
appearance in France and England is said to have occurred about the
middle of the last century.
[Illustration: BLACK RAT.]
From its great fecundity and determined ferocity of disposition, the
Brown Rat has become a great pest wherever it has taken up its abode.
“It digs,” says Professor Bell, “with great facility and vigour, making
its way with rapidity beneath the floors of our houses, between the
stones and bricks of walls, and often excavating the foundations of
dwellings to a dangerous extent. There are many instances of their
fatally undermining the most solid mason-work, or burrowing through
dams which had for ages served to confine the waters of rivers and
canals.” It is almost impossible to keep them out of our houses, and,
once in, there is no end to the mischief they do. Their ferocity
is very great; and although they will, if possible, retreat from a
powerful enemy, they will fight in the most savage fashion when they
cannot escape.
Although not averse to a vegetable diet--as those who have to do
with corn and seeds, whether in the field or the store-house, know
to their cost--the Brown Rat evinces a decided preference for animal
food, which he consumes of all kinds and in all states. The case of
the horse slaughter-houses of Montfaucon, near Paris, is well known;
here, the carcases of all the Horses killed during the day, sometimes
to the number of thirty-five, would be picked to the bone by the next
morning; and one main argument against the removal of the establishment
to a greater distance from the city was that these swarms of ferocious
vermin would be left without means of support, and would become a
complete pest in the neighbourhood. That such an apprehension was not
unfounded is proved by several instances recorded of the escape of
Rats from wrecked ships upon small islands. In the course of a few
years they exterminated every other living thing. Professor Bell, on
the authority of the late Mr. Robert Stephenson, relates the following
instance of the extreme ferocity of the Rat when driven by hunger:--“In
a coal-pit,” he says, “in which many Horses were employed, the Rats,
which fed upon the fodder provided for the Horses, had accumulated
in great multitudes. It was customary in holiday times to bring to
the surface the Horses and the fodder, and to close the pit for the
time. On one occasion, when the holiday had extended to ten days or
a fortnight, during which the Rats had been deprived of food, on
re-opening the pit, the first man who descended was attacked by the
starving multitude, and speedily killed and devoured.” Stories are also
told, with what truth we do not know, of the occurrence of similar
catastrophes in the sewers of Paris and London, where, as is well
known, Rats abound.
The Brown Rat breeds several times during the year, and produces as
many as ten, twelve, or fourteen young ones in a litter. Its general
length is about nine inches. It may be distinguished from the old
English Rat, which it has displaced in most localities, by its
greyish-brown colour and by the comparative shortness of its ears,
which, when pressed down, do not reach the eye.
The BLACK RAT (_Mus rattus_), or old English Rat, as it is sometimes
called, agrees closely in its habits with the Brown Rat. It is smaller
than the Brown Rat, measuring only about seven inches in length,
but has a comparatively much longer tail and larger ears, which,
when pressed forward, cover the eyes. Its colour above is greyish or
brownish-black, and the lower parts are dark ash colour. Although the
Black Rat has generally been compelled to give way before its larger
and more vigorous competitor, it is still widely dispersed, but not in
such numbers as formerly, in Europe. Its native country was probably
Southern Asia. Nearly allied to it, if indeed specifically distinct, is
the EGYPTIAN RAT (_Mus alexandrinus_). Both these Rats are said to keep
more to the upper parts of houses than the Brown Rat.
Although the true Mice are very nearly allied to the Rats, of which
they are copies on a small scale (and some of them, at any rate, are
as destructive in their way as their larger relatives), they do not
excite by any means the same sentiments of disgust with which Rats
are generally regarded; ladies, indeed, will sometimes scream at the
mere sight of a Mouse, but most of them will admit that, apart from
its predatory habits, it is an elegant little creature. The COMMON
MOUSE (_Mus musculus_) seems to be as completely associated with man
as the Rat, and has accompanied him in his wanderings to all parts of
the world. It is, however, said not to occur in the Sunda Islands. Of
its general appearance and habits we need say nothing; they are too
familiar to need description. But besides haunting our houses, the
Mouse takes up its abode in the rick-yard, and here its devastations
are often very serious. The Mice live in the ricks, through which they
make passages in every direction, and their fecundity is so great
that several bushels of Mice are often destroyed during the removal
of a single rick. The Mouse breeds all the year round, and usually
produces five or six young at a birth, so that its rapid increase under
favourable circumstances is easily understood. Several varieties of the
species are well known, especially the Albino form, or White Mouse,
which is such a favourite pet with boys. The Common Mouse in England
is sometimes patched with white, and we sometimes see in the shops
Pied Mice, which are said to be of Indian origin. A pale buff variety
is also sometimes met with; and during the removal of a rick some
years ago, it was found to be infested by a breed of Mice with a naked
wrinkled skin, to which the name of Rhinoceros Mice was given at the
time.
Besides these more or less domestic species, there are in Britain
two other representatives of the genus _Mus_, which do not generally
frequent houses. One of these is the LONG-TAILED FIELD MOUSE (_Mus
sylvaticus_), sometimes called the Wood Mouse, an exceedingly pretty
little creature, rather larger than the Common Mouse, and having a
proportionally longer tail. It measures about four inches in length,
and the tail is about as long as the body; its colour is yellowish or
yellowish-brown on the upper surface, whitish beneath; and the tail
is brown above and white beneath. This species is found all over the
temperate parts of Europe and Asia, living in the fields and gardens,
where it takes up its abode, either in some small cavity under the root
of a tree, in the deserted runs of the Mole, or less commonly in a
little burrow excavated by its own labour. It feeds chiefly upon grain
and seeds, of which it lays up a considerable store for winter use in
its subterranean dwelling, and in this way does considerable damage
to the crops. The Field Mouse does not, however, strictly confine
itself to a vegetable diet, but under circumstances of privation will
attack and devour smaller and weaker animals, not even sparing its
own species. It breeds more than once in the year, and produces from
seven to ten young in each litter. It is easily tamed, and soon becomes
familiar.
[Illustration: HARVEST MICE.]
The remaining British species, the HARVEST MOUSE (_Mus minutus_), is
the smallest of the British quadrupeds, with the exception of the
Lesser Shrew (_Sorex pygmæus_). The Harvest Mouse is to be found in
most parts of England. It also occurs in Scotland as far north as
Aberdeenshire; and in Ireland, but very rarely. On the Continent its
range extends over nearly the whole of Europe, from Russia in the
north to Italy in the south. It is well known in Siberia, and occurs
abundantly in the steppes near the Caucasus.
The total length of this pretty little Mouse is about five inches, of
which nearly one-half is made up of the tail. In it the eyes are less
prominent than in the common Field Mouse, and the ears considerably
shorter in proportion. Its colour on the upper surface is bright
reddish-brown, and below pure white, the two colours being sharply
separated. During the summer, the Harvest Mouse associates with the
other Field Mice in corn-fields, and with them is very frequently
carried in the sheaves of corn to rick-yards and barns, where it then
takes up its abode for the autumn and winter, and, like other Mice,
multiplies very rapidly, and no doubt does a good deal of mischief.
The less fortunate individuals who are left behind in the fields
retreat to little burrows for protection from the inclemency of the
winter, which they pass in a state of at least partial torpidity; and
to provide against exigencies they lay up in their dwellings a small
store of food, to which they can have recourse when a fine day recalls
them for a time to activity. Those which have been introduced into
ricks and barns are, of course, liberally provided for, and they show
their gratitude by remaining awake all the winter, as if on purpose to
consume their abundant provender. In the open field their food consists
of corn and the seeds of grasses and other plants, but also to a
considerable extent of small insects.
In its movements the Harvest Mouse is wonderfully agile. On the ground
it runs very rapidly; and it climbs upon shrubs and plants as cleverly
as a Monkey, running out upon the thinnest twigs with the greatest
confidence, and climbing up stalks of grasses so thin that they bend
nearly to the ground with its weight. In these operations the long
slender tail comes into use, as its extremity is prehensile, and can
be twisted neatly round the small stalks and branches over which the
little climber is making its way. From its lively habits, and the
elegance of its form, the Harvest Mouse is a very interesting pet.
The Harvest Mouse breeds several times during the year, producing from
five to eight or nine young at a birth, and provides for them one of
the prettiest cradles formed by any Mammal. It is placed, according to
the locality, upon several grass-leaves split and interwoven with the
other materials, or suspended at a height of from eighteen inches to
three feet above the ground, upon the twigs of some shrub or between
several stalks of corn or strong grasses. It is egg-shaped, or nearly
round, about the size of the egg of a Goose, and is composed externally
of slit leaves of the reeds or grasses among which it is formed, each
leaf being carefully divided longitudinally by the sharp teeth of the
little architect into six or eight thread-like portions, which are then
all woven together, so as to produce a firm structure. The interior is
lined, or rather stuffed, with all sorts of soft vegetable substances,
so that it has been a question with many observers how the mother could
get at all the members of her family to suckle them, and how the nest
could contain them all as they began to increase in bulk. The young
usually remain in the nest until they can see; but as soon as they are
able to provide for themselves, the mother takes them out, gives them
some practical instructions in the art of living, and then leaves them
to their own devices. According to Brehm, as these Mice increase in age
they improve in the art of nest-building.
Besides these few species, a multitude of Rats and Mice, belonging to
the same genus, occur as natives of nearly all parts of the world,
but in their habits they agree in general with the British species.
India harbours a considerable number, among which we may mention the
BANDICOOT RAT (_Mus bandicota_), a large species, which inhabits the
Indian and Malayan peninsulas, and is very destructive in plantations;
and the TREE RAT (_Mus arboreus_), a native of Bengal, seven or
eight inches in length, which lives partly on grain, of which it
lays up stores in its nests, and partly on young cocoa-nuts, which
constitute its favourite food, and in search of which it climbs the
trees. This species builds a nest on cocoa-nut trees and bamboos, and
occasionally makes predatory visits to the houses. The STRIPED MOUSE
(_Mus barbarus_) is remarkable for its coloration, its ground colour
being a bright yellowish-brown or reddish-yellow, adorned with several
longitudinal blackish-brown streaks. This elegant Mouse inhabits
Northern Africa, especially in stony places. It is very abundant in
Algeria.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE HAPALOTE.]
Nearly allied to the true Mice are numerous forms more restricted
in their distribution, which have been formed into distinct genera.
Thus _Pelomys fallax_, in which the incisors are grooved, the tail
short, and the first and fifth toes of all the feet shorter than
the three middle ones, is peculiar to Mozambique; _Acanthomys_,
in which the fur is mixed with flattened spines, is an African
genus; whilst _Echinothrix_, which has a somewhat similar coat, is
Australian. Madagascar possesses two peculiar genera, _Nesomys_ and
_Brachytarsomys_, the former having some relation to the American
Murinæ, the latter remarkable for the shortness of the hind feet; and
in Australia, besides the genus already mentioned, and one or two
species of true _Mus_, we find the genus _Hapalotis_ represented by
about thirteen exclusively Australian species. These animals have the
hind limbs rather long, the ears large, and the tail long and hairy,
terminating in a tuft. The molar teeth also exhibit a peculiar pattern;
The best known species is the WHITE-FOOTED HAPALOTE (_Hapalotis
albipes_), an animal about the size of the Brown Rat, of a smoky brown
colour, with the belly and the feet white. It inhabits New South Wales,
especially in the mountainous parts. The animals of this genus were
formerly regarded as allied to the South American Chinchillas and
Viscachas.
The American Murines all belong to a group to which the name of
Sigmodontes has been given, because their molar teeth, which in the
young state have two tubercles in each transverse row (instead of
three, which is the usual number in the preceding forms), when ground
down by use, show some S-like patterns in the enamel folds in place
of transverse ridges. The greater number of the species belong to
the genus _Hesperomys_ (Western Mouse), which is represented in both
divisions of the American continent, and has been divided by authors
into several sub-genera. The WHITE-FOOTED, or DEER MOUSE (_Hesperomys
leucopus_) is perhaps the best known of all the species, and its
varieties, or rather local permanent races, are distributed all over
the continent of North America. The fur shows various brownish or
greyish tints above; and the lower surface, with the feet up to the
wrist and ankle, is snow-white. What Dr. Coues gives as the normal
colour of typical specimens is a rich fawn, with a darker streak along
the back: but he says that this is shown by not more than one example
in six. The tail is generally white beneath. The length of the head and
body is about three inches; the tail varies considerably in length. The
White-footed Mouse is nocturnal in its habits, and feeds to a great
extent upon corn, of which, with acorns and other nuts, it lays up
stores for winter use. It lives a good deal upon trees, taking up its
abode in the deserted nest of a Squirrel or of some small bird. When it
constructs its own nest the little fabric is placed in a bush at from
five to fifteen feet from the ground, and is very neatly constructed,
usually of fine moss and strips of bark. In some localities it burrows
in the ground. The GOLDEN or RED MOUSE (_H. aureolus_), which resembles
the preceding species in form and size, has the fur of the upper
surface golden-cinnamon colour, and the lower parts yellowish-white. It
inhabits the Central and Southern States of the North American Union.
The RICE-FIELD MOUSE (_H. palustris_), which has been placed in a
distinct genus (_Oryzomys_), is a larger species, sometimes attaining
the size of a small Rat. This is found in the Southern States, chiefly
along the coast, and in rice-fields, where it is exceedingly abundant
and does considerable damage. It is eminently aquatic in its habits.
The AMERICAN HARVEST MOUSE (_Ochetodon humilis_) closely resembles
the preceding species, but differs from them in a rather remarkable
character. It has the upper incisor teeth grooved, a peculiarity which
occurs also in the South American Rats of the genus _Reithrodon_.
The American Harvest Mouse inhabits the Southern States, and extends
northwards as far as Iowa and Nebraska.
The FLORIDA RAT, or Wood Rat (_Neotoma floridana_), is a widely
distributed species in the United States, inhabiting especially the
southern portion, but extending northwards as far as New York and
Massachusetts. It measures from six to nine inches in length, with
a tail from four to six inches long. In its coloration it presents
a general resemblance to the common Brown Rat, but is brighter,
especially on the sides; the lower surface is white. According to
Audubon and Bachmann, the habits of this species vary considerably in
different localities. These authors say that “in Florida they burrow
under stones and the ruins of dilapidated buildings. In Georgia and
South Carolina they prefer remaining in the woods. In some swampy
situations, in the vicinity of sluggish streams, amid tangled vines
interspersed with leaves and long moss, they gather a heap of dry
sticks, which they pile up into a conical shape, and which, with
grasses, mud, and dead leaves, mixed in by the wind and rain, form,
as they proceed, a structure impervious to rain, and inaccessible to
the Wild Cat, Raccoon, or Fox. At other times their nest, composed of
somewhat lighter materials, is placed in the fork of a tree.” This
species is very active and Squirrel-like in its habits. It feeds on
grain, seeds, and fruits, and sometimes makes a meal of a Crayfish
or a Frog. There are from three to six young in each litter, and two
litters in the year. The young animals in very early days continue to
adhere to the teats of their mother, even when she is walking about
outside the nest, and even at a later period they will cling to her
sides and back, after the manner of some Opossums. The female seems
but little inconvenienced by this burden, and shows great affection
for her family, defending them even at the risk of her own life. A
nearly-allied, but smaller species, the BUSHY-TAILED WOOD RAT (_N.
cinerea_), inhabits the western and north-western parts of America,
also extending eastward to Hudson’s Bay, and southward to New Mexico
and California. The COTTON RAT (_Sigmodon hispidus_), another
inhabitant of the Southern States and Mexico, ranges southwards to Vera
Cruz and Guatemala.
Besides several species of _Hesperomys_, South America possesses
various Murine animals, which have been placed in special genera. Among
these the most remarkable are those of which Mr. Waterhouse formed
his genus _Reithrodon_, as these, although true Murines, have a very
Rabbit-like character, and further present the peculiarity of having
the upper incisors grooved. They have the profile much arched, the
eyes large, the ears hairy, and the first and fifth toes of the hind
feet very short. The tail is well clothed with hair. The RABBIT-LIKE
REITHRODON (_R. cuniculoides_) inhabits Patagonia, where it was
discovered by Mr. Darwin. It is of a yellowish-grey colour, mixed with
black, with the throat and belly pale yellow, and the rump and feet
white. The tail is about half the length of the head and body, dusky
above, white beneath. The length of the head and body is six inches and
a half. Two other species are described: one (_R. typicus_) from the La
Plata; the other (_R. chinchilloides_) from the Strait of Magellan.
[Illustration: HEAD OF THE RABBIT-LIKE REITHRODON.]
The HAMSTERS, forming the sub-family CRICETINÆ, are very nearly related
to the true Mice and Rats, but differ from them at the first glance by
their possession of large internal cheek-pouches, those organs being
entirely wanting or very small in the Murinæ. Their molars, three in
number in each series, are also tuberculate when young and regularly
rooted. As age advances they become more and more worn away, so as
to exhibit folds of enamel. They are stoutly-built rat-like animals,
generally with short tails, with the upper lip cleft, and with short
limbs, of which the hinder have five, and the anterior four, toes, the
thumb being represented by a small wart. The Hamsters are confined to
the Old World, and chiefly inhabit the temperate parts of Europe and
Asia; two or three species occur in Africa. They live generally in
corn-fields, where they dig deep burrows with numerous chambers, into
which they can retreat to take their repose, and in which they pass
the winter, previously, however, taking care to lay up a good store of
provisions in some of the chambers of their domicile.
[Illustration: HAMSTERS.]
The best known species is the HAMSTER (_Cricetus frumentarius_, _see_
Plate 28), a rather pretty little beast, of about ten inches long, with
bright, prominent, black eyes, short, membranous ears, and a tapering
hairy tail, about two inches and a half in length. The fur, which is
thick and somewhat lustrous, is usually of a light yellowish-brown
colour above, with the snout, the neighbourhood of the eyes, and a
band on the neck reddish-brown, and a yellow spot on each cheek;
the lower surface, the greater part of the legs, and a band on the
forehead are black, and the feet white. Many varieties occur. This
Hamster is widely distributed, ranging from the Rhine, through Europe
and Siberia, to the Obi; and in most localities where it occurs it
appears in great numbers, and causes great injury to the crops. Its
burrows are exceedingly spacious, and consist of numerous passages and
chambers. In its temper it is exceedingly irascible, and at the same
time very courageous, defending itself bravely against its enemies,
and standing boldly on the defensive the moment any danger appears to
threaten it. Its diet is by no means of a purely vegetable nature,
but it will destroy and devour all sorts of small animals that come
in its way. Besides the corn, which forms its chief winter provender,
green herbage, peas and beans, and roots and fruits of various kinds,
are welcome articles of diet, and in confinement it will eat almost
anything.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE HAMSTER.]
The Hamsters pass the winter in their burrows in a torpid state, but
waken up very early in the spring, generally in March, but frequently
in February. At first they do not open the mouths of their burrows, but
remain for a time subsisting on the stores laid up during the preceding
autumn. The old males make their appearance first, the females about
a fortnight after them, the latter about the beginning of April. They
then set about making their summer burrows, which are not so deep or
so complicated as the winter dwellings; and shortly afterwards the
sexes pair. The young are produced twice in the year, in May and July;
their number varies from six to eighteen. They have teeth when first
born, and their development as babies is very rapid. Their eyes open in
little more than a week after birth, and in another week they begin to
burrow in the ground, and then their hard-hearted parent drives them
off to take care of themselves.
The other species of this sub-family generally very closely resemble
the Hamster, both in appearance and manners. Most of them are found
in Central Asia and Siberia, extending southwards as far as Persia
and South Tartary. _Cricetus songarus_ has been obtained at Kumaon.
The recorded African species belong to two peculiar genera: they are
_Saccostomus lapidarius_ and _fuscus_, and _Cricetomys gambianus_.
Other African forms constitute the small sub-family of the TREE MICE
(_Dendromyinæ_), which are entirely confined to the southern portion of
the continent. They are characterised by having the incisors rounded
and grooved in front, the infra-orbital opening not narrow below, and
the coronoid process of the lower jaw very small. The ears are clothed
with hairs; and the feet, which are five-toed, are furnished with long
claws, which are serviceable to the little rat-like animals in climbing
up the trunks of trees. The BLACK-STREAKED TREE MOUSE (_Dendromys
mesomelas_) is a rather pretty little species, of a greyish colour,
with a black line down the middle of the back. It is slender in form,
with a long, scaly tail, rounded ears, and the two outer toes in each
foot shorter than the rest. _Steatomys pratensis_, from Mozambique,
is stouter in form than the preceding, and has a short, densely hairy
tail; and in _Lophuromys ater_, from the same locality, the incisors
are not grooved, and the fur is developed into fine flattened bristles.
The GERBILLES (_Gerbillinæ_) are distinguished from all other Muridæ
(although approached by _Hapalotis_) by the great length of the hind
limbs, which are converted into powerful leaping organs, somewhat as
in the Jerboas and Kangaroos, although not quite to the same extent.
Like all the preceding forms, they have the molars furnished with
roots, but not with tuberculate crowns, these being divided into
transverse plates formed by separate elliptical or rhomboidal coats
of enamel. The incisor teeth are narrow, the infra-orbital opening as
in the Murinæ, and the tail long and hairy. The Gerbilles are plump
little animals, with a short neck, a broad head, and a pointed muzzle.
The feet are five-toed, but the thumb on the fore feet is reduced to
a mere wart-like process with a flat nail. They are confined to the
Eastern hemisphere, and, indeed, to the African continent, the south
of Asia, as far as India, and the south-east of Europe, where they
live both in cultivated districts and in the driest deserts, and often
occur in great numbers, when they may cause considerable damage to the
neighbouring crops. They shelter themselves during the day in shallow
burrows, and come forth in the evening in search of their food, which
consists chiefly of grain and roots. They store up great quantities of
the ears of corn in their subterranean dwellings, and in many places
the poorer inhabitants search after these stores, and by digging them
out procure a good supply of grain. They are very prolific, the females
producing large families several times in the year.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE GERBILLE.]
Several other forms of Muridæ, with rooted molars, have been
distinguished, and all are inhabitants of the Eastern hemisphere. The
genera _Phlœomys_ and _Nesokia_, each including a single species, form
the group PHLÆOMYINÆ, characterised by having broad incisors and the
molars divided by transverse plates of enamel. The characters of the
skull are as in the Murinæ. _Phlœomys Cumingii_ is from the Philippine
Islands; _Nesokia Griffithii_ inhabits Northern India. _Platacanthomys
lasiurus_, the only known species of the group PLATACANTHOMYINÆ,
resembles a Dormouse in its form, and is nearly allied to the preceding
species, but has the fur of its back mixed with long, flattened,
bristle-like spines. It is a native of the Malabar coast.
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE WATER-MOUSE.]
The WATER MICE (_Hydromyinæ_) are of particular interest, as being
a small group, exclusively confined to the Australian region, and
presenting the exceptional character among the Rodents of having only
two molars on each side in each jaw. These teeth, are rooted, and
divided into transverse lobes by ovate enamel lobes; the front tooth is
much larger than its fellow. The _Hydromys_ are small rat-like animals
of slender form, with long tails, rather densely clothed with short
hairs, and short limbs. The hind feet have much stronger claws than
the fore feet, and their toes are partially webbed. Five species of
this group are known from Australia and Van Diemen’s Land, where they
inhabit the banks of the streams. The best known are the Yellow-bellied
and the White-bellied Water Mice (_Hydromys chrysogaster_ and
_leucogaster_), both of which inhabit New South Wales, and the latter
is also found in Van Diemen’s Land. The Sooty Water Mouse (_H.
fuliginosus_) is an inhabitant of Western Australia.
In the SMINTHINÆ--a group which includes only the genus _Sminthus_,
founded for the reception of a rat-like Rodent (_S. vagus_) first
discovered in the Crimea, but now known to range from Hungary, Finland,
and Sweden, through Russia to the banks of the Irtisch and Yenisei,
and into Tartary (Bokhara)--we find another exceptional character of
the molar teeth. There are four of these teeth on each side both above
and below, the first and fourth of which are much smaller than the
intervening ones. In this animal the ears are rather long and pointed,
the legs are rather short, and the tail is about as long as the body,
and clothed with short hairs.
[Illustration: TEETH OF SMINTHUS.]
In the remainder of the Muridæ, the molars, which are again only three
in number on each side, are generally rootless, although occasionally
the growth of the teeth stops and they close up below. The molars are
composed of triangular prisms placed alternately. Two groups are thus
characterised, namely, the Voles and the Zokors.
The VOLES (_Arvicolinæ_), which, next to the true Rats and Mice,
form the most important group of Muridæ, are represented in the
northern parts of both hemispheres. The brain-case in these animals
is rhomboidal when looked at from above, the frontal region of the
skull is much contracted, and the zygomatic arch stands out very far.
The infra-orbital opening is as in the Murinæ. The molars are so
constructed of alternating triangular prisms that the whole margin is
enclosed by deep angular folds of enamel. These are mouse-and rat-like
Rodents of a rather stout build, with the limbs and tail of moderate
length, or short, and the latter more hairy than in the true Murines.
The ears are short, often nearly concealed beneath the fur.
The true Voles (genus _Arvicola_) number about fifty known species,
which have been arranged by various writers under a considerable number
of sub-genera, generally corresponding to differences in mode of
life. Three species, representing three of these groups, are found in
Britain, and may serve to illustrate the natural history of the Voles.
The largest of these is the well-known WATER VOLE, or Water Rat, as
it is more commonly called (_Arvicola amphibius_), an animal rather
smaller than the Common Rat, and having, like all the Voles, the muzzle
considerably blunter, and the tail a good deal shorter and more hairy.
Although thoroughly aquatic in its habits, the feet of the Water Vole
are not webbed; they have five toes, but the thumb in the fore feet is
very short. The general colour of the fur is reddish-brown, mixed with
grey on the upper surface, and yellowish-grey beneath; the ears are
nearly concealed in the fur; and the incisor teeth are deep yellow in
front, and very strong, presenting a considerable resemblance to those
of the Beaver, to which great Rodent the Voles were formerly considered
to be related. It is very widely distributed, being found in all parts
of Europe, and stretching right across Central and Northern Asia, to
China, the Amoor region, and the Sea of Okhotsk. In Ireland, however,
it is not found. Its habits vary a little in different localities,
but in general it haunts the banks of rivers, in which it burrows to
a considerable distance. In the water it is very active, swimming and
diving with the greatest facility, and it is here that it seeks its
food, which appears to consist exclusively of vegetable substances.
Professor Bell says:--“A decided preference is shown, during the summer
months, for the inner or concealed part of some species of sword-flags,
which is very succulent and sweet-tasted. As this portion is usually
below water, the animal gnaws the plant in two near its root, when it
rises to the surface, and being conveyed to some sound footing, is
consumed at leisure. In default of its more favourite food, it will
make a satisfactory meal on the common duckweed. Only the green and
fleshy leaf is eaten, the roots and other fibrous parts being rejected.
While feeding on this plant, the creature sits like a Squirrel on
its haunches near the water’s edge, and taking up a lump of the soft
and slimy-looking mass in its fore paws, eats a small part only, and
letting the remainder fall, takes up some more in the same manner.” The
accusation sometimes brought against the Water Vole of eating worms
and insects, and even of destroying fish-spawn, young fishes, and even
young ducks, seems to be entirely unfounded. In the winter the Water
Voles will feed on turnips, mangel-wurzel, and other roots, and also
upon the bark of osiers and willows, to which they do considerable
damage; and in some localities they appear to frequent gardens at all
seasons of the year, burrowing in the ground, and feeding luxuriously
upon the produce of the gardener’s labour. Their greatest activity is
in the twilight, but in quiet situations they are to be seen abroad
during the day. The female produces from two to six young at a litter:
twice in the year in Britain, according to Professor Bell; three or
four times in the course of the summer, according to Brehm and other
Continental naturalists.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE WATER RAT.]
A second British species is the FIELD VOLE, or Short-tailed Field
Mouse (_Arvicola agrestis_), which is less than half the size of the
Water Vole, and has the tail only about one-third the length of the
body, instead of half that length. In the general form of the head
and body the two species are a good deal alike, but the ears project
farther beyond the fur in the Field Vole. The general colour of this
species is greyish-brown, becoming tinged with reddish or yellowish
on the sides; the lower surface is pale grey or dirty white, and the
tail is brown above and greyish beneath. The Field Vole is a very
abundant species in the northern and central parts of Europe, but is
wanting in Ireland and south of the Alps and Pyrenees. It is usually
found in damp places, especially in meadows in the neighbourhood of
woods and copses, where it forms burrows of considerable extent. Its
food consists almost exclusively of vegetable substances, such as
roots and herbage, and in times of scarcity it will climb up trees and
bushes to feed on the tender parts of the bark. In case of necessity,
however, it does not disdain animal food, but will eat insects and
meat, and even sometimes kill and devour smaller individuals of its
own species. It breeds three or four times in the year, producing from
four to six young at a birth, in a small round nest made of moss and
leaves, among the roots of the herbage in some hollow of the ground.
Their increase, which would otherwise be very formidable, is checked
by the smaller predaceous beasts and birds, such as the Weasel, the
Kestrel, and the Owls, which destroy them in great numbers. The BANK
VOLE (_Arvicola glareolus_[53]), the third British species, which is
chestnut-coloured, with white feet and with a longish tail, closely
resembles the preceding species in its habits, but feeds rather on
fruits and roots than on herbage, and is far more addicted to a diet of
animal food, freely devouring insects, worms, snails, and even young
birds and carrion. It is pretty generally distributed over Europe, but
not so uniformly as the Field Vole, which it even exceeds in fecundity,
the females producing from four to eight young three or four times in
the year, in a nest constructed of grass and moss placed in a hollow of
the surface of the ground among dense herbage.
[Illustration: SOUTHERN FIELD VOLE.]
The Continent of Europe is inhabited by several other species of Voles,
among which we may notice the little SOUTHERN FIELD VOLE (_Arvicola
arvalis_), which more or less completely takes the place of our common
Field Vole in Southern Europe, but also extends over the whole of
Central Europe, and into Western Asia. Several of these species, and
others to which we cannot specially refer, ascend to considerable
elevations on the mountain-sides, but at least one species, the
SNOW MOUSE (_Arvicola nivalis_), lives on the Alps and Pyrenees, at
elevations of 4,000 feet and upwards, being most abundant about the
limit of perpetual snow, where it not only resides during the short
period of summer, when some portion of the surface is freed from its
snowy covering, but actually throughout the winter, buried under the
snow, through which it makes its way in search of the roots of plants.
The ROOT VOLE (_Arvicola œconomus_) is a large and abundant Siberian
species, the range of which extends from the Obi to Kamstchatka. This
and some other northern species often migrate in great bodies, after
the fashion to which we shall have to refer when speaking of the
Lemmings.
In North America, it would appear from Dr. Coues’ monograph, there
are about a dozen distinct species of Voles. One of them, confined to
the northern parts of the Continent, he identifies with the _Arvicola
rutilus_ of the Old World, which he regards as a circumpolar species.
South of a line running from sea to sea, a little north of the boundary
of the United States, comes another form, _A. Gapperi_, which is
regarded as a sub-species of _A. rutilus_, to which _A. glareolus_
(_see_ p. 116) is considered to stand in a similar relation. The most
abundant North American species is the MEADOW MOUSE (_A. riparius_),
which is distributed, apparently, over the greater part of the
Continent, and takes the place of the Field Vole. On the prairies there
is a peculiar species (_A. austerus_), a sub-species of which (_A.
curtatus_) is found in the Western territories as far as California;
the PINE MOUSE (_A. pinetorum_) inhabits the country east of the
Mississippi; and the genus is represented in Mexico by one species (_A.
quasiater_). The Voles are most numerous and abundant in the northern
and north-western parts of North America.
Another American species is the MUSQUASH, MUSK-RAT, or ONDATRA (_Fiber
zibethicus_), which constitutes a genus distinguished from the true
Voles by having the tail compressed and nearly naked, the hinder toes
united by short webs, and fringed with long hairs, and the enamel
folds of the molars united by a line running down the middle of the
tooth. The form of the animal is thickset, and in this respect, as in
its aquatic habits, it resembles the Beaver, to which it was formerly
supposed to be nearly allied. The head is short and broad, the ears
project very little beyond the fur, the hind limbs are longer than the
fore legs, and terminate in five toes with strong claws, while the fore
limbs have only four toes and a wart-like thumb; the fur is very thick
and shiny, and the colour is usually brown above and grey below, with
the tail, which is nearly as long as the body, black. The fur is well
known in commerce. The length of the head and body of a full-grown male
is about twelve inches. The name Musk-rat, often given to this species,
refers to the musky odour diffused by the secretion of a large gland
situated in the inguinal region.
The Musquash, which may be described as a large Water Rat, inhabits
all the suitable parts of North America, from the thirteenth to the
sixty-ninth degree of north latitude, and is most abundant in the
Canadian region, which offers it peculiarly favourable conditions of
life in the multitude of rivers and lakes, upon the banks of which
the Musquash always takes up its abode. It is a nocturnal animal,
passing the day in concealment, and coming forth with the twilight
to seek its nourishment, and amuse itself with its fellows. In the
water it displays wonderful activity, and, in many respects, presents
much resemblance to the Beaver. Curiously enough, the parallelism of
habits holds good to a certain extent, even in the construction of
their dwellings. The Musquash generally lives in a burrow dug out of
the bank of the stream in which he disports himself, and consisting of
a chamber with numerous passages, all of which open under the surface
of the water. But, under certain conditions, especially in the north,
he builds himself a house of a rounded or dome-like form, composed
of sedges, grasses, and similar materials, plastered together with
mud, and supported upon a mound of mud of sufficient height to raise
it above the water. The house contains a single chamber from sixteen
inches to two feet in diameter, and is entered by a passage which opens
at the bottom of the water. Other passages are said to issue from this,
and to lead down into the ground under the bottom of the water; these
are made by the animal in his search for the roots of water-lilies and
other aquatic plants, which constitute a great part of his nourishment.
The Musquash also seeks provisions on land, and in this way often does
much mischief in gardens. Fresh-water mussels also form a part of its
diet. It passes the winter in its house, which it then furnishes with
a soft bed of leaves, grasses, and sedges, and, according to Audubon,
ventilates by covering the middle of the dome only with a layer of
similar materials, through which the air can pass. Of the propagation
of the Musquash very little seems to be known with certainty. They
pair in April and May, and the female produces from three to six young
at a birth; but whether this takes place once or several times in
the course of the summer is a matter of doubt. They are captured in
fall-traps baited with apples, or by traps set at the mouth of their
burrows. The Indians sometimes spear them in their houses.
[Illustration: MUSQUASH.]
The LEMMING (_Myodes lemmus_) is one of the most remarkable of
the Muridæ, on account of the great migrations which it performs,
apparently with no special object. In Norway, where it is best known,
they make their appearance in the cultivated districts in such enormous
numbers, and so suddenly, that the peasants have always believed them
to fall from the clouds. The Lemming is a Vole-like animal, about six
inches long, of which the tail makes up about half an inch. It varies
considerably in colour, but is usually brownish-yellow, with dark spots
above, and with a yellow streak enclosing the eye on each side of the
face; the under surface is yellowish. The ears are very short, scarcely
projecting beyond the fur; the eyes are small, black, and bead-like;
the soles of the feet are hairy, and the claws of the fore feet much
stronger than those on the hinder extremities. The Norwegian Lemmings
live and breed among the peat mosses of the mountains. They are lively
and active little creatures both by day and night, and feed upon the
scanty vegetation of their Alpine home--grasses, lichens, the catkins
of the dwarf birch, and roots. They are active even through the winter,
when they make passages for themselves under the thick covering of
snow which then veils the whole country, and thus are enabled to go
in search of their ordinary food. They also make their way up to the
surface, upon which they may occasionally be seen running, even in
the depth of winter. They breed in their burrows and under stones,
and must be very prolific, seeing that every predaceous animal in the
country destroys and devours them. The Lemming is, in one sense, an
exceedingly timid little creature, the slightest disturbance of its
quietude, or even the passing over-head of a cloud, being sufficient to
alarm it; but when attacked it displays the most dauntless courage,
standing on the defensive against both men and animals, and biting very
sharply at anything that comes within its reach. From time to time,
from some unexplained cause, the Lemmings start in vast swarms from
their mountain fastnesses, and make their way in a straight line in
some definite direction. Nothing seems to turn them from their course;
they go straight on, over hill and dale, and, although said at other
times to have an aversion to water, they now swim across any lakes or
rivers that come in their way. In this operation many of them lose
their lives, for they require smooth water for their navigation, and
the least breeze ruffling the surface suffices to send hundreds of them
to the bottom. In this way they gradually arrive at the cultivated
regions, where they do so much damage to vegetation, that in olden
times a special form of prayer and exorcism was in use against them.
Their march is accompanied by great numbers of carnivorous beasts and
birds of all sorts. Wolves, Foxes, and Wild Cats, and the smaller
quadrupeds of the family Mustelidæ, Eagles, Hawks, and Owls, all prey
upon them with avidity--even the Reindeer is said to stamp them to
death; and the story of his eating them, long discredited, has been
confirmed on good authority, while man, with his Dogs and Cats, is not
behindhand in the work of destruction. Nevertheless, a great multitude
survives all these dangers, and, strange to say, the termination of
this painful migration is always the sea, into which the survivors
of the march plunge, and, apparently, voluntarily commit suicide.
Mr. Crotch, who has published several papers on the Lemming and its
migrations, says that in Norway these animals always proceed from the
central backbone of the country in an east or west direction, and that
in either case the survivors of the march drown themselves, those
that go westward in the Atlantic, those that go eastward in the Gulf
of Bothnia. His notion is that the migration is in obedience to an
inherited instinct acquired at a time when there was land where the
sea now rolls; but there are many difficulties in the way of such a
hypothesis.
[Illustration: LEMMING.]
Besides the Scandinavian Lemming above noticed, several other species
occur in the northern parts of the world. Three species (_Myodes
lagurus_, _obensis_, and _torquatus_) inhabit Siberia; the latter
two are found in North America, the last also in Greenland. In this
species, which has been placed in a distinct genus under the name of
_Cuniculus torquatus_, the third and fourth toes of the fore feet are
much larger than the second and fifth (the thumb being rudimentary),
and their claws become periodically enlarged to double their ordinary
size by an enormous growth during winter of horny matter on the lower
surface.
The transition from this to the next family is effected by two genera,
which to such an extent combine the characters of the two as to have
led different zoologists to place them sometimes in the one, sometimes
in the other. Externally they have all the characters of the Mole-rats
of the following family; in the characters of the skull and teeth
they more resemble the Voles. The ZOKOR (_Siphneus aspalax_), which
may be taken as an example of these forms, is an inhabitant of the
Altai Mountains, has the eyes very small, the external ears reduced to
mere rudiments, the body cylindrical, as in the true Mole-rats, and
the fore-feet armed with very long and strong claws, of which that
on the fifth toe is longer than the toe itself. This animal lives
in subterranean runs something like those of the Mole, but of much
greater extent, and in burrowing in the earth makes use of its strong
incisors to cut through the roots it meets with, and when necessary
to loosen the earth. The runs pass very near the surface, and are no
doubt made for the purpose of feeding on the tender roots of grasses. A
species of _Siphneus_ is said to occur in North China. The other genus
(_Ellobius_) includes two species; one (_E. luteus_) from the country
about the Sea of Aral; the other (_E. talpinus_) from south-eastern
Russia and the west of Asia. The latter abounds in the Crimea. These
animals form the sub-family Siphneinæ.
CHAPTER III.
MOLE RATS, POUCHED RATS, POUCHED MICE, JERBOAS, AND OCTODONTIDÆ.
SPALACIDÆ, OR MOLE RATS--Characteristics of the
Family--Habits--Food--THE MOLE RAT--Distribution--Description--THE
CHESTNUT MOLE RAT--THE NAKED MOLE RAT--THE STRAND
MOLE RAT--Description--Habits--THE CAPE MOLE
RAT--GEOMYIDÆ, OR POUCHED RATS--Characteristics of
the Family--The Cheek-pouches--THE COMMON POCKET
GOPHER--Distribution--Description--Burrowing--Runs--Subterranean
Dwelling--THE NORTHERN POCKET GOPHER--HETEROMYINÆ, OR POUCHED
MICE--Difficulties as to Position--Characteristics--PHILLIPS’
POCKET MOUSE--Where Found--Description--THE YELLOW POCKET
MOUSE--THE LEAST POCKET MOUSE--DIPODIDÆ, OR JERBOAS--Organisation
for Jumping--Characteristics--Distribution--THE AMERICAN JUMPING
MOUSE--Description--Characters peculiar to itself--Habits--THE
TRUE JERBOAS--Characters--THE JERBOA--Distribution--Habits--Mode
of Locomotion--THE ALACTAGA--THE CAPE JUMPING HARE--THE
PORCUPINE-LIKE RODENTS--OCTODONTIDÆ--Characteristics--Sub-Family,
CTENODACTYLINÆ--THE GUNDI--THE DEGU--Description--Habits--THE
BROWN SCHIZODON--THE TUKOTUKO--THE CURURO--THE ROCK
RAT--Sub-Family, ECHINOMYINÆ--THE COYPU--One of the Largest
Rodents--Description--Burrows--Habits--Mother and Young--THE HUTIA
CONGA--THE HUTIA CARABALI--THE GROUND RAT.
FAMILY VIII.--SPALACIDÆ (MOLE RATS).
Although the Zokor and its allies in the preceding family have to a
certain extent prepared us for the peculiar characters presented by the
Mole-rats, these are exhibited by the latter in a much more extreme
form. They have a very large broad head, which is usually flattened
above, and forms an appropriate anterior termination to a clumsy,
cylindrical body, supported upon short stout limbs; their incisor
teeth are large and broad, and are most formidably exposed in front
of the mouth; their eyes are exceedingly small, hidden in the fur,
and sometimes quite rudimentary; the external ears are reduced to the
smallest possible size, or altogether wanting; and their tails are
either so short as to be concealed within the hair of the hinder part
of the body, or altogether wanting externally, although the skeleton
still shows some caudal vertebræ. The molar teeth are rooted, and not
tuberculate; their surface shows re-entering folds of enamel. The
feet have five toes, but the thumb is generally very small, although
furnished with a nail. The number of molars varies from three to six on
each side in each jaw.
In their mode of life, as in their form and the condition of the organs
of sight and hearing, these animals present a considerable resemblance
to the Moles; but as their food is exclusively of a vegetable nature,
the object of their burrowing is not exactly the same. They all inhabit
the eastern hemisphere, and are generally met with in dry sandy plains,
the soil of which lends itself readily to mining operations. They
seldom quit their burrows, and usually work in these only at night,
when they make their way rapidly through the ground, and, like the
Mole, can run either backwards or forwards in their subterranean
galleries with equal facility. They feed chiefly on roots, and
especially on the bulbs and tubers which so many plants possess in the
dry districts which they frequent; but some of them also eat nuts,
seeds, the young bark of trees, and herbage. None of them fall into a
state of torpidity during the winter--indeed, only two species inhabit
northern regions; but these, although active in the winter season, are
said not to take the precaution to lay up a store of provisions.
