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diff --git a/old/7plat10.txt b/old/7plat10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a718b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7plat10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9726 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Naturalist in La Plata, by W. H. Hudson +#7 in our series by W. H. Hudson + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Naturalist in La Plata + +Author: W. H. Hudson + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7446] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 1, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA *** + + + + +Produced by Eric Eldred + + + + + + +THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA + +BY + +W. H. HUDSON, C.M.Z.S. + + +JOINT AUTHOR OF "ARGENTINE ORNITHOLOGY" + + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. SMIT + +THIRD EDITION. + +NEW YORK +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY +1895 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The plan I have followed in this work has been to sift and arrange the +facts I have gathered concerning the habits of the animals best known to +me, preserving those only, which, in my judgment, appeared worth +recording. In some instances a variety of subjects have linked +themselves together in my mind, and have been grouped under one heading; +consequently the scope of the book is not indicated by the list of +contents: this want is, however, made good by an index at the end. + +It is seldom an easy matter to give a suitable name to a book of this +description. I am conscious that the one I have made choice of displays +a lack of originality; also, that this kind of title has been used +hitherto for works constructed more or less on the plan of the famous +_Naturalist on the Amazons._ After I have made this apology the reader, +on his part, will readily admit that, in treating of the Natural History +of a district so well known, and often described as the southern portion +of La Plata, which has a temperate climate, and where nature is neither +exuberant nor grand, a personal narrative would have seemed superfluous. + +The greater portion of the matter contained in this volume has already +seen the light in the form of papers contributed to the _Field,_ with +other journals that treat of Natural History; and to the monthly +magazines:--_Longmans', The Nineteenth Century, The Gentleman's +Magazine,_ and others: I am indebted to the Editors and Proprietors of +these periodicals for kindly allowing me to make use of this material. + +Of all animals, birds have perhaps afforded me most pleasure; but most +of the fresh knowledge I have collected in this department is contained +in a larger work _(Argentine Ornithology),_ of which Dr. P. L. Sclater +is part author. As I have not gone over any of the subjects dealt with +in that work, bird-life has not received more than a fair share of +attention in the present volume. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. THE DESERT PAMPAS + +CHAPTER II. CUB PUMA, OR LION OF AMERICA + +CHAPTER III. WAVE OF LIFE + +CHAPTER IV. SOME CURIOUS ANIMAL WEAPONS + +CHAPTER V. FEAR IN BIRDS + +CHAPTER VI. PARENTAL AND EARLY INSTINCTS + +CHAPTER VII. THE MEPHITIC SKUNK + +CHAPTER VIII. MIMICRY AND WARNING COLOURS IN GRASSHOPPERS + +CHAPTER IX. DRAGON-FLY STORMS + +CHAPTER X. MOSQUITOES AND PARASITE PROBLEMS + +CHAPTER XI. HUMBLE-BEES AND OTHER MATTERS + +CHAPTER XII. A NOBLE WASP + +CHAPTER XIII. NATURE'S NIGHT-LIGHTS + +CHAPTER XIV. FACTS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT SPIDERS + +CHAPTER XV. THE DEATH-FEIGNING INSTINCT + +CHAPTER XVI. HUMMING-BIRDS + +CHAPTER XVII. THE CRESTED SCREAMER + +CHAPTER XVIII. THE WOODHEWER FAMILY + +CHAPTER XIX. MUSIC AND DANCING IN NATURE + +CHAPTER XX. BIOGRAPHY OF THE VIZCACHA + +CHAPTER XXI. THE DYING HUANACO + +CHAPTER XXII. THE STRANGE INSTINCTS OF CATTLE + +CHAPTER XXIII. HORSE AND MAN + +CHAPTER XXIV. SEEN AND LOST + +APPENDIX + +INDEX + + + + +THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA, + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DESERT PAMPAS. + + +During recent years we have heard much about the great and rapid changes +now going on in the plants and animals of all the temperate regions of +the globe colonized by Europeans. These changes, if taken merely as +evidence of material progress, must be a matter of rejoicing to those +who are satisfied, and more than satisfied, with our system of +civilization, or method of outwitting Nature by the removal of all +checks on the undue increase of our own species. To one who finds a +charm in things as they exist in the unconquered provinces of Nature's +dominions, and who, not being over-anxious to reach the end of his +journey, is content to perform it on horseback, or in a waggon drawn by +bullocks, it is permissible to lament the altered aspect of the earth's +surface, together with the disappearance of numberless noble and +beautiful forms, both of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. For he +cannot find it in his heart to love the forms by which they are +replaced; these are cultivated and domesticated, and have only become +useful to man at the cost of that grace and spirit which freedom and +wildness give. In numbers they are many--twenty-five millions of sheep +in this district, fifty millions in that, a hundred millions in a +third--but how few are the species in place of those destroyed? and when +the owner of many sheep and much wheat desires variety--for he possesses +this instinctive desire, albeit in conflict with and overborne by the +perverted instinct of destruction--what is there left to him, beyond his +very own, except the weeds that spring up in his fields under all skies, +ringing him round with old-world monotonous forms, as tenacious of their +undesired union with him as the rats and cockroaches that inhabit his +house? + +We hear most frequently of North America, New Zealand, and Australia in +this connection; but nowhere on the globe has civilization "written +strange defeatures" more markedly than on that great area of level +country called by English writers _the pampas_, but by the Spanish more +appropriately _La Pampa_--from the Quichua word signifying open space or +country--since it forms in most part one continuous plain, extending on +its eastern border from the river Parana, in latitude 32 degrees, to the +Patagonian formation on the river Colorado, and comprising about two +hundred thousand square miles of humid, grassy country. + +This district has been colonized by Europeans since the middle of the +sixteenth century; but down to within a very few years ago immigration +was on too limited a scale to make any very great change; and, speaking +only of the pampean country, the conquered territory was a long, +thinly-settled strip, purely pastoral, and the Indians, with their +primitive mode of warfare, were able to keep back the invaders from the +greater portion of their ancestral hunting-grounds. Not twenty years +ago a ride of two hundred miles, starting from the capital city, +Buenos Ayres, was enough to place one well beyond the furthest +south-western frontier outpost. In 1879 the Argentine Government +determined to rid the country of the aborigines, or, at all events, to +break their hostile and predatory spirit once for all; with the result +that the entire area of the grassy pampas, with a great portion of +the sterile pampas and Patagonia, has been made available to the +emigrant. There is no longer anything to deter the starvelings +of the Old World from possessing themselves of this new land of +promise, flowing, like Australia, with milk and tallow, if not with +honey; any emasculated migrant from a Genoese or Neapolitan +slum is now competent to "fight the wilderness" out there, with his +eight-shilling fowling-piece and the implements of his trade. The +barbarians no longer exist to frighten his soul with dreadful war cries; +they have moved away to another more remote and shadowy region, called +in their own language _Alhuemapu_, and not known to geographers. For +the results so long and ardently wished for have swiftly followed on +General Roca's military expedition; and the changes witnessed during the +last decade on the pampas exceed in magnitude those which had been +previously effected by three centuries of occupation. + +In view of this wave of change now rapidly sweeping away the old +order, with whatever beauty and grace it possessed, it might not seem +inopportune at the present moment to give a rapid sketch, from the field +naturalist's point of view, of the great plain, as it existed before the +agencies introduced by European colonists had done their work, and as it +still exists in its remoter parts. + +The humid, grassy, pampean country extends, roughly speaking, half-way +from the Atlantic Ocean and the Plata and Parana rivers to the Andes, +and passes gradually into the "Monte Formation," or _sterile pampa_--a +sandy, more or less barren district, producing a dry, harsh, ligneous +vegetation, principally thorny bushes and low trees, of which the chanar +(Gurliaca decorticans) is the most common; hence the name of +"Chanar-steppe" used by some writers: and this formation extends +southwards down into Patagonia. Scientists have not yet been able to +explain why the pampas, with a humid climate, and a soil exceedingly +rich, have produced nothing but grass, while the dry, sterile +territories on their north, west, and south borders have an arborescent +vegetation. Darwin's conjecture that the extreme violence of the +_pampero,_ or south-west wind, prevented trees from growing, is now +proved to have been ill-founded since the introduction of the Eucalyptus +globulus; for this noble tree attains to an extraordinary height on the +pampas, and exhibits there a luxuriance of foliage never seen in +Australia. + +To this level area--my "parish of Selborne," or, at all events, a goodly +portion of it--with the sea on one hand, and on the other the +practically infinite expanse of grassy desert--another sea, not "in vast +fluctuations fixed," but in comparative calm--I should like to conduct +the reader in imagination: a country all the easier to be imagined on +account of the absence of mountains, woods, lakes, and rivers. There is, +indeed, little to be imagined--not even a sense of vastness; and Darwin, +touching on this point, in the _Journal of a Naturalist,_ aptly +says:--"At sea, a person's eye being six feet above the surface of the +water, his horizon is two miles and four-fifths distant. In like manner, +the more level the plain, the more nearly does the horizon approach +within these narrow limits; and this, in my opinion, entirely destroys +the grandeur which one would have imagined that a vast plain would have +possessed." + +I remember my first experience of a hill, after having been always shut +within "these narrow limits." It was one of the range of sierras near +Cape Corrientes, and not above eight hundred feet high; yet, when I had +gained the summit, I was amazed at the vastness of the earth, as it +appeared to me from that modest elevation. Persons born and bred on the +pampas, when they first visit a mountainous district, frequently +experience a sensation as of "a ball in the throat" which seems to +prevent free respiration. + +In most places the rich, dry soil is occupied by a coarse grass, three +or four feet high, growing in large tussocks, and all the year round of +a deep green; a few slender herbs and trefoils, with long, twining +stems, maintain a frail existence among the tussocks; but the strong +grass crowds out most plants, and scarcely a flower relieves its uniform +everlasting verdure. There are patches, sometimes large areas, where it +does not grow, and these are carpeted by small creeping herbs of a +livelier green, and are gay in spring with flowers, chiefly of the +composite and papilionaceous kinds; and verbenas, scarlet, purple, rose, +and white. On moist or marshy grounds there are also several lilies, +yellow, white, and red, two or three flags, and various other small +flowers; but altogether the flora of the pampas is the poorest in +species of any fertile district on the globe. On moist clayey ground +flourishes the stately pampa grass, Gynerium argenteum, the spears of +which often attain a height of eight or nine feet. I have ridden through +many leagues of this grass with the feathery spikes high as my head, and +often higher. It would be impossible for me to give anything like an +adequate idea of the exquisite loveliness, at certain times and seasons, +of this queen of grasses, the chief glory of the solitary pampa. +Everyone is familiar with it in cultivation; but the garden-plant has a +sadly decaying, draggled look at all times, and to my mind, is often +positively ugly with its dense withering mass of coarse leaves, drooping +on the ground, and bundle of spikes, always of the same dead white or +dirty cream-colour. Now colour--the various ethereal tints that give a +blush to its cloud-like purity--is one of the chief beauties of this +grass