. Zoology : for students and general readers . Zoology. 586 ZOOLOGY. as a muskrat, is nocturnal in its liabits and, therefore, rarely seen, and burrows in the earth, feeding on roots. The lowest in intelligence are, perhaps, the hares, rej)- resented by the common varying hare {Lepus Ainerica- ims Erxleben, Fig. 505), of which an interesting Tariety, L. Bairdii, lives on the Aljiine summits of the Eocky Moun-. Pig. 506—The Spalax or Blind Eat.—After Owen. tains. The largest of all existing rodents is the Capy- bara of South America, which looks like a pig. This is succeeded by the porcujiine,


. Zoology : for students and general readers . Zoology. 586 ZOOLOGY. as a muskrat, is nocturnal in its liabits and, therefore, rarely seen, and burrows in the earth, feeding on roots. The lowest in intelligence are, perhaps, the hares, rej)- resented by the common varying hare {Lepus Ainerica- ims Erxleben, Fig. 505), of which an interesting Tariety, L. Bairdii, lives on the Aljiine summits of the Eocky Moun-. Pig. 506—The Spalax or Blind Eat.—After Owen. tains. The largest of all existing rodents is the Capy- bara of South America, which looks like a pig. This is succeeded by the porcujiine, which either lives in trees or burrows in the earth, while the more intelligent, active forms are the beaver, muskrat, the European blind rat [Sjialax, Fig. 50(J) the rats and mice, squirrels, and lastly the marmots. The domes- tic mouse and the two rats, the brown or A^orway rat {Mus decimianus Pallas), the black rat {Mus rattus Linn.), and the common house mouse {Mus muscv- lus Linn.), are cosmopoli- tan animals. The jumping mouse (Fig. 507) has remarkably long hind legs and short fore logs. Peculiar to the western plains is the prairie-dog, {fhjnomys ludovirAanus) which represents the marmots of the Old World ; it is semi-social and takes in perforce as boarders the owl and rattlesnake, which devour its Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Packard, A. S. (Alpheus Spring), 1839-1905. New York : Henry Holt


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1879