[Illustration: SKULL OF MOLE-RAT.]
Most zoologists distinguish two groups of Spalacidæ. In the SPALACINÆ,
the representatives of which range from south-eastern Europe to further
India and the south of China, and also occur in Africa in the countries
of Abyssinia and Shoa, the palate between the molar teeth is broader
than one of the sockets of the molars, and the angular portion of the
lower jaw springs from the lower edge of the bony case of the incisor.
To this group belongs the MOLE-RAT (_Spalax typhlus_), which inhabits
Hungary and Galicia, and the south-east of Europe generally, and
ranges eastwards into Asia as far as the Caucasus and Ekaterinoslav.
It possesses only three molars on each side in each jaw, and has the
eyes rudimentary and covered by the skin, so that the animal is quite
blind; the upper incisors are placed perpendicularly; and the tail
reduced to a sort of wart. The toes, especially those of the fore-feet,
are furnished with very powerful claws, which are vigorously employed
by the animal in the digging operations above described. The general
covering of the body is a soft fur of a yellowish-brown colour, tinged
with ashy-grey; the head lighter, but becoming brownish behind; and
the lower surface ashy-grey, with some white streaks and spots. The
muzzle, chin, and feet are whitish, and along each side of the face
there runs a sort of ridge of stiff bristle-like hairs. This species is
particularly abundant in the Ukraine and the country about the Volga
and the Don.
The genus _Rhizomys_, of which there are an East Indian and two African
species known, has the eyes uncovered, though very small, short naked
ears, and a short partially hairy tail. The upper incisors are arched
forward. The CHESTNUT MOLE-RAT (_Rhizomys badius_) lives in Northern
India, Siam, and Arracan; and, according to Mr. Finlayson, the food of
a specimen in confinement consisted of unhusked rice and other grain,
but he showed himself fond of yams and pumpkins. The NAKED MOLE-RAT
(_Heterocephalus glaber_), which has no external ears and a short tail,
has the body almost entirely naked. It is a native of Shoa.
[Illustration: MOLE-RAT.]
The other section of the Mole rat family, the BATHYERGINÆ, is entirely
confined to Africa, and, indeed, almost exclusively to the southern
extremity of that continent, only a single species being found
elsewhere--at Mozambique. They show a resemblance to the Hystricine
Rodents in the structure of the lower jaw, the angular portion of which
springs from the side of the bony case of the lower incisor; and the
palate between the molars is narrower than in the Spalacinæ. The best
known of the six species inhabiting the Cape of Good Hope is the STRAND
MOLE-RAT (_Bathyergus maritimus_), which is nearly as large as a small
Rabbit, its length being about ten inches, with a tail two inches in
length. In general form it resembles the species last described; it has
small but uncovered eyes, a broad nose, no external ears; very long,
compressed, and powerful claws on all the toes, except the thumb of
the fore-feet, which has a crooked nail; four molars on each side, and
long white incisors, of which the upper ones are strongly grooved in
front. The colour of the fur is greyish-white, with a yellowish tint
on the upper surface. The tail has a sort of radiating tuft of hairs
at the end. The Strand Mole-rat lives entirely in sandy localities
near the sea-shore, and especially in the sand-hills or dunes which
fringe the coast of the Cape of Good Hope in some parts. Here it
burrows freely in all directions, its galleries generally radiating
from several central points, and joining in various places. It avoids
the light as much as possible, and if by chance it is exposed on the
surface it is exceedingly helpless. Very little is known of the habits
of this species, which probably feeds chiefly on roots like the other
members of the family. It is regarded as mischievous, as it undermines
the ground so much as to make it unsafe to ride over. The colonists,
therefore, often destroy it by various means. The enamel folds of the
teeth become effaced with use.
The _Georychi_, five species of which inhabit Cape Colony, resemble
the preceding species, but are smaller and weaker. The claws of the
fore-feet are shorter and weaker, and the upper incisors, which are
long and arched forward, are not grooved. The best-known species is
the so-called CAPE MOLE-RAT (_Georychus capensis_). In the Mozambique
species (_Heliophobius argenteo-cinereus_) there are six molars on
each side above and below, and the second toe of the hind feet is the
longest. In most other characters it resembles _Georychus_.
FAMILY IX.--GEOMYIDÆ, OR POUCHED RATS.
The Pouched Rats, or Pocket Gophers, and the Pouched Mice of North
America, constitute a family distinguished from all the preceding forms
by the presence of a pair of great cheek-pouches, opening _outside_
and not inside the mouth (_see_ figure). These cheek-pouches are hairy
inside throughout. The angular portion of the lower jaw is strongly
twisted, the molars are four in number on each side in each jaw, and
the squamosal bone is very large. In external characters the animals
of this family present considerable diversity, which has led to their
being divided into two well-marked sub-families, the distinctive
peculiarities of which are of such importance that Dr. Coues has raised
them to the rank of distinct families. The GEOMYINÆ, or Pouched Rats,
are more or less Rat-like animals, in which the feet are five-toed, and
all the toes furnished with claws, those of the fore feet being very
strongly developed; and the tail is short. Certain other characters
are presented by the skull. The outline of this part, including the
zygomatic arches, is almost quadrangular; the infra-orbital opening is
far in front of the jugal process; the malar bone extends forward to
the lachrymal.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE MEXICAN POUCHED RAT.]
[Illustration: UNDER SURFACE OF THE HEAD OF HETEROMYS.]
Of the animals thus characterised, the Continent of North America
possesses, according to Dr. Coues, seven species, and they are met with
from Hudson’s Bay and the Columbia River in the north, as far south
as Mexico. The best-known species, the COMMON POCKET GOPHER (_Geomys
bursarius_), inhabits the whole valley of the Mississippi, and extends
northwards into Canada. It reaches the foot of the Rocky Mountains in
Colorado, but is not known to occur west of that range. It is also
found in Texas. This Pouched Rat, like the rest of its genus, has the
incisors broad and the upper ones deeply grooved; but in addition to
the ordinary deep groove it has a fine line close to the inner margin
of each of these teeth. Its form is stout and clumsy, but its coat is
beautifully soft and velvety, like that of the Mole, but of a dull
reddish-brown colour, with the feet and tail white. The average length
of an adult specimen is from seven to eight inches, and the tail is two
or three inches long. This organ is clothed with hair nearly to the tip.
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE MEXICAN POUCHED RAT.]
Like the Mole, this animal lives in burrows, which it makes in all
directions in the ground, throwing out as it proceeds heaps of earth,
which exactly resemble ordinary mole-hills. To enable it to perform
these labours the claws of the fore feet are exceedingly powerful; and
to adapt it the better to its subterranean existence, the eyes are very
small, and the external ears are wanting. Its digging operations have
generally the same object as those of the Mole--namely, the search
for food. The tunnel is carried along not far from the surface of the
ground, and the roots of any plants that lie in its course are bitten
off and devoured by the little miner. Besides the runs, the Pouched
Rat digs himself a convenient dwelling in the shape of a chamber
hollowed out under the roots of a tree, access to which is gained by
a somewhat spiral descending passage. This chamber, which is usually
at a depth of four or five feet, is comfortably lined with soft grass,
and the nest in which the female brings forth her young is a cavity of
the same kind, but surrounded by circular passages, from which, like
that of the Mole, other passages branch off. One of these, according
to Gesner, leads from the nest to a large store-chamber filled with
nuts, seeds, and roots, among which the potato was found to play an
important part. These provisions are carried to the store-house in the
great cheek-pouches, which the animal is said to fill by the aid of its
tongue, and to empty with the fore paws. This Pouched Rat does much
damage in cultivated ground by attacking the roots of both plants and
trees, sometimes destroying a great number of the latter in a few days.
The female produces from five to seven young at the end of March or the
beginning of April. The other species of _Geomys_ closely resemble this
in their habits.
Of the second genus belonging to this sub-family (_Thomomys_) Dr. Coues
admits only two species, one of which, however, occurs under three
named forms. They may be distinguished from the species of _Geomys_ by
their having the upper incisors plain, without grooves.
The NORTHERN POCKET GOPHER (_Thomomys talpoides_), with its
sub-species, ranges over nearly the whole of North America from the
Hudson’s Bay Territory to California and New Mexico. The three forms
are for the most part in accordance with geographical distribution.
A small species (_Thomomys clusius_) has been obtained in the Rocky
Mountains.
The HETEROMYINÆ (forming the family Saccomyidæ of Dr. Coues, although
he does not accept the genus _Saccomys_) are more slender and delicate
in form than the Geomyinæ, and have the hind limbs and tail elongated,
the former, indeed, being converted into leaping organs like those
of the Jerboas and Kangaroos. The eyes and ears are larger, and the
animals are in every respect adapted to life in the open, while the
Geomyinæ, on the contrary, are subterranean in their habits. The hair
in the present family is coarse and harsh, sometimes even spiny. In
skeletal characters we find a similar alteration. The incisors are
narrow; the skull is delicate, with its angles rounded off, and the
mastoid bones form a considerable part of the roof of the cranial
cavity; the zygomatic arches are slender; and, the lower root of the
maxillary process being undeveloped, the infra-orbital opening is
not defined. As in the Jerboas, the cervical vertebræ are sometimes
anchylosed. Like the Geomyinæ, these animals are confined to America,
and chiefly limited to the Southern United States and Central America,
although some of the species occur as far north as the Columbia River
and Hudson’s Bay, and one is found in Trinidad. By American writers
they are called “Pocket Mice.”
PHILLIPS’S POCKET MOUSE, also known as the Kangaroo Rat (_Dipodomys
Phillipsii_), is one of the best known species of this group. It is
an elegantly formed little creature, about four inches long, with
a slender tail nearly six inches in length. Its colour above is
mouse-brown, white beneath; the sides of the body have some white
streaks, especially one from the ear towards the shoulder, and one on
the thigh running towards the root of the tail; the tip of the tail is
also white. This is a Californian species, but extends throughout the
Pacific region of the United States. It is represented in the Rocky
Mountains by a rather larger and stouter form, with smaller ears and
a shorter tail (_Dipodomys Ordii_), which is generally regarded as
distinct, but is placed by Dr. Coues as a sub-species. The habits of
the species are comparatively little known, but they appear to live in
the most desert places they can find, the barren spots on which the
only plants that seem to flourish are the great mis-shapen cactuses.
They dwell in holes under rocks and stones, from which they emerge at
sunset, and hop about gaily after the fashion of little Kangaroos. The
places in which these Pocket Mice are found are so bare of vegetation
and destitute of water, that it is difficult to imagine how they
contrive to exist. In all probability they pick up a scanty living in
the shape of roots and grasses, especially seeds, carrying a supply for
the day into their holes in their great cheek-pouches.
The YELLOW POCKET MOUSE and the LEAST POCKET MOUSE (_Cricetodipus
flavus_ and _parvus_) are very minute creatures, only about two inches
long in the head and body. The tail is longer than the head and body in
the latter, shorter in the former species, and the colour of the fur
in both is a pale buff. These species are found in the Rocky Mountains
and the region west of that range to the Pacific, the latter being
inhabited by the second of the above species. Several species of the
genus _Heteromys_ inhabit Central America, and one is found in the
island of Trinidad. Nothing appears to be known of their habits.
From these we pass as by a natural transition to
FAMILY X.--DIPODIDÆ (THE JERBOAS).
The JERBOAS are a more extensive and much more widely distributed
family of hopping Rodents. In these we find the organisation for
jumping brought to greater perfection than in any other group. The
body is light and slender, the hind limbs much elongated, the fore
limbs very small, and the tail long and usually tufted at the end. The
number of toes on the hind feet varies from three to five, and the
metatarsal bones are very often united so as to form what is called
a “cannon bone” in the Horse. The incisor teeth are compressed; the
molars sometimes four, but usually three in each series, rooted or
rootless, not tuberculate; the infra-orbital opening is rounded and
very large, and the zygomatic arch slender. The great home of these
animals is the vast steppe region which stretches from South-eastern
Europe across the greater part of Central Asia, but they extend
southwards round the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean, through
Syria and Arabia to Egypt and Africa, over a great part of which they
are found, and eastward to India, Afghanistan, and Ceylon. A single
species occurs at the Cape of Good Hope; and another is found in North
America. We may commence by noticing this last species, as it not only
makes the nearest approach to those of preceding families, especially
the Muridæ, but differs from the rest of the Jerboas in characters of
such importance, that Dr. Coues maintains its right to form a separate
family (_Zapodidæ_).
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE CAPE JUMPING HARE.]
The AMERICAN JUMPING MOUSE (_Zapus[54] hudsonius_) has a wide range,
extending across the continent of North America from sea to sea, and
from Labrador, Hudson’s Bay, and the Great Slave Lake in the north,
to Virginia and the elevated portions of Arizona and New Mexico in
the south. It is an elegant little mouse-like creature, rather more
than three inches long, and furnished with a cylindrical tail, which
exceeds the head and body in length by about two inches. Its hind limbs
are not quite so disproportionately developed as in the other members
of the family. Its fur in summer is of a brown colour above, becoming
yellowish on the sides and white below; in the winter the brown tint
covers the whole surface. The ears, which are not very large, are
black, with a light-coloured rim; the hind feet are greyish, and the
fore feet whitish on the upper surface; and the tail, which tapers to
an exceedingly fine point, where there is a fine pencil of hairs, is
ringed and nearly naked.
The characters in which this animal differs from its nearest relatives
are as follows:--In the upper jaw there are four rooted molars on
each side, the first being very small, the second the largest, and
the rest gradually diminishing in size; the fore feet have the thumbs
rudimentary, and the hind feet have five toes, all of which touch the
ground; the metatarsal bones are separate; and the soles of the feet
naked, with granules and small horny shields.
[Illustration: AMERICAN JUMPING MOUSE.]
The American Jumping Mouse is found in meadows in the neighbourhood of
woods and copses. It is nocturnal in its activity, sleeping during the
day in its burrow, which is usually about two feet deep, and coming
forth at night. It is sociable in its habits, and excessively active,
covering from three to five feet of ground at each leap, so that it is
a matter of no little difficulty to capture a specimen in the open. In
the woods it is worse, as the little creature will bound over bushes,
and get out of sight in a moment. Its food consists of seeds of various
kinds, and it is exceedingly fond of beech-mast. For protection from
the cold of winter the Jumping Mouse makes a little hollow clay ball,
within which it coils itself up, and goes comfortably to sleep. The
nest is made about six inches under the surface of the ground, and
is composed of fine grass, sometimes mixed with feathers, wool, and
hair; and in this the female produces from two to four young, probably
several times in the course of the summer, as the nests and young are
to be found from May to August.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE JERBOA.]
If we regard the American Jumping Mouse as constituting a peculiar
section of the family, ZAPODINÆ, a second group, DIPODINÆ, is formed
by the TRUE JERBOAS, which make up the greater part of the family.
These either possess only three molars, or a very small additional
tooth exists in front of each series in the upper jaw. The molars are
rooted, and diminish in size backwards in each series. The cervical
vertebræ are anchylosed; the fore feet have the thumbs rudimentary, but
sometimes furnished with a small nail; the hind feet have only three
toes fully developed, and the metatarsals are united into a single bone
of great length; the soles are furnished with elastic balls; and the
tail is very long, well-clothed with hair, and tufted at the end.
[Illustration: JERBOA.]
Of these pretty little creatures, which are in some respects singularly
bird-like, about twenty species have been recorded, and these occupy
the whole of the Old World area of the family, except South Africa.
The JERBOA (_Dipus ægyptius_) may serve as an example of this section
of the family. This is a most lively and active little creature, which
inhabits the deserts of north-eastern Africa as far south as Nubia, and
extends its range into Arabia and south-western Asia. On these arid
plains, so scantily clothed with a few grasses and dry shrubs that it
is difficult to conceive how any animal can find a living on them, the
Jerboa lives, often in numerous societies, and in company with the few
birds and lizards which enliven the wilderness. These animals dwell
in subterranean abodes consisting of many branched galleries, which
they dig out in the hard soil not far from the surface. The Arabs
assert that these habitations are produced by the joint labour of the
whole society. They retreat into their burrows at the least alarm. The
females are said to produce from two to four young at a birth in a nest
made in the deeper part of the burrow, and lined with hair pulled from
the under surface of her own body. When going along quietly, the Jerboa
walks and runs by alternate steps of the hind feet, but when there
is occasion for rapid motion it springs from both feet at the same
time, covering so much ground at each leap, and touching the ground so
momentarily between them, that its motion is more like that of a bird
skimming close to the surface of the ground than that of a four-footed
beast.
The Jerboa is about six inches long, with a tail about eight inches in
length exclusive of the tuft with which its tip is adorned. Its upper
surface is of a greyish sand-colour, like that of many other desert
animals; the lower surface is white; and the tail pale-yellowish above
and white beneath, with the tuft white, with an arrow-shaped black mark
on its upper surface.
[Illustration: ALACTAGA.]
Several other species of Jerboas are known, some from the deserts of
North Africa, others from the steppes of Central Asia. The latter
region harbours some forms, which differ from the preceding, among
other characters, by having five toes in the hind feet, whereas the
true Jerboas have only three, but of the five toes only three are
sufficiently developed to take part in the animal’s progression.
The best known of them is the ALACTAGA (_Alactaga jaculus_), a
rather larger species than the Jerboa, and with a still longer tail,
reddish-yellow with a greyish tinge above, white beneath and on the
hind legs. Its range extends from the Crimea and the steppes of the Don
across Central Asia to the borders of China. It walks upon all-fours,
and when advancing quickly springs along after the fashion of the
Jerboa. Its food consists of all sorts of vegetable substances, but
it is especially fond of the bulbs of plants, and does not refuse
occasionally to eat insects, or even the eggs and young of the
birds which inhabit the steppes with it. The Alactagas live in very
complicated burrows, with many passages and branches, and they are said
always to make one passage from the central chamber of their residence,
which terminates close to the surface of the earth at some distance,
but is only opened in case of danger, when the inhabitants escape
through it, the position of its intended aperture being previously
unrecognisable. In cold weather they sleep in their nests. The female
produces from five or six to eight young, in a nest lined with her own
hair. Species of _Alactaga_ occur not only in Central Asia, but also in
Arabia and North Africa.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE JUMPING HARE.]
South Africa produces one species, the CAPE JUMPING HARE (_Pedetes
caffer_), which constitutes a distinct sub-family, PEDETINÆ, having
four rootless molars on each side in each jaw, the metatarsal bones
separate, the tail bushy, and the hind feet furnished with four toes
having broad, hoof-like nails. This is a much larger animal than any
of the preceding, being about the size of the common Hare, which it
also resembles in its colours. The Jumping Hare inhabits a considerable
portion of South Africa, extending on the west coast at least as
far as Angola. It is abundant at the Cape of Good Hope, both in the
mountains and in the plains. Great numbers of the animals often live
together, and their burrows, which, like those of other Dipodidæ, are
inhabited by numerous individuals as a common residence, consist of
many-branched galleries made at no great depth from the surface, but
leading into a more deeply-seated habitation. They generally go about
slowly upon all-fours, but can advance with extraordinary rapidity by
Kangaroo-like springs, in each of which, when pressed, they will cover
a space of twenty or thirty feet. Their food consists of roots, seeds,
and herbage. The female produces three or four young at a birth.
[Illustration: CAPE JUMPING HARE.]
SECTION III.--PORCUPINE-LIKE RODENTS (_HYSTRICOMORPHA_).
FAMILY XI.--OCTODONTIDÆ.
This first family of the Porcupine alliance consists of a number of
rat-like animals, nearly all of which are inhabitants of South America,
three species only being peculiar to the large West Indian Islands,
whilst, singularly enough, four more are known from different parts of
the African continent. Except in one of these last, all the members of
the family have four molars on each side in each jaw, and the crowns
of these teeth show internal and external folds of enamel. The malar
portion of the zygomatic arch has an angular process at its lower
margin. The hind limbs are not disproportionately developed, and both
they and the fore feet are nearly always furnished with five toes,
armed with curved claws; and the clavicles are perfect. The ears are
generally short and sparingly hairy, and the tail, which is of various
lengths, is either clad with short hairs, or naked and scaly.
We may begin with two African species of this generally American
family, which have the two inner claws of the hind feet furnished with
comb-like fringes of horny bristles, whence the name of _Ctenodactylus_
has been applied to the best known species. These two species,
which exhibit strong affinities to the Jerboas, form the sub-family
CTENODACTYLINÆ. The GUNDI (_Ctenodactylus Massoni_) has only three
molars on each side in each jaw, and only four toes upon each foot. It
is an animal about the size of the Water Rat, but with a mere stump
of a tail, very small ears, very long whiskers, and the hind limbs
rather longer than their fellows. It lives in North Africa, chiefly on
the borders of the Sahara, where it takes up its abode in the rocky
hills, and descends therefrom to the cultivated grounds to feast upon
the growing corn. It is diurnal in its habits, but exceedingly shy
and watchful, making off to its fastnesses at the least appearance of
danger. _Pectinator Spekei_, a species named after its discoverer, the
celebrated African traveller, is nearly related to the preceding, but
has a small additional molar in each series. The tail is of moderate
length, and bushy, and the ears have a small antitragus. It inhabits
the Somali land in the interior of North-eastern Africa.
[Illustration: DEGU.]
The DEGU (_Octodon Cumingii_), a very abundant species in Chili, which
also extends into Peru, may be taken as a typical example of the whole
family, and also of its typical sub-family OCTODONTINÆ, in which the
molars are simply indented on each side. The fur is soft, and the
tail is short. The Degu is a rat-like animal, rather smaller than
the Water Vole, the head and body measuring from seven and a half to
eight inches in length, and the tail, exclusive of its terminal tuft,
rather more than half that length. The general colour of the animal is
brownish-yellow, pencilled with black on the back; the lower surface is
yellowish, the feet white, and the tail dusky above, whitish beneath,
with the tufted tip dusky or blackish. In the central parts of Chili,
according to various travellers, the Degu is exceedingly abundant,
living in large societies about hedges and thickets, and running about
boldly, even on the high roads. The animals make their burrows in
the hedge-banks and similar places, and when alarmed rush into them
with their tails elevated, very much after the manner of Rabbits. As
the burrows communicate freely with each other, the Degus can easily
escape pursuit, going in at one opening and coming out at another at
some considerable distance. They sometimes climb up into the bushes
among which they live. Their ordinary food consists of the herbage
which grows about their dwelling-places, but they also invade gardens
and fields, where they may do considerable damage. In the winter they
will feed upon the tender bark of certain trees, but they are said by
some authors to lay up a store of food against this season. They do
not become torpid. The female is believed to produce two broods in the
year, each consisting of from four to six young. Two other species
of _Octodon_ are known from Chili and Bolivia, which region is also
inhabited by two species of _Habrocoma_, a genus distinguished by the
large size of the ears, and the extreme softness of the fur. In these
animals the molar teeth differ in the two jaws, the upper ones being
as simple as in the preceding species, while the lower ones show a
complication of the enamel folds like what we shall meet with in the
third sub-family.
The BROWN SCHIZODON (_Schizodon fuscus_), which inhabits certain
elevated spots in the southern part of the Andes (75° S. lat.), has
the enamel folds of the molar teeth meeting in the middle. It is about
the size of the common Rat (seven and a half to nine inches long),
and has a shortish tail clothed throughout with short hairs. Its fur
is dark brown above, dirty yellowish beneath. This animal inhabits
grassy places near mountain streams, where the ground is sometimes so
undermined by its burrows as to render travelling on horseback very
uncomfortable. It is a nocturnal animal, and passes most of its life
underground. The valleys it inhabits are covered with snow for at least
four months in the year.
In the TUKOTUKO (_Ctenomys brasiliensis_) and its congeners, about
four of which are known from different parts of South America, one of
them extending as far south as the Strait of Magellan, the eyes and
ears are very small, and the animal seems to be still more specially
adapted to a subterranean mode of life. In these animals the claws
are longer than the toes, and those of the hind feet are fringed with
a sort of comb formed of bristles. The incisor teeth are very broad.
The Tukotuko is about the size of a large Rat, namely, from eight and
a half to nine and a half inches long, with the tail from two and a
half to three and a half inches. Its name is in imitation of the sound
which it constantly emits--a sound which rather surprises a stranger
when he first hears it, seeing that the animal uttering it is concealed
underground. In many places, as in the Argentine Republic, this animal
is exceedingly numerous, living generally in sandy soil, but sometimes
in damp situations. It makes long burrows not far from the surface, and
thus in some places completely undermines the ground. In making these
galleries the Tukotuko is engaged in the search for its food, which
consists chiefly of the roots of plants. According to Azara, it lays up
stores of food in its burrows. Its activity is nocturnal.
The CURURO (_Spalacopus Pöppigii_) has the ears quite rudimentary,
and is also organised for a subterranean existence. This and another
species inhabit Chili, where they make extensive burrows in the ground,
and feed upon the bulbous and tuberous roots of various plants, large
stores of which they collect in their subterranean abodes. These
magazines are sought out by the poorer people, and their contents used
as food.
[Illustration: DENTITION OF THE ROCK RAT.]
The ROCK RAT (_Petromys typicus_), although most nearly allied to
the preceding species, lives on the opposite side of the Atlantic in
the rocky hills of South Africa, especially towards the mouth of the
Orange River. It differs from the preceding forms in the harshness of
its fur, in which it resembles another sub-family of Octodontidæ, in
the shortness of its thumbs, which are furnished with a small nail,
and in its rather bushy tail. The molars are semi-rooted, with the
enamel folds nearly meeting in the middle. The whiskers are of great
length, and entirely black. The general colour is reddish-brown, with
the head and fore parts greyish, the throat whitish, and the belly
pale yellow. The tail is of the colour of the body at the root, with
the remainder black. The length of the animal is about seven and a
half inches, of the tail from five to five and a half inches. It feeds
upon various vegetable substances, and appears to be very fond of the
flowers of syngenesious plants, especially a species of groundsel,
which it eagerly devours. It forms its retreat among loose stones, or
in crevices of the rocks.
[Illustration: TEETH OF THE SPINY RAT.]
While the Octodontinæ may be regarded as specially characteristic of
the region of the Andes, the other great group of this family is almost
exclusively confined to the country east of that great chain, and to
some of the West Indian islands. Curiously enough this sub-family also
has a single representative in Africa. Its members are distinguished
at once by the complicated enamel folds of their molar teeth in both
jaws, by these teeth being generally rooted, and by the texture of the
fur, which is harsh and frequently mixed with fine spines. Hence the
name of _Echinomys_ (Spiny, or rather Hedgehog, Rat), applied to the
typical genus, from which the sub-family is named ECHINOMYINÆ. The tail
in these animals is usually long.
The Rodents belonging to this sub-family are generally of considerable
size, as large as Rats, or larger, stoutly built, with the hinder part
of the body larger than the fore-quarters, with limbs of moderate
length, the hinder larger than the anterior, the former furnished with
five toes, the latter with four complete digits and a rudimentary
thumb, and the toes armed with strong curved claws. The tail is scaly,
with scattered hairs. In their habits these animals appear to be
strictly vegetable-feeders, but in other respects they present some
variety. The majority live in and upon the ground; but one or two are
arboreal, and one aquatic, in their mode of life.
The last species alluded to is the well-known COYPU (_Myopotamus
Coypus_), one of the largest of Rodents, which occurs in nearly
all parts of South America and on both sides of the Andes, from
the tropic of Capricorn to about 15° N. lat. It is usually about
twenty inches long, but often attains still greater dimensions. The
tail, which is about two-thirds the length of the head and body, is
scaly, with hairs about as thickly scattered as in the common Rat.
The ears are of moderate size; the incisor teeth very large and
powerful; the molars, the hindmost of which are the largest, have
two internal and two external enamel-folds in the upper, and three
internal folds and one external in the lower, jaw; the hind feet are
webbed. The general colour of the upper surface is brown, produced by
dusky and brownish-yellow pencilling; the sides and under parts are
brownish-yellow, and the front of the muzzle and the chin white.
[Illustration: COYPU.]
The Coypus live upon the shores of the rivers and lakes of South
America, generally, according to Rengger, in pairs, each pair digging
for themselves a burrow in the bank, which extends to a depth of three
or four feet, and widens out into a cavity eighteen inches or two feet
in diameter. Here they pass the night, and take refuge when necessary
during the day. They select for their dwelling-places the stiller parts
of the water, where the aquatic plants on which they chiefly feed grow
freely. They are said to swim well, but not to be expert in diving. On
land they are slow and awkward in their movements. They feed chiefly on
the roots of plants, but in the Chonos Archipelago, where the Coypus
frequent the sea and make their burrows at some little distance from
the beach, they are said occasionally to eat shell-fish. The female
produces from four to five young once in the year. The little animals
very early accompany their mother into the water, when she swims with
them on her back, until they have acquired the art of swimming. Mr.
Waterhouse thinks that this habit may “explain the singular position
of the nipples noticed in the female Coypu. Of these four were found
by Mr. Lereboullet on each side of the body, and situated rather above
the mesial line of the flanks, the foremost being placed behind the
shoulder, and the hindermost in front of the thigh.” The Coypu is
hunted for the sake of its flesh, which is described as white and of
good flavour, and of its skin, which is well known in the fur trade
under the name of “Nutria,” signifying Otter. Great quantities of these
skins are annually exported from Buenos Ayres. It is said to be a
courageous animal, fighting bravely with the dogs engaged in chasing it.
[Illustration: HUTIA CONGA.]
[Illustration: TEETH OF PLAGIODON.]
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF LONCHERES.]
The HUTIA CONGA (_Capromys pilorides_) is another large Rodent,
measuring from twenty to twenty-two inches in length, with a stout
rat-like tail about half as long as the head and body. It is an
inhabitant of Cuba. The incisors are considerably smaller and weaker
than in the Coypu; the upper molars have one internal and two external
folds; the lower ones are similar but reversed. The fur, which is
long, is very harsh, and consists of a mixture of black and yellow
hairs, becoming rusty on the hinder part of the body. The belly is
rusty yellow. This animal lives in the dense forests of Cuba, where
it resides either upon the trees or in the thick underwood. It is a
nocturnal or crepuscular animal, and is tolerably active when going
about on the branches of trees, but is less at home on the ground.
Its food consists of fruits, leaves, and the bark of trees, but,
according to M. Ramon de la Sagra, it does not disdain animal food,
and is especially fond of a species of Lizard belonging to the genus
_Anolis_. On the other hand, the negroes are very partial to the flesh
of the Hutia, and they capture the animal either by snaring it on the
branches of trees, or by sending Dogs after it. Like the Coypu, it is
said to fight courageously against its pursuers. Another Cuban species,
the HUTIA CARABALI (_C. prehensilis_), has a slightly longer tail,
which is prehensile at the tip. It is described as keeping chiefly to
the highest branches of the trees. In St. Domingo there is an allied
form, _Plagiodon ædium_, in which the enamel folds of the molars are
singularly complex (_see_ figure on p. 132). This animal frequents
the neighbourhood of human habitations, and approaches them at night
in search of its food, which consists of fruit and roots. In most of
the other members of this sub-family, which appear to be terrestrial
in their habits, the intermixture of spines with the fur of the back
is a striking character. In the genus _Echinomys_ itself, and in
_Loncheres_, which together include about a dozen species found chiefly
in Guiana and Brazil, the spines frequently form the principal outer
covering of the back. Side by side with these hedgehog-like species,
however, others occur in which the fur is soft.
[Illustration: SKULL OF LONCHERES.]
The GROUND RAT (_Aulacodus Swinderianus_), of Western and Southern
Africa, is remarkable as being the sole representative of this group
outside the South American province. It has very broad incisors, and
those of the upper jaw exhibit three deep grooves; the molars show
the same arrangement of folds as in _Capromys_; the fur is harsh and
bristly, and of a general brown tint; and the tail is of moderate
length, sparingly haired, dusky above, and whitish below. The fore
feet have the thumb rudimentary and the outer toe very short; and the
hind feet have only four toes, of which the outer one is rudimentary.
This curious animal, which is nearly two feet long, is known to be an
inhabitant of Sierra Leone and the Gambia, and also of South Africa
(Port Natal); in all probability it occurs at many intermediate
localities. In Sierra Leone it is known as the Ground Rat, or Ground
Pig, and is said to feed upon ground nuts, and cassada and other roots
in search of which it digs into the ground, where it also forms large
burrows for its residence.
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.
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE PORCUPINE.]
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.
[Illustration: COMMON PORCUPINE.]
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.
[Illustration: TREE PORCUPINE.]
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.
[Illustration: MEXICAN TREE PORCUPINES.]
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.
[Illustration: VISCACHAS.]
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.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH TEETH OF THE CHINCHILLA.]
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.
[Illustration: CHINCHILLA.]
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.
[Illustration: MOLAR TEETH OF THE AGOUTI.]
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.
[Illustration: AZARA’S AGOUTI. (From the _Proceedings of the Zoological
Society_.)]
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.
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE PACA.]
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.
[Illustration: PACA.]
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.
[Illustration: THE DINOMYS. (_After Peters._)]
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.
[Illustration: PATAGONIAN CAVY.]
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.
[Illustration: MOLARS OF THE CAPYBARA.]
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.
[Illustration: CAPYBARA.]
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.
[Illustration: COMMON HARE.]
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.
[Illustration: ALPINE PIKA.]
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.”
CHAPTER V.
FOSSIL RODENTIA.
Families of Rodents represented by Fossil Remains--State of the
“Record of the Rocks”--THE SCIURIDÆ--Sciurine Genera now Extinct--No
Fossil ANOMALURIDÆ and HAPLODONTIDÆ--ISCHYROMYIDÆ--_Pseudotomus
hians_--_Gymnoptychus_--CASTORIDÆ--Mr. Allen’s CASTOROIDIDÆ--THE
MYOXIDÆ--No Fossil LOPHIOMYIDÆ--THE MURIDÆ--THE SPALACIDÆ--THE
GEOMYIDÆ--THE DIPODIDÆ--THE THERIDOMYIDÆ--THE OCTODONTIDÆ--THE
HYSTRICIDÆ--THE CHINCHILLIDÆ--THE DASYPROCTIDÆ--THE
CAVIIDÆ--THE LEPORIDÆ--THE LAGOMYIDÆ--_Mesotherium
cristatum_--Difficulties concerning it--Mr. Alston’s Suggestion--THE
HEBETIDENTATA--Teeth--Skull--Skeleton--Conclusions regarding
it--Table of Rodent Families--Concluding Remarks.
The majority of the preceding families are more or less clearly
represented by fossil remains, either in the younger strata of
the earth’s crust, or in those cave-deposits of comparatively
recent date which have furnished so many interesting relics of the
Mammals of former days. It must be remarked, however, that while a
considerable number of fossil Rodents have been named and described
by palæontologists, the materials upon which many of them have been
established are very imperfect; in a great number of cases isolated
molar or even incisor teeth furnish the sole evidence of the existence
of creatures which were manifestly Rodents, but of which the other
characters are rather difficult to divine from such scanty material.
Still, imperfect as may be “the record of the rocks” in this as in
other instances, it is in some parts sufficiently complete to enable us
to trace back the existence of many forms of gnawing Mammals through a
long period of geological time.
Of the SCIURIDÆ a considerable number of fossil species have
been recorded. Species of the genera _Sciurus_, _Arctomys_, and
_Spermophilus_, some of them identical with those still existing,
have left their remains in Post-Tertiary deposits and in bone-caves
in various parts of Europe; while species belonging to the first two
genera, and to the American genus _Tamias_, have been detected in
similar situations in North America. A few forms referred to the same
genera go down still lower in the series of geological formations.
True Squirrels are recorded from Miocene and Upper Eocene deposits in
France, and a single species from the Tertiaries (probably Miocene)
of Colorado; Marmots from Pliocene and Miocene beds in the South of
France, and from a Pliocene deposit in Nebraska; and a Spermophile from
the Miocene of Weisenau in Germany.
Besides these examples of known types, several fossils have been
obtained both in Europe and America, which are regarded as indicating
genera distinct from any now living. _Plesiarctomys Gervaisii_ is
founded on a fragment of jaw with four molars, obtained from Upper
Eocene beds near Apt, Vaucluse. In its characters it appears to be
intermediate between Squirrels and Marmots. _Pseudosciurus suevicus_,
from the Upper Eocene (Bohnerz) of Würtemberg, seems to differ from
all other Sciuridæ in the form of the molar teeth of the lower jaw,
which are somewhat elongated, and have four tubercles arranged in two
pairs, each pair being connected by a ridge. From the Tertiary deposits
of the western territories of the United States, Professors Cope,
Marsh, and Leidy have described several Sciurine Rodents as belonging
to genera now extinct: thus _Paramys_ has five species; _Sciuravus_
(perhaps identical with the preceding), three; _Heliscomys_, _Mysops_,
_Colonymys_, _Taxymys_, and _Tillomys_, one or two species each.
Of the ANOMALURIDÆ and HAPLODONTIDÆ no fossil remains are known.
On the other hand, a North American fossil Rodent, described by
Dr. Leidy under the name of _Ischyromys typus_, is regarded by Mr.
Alston as the type of a distinct family, the _Ischyromyidæ_, nearly
allied to the Sciuridæ, but also showing an affinity to the Beaver
in some of its characters. The specimen described and figured by Dr.
Leidy was obtained by Dr. Hayden from Miocene deposits in the “Bad
Lands” of Wyoming. It was originally referred to the Sciuridæ, with
which it agrees in its dentition, but is distinguished by its large
infra-orbital opening, the presence of a sagittal crest, and the
absence of post-orbital processes. The parietal region of the skull is
much narrowed, and in this, as in the large size of the infra-orbital
opening, _Ischyromys_ resembles the Musk Rat.
Two other forms must be referred to here. Under the name of
_Pseudotomus hians_, Professor Cope has described the remains of an
animal which he believed to have been about the size of an Agouti, and
originally thought to belong to the order Edentata. Subsequently he
referred it to the Sciuridæ; but both Mr. Alston and Mr. Allen think
that it may belong to the family Ischyromyidæ. In some respects the
skull resembles that of _Arctomys_, but it has the same contraction
between the orbits as _Ischyromys_ and _Fiber_. The incisor teeth are
separated, and Professor Cope believes that the animal had only three
molars on each side in each jaw. A still more doubtful member of the
family is Professor Cope’s genus _Gymnoptychus_, which includes four
species, all said to be from the “Tertiary of the Plains.” In this
genus there are five molars above and four below on each side, as in
_Ischyromys_ and the Sciuridæ; but these teeth show two crescents on
the inner side in the upper, on the outer side in the lower jaw, and
each crescent gives origin to a cross-ridge running to the opposite
margin of the tooth.
The CASTORIDÆ, including at present only a single species common to
the northern parts of both hemispheres, are represented by several
peculiar fossil forms. Remains of the Common Beaver (_Castor fiber_)
are not uncommon in peat bogs and other late superficial deposits both
in Europe and America; and, according to Sir R. Owen, in association
with those of the Rhinoceros, Mammoth, and Mastodon, even in the
Fluvio-marine Crag (Newer Pliocene) of Norfolk. In Belgium its bones
have been found in caves. Among the Mammals from the Upper Tertiaries
of the Sivalik Hills, Messrs. Falconer and Cautley record a Beaver
distinct from the existing species, although nearly allied to it.
The skull of a great Beaver, one-fifth larger than that of the
living species, was obtained many years ago by M. Fischer from sandy
deposits on the shores of the Sea of Azov, and, as it differed in
some peculiarities of the teeth from _Castor fiber_, was described by
him as constituting a distinct genus under the name of _Trogontherium
Cuvieri_. It is now regarded as a true Beaver, and named _Castor
Trogontherium_. The British species, described and figured by Sir R.
Owen from the Norfolk Forest bed under the name of _Trogontherium
Cuvieri_, is, however, quite distinct, and belongs to the genus
_Diobroticus_, characterised by having the third upper and first lower
molar teeth with four enamel folds, and the rest only with two, most of
the folds soon becoming isolated as the teeth wear down. This animal
must have been nearly twice the size of the European Beaver.
At a still earlier period--namely, in the Miocene--the family Castoridæ
was represented, both in Europe and America, by some small species,
nearly agreeing with the Beavers in dentition, but differing in
the characters of certain bones of the skull. These form the genus
_Steneofiber_. The largest (_S. viciacensis_), from the Miocene of
the Allier, was about half the size of the Beaver; another (_S.
sansaniensis_), from the fresh-water limestone of Sansan, was about as
large as a Rat; an American species (_S. nebrascensis_), from the “Bad
Lands” of Dakota, was rather smaller than a Marmot, and presented some
resemblance to the Agoutis in the characters of the teeth; and a fourth
species (_S. pansus_) occurs in the Santa Fé marls. _Eucastor tortus_,
a species rather smaller than a Marmot, is described by Dr. Leidy as
very nearly related to the Beaver. Its remains were found in loose
sands of the Niobrara River, Wyoming. _Chalicomys_ and _Palæomys_ are
genera doubtfully placed here. Their species occur in the Miocene and
Pliocene of Europe.
Some bones of a gigantic Rodent, indicating an animal as large as a
full-grown Black Bear, obtained from Quaternary and Alluvial deposits
of various parts of the United States, have been described under the
name of _Castoroides ohioensis_, Mr. J. W. Foster, its first describer,
having an idea that it was a great Beaver. It has generally been known
as the “Fossil Beaver” of North America, but several authors have
entertained doubts of the correctness of this designation, and Mr.
Allen has lately made it the type of a special family, CASTOROIDIDÆ,
which he regards as most nearly related to the Chinchillidæ. In the
general aspect of the skull it resembles the Beaver, but in several
details of structure approaches the Viscacha; while the structure
of the molar teeth, which consist of a series of plates of dentine,
completely enclosed by enamel, and held together by a thin coating of
cement, occurs elsewhere only in the Chinchillidæ, and in the last
molar of the Capybara.