on its native soil; and travellers who have galloped across the +pampas at a season of the year when the spikes are dead, and white as +paper or parchment, have certainly missed its greatest charm. The plant +is social, and in some places where scarcely any other kind exists it +covers large areas with a sea of fleecy-white plumes; in late summer, +and in autumn, the tints are seen, varying from the most delicate rose, +tender and illusive as the blush on the white under-plumage of some +gulls, to purple and violaceous. At no time does it look so perfect as +in the evening, before and after sunset, when the softened light imparts +a mistiness to the crowding plumes, and the traveller cannot help +fancying that the tints, which then seem richest, are caught from the +level rays of the sun, or reflected from the coloured vapours of the +afterglow. + +The last occasion on which I saw the pampa grass in its full beauty was +at the close of a bright day in March, ending in one of those perfect +sunsets seen only in the wilderness, where no lines of house or hedge +mar the enchanting disorder of nature, and the earth and sky tints are +in harmony. I had been travelling all day with one companion, and for +two hours we had ridden through the matchless grass, which spread away +for miles on every side, the myriads of white spears, touched with +varied colour, blending in the distance and appearing almost like the +surface of a cloud. Hearing a swishing sound behind us, we turned +sharply round, and saw, not forty yards away in our rear, a party of +five mounted Indians, coming swiftly towards us: but at the very moment +we saw them their animals came to a dead halt, and at the same instant +the five riders leaped up, and stood erect on their horses' backs. +Satisfied that they had no intention of attacking us, and were only +looking out for strayed horses, we continued watching them for some +time, as they stood gazing away over the plain in different directions, +motionless and silent, like bronze men on strange horse-shaped pedestals +of dark stone; so dark in their copper skins and long black hair, +against the far-off ethereal sky, flushed with amber light; and at their +feet, and all around, the cloud of white and faintly-blushing plumes. +That farewell scene was printed very vividly on my memory, but cannot be +shown to another, nor could it be even if a Ruskin's pen or a Turner's +pencil were mine; for the flight of the sea-mew is not more impossible +to us than the power to picture forth the image of Nature in our souls, +when she reveals herself in one of those "special moments" which have +"special grace" in situations where her wild beauty has never been +spoiled by man. + +At other hours and seasons the general aspect of the plain is +monotonous, and in spite of the unobstructed view, and the unfailing +verdure and sunshine, somewhat melancholy, although never sombre: and +doubtless the depressed and melancholy feeling the pampa inspires in +those who are unfamiliar with it is due in a great measure to the +paucity of life, and to the profound silence. The wind, as may well be +imagined on that extensive level area, is seldom at rest; there, as in +the forest, it is a "bard of many breathings," and the strings it +breathes upon give out an endless variety of sorrowful sounds, from the +sharp fitful sibilations of the dry wiry grasses on the barren places, +to the long mysterious moans that swell and die in the tall polished +rushes of the marsh. It is also curious to note that with a few +exceptions the resident birds are comparatively very silent, even those +belonging to groups which elsewhere are highly loquacious. The reason of +this is not far to seek. In woods and thickets, where birds abound +most, they are continually losing sight of each other, and are only +prevented from scattering by calling often; while the muffling effect on +sound of the close foliage, to' which may be added a spirit of emulation +where many voices are heard, incites most species, especially those that +are social, to exert their voices to the utmost pitch in singing, +calling, and screaming. On the open pampas, birds, which are not +compelled to live concealed on the surface, can see each other at long +distances, and perpetual calling is not needful: moreover, in that still +atmosphere sound travels far. As a rule their voices are strangely +subdued; nature's silence has infected them, and they have become silent +by habit. This is not the case with aquatic species, which are nearly +all migrants from noisier regions, and mass themselves in lagoons and +marshes, where they are all loquacious together. It is also noteworthy +that the subdued bird-voices, some of which are exceedingly sweet and +expressive, and the notes of many of the insects and batrachians have a +great resemblance, and seem to be in accord with the aeolian tones of +the wind in reeds and grasses: a stranger to the pampas, even a +naturalist accustomed to a different fauna, will often find it hard to +distinguish between bird, frog, and insect voices. + +The mammalia is poor in species, and with the single exception of the +well-known vizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus), there is not one of +which it can truly be said that it is in any special way the product of +the pampas, or, in other words, that its instincts are better suited to +the conditions of the pampas than to those of other districts. As a +fact, this large rodent inhabits a vast extent of country, north, west, +and south of the true pampas, but nowhere is he so thoroughly on his +native heath as on the great grassy plain. There, to some extent, he +even makes his own conditions, like the beaver. He lives in a small +community of twenty or thirty members, in a village of deep-chambered +burrows, all with their pit-like entrances closely grouped together; and +as the village endures for ever, or for an indefinite time, the earth +constantly being brought up forms a mound thirty or forty feet in +diameter; and this protects the habitation from floods on low or level +ground. Again, he is not swift of foot, and all rapacious beasts are his +enemies; he also loves to feed on tender succulent herbs and grasses, to +seek for which he would have to go far afield among the giant grass, +where his watchful foes are lying in wait to seize him; he saves himself +from this danger by making a clearing all round his abode, on which a +smooth turf is formed; and here the animals feed and have their evening +pastimes in comparative security: for when an enemy approaches, he is +easily seen; the note of alarm is sounded, and the whole company +scuttles away to their refuge. In districts having a different soil and +vegetation, as in Patagonia, the vizcachas' curious, unique instincts +are of no special advantage, which makes it seem probable that they have +been formed on the pampas. + +How marvellous a thing it seems that the two species of mammalians--the +beaver and the vizcacha--that most nearly simulate men's intelligent +actions in their social organizing instincts, and their habitations, +which are made to endure, should belong to an order so low down as the +Rodents! And in the case of the latter species, it adds to the marvel +when we find that the vizcacha, according to Water-house, is the lowest +of the order in its marsupial affinities. + +The vizcacha is the most common rodent on the pampas, and the Rodent +order is represented by the largest number of species. The finest is the +so-called Patagonian hare--Dolichotis patagonica--a beautiful animal +twice as large as a hare, with ears shorter and more rounded, and legs +relatively much longer. The fur is grey and chestnut brown. It is +diurnal in its habits, lives in kennels, and is usually met with in +pairs, or small flocks. It is better suited to a sterile country like +Patagonia than to the grassy humid plain; nevertheless it was found +throughout the whole of the pampas; but in a country where the wisdom of +a Sir William Harcourt was never needed to slip the leash, this king of +the Rodentia is now nearly extinct. + +A common rodent is the coypu--Myiopotamus coypu--yellowish in colour +with bright red incisors; a rat in shape, and as large as an otter. It +is aquatic, lives in holes in the banks, and where there are no banks it +makes a platform nest among the rushes. Of an evening they are all out +swimming and playing in the water, conversing together in their strange +tones, which sound like the moans and cries of wounded and suffering +men; and among them the mother-coypu is seen with her progeny, numbering +eight or nine, with as many on her back as she can accommodate, while +the others swim after her, crying for a ride. + +With reference to this animal, which, as we have seen, is prolific, a +strange thing once happened in Buenos Ayres. The coypu was much more +abundant fifty years ago than now, and its skin, which has a fine fur +under the long coarse hair, was largely exported to Europe. About that +time the Dictator Rosas issued a decree prohibiting the hunting of the +coypu. The result was that the animals increased and multiplied +exceedingly, and, abandoning their aquatic habits, they became +terrestrial and migratory, and swarmed everywhere in search of food. +Suddenly a mysterious malady fell on them, from which they quickly +perished, and became almost extinct. + +What a blessed thing it would be for poor rabbit-worried Australia if a +similar plague should visit that country, and fall on the right animal! +On the other hand, what a calamity if the infection, wide-spread, +incurable, and swift as the wind in its course, should attack the +too-numerous sheep! And who knows what mysterious, unheard-of +retributions that revengeful deity Nature may not be meditating in her +secret heart for the loss of her wild four-footed children slain by +settlers, and the spoiling of her ancient beautiful order! + +A small pampa rodent worthy of notice is the Cavia australis, called +_cui_ in the vernacular from its voice: a timid, social, mouse-coloured +little creature, with a low gurgling language, like running babbling +waters; in habits resembling its domestic pied relation the guinea pig. +It loves to run on clean ground, and on the pampas makes little +rat-roads all about its hiding-place, which little roads tell a story to +the fox, and such like; therefore the little cavy's habits, and the +habits of all cavies, I fancy, are not so well suited to the humid +grassy region as to other districts, with sterile ground to run and play +upon, and thickets in which to hide. + +A more interesting animal is the Ctenomys magellanica, a little less +than the rat in size, with a shorter tail, pale grey fur, and red +incisors. It is called _tuco-tuco_ from its voice, and _oculto_ from its +habits; for it is a dweller underground, and requires a loose, sandy +soil in which, like the mole, it may _swim_ beneath the surface. +Consequently the pampa, with its heavy, moist mould, is not the tuco's +proper place; nevertheless, wherever there is a stretch of sandy soil, +or a range of dunes, there it is found living; not seen, but heard; for +all day long and all night sounds its voice, resonant and loud, like a +succession of blows from a hammer; as if a company of gnomes were +toiling far down underfoot, beating on their anvils, first with strong +measured strokes, then with lighter and faster, and with a swing and +rhythm as if the little men were beating in time to some rude chant +unheard above the surface. How came these isolated colonies of a species +so subterranean in habits, and requiring a sandy soil to move in, so far +from their proper district--that sterile country from which they are +separated by wide, unsuitable areas? They cannot perform long overland +journeys like the rat. Perhaps the dunes have travelled, carrying their +little cattle with them. + +Greatest among the carnivores are the two cat-monarchs of South America, +the jaguar and puma. Whatever may be their relative positions elsewhere, +on the pampas the puma is mightiest, being much more abundant and better +able to thrive than its spotted rival. Versatile in its preying habits, +its presence on the pampa is not surprising; but probably only an +extreme abundance of large mammalian prey, which has not existed in +recent times, could have, tempted an animal of the river and +forest-loving habits of the jaguar to colonize this cold, treeless, and +comparatively waterless desert. There are two other important cats. The +grass-cat, not unlike Felis catus in its robust form and dark colour, +but a larger, more powerful animal, inexpressibly savage in disposition. +The second, Felis geoffroyi, is a larger and more beautiful animal, +coloured like a leopard; it is called wood-cat, and, as the name would +seem to indicate, is an intruder from wooded districts north of the +pampas. + +There are two canines: one is Azara's beautiful grey fox-like dog, +purely a fox in habits, and common everywhere. The other is far more +interesting and extremely rare; it is called _aguara,_ its nearest ally +being the _aguara-guazu,_ the