Dormice as well as Squirrels disported themselves in the Tertiary woods
and thickets of Europe, and remains of several species of MYOXIDÆ occur
in various deposits in France, Switzerland, and elsewhere, from the
Upper Eocene onwards. _Myoxus glis_, the Garden Dormouse, has been
identified with some doubt from the caves of Lunel Viel; and this is
also probably the species occurring in the Belgian bone-caves, and
described as _Myoxus priscus_ by Dr. Schmerling. A species a little
larger than the Dormouse occurs in Russian caves, and has received
the name of _Myoxus fossilis_ from M. Fischer; and the most striking
species of all is also a Post-Pliocene form, namely, the gigantic
Dormouse of Malta (_M. melitensis_). This animal, which seems to have
been about the size of a Guinea-pig, must have been excessively
abundant in Malta, for its describer, Professor Leith Adams, says
that “its remains are met with in abundance throughout the cavern and
fissure deposits, up even to the superficial alluvium now in course
of formation.” From older times we have evidence of the existence of
a Dormouse, about the size of the common species, at the time of the
deposition of the gypsum of Montmartre (Upper Eocene), in which a
well-preserved skeleton of the animal has been found. The same deposit
has furnished traces of a second rather larger species. The Miocene of
Switzerland and of Sansan has also yielded species of _Myoxus_; and
Professor Hermann von Meyer has recorded a Dormouse from the Miocene of
Weisenau, under the name of _Brachymys ornatus_.
No fossil LOPHIOMYIDÆ have yet been detected, but the great family
MURIDÆ has left abundant evidence of its former existence. Species of
the genera _Mus_, _Arvicola_, _Myodes_, and _Cricetus_, identical in
many cases with those now living, have been obtained frequently in
Post-Pliocene deposits and in bone-caves in Europe. Lemmings (_Myodes
lemmus_ and _torquatus_) are recorded from English caves. The genus
_Mus_ is also represented by several species in the Miocene deposits of
France, and in the Sivalik beds investigated by Falconer and Cautley.
The Miocene of Sansan has furnished a form which has been doubtfully
regarded as a Gerbille, and named _Meriones Laurillardi_. In the same
and other deposits of the same age in South-eastern France several
species of an extinct genus (_Cricetodon_) have been obtained. Their
dentition resembles that of the Hamster, but the first molars in both
jaws have a tubercle less; the largest species (_C. sansaniensis_)
rather exceeded the Hamster in size, while the smallest was less
than a Mouse. Associated with some of these are two doubtful forms,
_Decticus_ and _Elomys_, the latter considered by M. Aymard, its
describer, to be allied to _Hydromys_. The American fossil Muridæ are
for the most part either species of the genus _Hesperomys_, or nearly
related to it. Twelve species of that genus were obtained by Dr. Lund
from the Brazilian bone-caves, but of these eight were identified by
him with species still existing. In North America two species of a
nearly-allied genus (_Eumys_) have been obtained from Miocene deposits;
and the bone-caves of Pennsylvania furnish the remains of a species of
_Neotoma_ (_N. magister_), hardly distinguishable from the Florida Rat.
A _Rhizomys_ from the Sivalik deposits of North-western India is the
only recorded fossil representative of the SPALACIDÆ; and of the
GEOMYIDÆ the only known species are a _Geomys_ from the Pliocene of
Nebraska, nearly allied to, if not identical with, the living _G.
bursarius_; and one from the “Tertiaries of the Plains,” described by
Professor Cope as _Colotaxis cristatus_, which, however, has only three
molars in the lower jaw.
The DIPODIDÆ are still more scantily represented. A Jerboa described by
M. Fischer from Post-Pliocene deposits, probably of Tartary, is very
nearly allied to the living _Dipus platurus_, but has shorter toes
and broader cannon-bones. The genus _Dipoïdes_, from the “Bohnerz” of
Würtemberg, is founded on a single tooth, and its position in this
family is very doubtful.
On the other hand, some fossil allies of the Dipodidæ and Geomyidæ
constitute a distinct family, for which Mr. Alston proposed the name
of THERIDOMYIDÆ, from that of one of its genera, _Theridomys_. In this
genus, of which six species are recorded from the Eocene and Miocene
deposits of France, there are four rooted molars in each series, and
each of these has several enamel folds, some of which are converted
into isolated loops as the crown is worn away. The best known species
is _Theridomys platiceps_, from the Miocene of Caylus. In _Archæomys
chinchilloides_ there are still four molars, but these present a very
different structure; they are rootless, and have the enamel folds
extending diagonally across the crown, so that they are composed of
a series of plates, thus presenting a certain amount of resemblance
to the Chinchillas, which American family _Archæomys_ was at one time
supposed to represent in Europe. In fact, in the structure of their
molar teeth, both the above genera approach American types; but in
other characters, especially the form of the lower jaw, they appear
to have been decidedly Mouse-like, and Mr. Alston regards them as
most nearly related to the Dipodidæ, with which they are joined by a
third form referred to the family _Issiodoromys_, a genus sometimes
placed with the Jerboas. The teeth in this genus are of the same
number as in the preceding, but the molars are much simpler, each of
them exhibiting one large re-entering fold of enamel, which causes the
surface of the tooth to present two heart-shaped lobes. This structure
is not dissimilar to that prevailing in some Dipodidæ, and especially
in _Pedetes_, but it was formerly thought to indicate a relationship
to the Cavies, and accordingly the best-known species has received
the name of _Issiodoromys pseudanæma_ (_Anæma_ being a sub-genus of
Cavies). This species occurs abundantly in the Miocene lacustrine
limestone near Issoire. A second species (_I. minor_) has been detected
in the Upper Eocene of Lamandine-haute.
Of the OCTODONTIDÆ, an essentially American family at the present
day, nearly all the recorded fossil forms are also American. Species
of _Echinomys_, _Loncheres_, and _Phyllomys_ were obtained by Dr.
Lund from the Brazilian bone-caves, which also furnished him with the
remains of a Coypu (_Myopotamus antiquus_), and of an allied form,
_Carterodon sulcidens_, distinguished by its having broad incisors
with longitudinal furrows and raised ridges. The latter has since been
found living in South America. Another species, allied to _Echinomys_,
is named by Lund _Lonchophorus fossilis_. The superficial deposits of
South America have yielded the remains of two species of _Ctenomys_,
one of which is believed to be identical with a recent species. As
several species of this family now live in Africa, the occurrence in
the eastern hemisphere of fossil forms belonging to it would not be
surprising, but the few that have been referred to it are of very
doubtful nature. M. Lartet obtained some isolated teeth from the
Miocene of Sansan, which he described under the name of _Myopotamus
sansaniensis_; and one or two other types (_Aulacodon_, _Adelomys_),
from Upper Eocene and Miocene beds, are of very uncertain position.
Of the HYSTRICIDÆ, or Porcupines, remains have been obtained in both
hemispheres. In the Old World traces of true Porcupines (_Hystrix_) are
recorded from the Valley of the Arno, from the Sivaliks, the Pliocene
deposits of the Auvergne, from Pikermi, and, on very doubtful evidence,
from the Upper Eocene of Lamandine-basse; whilst Dr. Leidy has
described two teeth from the Pliocene deposits of Dakota, as belonging
to a species (_Hystrix venustus_) allied to the European Porcupine.
This determination, if confirmed, would be of great interest, as no
true Porcupine now occurs in America. Of the American type, two species
of _Sphingurus_ have been obtained from the Brazilian bone-caves;
and Professor Cope records a species of the North American genus
_Erythizon_ from a similar cave in Pennsylvania.
The CHINCHILLIDÆ have left but scanty traces of their former existence.
_Lagostomus brasiliensis_ is from the Brazilian bone-caves; and
_Megamys patagoniensis_ from the Eocene sandstone of Patagonia. The
latter species is founded upon a tibia and rotula, which on comparison
seemed to approach most nearly to those of the Rodents of this family,
and if the determination be correct it was probably one of the largest
species of the order, as the tibia measures about a foot long.
_Amblyrhiza_ and _Loxomylus_, are two genera described by Professor
Cope from bone-caves in Anguilla Island, West Indies.
The DASYPROCTIDÆ have but few fossil representatives, and the undoubted
ones are all from the bone-caves of Brazil, which furnished Dr. Lund
with two Agoutis and two Pacas. Of the former, one is described
as _Dasyprocta capreolus_; the second is allied to the living _D.
caudata_. The two species of _Cœlogenys_ are extinct. Some teeth,
found in Tertiary deposits of the Puy-de-Dôme, have been referred
to _Dasyprocta_, but this determination is excessively doubtful.
_Diobroticus schmerlingi_ from Belgian caves has been placed with the
Castoridæ.
Of the CAVIIDÆ, Dr. Lund obtained three species of the genus _Cavia_,
and two of _Hydrochœrus_, from Brazilian bone-caves. Of the latter, one
was allied to the existing Capybara; the other was a gigantic species,
measuring about five feet in length. Dr. Leidy has described a species
(_Hydrochœrus æsopi_) from teeth found in Post-Pliocene deposits in
South Carolina; and the Pampean deposits of the same age furnished M.
D’Orbigny with the remains of a Cavy (_Cavia antiqua_) which, however,
is doubtfully distinct from the Patagonian species.
The remains of species of the family LEPORIDÆ are very abundant in
some Post-Pliocene cave deposits on both sides of the Atlantic, and
in several cases the species are evidently identical with those now
living. Besides these, species of the genus _Lepus_ have been found in
Pliocene and Miocene beds in France. In North America three extinct
Leporine genera have been recognised, differing from _Lepus_ in certain
peculiarities of the molar teeth:--_Palæolagus_, with three species,
from the Miocene of Dakota and Colorado; _Panolax_, from the Pliocene
marls of Santa Fé; and _Praotherium_, from a bone-cave in Pennsylvania.
The last-named genus has the crowns of the molars transversely oval,
and without the enamel-band or crest which is seen on the surface of
the teeth of other Hares.
The LAGOMYIDÆ are known in a fossil state chiefly from Post-Pliocene
deposits, and the bone breccias of caves in various parts of Europe.
In Post-Pliocene times the genus _Lagomys_ seems to have been very
generally distributed over the South of Europe; and the earliest
appearance of the genus is in the Pliocene, three species having
been described from deposits of that age at Œningen and Montpellier.
The family is, however, carried further back in time by the genus
_Titanomys_, in which the molars differ but slightly in structure from
those of _Lagomys_, but there are only four of them in each series,
both above and below. Two species of this genus have been recorded from
Miocene deposits in France and Germany.
[Illustration: SIDE VIEW OF SKULL AND LOWER JAW OF MESOTHERIUM
CRISTATUM.]
[Illustration: DENTITION OF MESOTHERIUM CRISTATUM.
(A) Upper Jaw; (B) Lower Jaw; (C) Incisors.]
We have thus passed very briefly in review the fossil Rodents belonging
to the two great sections of the order to which all its living species
are to be referred; and it will be seen that while a knowledge of their
existence is necessary to complete the history of the order, they
present none of those peculiar characters which lend such interest
to the fossil members of many other orders. There is, however, one
fossil South American type to which we have yet to refer, as, by the
curious combination of characters which it presents, it has long been
somewhat of a puzzle to palæontologists, and although generally placed
among the Rodents, its peculiarities are such that Mr. Alston found
himself compelled to establish a third primary section of the order
for its reception. According to M. Bravard, the first discoverer of
this peculiar type, the Pliocene deposits of the Pampas of La Plata
contain the remains of three species belonging to it; but the bones
which have been sent to Europe, and which represent most parts of
the skeleton, seem all to belong to a single species, which has been
very fully described by M. Serres under the name of _Mesotherium
cristatum_.[55] What distinguishes it at once from all other known
Rodents is the presence _in the lower jaw_ of four incisor teeth, the
second pair being very small and placed immediately behind the outer
edge of the broad middle pair. The latter are peculiarly widened and
compressed from front to back in both jaws, and their summits, instead
of being worn to a sharp chisel-like edge as in ordinary Rodents,
show an elongated ring of enamel surrounding a slightly depressed
surface. Hence Mr. Alston denominated this section HEBETIDENTATA, or
BLUNT-TOOTHED RODENTS. The enamel in all the incisors is continuous
round the tooth. The molar teeth are rootless and curved, the convex
side being directed outwards, contrary to what occurs in other Rodents.
They are surrounded by enamel, and show re-entering folds which differ
in the two jaws. Their number on each side is five in the upper and
four in the lower jaw. The skull is massive, with enormously-developed
sagittal and occipital crests, the latter of which run forward so far
as to join the zygomatic arches; and these crests rise so high that
the upper surface of the actual brain-case is entirely concealed by
them when the skull is looked at from the side. The lower jaw in its
characters presents some resemblance to the same part in the Leporidæ;
but it has the condyle for its articulation with the skull transverse,
and fitting into a cavity of corresponding direction, a character
which occurs in no other Rodent. Of the remainder of the skeleton we
need only state that the animal possessed perfect clavicles; that the
shoulder-blade and humerus somewhat resemble those of the Beaver; that
the fibula articulated with the heel-bone; and that both front and hind
limbs possessed five toes, some of which, judging from the form of the
terminal joint, were probably furnished with hoof-like claws.
Thus, as regards its affinities in the order Rodentia, _Mesotherium_
presents resemblances in its lower jaw (as also in some peculiarities
of the skull), and in the articulation of the heel with the shank,
to the Hares; while in the shortness of the incisors and some other
cranial peculiarities, the form of the shoulder-blades, and the
probably hoof-like character of the claws, we may notice an approach to
the Cavies, which are also South American forms, and especially to the
Capybara, which it probably resembled in its habits, although, if the
evidence of the Beaver-like shoulder-blade and humerus be taken into
account, it would appear to have been still more aquatic.
On the other hand, the resemblance to certain other Mammalia, and
especially to some aberrant Ungulates, is unmistakable. The number of
incisor teeth is the same as in _Hyrax_, and in these teeth there is
also a certain amount of resemblance to the curious genus _Toxodon_,
in which the incisors are four in the upper and six in the lower jaw,
and worn away in somewhat the same fashion. In _Toxodon_ also, the
convexity of the curve of the molars is turned outwards. Certain other
characters of _Mesotherium_--such as the mode of articulation of the
lower jaw, and the peculiar connection of some of the caudal vertebræ
with the ischiatic bones--present resemblances to the Edentata. As
Mr. Alston says, “It appears to have been a survivor, to Pliocene
times, of a much earlier type, which represented an era at which the
Rodents were not yet clearly marked off from their allies. In fact,
_Mesotherium_ seems to continue _into_ the order Glires that line of
affinity which Professor Flower has pointed out as extending from the
typical Ungulates through _Hyracodon_, _Homalodontotherium_, _Nesodon_,
and _Toxodon_.”
The general relationships of _Mesotherium_ to the other Rodents, and of
these among themselves, are represented by Mr. Alston in a diagrammatic
form, from which the following scheme, which will serve also as a table
of the families, is derived:--
II.--RODENTIA
DUPLICIDENTATA. 4. _Haplodontidæ_. { I.
1. SCIUROMORPHA. 1. _Anomaluridæ_. { -- S
5. _Castoridæ_. 2. _Sciueridæ_. { R I
3. _Ischyromyidæ_. { O M
| { D P
{ E L
6. _Myoxidæ_. 7. _Lophiomyidæ_. { N I
8. _Muridæ_. { T C
10. _Geomyidæ_. 11. _Theridomyidæ_. { I I
2. MYOMORPHA. { A D
II.--RODENTIA 9. _Spalacidæ_. 12. _Dipodidæ_. { E
DUPLICIDENTATA. | { N
| 14. _Hystricidæ_. 13. _Octodontidæ_. { T
| 3. HYSTRICOMORPHA. { A
/----/ \----\ 16. _Dasyproctidæ_. 15. _Chinchillidæ_. { T
20. _Leporidæ_. { A.
17. _Dinomyidæ_. {
19 _Lagomyidæ_. 18. _Caviidæ_. {
| |
III.--RODENTIA HEBETIDENTATA.
21. _Mesotheriidæ_.
It seems quite clear, even from the above brief sketch of the history
of the Rodentia in time, that, except in the case of _Mesotherium_,
the fossil remains of animals belonging to this order furnish us with
no important information bearing upon their alliances and possible
origin. They make their earliest appearances, so far as we know, in
deposits of Eocene age; and the earliest forms the remains of which are
sufficient to give us a clear insight into their nature, are manifestly
members of families, and often nearly allied to species still extant
in the regions where their traces are now found. Thus in Eocene and
Miocene deposits, we have representatives of the families _Sciuridæ_,
_Castoridæ_, _Myoxidæ_, _Muridæ_, _Geomyidæ_, _Chinchillidæ_, and
_Leporidæ_, already differentiated as at the present day, so far as
the evidence goes; and it is clear that we must go much further back
in time to seek the earliest appearance of the Rodent type, whether it
branched off directly from the Marsupial series, or passed, as would
seem to be indicated by _Mesotherium_, through a sequence of forms more
or less related to the Ungulates.
Nor does the geographical distribution of the animals lead to any more
definite conclusions. Certain families and even sub-families are of
very wide range, the Muridæ and Sciuridæ especially being represented
nearly all over the world, while the Hystricidæ and Leporidæ are also
spread over very large areas, occurring in both hemispheres. Certain
groups, such as the Sciuridæ of both sub-families, the Castoridæ,
the Murine, and Arvicoline sub-families of Muridæ, the Leporidæ, and
the Lagomyidæ, may be said to have a circumpolar distribution in the
northern hemisphere, nearly allied and sometimes identical species
being found in the more northern parts of both the Old and the New
World, but mixed with other forms peculiar to the regions, especially
as we advance southwards. On the other hand, the Myoxidæ are peculiar
to the eastern hemisphere, as are also the Spalacidæ and the Dipodidæ
(with the exception of _Zapus_, which is considered by Dr. Coues to
form a distinct family), and all the sub-families of Muridæ, except
those above mentioned as having a circumpolar range. The Myomorpha may
in fact be looked upon as an Old World group, the Geomyidæ being the
only exclusively American family; while the Hystricomorpha as a whole
may be regarded as American, certain aberrant forms of the Octodontidæ
inhabiting various parts of Africa and the Old World Porcupines being
the sole representatives of that great section outside the western
continent. Considering these facts, we may regard the Sciuromorpha
and the Duplicidentata as originally polar types, or at all events
as having an equal claim to an origin in the northern regions of
either continent; while the Myomorpha, with their multitudinous
forms spreading over all parts of the Old World, and having a much
scantier representation in America, probably originated in the eastern
hemisphere, and spread by a northern passage into the New World; and
the Hystricomorpha would seem to have originated in South America,
where they display the greatest variety of forms.
W. S. DALLAS.
[Illustration: GROUP OF SLOTHS (_Arctopithecus griseus_).]
ORDER EDENTATA, OR BRUTA (ANIMALS WITHOUT FRONT TEETH).
CHAPTER I.
TARDIGRADA, OR SLOTHS.
The South American Forests--Discovery of the Sloth--How it derived
its Name--Peculiarities of Dentition--Food--Fore Limbs and
Fingers--Hind Limbs and Heel--Other Modifications of Structure--Kinds
of Sloth--Waterton’s Captive Sloth--Habits of the Animal--Burchell’s
Tame Sloths--Manner of Climbing Trees--Disposition--Activity among
Trees--Naturalists’ Debate about Anatomy--Probable Conclusion
regarding it--Skeleton--Vertebræ--the Rudimentary Tail--Most
Distinctive Skeletal Characters--Arm, Wrist, Hand, Fingers,
Claws--Mode of Walking--Great Utility of the Claws--Face of
Sloth--Skull--Teeth--Classification--_TARDIGRADA_--BRADIPODIDÆ--Genus
BRADYPUS--Characteristics--Genus
ARCTOPITHECUS--Characteristics--CHOLŒPODIDÆ--THE COLLARED
SLOTH--Description--Skull Bones--Habits--Circulation of the
Blood--_Rete Mirabile_--THE AI--THE UNAU--Appearance--Skull and
Teeth--Skeleton--Interesting Anatomical Features--Stomach--HOFFMANN’S
SLOTH--Description--Habits.
When the dense forests of the northern parts of South America were
first explored by Europeans, it was observed that active Spider
Monkeys, Howlers, and their Quadrumanous allies, were not the only
climbing animals which frequented the trees. For every now and then,
hunters came in sight of creatures about the size of a large Monkey,
but whose sluggish movements, long hair, short heads, small ears and
tail, and very long claws, enabled them to be distinguished at once
from their very lively companions. It was noticed that these new
creatures, instead of climbing quickly and swinging from branch to
branch and running along the boughs, moved very slowly, by hanging
head and body downwards and grasping the branches with their long
claws. During the daytime, these quiet animals were constantly found
asleep, huddled up in the fork of a branch, and looking like great
balls of tow, or else hanging by two legs, the rest of the body being
curled up. Now and then, one was seen at the foot of a tree, and it
appeared to run along the ground with great difficulty; for the arms
were so long that it walked on the elbows, and the hind feet were
turned in, so that it supported itself on the sides of its great hind
claws. Naturally, the animal took its time in moving, and as it was
never seen to be lively, it received the name of Sloth. Interesting
from being so different in its habits from other arboreal animals, it
became much more so, to naturalists, when its remarkable construction
was ascertained; but still the hairy creature with a short face, small
head, long neck, hardly any tail, and very long front limbs, retained
its popular name.
A very slight examination of one of the Sloths showed that it had no
front teeth, that is to say, neither incisors nor true canine teeth,
and that the hinder teeth--the false and true molars--were not like
those of any other mammal. The back teeth, few in number, have since
been ascertained to be exceptionally simple in their structure, and
evidently the masticating process is very simple. But when it was
noticed that the Sloth fed upon leaves and young twigs, the absence
of the necessity for more elaborate teeth was acknowledged. Then it
was observed that they had very long arms, or rather fore limbs, for
the fore-arm bones and the humerus are all unusually long, and also
that they had great power of movement. Moreover, it was seen that the
fingers were reduced to three in number in some kinds, and to two in
others, and that they were furnished with long and strong claws, which
did not interfere with a great amount of mobility in the wrist. The
length of limb, the mobility of the wrist, and the great claws, enable
the Sloth to bring the leaves to its mouth, to hang on, and to walk, as
it were, beneath the branches. An examination of the hind limbs showed
that they were shorter than the others, and always furnished, in all
kinds of Sloths, with three great claws. But the ankle seemed to be
turned in, as if there was a state of “club-foot.” This condition would
enable the toes to clasp a bough without effort, but it would prevent
the sole from being placed flat on the ground. As the knowledge of the
anatomy of these constant tree-livers progressed, other modifications
of structure, equally important in relation to the peculiar arboreal
life and food, were gradually discovered. For instance, a remarkable
flexibility of the neck, produced by the peculiar arrangement of
the vertebræ; a _rete mirabile_, to a certain extent, in the limbs,
resembling somewhat that in the Lemurs (Vol. I., pages 213, 245),
and a complicated stomach suited for the digestion of leaves, and
foreshadowing that of the Ruminants.
Two different kinds of Sloths were described in the first instance,
and subsequently, several others. The first kinds known were the Ai, a
Sloth with three claws on the fore limb, and the Two-toed Sloth, with
two claws on the fore limb. The Ai was called _Bradypus tridactylus_,
and the other the Unau, or _Bradypus didactylus_, names which have been
changed somewhat, as will be seen further on.
Sloths are caught without much difficulty, and their habits, in
captivity, have been observed in South America, and also after their
removal to Europe. Waterton writes[56] on the subject:--
“Some years ago I kept a Sloth for several months. I often took him
out of the house and placed him on the ground, in order to have an
opportunity of observing his motions. If the ground were rough he would
pull himself forward by means of his fore-legs, at a pretty good pace,
and he invariably shaped his course towards the nearest tree; but if I
put him upon a smooth and well-trodden part of the road, he appeared
to be in trouble and distress. His favourite abode was the back of a
chair, and often getting all his legs in a line upon the topmost part
of it, he would hang there for hours together. The Sloth, in its wild
state, spends its whole life upon trees, not upon the branches, but
under them; he moves suspended from the branch, he rests suspended
from it, and he sleeps suspended from it; hence his seemingly bungled
conformation is at once accounted for. One day, crossing the Essequibo,
I saw a large Two-toed Sloth on the ground upon the bank, and although
the trees were not twenty yards from him, he could not make his way
through the sand in time enough to make his escape before we landed. He
threw himself on his back and defended himself with his fore-legs. I
took a long stick and held it for him to hook on, and then conveyed him
to a high and stately Mora. He ascended with wonderful rapidity, and in
about a minute he was almost at the top of the tree. He now went off in
a side direction, and caught hold of the branch of a neighbouring tree,
and then proceeded towards the heart of the forest.”
At Santos, in Brazil, in 1826, Mr. Burchell kept a tame Sloth, a
_Bradypus tridactylus_, which at the end of two months pined and
died. It fed exclusively on the buds and leaves of a species of
_Cecropia_, a tree having a slender stem of thirty or forty feet long,
with horizontal branches, hollow internally, and naked, except at
the extremities. It ate only the young shoots and terminal buds of
the unexpanded leaves, rejecting the old leaves on the boughs, which
were brought to it daily. It was always perfectly silent, and its
countenance and manners were most expressive of melancholy. It fed by
day, and slept much; being kept in a room, it sat upright upon its
short tail, embracing the legs of a chair with its arms and legs.
When resident at Para, near the mouth of the Amazons, Mr. Burchell also
kept two full-grown Sloths, and a young one of a three-toed species
(not _Bradypus tridactylus_, but of nearly similar form and habits),
in a garden enclosed with strong stockades. They were kept tied up
to the pillars of a verandah, to prevent their escape. Against these
pillars they always placed themselves in an erect position, embracing
the pillar with all four legs; when not tied to the verandah, they got
up into trees in the garden. They slept both by day and night, always
fixing their arms round something or other. Their food, consisting of
branches, was brought to them in the verandah. They appeared extremely
stupid, and would never come to the food. They would eat no leaves but
those of the _Cecropia_.
They did not mount very large trees, and they ascended with their
breasts pressing the trunk of the tree, advancing the hind-leg beyond
the fore-leg. On the ground, they could neither stand nor walk, but lay
sprawling on their belly, and dragged, or rather warped, themselves
along, laying hold of a bunch of grass or stone with their three claws,
which operated like grappling-irons, or, rather, pincers. All these
died in a month or two. In their wild state they are seldom seen,
from their colour mingling with the grey foliage of the trees, and
from their being so extremely quiet and slow. The tame Sloths never
willingly remained on the ground, except to pass from one tree to
another. All the movements of the animal are slow. It moves its claws
slowly. In eating it chews slowly; it also climbs slowly. The moisture
of the leaves it eats suffices it for drink, without descending to
obtain water. None of those kept by Mr. Burchell were ever seen to
drink. The full-grown animals were never heard to utter any sound,
but the young one occasionally, though rarely, gave a short cry or
whistling squeak, of a single note.
They showed no indication of fear, and seemed to give attention only
with their eyes. They took no notice of the boy who often carried them
across the garden to their place in the verandah, with their long arms
sprawling; the only objects of their regard were trees. They fight on
their backs, and grapple their enemy to strangulation. The use of the
long wool that covers the body, and even the face, seems to be to guard
them from the annoyance of insects. Possibly it may preserve them from
the attacks of Snakes, which are, doubtless, their greatest enemies.
The Sloth spends nearly the whole of its life in the trees, and travels
along the branches body downwards. It rarely comes to the ground, on
which it walks with difficulty, and it occasionally takes to the water
and swims. It looks slothful enough when asleep, for it then resembles
a bunch of rough hair, and a jumble of limbs close together, hanging
to a branch; but when awake, it is industrious in its search for nice
twigs and leaves, and moves along the under side of the branches of the
trees with some activity. It seizes the ends of adjoining branches,
clinging to the leafy mass, and moves from tree to tree quickly enough,
when it is requisite, and it has a very singular power of moving the
head and neck backwards in seeking food. When the atmosphere is still,
the Sloth keeps to its tree, feeding on the leaves and twigs, but when
there is wind, and the branches of neighbouring trees come in contact,
the opportunity is seized, and the animal moves along the forest, under
the shady cover of the boughs. The Indians have a saying that “when
the wind blows the Sloths begin to crawl,” and the reason is thus
evident enough--the animal cannot jump, but it can hang, swing, and
crawl suspended. Mr. Waterton states, however, that “the Sloth travels
at a good round pace, and were you to see him passing from tree to
tree you would never think of calling him a Sloth. Being born up in a
tree, living amongst the branches, feeding on leaves, and finally dying
amidst the foliage, and enjoying life as much as any other animal, its
structure and conformation are, of course, admirably suited for this
arboreal existence. Its power of grasp is great, and is assisted by the
great bent claws as it hangs by its feet when asleep, and also often
when it is dead. One which was much frightened by being taken from the
forest had a pole placed near it at a little distance from the ground,
on two supports. It clung directly to the pole and hung on. A Dog was
then made to attack the Sloth, which seized it in its long claws, and
did not let go until the enemy died.”
Leading thus a very unusual kind of life, up amongst the dense foliage,
and having some very unusual peculiarities of construction, much debate
occurred many years since regarding the general conformation as well as
the special anatomy of the Sloths. One school of anatomists considered
the Sloths incomplete and abnormal animals, moving with “pain” on the
ground, and another regarded their unusual and peculiar anatomy as
singularly beneficent.
But whilst it is perfectly evident that the long limbs and their
joints, and the peculiar turning in of the ankles, and the structure
of the clawed hands and feet, are all admirably adapted for the
peculiar life which the animal leads, it appears to be consistent
with anatomical reasoning to believe that the Sloth is an instance of
retrograde development; that, in fact, the peculiar formation of the
skull, neck, wrists, and ankles, is the result of the laws of disuse
and adaptation operating on ancestral animals, which once had their
anatomy more consistent with a perfect mammalian type.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE SLOTH.]
When the Sloths were first carefully watched and studied, their length
of neck and their ability to turn the head, so as to look at a person
standing directly behind or beneath them, without swerving the body,
struck Mr. Burchell especially. This curious peculiarity led to a
careful examination of the skeleton of the different kinds, and much
discussion followed, for it was found that in the Sloth examined (the
Three-clawed Ai) there were more neck bones (vertebræ of the cervical
region) than in other Mammalia. Instead of the common number of seven
neck bones, there were nine. This elongation of the neck of course
permitted a greater amount of twisting than could occur in an animal
with fewer neck bones. But there are other reasons why the head can
be so much twisted round, for the spines on the neck bones are small,
and the joint between the skull and the first vertebra is so fashioned
that this remarkable motion is possible. There was a great deal of
discussion about the extra neck bones, and as the last two had rib-like
projections from their sides, some anatomists considered them to belong
to the true rib-bearing vertebræ, or those of the back (the dorsal).
But when the other Sloths were examined it was found that the number of
the bones of the neck in all the two-fingered kinds was not as great as
in other animals. There are only six neck vertebra in one well-known
species (_Cholœpus Hoffmanni_, for instance), whilst there are seven in
another two-toed Sloth.
Eating largely and of bulky substances, the Sloths require a large
digestive cavity, and the ribs are numerous, and the body is long
and broad. There is much variation, however, in the number of the
back bones in the dorsal and lumbar regions. Thus in the Ai there are
sixteen dorsal and three lumbar vertebræ, whilst in the Two-fingered
Sloth there may be twenty-three or twenty-four dorsal bones, and two,
three, or four lumbar vertebræ. The ribs are close together and are
broad. As the hind limbs require strong muscles, for the animal hangs
on by them whilst it is feeding itself with the fore hands, the pelvis
is large and is strengthened by having the hip and haunch bones (ilia
and ischia) united to the conjoined sacral vertebræ, which may be six,
seven, or eight in number. Moreover, all the strength of the pelvis is
behind, the fore part or pubic bones being slender and united in front.
Some small tail bones exist, for that organ is rudimentary in all the
Sloths, there being a stump in the Ai, and eleven very small bones; but
in the Two-fingered Sloths the tail is not visible, and there are four
little ossicles. There are no long and very prominent spines to any
of the back bones, and the whole bony column of the spine is readily
curved and bent. The animals so constantly bring the hands and feet
close together, when hanging, that a ready bending of the spine is
absolutely necessary. Moreover, in sleeping they often rest in the fork
of a tree, or on a branch, and place the head between the hind legs,
rolling the body up as it were in a ball, and this is facilitated by
the peculiar construction of the long chain of back bones with small
spines.
The most distinctive character of the skeleton of the Sloth is the
excess of length of the fore limb over the hind one. An examination of
the slender bones of the arm shows that they are more solid than those
of most Mammals. The arm bone (humerus) has a hole through it in the
inner expanded part, just above the elbow (inner condyle), in the Ai;
but this is not found in the two-toed kinds. The wrist and hand are
long and narrow, and this is produced by the union of some bones which
are separate in other Mammalia, and the slight development of others.
Thus there are six bones in the wrist instead of eight (the scaphoid
and trapezium, and the os magnum and trapezoid have coalesced). In
the Ai there are three clawed fingers, and the bones of the thumb and
of the little finger are absent, and their corresponding hand bones
(metacarpals) are very small, and are joined on to the next, that is,
to the metacarpal of the index and third finger.
The three fingers are, moreover, strengthened for their peculiar uses,
the first two joints being united, and the tip or last joint being
very long, and supporting the claw. Moreover, as the long claws are
constantly half closed in the hand, and they are never required to be
widely open, the tip of the finger is so made that flexion is possible,
but not unclasping widely. The skin comes up to the base of the claws,
and encloses the fingers, and the base of each claw is protected by a
bony sheath. They form capital hooks; they grasp, and although there is
no opposable thumb, they hold the food; and a tame Sloth may be seen
holding a carrot very firmly between them and the wrist. In the case of
the Unau Sloth, the outer claw is the longer.
[Illustration: BONES OF HAND OF THREE-TOED SLOTH.]
The Sloths walk on the outside of the extremities of the fore and
hind limbs, and their claws are always curved in, and, as it were,
retracted. Consequently, the animal cannot place the soles flat on
the ground, and it cannot open its foot-claws to a great extent. This
fixing of the claws assists in the clasping and hanging, which are the
usual and commonest attitudes. The claws surpass the foot in length,
and are so sharp and crooked that they readily seize upon the smallest
inequalities in the bark of the trees and branches upon which the
animals habitually reside. They and those of the fore limb are no mean
weapons of offence and defence, for, situated at the end of long and
muscular arms, they can drag, cling, and hold with great tenacity. The
thigh bone (femur) of the Sloth is straight, and is thicker and shorter
than the arm bone (humerus); it has no ligament to unite it to the
joint (no ligamentum teres). On examining the lower bones of the leg
(the tibia and fibula), they will be found to be bent, so as to leave
a space between them, and they are shorter than the bones of the fore
arm. The bones of the ankle joint, are united together immovably--that
is to say, the usual bones seen in other Mammalia are there, but
are united by bone. Moreover, this union includes the complete and
ill-developed feet bones (metatarsals), and the first bones of the
second, third, and fourth fingers. One bone is not included in this
strange union. It is the astragalus, or the bone immediately jointed
with the ends of the bones of the legs. The outer or small bone of the
leg (fibula) fits into a pit in the outer part of the upper surface of
this bone, and thus prevents any movement of the foot like a twisting
outwards, and favours, but does not produce, the usual position of
twisting inwards. Moreover, there are two powerful muscles in the front
of the leg which are not opposed by others as strong, and they, by
their contraction, keep the foot twisted inwards, as in club-foot (the
anterior tibial and the long extensor of the great toe).
In the Unau, or Two-fingered Sloth, there is the same general
arrangement of the bones and muscles, with some important differences,
which result in there being a greater amount of bending and extending
of the foot, although the foot rests on its outer edge.
A Sloth’s face is short, and there is a broad snub nose, with round
nostrils, which are widely open. The cheeks become wide suddenly,
and the forehead slopes rapidly backwards, the eyes being wide apart
and small, but looking forwards. The head is small and round, and
as it is covered with hair behind, it cannot be distinguished well
from the upper part of the back of the neck. The expression of the
face is always the same, and the method of masticating and eating is
disagreeable to observe. The animal having no front teeth, and moving
its jaws usually only upwards and downwards, and not from side to
side, places the morsel, such as lettuce leaf or carrot, well into its
mouth, and chews at it, dragging out the food every now and then, when
it is covered with moisture. On examining the skull, the short cut
off or truncated appearance of the face is very evident, and it will
be observed that the teeth are wanting in the front bones of the face
(the pre-maxillaries), and that only the palatal part of these bones
exists. The lower jaw is strongly jointed to the upper, and the back
part is large: there are teeth at the sides, but there are none in the
front part of it. A very singular-looking cheek bone (zygoma) exists
on either side. It is not attached behind to the ear bone, so as to
cover the jaw muscles, but it has two processes behind--an upper and
a lower--which differ in shape and size according to the species. The
central bone of the nose does not reach to the nasal outlet, and there
is a system of air-cavities which is continued from the nose into the
forehead bone. In some kinds, the lower jaw ends abruptly in front, as
in the Ai; but in the Unau Sloths it is slightly angular, and projects.
The back teeth of the Sloths are very simple, and consist of three
structures, called vaso-dentine, hard dentine, and cement, there being
no proper enamel. The vaso-dentine is a kind of bony substance in
the centre of the tooth, in which there are the passages and tubes
of blood-vessels. The dentine is outside this, and consists of more
earthy particles than the vaso-dentine, and of fewer tubes; it is
all the denser and more resistant. Wearing away more slowly than the
vaso-dentine, it forms a ridge which grinds easily. The cement is a
kind of bony structure on the outside of the tooth. The teeth of the
Sloth continue to grow from below as they are worn above, and there is
no entire milk set which are replaced by those of a permanent kind.
[Illustration: SKULL OF SLOTH.[57]
(From the _Proceedings of the Zoological Society_.)]
The term Sloth is commonly applied to all the kinds of animals whose
general shape and habits have just been noticed. It is evident,
however, that this union of several species under one term is not
correct in zoology, and it is necessary to distinguish them by
peculiarities which are permanent. A very ready method of distinction
is to separate the Sloths into two families, one containing those which
have three claws on the fore limbs and the same number on the hind
limbs, and the second including those which have only two claws on the
fore feet and three on the hinder.
The first family is called the BRADYPODIDÆ, from βραδύς (slow), and
πούς (foot), and the second CHOLŒPODIDÆ, from χωλός (halting, lame),
and πούς (foot), and both are included in the group TARDIGRADA, or
slow-moving _Edentata_.
The BRADYPODIDÆ include two genera, but many naturalists only
acknowledge one. The first is _Bradypus_. This includes the Sloths with
three-clawed fingers on the fore limbs, whose males and females are
alike in their fur, and which have the cheek bone (malar bone) with
two processes. The upper one is long and dilated at the end, and the
lower is long and triangular, and neither of the processes reaches the
ear bone. There are in these Sloths, when full grown, five molar teeth
on each side in both jaws, and the first is very short. There are two
mammæ on the chest.
The second genus is _Arctopithecus_ (Gray), and it contains species
which have the males and females dissimilar in their colour and
ornamentation, and the malar bone has a thin and narrow upper process.
The second family of the Sloths (the CHOLŒPODIDÆ) contains but one
genus, _Cholœpus_ (the Unau), whose species have two claws on the fore
limbs and three on the hind ones. The front of the lower jaw is stuck
out, and not cut short, and the first molar teeth are long.
The genus _Bradypus_ probably contains several species, but it is only
necessary to mention one, which is called
THE COLLARED SLOTH, OR THE HAIRY SLOTH.[58]
This Sloth lives in the densest forests of Brazil, Peru, and Para, and
is found not far from Rio Janeiro.
It is a kind of the Three-clawed Sloths, in which there is little
or no difference between the fur of the males and females. The neck
is surrounded by a large collar of long black hair, and underneath
this is a fur of a dark-brown colour. The face is naked, and is of a
black colour, and the hair of the body is not very flattened, but is
withered-looking to a certain extent. The forehead, temples, chin,
throat, and breast are covered with reddish or rust-coloured hair,
slightly grizzled. On the crown of the head it is long and yellow, and
pale orange on the rest of the body. This Sloth produces one at a birth.
The lower jaw has a kind of blunted lobe in front, and the angle of
this jaw is broad, triangular, with a rounded lower edge, and it
projects backwards beyond the joint which connects the bone with the
skull. The cheek bone has those peculiarities which have already been
mentioned. The teeth are peculiar, for the first or foremost grinders
are smaller than the others, and the second upper grinder is the
largest of all. The first grinder on the lower jaw is broader than the
rest, and the hinder are the largest, being also cylindrical.
[Illustration: COLLARED SLOTH. (From Prince Maximilian of Neuwied’s
_Animals of Brazil_.)]
It has the general method of living of the Sloths, being perhaps not
quite so lively or active as the Unau, and feeds mainly on _Cecropia_
leaves, finishing those of one tree as far as it can before commencing
those of another. Like all the Sloths, it has the power of long and
sustained muscular action, and can cling on, or grasp, for a very long
time without perceptible fatigue, and this gift is associated with a
structure of the blood-vessels which supply the muscles, resembling, as
we have said, that noticed in some of the Lemurs. The main artery which
supplies each of the fore limbs is the axillary, so called from its
being found in the armpit or axilla. In quickly-moving animals this
vessel reaches into the upper arm, and divides into a few rather large
ones lower down, and these give off others, so that a certain quantity
of blood is supplied and removed quickly. But in the Sloths the
axillary artery divides at once into a number of cylindrical vessels
nearly as large as it is, and they are united here and there. These
unusual arteries are found in contact with the surface of the muscles,
and their branches go in and amongst the muscular bundles. As many as
forty-two of these large vessels were counted by Sir A. Carlisle, on
the surface of the muscles on the front of the arm, and probably about
twenty were inside. These arteries thus carry an immense supply of
blood to the muscles, but blood which, although it is finally removed
by the veins, does not move very rapidly. In fact, the muscles are
turgid with blood. The same arterial structure is seen in the hinder
limbs, and the arteries of the thigh form as numerous a set as those of
the arm.
[Illustration: AI. (From the _Proceedings of the Zoological Society_.)]
It seems to be in accordance with careful investigation, to state that
the species of Sloth called _Bradypus tridactylus_ (the Three-toed
Sloth, or Ai) has too large a meaning, and that it really refers to
the Collared Sloth, as well as to others which have been placed in the
next genus. It is as well to remark here, that although there are three
clawed fingers to the fore limb, there are vestiges of two other ones
by their side in the form of two rudimentary metacarpal bones.
GENUS ARCTOPITHECUS.--THE AI.[59]
Several kinds of three-clawed Sloths have been called Ai; for instance,
the Yellow-throated Ai, and De Blainville’s Ai, and all have been
named _Bradypus tridactylus_. Dr. Gray, however, satisfied himself
that the kind which was first described by Cuvier as the Ai, and which
is figured in Prince Maximilian of Neuwied’s “Animals of Brazil,” is
the same as one which has since been called _Arctopithecus Ai_, or
_Arctopithecus flaccidus_. The word _Ai_ is taken from the noise made
by the animal, and the term _flaccidus_ relates to its long hair.
The true Ai inhabits Venezuela and Peru, and has very long flaccid
grey hair mottled with white. There is an abundant under-fur of a
blackish-brown colour, which has white and black in spots and blotches.
There is a small spot between the shoulders on the back, where the fur
is soft and woolly, and a broad, short, blackish streak there, with
a white or orange ring around it. The claws are coloured brown. The
head has a curiously-cut short and turned-up nose appearance, and is
furnished with coarse shaggy hair, disposed on the crown in a diverging
manner. The short hair of the face contrasts with the long, shaggy,
shrivelled, dry, hay-looking hair of the body. This hair is coarse and
flattened at the ends, but it is exceptionally fine at the roots, and
it greatly resembles in colour and texture some of the vegetation of
the trees on which it lives. The eyes are bright, and are surrounded
by a dark ring. Several species of the genus Arctopithecus have been
described which live in Guiana, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela.
[Illustration: SKULL OF AI.]
The next genus of the Sloths is represented by
THE TWO-FINGERED SLOTH (THE UNAU).[60]
There are several kinds of Sloths with two “toes,” or rather with two
fingers ending in claws on the fore limb, but the differences between
the species are not very readily appreciated. They are differences
which can be recognised, but it is doubtful whether the possession of
dark brown or pale brown hair is sufficient to decide that there are
more than one species.
The common Unau Sloth is usually of a darker tint than the others, but
there is no doubt that the specimens in museums of all these Sloths
vary much in the colour and length of the hair. Thus the hair may be
generally dark, and the hairs of the crest on the back of the head
may be white, and more or less tinted with bright green; or the hair
may be short, of a dark brown colour, paler on the rump, much paler
on the head, cheeks, and chin; a band may be across the nose, and the
orbits dark brown. Others of the same species have very long hair, of
an uniform dark tint, paler on the head and redder beneath, whilst one
from Juan de Fuca has short hair, without any indication of a crest.
From Brazil there are specimens with long paler hair and a crest. All
these specimens, however, have pale whitish claws.
A Unau from Columbia is of a pale and whitey-brown paper colour, darker
at the root of the hairs, and it has pale fawn-coloured claws.
In all these animals with different kinds of furs, the two-clawed
condition is peculiar to the fore limbs only, for on the hinder there
are three claws, and it is to be remarked that the hair and skin unite
the fingers and toes close up to the base of the claws. The skull of
the Unau is rather projecting in front, and not, as it were, quite
cut off close; and there is a great gap in the upper and lower gums
in front, the incisor teeth being absent, of course. But at the side
of the mouth there is a longish tooth above and below, looking like
a canine, but really it is the front molar, which in both jaws and
on both sides is longer and larger than the others. The under teeth
belonging to the lower molar set are placed behind the corresponding
upper ones when the mouth is shut.
The cheek or malar bone is seen, on looking at the skull, to be
separated from the ear bone, and to have a forked end posteriorly, the
lower part of the fork extending downwards and backwards.
The lower jaw is very straight: it projects a little, in front and
behind, where it is jointed with the upper jaw, there is no upright
portion or branch, or ascending ramus. The last back tooth is just in
front of a curved piece of bone called the coronoid process, the base
of which is on a level with the line of the teeth.
This Sloth has seven neck bones (cervical vertebræ), and the last one
has a very small and rudimentary rib attached to it on either side.
There are no less than twenty-three dorsal vertebræ found to be with
ribs. The Unau has a clavicle which is much smaller in the other group.
It has no tail. The structure of the ankle joint enables it to turn
in, even more than that of the Three-clawed Sloth. As the habits of
the Unau Sloth are the same as those with three claws, and all live
in the same great district, these anatomical distinctions are very
interesting, and relate to their remote ancestors, being hereditary
legacies, which are of little or no importance in assisting the
creature merely to live. One of the differences between the Sloths is
singular. The Unaus have a very remarkably formed stomach, which may
be said to be double. The first stomach is large and rounded, but it
is contracted behind, and then formed into a kind of conical appendix.
This appendix is doubled from left to right, and its cavity has a
fold at its opening into the stomach. It forms a special part of the
first stomach. Then it is to be noticed, that where the food enters
the stomach, or at the opening, which is called the cardia, there is
a pouch, looking like a bag at the end of the tube which runs down
from the gullet to the stomach. This is the second part of the first
stomach: and the third is a tube-like space which connects the cardia
with the stomach far away to the left. These three cavities form the
first stomach. The second stomach is of a slender form, and is very
much smaller than the other. Its walls are thin for the first half of
its length, but towards the spot where the gut commences (the pylorus)
they are thick and muscular. A small fold occurs midway. There is a
fold in the body of the smaller or second stomach, and there is a
little hollow there with glands in it, and it is called the appendix to
the second stomach.
[Illustration: STOMACH OF SLOTH.]
The stomach is thus rather complicated, and its internal mucous
membrane is so thrown into folds, and made into hollow spaces, that it
occupies much more space than if it were a simple bag. This plan is
also well seen in those ruminating animals which, like the Ox, live
entirely upon vegetable substances; and it is evident that the diet of
the Sloth bears some relation to the complicated stomach.
In the Ai, the appendix to the second stomach is larger than that of
the Unau Sloth, and is more complicated.
HOFFMANN’S SLOTH.[61]
This is a Sloth with two clawed fingers on the fore, and with three
claws on the hinder extremities. Living specimens are occasionally
brought to Europe, especially from Porto Rico, so that its general
appearance may now and then be studied at the Zoological Gardens,
in the Regent’s Park. If it be looked at there in the day-time, it
certainly merits the name of Sloth, for it resembles a bundle of long,
light, brown hair, fixed on the top of a bar of wood close to an
upright branch, or huddled up in a corner on the ground; but in the
morning, and also late in the evening, the creature begins to move
slowly, and to look out for the food put for its use on the floor of
the den. All the Hoffmann’s Sloths have pale brown hair, whiter at the
tips, and a white face, showing a brown band across the nose, extending
to a ring round each eye. They have also a long and full crest of hair
on the neck, and the hair on the limbs is darker than that of the
rest of the animal. Dr. Peters, who discovered this Sloth, examined
the skeleton, and found only six vertebræ in the neck, and in this it
differs from the _Cholœpus_ just noticed.
When its food, consisting of carrots and lettuce, and bread-and-milk,
is put down in the morning it is soon in movement, and enjoys its meal
hanging down from a bar with its hind legs, and resting its back on
the floor of the cage. It seizes the food between the claws and the
long straight palm of the fore-foot, and passes it into its mouth,
chewing actively with the molar teeth, especially with the first,
which are sharp. It cares little for the spectators, and when it has
finished, slowly mounts up into a corner of its little den and settles
down to sleep. In the evening it becomes lively, for it is, and,
indeed, all Sloths are, nocturnal in habit. The hairless snout, of a
light red tint, the absence of “smellers,” the little eyes with a few
hairs around them, and the broad forehead, give the animal a curious
appearance. The hair is brushed back on the forehead, and comes around
the very small ears on to the cheeks, and is whitey-brown, and this
same tint is seen over the whole of the back in long slender hairs. But
the under hair is light red or red-brown. The long and slender hand,
with its two claws, contrasts with the rather bulky upper part of the
limbs, and the flesh-coloured palms are very remarkable.
[Illustration: HOFFMANN’S SLOTH.]
The whole of the Sloths lead very monotonous lives; their food is
ever within their reach, and it is abundant, and they do not appear
to have to compete much or at all in the struggle for existence with
other animals. Their enemies are Snakes and the Carnivora, but it is
evident that they are much more readily preserved by their habits from
the latter than from the former. Leading such an uneventful existence,
there is no great call upon their nervous energies or intelligence,
and these are at a low pitch. The brain consequently is very simple in
regard to convolutions, which are few in number and shallow.
CHAPTER II.
THE ANT-EATERS.
THE CAPE ANT-EATER--The Cage at “the Zoo”--Appearance of the
Animal--Its Prey--The Ant-hills--How the Orycteropus obtains
its Food--Place in the Order--Teeth--Skull--Tongue--Interesting
Questions concerning the Ant-eater--THE PANGOLINS, OR SCALY
ANT-EATERS--THE AFRICAN SCALY ANT-EATERS--Differences between the
Pangolins and Cape Ant-eaters--Their Habitat--Description--TEMMINCK’S
PANGOLIN--Habits--Food--How it Feeds--Superstitious Regard for
it shown by the Natives--Scarcity--Appearance--THE LONG-TAILED,
OR FOUR-FINGERED PANGOLIN--THE GREAT MANIS--THE ASIATIC SCALY
ANT-EATERS--THE SHORT-TAILED, OR FIVE-FINGERED PANGOLIN--The
Species of _Manis_--Skull--Stomach--Claws fitted for Digging--Other
Skeletal Peculiarities--THE AMERICAN ANT-EATERS--General
Appearance--Genera--THE GREAT ANT-BEAR--Habits--Diet--How
it Procures its Food--Distribution--Mode and Rate of
Locomotion--Stupidity--Manner of Assault and Defence--Stories
of its Contests with other Animals--Appearance--THE
TAMANDUA--Description--Where Found--Habits--Odour--THE TWO-TOED
ANT-EATER--Appearance--Two-clawed Hand--Habits--Von Sach’s Account of
his Specimen.
THE CAPE ANT-EATER.[62]--THE AARD-VARK.
In one of the cages in the house, close to where the Kangaroos are
kept, in the Zoological Gardens of London, there is usually a heap of
straw to be seen and an empty dish. Outside the cage is placed the
name of an animal, “The Cape Ant-eater.” People look and wait, and as
neither the animal nor the Ants it eats are to be seen, they go away,
supposing that the absence of the last-named insects has caused the
destruction of the animal, whose straw alone remains.
But in the evening, and sometimes in the morning, when the food is
placed in the cage--not Ants, however--a long pair of stuck-up ears,
looking like those of a gigantic Hare with a white skin and little fur,
may be seen poked up above the straw; and, soon after, a long white
muzzle, with small sharp eyes between it and the long ears, comes into
view.
Then a very fat and rather short-bodied animal with a long head and
short neck, low fore and large hind quarters, with a bowed back, comes
forth, and finally a moderately long fleshy tail is seen. It is very
pig-like in the look of its skin, which is light-coloured and has a few
hairs on it. Moreover, the snout is somewhat like that of a Pig, but
the mouth has a small opening only, and to make the difference between
the animals decided, out comes a worm-shaped long tongue covered with
mucus. The animal has to content itself with other fare than Ants in
England, but it seems to thrive, and as it walks slowly on the flat of
its feet and hands to its food, they are seen to be armed with very
powerful claws.
In Southern Africa, whence this animal came, it is as rarely seen by
ordinary observers as in England, for there it burrows into the earth
with its claws, and makes an underground place to live in, and is
nocturnal in its habits, sleeping by day.
The Orycteropus, which means digging-up foot, from ὀρύσσω (to dig
up), and πούς (foot), is the deadly foe of the Ants of all kinds, and
especially of those which, like the White Ants, live in large colonies
and build nests.
These nest-building Ants abound in certain districts, but not in the
region of the downs or karoos, nor where it is very dry and woody.
They choose the country which is covered with a poor and so-called
“sour” grass, and there they dig galleries in the ground, fetch earth
from far and wide, and erect large rounded mounds of an elliptical
figure, and often from three to seven feet in height. Apparently fond
of company, the Ants congregate, and these gigantic hills of theirs are
often crowded together and occupy the plains, as far as the eye can
reach. The nests, or hills, are solidly built, and contain innumerable
ants. This is the favourite resort of the Orycteropus, and the insects
are his sole food then. Wherever ant-hills are found, there is a good
chance of finding one of these Aard-varks, or Innagus, or Ant-Bears, as
the Dutch and natives call them, leading a sort of mole-like life. But
he is not easy to catch if the stories told be true. It is stated that
the long strong flattened claws and short extremities, worked by their
strong muscles, enable the animal to burrow in the soft soil as quickly
as the hunters can dig, and that in a few minutes it will get out of
the way; moreover, its strength is sufficient to resist the efforts of
two or three men to drag it out of the hole. But when fairly caught,
the Ant-eater does not resist much; it has no front teeth or eye teeth
to do any harm with, and it can be killed easily by a blow on the
head. The Ant-eater runs slowly, and never moves far from the entrance
of its burrow, being seen to do so only at night-time. The burrows
are often two feet in diameter and three or four feet deep before
they branch off. Night is the time for Ant-eating, for the active and
industrious insects are then all at home and within their solid nests.
Then the Orycteropus sallies forth, finds a fresh nest, sprawls over
it, and scratches a hole in its side, using his strong claws, and
then introduces his long snout. Having satisfied himself that there
is no danger at hand, the animal protrudes its long slimy tongue into
the galleries and body of the nest, and it is at once covered with
enraged Ants, which stick to it, and are finally returned with it into
the mouth. This goes on over and over again, until the appetite is
satisfied; and apparently the diet is excellent, for the Ant-eater is
generally fat, and indeed his hams are appreciated as a delicacy for
their peculiar flavour, into which that of formic acid is said to enter.
[Illustration: CAPE ANT-EATER.]
Although without an armour to its body, and provided with only a thick
skin and bristles, the Orycteropus has a great resemblance in many
points of its anatomy to the Armadillos of America. It is more closely
allied to them than to the other Edentata. It is one of the order of
Edentata, for there are no front teeth in the jaws, the incisors and
canines being absent. The teeth are found in the back part of the
mouth, and there are five on each side and in the upper and lower
jaws, or twenty in all; there are also some small teeth which fall out
during the growth of the animal. As might be expected from the very
simple nature of the diet, the teeth are not at all complicated in
their structure. They increase in size from before backwards, the last
tooth but one being the largest, and all are peculiar in their minute
construction. The first permanent tooth, which may be called a molar,
is cylindrical in shape, and consists of a centre of very remarkable
substance, for the body of the tooth is composed of a great number of
vertical canals placed side by side, and running up the tooth. It was
this interesting structure, so different to that of other animals,
which led Cuvier to compare the teeth to pieces of cane. Outside this
part of the tooth is a hard and more solid substance. When the teeth
are unworn, this outer covering covers their top, but as it wears
off the tubular appearance is seen, and the ends of the tubes become
exposed. The teeth have no fangs like those of such orders of Mammalia
as the Carnivora and Insectivora, and they increase in length by
growth from below, so that the wear above is continually compensated
for. The second tooth resembles the first in its minute construction,
but appears like two cylinders fixed together, a longitudinal groove
indicating the junction, and this is the appearance presented by most
of the others. The hindermost teeth resemble the first molars. The
dental number varies according to age, and the presence or absence of
the teeth which are not permanent. The jaws, in which the teeth are
fixed, are long, and the lower one is low, but there is an ascending
back part, or ramus; consequently, the face is long and low. The eye
is placed far from the ear, and is small. Its bony case, or orbit, and
its surrounding bones, are somewhat remarkable for an Edentate, for
there is a lachrymal bone, and the tear canal is open on the bony face.
Moreover, the malar bone is united to the ear bone by a complete arch,
the zygoma, and the deficiency so remarkable in some other Edentates
is thus not observed. The pre-maxillary bones are also to be seen, in
front of the face. In this completeness of the bones of the face this
animal is a true mammal, but in the nature and extent of the ear bones,
the Orycteropus has some resemblance to reptiles and birds.
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE CAPE ANT-EATER.]
The tongue is long, narrow, and flat, and can be protruded considerably
beyond the mouth, but not so far as those of the other insect-eating
Edentata; and in order to keep up a supply of thick mucus, the glands
under and at its side, or the sub-maxillary, are very large and active
in their functions. The stomach is moderately bulky and not simple,
for the portion towards the right has very thick muscular walls, and
the rest is thin. The intestine has a blind gut, or cæcum.[63] In
fact, the stomach and blind gut might belong to an animal which eats
something more bulky and less nutritious than Ants, and would be of use
to the creature, did it eat vegetable matters. All these structures,
the simple teeth, the tear bones, the size of the ear bones, the
Sloth-like teeth, with tubes, however, and the peculiarities about the
intestinal canal are, it must be remembered, associated with the life
of a purely insectivorous animal. Why has it not the kind of teeth of
the Insectivora and their stomach? and why should it combine high and
low characters in its skull? These are questions which, when attempted
to be answered, show that in the great philosophy of nature causes and
effects are not everything, and that the same definite methods of life
may be followed by animals very differently constituted.
The claws of the Orycteropus and the limbs are admirably suited for
its kind of life. There are five claws on the hind limbs and four on
the front, and they are long, slightly curved, flat, and scooped out
below. The burrowing is facilitated by the arrangement of the claws as
regards length, and they diminish in size from within outwards. There
is a collar bone. The foot rests evenly on the ground and not on its
outside, and the body is supported either by the whole foot or by the
palm surface of the claws. The fore arm can be rotated more or less,
and the pronator quadratus[64] muscle enables this necessary action to
be carried out. The _Orycteropus capensis_ lives over a wide extent of
country in South Africa, in Caffraria, and in the western districts. A
closely-allied species lives in Senegal (_Orycteropus senegalensis_,
Less.); and a third is found in Southern Nubia, near the White Nile
(_Orycteropus æthiopicus_, Sund.).
THE PANGOLINS, OR SCALY ANT-EATERS.[65]
THE AFRICAN SCALY ANT-EATERS.
An animal living in the same country, on the same kind of food, and
having many of the habits of the Cape Ant-eater, especially as it
belongs to the same order of the animal kingdom, might be expected
to resemble it in shape and in most of the important parts of its
construction. But the comparison between the Ant-eater, just described,
and the Scaly Ant-eater, shows that these animals have some very
remarkable differences. The Scaly Ant-eater is toothless, and covered
with scales.
[Illustration: TEMMINCK’S PANGOLIN.]
Formerly, the Scaly Ant-eaters roamed far south in Africa, but now
they are rare animals in South Africa, in the west of the continent,
and across to Sennaar. They are found in Zanzibar, and as far south
as the latitude of Mozambique. They are small animals, of from two to
nearly five feet in length, with long tails; and their body, limbs, and
tail are covered with numerous large, somewhat angular, and sharp-edged
scales, as with armour. The scales overlap each other like tiles,
and the free part pointing backwards is bluntly angular or rounded
at the tip. When the animal is on its feet walking, they form a very
close and impenetrable covering, being doubtless of great use to the
creature, for it must trust entirely to its defences, having no weapon
of offence. But when the Scaly Ant-eater is alarmed or threatened with
danger, or positively attacked, it rolls itself up like a ball, places
the snout between the legs, and the tail underneath, and then sticks up
its scales, offering their sharp edges to the enemy. There are several
kinds of them, and one in particular was noticed by Dr. Smith, the
African traveller, and was named after the zoologist Temminck, MANIS
TEMMINCKII. He observed that it was rarely seen, but that when it was
discovered, instead of burrowing, it did not attempt to escape, but
rolled itself up instantly in the shape of a ball, taking especial
care of its head, which is the only part unarmoured and likely to be
injured. He states that Ants form its chief and favourite food, and
that it secures them by extending its projectable tongue into holes
which may exist in the habitations of those insects, or which it may
itself form. The tongue having made an entry, it is soon covered with
a multitude of insects, and as it is well lubricated with saliva, they
are held fast, and when a full load is ready, the retracting muscles
act on the tongue and the whole is carried back into the mouth, after
which the Ants are swallowed. The same traveller accounts for the
scarcity of the Scaly Ant-eaters, partly from the disinclination of the
natives to discover them for strangers, and partly because they are
environed with supernatural gifts in their eyes. They are carefully
sought for, by the natives, for their own use and supposed advantage,
for they believe the animal to have some influence on cattle, and that
certain treatment to which they are exposed produces this. Whenever
a specimen is secured by the natives, it is submitted to fire in
some cattle-pen, apparently as a burnt offering for the increase of
the health and fertility of all cattle which may henceforward enter
the fold. “Here,” writes Dr. Smith, “we have another cause for the
obliteration of a species. Intolerance of their aggression has wrought
up the shepherd or agriculturist to the destruction of some; but in
this case, a species is probably dying out under the influence of a
superstition.”
[Illustration: FOUR-FINGERED PANGOLIN.]
They burrow even in rather hard ground, and feed at night time. It has
been noticed that the mother sits upright when enticing the young to
suckle.
This _Manis_ has rather a short head, and a wide body, and the tail is
as long as the trunk: it is rather less in width near the body, and
does not diminish much near the end. In a specimen which is twenty-five
inches and a half long, the back of the animal is eight inches across,
and the tail at its root is five inches broad. The scales are large,
and are in about eleven rows. The body is of a pale yellowish-brown
colour, the scales being lightest in tint near their points, and they
are often streaked with yellow. Where the scales are wanting the skin
is dusky brown. The eyes are reddish-brown, and the muzzle is black.
The nails of the fore feet are bent under, so that the animal walks on
their upper part. The scales are composed of hairs placed side by side
and agglutinated together, and when first formed, and for some little
time after, they are soft. They cover the upper part of the fore and
hind extremities besides the body, and are striated. This kind lives in
Eastern Africa, Sennaar, Caffraria, Kordofan, and Latakoo.
THE LONG-TAILED, OR FOUR-FINGERED PANGOLIN.[66]
This Ant-eater is from two to three feet in length, and the tail is
twice as long as the body. It inhabits the Guinea Coast and the Gaboon,
and probably Senegal. It is a dark brown animal, with the hair of the
face and under sides black in tint. There are eleven series of scales,
with the end rounded, and a central prominence.
Buffon described a pale brown or horn-coloured, very scaly, long-tailed
Ant-eater as a Phatagin, but it is correctly called _Manis tricuspis_,
from the scales having three projections on them. It lives in Western
Africa, Fernando Po, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
THE GREAT MANIS.[67]
This scaled Ant-eater is thirty inches long in the body, and its tail
measures twenty-five inches in length. The great tail lessens to the
end, and the scales are striated at the base, the whole colour being
pale brown. It is an interesting animal from its likeness to one of the
Asiatic species, the _Manis pentadactyla_ (Linn.); but the difference
in the length of tail is remarkable. It has been found in West Africa,
Guinea, and in the Cape Coast Castle district.
THE ASIATIC SCALY ANT-EATERS.
There is one point of great interest about the genus _Manis_, and it is
that it is not restricted to Africa, for some species are found over
a wide extent of country in India. They live there in a region from
the Himalayan Mountains to Ceylon, and eastward to Sumatra and Java,
and in Southern China as far as Amoy, Hainan, and Formosa. They afford
an instance of closely-allied animals now living in large districts
which are separated by seas, deserts, mountains, and rivers, and other
impassable barriers. The Javanese are said to have called the animal,
from the fact of its rolling itself up, Pangolin, and the Bengalese
termed it the Reptile of Stone. The first to be noticed is--
THE SHORT-TAILED, OR FIVE-FINGERED PANGOLIN.[68]
This is supposed to be the Phattage of Ælian, and much resembles
Temminck’s _Manis_ from South Africa. It has a small head, which is
pointed and long at the muzzle; the body is rather stout, and the tail
is short, broad at the root. The back scales are in longitudinal rows,
eleven in number, and they are smaller than those of the African kind.
It has the under part of the body, head, and feet naked, and more or
less hairy, and some long, fair-coloured hairs spring from between the
scales. The middle claw of the fore-foot exceeds the others in size.
They feed on white Ants especially. They are found in Bengal, Madras,
and Assam.
A _Manis_ with a tail as long as the body, and with the scales of the
hind feet acutely pointed, and the front and hind claws nearly equal in
size, is found in Sumatra and in Java. Finally, the other Asiatic kind,
_Manis Dalmannii_, is found in the Himalayas, China, and possibly in
Java.
All the species of the genus _Manis_, whether from Africa or Asia,
are absolutely toothless, and the Edentate peculiarity is perfect,
for there are no back teeth. The tongue is worm-like, round, very
long, and can be stuck out far from the mouth, and it supplies the
want of the teeth, but from having this long organ and no back teeth,
the palate and the skull are very long and conical. Being without
masticating teeth, the lower jaw is very flat and simple, and there is
no ascending ramus. The muscles of the lower jaw being of secondary
importance, the arch (zygoma) of bone between the face and the ear is
incomplete, and the outside ear is very small. But the organ of hearing
is somewhat complicated, and there is a large space in the temporal
bone which communicates with the internal ear, so that one tympanum is
in communication with the other.
Much saliva is required to moisten the tongue, and the sub-maxillary
glands are therefore very large, and reach down under the skin of the
neck on to the chest. The stomach is usually, if not always, found
to contain stones which the creature has swallowed. Of course it can
hardly tell what may be on its tongue in the dark Ants’ nest, and earth
and stones are likely to rest on it and be swallowed, but the constant
presence of these hard things may have something to do with the
absence of the teeth, and the necessity of having a crushing material
somewhere or other. The walls of the stomach are thin near the entry of
the gullet tube, but towards the pylorus, or the right side end, the
muscles are well developed, and the mucous membrane is very dense.
These animals use their claws for the purpose of digging holes in the
ground, or in the Ants’ nests, for the sake of food, and the position
in walking is with the front claws bent under, so that the whole weight
of the front of the body is felt on the back (or upper part) of the
claws. The hind feet are placed flat, and the sole and under part of
the claws sustain the hinder quarters. The joints of the five fingers
of the fore feet are so arranged that they can bend downwards only,
and indeed they are more or less permanently bent, being kept in that
position by strong ligaments. This assists the digging powers of the
claws, which are, moreover, forked at their points in some species, and
the wrist is rendered very strong by having the joints between two of
its bones abolished, and they are united by bone, as in the carnivorous
animals. The bones thus united are the scaphoid and semi-lunar bones.
Every structure in the creature’s fore limbs tends to the promotion of
easy and powerful digging, and as the motion of scratching the ground
is directly downwards and backwards, the power of moving the wrist
half round, and presenting the palm more or less upwards, as in the
Sloths and in man, does not exist. In order to prevent this pronation
and supination, the part of the fore-arm bone, the radius, next to the
elbow, is not rounded, but forms part of a hinge joint. Finally, it is
necessary to observe, that the middle claw is the longest of the five
on all the extremities, and that as the animal does not require to
reach over its head, there is no collar bone.
[Illustration: FIVE-FINGERED PANGOLIN.]
The long tail of the Pangolins, stumpy at the end in some kinds, has a
considerable number of bones, usually twenty-six; and the first of them
joins on to the last of the back bones of the pelvis. This last, or
sacral vertebra, unites on each side with the haunch bones (ischium),
and there is no notch in the bone for the passages of the great nerves
of the back of the leg, but a hole.
The thigh bone is flattened from before backwards, and the bones of
the leg are wide apart, and all this gives extra powers to the muscles
which have to direct the scraping and digging by the hind feet. The
feet are solid and strong, and have not any of the inside turning
and club-foot appearance of the Sloths, and the heel bone projects
backwards.
There is an interesting peculiarity about the chest of the Pangolins,
for the breast bone is very long, and the cartilage at its end is
large, and has two long projections resembling those of the Lizards.
The neck consists of seven vertebræ, and the back of thirteen, and
there are three or four in the sacrum.
THE AMERICAN ANT-EATERS.
The adjective “long” may be applied to nearly all the structures of
these animals. The tail, body, neck, head, snout, and tongue, and the
hair are all very long, and the only things which are short are the
ears. The observer is immediately struck with the curiously-shaped
head, so narrow, low, and ending in a flexible and very slender snout,
especially if the round tongue happens to be projecting out of the
mouth, for it is longer even than the head, and is like a gigantic
worm. The snout appears bent, and is made to look all the longer, by
the eye being placed not far from the small ear. Then the huge bushy
tail, flattened from side to side, as long as the body, has a fringe
of very long and strong hair. The body itself moves on four powerful
limbs, well clawed, and looks bulky from the quantity of hair on it,
but usually it is thin. The animal, when it stands still, is higher at
the shoulders than behind, and it rests on the sides of the fore-feet,
where there is a callous pad, the claws being bent inwards and under,
and not touching the ground with their tips. The under part of the hind
feet bears the weight of the hind limbs. It is about four feet and a
half in length from the snout to the tail, the tail being rather more
than three feet in length, and the height is about three feet and a
half. So long is the head, that it measures thirteen inches and a half
from the ear to the snout, and the tongue can be projected for sixteen
or eighteen inches, and is, when brought back into the mouth, bent so
that its tip looks backwards towards the throat.
The animal belongs to a group of the Edentata (for it is toothless)
which has the following genera:--One genus, which is now being
considered, is _Myrmecophaga_--μύρμης (an Ant), and φαγεῖν (to eat)--a
second is _Tamandua_, and the third is _Cyclothurus_, from κυκλωτός
(rounded). The animals of this group represent in South America the
Pangolins and Cape Ant-eaters of the Old World.
The species of the genus _Myrmecophaga_, which has been thus slightly
alluded to, is called the Maned Ant-eater.
THE GREAT ANT-BEAR.[69]
The habits of this animal, which has been named Great Ant-Bear by the
English and Spaniards, have been described as follows:--“The habits of
the Great Ant-Bear are slothful and solitary; the greater part of his
life is consumed in sleeping, notwithstanding which he is never fat,
and rarely even in good condition. When about to sleep he lies on one
side, conceals his long snout in the fur of the breast, locks the hind
and fore claws into one another, so as to cover the head and belly,
and turns his long, bushy tail over the whole body in such a manner as
to protect it from the too powerful rays of the sun. The female bears
but a single young one at a birth, which attaches itself to her back,
and is carried about with her wherever she goes, rarely quitting her,
even for a year after it has acquired sufficient strength to walk and
provide for itself. This unprolific constitution, and the tardy growth
of the young, account for the comparative rarity of these animals,
which are said to be seldom seen, even in their native regions. The
female has only two mammæ, situated on the breast, like those of
Monkeys, Apes, and Bats. In his natural state the Ant-Bear lives
exclusively upon Ants, to procure which he opens their hills with his
powerful crooked claws, and at the moment that the insects, according
to their nature, flock from all quarters to defend their dwellings,
draws over them his long, flexible tongue covered with glutinous
saliva, to which they consequently adhere; and so quickly does he
repeat this operation, that we are assured he will thus exsert his
tongue and draw it in again covered with insects twice in a second. He
never actually introduces it into the holes or breaches which he makes
in the hills themselves, but only draws it lightly over the swarms of
insects which will issue forth, alarmed by his attack. ‘It seems almost
incredible,’ says D’Azara, ‘that so robust and powerful an animal can
procure sufficient sustenance from Ants alone; but this circumstance
has nothing strange in it to those who are acquainted with the tropical
parts of America, and who have seen the enormous multitudes of these
insects, which swarm in all parts of the country to that degree that
their hills often almost touch one another for miles together.’ The
same author informs us that domestic Ant-Bears were occasionally kept
by different persons in Paraguay, and that they had even been sent
alive to Spain, being fed upon bread-and-milk mixed with morsels of
flesh minced very small. Like all animals which live upon insects,
they are capable of sustaining a total deprivation of nourishment for
an almost incredible time.”
[Illustration: GREAT ANT-BEAR.]
The Great Ant-Bear is found in all the warm and tropical parts of
South America, from Colombia to Paraguay, and from the shores of the
Atlantic to the foot of the Andes. His favourite resorts are the low,
swampy savannahs, along the banks of rivers and stagnant ponds. He is
found also frequenting the humid forests, but never climbing trees, as
falsely reported by Buffon, on the authority of La Borde. His pace is
slow, heavy, and hesitating; his head is carried low, as if he smelled
the ground at every step, whilst his long, shaggy tail, drooping
behind him, sweeps the ground on each side, and readily indicates
his path to the hunter; though, when hard pressed, he increases his
pace to a slow gallop, yet his greatest velocity never half equals
the ordinary running of a man. So great is his stupidity, that those
who encounter him in the woods or plains may drive him before them
by merely pushing him with a stick, so long, at least, as he is not
compelled to proceed beyond a moderate gallop; but if pressed too
hard, or urged to extremity, he turns obstinate, sits up on his hind
quarters like a Bear, and defends himself with his powerful claws.
Like that animal, his usual, and indeed only, mode of assault is by
seizing his adversary with his fore paws, wrapping his arms round him,
and endeavouring by this means to squeeze him to death. His great
strength and powerful muscles would easily enable him to accomplish his
purpose in this respect, even against the largest animals of his native
forests, were it but guided by ordinary intelligence, or accompanied
with a common degree of activity. But in these qualities there are
few animals, indeed, which do not greatly surpass the Ant-Bear, so
that the different stories handed down by writers on natural history
from one to another, and copied, without question, into the histories
and descriptions of this animal, may be regarded as pure fiction. For
this statement we have the express authority of Don Felix d’Azara, an
excellent observer and credible writer, from whose “Natural History
of the Quadrupeds of Paraguay” we have derived the greater portion of
the preceding account of the habits and economy of this extraordinary
animal. “It is supposed,” says Don Felix, “that the Jaguar himself
dares not attack the Ant-Bear, and that if, pressed by hunger, or
under some other excitement, he does so, the Ant-Bear hugs him and
embraces him so tightly, as very soon to deprive him of life, not even
relaxing his hold for hours after life has been extinguished by his
assailant. It is very certain that such is the manner in which the
Ant-eater defends himself; but it is not to be believed that his utmost
efforts could prevail against the Jaguar, which, by a single bite or
blow of his paw, could kill the Ant-eater before he was prepared for
resistance; for even in so extreme a case, his motions are so slow and
so heavy, that he takes some time to get himself ready, and besides
being unable to leap, or to turn with even ordinary rapidity, he is
necessarily forced to act solely on the defensive.” The flesh of the
Ant-eater is esteemed a delicacy by the Indians and negro slaves, and,
though black, and of a strong musky flavour, is sometimes even met with
at the tables of Europeans.
This large Ant-eater, grey in colour, with a black-coloured throat
and a triangular spot, black in tint, ascending obliquely over each
shoulder, has four claws on the fore limb and five on the hinder
extremity. The claws are grooved underneath, and are not split or
forked as in the _Manis_, and they, and especially the great middle
claw, are protected by an expansion of bone from the last joint of
the digits, or toes. This envelopes the base of the claw, except
quite underneath, leaving the tip free to perform its office without
endangering the tender base. The tips are protected, moreover, in the
fore limbs by the position assumed during standing and walking, for
they are then turned in and do not touch the ground; but this is not
the case in the feet, for the Great Ant-Bears rest on their soles.
Without teeth, and having an incomplete arch of bone between the cheek
and ear bones, they possess a long palate, so long, indeed, that when
the long nose cavity opens into the throat in the skeleton certain
bones called pterygoid, or wing-shaped, form part of its boundary.
This is unusual amongst the Mammalia, and Huxley observes that it is
only found in some of the Whale tribe (_Cetacea_). Moreover, it is
not noticed in any other vertebrate animals except the Crocodiles.
The skull is very low and long, and the framework of the tongue is as
important as that of the jaws. This kind of Ant-eater has imperfect
collar bones. As in the other Ant-eaters there is in this one a very
muscular condition of the right side of the stomach.[70]
THE TAMANDUA.[71]
The Tamandua is much smaller than the Great Ant-eater, and is, were it
not for its long snout and tail, somewhat like a Sloth. It is nearly
as large as one of these animals, and has a long head, small rounded
ears, and small mouth. The body, some two feet in length, is rather
short, and is covered with short, silky, or woolly shining hair, of
almost uniform length. The fore limbs are very stout, especially above
the elbow, and the hind ones rest on the rather long sole. The tail is
about a foot and a half in length; it is stout at its root, and round
and tapering to the blunt end, is minutely scaled, and covered in some
places with short hairs. The fore claws are bent on the hand, and the
animal walks on their outer and upper surface, using them also to clasp
and to hang on in climbing. The tail is more or less prehensile. The
colour of the hair and the markings varies much in the species, and
in captivity the rusty straw-colour of the body becomes whiter; but
there is a line of black on the upper part of the chest reaching over
the shoulders and between them and the neck on to the back, and also
several black patches over the tail and on the flanks.
The Tamandua is an inhabitant of the thick primeval forests of tropical
America, and lives in Brazil and Paraguay. It is rarely found on the
ground, but resides almost exclusively on trees, where it lives upon
termites, honey, and even, according to the report of D’Azara, bees,
which in those countries form their hives among the loftiest branches
of the forest, and, having no sting, are more readily despoiled of
their honey than their congeners of Great Britain. When about to sleep,
it hides its muzzle in the fur of its breast, falls on its belly,
letting its fore feet hang down on each side, and wrapping the whole
tightly round with its tail. The female, as in the case of the Great
Ant-eater, has but two pectoral mammæ, and produces but a single cub
at a birth, which she carries about with her on her shoulders for the
first three or four months. The young are at first exceedingly deformed
and ugly, and of an uniform straw-colour.
The animal is called Cagouaré by the Guaranis, on account of the
noxious and infected vapours of the forests in which alone it is found,
the word literally signifying, in the language of those Indians, “the
inhabitants of a stinking wood or marsh.” Such at least is D’Azara’s
interpretation of the term, though it appears more probable that it may
refer to the strong disagreeable odour of the animal itself, which,
this very author informs us, is so powerful that it may be perceived
at a very great distance, particularly when the animal is irritated.
Tamandua is the name by which it is known to the Portuguese of Brazil;
the French and the English call it Fourmilier and Little Ant-Bear.
THE TWO-TOED ANT-EATER.[72]
These little animals appear, at first sight, to resemble Sloths with
tails; and their round heads, furry bodies, and two claws on the fore
limb, add to the resemblance. They are essentially arboreal animals
also, but they have long and useful tails, and live on insects. They
hunt their insect prey in the forests of Costa Rica, Honduras, and
Brazil. Their two-clawed hands are remarkable, for the rudiments of
the thumb and little finger are hidden beneath the skin, and the claws
are placed on the first and second digits. The third digit has no
claw. There are four claws on the feet, so that in this arrangement
the animal is peculiar amongst the Ant-eaters. It is not larger than
a common Squirrel, and the general shape of the body is like that of
a Tamandua on a small scale. Its whole length, from the snout to the
origin of the tail, is but six inches, and of the tail, seven inches
and a quarter. This is consequently rather longer than the body; it
is thick at the root, and covered with short fur, but tapers suddenly
towards the point, where it is naked and strongly prehensile. The
muzzle is not so long, in proportion, as in the other two species; the
tongue also is shorter, and has a flatter form; the mouth opens further
back in the jaws, and has a much larger gape, the eye being situated
close to its posterior angle; the ears are short, rather drooping, and
concealed among the long fur which covers the head and cheeks; the legs
are short and stout; and the hair, very soft and fine to the touch, is
three-quarters of an inch in length on the body, but much shorter on
the head, legs, and tail. The general colour is that of straw, more or
less tinged with maroon on the shoulders, and particularly along the
median line of the back, which usually exhibits a deep line of this
shade. The feet and tail are grey.
This species is said to have four mammæ, two pectoral, as in those
already described, and two others on the abdomen. It is reported,
nevertheless, to have but a single cub at birth, which it conceals
in the hollow of some decayed tree. The habits and manners of this
little animal, hitherto very imperfectly known to naturalists, are well
described by Von Sach, in his “Narrative of a Voyage to Surinam.”
“I have had two little Ant-eaters, or Fourmiliers, which were not
larger than a Squirrel. One was of a bright-yellow colour, with a brown
stripe on the back, the other was a silvery-grey, and darker on the
back. The hair of each was very soft and silky, a little crisped; the
head was small and round, the nose long, gradually bending downwards to
a point; it had no teeth, but a very long round tongue; the eyes were
very small, round, and black; the legs rather short; the fore-feet had
only two claws on each, the exterior being much larger and stronger
than the interior, which exactly filled the curve or hollow of the
large one; the hind feet had four claws of a moderate size; the tail
was prehensile, longer than the body, thick at the base and tapering
to the end, which, for some inches on the under side, was bare. This
little animal is called in Surinam ‘Kissing-hand,’ as the inhabitants
pretend that it will never eat, at least when caught, but that it only
licks its paws, in the same manner as the Bear; that all trials to make
it eat have proved in vain, and that it soon dies in confinement. When
I got the first, I sent to the forest for a nest of Ants, and during
the interim I put into its cage some eggs, honey, milk, and meat; but
it refused to touch any of them. At length the Ants’ nest arrived,
but the animal did not pay the slightest attention to it either. By
the shape of its fore-paws, which resemble nippers, and differ very
much from those of all the other different species of Ant-eaters, I
thought that this little creature might perhaps live on the nymphæ of
Wasps, &c. I therefore brought it a Wasps’ nest, and then it pulled
out, with its nippers, the nymphæ from the nest, and began to eat them
with the greatest eagerness, sitting in the posture of a Squirrel. I
showed this phenomenon to many of the inhabitants, who all assured me
that it was the first time they had ever known that species of animal
take any nourishment. The Ants which I tried it with were the large
white termites upon which fowls are fed here. As the natural history
of this pretty little animal is not much known, I thought of trying
if they would breed in a cage; but when I returned from my excursion
into the country I found them both dead, perhaps occasioned by the
trouble given to procure the Wasps’ nest for them, though they are here
very plentiful; wherefore I can give no further description of them,
than that they slept all the day long, curled together, and fastened
by their prehensile tails to one of the perches of the cage. When
touched they erected themselves on their hind legs, and struck with
the fore-paws at the object which disturbed them, like the hammer of
a clock striking the bell, with both paws at the same time, and with
a great deal of strength. They never attempted to run away, but were
always ready for defence when attacked. As soon as evening came, they
awoke, and with the greatest activity walked on the wire of the cage,
though they never jumped, nor did I ever hear their voice.”
[Illustration: TWO-TOED ANT-EATER.]
All these Ant-eaters have great glands (sub-maxillary) for the purpose
of secreting the sticky saliva, and the tongue is most movable, and
wriggles like an eel in feeding on milk. The Little Ant-eater has a
_rete mirabile_ of blood-vessels.
Another Cyclothurus lives in Costa Rica, which is golden-yellow in
colour, and silky in its hair. It has a broad black stripe on the back.
CHAPTER III.
THE ARMADILLO FAMILY.
The Armour-plates--How the Shields are formed--Their
connection with the Body--Description of the Animals--Mode
of Walking--Diet--Skeleton--Adaptation of their Limbs for
Burrowing--Classification--THE GREAT ARMADILLO--Appearance--Great
Burrower--THE TATOUAY--THE POYOU, OR YELLOW-FOOTED ARMADILLO--THE
PELUDO, OR HAIRY ARMADILLO--THE PICHIY--THE PEBA, OR BLACK TATOU--THE
MULE ARMADILLO--THE BALL ARMADILLO--Dr. Murie’s Account of its
Habits--Description--The Muscles by which it Rolls itself up and
Unrolls itself--THE PICHICIAGO--Concluding Remarks: Classification of
the Order, Fossil Edentates, the Allied Species of _Manis_ in South
Africa and Hindostan.