Canis jubatus or maned wolf of +naturalists, found north of the pampean district. The aguara is smaller +and has no mane; it is like the dingo in size, but slimmer and with a +sharper nose, and lias a much brighter red colour. At night when camping +out I have heard its dismal screams, but the screamer was sought in +vain; while from the gauchos of the frontier I could only learn that it +is a harmless, shy, solitary animal, that ever flies to remoter wilds +from its destroyer, man. They offered me a skin--what more could I want? +Simple souls! it was no more to me than the skin of a dead dog, with +long, bright red hair. Those who love dead animals may have them in any +number by digging with a. spade in that vast sepulchre of the pampas, +where perished the hosts of antiquity. I love the living that are above +the earth; and how small a remnant they are in South America we know, +and now yearly becoming more precious as it dwindles away. + +The pestiferous skunk is universal; and there are two quaint-looking +weasels, intensely black in colour, and grey on the back and flat crown. +One, the Galictis barbara, is a large bold animal that hunts in +companies; and when these long-bodied creatures sit up erect, glaring +with beady eyes, grinning and chattering at the passer-by, they look +like little friars in black robes and grey cowls; but the expression on +their round faces is malignant and bloodthirsty beyond anything in +nature, and it would perhaps be more decent to liken them to devils +rather than to humans. + +On the pampas there is, strictly speaking, only one ruminant, the Cervus +campestris, which is common. The most curious thing about this animal is +that the male emits a rank, musky odour, so powerful that when the wind +blows from it the effluvium comes in nauseating gusts to the nostrils +from a distance exceeding two miles. It is really astonishing that only +one small ruminant should be found on this immense grassy area, so +admirably suited to herbivorous quadrupeds, a portion of which at the +present moment affords sufficient pasture to eighty millions of sheep, +cattle, and horses. In La Plata the author of _The Mammoth and the +Flood_ will find few to quarrel with his doctrine. + +Of Edentates there are four. The giant armadillo does not range so far, +and the delicate little pink fairy armadillo, the truncated +Chlamydophorus, is a dweller in the sand-dunes of Mendoza, and has never +colonized the grassy pampas. The Tatusia hybrida, called "little mule" +from the length of its ears, and the Dasypus tricinctus, which, when +disturbed, rolls itself into a ball, the wedge-shaped head and +wedge-shaped tail admirably fitting into the deep-cut shell side by +side; and the _quirquincho_ (Dasypus minutus), all inhabit the pampa, +are diurnal, and feed exclusively on insects, chiefly ants. Wherever the +country becomes settled, these three disappear, owing to the dulness of +their senses, especially that of sight, and to the diurnal habit, which +was an advantage to them, and enabled them to survive when rapacious +animals, which are mostly nocturnal, were their only enemies. The +fourth, and most important, is the hairy armadillo, with habits which +are in strange contrast to those of its perishing congeners, and which +seem to mock many hard-and-fast rules concerning animal life. It is +omnivorous, and will thrive on anything from grass to flesh, found dead +and in all stages of decay, or captured by means of its own strategy. +Furthermore, its habits change to suit its conditions: thus, where +nocturnal carnivores are its enemies, it is diurnal; but where man +appears as a chief persecutor, it becomes nocturnal. It is much hunted +for its flesh, dogs being trained for the purpose; yet it actually +becomes more abundant as population increases in any district; and, if +versatility in habits or adaptiveness can be taken as a measure of +intelligence, this poor armadillo, a survival of the past, so old on the +earth as to have existed contemporaneously with the giant glyptodon, is +the superior of the large-brained cats and canines. + +To finish with the mammalia, there are two interesting opossums, both of +the genus Didelphys, but in habits as wide apart as cat from otter. One +of these marsupials appears so much at home on the plains that I almost +regret having said that the vizcacha alone gives us the idea of being in +its habits the _product_ of the pampas. This animal--Didelphys +crassicaudata--has a long slender, wedge-, shaped head and body, +admirably adapted for pushing through the thick grass and rushes; for it +is both terrestrial and aquatic, therefore well suited to inhabit low, +level plains liable to be flooded. On dry land its habits are similar to +those of a weasel; in lagoons, where it dives and swims with great ease, +it constructs a globular nest suspended from the rushes. The fur is +soft, of a rich yellow, reddish above, and on the sides and under +surfaces varying in some parts to orange, in others exhibiting beautiful +copper and terra-cotta tints. These lovely tints and the metallic lustre +soon fade from the fur, otherwise this animal would be much sought after +in the interests of those who love to decorate themselves with the +spoils of beautiful dead animals--beast and bird. The other opossum is +the black and white Didelphys azarae; and it is indeed strange to find +this animal on the pampas, although its presence there is not so +mysterious as that of the tuco-tuco. It shuffles along slowly and +awkwardly on the ground, but is a great traveller nevertheless. Tschudi +met it mountaineering on the Andes at an enormous altitude, and, true to +its lawless nature, it confronted me in Patagonia, where the books say +no marsupial dwells. In every way it is adapted to an arboreal life, yet +it is everywhere found on the level country, far removed from the +conditions which one would imagine to be necessary to its existence. For +how many thousands of years has this marsupial been a dweller on the +plain, all its best faculties unexercised, its beautiful grasping hands +pressed to the ground, and its prehensile tail dragged like an idle rope +behind it! Yet, if one is brought to a tree, it will take to it as +readily as a duck to water, or an armadillo to earth, climbing up the +trunk and about the branches with a monkey-like agility. How reluctant +Nature seems in some cases to undo her own work! How long she will +allow a specialized organ, with the correlated instinct, to rest without +use, yet ready to flash forth on the instant, bright and keen-edged, as +in the ancient days of strife, ages past, before peace came to dwell on +earth! + +The avi-fauna is relatively much richer than the mammalia, owing to the +large number of aquatic species, most of which are migratory with their +"breeding" or "subsistence-areas" on the pampas. In more senses than one +they constitute a "floating population," and their habits have in no way +been modified by the conditions of the country. The order, including +storks, ibises, herons, spoonbills, and flamingoes, counts about +eighteen species; and the most noteworthy birds in it are two great +ibises nearly as large as turkeys, with mighty resonant voices. The duck +order is very rich, numbering at least twenty species, including two +beautiful upland geese, winter visitors from Magellanic lands, and two +swans, the lovely black-necked, and the pure white with rosy bill. Of +rails, or ralline birds, there are ten or twelve, ranging from a small +spotted creature no bigger than a thrush to some large majestic birds. +One is the courlan, called "crazy widow" from its mourning plumage and +long melancholy screams, which on still evenings may be heard a league +away. Another is the graceful variegated _ypicaha,_ fond of social +gatherings, where the birds perform a dance and make the desolate +marshes resound with their insane humanlike voices. A smaller kind, +Porphyriops melanops, has a night-cry like a burst of shrill hysterical +laughter, which has won for it the name of "witch;" while another, +Rallus rythyrhynchus, is called "little donkey" from its braying cries. +Strange eerie voices have all these birds. Of the remaining aquatic +species, the most important is the spur-winged crested screamer; a noble +bird as large as a swan, yet its favourite pastime is to soar upwards +until it loses itself to sight in the blue ether, whenca it pours forth +its resounding choral notes, which reach the distant earth clarified, +and with a rhythmic swell and fall as of chiming bells. It also sings by +night, "counting the hours," the gauchos say, and where they have +congregated together in tens of thousands the mighty roar of their +combined voices produces an astonishingly grand effect. + +The largest aquatic order is that of the Limicolse--snipes, plover, and +their allies--which has about twenty-five species. The vociferous +spur-winged lapwing; the beautiful black and white stilt; a true snipe, +and a painted snipe, are, strictly speaking, the only residents; and it +is astonishing to find, that, of the five-and-twenty species, at least +thirteen are visitors from North America, several of them having their +breeding-places quite away in the Arctic regions. This is one of those +facts concerning the annual migration of birds which almost stagger +belief; for among them are species with widely different habits, upland, +marsh and sea-shore birds, and in their great biannual journey they pass +through a variety of climates, visiting many countries where the +conditions seem suited to their requirements. Nevertheless, in +September, and even as early as August, they begin to arrive on the +pampas, the golden plover often still wearing his black nuptial dress; +singly and in pairs, in small flocks, and in clouds they come--curlew, +godwit, plover, tatler, tringa--piping the wild notes to which the +Greenlander listened in June, now to the gaucho herdsman on the green +plains of La Plata, then to the wild Indian in his remote village; and +soon, further south, to the houseless huanaco-hunter in the grey +wilderness of Patagonia. + +Here is a puzzle for ornithologists. In summer on the pampas we have a +godwit--Limosa hudsonica; in March it goes north to breed; later in the +season flocks of the same species arrive from the south to winter on the +pampas. And besides this godwit, there are several other North American +species, which have colonies in the southern hemi-spere, with a reversed +migration and breeding season. Why do these southern birds winter so far +south? Do they really breed in Patagonia? If so, their migration is an +extremely limited one compared with that of the northern birds--seven or +eight hundred miles, on the outside, in one case, against almost as many +thousands of miles in the other. Considering that some species which +migrate as far south as Patagonia breed in the Arctic regions as far +north as latitude 82 degrees, and probably higher still, it would be +strange indeed if none of the birds which winter in Patagonia and on the +pampas were summer visitors to that great austral continent, which has +an estimated area twice as large as that of Europe, and a climate milder +than the arctic one. The migrants would have about six hundred miles of +sea to cross from Tierra del Fuego; but we know that the golden plover +and other species, which sometimes touch at the Bermudas when +travelling, fly much further than that without resting. The fact that a +common Argentine titlark, a non-migrant and a weak flyer, has been met +with at the South Shetland Islands, close to the antarctic continent, +shows that the journey may be easily accomplished by birds with strong +flight; and that even the winter climate of that unknown land is not too +severe to allow an accidental colonist, like this small delicate bird, +to survive. The godwit, already mentioned, has been observed in flocks +at the Falkland Islands in May, that is, three months after the same +species had taken its autumal departure from the neighbouring mainland. +Can it be believed that these late visitors to the Falklands were +breeders in Patagonia, and had migrated east to winter in so bleak a +region? It is far more probable that they came from the south. Officers +of sailing ships beating round Cape Horn might be able to settle this +question definitely by looking out, and listening at night, for flights +of birds, travelling north from about the first week in January to the +end of February; and in September and October travelling south. Probably +not fewer than a dozen species of the plover order are breeders on the +great austral continent; also other aquatic birds--ducks and geese; and +many Passerine birds, chiefly of the Tyrant family. + +Should the long projected Australasian expedition to the South Polar +regions ever be carried to a successful issue, there will probably be +important results for ornithology, in spite of the astounding theory +which has found a recent advocate in Canon Tristram, that all life +originated at the North Pole, whence it spread over the globe, but never +succeeded in crossing the deep sea surrounding the antarctic continent, +which has consequently remained till now desolate, "a giant ash (and +ice) of death." Nor is it unlikely that animals of a higher class than +birds exist there; and the discovery of new mammalians, differing in +type from those we know, would certainly be glad tidings to most +students of nature. + +Land birds on the pampas are few in species and in numbers. This may be +accounted for by the absence of trees and other elevations on which +birds prefer to roost and nest; and by the scarcity of food. Insects are +few in dry situations; and the large perennial grasses, which occupy +most of the ground, yield a miserable yearly harvest of a few minute +seeds; so that this district is a poor one both for soft and hard billed +birds. Hawks of several genera, in moderate numbers, are there, but +generally keep to the marshes. Eagles and vultures are somewhat +unworthily represented by carrion-hawks (Polyborinae); the lordly +carancho, almost eagle-like in size, black and crested, with a very +large, pale blue, hooked beak--his battle axe: and his humble follower +and jackal, the brown and harrier-like chimango. These nest on the +ground, are versatile in their habits, carrion-eaters, also killers on +their own account, and, like wild dogs, sometimes hunt in bands, which +gives them an advantage. They are the unfailing attendants of all +flesh-hunters, human or feline; and also furiously pursue and persecute +all eagles and true vultures that venture on that great sea of grass, to +wander thereafter, for ever lost and harried, "the Hagars and Ishmaels +of their kind." + +The owls are few and all of wide-ranging species. The most common is the +burrowing-owl, found in both Americas. Not a retiring owl this, but all +day long, in cold and in heat, it stands exposed at the mouth of its +kennel, or on the vizcacha's mound, staring at the passer-by with an +expression of grave surprise and reprehension in its round yellow eyes; +male and female invariably together, standing stiff and erect, almost +touching--of all birds that pair for life the most Darby and Joan like. + +Of the remaining land birds, numbering about forty species, a few that +are most attractive on account of their beauty, engaging habits, or +large size, may be mentioned here. On the southern portion of the pampas +the military starling (Sturnella) is found, and looks like the European +starling, with the added beauty of a scarlet breast: among resident +pampas birds the only one with a touch of brilliant colouring. It has a +pleasing, careless song, uttered on the wing, and in winter congregates +in great flocks, to travel slowly northwards over the plains. When thus +travelling the birds observe a kind of order, and the flock feeding +along the ground shows a very extended front--a representation in +bird-life of the "thin red line"--and advances by the hindmost birds +constantly flying over the others and alighting in the front ranks. + +Among the tyrant-birds are several species of the beautiful wing-banded +genus, snow-white in colour, with black on the wings and tail: these are +extremely graceful birds, and strong flyers, and in desert places, where +man seldom intrudes, they gather to follow the traveller, calling to +each other with low whistling notes, and in the distance look like white +flowers as they perch on the topmost stems of the tall bending grasses. + +The most characteristic pampean birds are the tinamous--called +partridges in the vernacular--the rufous tinamou, large as a fowl, and +the spotted tinamou, which is about the size of the English partridge. +Their habits are identical: both lay eggs of a beautiful wine-purple +colour, and in both species the young acquire the adult plumage and +power of flight when very small, and fly better than the adults. They +have small heads, slender curved beaks, unfeathered legs and feet, and +are tailless; the plumage is deep yellowish, marked with black and brown +above. They live concealed, skulking like rails through the tall grass, +fly reluctantly, and when driven up, their flight is exceedingly noisy +and violent, the bird soon exhausting itself. They are solitary, but +many live in proximity, frequently calling to each other with soft +plaintive voices. The evening call-notes of the larger bird are +flute-like in character, and singularly sweet and expressive. + +The last figure to be introduced into this sketch--which is not a +catalogue--is that of the Rhea. Glyptodon, Toxodon, Mylodon, +Megatherium, have passed away, leaving no descendants, and only pigmy +representatives if any; but among the feathered inhabitants of the pampa +the grand archaic ostrich of America survives from a time when there +were also giants among the avians. Vain as such efforts usually are, one +cannot help trying to imagine something of the past history of this +majestic bird, before man came to lead the long chase now about to end +so mournfully. Its fleetness, great staying powers, and beautiful +strategy when hunted, make it seem probable that it was not without +pursuers, other than the felines, among its ancient enemies, long-winded +and tenacious of their quarry; and these were perhaps of a type still +represented by the wolf or hound-like aguara and aguara-guazu. It might +be supposed that when almost all the larger forms, both mammal and bird, +were overtaken by destruction, and when the existing rhea was on the +verge of extinction, these long-legged swift canines changed their +habits and lost their bold spirit, degenerating at last into hunters of +small birds and mammals, on which they are said to live. + +The rhea possesses a unique habit, which is a puzzle to us, although it +probably once had some significance--namely, that of running, when +hunted, with one wing raised vertically, like a great sail--a veritable +"ship of the wilderness." In every way it is adapted to the conditions +of the pampas in a far greater degree than other pampean birds, only +excepting the rufous and spotted tinamous. Its commanding stature gives +it a wide horizon; and its dim, pale, bluish-grey colour assimilates to +that of the haze, and renders it invisible at even a moderate distance. +Its large form fades out of sight mysteriously, and the hunter strains +his eyes in vain to distinguish it on the blue expanse. Its figure and +carriage have a quaint majestic grace, somewhat unavian in character, +and peculiar to itself. There are few more strangely fascinating sights +in nature than that of the old black-necked cock bird, standing with +raised agitated wings among the tall plumed grasses, and calling +together his scattered hens with hollow boomings and long mysterious +suspira-tions, as if a wind blowing high up in the void sky had found a +voice. Rhea-hunting with the bolas, on a horse possessing both speed and +endurance, and trained to follow the bird in all his quick doublings, is +unquestionably one of the most fascinating forms of sport ever invented, +by man. The quarry has even more than that fair chance of escape, +without which all sport degenerates into mere butchery, unworthy of +rational beings; moreover, in this unique method of hunting the ostrich +the capture depends on a preparedness for all the shifts .and sudden +changes of course practised by the bird when closely followed, which is +like instinct or intuition; and, finally, in a dexterity in casting the +bolas at the right moment, with a certain aim, which no amount of +practice can give to those who are not to the manner born. + +This 'wild mirth of the desert,' which the gaucho has known for the last +three centuries, is now passing away, for the rhea's fleetness can no +longer avail him. He may scorn the horse and his rider, what time he +lifts himself up, but the cowardly murderous methods of science, and a +systematic war of extermination, have left him no chance. And with the +rhea go the flamingo, antique and splendid; and the swans in their +bridal plumage; and the rufous tinamou--sweet and mournful melodist of +the eventide; and the noble crested screamer, that clarion-voiced +watch-bird of the night in the wilderness. Those, and the other large +avians, together with the finest of the mammalians, will shortly be lost +to the pampas utterly as the great bustard is to England, and as the +wild turkey and bison and many other species will shortly be lost to +North America. What a wail there would be in the world if a sudden +destruction were to fall on the accumulated art-treasures of the +National Gallery, and the marbles in the British Museum, and the +contents of the King's Library--the old prints and' mediaeval +illuminations! And these are only the work of human hands and +brains--impressions of individual genius on perishable material, +immortal only in the sense that the silken cocoon of the dead moth is +so, because they continue to exist and shine when the artist's hands and +brain are dust:--and man has the long day of life before him in which to +do again things like these, and better than these, if there is any truth +in evolution. But the forms of life in the two higher vertebrate classes +are Nature's most perfect work; and the life of even a single species is +of incalculably greater value to mankind, for what it teaches and would +continue to teach, than all the chiselled marbles and painted canvases +the world contains; though doubtless there are many persons who are +devoted to art, but blind to some things greater than art, who will set +me down as a Philistine for saying so. And, above all others, we should +protect and hold sacred those types, Nature's masterpieces, which are +first singled out for destruction on account of their size, or +splendour, or rarity, and that false detestable glory which is accorded +to their most successful slayers. In ancient times the spirit of life +shone brightest in these; and when others that shared the earth with +them were taken by death they were left, being more worthy of +perpetuation. Like immortal flowers they have drifted down to us on the +ocean of time, and their strangeness and beauty bring to our +imaginations a dream and a picture of that unknown world, immeasurably +far removed, where man was not: and when they perish, something of +gladness goes out from nature, and the sunshine loses something of its +brightness. Nor does their loss affect us and our times only. The +species now being exterminated, not only in South America but everywhere +on the globe, are, so far as we know, untouched by decadence. They are +links in a chain, and branches on the tree of life, with their roots in +a past inconceivably remote; and but for our action they would continue +to flourish, reaching outward to an equally distant future, blossoming +into higher and more beautiful forms, and gladdening innumerable +generations of our descendants. But we think nothing of all this: we +must give full scope to our passion for taking life, though by so doing +we "ruin the great work of time;" not in the sense in which the poet +used those words, but in one truer, and wider, and infinitely sadder. +Only when this sporting rage has spent itself, when there are no longer +any animals of the larger kinds remaining, the loss we are now +inflicting on this our heritage, in which we have a life-interest only, +will be rightly appreciated. It is hardly to be supposed or hoped that +posterity will feel satisfied with our monographs of extinct species, +and the few crumbling bones and faded feathers, which may possibly +survive half a dozen centuries in some happily-placed museum. On the +contrary, such dreary mementoes will only serve to remind them of their +loss; and if they remember us at all, it will only be to hate our +memory, and our age--this enlightened, scientific, humanitarian age, +which should have for a motto "Let us slay all noble and beautiful +things, for tomorrow we die." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE PUMA, OB LION OF AMERICA. + + +The Puma has been singularly unfortunate in its biographers. Formerly it +often happened that writers were led away by isolated and highly +exaggerated incidents to attribute very shining qualities to their +favourite animals; the lion of the Old World thus came to be regarded as +brave and I magnanimous above all beasts of the field--the Bayard of the +four-footed kind, a reputation which these prosaic and sceptical times +have not suffered it to keep. Precisely the contrary has happened with +the puma of literature; for, although to those personally acquainted +with the habits of this lesser lion of the New World it is known to +possess a marvellous courage and daring, it is nevertheless +always spoken of in books of natural history as the most pusillanimous +of the larger carnivores. It does not attack man, and Azara is perfectly +correct when he affirms that it never hurts, or threatens to hurt, man +or child, even when it finds them sleeping. This, however, is not a full +statement of the facts; the puma will not even defend itself against +man. How natural, then, to conclude that it is too timid to attack a +human being, or to defend itself, but scarcely philosophical; for even +the most cowardly carnivores we know--dogs and hyaenas, for +instance--will readily attack a disabled or sleeping man when pressed by +hunger; and when driven to desperation no animal is too small or too +feeble to make a show of resistance. In such a case "even the armadillo +defends itself," as the gaucho proverb says. Besides, the conclusion is +in contradiction to many other well-known facts. Putting-aside the +puma's passivity in the presence of man, it is a bold hunter that +invariably prefers large to small game; in desert places killing +peccary, tapir, ostrich, deer, huanaco, &c., all powerful, well-armed, +or swift animals. Huanaco skeletons seen in Patagonia almost invariably +have the neck dislocated, showing that the puma was the executioner. +Those only who have hunted the huanaco on the sterile plains and +mountains it inhabits know how wary, keen-scented, and fleet of foot it +is. I once spent several weeks with a surveying party in a district +where pumas were very abundant, and saw not less than half a dozen deer +every day, freshly killed in most cases, and all with dislocated necks. +Where prey is scarce and difficult to capture, the puma, after +satisfying its hunger, invariably conceals the animal it has killed, +covering it over carefully with grass and brushwood; these deer, +however, had all been left exposed to the caracaras and foxes after a +portion of the breast had been eaten, and in many cases the flesh had +not been touched, the captor having satisfied itself with sucking the +blood. It struck me very forcibly that the puma of the desert pampas is, +among mammals, like the peregrine falcon of the same district among +birds; for there this wide-ranging raptor only attacks comparatively +large birds, and, after fastidiously picking a meal from the flesh of +the head and neck, abandons the untouched body to the polybori and other +hawks of the more ignoble sort. + +In pastoral districts the puma is very destructive to the larger +domestic animals, and has an extraordinary fondness for horseflesh. This +was first noticed by Molina, whose _Natural History of Chili_ was +written a century and a half ago. In Patagonia I heard on all sides that +it was extremely difficult to breed horses, as the colts were mostly +killed by the pumas. A native told me that on one occasion, while +driving his horses home through the thicket, a puma sprang out of the +bushes on to a colt following behind the troop, killing it before his +eyes and not more than six yards from his horse's head. In this +instance, my informant said, the puma alighted directly on the colt's +back, with one fore foot grasping its bosom, while with the other it +seized the head, and, giving it a violent wrench, dislocated the neck. +The colt fell to the earth as if shot, and he affirmed that it was dead +before it touched the ground. + +Naturalists have thought it strange that the horse, once common +throughout America, should have become extinct over a continent +apparently so well suited to it and where it now multiplies so greatly. +As a fact wherever pumas abound the wild horse of the present time, +introduced from Europe, can hardly maintain its existence. Formerly in +many places horses ran wild and multiplied to an amazing extent, but +this happened, I believe, only in districts where the puma was scarce or +had already been driven out by man. My own experience is that on the +desert pampas wild horses are exceedingly scarce, and from all accounts +it is the same throughout Patagonia. + +Next to horseflesh, sheep is preferred, and where the puma can come at a +flock, he will not trouble himself to attack horned cattle. In Patagonia +especially I found this to be the case. I resided for some time at an +estancia close to the town of El Carmen, on the Rio Negro, which during +my stay was infested by a very bold and cunning puma. To protect the +sheep from his attacks an enclosure was made of upright willow-poles +fifteen feet long, while the gate, by which he would have to enter, was +close to the house and nearly six feet high. In spite of the +difficulties thus put in the way, and of the presence of several large +dogs, also of the watch we kept in the hope of shooting him, every +cloudy night he came, and after killing one or more sheep got safely +away. One dark night he killed four sheep; I detected him in the act, +and going up to the gate, was trying to make out his invisible form in +the gloom as he flitted about knocking the sheep over, when suddenly he +leaped clear over my head and made his escape, the bullets I sent after +him in the dark failing to hit him. Yet at this place twelve or fourteen +calves, belonging to the milch cows, were every night shut into a small +brushwood pen, at a distance from the house where the enemy could easily +have destroyed every one of them. When I expressed surprise at this +arrangement, the owner said that the puma was not fond of calves' flesh, +and came only for the sheep. Frequently after his nocturnal visits we +found, by tracing his footprints in the loose sand, that he had actually +used the calves' pen as a place of concealment while waiting to make his +attack on the sheep. + +The puma often kills full-grown cows and horses, but exhibits a still +greater daring when attacking the jaguar, the largest of American +carnivores, although, compared with its swift, agile enemy, as heavy as +a rhinoceros. Azara states that it is generally believed in La Plata and +Paraguay that the puma attacks and conquers the jaguar; but he did not +credit what he heard, which was not strange, since he had already set +the puma down as a cowardly animal, because it does not attempt to harm +man or child. Nevertheless, it is well known that where the two species +inhabit the same district they are at enmity, the puma being the +persistent persecutor of the jaguar, following and harassing it as a +tyrant-bird harasses an eagle or hawk, moving about it with such +rapidity as to confuse it, and, when an opportunity occurs, springing +upon its back and inflicting terrible wounds with teeth and claws. +Jaguars with scarred backs are frequently killed, and others, not long +escaped from their tormentors, have been found so greatly lacerated that +they were easily overcome by the hunters. + +In Kingsley's American _Standard Natural History_, it is stated that the +puma in North California has a feud with the grizzly bear similar to +that of the southern animal with the jaguar. In its encounter with the +grizzly it is said to be always the victor; and this is borne out by the +finding of the bodies of bears, which have evidently perished in the +struggle. + +How strange that this most cunning, bold, and bloodthirsty of the +Felidae, the persecutor of the jaguar and the scourge of the ruminants +in the regions it inhabits, able to kill its prey with the celerity of a +rifle bullet, never attacks a human being! Even the cowardly, +carrion-feeding dog will attack a man when it can do so with impunity; +but in places where the puma is the only large beast of prey, it is +notorious that it is there perfectly safe for even a small child to go +out and sleep on the plain. At the same time it will not fly from man +(though the contrary is always stated in books of Natural History) +except in places where it is continually persecuted. Nor is this all: it +will not, as a rule, even defend itself against man, although in some +rare instances it has been known to do so. + +The mysterious, gentle instinct of this ungentle species, which causes +the gauchos of the pampas to name it man's friend--"amigo del +cristiano"--has been persistently ignored by all travellers and +naturalists who have mentioned the puma. They have thus made it a very +incongruous creature, strong enough to kill a horse, yet so cowardly +withal that it invariably flies from a human being--even from a sleeping +child! Possibly its real reputation was known to some of those who havo +spoken about it; if so, they attributed what they heard to the love of +the marvellous and the romantic, natural to the non-scientific mind; or +else preferred not to import into their writings matter which has so +great a likeness to fable, and might have the effect of imperilling +their reputation for sober-mindedness. + +It is, however, possible that the singular instinct of tho southern +puma, which is unique among animals in a state of nature, is not +possessed by the entire species, ranging as it does over a hundred +degrees of latitude, from British North America to Tierra del Fuego. The +widely different conditions of life in the various regions it inhabits +must necessarily have caused some divergence. Concerning its habits in +the dense forests of the Amazonian region, where it must have developed +special instincts suited to its semi-arboreal life, scarcely anything +has been recorded. Everyone is, however, familiar with the dreaded +cougar, catamount, or panther--sometimes called "painter"--of North +American literature, thrilling descriptions of encounters with this +imaginary man-eating monster being freely scattered through the +backwoods or border romances, many of them written by authors who have +the reputation of being true to nature. It may be true that this cougar +of a cold climate did occasionally attack man, or, as it is often +stated, follow him in the forest with the intention of springing on him +unawares; but on this point nothing definite will ever be known, as the +pioneers hunters of the past were only anxious to shoot cougar and not +to study its instinct and disposition. It is now many years since +Audubon and Bachman wrote, "This animal, which has excited so much +terror in the minds of the ignorant and timid, has been nearly +exterminated in all the Atlantic States, and we do not recollect a +single well-authenticated instance where any hunter's life fell a +sacrifice in a cougar hunt." It might be added, I believe, that no +authentic instance has been recorded of the puma making an unprovoked +attack on any human being. In South America also the traveller in the +wilderness is sometimes followed by a puma; but he would certainly be +very much surprised if told that it follows with the intention of +springing on him unawares and devouring his flesh, + +I have spoken of the comparative ease with which the puma overcomes even +large animals, comparing it in this respect with the peregrine falcon; +but all predacious species are liable to frequent failures, sometimes to +fatal mishaps, and even the cunning, swift-killing puma is no exception. +Its attacks are successfully resisted by the ass, which does not, like +the horse, lose his presence of mind, but when assaulted thrusts his +head well down between its fore-legs and kicks violently until the enemy +is thrown or driven off. Pigs, when in large herds, also safely defy the +puma, massing themselves together for defence in their well-known +manner, and presenting a serried line of tusks to the aggressor. During +my stay in Patagonia a puma met its fate in a manner so singular that +the incident caused considerable sensation among the settlers on the Rio +Negro at the time. A man named Linares, the chief of the tame Indians +settled in the neighbourhood of El Carmen, while riding near the river +had his curiosity aroused by the appearance and behaviour of a young cow +standing alone in the grass, her head, armed with long and exceedingly +sharp horns, much raised, and watching his approach in a manner which +betokened a state of dangerous excitement. She had recently dropped her +calf, and he at once conjectured that it had been attacked, and perhaps +killed, by some animal of prey. To satisfy himself on this point he +began to search for it, and while thus engaged the cow repeatedly +charged him with the greatest fury. Presently he discovered the calf +lying dead among the long grass; and by its side lay a full-grown puma, +also dead, and with a large wound in its side, just behind the shoulder. +The calf had been killed by the puma, for its throat showed the wounds +of large teeth, and the puma had been killed by the cow. When he saw it +he could, he affirmed, scarcely believe the evidence of his own senses, +for was an unheard-of thing that a puma should be injured by any other +animal. His opinion was that it had come down from the hills in a +starving condition, and having sprung upon the calf, the taste of blood +had made it for a moment careless of its own safety, and during that +moment the infuriated cow had charged, and driving one of her long sharp +horns into some vital part, killed it instantly. + +The puma is, with the exception of some monkeys, the most playful animal +in existence. The young of all the Felidae spend a large portion of +their time in characteristic gambols; the adults, however, acquire a +grave and dignified demeanour, only the female playing on occasions with +her offspring; but this she always does with a certain formality of +manner, as if the relaxation were indulged in not spontaneously, but for +the sake of the young and as being a necessary part of their education. +Some writer has