[Illustration: BONES OF CLAW OF GREAT ARMADILLO.]
These South American animals are more or less covered with a hard
bony crust, separated into shields and bands, which are more or less
movable, owing to the presence of special skin-muscles. In the most
perfectly armoured there are four distinct shields and a set of
bands, a certain amount of motion being possible between their edges.
Of the shields, one covers the head, another the back of the neck,
a third protects the shoulders like a great cape, and the fourth
arches over the rump like a half dome, and is, in some, attached by
its deep structure to the bones of the hip and haunch. The movable
bands cover the back and loins, and are between the third and fourth
shields. The tail may further be invested by incomplete bony rings,
and scattered scales, and others are distributed over the limbs. This
covering is, according to Professor Huxley, strictly comparable to
part of the armour of the Crocodile; and the Armadillos are the only
Mammals possessing such structure. The shields and bands are formed
of many scales, or scutes, which are ossifications of the skin, and
they may be of many kinds of shape--four, or many-sided--being united
by sutures, and they are incapable of separate motion. The shields
and bands, however, vary much in their number, size, and perfectness
in the different animals, which, being armoured, the Spaniards called
Armadillos; and, indeed, the number of bands in the back and loin
division varies in individuals of the same species. These bands cover
the flanks, and, with the shields fore and aft, protect the limbs,
which are often more or less hidden by a growth of hair. The bands,
moreover, by being movable one on the other, enable the rest of the
armour to accommodate itself to the motions of the body, so that some
roll themselves up, as in a ball shape. There may be few or many bands
present, and the extreme numbers are three and thirteen. The Armadillos
are of different sizes, and whilst the smallest may be only ten inches
in length without the tail, the largest are more than three feet long.
The head is long, and broad at the neck, the ears are usually long,
the neck is short, the body is long, round, and low, and the length of
tail varies much in different kinds. Where the head shield joins that
of the shoulders, there is a space for the movement of the short neck;
but this is protected by a backward projection from the head shield.
The throat, under parts, and thighs are not protected by armour, except
here and there by small plates in the skin, or by a granulated state
of it; and they are naked or hairy. Even between the bands on the back
there are often long hairs, and the tail fits into a kind of notch in
the last shield of the body, and its plates are close in almost all
Armadillos, but not united. So that much more motion is given to it and
to the body than might be expected by the muscles during their action
beneath the more or less soldered bony skin. The flat top to the head,
and the long muzzle, are useful to the Armadillos in their burrowing,
and this is assisted by short and strong limbs armed with powerful
claws. Some of the Armadillos are even capable of running with some
speed; and the little Six-banded Armadillo, or Poyou, and the Matico,
are very restless and active in captivity. With one exception, these
animals move with the flat of their feet and hands on the ground; all
have five hind claws, but there is some variation in the number of the
fore claws, which may be four or five. They have simple cylindrical
molar teeth, which, according to the species, are from seven or eight
to twenty-five on each side of each jaw, and they are separate,
standing apart from one another. Moreover, they are so arranged that
when the mouth is closed, the upper teeth fit into the spaces between
the under ones, and the under teeth into those of the upper, so that
their grinding surfaces wear down into ridges. In one kind, there are
some teeth in the pre-maxillary bones; but all the others have only
molar teeth, which do not, however, go very far back, for there are
none on the ascending ramus of the lower jaw. They are not, therefore,
animals which prey upon their fellows, but are vegetable, insect, and
probably carrion eaters. They dig and burrow, and their sense of smell
is acute. This is assisted by the position of the nostrils in the long
muzzle, for they are not at its tip, but rather underneath, so that
they open downwards. In fact, the ends of the bones of the nose project
in front of the pre-maxillary bones. The armour is doubtless useful
against the attacks of their many carnivorous and reptile enemies;
it assists them in burrowing, keeps off pressure, and may protect
those which live in forests against a falling bough. They are passive
creatures, mostly nocturnal in their habits, and their skeleton is
strengthened in some parts in relation to its armour and its office.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE ARMADILLO.]
Thus the spine of the second vertebra is tall and compressed, and
reaches backwards over those of the third and fourth vertebræ, and
it coalesces with them. The bodies of these vertebræ also join more
or less solidly, and there are no (or very minute) spines on the
last three cervical vertebræ. This gives a strange appearance to the
skeleton, which is increased by the length of the spine of the first
vertebra of the back (dorsal). In order to support the back shield,
the projections from the back bones are greatly developed, and two
side processes stand out on either side of the spinous one. Moreover,
there is much fixity between the last dorsal and lumbar vertebræ, and
the strong and long sacrum beneath the last shield is formed by the
junction of the back bones of the root of the tail with the true sacral
vertebræ. Finally, the transverse processes of some of the upper tail
vertebræ are united to the pelvic bones. There is a corresponding
strengthening of the chest, and a broad flat first rib accompanies an
expanded condition of the upper part of the breast bone; and this bone
is jointed with bony sternal ribs, which unite on the side of the chest
with the ordinary ribs of the spine.
[Illustration: SKULL OF THE ARMADILLO.]
As they are rapid burrowers, the limbs are fashioned with a view of
favouring this kind of life, the general skeletal peculiarities of
the Edentata being more or less preserved at the same time. They have
a collar bone, and the blade bone is long, rather narrow, and has
a tall, long spine, and a kind of offshoot from the back edge. The
humerus of the arm is short and robust, strongly marked by ridges and
depressions for the great muscles of the shoulder and chest, and the
fore-arm is characterised by the disproportionate size of its two
bones. The ulna has a very long and stout elbow process (olecranon) for
the attachment of the muscles, which can force the hand strongly on to
and into the earth, and drag it out, and its length makes the whole
bone twice as long as the radius. The thigh bone has a strong crest,
arising from the great trochanter, and extending downwards nearly the
whole length of the bone; moreover, the great trochanter has a large
process on the middle of its outer edge. The bones of the leg are
broad, arched, and united at both ends, and the heel bone reaches far
back, in order to give strength to the squatting position taken up when
the animal is burrowing. The eye is placed rather high in the head,
is protected above by the outer edge of the head armour, and by some
small surrounding scales. It looks as a rule outwards. The lower jaw
is long, and has a back angle, sometimes of some size; the cheek bone
unites to the temporal bone, and the arch is complete. In the face
the intermaxillary bone is well developed, and there is often a crest
of bone passing over the top of the skull from side to side over the
occiput, which is in relation to the head armour. The brain is small;
the back or little brain is not covered by the brain proper, whose
convolutions and processes are few and simple. The olfactory lobes
project.
[Illustration: GREAT ARMADILLO.]
These armoured, round-bodied, short-legged, great-clawed animals are
numerous, and there are several species, which need not, however,
be collected into more than two genera. But it is by no means easy
to arrange those of the first genus--the True Armadillos, genus
_Dasypus_--in any other than an arbitrary and very artificial
classification. Usually they are grouped and separated by the relative
number of digits or claws on the fore and hinder extremities; by the
presence or absence of teeth in the intermaxillary bones; by their
ability to roll up; and by the excessive or the small number of their
teeth. The method of walking, whether on the sole or on the tips of
the claws, and the number of the bands, have been partly employed in
classification, but their number is often variable in individuals of
the same species.
[Illustration: BRAIN OF THE ARMADILLO.]
The Priodontes have but one species, which is readily distinguished by
its superior size, besides by its great number of teeth, of which there
are from twenty-two to twenty-four small ones on each jaw on each side,
making from eighty-eight to ninety-six in all.
THE GREAT ARMADILLO.[73]
This is an inhabitant of Brazil, and of the northern parts of Paraguay
and of Surinam, and is a dweller in the forest, being never found far
out on the plains. The head is seven inches and a half long, and the
ears, usually pointed and laid backwards, are not quite two inches in
length. The head and body, without the tail, measure three feet and
some inches, whilst the thickly-rooted but rapidlytapering tail is
about a foot and a half in length. Hence the head is small for the body
in this Armadillo, and the forehead is protuberant, and the face is
very tubular and cylindrical-looking. The shoulder and croup shields
are not expanded and solid, but consist of nine and eighteen rows of
plates respectively, and the intermediate part of the body has twelve
or thirteen movable bands, each of which is made up of rectangular
scales, or scutes, about half an inch square. The circumference of the
root of the tail is upwards of ten inches, and the organ is covered
with plates, disposed in rings at the root, and not farther down, but
forming spiral or crescent-shaped lines throughout the rest of its
length.
The Great Armadillo is a persevering and most rapid burrower, and the
fore limb and hand are singularly modified for the purpose of enabling
rapid digging and removal of the soil. The olecranon process of the
ulna is enormous, and the muscle of the deep flexor or tendon of the
claws is ossified and turned into a hand bone. The metacarpal bones of
the thumb and first finger are small, and so are the slender digits,
but that of the middle finger is irregularly rectangular, and is
broader than long, and the digit which it supports is extraordinarily
short, stout, strong, and broad. Its corresponding bones of the fourth
finger are similarly formed, but are somewhat smaller, and the fifth
finger is very small. The nail phalanx of the middle finger is large
and strong, being curved _outwards_, and having a large horny hood,
or core, at its base, for the lodgment of the claw. There are five
claws on the hands and feet, and the Armadillo moves on the flat of
its feet, being plantigrade. There is no doubt that, aided by these
digging weapons, and being of considerable stoutness, the animal makes
long and deep burrows. It feeds on roots, fallen fruit, and insects,
and there is a story that it seeks carrion, and it used to be said that
the collectors of Cinchona bark in the dense forests, when they lost a
companion by death, were obliged to bury the body in a grave surrounded
with a double row of stout planks, to prevent its being scratched up
and devoured by the Great Armadillo. Planks must be scarce, however, in
those localities, and difficult to carry; and probably there are other
inhabitants of the woods besides the Armadillos which would discover
and drag out a corpse. To assist the scratching and digging, the soles
of the feet are partly covered with flat scales.
* * * * *
The Kabassous have the fore and hind extremities furnished with an
equal number of (five) fingers and toes respectively, but the number of
teeth is, altogether, from thirty to forty.
THE TATOUAY.[74]
This Kabassou has the five fingers disposed obliquely; and the great
middle and fourth claws resemble those of the gigantic Armadillo. It is
named in allusion to its tail, which is more or less naked, and nearly
uncovered with rings or plates, so that it has not the usual tube-like
protection, or beautifully ornamented crust seen in some Armadillos.
The tail is about seven inches and a half long, and is round and
pointed, having only a few hard crusts beneath, near the outer third,
where it often trails on the ground. The rest of its root is covered
with soft brown fur, interspersed with a few stiff short hairs on the
upper surface. The ears are large, being nearly two inches in length,
and they form a segment of a circle in figure. The body is round, and
the shields of the shoulder and croup have seven and ten rows of scales
respectively, each scale forming an oblong rectangle, those near the
root of the tail being the largest. The movable bands are thirteen
in number, and are composed of much smaller scales than those of the
shields, and they have a nearly square outline. The head is long and
larger in proportion than that of the Great Armadillo, and it has not
the very cylindrical appearance noticed in that and some other species.
The arrangement of the claws resembles that of the Great Armadillo,
whose they almost equal in size. The female has two pectoral mammæ.
It inhabits Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, and Surinam, and but little
is known of the habits of these Armadillos. They burrow easily and
rapidly, and their great claws enable them to grasp the earth, and fix
themselves so thoroughly that a great amount of exertion is required
to pull them out of a burrow. They live on insects and on vegetable
matters.
* * * * *
The Encouberts of Cuvier have five toes on the fore and hinder
extremities, and nine or ten teeth on each side of the jaws, and
there are two teeth in the intermaxillary bones of the upper jaw,
representing the incisor teeth of ordinary Mammals, and thus forming an
exception, not only to the other Armadillos, but even to the order of
_Edentata_, as represented in the recent period.
THE POYOU, OR YELLOW-FOOTED ARMADILLO.[75]
This little Armadillo, which in captivity and in the natural state is
remarkable for its boldness and restlessness, is a native of Brazil
and especially of Paraguay, where it is common. It has a large, flat,
nearly triangular top to its head, the face is short, the muzzle
obtuse, and the ears erect and of moderate size. It has sharp little
eyes. It measures about sixteen inches from the nose to the tail, and
this is about seven or eight inches long. The number of movable bands
is often six, but this is not the invariable number, for there may
be seven or eight. The tail is surrounded, at its base, with three
or four bony rings, and throughout the rest of its length is nearly
covered with regular tuberculous scales, the separations between the
bands showing some long bristly grey hairs. The body is flat and
broad, and has short legs, and the creature runs with a very active
and determined gait. It is a strong little thing, and it is said that
when it is chased, it will often get away from a man by sheer speed and
activity. When any noise is made at the entrance of its burrow, or if
it is teased by spectators around its cage, it comes forth and grunts
like a Pig, and looks at the disturber with a bold inquiring look.
When it is attacked it is powerless, and seems incapable of making any
defence, but it retreats to its burrow, and getting to the bottom of
it, digs deeper still. Its power of burrowing does not seem to be much
diminished by the limited rotation of the fore-arm, to which there is
no pronator quadratus, but a well-developed pronator teres.
[Illustration: POYOU.]
The Poyou feeds much on carrion, and for this reason its flesh, though
fat, is never eaten by the inhabitants of European origin, though
the Indians make no distinction in this respect between it and other
Armadillos. When it stops or rests, it has a custom of squatting close
to the ground like a Hare on her form, and in this position the great
breadth of the body becomes apparent.
The hinder shield has two hairs on the hinder side of each of its
dorsal scales, and the under part of the body has scattered bristles on
it. The female has two pectoral mammæ.
The next two Armadillos to be noticed were formerly included in the
same group as the Poyou, but as they have not the incisor teeth on the
intermaxillary bones, they are placed in the sub-division _Euphractes_.
THE PELUDO, OR HAIRY ARMADILLO.[76]
The long, silky, half bristly, abundant black hairs of this little
Armadillo are the principal characteristics, which separate it, so
far as its external construction is concerned, from the Poyou just
noticed. It is smaller, however, the head measuring nearly four inches
in length, and the whole body about two inches less than _Dasypus
sexcintus_. The ears are long, large, and elliptical, and are pointed
outwards, and the muzzle is broad. The forehead is broad and covered
with rugged scales. The bands are six or seven in number, and the
border of the shield, as well as that of the movable bands below, is
indented in a remarkable manner, and forms sharp, regular points. There
are eight teeth on each side, above and below, and the body, hairy as
it is, is much scaled interiorly and on the limbs. The tail is long
and slender, and only hairy at the root. This species does not inhabit
Paraguay, nor probably is it found in the Brazils, but it exists in
multitudes in the Pampas north of the Rio Plata, and Mr. Darwin noticed
it in Chili. Its habits, according to that most accurate observer,
are nocturnal, but D’Azara, to whom natural history owes very careful
descriptions, states that “in an expedition which I made into the
interior, between the parallels of 35° and 36° south latitude, I met
with vast multitudes of this species of Armadillo, so that there was
scarcely an individual of the party who did not daily capture one or
two at least; for, unlike the Poyou, which moves abroad only at night,
this animal is to be found at all times, and if alarmed, promptly
conceals himself, if not intercepted. In March and April, when I saw
them, they were so extremely fat that their flesh surfeited and palled
the appetite; notwithstanding which, the pioneers and soldiers ate them
roasted, and preferred them to beef and veal. This Hairy Armadillo,
like others of the genus, has undoubtedly a very acute sense of smell,
since it scents the carcases of dead Horses from a great distance, and
runs to devour them; but as it is unable to penetrate the hide, it
burrows under the body until it finds a place which the moisture of
the soil has already begun to render soft and putrid. Here it makes
an entrance with its claws, and eats its way into the interior, where
it continues feasting on the putrid flesh, till nothing remains but
the hide and bones, and so perfectly do these preserve their position,
that it is impossible, from a mere external view, to anticipate the
operations which the Armadillos have been carrying on within.” The same
author states that this species never constructs burrows to reside
in, that it avoids low, damp situations, and is found only on the dry
upland plains. Probably there is more than one Hairy Armadillo.
THE PICHIY.[77]
This little Armadillo is only fourteen inches long, tail included; its
scaling is very handsome, and there are six or seven bands according to
the individual and age. The head is covered with close scales, which
are elliptical behind, and concealed under the others in front, and the
whole top has a triangular outline, hiding the eye much. The scales
on the front shield are large, and are hexagonal or pentagonal, and
the croup shield has the angular endings noticed in the last species.
The scales of the bands and of the shields generally are beautifully
ornamented with lines, depressions, and little tubercles, which are
more or less concentric. There is some hair on the long neck, and on
the legs and tail. The five digits and claws on the fore limbs are
moderately developed, for the thumb is very small, and the fourth
finger only a little longer. But the index is long, with a short claw,
and the second has a stouter and longer claw, and the third is shorter.
It has a slender snout and small ears.
Mr. Darwin writes that it “prefers a very dry soil and the sandy dunes
of the coast of Chili, where for many months it can never taste water.
In soft soil, the animal burrows so quickly that its hind quarters
would almost disappear before one could alight from one’s horse.” It
also inhabits the Pampas to the south of Buenos Ayres, and extends from
36° lat. southward to the confines of Patagonia. It inhabits burrows,
to which, however, it does not confine itself during the day. Its
flesh is said to be remarkably tender and well tasting. It is a hardy
species, and can live in the dreary solitudes of Port Desire on the
east coast.
The Cachicames, another group of Armadillos, were so called after the
Indian name for a black kind, which has a very long tail, and which is
the type of it.
The two kinds included in the group have four fingers, and five toes,
which are separate, and the backs of the feet are round and covered
with scales. The claws are conical, and the animal walks, as it were,
on the toes more than on the sole, being thus digitigrade. The teeth
number about eight on each side above and below.
THE PEBA, OR BLACK TATOU.[78]
This Armadillo has a very wide geographical range, extending from
Texas, through Central America to Guiana, Brazil, and Paraguay, and a
variety called _Dasypus Kappleri_ inhabits Surinam. It has great ears,
which are long and placed very close together, and the muzzle at the
end of the long, tapering face is not unlike that of the snout of a
Hog in shape. The head is small, long, and straight, but the mouth is
large. There are eight teeth on both sides of both jaws. The body is
hairy below the shields and bands, which are largely developed. Then
the neck and shoulder shield extends far back and comes as low as the
elbow, and is composed of numerous scales disposed in many concentric
rings, having the concavity in front, the first embracing the neck in
its curve. The croup shield extends from the back to the origin of the
tail, and reaches as low as the knees, and the concavity of its rings
is turned towards the rear, the last embracing the tail. These scales
are hexagons. Between the shields the bands are marked with zigzag
lines forming very acute angles, and in some degree gliding over one
another according to the movements of the animal. Out of fourteen
specimens, two had six, one had seven, seven had eight, and there were
four with nine bands; the full-grown ones have the greatest number.
The head shield descends from the ears to the muzzle, and covers the
cheeks as far down as the eyes, and there are small, interspersed,
detached scales over the throat, the under jaw, the legs, and feet. The
body is sixteen inches long, and the tail is nearly as long--fourteen
inches--and is stout at the root. One variety of the species has some
of the rings of the tail soldered into a case, which is used as a horn
by the Indians. It is a timid, nocturnal animal, tolerably swift-footed
and very expert in burrowing. It is never found in the woods, but
delights in the open plains and cultivated fields, and is much hunted
on account of the delicacy of the flesh, which, when roasted in the
shell, is fat, and something better than Sucking-pig in taste. These
long-tailed Armadillos bury garbage and flesh in their burrows, and eat
it at their leisure.
Another species of this group is the Mule Armadillo (_Dasypus
hybridus_, Desmarest), which has long, straight ears and a short
tail. It roams farther north than the other kind, and is common on
the Pampas, and is not nocturnal, nor does it burrow very easily. The
female has from eight to twelve young at a birth, and the individuals
of a litter are often of one sex.
The Armadillos of all kinds, it is said, only have one litter a year,
and then the young are numerous, but the mother has never more than
four teats, and many have only two.
* * * * *
The last group of the Armadillos, the _Tolypeutes_, contains some
remarkable species, which have the power of rolling themselves up as in
a ball-shape, and they walk in a most extraordinary manner on the tip
of long and powerful front claws, and also on the flat and tip of the
hind ones.
THE BALL ARMADILLO.[79]
This is a small and very beautifully ornamented Armadillo, which has
three free central bands and a short tail, with large fore and aft
shields. It rolls itself up on the slightest alarm, so that the great
shoulder and croup shields meet, the head and tail fitting in exactly,
in front, so as to close up the body very safely. The little animal,
which is rarely more than fifteen inches long, and has a tail of a
couple of inches in length, is found in Brazil, Paraguay, and Buenos
Ayres, and its walking on the long, stout claws of the fore legs gives
it a very curious and unsteady appearance.
It is an active, sprightly, light-footed little thing, according to Dr.
Murie, and is constantly on the move, going here and there with much
vivacity. Poising itself on tiptoe, it trots backwards and forwards as
if on some urgent errand. In captivity the food was raw meat, boiled
eggs, and bread-and-milk. In the forest land, where it dwells along
with its fellow armoured creatures, it has the advantage of being able
to curl itself up, and to present no tangible part of its body to the
host of mischievous Monkeys of its locality. The other Armadillos,
when retiring to their holes, are often set upon by their lively
quadrumanous neighbours, and are dragged out by the tail with great
gusto; but the little Tolypeutes curls himself up and laughs at the
disappointed Monkeys, who can find nothing to pull at about him.
[Illustration: BALL ARMADILLO.]
The shoulder shield comes down like a flap, far in front, and the croup
extends behind in the same way, and they and the bands have large
scales, which are very pretty in shape and ornament. The shields are
very stout, and so is the skeleton within. The fore foot has three
large clawed toes, on the tips of which the animal walks. The thumb of
the fore extremity is to be seen in the skeleton, but is not always
visible in the skin, and it is very small and high up; the index is
long, and the claw also, and it is slightly bent, but sharp at the
tip. The next claw is the largest and longest, and has a cutting edge
at the back and outer part, and the point is sharp. The next digit is
smaller. In the hind foot there are five toes, one being high up and
rudimentary, and the second and third having broad, flat, curved, short
nails, the third being the greatest. The fourth nail is smaller, and
they are all placed more or less flatly on the ground.
The shell of this Armadillo is blackish-brown, and the skin between
the central bands is bald and smooth. There are nine back teeth on
each side in both jaws, and there are none in front. The muscles which
enable this Armadillo to bring its tail and nose together and to
form a ball shape, are not simply expansions of the common muscular
tissue, which exists deeply in the skin in so many animals, but are
special structures. The most important are in relation to the position
of the head, neck, limbs, tail, and the shields and bands, when
the body is about to be and while it is being rolled up; and these
roller-up muscles are so arranged as to permit of the large liver and
other internal organs not suffering pressure during their natural or
temporary displacement. On the other hand, the unrollers act when the
body and bones are in the rolled-up condition. The muscles of the back
are very tendinous, and to a degree they unroll the animal, but this
is also performed by muscles which are attached underneath the first
movable band of armour, and to the front part of the spine of the
blade bone; this will tend, when it contracts, to pull out the legs
and protrude the fore part of the body, the centre being still rigid.
Another drawer-back of the bladebone assists in this action, and it
is inserted into the front or chest shield. The rolling up is done by
the action of muscles which draw the nose down, so as to make the long
head at right angles to the neck; then the fore-legs and bladebones are
drawn in and up. At the same time, the muscles which pull down the tail
act on the hind shield, and draw it down and forwards. The legs are
pulled up, and then a great muscle, which is largely attached to the
front and hind shields, and has a tendon-like expansion in the middle
of its course beneath the movable bands, contracts and pulls front and
stern together. The muscles of the loins, which in jumping animals
bring the spine to a curve, do not act, and indeed are excessively
small. The chief bend in the back is between the second and third
lumbar vertebræ. (Murie.)
GENUS CHLAMYDOPHORUS.--THE PICHICIAGO.[80]
[Illustration: PICHICIAGO.]
This is an Edentate animal, resembling the Armadillos more than any
others, and is about six inches in length. It has a conical-shaped
head, a large full chest, short clumsy powerful fore limbs, with
four great nails rising gradually one above the other, the external
shortest, and broadest; and the whole so arranged as to form a
sharp-cutting instrument, rather scooped, and very convenient for
progression under ground. The back and croup are broad and high,
and the tail is small. The hind legs are weak and short, the feet
being long and narrow, and there is a well-defined heel. The foot is
arched, the toes are separate, and the nails are strong. The whole
surface of the body is covered with fine silk-like hair, which covers
over the limbs on to the palms. But the most striking peculiarity is
the long-banded shell, which is loose as it were throughout, being
attached to the back immediately above the spine by cellular tissue.
It rests on two knobs on the frontal bones, and these are the great
attachments of this important covering. There are twenty-four bands and
no separate shields, and their consistence is somewhat more dense than
leather of the same thickness. They are composed of scales or plates of
geometrical form, and the bands are separated by skin. There is a notch
in the last band for the tail, and the free inferior edges of the bands
are everywhere fringed with silky hair. This elongated band structure
is moved, to a certain extent, by two broad thin muscles, which are
beneath it, on the back, and each of which divides, on approaching the
shoulder, into two portions, one being attached to the bladebone, and
the other to the occiput.
The ear is hidden by hair, and is small; so also is the eye, which is
black. The nostrils open downwards, at the inferior border of a large
cartilage. The mouth is small, and there are eight teeth on both sides
in both jaws. They are simple molars, and are separate and cylindrical.
The head is large behind, and the jaws come almost to a point, and
the lower has a long ascending ramus. A great passage for the spinal
cord, and the two processes on the frontal bone, add to the curious
appearance of this “bumpy” skull. The pelvis is remarkable in its
structure, and is open in front.
Some of these animals have the bands of the armour not attached, as has
been mentioned, to the muscles of the back and to the head, but have
them adherent to the skin of the back to the edge; and the sides and
under part of the body are then covered with woolly hair. These are the
largest animals of the two, and are found in Bolivia. The others are
from Mendoza and Chili. These curious animals live, partly, mole-like
lives.
* * * * *
From what may be gleaned by reading the previous pages about the
Edentates, it will appear that the order is a very remarkable one, and
that it is interesting on account of the different external appearance
of the species, their diverse modes of life, and singularly restricted
localities. Evidently, there has been much degeneration in some of
the anatomical characters of many of the species, and especially in
those whose foot bones and neck vertebræ have joined more or less. The
singular resemblance which some species present, in various points of
their anatomy, to the lower animals, is very interesting, as is also
their wonderful relation, in points of structure, with a number of
extinct Edentata, most of which were gigantic.
The Edentata, called also Bruta by Linnæus, form an order, the
characters of which are, that there are teeth of one or two kinds all
very similar, and often wanting. The incisors are not developed except
in one group, and the rest have either molars which are separate, and
numerous and simple, or there are none. The extremities are clawed, and
the tongue is more or less elongated. The great groups of this order
are the _Tardigrada_, or slow movers, which have a short face, long
limbs, and small tail, and the body is covered with crisp hair; and the
_Effodientia_, or diggers, which have long faces and worm-like tongues,
with short limbs.
The Sloths form the only family of the Tardigrada, and the Effodientia
are divided into the genera _Manis_, the scaly Ant-eaters; _Dasypus_,
the Armadillos; _Chlamydophorus_, the Pichiciagos; _Orycteropus_, the
Ant-Bears; and _Myrmecophaga_, the American Ant-eaters. The Sloths form
three genera--_Cholœpus_, _Bradypus_, and _Arctopithecus_. Amongst the
Ant-eaters, the genus _Manis_ may stand alone. The genus _Dasypus_
may be divided, for the sake of convenience, into the subdivisions
Priodontes, Kabassous, Euphractes, Cachicames, and Tolypeutes. The
other genera need no subdivision.
The fossil Edentata are mostly gigantic, and formerly lived in Europe
and in the Americas. The European kinds would, were they now living,
belong probably to the group of Pangolins, and they are placed in the
extinct genera _Pervatherium_, _Macrotherium_, and _Ancylotherium_.
In the Pliocene deposits of North America, there are large Edentates
belonging to the genus _Morotherium_, and the previous Miocene
deposits contain _Moropus_. The later, or Post-Pliocene strata of
North and South America, contain species of _Mylodon_ and _Megalonyx_,
_Megatherium_, _Scelidotherium_, _Cœlodon_, and _Sphenodon_; they
constitute a group of Terrestrial Sloths--the Gravigrada. In Cuba,
the fossil huge Gravigrade Sloths are of the genera _Megalocnus_ and
_Myomorphus_. The Armadillo group are found fossil in South America,
and the genera are _Chlamydotherium_, _Euryodon_, _Heterodon_,
_Pachytherium_, and _Schistopleuron_. The modern genera are found
with these, and the gigantic Armadillo-like animal, the Glyptodon,
lived contemporaneously with the others, and possessed many strange
peculiarities in its skeleton. The Ant-eaters are represented by
a fossil form called _Glossotherium_. The oldest Edentates of the
American Continent are found in North America, unless there is a
Miocene group of them in South America, which is by no means an
improbable supposition. The European Ant-eaters now found fossil lived
in the Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene ages.
With regard to the discovery of recent and closely-allied species
of _Manis_, in South Africa and Hindostan, it may be said that they
are relics of the old forms of the intermediate and now sunken land,
between Eastern Africa and India, which existed before the last
upheaval of the Himalayas. The evident structural affinity between the
Effodient Edentata of South America and Africa, although the genera
are different, adds to the interest of the corresponding, and in some
instances greater, resemblance of many African and South American
fresh-water fish and plants. The geologist looks back in the remote
ages of the globe, when the great land surfaces and seas of the world
were rather across the earth than in their present longitudinal
position, in order to explain this remarkable similarity.
P. MARTIN DUNCAN.
[Illustration: GREAT KANGAROO.]
ORDER MARSUPIALIA, MARSUPIAL OR POUCHED ANIMALS.
CHAPTER I.
SUB-ORDER MARSUPIATA.--THE KANGAROO AND WOMBAT FAMILIES.
THE GREAT KANGAROO--Captain Cook and the Great
Kangaroo--Habitat--Appearance of the Animal--Marsupials separated
from the other Mammalian Orders, and why (Footnote)--Gestation
and Birth of Young (Footnote)--Mode of Running--The Short Fore
Limbs--The _Marsupium_, or Pouch--Head--Dentition--Peculiarities
in the Teeth--Hind Extremities--Foot--Great Claw--How the
Erect Position is maintained--Whence their Jumping Power is
derived--Other Skeletal Peculiarities--Kangaroo Hunts--Becoming
Rarer--Mode of Attack and Defence--Hands--Bones of the Fore
Limbs--Skull--Stomach--Circulation of Blood--Peculiarity in
Young--Nervous System not fully developed--Brain--The Baby Kangaroo
in the Pouch--THE HARE KANGAROO--THE GREAT ROCK KANGAROO--THE RED
KANGAROO--THE BRUSH KANGAROO--THE BRUSH-TAILED ROCK KANGAROO--THE
COMMON TREE KANGAROO--THE KANGAROO-RATS--Characteristics--THE
RAT-TAILED HYPSIPRYMNUS--Description--THE WOMBAT FAMILY--THE
WOMBAT--Peculiarities--Description--Habits--Teeth--Skeleton.
I. THE KANGAROO FAMILY.[81]--THE GREAT KANGAROO.[82]
In the year A.D. 1770, the great circumnavigator, Captain
Cook, was on the coast of New South Wales repairing his ship, and a
party of sailors were sent on land, to procure food for the sick. They
saw an animal whose description tempted Cook himself, and also Mr.
Banks (afterwards Sir Joseph Banks), to land and go in pursuit of it
the next day. The animal was seen in company with others of its kind,
and its short front limbs, great hind legs, and huge tail, and the
tremendous hops it made in its very fleet course, quite bore out the
statements of the astonished crew. They had seen, for the first time,
the Great Kangaroo in its wild condition and on its own ground. Soon
afterwards a specimen was shot, and notes were made about the creature,
and some skins were brought over to Europe.
The animal has now become familiar to the civilised world. It is,
however, gradually receding before the Australian colonist and
squatter; but formerly it roamed all over the plains of New South
Wales, Southern and Western Australia, Queensland, and Van Diemen’s
Land, with only the aborigines for its enemies. It is called Bundaary
and Bullucur by the natives of the Liverpool range and Murray, and the
name Kangaroo is a mistaken native one.
On looking at one of the Great Kangaroos in some menagerie or
zoological garden, the first peculiarities that strike the eye are its
small fore limbs, its very large and long hind ones, and the great and
thick tail. The smallness of the head, which has rather long ears, and
a long dusky brown muzzle, the length of the body, and the comfortable
grey-brown, thick, shortish fur, are then noticed. But the principal
fact which impresses all these things upon the visitor, is that the
female may have a little Kangaroo with its head poked out of a kind of
pouch in the under part of the body. Sometimes the little one jumps out
and gets in again if it is frightened, and the old one moves, hops, and
jumps about, with its portable nursery, with the greatest ease.[83]
Sometimes the Kangaroos may be seen feeding, and then the awkwardness
of their gait becomes evident; for the small fore legs and curious
paws are on or very close to the ground, whilst the back part of the
body is raised up by the long hind legs, and, as it were, balanced by
the great tail. These hind legs seem to do nearly all the running, or
rather jumping, both being used together; and the tail is of use in
supporting the long body when the animal suddenly raises itself up
straight, and squats on its hind quarters. The small front legs then
appear quite stunted, and the ears stick up, and the small head is held
straight. But in slow walking, the fore feet are placed on the ground,
and the animal rests on them whilst it brings the long hind quarters
forward and outside them. Evidently the senses of hearing and sight are
very acute; but they are used to warn the animal of danger, rather than
to urge it to attack, for it is a feeder on herbs, leaves, and grass,
and often may be seen reclining and moving its jaws, as if it were
chewing the cud after a fashion.
When moving with great velocity, the Kangaroo depends upon the hind
limbs alone, bounding along with great ease, over ten, fifteen, or more
feet at a jump. Its body is then carried almost horizontally, and the
tail is stuck out as if to balance it.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE GREAT KANGAROO.]
If the short fore limbs are examined, they will be noticed to be able
to do a great deal in the way of holding, clasping, and turning things
about, and they are used in patting the little ones, and in embracing
and cleaning them. The five digits, or fingers, have a very free
movement, and the fore arm can twist and turn like that of the higher
animals; that is to say, it is capable of pronation and supination.
The first digit, or thumb, has two joints (phalanges), and the other
four have three; and the five curved claws (the third and fourth being
large) are useful weapons of offence. But they and the fingers are
often used for very different purposes, and they have, in the female,
to open the curious pouch for the young ones, and to place them there.
There is an evident relation between the arrangement of the bones of
the wrist and this necessary office or function. The _marsupium_,
or pouch, is a kind of inbending of the skin of the lower part of
the belly, and is moist and naked inside. In it, in the females,
are the nipples of the mammary glands, and to these the very young
Kangaroos[84] hang on for a long time, before they see the outer world.
They are put in there by the mother, when they are just born, and when
very small and not perfectly formed. They grow there, and after a
while, leave the nipple when they think fit. As this pouch, with its
contents, would drag upon the mother, it is kept from doing so, more
or less, by two bones which are found amongst the muscles of the lower
part of the body, and which are attached to the front or pubic bones
of the pelvis. They are called marsupial bones. They exist also in
the males, but they have no open pouch, for it is, as it were, turned
outwards, and contains part of the reproductive organs.
The head is long, and is remarkable for the long nose, and large
full eyes, with eyelashes, for the Kangaroo is not nocturnal in its
habits, like most of the Marsupials. The upper lip is split, the end
of the nose or muffle is naked or hairy according to the kind, and the
brain-case is small. The nostrils are at the side of the end of the
muzzle, and are slit-like and oblique, and there are bristly “smellers”
to the fleshy lips and chin. A slender tongue is sometimes seen for an
instant whilst the Kangaroo is feeding, and if the bones of the jaws be
examined, the angle, or lower part of the back of the lower jaw, will
be found to be turned inwards.
The long jaws have not very many teeth, and there are two large lower
front ones, or lower incisors, which project in a line with the lower
jaw; they are horizontal and more or less pointed, but have an outer
and inner cutting edge. The upper incisors, six in number, or three on
each side of the middle line, are placed on the pre-maxillary bone, and
they work up and down. They are broad and have the cutting edge below,
and the outer one, on each side, is broad, grooved, and complicated by
one or two folds of its enamel, which are continued from the outer side
of the tooth obliquely forward and inward. There is a space or diastema
behind the incisors. There are four premolars, one on each side of both
jaws, and then follow four molar teeth above and below and on both
sides of the mouth. The dental formula is thus--Incisors, (3-3)/(1-1);
premolars, (1-1)/(1-1); molars, (4-4)/(4-4) = 28. There are no canine
teeth in the adults, but their germs may be found in the very young
Kangaroos. As the Kangaroo is a vegetable feeder, and delights in
grass, leaves, and herbs, its teeth are eminently of a non-carnivorous
kind. It may be remarked that when the mouth is closed, the cutting
edges of the upper incisors come against the outer cutting edge of the
long front teeth of the lower jaw. The true molars increase in size
from front backwards; and the crown of each molar is squarish, but is
longer than broad, and it has two principal cross ridges, which, when
not worn, are tall, and have sharp edges. Besides these, there are two
other transverse ridges which are smaller and not so tall. One of these
is on the front part of the tooth, and the other on the hinder (in the
upper molars only). Then there is a long ridge which connects the cross
ones. They are all covered with enamel. When the tooth is worn, we find
it presenting, according to Mr. Waterhouse,[85] two powerful loops or
folds. On comparing these teeth with those of the herbivorous mammalia
already noticed, a remarkable difference will be seen.
[Illustration: TEETH OF THE GREAT KANGAROO.
(A) Upper and Lower Jaw; (B) Upper Molar; (C) Lower Molar.]
The hinder extremities consist of a nearly straight, long, cylindrical
bone, the femur, which has a hemispherical joint head, and a large
trochanter, which reaches above the joint; of two leg bones--the tibia,
which is prismatic above and cylindrical below, but with only a slight
inner ankle projection, and the fibula, which is distinct but thinned
and concave in its lower half, where it is close and attached to the
other bone, and forms the outer ankle projection. To these are added
the bones of the ankle-joint and the clawed toes. The Kangaroo being
a great jumper, and having a great tendon, the analogue of the tendo
achillis of man, has a powerful projecting process of the hinder ankle
bone for its attachment. But the great length of the foot is produced
by the size of the fourth and fifth or two outer toes, and especially
of the fourth, which often reaches a foot in length, including the
metatarsal bone behind, and the pointed claw in front. The great
claw looks like a long hoof, is three-sided and sharp-pointed like a
bayonet, and with it the animal stabs and rips open the body of its
opponent.[86] The outer claw is very small, and there is no great toe
(or first), but the second and third are long and slender, and are
united in a common skin, so as to look like a single toe with a double
nail, the hair coming to the roots of it. The long narrow foot is
nearly as long as the leg bones, and is admirably adapted for jumping
forwards, as well as sideways, and for supporting, when the legs are
widely separated, the weight of the erect body. The body in that
position has the leg bones straight, the thigh bones oblique, and
the pelvis and spine erect, the great tail being a prop behind. Owen
remarks that in man it is the massive and expanded muscles of the back
of the pelvis and upper part of the thigh, or the gluteal muscles,[87]
which are the chief structures in maintaining the erect posture. But
in the Kangaroo, the narrow bones of the haunch could not afford
attachment to great gluteal muscles; so a muscle which is but slightly
formed in man, and is called the little psoas, is greatly developed
in the Kangaroo, and has evidently the power of maintaining the erect
posture, although it is situate within the body and in front of the
spine. The great jumping power is due to the leverage of the ankle and
long toes, and the muscles which supply the tendon already mentioned,
and others which have the same office. These are of great strength
and size, and there are some accessory muscles to the thigh and leg.
The long spine of the back has powerful processes, and the jar of the
great jumps is received by two vertebræ which, anchylosed or united
together, form the sacrum. The tail is made up of many vertebræ, and
covered with muscles. The great blood-vessels running underneath it
have many chevron, or V-shaped, bones, to protect them from pressure.
The marsupial bones, one on each side, are long, and broad below; they
are movable on the pubis, and afford attachment to muscular fibres, act
as a pulley for others, and strengthen the walls of the abdomen. Formed
within muscles and tendons, they are rather bony growths than parts of
the true skeleton, and hence they may be absent in some of the order,
although they are always present in the Kangaroos.
Although well provided with strong limbs and muscles, and acute senses,
the Kangaroos living the life of the deer and cattle of other regions
than Australia, are subject to the attacks of beasts of prey and
hunters. In Australia the great Carnivora do not exist, but there is a
native dog, the Dingo, aborigines, and trained dogs and colonists, who
enjoy a Kangaroo hunt. The native dogs stalk and run them down, the
natives spear them after sometimes forming a great circle and closing
in and yelling and shouting. But the rifle and trained hounds have
dislodged many more than the natives, and the animals are becoming
scarcer near the settlements than in former years. Dogs which run
by sight afford many an exciting hunt, and the Kangaroo starts off,
bounding at a great rate, and clearing all sorts of impediments with
ease. It is hard riding to keep up with the chase, and especially in
hot weather, when the Kangaroo often escapes, thanks to its greater
powers of endurance. Sometimes the Kangaroo will stand at bay, and will
rip up a solitary Dog with its claws, or will kill with a single blow
of the leg and tail. Three or more Dogs are usually laid on, one more
fleet than the others, to “pull” the Kangaroo, while the others rush
in and kill it. Mr. Gould[88] says that it sometimes adopts a singular
mode of defending itself, by clasping its short, powerful fore limbs
round its antagonist, leaping away with it to the nearest water hole,
and then keeping it beneath the water until drowned.
Mr. R. Foulerton, who has paid some attention to the habits of the
Marsupials, writes that the Great Kangaroo, although its numbers have
been greatly diminished in some pastoral districts, still is numerous
enough to render some runs almost worthless for pastoral purposes. They
may be seen there in thousands, eating off all the best grass, and in
the bad seasons reducing the cattle to starving point. They have few
enemies but man, as even the native Dog will never attack them, unless
they are very young. An “old man” Kangaroo is a formidable opponent; he
will severely wound and even kill a man, unless approached cautiously.
Their mode of attack is to “hug” him bear fashion, and then rip him
with the hind foot. When pursued, they generally take to the water,
and there stand at bay, and the luckless man or dog who gets within
their grasp is forced under the water, and held there until drowned.
The middle-aged Kangaroos, or Flyers, easily outstrip the hunting Dogs
at the start, but they are gradually gained upon. When caught, the
Kangaroo fights to the last.
The diminutive fore limbs are separated by narrow shoulders, and
although the upper arm is short and well furnished with muscles, the
fore arm is long, slender, but very movable. The hand is short and
broad, and there are four curved, sharp claws, the first one, or thumb,
being the smallest, and the third and fourth the largest. The hair
covers over the fingers to the claws, which can separate widely, grasp
and hold, and be bent on the palm. The movements of the wrists and
fore arms are considerable, and a large and long upward-turning muscle
is in the space between the ulna and radius (the bones of the arm).
Moreover, the ulna joints with a cavity in the cuneiform bone of the
wrist; and the first row of wrist bones has three in it, and the second
has four. The first phalanges, or those of the thumb, are not placed
as a thumb in relation to the wrist bones, and it is the outer fingers
that grasp with their claws. As the Kangaroo has to lift up its arm,
there is a collar-bone, and the arm bone (humerus) is perforated on the
inner side of the end above the elbow; and the olecranon is long.
The bladebone has a curved ridge, and the muscles of the upper part
are less than those which are attached to the part below it. There are
thirteen pairs of ribs to the chest.
The skull is long and comparatively smooth, and even the ridges for
the temporal muscles are only slightly raised; and in old Kangaroos
the bones do not unite or anchylose as they do in the other Mammalia
hitherto noticed. The teeth are not used as weapons of offence, but
simply to graze with, and the lower jaw is not quite solid at the
chin, but only so below, so that the lower incisors can be slightly
separated. The ear-bone is remarkable for being separated into three
parts, namely, the temporal or squamous, the petrosal, and the
tympanic; and this is rather a reptilian character. Moreover, the
air-chambers of the side of the under part of the skull are in the form
of rounded prominences, or “bullæ.” They are situated in the lower part
of the ear-bone, called squamosal. The zygoma, or process between the
cheek (malar) bone and the ear, is hollow, complete, and arched, its
front part being, moreover, extended downwards in a projection which
reaches below the grinding teeth, and resembles that of the Sloths
somewhat. The lower jaw has its back part, or angle, bent inwards (or
inflected) strongly, and this is, except in one set, a characteristic
of the Marsupiata.
[Illustration: STOMACH OF THE GREAT KANGAROO.
([_œ_]) œsophagus; (_in_) intestine.]
The Kangaroo, being a vegetable feeder, has a stomach suited for the
diet, which also permits of a certain amount of regurgitation of food
up again into the mouth, when a kind of chewing of the cud occasionally
is indulged in. The stomach is large and long, resembling the colon
or large intestine of the highest Mammalia in its general shape. It
measured, in one instance, according to Owen, no less than three feet
six inches, the measurement following its bends or curvatures. It
consists of a left, middle, and right or pyloric division. The left
ends in two round sacs, and these are really continuations of the
stomach separated to a certain extent by a peculiar arrangement of
the three bands of muscular fibres which pass separately along the
organ. Numerous clusters of secreting glands are found in the mucous
membrane of the stomach in its middle part, and they disappear near
the pylorus where the tissues are thick and corrugated. The animal
has a small intestine, a cæcum, and a large gut, but this last is not
much larger than the first part of the stomach. The organs of the
circulation of the blood resemble those of the other Mammalia, but
there is a distinction which relates to the short period during which
the young Kangaroo is a portion of the maternal being. So soon is it
born, and so soon therefore must it breathe, that before the heart has
grown much, it has the blood from the lungs and the rest of the body
running through it. The young Kangaroo breathes when its heart is not
fully developed, yet it has the perfect double circulation set up. The
auricles of the heart communicate as in other Mammals until birth, but
the duration of this communication is very short in the Marsupial,
and its traces so evident in the other Mammals are wanting in it. The
arteries of the body are simpler than in those Mammals which have a
more complicated intestinal arrangement, and Owen, in his great work
on the Marsupials, has pointed out that the hind limbs and tail are
supplied with arterial blood by vessels which have an arrangement not
without its similarity to that of birds. Leading a very simple life,
and one of great sameness, moving in a manner which does not require
much complexity of muscular action, the nervous system of the Kangaroo
could not be expected to be highly organised or fully developed. The
brain is small for the body of the animal. It is simple in form, and
does not cover the cerebellum, which is visible behind, and has a
little lobe on each side. The surface of the brain proper has a few
convolutions on it, and more perhaps than the Rodent Mammalia have.
The commissures of the brain, which relate to the complexity of the
method of life, are unequally developed. The central one, or the corpus
callosum, is small, and the front one is very large. Finally, the part
of the brain which refers to the sense of smell is large, but hidden by
the brain proper, and its nerves supply a large surface in the nose, at
its upper part at the base of its skull.
[Illustration: BRAIN OF THE GREAT KANGAROO.]
The young Kangaroo, when very small, and almost transparent, comes down
from the womb into a canal, and gets into the uro-genital sac, as it is
termed. Thence it is taken by the mother, and put into the marsupium,
or pouch, where it fixes on to a nipple, and holds on. As the little
one is ever “at the breast,” it might have any quantity of milk go the
wrong way, but this is provided for by the upper part of the organ
of voice (the larynx) being prolonged at the back of the nose, above
the level of the long nipple. Breathing goes on through the nose, and
swallowing safely through the gullet.
THE HARE KANGAROO.[89]--THE TURATT.
There are many kinds of Kangaroos, and one of them, which is solitary
and nocturnal in its habits, is called the Hare Kangaroo, of which
Mr. Gould writes:--“The name of Hare Kangaroo has been given to this
species as much from its similarity of form and size to the common Hare
as from its similarity of habits. I usually found it solitary, and
sitting alone on a well-formed seat under the stalk of a tuft of grass
on the open plains. For a short distance, its fleetness is beyond that
of all others of its group that I have had an opportunity of coursing.
Its powers of leaping are also equally extraordinary. While out on the
plains in South Australia, I started a Hare Kangaroo before two fleet
Dogs. After running to the distance of a quarter of a mile, it suddenly
doubled and came back to me, the Dogs following close to its heels. I
stood perfectly still, and the animal had arrived within twenty feet
before it observed me, when, to my astonishment, instead of branching
off to the right or to the left, it bounded clear over my head, and,
on descending to the ground, I was able to make a successful shot, by
which it was procured. It has the end of the nose covered with a fine
set of hairs. The fur is long and soft and very hare-like, and it has
small limbs and sharply-pointed nails.”
THE GREAT ROCK KANGAROO.
This is very different from its timid congener just described. It
inhabits the sterile and rocky mountains in the south-eastern part of
Australia. It scampers about the rocks, and readily escapes Dogs, and
it is a dangerous and formidable animal to approach, for it will, if
closely pressed, turn on its enemy, and force him over the rocks. It
bites, and uses its strong fore-arms very efficiently. It is called
_Macropus robustus_, and is often found in companies of four or six;
and it has more powerful fore-limbs than the Great Kangaroo, which is
even sometimes the smaller of the two. It has the part of the nose
called the muffle without hair.
THE RED KANGAROO[90] is so called from the red tint of the
male, which is sometimes marked under the neck and elsewhere. It was
found in the plains near the Darling and Murrumbidgee rivers, and is
celebrated for its great fleetness; and the female is often called
the “Flying Doe.” It is as fast as the Agile Kangaroo,[91] which is
long-haired, and is found in Northern and Eastern Australia.
Van Diemen’s Land has a Kangaroo with a long, deep-grey fur, with red
on the back of the ears, neck, and shoulders; and it is called the
Brush Kangaroo by the settlers. It is eaten and highly esteemed, and
its skin is exported for leather. Liking the dense and damp forests of
the island, it finds a safe retreat therein, and probably this is what
keeps them from extinction, for they have been killed by the thousand,
in order to supply contracts for boot-leather. The young of this
Kangaroo, which is also called after Bennett the naturalist (_Macropus
Bennetti_), does not leave the pouch of its mother permanently, until
it is as large as a Rabbit.
In the north of Australia, in the region of King George’s Sound, there
is a small Kangaroo which is not larger than a common Rabbit, and it is
a very interesting example of how species may differ from the type of a
genus. It has a slender and rather short tail, which is rather scaly,
and has but a few hairs on it, but it is not very short. The ears are
short and round, and the hind feet are short. The departure from the
configuration of the Great and Brush Kangaroo shape is therefore great.
It is called the Short-tailed Kangaroo. The last four kinds mentioned
are grouped together with others under a sub-genus, _Halmaturus_ (ἅλμα,
a leap, and οὐρά, a tail).
THE BRUSH-TAILED ROCK KANGAROO.
[Illustration: BRUSH-TAILED ROCK KANGAROO.]
Almost as strange as the slender-tailed Kangaroo are those which
are called the “brush-tailed,” and which inhabit rocky situations
(_Macropus penicillatus_). Mr. Waterhouse thus notices them:--
“Whilst the Kangaroos of the plain have the fore part of the body
slender and light, great strength in the hinder parts, combined with
a long leg and foot, adapting them to fleetness, the tail powerful,
and assisting in the support of the long body, we perceive certain
modifications in the form and structure of these parts in the Rock
Kangaroos which adapt them to their particular habitats. The body, more
compact in form, requires but little assistance from the tail for its
support, the leverage being less; and the feet are, though powerful,
comparatively short, and remarkably rough beneath, being thickly
covered over this part with hard tubercles, which no doubt prevent
the foot from slipping. The nails of the two larger toes are shorter
than usual, and, indeed, in some of the species, scarcely project
beyond the fleshy pads with which the toes are terminated, and on the
upper surface of which the nails are placed. A long and slender foot,
with long nails, as in the typical Kangaroos, it is obvious, would be
ill-adapted to an animal which has to leap to and balance itself upon
the small ledges of the rocks. The tail is large, but not thickened
at the root, as in the plain Kangaroos; and, unlike the tail in those
animals, it is clothed with long hairs, which, gradually increasing
in length from the base of the tail, become very long and bushy at
the opposite extremity. It serves to steady the animal in its leaps,
and to balance the body when perched in situations which require it,
but is of little assistance in supporting the weight of the trunk.
Its muffle, that is to say, the end of the nose, is naked, as in the
scrub-inhabiting Kangaroos just noticed, and it forms the type of the
sub-genus _Heteropus_” (ἕτερος, altered, πούς, foot).
One of these was hunted and shot amongst the woods of Liverpool plains,
New South Wales, by Sir Edward Parry, who wrote that they appear to be
gregarious, and seem to prefer the neighbourhood of rocky ground, in
which they had holes, and to which, when hunted, they retreated. They
swarm along in groups one after the other, and jump from side to side,
alighting on ledges so slightly prominent that their resting thereon
appears to be an impossibility. They go into caves and holes in the
rocks during the day, and they enjoy the night, and gambol and feed by
moonlight.
A Rock Kangaroo, with white and black bands on it, inhabits Western
Australia, and a short-eared kind enjoys the hot sands and high rocks
of Hanover Bay. There is a Kangaroo in the island of New Guinea
(_Macropus Brunii_), and it was the first seen by Europeans.
THE COMMON TREE KANGAROO.[92]
[Illustration: COMMON TREE KANGAROO.]
This is an inhabitant of New Guinea, and instead of frequenting the
brush and scrub, which are not physical features found in the island,
or the rocks, it lives in the forests, and is no mean but rather a
good climber of trees. There is a Kangaroo look about the animal, even
when it is seated on a thick branch, but the fur is very different to
that of its fellows of Australia. The fur looks coarse and harsh, and
is not very unlike that of a Bear. There is no soft under fur, but all
the hairs are long and resemble the long ones of the Kangaroos, and
the ears are quite clothed with it. Then, as the animal glides down
the stem of a tree, the shortness of the hind legs becomes apparent;
moreover, the claws on the foot do not resemble those of the Kangaroo.
The feet are stout but rather short, and the toes are more equal in
size than in the other Kangaroos. The claw of the outer toe is often
on a line with the middle of the longest one (the fourth), whilst the
nails of the double inner toe extend slightly beyond its base. The
nail of this large fourth toe is about an inch in length. Then the
fore limbs are nearly as large as the hind ones, and are very strongly
made, and so are the hands, the claw of the middle finger being
three-quarters of an inch in length. It has a clumsy-looking head, with
a high muzzle and small lower jaw. The upper lip is straight. It has
a large face and small ears, and the colour of the fur is brown-black
and yellow-brown. The tail is very long, tapers slightly, and is
considerably of use in steadying the climber, and it is carried very
much after the fashion of the other Kangaroos when the animal has
come down from its tree and hops off to its retreat. A specimen in the
Zoological Gardens of London had grizzled-grey fur, whiter underneath
the jaws and on the neck and limbs, and the ears were wide apart, and
the powerful fore limbs ended in five claws. The tail tapered but
very little. This was probably a second species called the Brown Tree
Kangaroo (_Dendrolagus inustus_).
These Tree Kangaroos have a small superior canine tooth on each side,
and the hinder incisor is not grooved. Hence they form a sub-genus,
which is called _Dendrolagus_ (δένδρον, a tree, λαγός, a hare), Tree
Hare.
THE KANGAROO-RATS.[93]
[Illustration: KANGAROO-RAT.]
These are also called Potoroos, and are of small size, being about
that of a Hare or Rabbit. They have a compact body, the neck being
short, and the ears are rather rounded, so that their shape is unlike
that of the Great Kangaroo, but it resembles that of the smaller
kinds somewhat. They have a rat-like shape, both hind feet like the
Kangaroos, a long tail, and peculiar teeth. The head is very like that
of a Rodent, and the incisor teeth in the upper jaw have the front ones
the longest. The canine teeth exist in the upper jaw, and the premolar
is large, and has numerous distinct vertical grooves on the outer and
inner sides; and the front molars are the largest, the smallest being
in the rear. The toes of the fore foot are unevenly developed; the
three central ones are large, and those at the side are small. The
nails are solid, broadest above, and much compressed. The foot is long,
and the fourth toe and nail are greatly developed. The fifth toe is
next in size, and the small second and third are coupled together by
skin, and form a projection, with two small nails, which are useful in
combing and scratching the fur. The first toe is absent. The Rufous
Kangaroo-Rat inhabits New South Wales, and is very common.[94] Its nest
is made up of grasses, and is frequently placed under the shelter of
a fallen tree, or at the foot of some low shrub. During the day the
little animal lies curled up in its nest, but it occasionally reposes
in a “seat” like the Hare Kangaroo; but it never sits in the open
plains. On being pursued it jumps like a Jerboa, with great swiftness
for a short distance, and seeks shelter in hollow logs and holes. Its
food consists of roots and grasses. Another is a native of Van Diemen’s
Land, and keeps to the open, sandy, or stony forest land, rather than
to the thick and humid bushes. It is called _Hypsiprymnus cuniculus_.
[Illustration: TEETH OF THE KANGAROO-RAT.]
None of the animals hitherto described as Kangaroos have any prehensile
power in the tail; but in one group of the Kangaroo-Rats, the tip of
the tail has a brush of long hairs above, and is clothed beneath with
short hairs, which are closely applied to the skin. This structure,
and the motion of the muscles beneath, give the Tufted-tailed
Kangaroo-Rat[95] of New South Wales a power of encircling and holding
objects, especially for seizing grasses with which to make its nest.
This is placed in a hollow in the ground, excavated for its reception,
and its opening being on a level with the surrounding herbage, the
practised eye of the native is required to discern it. After the little
things creep in, they drag some grass after them, and close up the
place. In the evening, they sally forth and scratch and dig up roots
with their strong fore-claws.
THE RAT-TAILED HYPSIPRYMNUS.[96]
The Rat-tailed Kangaroo-Rat is about fifteen inches and a half long,
and the tail measures, in addition, more than nine inches. It has a
long head and rather short hind feet, and the rat-like tail has short
stiff hairs on it which do not quite hide the scaly skin beneath.
The body fur is long and loose, and dusky brown, more or less tinted
with black and pale yellowish-brown. The end of the nose or muzzle
is spotted, and the ears are short and rounded. This little animal
lives in New South Wales, and was that which was first described by
Hunter under the name of Potoroo, or Poto Roo, being the “Bettong”
of the natives of New South Wales. The stomach of the Kangaroo-Rats
is less sacculated than that of the Kangaroos, but its left-hand
portion is enormously developed in proportion to the rest, and may be
compared with that of the Ruminantia in point of relative size. It
may be noticed that the lower jaws of the Potoroos, which are largely
inflected at the angle, articulate with the skull rather differently to
those of the Kangaroos. In these last, the cavity at the base of the
zygomatic process which receives the lower jaw is broad and slightly
convex, permitting considerable side-to-side movement which is useful
in the occasional “cud chewing.” But in the others the cavity barely
deserves the name, it being a nearly flat surface, and, therefore,
not much motion, except that of an up-and-down kind, is possible to
the jaw. The organ of hearing has been slightly noticed in the Great
Kangaroo in a former page, and it is necessary to observe that the
tympanic bone does not form a perfect tube in the Potoroos as in
the Kangaroos, and that the surface of the auditory cavity is also
increased by a “bulla,” or bony cavity, bulging out at the under part
of the skull. Corresponding “bullæ” were noticed in the Rodentia, but
in their case the swelling is in the temporal bone, whilst in the
Marsupials, with the exception of the Wombat, they are formed out
of the sphenoid bone (the great ala). Moreover, the Potoroos, like
the Kangaroos, and some of the other Marsupials (the Phalangers and
Koalas), have the ear chamber prolonged, by a number of cells, into the
zygomatic process of the temporal bone. The Kangaroo-Rats are numerous,
and there are many species. They are distributed in New South Wales,
Western Australia, Van Diemen’s Land, and South Australia, and to the
north-east.
[Illustration: FORE (A) AND HIND (B) FOOT OF HYPSIPRYMNUS.]
Sir R. Owen investigated the anatomy of a small Kangaroo-Rat which had
been described by Mr. Ramsay in Australia, and which was remarkable
for its musky smell. It is a long and slender-bodied little animal,
measuring about one foot three inches and a half from the snout to
the end of the tail, which is five inches and nine lines in the
female, and rather less in the male. Its hinder legs are shorter, and
the head is more slender and pointed than in the Kangaroo-Rats just
described. The fur is of moderate length, pretty closely applied, and
has numerous rather long hairs scattered here and there, the visible
portions being black or blackish, or pointed. These are relieved by
the dark and light-barred colour of the visible part of the shorter
hairs, all the hairs being of a leaden-greyish tint at the skin. The
upper surface of the body has a close and stiff fur of rich golden
colour, mixed with black; the head, face, and lower parts of the legs
are dark brownish-grey; and there are a few patches of white along the
centre of the throat and chest. The fur covers the tail for half an
inch or more, and then the rest is naked, and covered with a network
of scales about three to a line in length. The scales are black above,
and a few minute and very short hairs project from the interstices of
the scales. The animal has a naked muffle and rounded ears. The hind
foot is remarkable, for whilst the skull and dentition of the creature
would associate it more with the Kangaroo-Rats, the position of the
first toe (wanting in the Kangaroo-Rats) resembles somewhat that of the
Phalangista group, or the Phalangers, which will be noticed further
on. The sole of the foot is long, and there is a nailless projecting
first toe, like a thumb; next come the second and third toes--small,
united by skin, and leaving the two combing-nails visible; and then the
largest, or fourth toe, is followed by a smaller fifth. Sir R. Owen
judged that this animal was an occasional climber of trees, but that
its usual locality was on the ground. Mr. Ramsay states that it lives
in the Rockingham Bay district, and that it frequents the dense and
damp positions of the scrubs which fringe the rivers and clothe the
sides of the coast range. Its habits are diurnal, and its movements are
graceful. It procures its food by turning over the rubbish in search of
insects, worms, and tuberous roots, frequently eating the palm-berries,
which it holds with its fore paws, after the manner of the Phalangers,
sitting up on its haunches, or sometimes digging. They have a pouch,
and two young ones have been found in it. Considering the importance
of the great toe to the animal, and its linking together the climbing
and jumping Marsupials, Sir R. Owen acknowledged the necessity of
recognising Mr. Ramsay’s name of _Hypsiprymnodon moschatus_, and of
thus bringing in a new genus into a new family in the Kangaroo series
with two large front teeth in the lower jaw.[97]
II.--THE WOMBAT FAMILY.--THE PHASCOLOMYIDÆ.
THE WOMBAT.[98]
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE WOMBAT.]
On looking at a picture of a Wombat, the outside distinctions
between it and all the Kangaroo family may be seen at a glance, and
an examination of its anatomy affords still greater evidence of
differences which, to a certain extent, relate to the fact that the
animal now under consideration is a burrower and gnawer. About two to
three feet in length, the Wombat has only a small stump of a tail, a
low body, small feet, and strong limbs, ending in broad extremities,
well provided with claws. It has moderately long and coarse fur of a
grey-brown colour, and there is some white about the short ears, and
the feet are black. It is usually a plump animal, with a bare black
muzzle, and feet naked beneath, and covered with little tubercles
of flesh. The claws are large, and those of the fore feet (five in
number) are solid and but little curved, whilst the four on the hind
feet are curved and concave beneath. It has long moustache hairs,
and plenty of them. Sir Everard Home had one, and he found that
its principal desire was to get into the ground, and to do this it
worked with great skill and rapidity, covering itself with earth with
surprising quickness. It was very quiet during the day, but was in
constant motion during the night; was very sensible of cold; ate all
vegetables, and was particularly fond of new hay, which it ate stalk by
stalk, taking it into its mouth like a Bear, in small bits at a time.
It was not wanting in intelligence, and appeared attached to those to
whom it was accustomed, and who were kind to it. When it saw them, it
would put up its fore-paws on their knees, and when taken up would
sleep on the lap. It allowed children to pull and carry it about, and
when it bit them it did not appear to do so in anger or with violence.
When wild, the Wombat hides up during the day, and quits its retreat
at night, to dig and get grass and roots. It is by no means an active
animal, and shuffles along like a Bear. The Wombat has a slit-like,
imperfect marsupium, and the special peculiarities of its order, such
as marsupial bones, the inflected lower jaw, and double uterus. On
the hind foot the innermost or first toe is very small, nailless, and
placed at right angles to the foot, and the second, third, and fourth
toes are joined by skin, and have larger claws than the small fifth
toe. The stomach is simple, and has a peculiar glandular apparatus, and
the cæcum is short, and has an appendage as in man and some monkeys.
The teeth are remarkable for their number in relation to those of
the Kangaroos, and for having no rootlets. The incisor teeth greatly
resemble those of a Rodent, like the Rat. They are two in number in
each jaw, and are widely separated from the other teeth. The molars
are long, curved, and, like the incisors, have no true fangs, but
persistent pulps. They are divided into two nearly equal parts by a
fold of the enamel entering deeply into the body of the tooth on one
side, and a slight indentation on the opposite side.
[Illustration: WOMBAT.]
[Illustration: LOWER JAW OF THE WOMBAT.]
The number of the persistent teeth is as follows:--Incisors, 2/2; true
molars, (4-4)/(4-4). It is the only Marsupial which has an equal
number of incisors in both jaws. There are no canines. As the Wombat
uses much force in gnawing, the muscles of the jaws and their bony
attachments are large; consequently the temporal ridges are strongly
marked. There is a deep and strong zygomatic arch, and in the lower
jaw the turned-in angle is of great size. The chin is also large,
and the joint of the jaw also. The sutures of the bones of the skull
are scarcely ever obliterated, and the auditory “bullæ” are formed
in the temporal bone. With regard to the marsupial bones, they are
long, flat, curved, and, moreover, less expanded near their attachment
to the pubis. The ribs are fifteen in number on each side, and the
collar-bones are large and stout. There is a curious power of movement
of the ankle, so that the foot can imitate the turning movements of the
wrist and fore-arm of man. This pronation and supination is because
the small bone of the leg, the fibula, is free and not attached to the
other bone (tibia), and because there is a muscle whose action is to
move the fibula after the fashion of the corresponding muscle in the
fore limb. The stomach is smaller than in the Kangaroos, and has a
large gland.
[Illustration: TEETH OF THE WOMBAT.
A, Upper Jaw; B, Lower Jaw; C, Molar.]
The Wombat has been found in South Australia, Van Diemen’s Land, Bass
Strait, and in New South Wales.
CHAPTER II.
THE PHALANGER, POUCHED BADGER, AND DASYURE FAMILIES.
THE PHALANGER FAMILY--THE KOALA--Habits--Characteristics--THE
CUSCUS--THE VULPINE PHALANGER--THE DORMOUSE
PHALANGER--Habits--Remarkable Characters--THE FLYING
PHALANGERS--Its Flying Machine--Habits--THE SQUIRREL FLYING
PHALANGERS--Habits--The Parachute-like Membrane--Exciting Scene
on board a Vessel--Characteristics--THE OPOSSUM MOUSE--THE
NOOLBENGER, OR TAIT--A Curiosity among Marsupials--Distinctive
Features--THE POUCHED BADGER FAMILY--Characteristics--THE
RABBIT-EARED PERAMELES--THE BANDICOOT--THE BANDED
PERAMELES--THE PIG-FOOTED PERAMELES--Discussion regarding
it--Characteristics--THE DASYURUS FAMILY--Characteristics--THE
POUCHED ANT-EATERS--THE BANDED MYRMECOBIUS--Description--Great
number of Teeth--History--Food--Habits--Range--THE URSINE
DASYURE--Appearance--“Native Devil”--Ferocity--Havoc
among the Sheep of the Settlers--Trap to Catch them--Its
Teeth--A True Marsupial, though strikingly like the
Carnivora--Skeletal Characters peculiar to itself--MAUGE’S
DASYURE--THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS--Description--Resemblance
to the Dog--Habits--Peculiarities--THE BRUSH-TAILED
PHASCOGALE--Description--Other Varieties.
III.--THE PHALANGER FAMILY.--THE PHALANGISTIDÆ.
The loftiest of the gum-trees of the country from Moreton Bay to Port
Phillip, and even more widely than this, were often the familiar haunt
of a small Marsupial animal, not unlike a little Bear, about two feet
in length, and without a tail. It is a famous tree-climber, and its
stout body, small head, short limbs, and well-developed feet, are all
cased in an ash-grey fur. It has moderate-sized ears, which are hidden
by the long hair of the head, and it has a short and nearly naked
black muzzle. The eye is large and without eyelashes. The natives
climb up the trees after it, according to Mr. Gould, with as much ease
and expertness as an European would get up a long ladder, and having
reached the branch, perhaps forty or fifty feet from the ground, they
follow the animal to the extremity of a bough, and either kill it or
take it alive. This animal is called the KOALA, and it feeds
on the tender shoots of the blue gum in preference to those of any
others, and it rests and feeds in the boughs. At night it descends
and prowls about, scratching up the ground in search of some peculiar
roots, and it seems to creep rather than to walk. When angry it utters
a long, shrill yell, and assumes a fierce and menacing look. They are
found in pairs, and the young soon learn to perch on the mother’s
shoulders. Mr. Gould says that, unlike most quadrupeds, the Koala
does not flee upon the approach of man, and that it is very tenacious
of life. Even when severely wounded it will not quit its hold of the
branch upon which it may be. The animal has a nice thick fur, which
nearly hides the ears, and the pouch is large. A careful examination of
the animal shows that it differs from the Kangaroos and Wombats; it is
more like the latter than the former, but it is sufficiently distinct
to be placed in another family, the Phalangers, in which the incisors
are six above and two below, and there are two canines in the upper
jaw, and in some, two in the lower jaw, but not in all. There are two
premolars above and below, and either six or eight molars in the upper
and lower jaws. The head is rather small, and the face is short, the
upper lip being cleft. The limbs are equal; the fore feet have five
well-made toes with compressed and curved claws; the hind feet have
five toes, of which the first or inner one is large, nailless, and at
right angles to the rest, and opposable to them. The second and third
toes are shorter than the others, and are united in a common skin,
and they have nails. The fourth and fifth toes are curved and have
compressed claws. The name Phalangista is derived from this union by
skin of the phalanges of the foot. The tail may be absent, or long, and
more or less prehensile, but sometimes not.
[Illustration: KOALA.]
There is a well-developed pouch, and the stomach is simple, and the
cæcum is usually very long and large. One young one is produced at a
birth.
The Koala, or Native Bear,[99] may be taken as the type of the tailless
group, and it belongs to the genus _Phascolarctus_.
The CUSCUS, or Ursine Phalanger,[100] belongs to a second division, for
it has a prehensile tail. They are common animals in the dense woods
of the Island of Celebes. They squat on the branches half asleep by
day, but are lively enough at night, and it is said that they have a
fancy for flesh as well as fruit. A pretty spotted Cuscus inhabits the
islands of Amboyna, Waigeoe, Banda, and New Guinea, as well as Cape
York.[101] They are dull in captivity, but when placed together they
fight with fury, growling like Cats, and biting. They have small red
eyes with a vertical pupil, short ears, and a very stupid look. They
are all nocturnal in their habits, and feed on fruit, buds, leaves,
meat, and eggs.
One of the Phalangers, called _Cuscus albus_, is abundant in New
Ireland, Amboyna, Banda, and Timor, and is remarkable for its peculiar
odour. The male is white, and the female reddish-brown in colour, both
being about the size of a common Rabbit. It is slow in its movements,
lives in trees, and takes good care to conceal itself, but its scent
discovers it. The naturalists Lesson and Garnet stated that when
they traversed the forests of the island the odour of the Cuscus was
distinctly perceptible. It is stated that if these animals see any one,
they suspend themselves at once by the tail, and if they are looked at
steadfastly, they will drop by-and-by from fatigue, and are then easily
caught; in fact, they pretend to be dead.
[Illustration: CUSCUS.]
THE VULPINE PHALANGER.[102]--THE BRUSH-TAILED “OPOSSUM.”
Waterhouse describes this Marsupial to be about the size of a Cat, but
in shape it is somewhat between a Squirrel and a Marten. It has long
and somewhat pointed ears; and the tail, clothed with bushy, harsh,
black fur, except beneath, near the end, where it is naked, is about as
long as the body. The limbs are rather short, the muzzle is moderately
long and foxy-looking, and the whole body and head, except the naked
muzzle, are covered with a grey and black fur. The moustaches are long,
numerous, and black, and the feet are yellowish-white, and the naked
soles are flesh-coloured, the nails being dusky. The pupil of the eye
is round and intensely dark in colour. They sleep during the day, and
become active during the evening, and on the alert for their food,
which consists, in the Zoological Gardens, of bread and milk, fruit and
vegetables. They hold up the solid food between the hands as a Squirrel
holds a nut, and nibble very much in the same manner. Their native
haunts are New South Wales, Western Australia, and North Australia.
They inhabit the large trees, usually the Eucalypti, selecting such as
have the heart of the branches or trunk decayed, and they take refuge
there during the daylight. At night they leave their nests and climb
the branches of the trees which yield them buds and fruit. They descend
to the ground for food, and doubtless now and then eat snails and small
birds. When climbing they use the tail to hold by, and carefully grasp
every support with it before they let go with their feet or hands. A
brown-black species, closely allied, lives in Van Diemen’s Land.[103]
[Illustration: VULPINE PHALANGER.]
THE DORMOUSE PHALANGER.[104]
This is a very small Marsupial animal, about six inches in length,
including the tail, which measures nearly, if not quite, one-half. It
is like a little Dormouse, with its soft fur, ashy-grey in colour,
large ears, and thick tail. They are broader, not so long in the leg,
and usually larger than the Dormouse, and the eyes are larger, and the
upper jaw overhangs the lower. But they look just as fat and sleepy
in the daytime. The habits of these animals, moreover, are much the
same, for the Phalangista living in Van Diemen’s Land feeds on nuts
and other similar food, which they hold in their fore paws, using them
as hands. They are nocturnal, remaining asleep during the whole day,
or, if disturbed, are not easily roused into a state of activity. They
come forth in the evening, and are then more easy and rapid in their
movements. Some of these were kept in the Zoological Gardens of London,
and it was noticed that they made great use of their tail, which is
prehensile, and thus not like that of the Dormouse. They ran about a
small tree, using their paws and tail to hang on by, and using the tail
as a suspender when they descended. Sometimes the tail is thrown in a
reverse direction, and is turned over the back, and at other times,
when the weather is cold, it is rolled closely up towards the under
part, and coiled up almost between the thighs. They are like little
balls of fur, and are very gentle and harmless.
Mr. Gould states that another kind of these Dormouse-looking creatures
is very abundant in the northern portion of Van Diemen’s Land, and that
of all trees it appears to prefer the Banksia, whose numerous blossoms
supply it with a never-ceasing store of food, both of insects and
sweets. It undergoes a kind of hibernation somewhat similar to but not
to the extent of that of the Dormouse.
These pretty little marsupials are remarkable by having only three
true molar teeth in each jaw on both sides; but they have the usual
two narrow, long, and pointed incisors in the lower jaw. The auditory
bullæ on the base of the skull are large, and the hard palate has
four openings in it. The lower jaw is slender behind, and the angular
process is inflected, the process of bone being, however, slender and
pointed. Their mouse-like shape is evident, but they have a large eye,
and the ears are often more or less crumpled and pendent, but they
start up and are erect at the least noise. There are three species of
these Phalangistidæ, and they are included in a sub-genus, Dromicia.
They live in Van Diemen’s Land, Western Australia, and South Australia.
Some which were found in King George’s Sound district live in retreats
under the dead bark of trees, and in holes in trees which have been
burnt out.
THE FLYING PHALANGERS.
The next genus of the family Phalangistidæ contains the Flying
Phalangers, which form the genus Petaurus. They have all the
peculiarities of the Phalangers, and also a skin on the flank of the
body, which is extended between the fore and hind legs, which serves
to sustain the animal in the air, when descending from a height.
They have a long hairy tail. The Yellow-bellied Flying Phalanger
(_Petaurus australis_, Shaw) may be taken as the type of the genus,
and is fourteen inches long in the body, and nineteen in the tail. The
peculiar fold of fur, which is its flying machine, is attached to the
fore leg as far as the elbow, and all down the legs to the great toe.
It is common in all the brushes of New South Wales, particularly those
along the coast from Port Philip to Moreton Bay. Mr. Gould states, in
addition to this, “In these vast forests, trees of one kind or other
are perpetually flowering, and thus offer a never-failing supply of
blossoms, upon which the animal feeds. The flowers of the gum-trees,
some of which are of great magnitude, are the principal favourites,
and, like the rest of the genus, it is nocturnal in its habits,
dwelling in holes of trees and in the hollows of branches during the
day, and displaying the greatest activity at night, while running over
the small leafy branches, sometimes even to their very extremities,
in search of insects and the honey of the newly-opened blossoms. Its
structure being ill-adapted for terrestrial habits, it seldom descends
to the ground, except for the purpose of passing to a tree too distant
to be attained by springing from the one it wishes to leave. The tops
of the trees are traversed at a pace and with as much ease as if it
were on the ground. If chased, it ascends to the highest branches, and
performs enormous leaps, sweeping from tree to tree with wonderful
address.”
A slight elevation gives its body an impetus, which, with the expansion
of its membrane, enables it to pass to a considerable distance, always
ascending a little at the extremity of the leap. By this ascent the
animal is prevented from receiving the shock which it would otherwise
sustain.
THE SQUIRREL FLYING PHALANGER.[105]
This little creature, called the Sugar Squirrel by the colonists, is
very generally dispersed over the whole of New South Wales, where, in
common with other Phalangers, it inhabits the magnificent gum-trees.
Mr. Gould states that it is nocturnal in its habits, and that it
conceals itself during the day in the hollows of trees, where it early
falls a prey to the natives, who capture it both for the sake of its
flesh and skin, which latter, in some parts of the colony, they dispose
of to the colonists, who occasionally apply it to the same purposes as
those to which the fur of the Chinchilla and other animals is applied
in Europe. At night it becomes extremely active in its motions. It
prefers those forests which adorn the more open and grassy portions of
the country rather than the thick brush near the coast. By expanding
the membrane attached to the sides of its body it has the power of
performing enormous leaps. They have the power of changing their
course to a certain extent when descending, parachute-like, from a
height. It is stated that a ship sailing off the coast had a Squirrel
Petaurus on board which was permitted to roam at large. On one occasion
it reached the mast-head, and as the sailor who was sent to bring it
down approached, it made a spring from aloft to avoid him. At this
moment the ship gave a lurch, which, if the original direction of the
little creature’s course had been continued, must have plunged it in
the sea. All who witnessed the scene were in pain for its safety; but
it suddenly appeared to check itself, and so to modify its career
that it alighted safely on deck. This kind is not more than eight or
nine inches in length, and its bushy tail is as long as the body. The
soft fur of the tail, like that of the body, is a delicate ashy-grey.
There is a long stripe of black fur from the naked tip of the nose to
the root of the tail, and the cheeks are white with a black patch;
the flank membrane is edged with white, and this is the colour of the
underneath part of the body; the ears are long, and of a brownish flesh
colour.
Another kind, with a yellow flank membrane, is short-headed, and
it inhabits Port Essington, North Australia,[106] whilst the true
Short-headed Flying Phalanger is found in New South Wales.[107]
Probably it is the first of these which is found in New Guinea, and
which has been called the Squirrel Flying Phalanger by mistake. These
Flying Phalangers all have long and nearly naked ears, and the side
membrane extends to the outer finger. They have the outer two fingers
of the hand long and equal to each other, or very nearly so; the second
and third fingers are distinctly shorter than these; and the inner
finger is very short. Their dentition is--Incisors, (6/2); canines,
(1-1)/(0-0); premolars, (3-3)/(4-4); true molars, (4-4)/(4-4) = 40. The
incisors of the lower jaw are, as usual, long and pointed, and almost
horizontal, whilst the upper incisors are large and dilated, so far
as the anterior ones are concerned, and the next is smaller than the
hindmost. The canine is large, and separated from the first premolar,
which is large and compressed, and all the molars have rounded
tubercles on them.
[Illustration: SQUIRREL FLYING PHALANGER.]
The OPOSSUM MOUSE[108] of the colonists of New South Wales used to be
common in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson. It is about the size of a
common Mouse, and of an ashy brown and grey colour on the upper parts
and on the flank membrane; the rest is white. It belongs to the Flying
Phalangers, but its side membrane scarcely extends to the wrist, and
the thumb of the hind foot is large. It has only three true molars in
each jaw on both sides, and the canine is close to the incisors. It
forms part of the sub-genus Acrobata, whilst those already mentioned
constitute the sub-genus Belideus (βέλος, a dart). Finally, the
short-eared, white-bellied Taguan Phalanger of the scrub of New South
Wales is the type of the sub-genus _Petaurus_.
GENUS TARSIPES.--THE NOOLBENGER, OR TAIT.[109]
This is an Australian curiosity amongst the Marsupials, and is a small,
mouse-like thing, with a long muzzle, small ears, long tongue, and
very few teeth. Its dental formula is--Incisors, (2-2)/(2); canines,
(1-1)/(0-0); molars, (3-3)/(3-3). The fore and hind extremities have
toes something like those of the Lemur, called Tarsius (Vol. I., page
248). The fore feet have five smallish toes, each thickened at the end,
and a minute scale-like nail, which reaches neither the end nor sides
of the toe. The hind feet have five toes on each, and the innermost
has the formation of a thumb, and is slender and nailless. The second
and third toes are very short, and are joined to the end and furnished
with small pointed nails, which are directed upwards almost at right
angles to the plane of the toe; and the fourth toe is twice as long as
the second and third. The fifth is shorter than the fourth, and has a
scale-like nail on the upper surface. This is the case with the fourth
also. There is a long, slender tail. The small bones of this little
honey-sucker are very thin, and the lower jaw has two slender and
almost straight sides, and the inflection is wanting.
This little animal is rare, but it is to be found in West Australia,
from Swan River to King George’s Sound. It is nocturnal in its habits,
and catches flies in captivity with great ease. But its food is honey,
which it gets like a moth, with its tongue. The tail is prehensile, and
the little pouch contains four mammæ in the female.
The little Tarsipes, with its honey and insect diet, has a very
long intestine and no cæcum, whilst the Koala has a cæcum more than
three times the length of its body. The pigmy Acrobata has this
organ disposed in a spiral curve in the left lumbar region. The
marsupial bones are large in the Koala, and are long, broad, and
flat, almost equalling the iliac bone in size. Finally, with regard
to the parachute-fold of skin on the flanks of the Petaurists, it is
a simple fold with very elastic tissues within, which draw it up to
the body, more or less, when the animal is walking or standing. When,
however, the limbs are extended after a jump, the membrane becomes very
tense, and acts by increasing the surface of the body so as to oppose
gravitation by the supporting power of the air.
IV.--FAMILY PERAMELIDÆ.--POUCHED BADGERS.
This group of Marsupials embraces two genera, Perameles and Chœropus,
the first having several species and the last but one. They have all
long, slender heads; large, long ears, with fleshy lobes; longer hind
than fore limbs; the tail short in some, long in others, and hairy; and
the pouch is directed backwards. They have a considerable number of
teeth, there being ten incisors in the upper jaw and six in the lower;
there are two canines in each jaw, three premolars in each jaw on
either side, and four true molars behind them, making forty-eight teeth
in all. The teeth have fangs, the premolars are compressed and pointed,
and the molars have tubercles on them. The stomach is simple.
GENUS PERAMELES (BANDICOOTS).--THE RABBIT-EARED PERAMELES.[110]
The so-called native Rabbit of the Swan River district of Western
Australia is abundant in the grassy country in the interior; and it
frequents, in pairs, places where the soil will permit of burrowing.
It is about the size of a common Rabbit, and has a long and pointed
muzzle, which is naked at the tip. It has long, oval ears, which are
tubular at the base. The eye is small, and the tail is a little shorter
than the body. The legs are longish, and the fur is well grown.
This sharp-looking animal lives upon insects, and its favourite food
is a large grub, probably the larvæ of a species of Buprestis beetle
which infest the roots of the acacia trees. In order to obtain this
peculiar food, it has to compete with the natives, who like it also,
and often enough it has to rush to its long and deep burrows for
safety. Its flesh is sweet, and is much sought after by the aborigines.
One which was kept at the Zoological Gardens was very active in the
evening, but usually slept during the day-time, when, sitting upon its
haunches, with its head thrust between its hind legs, it appeared like
a ball of fur. It was a very savage animal, and bit severely, holding
on, moreover, if it could, with its teeth. It waddled on its hind legs
alone, which were straddled, and the tail assisted in supporting the
body. They have five toes to the fore-foot, of which the two outermost
are rudimentary and nailless, the remaining three are well developed,
and are furnished with strong solid nails, which cover the last
phalanges which are cleft above in the longitudinal direction almost to
the root. The hind feet have a rudimentary inner toe, the second and
third are joined and are slender, and have two hollow nails, and the
fourth is large and, like the fifth, which is well developed, has a
solid nail sheathed on the end bone.