described the lion's assumption of gaiety as more grim +than its most serious moods. The puma at heart is always a kitten, +taking unmeasured delight in its frolics, and when, as often happens, +one lives alone in the desert, it will amuse itself by the hour fighting +mock battles or playing at hide-and-seek with imaginary companions, and +lying in wait and putting all its wonderful strategy in practice to +capture a passing butterfly. Azara kept a young male for four months, +which spent its whole time playing with the slaves. This animal, he +says, would not refuse any food offered to it; but when not hungry it +would bury the meat in the sand, and when inclined to eat dig it up, +and, taking it to the water-trough, wash it clean. I have only known one +puma kept as a pet, and this animal, in seven or eight years had never +shown a trace of ill-temper. When approached, he would lie down, purring +loudly, and twist himself about a person's legs, begging to be caressed. +A string or handkerchief drawn about was sufficient to keep him in a +happy state of excitement for an hour; and when one person was tired of +playing with him he was ready for a game with the next comer. + +I was told by a person who had spent most of his life on the pampas that +on one occasion, when travelling in the neighbourhood of Cape +Corrientes, his horse died under him, and he was compelled to continue +his journey on foot, burdened with his heavy native horse-gear. At night +he made his bed under the shelter of a rock, on the slope of a stony +sierra; a bright moon was shining, and about nine o'clock in the evening +four pumas appeared, two adults with their two half-grown young. Not +feeling the least alarm at their presence, he did not stir; and after a +while they began to gambol together close to him, concealing themselves +from each other among the rocks, just as kittens do, and frequently +while pursuing one another leaping over him. He continued watching them +until past midnight, then fell asleep, and did not wake until morning, +when they had left him. + +This man was an Englishman by birth, but having gone very young to South +America he had taken kindly to the semi-barbarous life of the gauchos, +and had imbibed all their peculiar notions, one of which is that human +life is not worth very much. "What does it matter?" they often say, and +shrug their shoulders, when told of a comrade's death; "so many +beautiful horses die!" I asked him if he had ever killed a puma, and he +replied that he had killed only one and had sworn never to kill another. +He said that while out one day with another gaucho looking for cattle a +puma was found. It sat up with its back against a stone, and did not +move even when his companion threw the noose of his lasso over its neck. +My informant then dismounted, and, drawing his knife, advanced to kill +it: still the puma made no attempt to free itself from the lasso, but it +seemed to know, he said, what was coming, for it began to tremble, the +tears ran from its eyes, and it whined in the most pitiful manner. He +killed it as it sat there unresisting before him, but after +accomplishing the deed felt that he had committed a murder. It was the +only thing ho had ever done in his life, he added, which filled him with +remorse when he remembered it. This I thought a rather startling +declaration, as I knew that he had killed several individuals of his own +species in duels, fought with knives, in the fashion of the gauchos. + +All who have killed or witnessed the killing of the puma--and I have +questioned scores of hunters on this point--agree that it resigns itself +in this unresisting, pathetic manner to death at the hands of man. +Claudio Gay, in his _Natural History of Chili,_ says, "When attacked by +man its energy and daring at once forsake it, and it becomes a weak, +inoffensive animal, and trembling, and uttering piteous moans, and +shedding abundant tears, it seems to implore compassion from a generous +enemy." The enemy is not often generous; but many gauchos have assured +me, when speaking on this subject, that although they kill the puma +readily to protect their domestic animals, they consider it an evil +thing to take its life in desert places, where it is man's only friend +among the wild animals. + +When the hunter is accompanied by dogs, then the puma, instead of +drooping and shedding tears, is roused to a sublime rage: its hair +stands erect; its eyes shine like balls of green flame; it spits and +snarls like a furious torn cat. The hunter's presence seems at such +times to be ignored altogether, its whole attention being given to the +dogs and its rage directed against them. In Patagonia a sheep-farming +Scotchman, with whom I spent some days, showed me the skulls of five +pumas which he had shot in the vicinity of his ranche. One was of an +exceptionally large individual, and I here relate what he told me of his +encounter with this animal, as it shows just how the puma almost +invariably behaves when attacked by man and dogs. He was out on foot +with his flock, when the dogs discovered the animal concealed among the +bushes. He had left his gun at home, and having no weapon, and finding +that the dogs dared not attack it where it sat in a defiant attitude +with its back against a thorny bush, he looked about and found a large +dry stick, and going boldly up to it tried to stun it with a violent +blow on the head. But though it never looked at him, its fiery eyes +gazing steadily at the dogs all the time, he could not hit it, for with +a quick side movement it avoided every blow. The small heed the puma +paid him, and the apparent ease with which it avoided his best-aimed +blows, only served to rouse his spirit, and at length striking with +increased force his stick came to the ground and was broken to pieces. +For some moments he now stood within two yards of the animal perfectly +defenceless and not knowing what to do. Suddenly it sprang past him, +actually brushing against his arm with its side, and began pursuing the +dogs round and round among the bushes. In the end my informant's partner +appeared on the scene with his rifle, and the puma was shot. + +In encounters of this kind the most curious thing is that the puma +steadfastly refuses to recognize an enemy in man, although it finds him +acting in concert with its hated canine foe, about whose hostile +intentions it has no such delusion. + +Several years ago a paragraph, which reached me in South America, +appeared in the English papers relating an incident characteristic of +the puma in a wild beast show in this country. The animal was taken out +of its cage and led about the grounds by its keeper, followed by a large +number of spectators. Suddenly it was struck motionless by some object +in the crowd, at which it gazed steadily with a look of intense +excitement; then springing violently away it dragged the chain from the +keeper's hand and dashed in among the people, who immediately fled +screaming in all directions. Their fears were, however, idle, the object +of the puma's rage being a dog which it had spied among the crowd. + +It is said that when taken adult pumas invariably pine away and die; +when brought up in captivity they invariably make playful, affectionate +pets, and are gentle towards all human beings, but very seldom overcome +their instinctive animosity towards the dog. + +One of the very few authentic instances I have met with of this animal +defending itself against a human being was related to me at a place on +the pampas called Saladillo. At the time of my visit there jaguars and +pumas were very abundant and extremely destructive to the cattle and +horses. Sheep it had not yet been considered worth while to introduce, +but immense herds of pigs were kept at every estancia, these animals +being able to protect themselves. One gaucho had so repeatedly +distinguished himself by his boldness and dexterity in killing jaguars +that he was by general consent made the leader of every tiger-hunt. One +day the comandante of the district got twelve or fourteen men together, +the tiger-slayer among them, and started in search of a jaguar which had +been seen that morning in the neighbourhood of his estancia. The animal +was eventually found and surrounded, and as it was crouching among some +clumps of tall pampas grass, where throwing a lasso over its neck would +be a somewhat difficult and dangerous operation, all gave way to the +famous hunter, who at once uncoiled his lasso and proceeded in a +leisurely manner to form the loop. While thus engaged he made the +mistake of allowing his horse, which had grown restive, to turn aside +from the hunted animal. The jaguar, instantly taking advantage of the +oversight, burst from its cover and sprang first on to the haunches of +the horse, then seizing the hunter by his poncho dragged him to the +earth, and would no doubt have quickly despatched him if a lasso, thrown +by one of the other men, had not closed round its neck at this critical +moment. It was quickly dragged off, and eventually killed. But the +discomfited hunter did not stay to assist at the finish. He arose from +the ground unharmed, but in a violent passion and blaspheming horribly, +for he knew that his reputation, which he priced above everything, had +suffered a great blow, and that he would be mercilessly ridiculed by his +associates. Getting on his horse he rode away by himself from the scene +of his misadventure. Of what happened to him on his homeward ride there +were no witnesses; but his own account was as follows, and inasmuch as +it told against his own prowess it was readily believed: Before riding a +league, and while his bosom was still burning with rage, a puma started +up from the long grass in his path, but made no attempt to run away; it +merely sat up, he said, and looked at him in a provokingly fearless +manner. To slay this animal with his knife, and so revenge himself on it +for the defeat he had just suffered, was his first thought. He alighted +and secured his horse by tying its fore feet together, then, drawing his +long, heavy knife, rushed at the puma. Still it did not stir. Raising +his weapon he struck with a force which would have split the animal's +skull open if the blow had fallen where it was intended to fall, but +with a quick movement the puma avoided it, and at the same time lifted a +foot and with lightning rapidity dealt the aggressor a blow on the face, +its unsheathed claws literally dragging down the flesh from his cheek, +laying the bone bare. After inflicting this terrible punishment and +eyeing its fallen foe for a few seconds it trotted quietly away. The +wounded man succeeded in getting on to his horse and reaching his home. +The hanging flesh was restored to its place and the ghastly rents sewn +up, and in the end he recovered: but he was disfigured for life; his +temper also completely changed; he became morose and morbidly sensitive +to the ridicule of his neighbours, and he never again ventured to join +them in their hunting expeditions. I inquired of the comandante, and of +others, whether any case had come to their knowledge in that district in +which the puma had shown anything beyond a mere passive friendliness +towards man; in reply they related the following incident, which had +occurred at the Saladillo a few years before my visit: The men all went +out one day beyond the frontier to form a _cerco,_ as it is called, to +hunt ostriches and other game. The hunters, numbering about thirty, +spread themselves round in a vast ring and, advancing towards the +centre, drove the animals before them. During the excitement of the +chase which followed, while they were all engaged in preventing the +ostriches, deer, &c., from doubling back and escaping, it was not +noticed that one of the hunters had disappeared; his horse, however, +returned to its home during the evening, and on the next morning a fresh +hunt for the lost man was organized. He was eventually found lying on +the ground with a broken leg, where he had been thrown at the beginning +of the hunt. He related that about an hour after it had become dark a +puma appeared and sat near him, but did not seem to notice him. After a +while it became restless, frequently going away and returning, and +finally it kept away so long, that he thought it had left him for good. +About midnight he heard the deep roar of a jaguar, and gave himself up +for lost. By raising himself on his elbow he was able to see the outline +of the beast crouching near him, but its face was turned from him, and +it appeared to be intently watching some object on which it was about to +spring. Presently it crept out of sight, then he heard snarlings and +growlings and the sharp yell of a puma, and he knew that the two beasts +were fighting. Before morning he saw the jaguar several times, but the +puma renewed the contest with it again and again until morning appeared, +after which he saw and heard no more of them. + +Extraordinary as this story sounds, it did not seem so to me when I +heard it, for I had already met with many anecdotes of a similar nature +in various parts of the country, some of them vastly more interesting +than the one I have just narrated; only I did not get them at first +hand, and am consequently not able to vouch for their accuracy; but in +this case it seemed to me that there was really no room for doubt. All +that I had previously heard had compelled me to believe that the puma +really does possess a unique instinct of friendliness for man, the +origin of which, like that of many other well-known instincts of +animals, must remain a mystery. The fact that the puma never makes an +unprovoked attack on a human being, or eats human flesh, and that it +refuses, except in some very rare cases, even to defend itself, does not +seem really less wonderful in an animal of its bold and sanguinary +temper thau that it should follow the traveller in the wilderness, or +come near him when he lies sleeping or disabled, and even occasionally +defend him from its enemy the jaguar. We know that certain sounds, +colours, or smells, which are not particularly noticed by most animals, +produce an extraordinary effect on some species; and it is possible to +believe, I think, that the human form or countenance, or the odour of +the human body, may also have the effect on the puma of suspending its +predatory instincts and inspiring it with a gentleness towards man, +which we are only accustomed to see in our domesticated carnivores or in +feral animals towards those of their own species. Wolves, when pressed +with hunger, will sometimes devour a fellow wolf; as a rule, however, +rapacious animals will starve to death rather than prey on one of their +own kind, nor is it a common thing for them to attack other species +possessing instincts similar to their own. The puma, we have seen, +violently attacks other large carnivores, not to feed on them, but +merely to satisfy its animosity; and, while respecting man, it is, +within the tropics, a great hunter and eater of monkeys, which of all +animals most resemble men. We can only conclude with Humboldt that there +is something mysterious in the hatreds and affections of animals. + +The view here taken of the puma's character imparts, I think, a fresh +interest to some things concerning the species, which have appeared in +historical and other works, and which I propose to discuss briefly in +this place. + +There is a remarkable passage in Byron's _Narrative of the loss of the +Wager,_ which was quoted by Admiral Fitzroy in his _Voyage of the +Beagle,_ to prove that tho puma inhabits Tierra del Fuego and the +adjacent islands; no other large beast of prey being known in that part +of America. "I heard," he says, "a growling close by me, which made me +think it advisable to retire as soon as possible: the woods were, so +gloomy I could see nothing; but, as I retired, this noise followed me +close till I got out of them. Some of our men did assure me that they +had seen a very large beast in the woods. . . I proposed to four of the +people to go to the end of the bay, about two miles distant from the +bell tent, to occupy the skeleton of an old Indian wigwam, which I had +discovered in a walk that way on our first landing. This we covered to +windward with seaweed; and, lighting a fire, laid ourselves down in +hopes of finding a remedy for our hunger in sleep; but we had not long +composed ourselves before one of our company was disturbed by the +blowing of some animal at his face; and, upon opening his eyes, was not +a little astonished to see by the glimmering of the fire, a large beast +standing over him. He had presence of mind enough to snatch a brand from +the fire, which was now very low, and thrust it at the nose of tho +animal, which thereupon made off. . . . In the morning we were not a +little anxious to know how our companions had fared; and this anxiety +was increased upon our tracing the footsteps of the beast in the sand, +in a direction towards the bell tent. The impression was deep and plain, +of a large round foot well furnished with claws. Upon acquainting the +people in the tent with the circumstances of our story, we found that +they had been visited by the same unwelcome guest." + +Mr. Andrew Murray, in his work on the Geographical Distribution of +Mammals, gives the Straits of Magellan as the extreme southern limit of +the puma's range, and in discussing the above passage from Byron he +writes: "This reference, however, gives no support to the notion of the +animal alluded to having been a puma. . . . The description of the +footprints clearly shows that the animal could not have been a puma. +None of the cat tribe leave any trace of a claw in their footprints. . . +The dogs, on the other hand, leave a very well-defined claw-mark. . . . +Commodore Byron and his party had therefore suffered a false alarm. The +creature which had disturbed them was, doubtless, one of the harmless +domestic dogs of the natives." + +The assurance that the bold hardy adventurer and his men suffered a +false alarm, and were thrown into a great state of excitement at the +appearance of one of the wretched domestic dogs of the Fuegians, with +which they were familiar, comes charmingly, it must be said, from a +closet naturalist, who surveys the world of savage beasts from his +London study. He apparently forgets that Commodore Byron lived in a time +when the painful accuracy and excessive minuteness we are accustomed to +was not expected from a writer, whenever he happened to touch on any +matters connected with zoology. + +This kind of criticism, which seizes on a slight inaccuracy in one +passage, and totally ignores an important statement in another--as, for +instance, that of the "great beast" seen in the woods--might be extended +to other portions of the book, and Byron's entire narrative made to +appear as purely a work of the imagination as Peter Wilkin's adventures +in those same antarctic seas. + +Mr. J. W. Boddam Whetham, in his work _Across Central America_ (1877), +gives an anecdote of the puma, which he heard at Sacluk, in Guatemala, +and which strangely resembles some of the stories I have heard on the +pampas. He writes: "The following event, most extraordinary if true, is +said to have occurred in this forest to a mahogany-cutter, who had been +out marking trees. As he was returning to his hut, he suddenly felt a +soft body pressing against him, and on looking down saw a cougar, which, +with tail erect, and purring like a cat, twisted itself in and out of +his legs, and glided round him, turning up its fierce eyes as if with +laughter. Horror-stricken and with faltering steps he kept on, and the +terrible animal still circled about, now rolling over, and now touching +him with a paw like a cat playing with a mouse. At last the suspense +became too great, and with a loud shout he struck desperately at the +creature with his axe. It bounded on one side and crouched snarling and +showing its teeth. Just as it was about to spring, the man's companion, +who had heard his call, appeared in the distance, and with a growl the +beast vanished into the thick bushes." + +Now, after allowing for exaggeration, if there is no foundation for +stories of this character, it is really a very wonderful coincidence +that they should be met with in countries so widely separated as +Patagonia and Central America. Pumas, doubtless, are scarce in +Guatemala; and, as in other places where they have met with nothing but +persecution from man, they are shy of him; but had this adventure +occurred on the pampas, where they are better known, the person +concerned in it would not have said that the puma played with him as a +cat with a mouse, but rather as a tame cat plays with a child; nor, +probably, would he have been terrified into imagining that the animal, +even after its caresses had met with so rough a return, was about to +spring on him. + +In Clavigero's _History of Lower California,_ it is related that a very +extraordinary state of things was discovered to exist in that country by +the first missionaries who settled there at the end of the seventeenth +century, and which was actually owing to the pumas. The author says that +there were no bears or tigers (jaguars); these had most probably been +driven out by their old enemies; but the pumas had increased to a +prodigious extent, so that the whole peninsula was overrun by them; and +this was owing to the superstitious regard in which they were held by +the natives, who not only did not kill them, but never ventured to +disturb them in any way. The Indians were actually to some extent +dependent on the puma's success in hunting for their subsistence; they +watched the movements of the vultures in order to discover the spot in +which the remains of any animal it had captured had been left by the +puma, and whenever the birds were seen circling about persistently over +one place, they hastened to take possession of the carcass, discovered +in this way. The domestic animals, imported by the missionaries, were +quickly destroyed by the virtual masters of the country, and against +these enemies the Jesuits preached a crusade in vain: for although the +Indians readily embraced Christianity and were baptized, they were not +to be shaken in their notions concerning the sacred _Chimbica,_ as the +puma was called. The missions languished in consequence; the priests +existed in a state of semi-starvation, depending on provisions sent to +them at long intervals from the distant Mexican settlements; and for +many years all their efforts to raise the savages from their miserable +condition were thrown away. At length, in 1701, the mission of Loreto +was taken charge of by one Padre Ugarte, described by Clavigero as a +person of indomitable energy, and great physical strength and courage, a +true muscular Christian, who occasionally varied his method of +instruction by administering corporal chastisements to his hearers when +they laughed at his doctrines, or at the mistakes he made in their +language, while preaching to them. Ugarte, like his predecessors, could +not move the Indians to hunt the puma, but he was a man of action, with +a wholesome belief in the efficacy of example, and his opportunity came +at last. + +One day, while riding in the wood, he saw at a distance a puma walking +deliberately towards him. Alighting from his mule, he took up a large +stone and advanced to meet the animal, and when sufficiently near hurled +the missile with such precision and force that he knocked ifc down +senseless. After killing it, he found that the heaviest part of his task +remained, as it was necessary for the success of his project to carry +the beast, still warm and bleeding, to the Indian village; but mow his +mule steadfastly refused to approach it. Father Ugarte was not, +however, to be defeated, and partly by stratagem, partly by force, he +finally succeeded in getting the puma on to the mule's back, after which +he rode in triumph to the settlement. The Indians at first thought it +all a trick of their priest, who was so anxious to involve them in a +conflict with the pumas, and standing at a distance they began jeering +at him, and exclaiming that he had found the animal dead! But when they +were induced to approach, and saw that it was still warm and bleeding, +they were astonished beyond measure, and began to watch the priest +narrowly, thinking that he would presently drop down and die in sight of +them all. It was their belief that death would quickly overtake the +slayer of a puma. As this did not happen, the priest gained a great +influence over them, and in the end they were persuaded to turn their +weapons against the Chimbica. + +Clavigero has nothing to say concerning the origin of this Californian +superstition; but with some knowledge of the puma's character, it is not +difficult to imagine what it may have been. No doubt these savages had +been very well acquainted from ancient times with the animal's instinct +of friendliness toward man, and its extreme hatred of other carnivores, +which prey on the human species; and finding it ranged on their side, as +it were, in the hard struggle of life in the desert, they were induced +to spare it, and even to regard it as a friend; and such a feeling, +among primitive men, might in the course of time degenerate into such a +superstition as that of the Californians. + +I shall, in conclusion, relate here the story of Maldonada, which is not +generally known, although familiar to Buenos Ayreans as the story of +Lady Godiva's ride through Coventry is to the people of that town. The +case of Maldonada is circumstantially narrated by Rui Diaz de Guzman, in +his history of the colonization of the Plata: he was a person high in +authority in the young colonies, and is regarded by students of South +American history as an accurate and sober-minded chronicler of the +events of his own times. He relates that in the year 1536 the settlers +at Buenos Ayres, having exhausted their provisions, and being compelled +by hostile Indians to keep within their pallisades, were reduced to the +verge of starvation. The Governor Mendoza went off to seek help from the +other colonies up the river, deputing his authority to one Captain