GUNN’S PERAMELES.--THE BANDICOOT.[111]
This is the animal which has given the native name to the genus, and
Mr. Gunn, who discovered the species, informed Mr. Waterhouse that it
is common in many parts of Van Diemen’s Land, going by the name of
Bandicoot. It is a burrower, and lives principally upon roots, and it
likes the bulbs which are introduced from the Cape and elsewhere into
gardens. It is about sixteen inches long, and has a slender muzzle,
moderate-sized ears, and the under parts of the body are white, the
rest being grey and pencilled with black and yellow, except behind,
where it is blacker. There are four broadish white bands on this part.
THE BANDED PERAMELES.[112]
[Illustration: BANDED PERAMELES.]
This is a pretty little Perameles with a body about a foot in length,
and a tail of about four inches long. It has rather a sharp and long
snout, rather large ears, which are broad at the base, and long and
pointed at the tip. The fur is longish and harsh, and is pencilled with
black and yellow in about equal proportions on the upper part of the
body, there being a black ground colour on the hinder part of the back.
There, however, there are three broad yellow-white bands, the foremost
of which crosses the back. The feet and under parts are white, and the
tail is of the same colour underneath, but black on the top. The feet
are slender, and the hind ones have a rudimentary inner toe, naked
beneath, in front, and at the heel. In the skeleton this inner toe has
one or two phalanges, and a small tubercle without a nail is visible
before the flesh is removed. It inhabits Southern Australia from east
to west. This kind resembles the Bandicoot of Van Diemen’s Land on the
other side of Bass Strait, and may be considered its representative. It
is smaller than the Van Diemen’s Land species, but its tail is longer;
moreover, the ear exceeds those of the insular forms in size. Like
the other Perameles, the pouch for the young opens backwards. “Though
provided with strong claws it rarely burrows,” says Mr. Krefft, “and
it is a great enemy to little Rodents. It tumbles the Mice about with
its fore paws, breaks their hind legs, and eats the head.” New Guinea
contains a short-legged Perameles,[113] which appears to be deficient
in the usual number of upper incisor teeth; and another[114] resembling
the common Bandicoot.
GENUS CHŒROPUS.--THE PIG-FOOTED PERAMELES.[115]
A very rare little, large-eared, small-legged animal was found by Sir
Thomas Mitchell on the banks of the River Murray, and its appearance
was so remarkable that much attention was paid to its anatomy, whilst
unfortunately nothing particular was learned regarding its natural
history and habits. Subsequently the little creature, whose body is
about nine inches and a half long, the tail measuring in addition
about four inches, was found in the interior of the country near the
Swan River. It is an active little animal, and a hunter of insects,
but it will feed upon vegetable substances also. Mr. Gould states
that, like the Perameles, to which it is allied in many parts of its
construction, it forms a nest composed of leaves and other substances.
The pouch is deep and runs upwards, and not like that of the Kangaroo,
and there are eight teats. At first there was much discussion whether
the animal had a tail, but there is no doubt about its possessing one
when in the perfect condition. The slender fore limbs, no thicker than
goose-quills, end in two very small digits, and they are provided
with small, compressed, and but little curved nails. They have a
small fleshy pad on their under surface, behind which is a smaller
one. The hind legs are longer than the front ones, and are almost as
slender. The foot is long, and at first sight appears to have only
one large toe, for the others are very small and far removed from the
end of the foot. The outer little toe has a small nail, and the inner
toes, joined, are almost as small, but they have hollow nails. The
greatly-developed toe has a conical and compressed nail, but beneath
there is a large fleshy pad; the rest of the foot is hairy. Hence it
appears that the heel is not put to the ground. The colour of the long,
loose, soft fur is brown-grey above, and yellowish-white beneath, the
limbs and the fore feet have a whitish tint, and the large toe is of a
dirty white colour. So far as the skull and teeth are concerned, the
little Chœropus greatly resembles the other kinds of Marsupials which
are classified under the genus Perameles. Sir Thomas Mitchell noticed
the broad head and very slender snout, which, he stated, resembled the
narrow neck of a wide bottle, in the specimen which the natives took
from a hollow tree after chasing it on the ground. In the construction
of the skull and in the number of the teeth, this long-eared creature
resembles the rest of the genus Perameles. In the upper jaw there are
five incisor teeth on each side, and they are close, and the canine
is small, and resembles a premolar, and is slightly distant from the
incisors. The first premolar is separated from the canine by a space
of one line and a half, and slightly from the second premolar; and the
second and third premolars and the four molars form a continuous line.
V.--THE DASYURUS FAMILY.--DASYURIDÆ.
These animals are all carnivorous, and prey upon small quadrupeds and
the young of large ones, as well as upon birds and insects. They are
of different shapes and sizes, according to the genera to which they
may belong; and whilst some resemble the Shrew Mice somewhat in outward
appearance, others are like the Marten, and one important group may be
compared with Short-legged Wolves, or Jackals. Varying in size from
that of a Mouse to a small Wolf, the members of the different genera
of this family are equally variable in the number of the teeth, of the
claws, and in the development of the marsupial pouch and its bones.
They all have rather long muzzles and furry tails, which, however,
are not prehensile. The second and third toes of the hind feet are
disunited and well developed, and the thumb-toe is small or absent.
There are eight incisors in the upper jaw, and six in the lower.
GENUS MYRMECOBIUS.--THE POUCHED ANT-EATERS.[116]
The BANDED MYRMECOBIUS may be taken as an example of this genus. It is
about the size of a Rat, but it is more Squirrel-like in shape, and has
a long and pointed muzzle. The tail is long and furry, with long hairs
also; and the prevailing colour of the body is reddish, but posteriorly
it becomes dark or black. There are nine bands of light or white
colour on the sides of the body, from the back over the flanks, and
the crupper is also marked with a band. The head is long, the ears are
moderately long, narrow, and pointed, the gape is considerable, and the
small pointed snout has some rather long smellers; there are also some
long hairs under the eye. A black mark runs on the cheek to the ear,
and has white hairs above and below it. The fur is somewhat remarkable.
The under hair is scanty and whitish-grey, and the upper hair is rather
coarse, short, and depressed on the fore parts of the body. It is long
on the hind and under parts, and the hairs on the fore part of the back
are black near the skin and reddish at the tip. The fur of the head
is short and brownish above, being composed of a mixture of black,
fulvous, and a few white hairs. The fore legs are rather stout and
strongly made, and the five curved and compressed claws are admirably
adapted for its method of life, which consists of insect-hunting by
digging. The hind limbs are suited to support the weight of the animal,
as it scratches with the fore feet, but they are deficient in the first
toes. The whole animal is about seventeen inches long, seven inches
being included in the tail. This animal has a greater number of teeth
than any other Marsupial, and, indeed, they are only surpassed by some
Cetacea and Edentate Ant-eaters amongst the other Mammalia. There
are fifty-two teeth in the mouth--namely, eight upper and six lower
incisors, four canines, six compressed false molars behind the canines
above and below, and ten small true molars above, and twelve below. The
canines of the lower jaw are incurved, and the last lower molars are
worn in ridges internally. The number of teeth appears, however, to be
variable, and some have fifty-four and others less than fifty.
The Myrmecobius, although it has the inflected condition of the lower
jawbone and small marsupial bones, not more than half an inch in
length, has no pouch. The young adhere to the mother’s nipples, and are
protected by the comfortable fur and long hair of her body.
The Banded Myrmecobius was first discovered by Lieutenant Dale, who
procured a specimen whilst on an exploring expedition into the interior
of the Swan River Settlement, about ninety miles to the south-east
of the mouth of the river. Two specimens of this very elegant little
animal were seen by Lieutenant Dale, both of which fled to hollow trees
for shelter upon being pursued. The district in which they were found
abounded in decayed trees and ant-hills; and, from some peculiarities
in the dentition of the animal, combined with its extremely long and
slender tongue, it became evident that its food was insects, and the
softer and smaller species, for procuring which, by scratching up the
earth, the strong fore feet and claws appeared to be adapted. Indeed,
the peculiarities of structure, combined with the fact that the animal
was found in the vicinity of ant-hills, suggested that its food, in all
probability, consisted chiefly of Ants: and hence the generic name.
As yet, however, we have no direct evidence that Ants form the chief
food of the Myrmecobius, though it is stated, in Mr. Gould’s “Mammals
of Australia,” that wherever this animal takes up its abode, there
Ants are found to be very abundant. In the same work the following
particulars of the habits of the animal are given from the pen of Mr.
Gilbert:--
“I have seen a good deal of this little animal. It appears very much
like a Squirrel when running on the ground, which it does in successive
leaps, with its tail a little elevated, every now and then raising
its body and resting on its hind feet. When alarmed, it generally
takes to a dead tree lying on the ground, and before entering the
hollow, invariably raises itself on its hind feet to ascertain the
reality of approaching danger. In this kind of retreat it is easily
captured; and when caught, is so harmless and tame as scarcely to make
any resistance, and never attempts to bite. When it has no chance of
escaping from its place of refuge, it utters a sort of half-smothered
grunt, apparently produced by a succession of hard breathings.
“The female is said to bring forth her young in a hole in the ground or
in a fallen tree, and to produce from five to nine in a litter. I have
not myself observed more than seven young attached to the nipples.” It
is not nocturnal in its habits.
With regard to the range of the genus Myrmecobius, Mr. Gould states
that it is very generally dispersed over the interior of the Swan River
Settlement, from King George’s Sound on the south to the neighbourhood
of Moor’s River on the north, and as far westward as civilised man has
yet been able to penetrate. Its species are also found near the Murray
and Darling.
This many-toothed Ant-eating Marsupial has always been interesting to
geologists, for in the Stonesfield slates of the Oolitic formation of
England, which lie low down in the Great Oolite, the lower jaws of an
animal have been found greatly resembling those of Myrmecobius. The
fossil Amphitherium has the jaws but slightly inflected, and is not
without resemblance to insectivorous creatures; but, nevertheless, its
similarity to Myrmecobius struck Owen and Lyell many years since.
GENUS DASYURUS.--THE URSINE DASYURE.[117]
Being a great enemy of the poultry and tender rearlings of the
colonists of Van Diemen’s Land, this small creature has earned the
name of the “Native Devil.” It may be compared to a Bear, with a body
about two feet in length, and the resemblance is tolerably correct in
the fur, general proportions of the body and limbs, and also in its
gait and its actions. The Dasyure, however, has a longer tail than the
Bear, and never grows larger than a Badger. It is a short animal, with
a round broad head and rather a long snout, and the coarse black fur
(brown-black on the head, tail, and beneath) is marked by one broad
white band across the chest and by another over the back, close to
the tail. The tail is about half the length of the head and trunk.
Harris notices that these animals were very common on the British first
settling at Hobart Town, and were particularly destructive to poultry,
and Mr. Gunn states that they commit great havoc among Sheep, and that
notwithstanding their comparatively small size, they are so fierce that
they are a match for any ordinary Dog.
[Illustration: DASYURE.]
As the settlements increased in Tasmania, and the ground became
cleared, the animals were driven from their haunts near the town
to the deeper recesses of the forests yet unexplored. They were
easily procured by setting a trap in the most unfrequented parts of
the woods, baited with raw flesh, all kinds of which they will eat
indiscriminately and voraciously. They also, it is probable, prey on
dead fish and blubber, as their tracks are frequently found on the
sands of the sea-shore. In a state of confinement they appear to be
untamably savage, biting severely, and uttering at the same time a low
yelling growl. A male and female which Mr. Harris kept for a couple of
months, chained together in an empty cask, were continually fighting.
Their quarrels began as soon as it was dark, as they slept all day,
and continued throughout the night almost without intermission,
accompanied by a kind of hollow barking, not unlike that of a Dog, and
sometimes a sudden kind of snorting, as if the breath were restrained
a considerable time and then suddenly expelled. They frequently sat
on their hind parts, and used their fore paws to convey food to their
mouths. The muscles of the jaws were strong, and they crushed the
largest bones asunder with ease.
This Dasyure, like the others of the genus, has the incisor teeth
equal, and there are eight of them in the upper jaw and six in the
lower. The four canines are large, and there are two powerful premolars
in each jaw and on each side. These are succeeded by four molars above
and below, and on both sides of the mouth.
The incisor teeth, equal in size, are arranged in a semicircle in the
upper jaw, and those of the lower jaw have a corresponding direction,
but they are rather the stouter. The canines are well developed, and
those of the lower jaw bite in front of those of the upper. They look
eminently adapted for stopping and seizing prey, and their carnivorous
character is surpassed by that of the premolars and true molars. These
last have a triangular grinding surface: the first has four sharp
cusps, the second and third have five, and the last, which is the
smallest in the upper jaw, has only three. In the lower jaw the last
molar is of the same size as the last but one, and has four cusps; and
the other molars have much resemblance to those in the upper jaw.
The hind feet have the toes separate and not united by a fold of skin,
and there is a rudimentary great toe in this species. The condyle of
the humerus is not perforated--as in the Kangaroos, for instance--for
the passage of the blood vessels, but is whole, and the outside of the
bone is marked by a groove, along which they pass.
Although this Dasyure has the lower jaw inflected, and is a true
Marsupial, the resemblance in shape, and in dental and other
characters, as well as in its habits, to the Carnivora is striking. Its
fierce character and the nocturnal habits add to the similarity; but
there are some very peculiar anatomical distinctions. The wrist bones,
called scaphoid and lunar, those which are nearest the radius along
the first row of carpal bones, are separate in the Dasyure, but in the
Carnivora they are united to form one bone. And in the foot there is
a peculiarity: for whilst in the Carnivora there is a groove between
the heel bone and the astragalus, this is absent in the Marsupial
Carnivore, and the articular surface of the bones is continuous.
[Illustration: TEETH OF THE DASYURE.]
The Dasyures have a small crest of bone on the top of the skull,
which is also seen on a grander scale in the Carnivora. They have,
moreover, the zygoma well developed and strong; it bulges outwards and
curves upwards, but not to the amount seen in the true Carnivora. The
occipital bone is developed as in the non-Marsupial mammals, but its
parts, instead of joining together and forming one with age, often
remain separate; but this does not appear to occur in all the species
of the genus, for Owen, in his wonderful article on the Marsupials in
the “Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology,” notices that in the little
_Dasyurus Maugei_ the occipital bone presents the usual state of bony
confluence. He notices that the Dasyure, in common with some other
Marsupials, has the temporal bone permanently divided into its several
parts, there being separate squamous, petrous, and tympanic bones; but
the petrous and mastoid parts are usually united. This is a reptilian
peculiarity, but the tympanic bone of the Dasyure is not without its
resemblances to those of birds. The surface on which the lower jaw
moves or is hinged, is not composed entirely by the temporal bone, but
the malar bone is slightly included, and even the sphenoid comes into
the joint.
Another marked character of the Dasyures is, that their hard palates
are not whole, but have spaces and perforations, and this denotes a low
organisation. This absence of a perfect hard palate is seen in other
Marsupials, and especially in the Bandicoots (Perameles).
The angular process of the lower jaw, where inflected or bent in, is
triangular and directed upwards, with a blunt point; and the condyle of
the jaw is low, being on a level with the molar teeth.
[Illustration: BRAIN OF THE DASYURE.]
It is remarkable that the Dasyures should have the bones of the leg,
the tibia and fibula, so connected together as to allow of a certain
degree of rotation on each other, after the fashion of the fore-arm
bones. The muscles of the leg are modified for the purpose. This
interesting anatomical point recalls one of the great distinctions
between the fixed leg bones of man and those of the hand-footed Ape.
It is not found, however, in the non-Marsupial mammals, whose habits
of life are simulated by the Dasyure; but it is found in the Wombat,
a burrower, and in the Koala, Phalangers, and Opossums, which are
climbers. In examining the stomachs of the Marsupials, Owen noticed
that differences in food and habit are not met by alteration in the
shape of the organ, as they are in the higher Mammalia. Thus, the
common Dasyure, the insectivorous Bandicoot, and the leaf-eating
Phalangers, have a full round, oval, or sub-triangular-shaped stomach,
with the right extremity projecting beyond and below the pylorus. The
length of the stomach seldom exceeds the height by more than one-third.
No cæcum is found in the carnivorous Marsupial, and the intestine is
short and wide, being continued, like the intestine of a reptile, along
the margin of a single and simple mesentery, from the pylorus to the
rectum (Owen). The liver has a gall-bladder in the Dasyure, and there
is a pancreas as well as a spleen. The heart is contained in a slight
pericardium, as in the other Mammalia. The Ursine Dasyure is found in
Van Diemen’s Land only.
There are several kinds of Dasyure, which have been carefully noticed
and described. One is called the Long-tailed or Spotted Dasyure,[118]
and is about the size of a Cat. The fur is reddish-brown, pencilled
with yellow, and is spotted with white both on the body and on the
tail. It has a tail as long as the head and body together, and the
under parts of the body and the fore-legs and feet are of a dirty
yellow tinge. It lives in Van Diemen’s Land, and was, from its shape,
at first called a Marten. The teats are six in number, three on each
side, and seated within a slight fold only of the skin, so that there
is no true pouch.
[Illustration: UPPER (A) AND UNDER (B) VIEW OF SKULL OF DASYURE.]
MAUGE’S DASYURE.[119]
This is a small animal, not larger than a half-grown Cat. It has a
longish bushy tail, a broad head, and is somewhat of greyish-yellow
colour. There are white spots on the sides of the body and tail. In
confinement this little creature is torpid by day, but lively as
evening comes on, and it rushes about, with its tail extended, with
great rapidity. It is very injurious to the poultry when in a wild
state, and is called the Wild Cat in Van Diemen’s Land. A variety of
it is the Viverrine Dasyure, which has the head and body spotted with
white, the general colour being brown, black, or grey, tinted with
yellow, the under parts being white. It has long hairs to its tail;
rather large ears, the flesh of which is of a pale pink, as is that of
the naked lips, the tip of the nose, and the soles of the feet, the
latter being hairless, but covered with small fleshy tubercles. There
is no trace of an inner toe to the hind foot, unless it be a slight
swelling of the flesh, marking the situation of the rudimentary bone
beneath. Both of these animals are to be found in New South Wales and
Van Diemen’s Land.
The rest of the Dasyures are widely spread over the continent. The
smallest kind is the North Australian Dasyure. Geoffroy’s Dasyure,
which has a thin tail and an inner toe to the hind foot, inhabits
Western and Southern Australia and New South Wales, is a great killer
of the Yellow-crested Cockatoo, and they hunt and kill Mice or Rats as
well as any Cat. They have not a pouch.
GENUS THYLACINUS.[120]--THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS.[121]
This is a Dog-like, slim, narrow-muzzled animal, with clean and rather
short limbs, a foxy head, and a tail about half as long as the body,
which in males is forty-five inches in length. It is about the size of
a Jackal, and the fur is short, but rather woolly and greyish-brown,
faintly suffused with yellow in colour. The fur on the back is deep
brown near the skin, and yellowish-brown towards the tip. It has from
twelve to fourteen black bands on the body, and the tail has long hairs
at the tip only. The eyes are keen, large, and full, and they are black
and have a nictitating membrane. The animal walks half on its toes and
half on its soles or palms, and thus is a semi-plantigrade, the body
being brought nearer the ground than that of the Wolf in running. There
is a marsupial pouch, but the bones are mere cartilages. The Dog-headed
Thylacinus, or the Zebra-Wolf of the colonists of Van Diemen’s Land,
thus described, has often been taken for one of the Carnivora, and
certainly there are great resemblances between it and the Dogs. The
canine teeth are of large size, but they are recurved at the top, and
in the upper jaw are separated from the incisors by a space, into which
the point of the lower canine fits when the jaws are closed. This is
different in the Dogs, whose lower canine passes on the outer side of
the upper one when the mouth is closed. The premolar of the Thylacinus
has a small cusp behind, but in the lower jaw the premolars are
isolated, and do not form a continuous cutting and masticating ridge.
It is also to be remembered that this animal has a peculiar lower jaw,
as it is one of the Marsupials, and the angle is inflected. It is a
Marsupial, with some structures which foreshadow those of the more
highly-developed Dog.
[Illustration: DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS.]
Mr. Harris, who was the first to make this animal known, states that
it lives among caverns and rocks, in the deep and almost impenetrable
glens, in the neighbourhood of the highest mountains of Van Diemen’s
Land. The specimen from which his description was taken was caught in a
trap baited with Kangaroo’s flesh; it remained alive but a few hours,
having received some internal hurt whilst being secured. From time
to time it uttered a short guttural cry, and it appeared exceedingly
inactive and stupid, and, like the Owl, had an almost continual motion
of the nictitant membrane of the eye. Remains of an Echidna were found
in the stomach of the animal. Waterhouse states, on the authority
of Mr. Gunn, that these animals are common only in the remoter parts
of the colony, and used to be frequently caught at Woolnooth and the
Hampshire Hills. They attack the Sheep at night, but are occasionally
seen during the daytime, upon which occasions, perhaps from imperfect
vision, their pace is very slow. Mr. Gunn also observes that the
Thylacinus sometimes attains so large and formidable a size, that a
number of Dogs will not face it. That gentleman denies that the tail
of the animal is compressed, as has been stated by some authors, and
his observations do not confirm the aquatic habits which have been
attributed to it. There are cartilages in the place of the marsupial
bones; but the pouch is well developed in the female Thylacine, and
there are four well developed teats, each four inches long, indicating
that it may contain four young ones at a time. The marsupium, or pouch,
opens backwards, not, as in the Kangaroos and most others, forwards.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS.]
GENUS PHASCOGALE (POUCHED WEASELS).--THE BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOGALE.[122]
This genus includes many species of small Weasel-or Rat-like
Marsupials. They are small, insectivorous, and climb shrubs and trees
in pursuit of their prey. The largest known is about the size of a
common Rat. The brush-tailed kind inhabits New South Wales, South
Australia, and Western Australia, and is a pretty little animal, having
a long and soft fur, of a grey colour above and white or yellow-white
under the body. The eyes are encircled with black, and there is a pale
spot above and below the eye, and the hairs are blackest along the
middle of the head. The ear is rather large and not furry; the tail
is about equal to the body in length, or seven inches to nine inches,
and there is a portion near its end of about two inches in length,
which is clothed with short, stiff hairs, and the rest has long and
glossy hairs, sometimes an inch or two long. An insectivorous little
creature, its teeth are modified to meet its diet, and they are less
carnivorous than the other Dasyurids. They have the two foremost
incisors of the upper and lower jaw larger than the others. There are
three premolars in each jaw on each side, and eight molars above and
below, which are studded with prickly tubercles, those of the upper
jaw having triangular crowns. There are five toes to the fore and
hinder extremities, and the inner toe of the latter is in the form of
a small nailless prehensile thumb. The brain-case is large and the
skull comparatively smooth. The species just noticed is said to enter
the stores of the settlers, and it makes a nest in the hollows of the
trunks of trees or in the branches. The female has no pouch, but ten
teats covered with hair. It is the Tapoa Tafa of White, according to
Krefft.
Another species, about six inches long, not including a tail of three
inches--the Freckled Phascogale--lives in the Swan River district
and at King George’s Sound, being generally distributed over Western
Australia. It has the fur freckled with black and white on the head
and fore parts of the body. Mr. Gilbert found insect remains in
its stomach, and he obtained a female specimen having seven young
attached. They were little more than half an inch in length, and quite
blind and naked. Above the teats of the mother is a very small fold of
skin, from which the long hairs of the under surface spread downwards,
and effectually cover and protect the young. This fold is the only
approximation to a pouch which has been found in any species of this
genus. The young are very tenacious of life, and those just mentioned
lived nearly two days attached to the mammæ of the dead mother.
[Illustration: BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOGALE.]
The Yellow-footed Phascogale is a kind which inhabits New South
Wales and South Australia, and the White-footed Phascogale and a
closely-allied kind live in South Australia and Van Diemen’s Land. In
New Guinea, which constitutes a part of the Australian natural history
province, there is a black, short-eared, and short-furred kind, about
the size of a Rat, called _Phascogale melas_.
[Illustration: ANTECHINUS.]
There is a little kind, measuring only three inches in length, with
white fur everywhere, except on the upper parts, which are ashy grey;
and in Western and Southern Australia there is one which has great
ears, very slender limbs, and a short and thick fat tail. It looks like
a large-eared, fat-tailed Mouse, and is under four inches in length.
All these kinds of Phascogale, except the brush-tailed one, belong to a
group with very short hairs on the tail, and are sometimes classified
under the name Antechinus, the thick-tailed one being termed Podabrus;
and they all have shallow pouches.
[Illustration: OPOSSUM AND YOUNG.]
CHAPTER III.
THE OPOSSUMS.
Prehistoric Opossums--Description of the Animal--Their
Teeth--Habits--THE COMMON OPOSSUM--Appearance--Use of its
Tail--Food--The Young--How they are Reared--D’AZARA’S OPOSSUM--THE
CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM--THE THICK-TAILED OPOSSUM--MERIAN’S
OPOSSUM--Pouchless Opossums--Their Young--THE MURINA OPOSSUM--THE
ELEGANT OPOSSUM--THE YAPOCK--Classification of Marsupial
Animals--Geographical Distribution of the Sub-Order--Ancestry of
the Marsupials--Fossil Remains.
VI.--THE OPOSSUM FAMILY.--DIDELPHIDÆ.
The Marsupial animals included in this family are not found in
Australia or in Van Diemen’s Land, or in any part of the natural
history province to which those countries belong. They are numerous,
however, and are now living on the American continent; but formerly
some inhabited Europe during that geological period which is called the
Eocene. The Opossums are very rat-like in form, the largest species
being about the size of a large Cat, but they have the snout more
elongated; and in some species in which the individuals are large the
body is proportionately stout, and on most there is a comfortable fur,
with short and long hair. The tail is almost always very long, nearly
destitute of hair, excepting at the root, and is covered with a scaly
skin, there being a few scattered hairs. It is a useful organ, for the
Opossums hang by it, and it assists them in climbing and descending
trees, and in holding on, when they are young, to their parent. The
ears are rather large and round, the eyes are placed rather high up
in the face, and the long muzzle ends in a naked snout. The legs look
short for the body. The feet are naked beneath; there are five toes,
and the great toe is more or less opposable to the foot, and acts like
a grasping thumb. Each toe is furnished with moderate-sized claws,
excepting the inner toe of the hind foot, which is clawless. The
Opossums are remarkable for the great number of their incisor teeth,
there being ten in the upper and eight in the lower jaw, and they are
arranged in a semicircular manner. The upper and two foremost incisors
are rather longer than the rest, and are generally separated from them
by a narrow space. They are nearly cylindrical and expanded at the tip.
The canines are well developed, the upper ones being the largest. There
are three premolars on each side of both jaws, and they have two roots,
and are compressed and pointed. There is a posterior talon to them. The
molars, eight in each jaw, have three roots, and those of the upper jaw
have the crown of a triangular form and tubercular, whilst those of the
lower jaw are longer than broad, and each has the appearance of five
prickly cusps on its upper surface.
[Illustration: TEETH OF THE OPOSSUM.]
Some of the Didelphidæ have no marsupium, or pouch, or it is very
slightly developed, and in these particular kinds the young, after
having left the nipples, are carried on the back of the mother,
retaining their position by twining their tails around hers. The mammæ
are numerous: there may be as many as thirteen, an odd one being found
in the centre of the ring of the other nipples.
The Opossums are active, sly, and very intelligent in certain things,
and their food consists of insects, small reptiles, birds, and eggs.
Living for the most part in trees, they secrete themselves in the
hollows of the branches and trunks during the daytime and sally forth
in the night. They have a moderate-sized cæcum. It must be noticed that
the great toe of the hind foot is well developed, has no nail, and
enables the creature to grasp, and is thus very useful; and that they
walk plantigrade. The ankle and leg have the same movements as in the
Wombats, and the same general anatomy. If the members of the family
are compared with those of the families which live in the Australian
province, it will be found that they most resemble the Perameles and
Dasyures. The Opossums may be divided into three groups: those whose
pouch is well developed, those in which it is a mere fold, and those
which have webbed feet and live in the water, like Otters.
[Illustration: SKELETON OF THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM.]
THE COMMON OPOSSUM.[123]
This is a large kind, and is about the size of a common Cat, and its
long, large, pointed head, ending in a naked snout, and having eyes
encircled in dusky brown fur amongst the white hair and fur of the
head, gives it a very cunning and thoughtful appearance. The ears are
black. The tail is long and prehensile, the end being white and the
rest black, and the legs and feet are brownish. It is a great climber,
and uses its tail almost as much as some of its Monkey companions.
Running along the branches, it will often suspend itself by its tail,
and give a swing and let go, thus launching its body to a distance, and
then it catches at the boughs with its feet and unclawed but prehensile
hind toe-thumb. In coming down trees it uses the tail to steady itself,
and to prevent too rapid a fall; and in climbing, the ever-ready tail
prevents mishaps, should the clawed toes not grasp sufficiently. The
natural food of this Opossum is probably vegetarian, but it is a great
birds’-nester; it will eat roots and fruits, but the early settlers
found it very destructive to their poultry, for it catches the birds
and sucks their blood, not eating the flesh: consequently, it has
been much hunted, and as the fur and skin are sometimes used, the
destruction of the Opossum has been great. It is a curious creature,
and seems to have gained experience in its struggle with man, and as
many stories are told of its cleverness as there are about Reynard the
Fox and the Indian Jackal. It will sham death in a most persevering
manner, and is at the same time very tenacious of life.
The skull has strong temporal ridges, which form a sagittal crest, and
the arch of the zygoma is well grown. The animal has a longer facial
part of the skull and a smaller brain-case than the other Dasyures, and
the brain has large olfactory or front lobes. The cerebral hemispheres
are small, and there are no convolutions. This is essentially a North
American animal, and is found from Mexico to the Southern States
inclusive.
The female brings forth from twelve to sixteen young at a time, and her
nest, which is formed of dry grass, is usually at the root of a tree or
bush. When first born, the young are said not to be more than a grain
in weight, and blind, naked, and shapeless. They find the teats in the
mother’s pouch, unless she places them on to them with her mouth, and
they cling on so as not to be separated except by violence. In about
five days, so rapid is their growth, they have reached the size of a
Mouse, and all their parts are developed. They then leave the pouch,
and return to suckle and when danger appears. During this time the
female shows great attachment to her young; and Mr. Waterhouse, from
whose work these descriptions are taken, states that she will suffer
any torture rather than permit the pouch to be opened.
[Illustration: CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM.]
AZARA’S OPOSSUM.[124]
This is a smaller animal than the common or Virginian Opossum, but
its tail is long in proportion to its body. It is the South American
representative of its larger fellow species, and is found over a very
wide extent of country. It was noticed by the celebrated naturalist
D’Azara in Paraguay; Mr. Darwin found it at Maldonado, La Plata; and
specimens have been obtained from the Brazils, Santa Fé de Bogota,
and Bolivia. This is because it is not entirely a forest animal, but
is found occasionally in the open country. It may be distinguished
from the common Opossum by three distinct black marks on its head,
by its large tail, one-third of which is covered with fur like that
on the body. The rest of this important member is scaly, with small
hairs springing from between, the scales being black in the second
third, and white at the tip in colour. The habits of this Opossum are
nocturnal, and it lies concealed by day in burrows in the ground or in
thickets. At night it climbs trees to feed upon fruits and birds’ eggs.
It will chase and catch sleeping birds, and suck their blood like a
Weasel.
THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM.[125]
A small Opossum, with a long black tail tipped with white, and a
dull-coloured fur to its body, lives in Brazil and Guiana, and has a
very omnivorous disposition. Preferring swampy situations, it lives
mostly on the trees, hunts small birds and insects, and even catches a
reptile now and then, but its fondness for the Crustacea of the swamps
is proverbial, and hence its name of Crab-eater.
Another species is interesting from being found in the part of
California which adjoins Mexico. The Short-headed Opossum also belongs
to this group, and is from the same locality. Besides these, there are
several smaller pouch-bearing Opossums, without the long hair of those
just mentioned, and they are from Brazil, Guiana, and Surinam--for
instance, the Quica, the Naked-tailed, and the Four Spotted kinds. The
Philander Opossum is a bird-hunter, and lives in Surinam.
The next group of Opossums have no pouch, but there may be folds of the
skin protecting the mammæ.
THE THICK-TAILED OPOSSUM.[126]
As its name implies, this pouchless Opossum has a very thick tail.
Moreover, it has smaller ears than the other Opossums, and has a
short head and short legs. The fur is made up of harsh hairs, which
are close to the body, and there is but little under fur. Its colour
is yellow-brown, but the eye and muzzle are brownish, and the tail,
with the terminal two-thirds, is black, with the exception of a small
white spot at the end. It inhabits Brazil and Paraguay, and extends
southwards to the River Plate. One of the Opossums was kept by D’Azara,
who found it quiet, tame, and stupid; but having been fed on raw meat,
and a parrot happening to come too close, it killed the bird in a
moment. There are folds of skin in the lower part of the abdomen, but
no pouch, and there are six mammæ.
Another of the Opossums is called Merian’s Opossum, or _Didelphys
dorsigera_, and it inhabits Surinam. It was described by Madame Merian
in 1717, who represented it in her great book on insects with its young
clustered on its back and hanging on to the mother’s tail, which was
curved over its back, with their little tails.
[Illustration: MERIAN’S OPOSSUM.]
It is very curious that the young of these pouchless Opossums should
resemble those of the whole order in being comparatively little
advanced in their development at the time of their birth. The young
are at first strongly attached to the teats of the mother, and when
they are sufficiently strong and grown to leave them, occasionally she
takes them off from the nipples and places them on her back. Here they
cling on with their tails to hers. Hence the name of back-bearing, or
Dorsigera, which is given to this kind.
[Illustration: YAPOCK.]
It was at first supposed that this method of carrying the young was
restricted to this species, but subsequent experience has shown that
several kinds do the same thing.
Two or three other species of Opossum are interesting from their small
size and habits. Thus the Murina Opossum (_Didelphys murina_), with a
very long tail, inhabits Guiana, Brazil, Peru, and Mexico. The body is
about five inches in length, and the tail is either slightly longer or
about the same. Yet this little thing attacks birds and insects; it
burrows in the ground, and climbs trees to get its insect food.
The Elegant Opossum (_Didelphys elegans_), of Chili, is still smaller
than the last, and frequents the thickets growing on the rocky hills
near Valparaiso. They are numerous, or were so when Mr. Darwin observed
them, and are easily caught in traps baited with cheese or meat. The
tail appeared to be rarely, if at all, used as a prehensile organ;
yet they could run up trees with some degree of facility. It is an
interesting fact that some of the smallest Opossums prey upon Lizards
and Snakes as large, and even heavier, than themselves.
The last section of the Opossums contains the Water Opossum.
THE YAPOCK.[127]
This animal has a perfect pouch, and has large hind feet, the toes of
which are united by a web. The fore feet are moderate-sized, and the
pisiform bone is unusually long. Its habits are aquatic. The Yapock
has large naked ears, and a long, almost naked, tail, and is altogether
rather larger than the common Rat. Its method of life is very much
the same as that of the Otter. It is a good diver, and feeds upon
crustaceous and other aquatic animals. It is a native of Guiana and
Brazil.
* * * * *
The Marsupial animals assume the general shape and habits of many
orders of Mammalia which have no marsupium, and which live in the other
great natural history provinces. Thus there are Marsupial animals
like Dogs, Rats, Squirrels, Flying Squirrels, Deer, &c. They have,
therefore, many methods of life as a group, and, as might be expected,
the brain and nervous system present many differences in them. In all,
the front lobes of the brain which deal with the sense of smell are
very large, and in some, such as in the Carnivorous Marsupials, they
are exposed, and not covered by the main mass of the brain. In the
Kangaroos, however, these olfactory lobes are hidden more or less.
These last also have well-marked convolutions on the brain which are
nearly wanting in those first mentioned.
The Marsupial animals just considered have been classified to a certain
extent during their descriptions, but it is necessary to recapitulate.
They are arranged in groups of genera or species, or into families.
They are as follows:--
ORDER MARSUPIALIA.--SUB-ORDER MARSUPIATA.
{ Genus Macropus Kangaroos.[128]
Family MACROPODIDÆ { „ Dendrolagus Tree Kangaroos.
{ „ Hypsiprymnus Potoroos.
{ „ Hypsiprymnodon The Hypsiprymnodon.
„ PHASCOLOMYIDÆ „ Phascolomys The Wombat.
{ „ Phascolarctus The Koala.
{ { The Cuscus.
„ PHALANGISTIDÆ { „ Phalangista { Dormouse Phalanger.
{ { Phalangers.
{ „ Petaurus Flying Phalangers.
{ „ Tarsipes Tarsipes.
„ PERAMELIDÆ { „ Perameles Bandicoots.
{ „ Chœropus Chœropus.
{ „ Myrmecobius Ant-eaters.
„ DASYURIDÆ { „ Phascogale Phascogale.
{ „ Dasyurus Dasyures.
{ „ Thylacinus Dog-headed Thylacinus.
„ DIDELPHIDÆ { „ Didelphys Opossum.
{ „ Chironectes Yapock.
The Macropodidæ, Phalangistidæ, Peramelidæ, and Dasyuridæ are found
living somewhere or other in the Australian distributional province,
which includes the mainland, Tasmania to the south, and the Molucca
and Arru Islands to the north, bounded by the Straits of Lombok, and
Celebes, New Guinea, New Ireland, Timor, Amboyna, Banda, and Waigeoe.
Each family is not represented fully, however, in all the remarkably
separated divisions of the province. Thus the genera Macropus and
Dendrolagus of the first family, Petaurus and Phalangista of the
third, Perameles of the fourth, and Phascogale of the Dasyuridæ have
been found in New Guinea; but in other islands, such as Celebes, and
in those from Lombok to Timor, the genus Cuscus alone is represented.
In the Moluccas, Cuscus and the genus Petaurus are found. In Van
Diemen’s Land about one-half of the species are peculiar to the
island, and the remainder are found also on the eastern districts
of the mainland. It has Kangaroos, Potoroos, Wombats, Phalangers,
Bandicoots, and three out of the four genera of Dasyuridæ. Western
Australia, which is such a remarkable botanical province, and is so
separated by desert and sand from the east, has numerous Kangaroos,
Potoroos, Phalangers, Bandicoots, Phascogales, Dasyures; and, in
common with South Australia, a Chœropus, whilst the genus Tarsipes is
peculiar to it. The Wombat is found in Van Diemen’s Land and some of
the islands in Bass Strait. It is found in the south and east of the
mainland of Australia, but not to the west and north. Mr. Waterhouse
notices that the Marsupials of the eastern districts are for the most
part distinct from those of the opposite side of the continent, there
being, when his great work, which has been so constantly referred to
in this description, was written, but eight species out of upwards of
sixty inhabiting the two provinces. South Australia is the habitat of
more common species than elsewhere. The northern part of Australia has
more species peculiar to it than the other divisions, and some of its
Dasyuridæ especially, and species of Cuscus also, are found in the Arru
and other islands to the north. The metropolis of the sub-genus Cuscus
is in the Moluccas, where two species are widely distributed, or one is
restricted to certain islands.
The other divisions of the genus are represented by the Vulpine
Phalanger, an animal with long loose fur, which inhabits New South
Wales, Western Australia, and North Australia; by Cook’s Phalanger,
of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. The genus Perameles, the
Bandicoots, has species in Van Diemen’s Land, Australia, New Guinea,
and in the Arru Islands, and the genus Petaurus has a corresponding
distribution. The Didelphidæ are found in the United States,
California, Mexico, Peru, Guiana, Brazil, Paraguay, Banda Oriental, and
Chili; and Brazil is the country where they abound the most in species
and individuals, the number diminishing to the north and south.
The Marsupials have a great ancestry, and some of them lived when the
continents and oceans of the earth were in very different relative
positions to those they now occupy. Indeed, it is most probable that
the fossil remains of the most ancient mammal belong to this order.
There is a small double-fanged molar tooth of a mammal which was found
by Plieninger, in 1847, contained in a jumble of shells and of the
remains of reptiles and fishes in strata beneath the Lias formation of
Diegerloch, near Stuttgart. It and another which was discovered close
by, by the same professor, belonged to animals which were dead when
this topmost stratum of the Trias, immediately beneath the Lias, was
being formed. They are Triassic in age, therefore, and they somewhat
resemble the back teeth of a fossil which was found subsequently in the
Purbeck strata of England, and which evidently belonged to a Marsupial
more or less resembling the existing Kangaroo-Rats or Potoroos, of
the genus Hypsiprymnus. Later on, Professor W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S.,
discovered a small tooth belonging to the same extinct genus as that
which included Plieninger’s fossil, namely, Microlestes; and its
resemblance to one of Hypsiprymnus is even greater. Its position was
high up in the Trias of Watchet in Somersetshire. Mr. Charles Moore, of
Bath, had previously found many specimens of teeth of the same family
in a fissure, down which they had been washed by the Triassic sea.
A lower jaw of a small Mammal was found in the Trias of North America
by Emmons; and it has on one side three incisors, one long canine, then
a diastema, three premolars, and seven molars with three points. It is
therefore one of the Myrmecobius group.
After the age of the Trias, when there was much continuous land
surface, Europe was broken up into a coral island tract, during the age
of the collection of the Jurassic deposits. The islands were tenanted
by many small Marsupials, four species of which have been discovered in
the deposits of Stonesfield slate at the bottom of the Great Oolite.
They belong to the extinct genera Amphitherium, Phascolotherium,
and Stereognathus, and the first somewhat resembled the Myrmecobius
of recent times; but all that can be said is that they belonged to
Marsupial animals. Piled on the Stonesfield slates are many hundred
feet of strata, and high up amongst them, in the Swanage and Purbeck
districts, are deposits in which Messrs. Brodie and Beckles have found
portions of the skeletons of numerous insectivorous Marsupials, of
which the genera Spalacotherium, Plagiaulax, Triconodon, and Galestes
are the most important. They were small, as a rule, and there has been
much debate regarding their affinities with modern insectivorous forms,
and they are still surrounded with doubt.
The appearance of the Mammalia without pouches took place in the
Eocene age, and in the Old and New World, and contemporaneously with
them lived in France a kind of Opossum, some of whose bones were
found in the strata of Montmartre, near Paris; and in later Tertiary
strata other relics have been found. These are the only instances of
a fossil Didelphid occurring out of the New World; and there, where
the Opossums are now characteristic animals, they were present in the
last geological age, for in the Brazilian latest deposits remains of
several species of Didelphys have been found. Remains of these fossil
Opossums have been found in the North American Pliocene deposits.
The more ancient deposits of Australia have not yielded the remains
of any of the animals which are now so peculiar to the province, but
in the bone caves of the Wellington Valley, some two hundred and ten
miles west of Sydney, Sir Thomas Mitchell discovered a mass of bones,
forming a breccia with limestone, which contained numerous and most
interesting Marsupial remains. In deposits of the same late age, and
in bogs and gravels in Queensland, other remains were found. They were
described by Sir R. Owen in one of his greatest works, and they belong
to the Australian families of Marsupials, and not to the American
Didelphidæ. As was usual elsewhere before the appearance of man on the
earth, and contemporaneously with him for awhile, many of the kinds
which resemble more or less those now living, or would be classified
in the same family, and perhaps in the same genus, are gigantic. Owen
distinguished among the bones those of large fossil Marsupials which
belong to the Macropodidæ, and which may be arranged as subdivisions
of the genus Macropus or Kangaroos, and of a powerful creature called
Thylacoleo, or Pouched Lion, which must be admitted as a new section of
the Macropodidæ, and whose habits were probably carnivorous, although
there is much diversity of opinion on the subject, some of the most
distinguished anatomists believing the creature to have been of an
innocent disposition, although appearances are much against it. It is
more closely allied to Plagiaulax, of the English Purbeck beds, than to
any other form, and they well fit in between the genera Macropus and
Hypsiprymnus.
A huge Marsupial, with a skull three feet in length, with teeth, in
front especially, on the Kangaroo plan, and with longer fore limbs and
shorter hind ones than the last-named animal, was described by Owen.
The pelvis, however, has but two sacral vertebræ, and its ilio-pubic
process would ally it with the Macropodidæ. This Diprotodon was an
herbivorous animal, and was of the size of a Rhinoceros. This great
Marsupial had fore limbs which possessed the power of rotation, and it
was not without some characters which are seen amongst the Wombats.
It appears to have had a great range, for its remains have been found
in the caverns in the Wellington Valley, at Welcome Springs, South
Australia, Hergolt’s Springs, 500 miles north of Adelaide, near
Melbourne, in the valley of the Condamine River, and widely over
Queensland. A slightly smaller animal, called the Nototherium, also
existed with the larger one.
The species of this genus have no lower incisive tusks, and a very
short chin; the angle of the jaw is curved inwards, and there were
only four molar teeth on each side in both jaws, and they were with
two strong roots or fangs. It was probably one of the Macropodidæ.
Others of this family are allied to Dendrolagus, and form the genera
Protemnodon and Sthenurus. The Wombat was represented in the age of the
great Marsupials; and both large and small species, one being of the
size of the Tapir, have been described from bones and teeth which were
found in the cave deposits of Australia. Remains of a Marsupial animal,
probably of the Vulpine Phalanger, were found in the same caves, as
were also some referable to the genus Perameles, or Bandicoots, and
to the Potoroos. Several fossil species of the family Dasyuridæ have
been found in the Australian caves, and one of them is referable to a
section of the genus Dasyurus, which at present is restricted to Van
Diemen’s Land, it being somewhat like _Dasyurus ursinus_; moreover,
probably, there was a species of Thylacinus present also. So far as is
known from the researches of Owen amongst this wonderful cave fauna, no
members of the family Didelphidæ occur there. They were American then,
as they are now.
CHAPTER IV
SUB-ORDER--MONOTREMATA.[129]
THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED ECHIDNA AND DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.[130]
Why the Monotremata are formed into a Sub-order--The lowest of
the Mammalian Class--THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED ECHIDNA--An
Ant-eater, but not an Edentate--Its Correct Name--Description
of the Animal--Habits and Disposition--Manner of Using the
Tongue--Where it is Found--Anatomical Features: Skull, Brain,
Marsupial Bones--The Young--Species of Van Diemen’s Land and
New Guinea--THE WATER-MOLE, OR DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS--The
most Bird-like Mammal--Various Names--Description--Their
Appearance and Movements in Water--Their Burrows--Habits of an
Individual kept in Confinement--Used by Natives as Food--How
they are Captured--The Young--A Family in Captivity--the
Snout--Jaws--Teeth--Tongue--Fore and Hind Feet--Heel--Spur--The
Shoulder Girdle--Breastbone--Concluding Remarks on the
Sub-orders--Postscript on the Monotremes.
THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED ECHIDNA.
This animal is the first example of some Marsupial beasts which are
separated into a sub-order, because, in addition to the marsupial
bones, there are some internal points of construction which are more
bird-and lizard-like than those of the Kangaroo tribes. It contains
animals which are the lowest of the Mammalian class, and are found only
in the Australian natural history province. The Porcupine Ant-eater, as
its name implies, has somewhat the shape of a Hedgehog or Porcupine,
and it is fond of burrowing with its peculiar limbs, as well as of
eating Ants with the assistance of its long tongue. But its internal
anatomy and the construction of the skeleton differ from those of the
true Ant-eaters, which belong to the order Edentata. It was called
Ant-eater by its first describer (Shaw) in 1792, but a few years
afterwards it was decided to belong to the same group as an animal
about to be described--the Duck-billed Platypus, or Water Mole--and
Cuvier, whilst believing that they both belonged to a peculiar order,
separated this false Ant-eater from the Water Mole as a species and
genus. He called this Hedgehog-like creature Echidna, from the presence
of a spur on the heel, which is perforated, and which was erroneously
supposed to be poisonous, like the fang of a Viper (Ἔχιδνα). The
correct name is the Long-spined Echidna, or the Porcupine Echidna
(_Echidna hystrix_).
[Illustration: PELVIC ARCH OF THE ECHIDNA.
(_a_ _a_) Marsupial Bones.]
The creature greatly resembles a Hedgehog with a very long snout, at
first sight, but a slight examination will show that it differs much
from the insect-eating and spiny little Hystrix. The Echidna is about
a foot in length, and the upper part of its short body is covered with
strong spines, and the rest is hairy, the front of the head, and the
long, slender, and tapering snout being naked. The legs are short and
strong, and the five toes of the fore leg have large and strong claws.
This is in order to permit the creature to bury itself in sand and soft
earth quickly, and this operation is assisted by a broad and rounded
nail on the inner toe of the hind foot and by large claws on the other
toes, and especially by a long nail to the second toe. A very long
and flexible tongue enables the creature to catch prey. There are no
teeth. The skull, when the skin and flesh have been removed, has a very
pear-like appearance. It is a great burrower, and manages to get out of
the way of observers as soon as is possible, for working actively with
its strong limbs and claws, it pokes its snout into the earth and soon
gets out of view. Ants are its favourite food, and they are captured
in the same way as by the Great Ant-eaters belonging to the Edentata:
for in both there is a long slimy tongue, which can be poked far out
of the mouth into Ants’ nests. The saliva required to make the tongue
sticky comes from large glands under the lower jaw from the ear on to
the fore part of the chest. When the Ants have collected on the sticky
tongue it is taken into the mouth, and they are swallowed. The absence
of teeth is made up by the presence of horny spines on the palate and
tongue, which look backwards, and these crush and direct the food to
the throat. It is an apathetic and stupid animal, and usually tries
to get out of the light, and it will lie and roll itself up, but not
so successfully as a Hedgehog. One of the first which was seen was
attacked by the Dogs of two of the travellers, Bass and Flinders,
whose names are so familiar from places having been named after them
in Australia. The Dogs did not come off victorious, for the new animal
burrowed in the loose sand, but not head foremost; it sank itself
directly downwards, and left its prickly back just on a level with the
surface.
An Echidna was watched, so that the manner in which it could use its
tongue was observed. Ants could not be had, but a diet of chopped-up
eggs, liver, and meat was readily received, and it was noticed that the
tongue was used in the same manner as that of the Chameleon, by simple
protrusion and bringing in, and also as a mower moves his scythe, it
being curved sideways, and the food swept into the mouth. The Echidna
is fond of water and milk, which are licked up by a rapid putting out
and drawing in of the long tongue.
[Illustration: PORCUPINE ECHIDNA. (_After Gervais._)]
Gerard Krefft says that they are usually found in mountain ranges,
and among rocks in the Lower Murray district. He failed to feed them
on Ants and their eggs. On hen’s eggs they fed for a time, and liked
bread-and-milk. He has reason to believe that they live on grass also,
as those whose stomachs and intestines he examined had fed on herbs and
grasses. The spur on the heel is not used as a weapon of offence.
It inhabits Australia, and has been found as far north as the Bellenden
Plains, Queensland, about 18° south latitude. A specimen has also been
captured at Cape York, and others at Plain Creek, Queensland. It is not
found in Van Diemen’s Land.
With regard to the anatomy of the Echidna, it may be said that the long
muzzle and the very slender lower jaw give the skull a bird-like look
which is increased by the swollen and ball shape of the brain-case. The
bones of the skull remain imperfectly united for some time, and then
they are united by plain lines of junction, and not by jagged sutures.
The shoulder and the bones of the upper part of the chest resemble
those of the Water Mole, and will be noticed in its description. The
brain of the Echidna weighs about one-fiftieth of the whole body,
and the hemispheres do not conceal the cerebellum. There are three
convolutions behind, and in front of them is a large one bent on
itself, and on its outside are some oblique folds. The sense of smell,
evidently acute in the Echidna, is assisted by a large development of
the olfactory lobes of the brain and their nerves.
The Echidnas have large marsupial bones. They have not a true pouch,
but only a rudimentary one, or rather an infolding of the skin,
during the breeding season, in the female. The orifices of the teats
are situated beneath the level of the skin, and inverted; and as the
surrounding parts swell under the influence of suckling, there is a
little cavity made, at the bottom of which are the so-called nipples.
They are really little depressions with hair around them. The young
Echidnas are placed in this temporary cavity by the mother, and help
themselves by placing their snouts in the small depressions leading to
the milk gland. Captain Armit says that some force is required to get
the young out of the pouch, and that there is probably a muscular ring
to it. They are at first very small. When about a month or so old, the
hinder parts of the young may be seen sticking out of the region of the
fold, and at three months the body may be observed, the animal still
adhering by its snout. When the prickles of the young begin to harden,
the old one turns them out into the world. (But see Postscript, p. 234.)
A short-spined Echidna (_Echidna setosa_) inhabits Van Diemen’s Land,
whose hair is sufficiently long to hide most of the spines, but
little is known regarding its habits. Quoy and Gaimard, two French
naturalists, kept one for a month, and it took no food, but after that
time it began to lap and to eat a mixture of flour, sugar, and water.
It burrowed very rapidly, and got to the bottom of a large can full of
earth and plants in the course of a few minutes, and it was assisted in
this by its snout.
[Illustration: MOUTH (A) AND NOSE-SNOUT (B) OF ECHIDNA.]
A species of Echidna has been found in the north of the Island of
New Guinea, at the Mont des Karous and Mount Arfak, at an altitude
in the first place of 1,150 yards. It likes the rocky broken ground,
and is unknown on the sea coast. The natives call it “Nokdiak,” and
hunt it for the flesh. As the animal burrows well, the natives dig
down about a yard in different places, and generally cut across one of
the underground runs. It has been described, and has been named after
the explorer, M. Brujn. It is more robust and larger than the species
from Australia and Van Diemen’s Land, has a very long snout--three
times the length of the head--a short tail, and is black in colour
with white points. The fur is plentiful, and like velvet, whilst the
spines are scanty, and about midway in strength between those of the
two Australian kinds. The number of nails on the fore and hind feet
is singular in this New Guinea Echidna, for there are three on each
instead of five. The tongue of the species is longer and more spiny;
moreover, the number of vertebræ differs in this new kind. There are
seventeen dorsal instead of fifteen, and there is one caudal more than
in the others. The spiny pimples on the tongue and palate, so well
developed in this Echidna, have tempted Professor Gervais to include
it in a new genus, Acanthoglossus; but it is as well to retain the old
name, so that the creature is called Echidna Brujnii. Another species
has been found in the south of New Guinea, at Port Moresby, which
is distinguished chiefly by the long, thin, cylindrical form of the
quills, and the stiff, flat, hair-like bristles on the face. The tint
of the flattish bristles covering all the body and limbs, except the
back, is brown; on the back are long cylindrical spines, some white
and others black. There are five claws to each foot, and the second
hind toe is said to be the largest. The fore limbs are short, stout,
and strong. It has been named Echidna Lawesii (Ramsay), after its
discoverer. All these animals can roll themselves up.
THE WATER MOLE, OR DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.[131]
Like most of the other objects of natural history found in Australia
and the neighbouring islands, the Water Mole is very singular in its
construction, nature, and habits. It is of all animals that suckle
their young the most like a bird, and it really deserves the title,
from its external appearance of half beast, half bird. As its shape and
method of life are peculiar, it has received several names, such as
the Water Mole, the Flat-footed, Duck-billed Platypus, the Bird-beaked
quadruped, and the Paradoxical Bird-beaked animal. It is very fond
of the water and also of burrowing in the ground, and, of course, is
admirably adapted for these pursuits: hence its construction relates to
them to a certain extent, and also to that of the animals of which it
was, as it were, a continuation in the scheme of nature.
The Ornithorhynchus anatinus has a rather flat body of about eighteen
inches in length, and the head and snout greatly resemble those of a
Duck, whilst the tail is short, broad, and flat, and resembles that
of a small Beaver, but is shorter. The feet are webbed and flat, and
the greater part of the creature is covered with a short dense fur
of a dusky brown colour, darker on the upper and paler on the under
parts of the body. A slight examination of the habits of the animal
will explain the necessity for observing it a little more closely.
Mr. Bennett describes his first interview with one shortly after his
arrival in Australia. He writes: “We soon came to a tranquil part of
the river, such as the colonists call a ‘pond,’ on the surface of which
numerous aquatic plants grew. It is in places of this description that
the Water Moles are most commonly seen, seeking their food among the
aquatic plants, whilst the steep and shaded banks afford them excellent
situations for excavating their burrows. We remained stationary on the
banks, waiting their appearance with some degree of impatience, and it
was not long before my companion quietly directed my attention to one
of these animals, paddling on the surface of the water, not far distant
from the bank on which we were then standing. In such circumstances
they may be readily recognised by their dark bodies, just seen level
with the surface, above which the head is slightly raised, and by
the circles made in the water round them by their paddling action.
On seeing them, the spectator must remain perfectly stationary, as
the slightest noise or movement of his body would cause their instant
disappearance, so acute are they in sight or hearing, or perhaps both;
and they seldom appear when they have been frightened.” On ordinary
occasions they do not remain more than a minute or two at a time on the
surface of the water.
A burrow of an Ornithorhynchus, which Mr. Bennett opened, had its
entrance on a steep part of a bank, situated about one foot from the
water’s edge, and concealed among the long grass and other Plants.
“This burrow ran up the bank in a serpentine course, approaching nearer
to the surface of the earth towards its termination, at which part
the nest is situated. No nest had yet been made in the termination of
the burrow, for that appears to be formed about the time of bringing
forth the young, and consists merely of dried grass, weeds, &c.,
strewed over the floor of this part of the habitation.” The expanded
termination measured one foot in length and six inches in breadth, and
the whole length of the burrow was twenty feet. Besides the entrance
before alluded to, it appears there is usually a second opening
into the burrows below the surface of the water, communicating with
the interior, just within the upper aperture. A burrow subsequently
examined by Mr. Bennett terminated at a distance of thirty-five feet
from the entrance; and that gentleman stated that they have been found
fifty feet in length.
From the burrow first opened by Mr. Bennett a living female was
taken, and placed in a cask, with grass, mud, water, &c., and in this
situation it soon became tranquil, and apparently reconciled to its
confinement. On his return home to Sydney, Mr. Bennett determined to
indulge it with a bathe; and with this view, when he arrived in the
vicinity of some ponds, he tied a long cord to its leg. “When placed on
the bank, it soon found its way into the water, and travelled up the
stream, apparently delighting in those places which most abounded in
aquatic weeds. When diving in deep and clear water, its motions were
distinctly seen: it sank speedily to the bottom, swam there for a short
distance, and then rose again to the surface. It appeared, however, to
prefer keeping close to the bank, occasionally thrusting its beak into
the mud, from whence it evidently procured food, as, on raising the
head, after withdrawing the beak, the mandibles were seen in lateral
motion, as is usual when the animal masticates. The motions of the
mandibles were similar to those of a Duck under the same circumstances.
After feeding, it would lie sometimes on the grassy bank, and at others
partly in and partly out of the water, combing and cleaning its coat
with the claws of the hind feet. This process occupied a considerable
time, and greatly improved its sleek and glossy appearance.”
The Water Moles are said to have a peculiarly fishy smell, more
especially when wet, which probably proceeds from an oily secretion.
They are used by the aborigines for food; “but it is no particular
recommendation of them,” Mr. Bennett remarks, “to say they are eaten by
the native Australian, as nothing in the shape of provender comes amiss
to him, whether it be Snakes, Rats, Frogs, Grubs, or the more delicate
Opossum, Bandicoot, and Flying Squirrel.”
The Ornithorhynchus is captured by the natives when in its burrow. They
first examine the neighbourhood of the burrow, to ascertain, by the
presence of recent footmarks on the soil, whether it is inhabited, and
if the examination proves satisfactory, they proceed to dig holes with
pieces of sticks from the surface of the ground into the burrow, at
distances from each other, until they discover its termination, when
the Australians consider themselves exceedingly fortunate should they
find the young, since they are regarded as a great delicacy.
The young have been found in their nests by Mr. Bennett about one inch
and seven-eighths in length, in the early part of December, and near
the end of the same month he found young Water Moles of ten inches
in length. These latter were kept alive for nearly five weeks, and
their habits whilst in captivity are described in detail in his paper,
which is illustrated by some admirable figures, showing their various
attitudes, &c. The young were allowed to run about the room; but an old
Ornithorhynchus in the possession of our author was so restless, and
damaged the walls of the room so much by her attempts at burrowing,
that it was found necessary to confine her to the box. “During the day
she would remain quiet, huddled up with her young ones; but at night
she became very restless, and eager to escape. The little ones were
as frolicsome as puppies, and apparently as fond of play; and many of
their actions were not a little ludicrous. During the day they seemed
to prefer a dark corner for repose, and generally resorted to the spot
to which they had been accustomed, although they would change it on
a sudden, apparently from mere caprice. They did not appear to like
deep water, but enjoyed exceedingly a bathe in shallow water, with a
turf of grass placed in one corner of the pan; they seldom remained
longer than ten or fifteen minutes in the water at one time. Though
apparently nocturnal, or at least preferring the cool and dusky evening
to the glare and heat of noon, their movements in this respect were
so irregular as to furnish no grounds for a definite conclusion. They
slept much; and it frequently happened that one slept whilst the other
was running about; and this occurred at almost all periods of the day.
They climbed with great readiness to the summit of a book-case, and
thus, by means of their strong cutaneous muscles and of their claws,
mounting with much expedition to the top. Their food consisted of bread
soaked in water, chopped eggs, and meat minced very small, and they did
not seem to prefer milk to water.”
Mr. Foulerton states that the natives are seldom successful in catching
the Water Moles alive, although in some places in the rivers and creeks
of New England they are so numerous that from fifteen to eighteen have
been shot in an afternoon. In the dark, rocky, shady rivers they may
be seen at any time of the day, but in more open places seldom before
sunset. He failed to see any young ones, and believes that they keep
them concealed until near their maturity. They are very active in the
water, and are more frequently under than above the surface. He never
saw one leave the water, and states that they made very poor progress
on land. As a rule they are to be found in good fellowship with the
Australian Water Rat (_Hydromys chrysogaster_).
The young Water Moles are naked, and have a short beak with fleshy and
smooth edges, and this conformation enables them to seize the space
on the mother whence the milk comes, for there are no nipples. Their
tongue is large and assists in the sucking also.
[Illustration: JAWS OF THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.
(_After Waterhouse._)
(A) Upper, (B) Lower Jaw; (_a_) Molar Teeth; (_b_) Narrow Anterior
Teeth; (_c_) Tongue; (_d_) Integument projecting from Jaw; (_e_)
Transverse Ridges on Covering of Beak.
]
The most curious feature in the Ornithorhynchus is the snout in the
form of a beak. This is flat and broadest in front where it is rounded.
It is hard, and is covered with a skin full of pores, and on each side
this skin overlaps the sides to form a kind of fringe or flexible
cheek, and this free membrane is carried round the front. Where this
skin comes to the head, it forms a wide fold, which flaps over the
front of the head and throat, and is a capital protection when the
creature is grubbing in the wet banks or burrowing, and evidently
protects the face and the eyes from injury. The nostrils are close to
the extremity of the snout. In the lower jaw, or part of the beak-like
snout, there are some ridges, which mark it crosswise from the mouth
to the outside, and corresponding structures may be noticed in a Duck,
their use being to provide grooves or spaces through which water may
pour out of the mouth when the creature is feeding on soft mud and wet
substances. Inside the mouth there is a pouch in the cheek, one on each
side, and this is to retain food. It has four teeth in the upper and
four in the lower jaw, but they are horny and made up of tubes; the
front ones are long and narrow, and the others are oblong and oval in
form, with a hollow crown. Moreover, the tongue, as in some reptiles,
has horny teeth on it. The eyes of the creature are small and brown,
and are situated close to the beak, and they look upwards. The ear is
hidden by the fur, but it is none the less sharp of hearing. As may
be gleaned from the notice of its habits, the animal has great power
of swimming but not much of running, although the limbs are short.
The fore-feet have five toes, nearly equal in length, the first being
rather the shortest, and all have solid and rounded claws. The toes are
webbed, and the fold of skin even extends in front of the claws when
swimming is going on, but is folded back in digging. In the hind-feet
the web does not extend farther than the base of the claws, and there
is a spur on the heel, which is movable and sharp. It is found on the
adult males in perfection, and it may be useful as well as ornamental.
On carefully examining the under and lower part of the body, the milk
or mammary glands are to be seen, and there is no proper nipple; but
when suckling, the swelling of the gland produces an eminence, which
can be grasped by the wide, open, and soft beak of the young.
[Illustration: FORE (A) AND HIND (B) FOOT OF THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.
(_After Waterhouse._)
(_a_) Spur on Heel of Hind Foot.]
[Illustration: SHOULDER-GIRDLE AND STERNUM OF THE ECHIDNA.
(_a_) T-shaped interclavicle; (_b_) Manubrium; (_c_) Ensiform end of
sternum; (_d_) Cartilages of ribs; (_e_) Scapula; (_f_) Coracoid;
(_g_) Epicoracoid.
]
It was thought that this bird-like creature laid eggs, but the point
was not easy to determine. (See Postscript, page 234.) It has a double
uterus, leading to the common canal, called urogenital, and this
ends in the common outlet. The Ornithorhynchus and Echidna have an
arrangement of the bones of the shoulder and chest, which resembles to
a certain extent that of the Lizards and of the Ichthyosaurus, and the
annexed engraving will explain the position of the bones. Indeed, the
most important peculiarity in the skeleton of the Monotremes is that of
the shoulder-girdle and upper part of the chest; for a bone, the merest
vestiges of which are noticed in some of the Mammalia, occurs, that is
of some importance in the great groups of birds and reptiles, which
are lower in the animal scale than the Vertebrata already described.
In all the animals described hitherto, and including the Marsupiata,
the large arm bone (humerus) is jointed at the shoulder with the blade
bone, or scapula. The socket in this bone, which receives the somewhat
ball-shaped top of the humerus, in order to permit of very general
motion, is a part of the scapula, and is called the glenoid cavity; but
in the Monotremes a bone called the coracoid joins with the scapula,
and forms part of the socket; moreover, this coracoid is long enough
to reach the breast bone, or sternum. The breast bone in the Mammalia
hitherto noticed consists of an expanded part at its fore end (in
the usual position of quadrupeds), or at its top in man, called the
manubrium, and of some smaller pieces, which form the front bone of
the chest and reach to the belly, having ribs attached to them on each
side. This is the state of things in the Monotremes; and the coracoids
are attached to the manubrium, one on each side. In other Mammalia it
is the collar bone which is jointed there. In addition to these breast
bones in the Monotremes, there are other bones in front, or between
the neck and the top of the manubrium. Firstly, there is a bone in the
shape of a =T=: the lower point is on the breast bone, and the
cross-bar supports a collar bone on each side, which reaches outwards
to the blade bone. Secondly, there is a bone on each side in front of
the coracoid, reaching forwards towards the neck. This is called the
epicoracoid. Some of these bones, now noticed for the first time, are
more or less common to birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
[Illustration: DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.]
There are some other anatomical points which ally the Monotremes to
the reptiles. For instance, the peg on the second, or axis vertebra of
the neck, is not fixed to the bone by true bony matter, and some of
the ribs which exist in the neck in the Monotremes are separate from
the vertebræ until late in life, or altogether. And the cavity for
jointing of the thigh bone with the pelvis (the acetabulum) is not
perfect, there being a part of it not filled with bony matter.
The ear is singularly simple in its construction in this sub-order, and
the cochlea is not coiled into a spiral; moreover, there is no external
ear.
The hemispheres of the brain, which are convoluted in the Echidnas,
are smooth in the Ornithorhynchus, and in both the central commissure,
or corpus callosum, just exists, whilst the anterior one is large. The
Ornithorhynchus inhabits Van Diemen’s Land and Australia, as far north
as Queensland inclusive.
The Echidna and the Ornithorhynchus belong to a sub-order of the
Marsupialia which, whilst it has some structures resembling those
of the sub-order of Marsupiata, possesses others which link it with
the birds and reptiles. This sub-order is the lowest amongst the
Mammalia, and the animals which are included in it have the following
peculiarities:--The marsupial bones are present, the uterus is double,
and the young are not nourished when within the parent by a placenta;
there is no inflection of the lower jaw; the shoulder-girdle has
additional bones; there are no true nipples; the teeth are either
absent or horny; the external ear is not present, and there is not a
true pouch. The excretion of the kidneys and the contents of the bowels
fall into one receptacle, through which the young also pass. It is
called a cloaca, and receives the outlets of the rectum and urogenital
canal. The presence of the spur on the heel is also a peculiarity.
A fossil Echidna has been discovered in deposits on the Darling Downs.
The Echidnas form one genus and the Ornithorhynchus another, and the
classification of the whole is as follows:--
ORDER MARSUPIALIA.
SUB-ORDER MONOTREMATA.
Genus Echidna.
Genus Ornithorhynchus.
In concluding this Natural History of the Marsupiata and Monotremata,
it is necessary to direct attention to the fact that they are less well
defined than the other great groups of the Mammalia. As sub-orders,
they are very artificial, for some of their most important structural
peculiarities are deficient in some of the genera. The inflected lower
jaw is not invariably found, the marsupium does not always exist, and
the marsupial bones differ in shape and size, and are occasionally
absent. With regard to these bones or cartilages, they are not
connected with the pouch, but with the muscular system of the belly.
They have been shown by Huxley to be present in Crocodiles, and in the
amphibian called the Salamander. Hence these structures are relics
of a remote ancestry, and have but slight functional importance. The
authorities whence I have derived most of this Natural History are
Waterhouse, Owen, Huxley, Bennett, Gould, and Kreeft, to whom I am
under great obligations.
P. MARTIN DUNCAN.
_Postscript._--Mr. W. H. Caldwell has discovered that the Monotremes
lay eggs as has been suspected, and he has traced the development of
the animal during the hatching. The eggs resemble those of a Reptile
more than a Mammal, and the yolk is in such excess that it is not all
subdivided during the early stages of the embryo of the Monotreme,
but some remains over and above, upon which it is nourished in the
early stages within the egg. The heart of Ornithorhynchus paradoxus is
interesting because Meckel, and, subsequently, Prof. E. Ray Lankester,
F.R.S., have shown that it differs from that of the higher Mammalia,
and is not without considerable resemblance in some of the valvular
structures to the hearts of Birds and Crocodiles. The last-named
naturalist states that the reflux of blood into the right auricle
on contraction of the ventricle, is not prevented by the presence
of the special structure seen in Mammals, but by an arrangement
which is observed in Reptiles and Birds. The mitral valve is with
three divisions instead of two, as in the higher Mammalia, but the
tendinous structures seen in this last group, to terminate the muscular
structures, do not exist in the Monotreme. This increase of the
muscular structure is not so palpable in Echidna. It is interesting to
know that the special structures of the right side of the heart in the
adult Ornithorhynchus are seen in the embryonic condition of the higher
Mammalia.
[Illustration: IMPERIAL EAGLE.]
THE CLASS AVES.--THE BIRDS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION--WING-STRUCTURE AND FEATHERS--DISTRIBUTION.
Introduction--Distinctive Characters of the Class Aves--Power of
Flight--The Wing--Its Structure--The Six Zoo-geographical Regions of
the Earth--Birds peculiar to these Regions.
The study of birds is almost an instinct in an Englishman: from peasant
to noble, an innate affection for the feathered songsters seems to
prevail; so that whether it be in a stately aviary or in a little cage
outside a cottage door, birds are found to be the constant companions
of man throughout the length and breadth of the land. And it is
possible that no other country in the world possesses such a number
of birds, in proportion to its size, as does Great Britain. Any one
travelling on the continent of Europe cannot fail to notice how few
birds meet his eye; and although they may be there, and may be found
by a little searching for, they do not form such a prominent feature
of a walk as they do in England or Scotland. Even the toiler in large
towns has but to get a little way into the nearest fields to hear the
cheering song of the Skylark or the Thrush, or to be amused with the
bustling and active habits of the Starling, or those of the more sedate
and cautious Rook. It is certain that a study of the habits of birds
will always repay the student, who may see in the feathered favourites
which are around him many a little bright example to be followed, if
he read the lesson aright. Birds teach us many things--perseverance,
fidelity, parental affection, thrift, cleanliness, and many other
domestic virtues, which are to be seen carried out in their life in
the greatest perfection. In the following pages the birds will be
passed in review, and the habits of some of the most striking and
important forms will be detailed. But, although every species and genus
cannot be noticed here, it is necessary to assure the student that
in every country--even in England, where so much has been done for
Ornithology--he will find an ample reward in the study of all birds;
and that even the commonest species cannot be neglected, for there is
always something new to learn and to record in their life-history.
To quote Dr. A. E. Brehm, one of the most accomplished observers of
nature, who, carefully trained by his father, a true naturalist also,
has studied the feathered tribes in many climes:--
“He who is only half at home with nature on this earth of ours will be
able approximately to appreciate the feelings with which the naturalist
wanders and travels from place to place: wherever he may be he finds
friendly forms. For years he has silently watched the interior economy
and household arrangements of animated nature, and yet he has not seen
all; and on this account he is never in want of employment. Every bird
is a personal friend: the old ones he knows almost as well as he knows
himself, and the new ones must be studied. How much more is there yet
to observe! Rich as he may be in experiences, every fresh ramble brings
him fresh mental treasure. The relations existing between him and the
bird become each day more and more intimate; he knows the lives and
habits of each: when each arrives, or takes its departure: where is
its abode: how it is made: when it is occupied by a happy troop of
nestlings: when deserted. The naturalist knows his friends by their
notes, flight, and bearing. In his eye the bird never ceases to exist:
alive or dead it is always interesting in his eyes, for in either case
the bird is associated with a poesy of feeling in creative nature which
he would put into words. Every new bird raises his spirits a step
higher; every fresh discovery is a step onward in the knowledge of the
ways and means of all things. He is indebted to his friends for many a
happy hour; their lives are a pattern worthy of imitation.”[132]
Here, then, we may ask--What is a bird? How can a bird be told from all
other Vertebrate animals? The chief character which distinguishes the
class of birds is undoubtedly _the clothing of the body with feathers_.
Other characters they also possess, but not exclusively. For instance,
they have the power of flight developed in the greatest degree: but
there are some birds, such as the Apteryx, the Ostrich, and the
Cassowary, which cannot fly at all; while, on the other hand, there are
flying mammals, such as Bats, Flying Squirrels, and there are flying
reptiles, which can progress through the air by means of flight. Again,
birds lay the eggs from which they produce their young; but so do many
reptiles and fish: so that this cannot be considered a prerogative of
the class of birds. Their bill is hard and sheathed in horn; but so
is that of the Duck-billed Platypus (page 231), an animal belonging
to the Monotreme Mammals; and Turtles also have beaks. Most, but not
all, birds build nests; and in this they stand almost alone among the
higher animals; but nest-building propensities are developed in many of
the Mammalia--in the Lemurs and Mice, for instance--while it cannot be
assigned as a habit peculiar to birds, as the wonderful nests made by
some fish conclusively prove.
All birds, whether they fly or not, are clothed with feathers, and this
distinguishes the class _Aves_ in the existing state of nature. The
majority are specially adapted for flight: and as this is undoubtedly
the most vigorous form of locomotion, the greatest muscular efforts
being required to raise and sustain a body above the ground and to
propel it rapidly through the air, a large development of muscular
energy is necessary. The great strain on the circulation of the blood
is met by a heart not only as complete as in the Mammalia, but with
stronger and a peculiar valvular mechanism for propelling that fluid
vigorously through the body. Moreover, in addition to their lungs,
birds possess a singular provision of air-receptacles within the body,
and these are connected with a series of cavities, also filled with
air, which occupy the interior of most of the bones. These cavities
serve not only to give lightness to the bird’s body, but they also
assist the lungs in aërating the blood, so that birds may be said to
enjoy a double respiration. As birds exceed mammals in the activity of
their breathing and circulatory system, so also they possess a higher
degree of animal heat, their temperature ranging from 106° to 112°
Fahr. This high temperature, which exceeds that of the Mammalia by
from 8° to 14°, is maintained by its admirable feather-clothing, which,
being a non-conductor, effectually serves to guard against any sudden
variations of temperature in the air to which its body is exposed,
during its rapid and extensive flights, as well as tempering the usual
radiation from the body.
As one might expect in the fore-limb of a creature specially organised
for suspension in, and progression through, the air, it is found that
the muscles, as well as the bones and joints, of the bird’s wing
become much modified as compared with the corresponding parts of other
animals. With all our scientific knowledge and mechanical contrivances,
no one has yet succeeded in constructing a flying machine. It is a
significant fact that Nature has not only long ago solved this problem,
but that she has done so in several ways. The flight of an insect, of
a bird, of a bat, is equally perfect in its way: but in each case the
result is attained by very different modifications in the skeletal and
muscular apparatus. The principal resistance that a flying animal has
to work against is its weight: that is, the force of gravity which,
proportionately to its mass, tends to draw it down vertically towards
the earth; hence the muscles which are largest and strongest in a bird
are those which pull down the wing against the air, thereby raising the
body and overcoming its weight.
[Illustration: BONES OF WING OF BIRD.
(_After Sundevall._)
(_a_) Humerus; (B) Cubitus; (_c_) Ulna; (_d_) Radius; (E) Manus, or
hand; (_f_) Carpus; (_g_, _h_, _i_) Metacarpus; (_k_) Pollex, or
thumb; (_l_) Second digit; (_m_) Third digit.
]
The chief muscle thus employed is the “great pectoral,” attached to
the large keel (or ridge) on the breast-bone, and inserted into the
“humerus,” or “arm-bone.” This “great pectoral” is generally the
largest muscle in the bird’s body, and in fact often equals in bulk all
the other muscles put together.
The wing is _opened out_ by straightening the elbow and the
wrist-joints. The former process is effected by the contraction of the
_triceps_; the latter chiefly by the action of the so-called “radial
extensors,” and by the elasticity of the long “tensor,” or ligament,
which comes from the shoulder muscles along the front border of the
anterior wing-membrane, and is attached to the base of the thumb, at
the front side of the wrist.
The wing is _folded_ by the bending of the elbow and the adduction of
the wrist-joints. The elbow is bent principally by the contraction of
the “biceps” and the “internal brachial,” the wrist-joint chiefly by
the contraction of the “hand-adductor,” and of the “ulnar wrist-flexor.”
As already stated, the possession of feathers is one of the most
characteristic features in a bird. These beautiful structures are
modifications of the skin, just as are the scales of the feet and
the claws of the toes. Feathers and hairs, scales and claws, are all
produced out of, and are modifications of, the cells of the upper
skin, or _epidermis_, and of the under, or true skin, or _cutis_. The
feathers differ much in their minute construction in some birds; and
all those of a bird are of course not of the same size and shape, but
they have the following parts in common.
[Illustration: FEATHERS OF WING OF BIRD. (_After Sundevall._)
(A) Feathers of the manus, or primary quills; (B) Feathers of
the _cubitus_, or secondary quills; (C) Coverts of the manus, or
primary-coverts; (D) Lesser primary-coverts; (E) Coverts of the
_cubitus_, or secondary-coverts; (F) Median coverts; (G) Lesser
coverts; (H) Feathers of the thumb, or bastard wing.
]
A feather consists of a quill, a shaft, barbs, and barbules: moreover,
there may be a kind of accessory part, often in the shape of a downy
tuft, close to the junction of the shaft and the quill. The shaft
(_scapus_) or axis of every perfect feather (_penna_) is divided into
the quill (_calamus_), the hollow cylinder (_d_), which is partly
embedded in a sac of the skin, and the true shaft (_rachis_, _a_),
which bears on each side the lateral processes called barbs (_rami_
or _radii_). The rachis and the barbs together are known as the
vane (_vexillum_), and, in fact, form what is commonly known as the
“feather” in contradistinction to the “quill.” The barbs (_c_, _c_,
_c_, _c_) are narrow plates, or laminæ, “tapering to points at their
free ends, and attached by their bases on each side of the rachis.
The edges of these barbs are directed upwards and downwards, when the
_vexillum_ of the feather is horizontal The interstices between the
barbs are filled up by the _barbules_, pointed processes, which stand
in the same relation to the barbs as the barbs do to the rachis. The
barbules themselves may be laterally serrated and terminated by little
hooks, which interlock with the hooks of the opposed barbules. In very
many birds each quill bears two _vexilla_; the second, called the
_aftershaft_ (_b_) (_hyporachis_), being attached on the under side of
the first,”[133] close to the junction of the shaft with the quills.
In all the feathers of the Ratitæ, and in the case of all but the
contour feathers in other birds, there are no barbules to the barbs.
The pennæ are ordinarily arranged in definite patches, or areas on
the bird, and the shape and size of these, and their relation to one
another, differ in many birds.
The _aftershaft_ (_b_) is ordinarily a smaller _vexillum_, which is
attached to the under side of the larger one at about the point where
the rounded quill passes into the stem.
It is not necessary to notice these important characteristic structures
more fully now, as they will have to be considered in explaining the
distinctions between the great groups of birds, and we pass on to
notice that the same kinds of birds are not found everywhere, but that
they have, as groups, a remarkable geographical distribution.
In the following pages the distribution of birds is often alluded to,
although it will naturally be impossible to discuss, within these
limits, all the various phases of the study which the geographical
distribution of the feathered tribes opens up to us. At the same time
sufficient evidence will be given to show that birds are not scattered
without order over the earth, but are more or less restricted to
certain spots.
[Illustration: PARTS OF A FEATHER. (_After Nitzsch._)]
The six natural history or distributional provinces into which the
world is ordinarily divided by modern naturalists were determined,
first of all, from the study of the birds; and in fixing the boundaries
of each division the wading birds and many swimming birds must be left
out of the question, as they are creatures of such very extensive
flight, and wander almost from pole to pole. A natural region,
therefore, can be marked only by its resident forms of bird life, or
at the most by the birds which breed within its limits; and the six
regions alluded to provide us with many excellent reasons for believing
that they possess well-defined physical boundaries. No Capercailzie,
for instance, was ever found out of the _Palæarctic_[134] region, which
comprises Europe and the greater part of Asia above the line of the
Himalayas and the Yangtze-kiang River in China. This region is also
characterised by a large number of Buntings, Warblers, Grouse, &c.
In the _Nearctic_[135] region there is a certain similarity to the
European and Siberian Avifauna, Grouse, Ptarmigan, Waxwings, Magpies,
Ravens, &c., being commonly found throughout the two regions. North
America possesses, however, several forms peculiar to itself, though
it is by no means so rich in species as is the _Neotropical_[136]
region, which commences south of a line drawn through Northern Mexico,
and includes the whole of Central and Southern America. Within this
large area are contained whole families of birds, such as Toucans,
Mot-mots, the vast majority of the Humming-birds, Trogons, besides
innumerable genera of Tanagers and other forms, so that this region is
by far the richest in the world as regards bird life. The _Ethiopian_
region embraces all Africa below the Sahara Desert and Madagascar:
Plaintain-eaters, &c., are characteristic of this region. The _Indian_
region skirts the Palæarctic, and includes the remainder of Asia below
the Himalayas and the Yangtze-kiang; the Malayan Peninsula, the Sunda
Islands, and the Philippines, belong to this region, which contains
all the finest Pheasants in the world, the Impeyan Pheasant from the
Himalayas, the Tragopans, and the Lobed Pheasant of Borneo being most
beautiful creatures. Lastly, between the islands of Bali and Lombok
passes a deep sea boundary called “Wallace’s line,” which divides the
_Australian_ region from the Indian, and although these islands lie so
close together, the great depth of the channel between them seems to
mark them out as frontier lines of two ancient continents. Certain it
is that the birds and animals on each side of Wallace’s line differ
remarkably; and the Australian region, which includes all the Moluccas,
New Guinea, and Oceania, in addition to the Australian continent and
New Zealand, presents us with forms not found elsewhere, such as Birds
of Paradise, Cassowaries, Lyre-birds, and a large variety of peculiar
types. Many smaller divisions of the globe are now recognised, but the
above are the main ones, which may occasionally be referred to in these
pages.[137]
Many birds migrate, and the student of migration alone would find
sufficient material there for the work of a lifetime; and it seems
almost impossible to account for the instinct or other causes which
bring birds regularly year by year to breed in the same haunts, and
which drive them away at the same change of season. Why is it, for
instance, that species of similar habits and form, and both visiting
Europe in equal abundance, should occupy such different winter
quarters? Yet the common Red-backed Shrike, or Butcher-bird (_Lanius
collyrio_), when he is said to leave Europe, passes by the Nile Valley
along the east coast of Africa down to the Cape, where he brings up
a second brood of nestlings; while the Wood-Chat Shrike (_Lanius
auriculatus_), a bird of about the same size and of precisely similar
habits, proceeds down the Nile Valley and invades Abyssinia in the
winter, and also occupies Senegambia, where a Red-backed Shrike has
never been found yet by a naturalist. Nothing whatever is known by
which route the bird gets to the Gambia: whether he follows the same
one as his red-backed relation as far as Abyssinia, and then skirts the
southern edge of the Sahara, or whether he reaches north-western Africa
by a direct flight across the Great Desert. Many other such problems
in the economy of our most familiar species are still awaiting further
scientific research.