Ruiz, +who, according to all accounts, displayed an excessively tyrannous and +truculent disposition while in power. The people were finally reduced to +a ration of sis ounces of flour per day for each person; but as the +flour was putrid and only made them ill, they were forced to live on any +small animals they could capture, including snakes, frogs and toads. +Some horrible details are given by Rui Diaz, and other writers; one, Del +Barco Centenera, affirms that of two thousand persons in the town +eighteen hundred perished of hunger. During this unhappy time, beasts of +prey in large numbers were attracted to the settlement by the effluvium +of the corpses, buried just outside the pallisades; and this made the +condition of the survivors more miserable still, since they could +venture into the neighbouring woods only at the risk of a violent death. +Nevertheless, many did so venture, and among these was the young woman +Maldonada, who, losing herself in the forest, strayed to a distance, and +was eventually found by a party of Indians, and carried by them to their +village. + +Some months later, Captain Ruiz discovered her whereabouts, and +persuaded the savages to bring her to the settlement; then, accusing her +of having gone to the Indian village in order to betray the colony, he +condemned her to be devoured by wild beasts. She was taken to a wood at +a distance of a league from the town, and left there, tied to a tree, +for the space of two nights and a day. A party of soldiers then went to +the spot, expecting to find her bones picked clean by the beasts, but +were greatly astonished to find Maldonada still alive, without hurt or +scratch. She told them that a puma had come to her aid, and had kept at +her side, defending her life against all the other beasts that +approached her. She was instantly released, and taken back to the town, +her deliverance through the action of the puma probably being looked on +as direct interposition of Providence to save her. + +Rui Diaz concludes with the following paragraph, in which he affirms +that he knew the woman Maldonada, which may be taken as proof that she +was among the few that survived the first disastrous settlement and +lived on to more fortunate times: his pious pun on her name would be +lost in a translation:--"De esta manera quedo libre la que ofrecieron a +las fieras: la cual mujer yo la conoci, y la llamaban la Maldonada, que +mas bien se le podia llamar la BIENDONADA; pues por este suceso se ha de +ver no haber merecido el castigo a que la ofrecieron." + +If such a thing were to happen now, in any portion of southern South +America, where the puma's disposition is best known, it would not be +looked on as a miracle, as it was, and that unavoidably, in the case of +Maldonada. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A WAVE OF LIFE, + + +For many years, while living in my own home on the pampas, I kept a +journal, in which all my daily observations on the habits of animals and +kindred matters were carefully noted. Turning back to 1872-3, I find my +jottings for that season contain a history of one of those waves of +life--for I can think of no better name for the phenomenon in +question--that are of such frequent occurrence in thinly-settled +regions, though in countries like England, seen very rarely, and on a +very limited scale. An exceptionally bounteous season, the accidental +mitigation of a check, or other favourable circumstance, often causes an +increase so sudden and inordinate of small prolific species, that when +we actually witness it we are no longer surprised at the notion +prevalent amongst the common people that mice, frogs, crickets, &c., are +occasionally rained down from the clouds. + +In the summer of 1872-3 we had plenty of sunshine, with frequent +showers; so that the hot months brought no dearth of wild flowers, as in +most years. The abundance of flowers resulted in a wonderful increase of +humble bees. I have never known them so plentiful before; in and about +the plantation adjoining my house I found, during the season, no fewer +than seventeen nests. + +The season was also favourable for mice; that is, of course, favourable +for the time being, unfavourable in the long run, since the short-lived, +undue preponderance of a species is invariably followed by a long period +of undue depression. These prolific little creatures were soon so +abundant that the dogs subsisted almost exclusively on them; the fowls +also, from incessantly pursuing and killing them, became quite rapacious +in their manner; whilst the sulphur tyrant-birds (Pitangus) and the +Guira cuckoos preyed on nothing but mice. + +The domestic cats, as they invariably do in such plentiful seasons, +absented themselves from the house, assuming all the habits of their +wild congeners, and slinking from the sight of man--even of a former +fireside companion--with a shy secrecy in their motions, an apparent +affectation of fear, almost ludicrous to see. Foxes, weasels, and +opossums fared sumptuously. Even for the common armadillo (Dasypus +villosus) it was a season of affluence, for this creature is very adroit +in capturing mice. This fact might seem surprising to anyone who marks +the uncouth figure, toothless gums, and the motions--anything but light +and graceful--of the armadillo and perhaps fancying that, to be a +dexterous mouser, an animal should bear some resemblance in habits and +structure to the felidas. But animals, like men, are compelled to adapt +themselves to their surroundings; new habits are acquired, and the exact +co-relation between habit and structure is seldom maintained. + +I kept an armadillo at this time, and good cheer and the sedentary life +he led in captivity made him excessively fat; but the mousing exploits +of even this individual were most interesting. Occasionally I took him +into the fields to give him a taste of liberty, though at such times I +always took the precaution to keep hold of a cord fastened to one of his +hind legs; for as often as he came to a kennel of one of his wild +fellows, he would attempt to escape into it. He invariably travelled +with an ungainly trotting gait, carrying his nose, beagle-like, close to +the ground. His sense of smell was exceedingly acute, and when near his +prey he became agitated, and quickened his motions, pausing frequently +to sniff the earth, till, discovering the exact spot where the mouse +lurked, he would stop and creep cautiously to it; then, after slowly +raising himself to a sitting posture, spring suddenly forwards, throwing +his body like a trap over the mouse, or nest of mice, concealed beneath +the grass. + +A curious instance of intelligence in a cat was brought to my notice at +this time by one of my neighbours, a native. His children had made the +discovery that some excitement and fun was to be had by placing a long +hollow stalk of the giant thistle with a mouse in it--and every hollow +stalk at this time had one for a tenant--before a cat, and then watching +her movements. Smelling her prey, she would spring at one end of the +stalk--the end towards which the mouse would be moving at the same time, +but would catch nothing, for the mouse, instead of running out, would +turn back to run to the other end; whereupon the cat, all excitement, +would jump there to seize it; and so the contest would continue for a +long time, an exhibition of the cleverness and the stupidity of +instinct, both of the pursuer and the pursued. There were several cats +at the house, and all acted in the same way except one. When a stalk was +placed before this cat, instead of becoming excited like the others, it +went quickly to one end and smelt' at the opening, then, satisfied that +its prey was inside, it deliberately bit a long piece out of the stalk +with its teeth, then another strip, and so on progressively, until the +entire stick had been opened up to within six or eight inches of the +further end, when the mouse came out and was caught. Every stalk placed +before this cat was demolished in the same businesslike way; but the +other cats, though they were made to look on while the stick was being +broken up by their fellow, could never learn the trick. + +In the autumn of the .year countless numbers of storks (Ciconia maguari) +and of short-eared owls (Otus brachyotus) made their appearance. They +had also come to assist at the general feast. + +Remembering the opinion of Mr. E. Newman, quoted by Darwin, that +two-thirds of the humble bees in England are annually destroyed by mice, +I determined to continue observing these insects, in order to ascertain +whether the same thing occurred on the pampas. I carefully revisited all +the nests I had found, and was amazed at the rapid disappearance of all +the bees. I was quite convinced that the mice had devoured or driven +them out, for the weather was still warm, and flowers and fruit on which +humble bees feed were very abundant. + +After cold weather set in the storks went away, probably on account of +the scarcity of water, for the owls remained. So numerous were they +during the winter, that any evening after sunset I could count forty or +fifty individuals hovering over the trees about my house. Unfortunately +they did not confine their attentions to the mice, but became +destructive to the birds as well. I frequently watched them at dusk, +beating about the trees and bushes in a systematic manner, often a dozen +or more of them wheeling together about one tree, like so many moths +about a candle, and one occasionally dashing through the branches until +a pigeon--usually the Zenaida maculata--or other bird was scared from +its perch. The instant the bird left the tree they would all give chase, +disappearing in the darkness. I could not endure to see the havoc they +were making amongst the ovenbirds (Furnarius rufus--a species for which +I have a regard and affection almost superstitious), so I began to shoot +the marauders. Very soon, however, I found it was impossible to protect +my little favourites. Night after night the owls mustered in their usual +numbers, so rapidly were the gaps I made in their ranks refilled. I grew +sick of the cruel war in which I had so hopelessly joined, and resolved, +not without pain, to let things take their course. A singular +circumstance was that the owls began to breed in the middle of winter. +The field-labourers and boys found many nests with eggs and young birds +in the neighbourhood. I saw one nest in July, our coldest month, with +three half-grown young birds in it. They were excessively fat, and, +though it was noon-day, had their crops full. There were three mice and +two young cavies (Cavia australis) lying untouched in the nest. + +The short-eared owl is of a wandering disposition, ard performs long +journeys at all seasons of the year in search of districts where food is +abundant; and perhaps these winter-breeders came from a region where +scarcity of prey, or some such cause, had prevented them from nesting at +their usual time in summer. + +The gradual increase or decrease continually going on in many species +about us is little remarked; but the sudden infrequent appearance in +vast numbers of large and comparatively rare species is regarded by most +people as a very wonderful phenomenon, not easily explained. On the +pampas, whenever grasshoppers, mice, frogs or crickets become +excessively abundant we confidently look for the appearance of +multitudes of the birds that prey on them. However obvious may be the +cause of the first phenomenon--the sudden inordinate increase during a +favourable year of a species always prolific--the attendant one always +creates astonishment: For how, it is asked, do these largo birds, seldom +seen at other times, receive information in the distant regions they +inhabit of an abundance of food in any particular locality? Years have +perhaps passed during which, scarcely an individual of these kinds has +been seen: all at once armies of the majestic white storks are seen +conspicuously marching about the plain in all directions; while the +night air resounds with the solemn hootings of innumerable owls. It is +plain that these birds have been drawn from over an immense area to one +spot; and the question is how have they been drawn? + +Many large birds possessing great powers of flight are, when not +occupied with the business of propagation, incessantly wandering from +place to place in search of food. They are not, as a rule, regular +migrants, for their wanderings begin and end irrespective of seasons, +and where they find abundance they remain the whole year. They fly at a +very great height, and traverse immense distances. When the favourite +food of any one of these species is plentiful in any particular region +all the individuals that discover it remain, and attract to them all of +their kind passing overhead. This happens on the pampas with the stork, +the short-eared owl, the hooded gull and the dominican or black-backed +gull--the leading species among the feathered nomads: a few first appear +like harbingers; these are presently joined by new comers in +considerable numbers, and before long they are in myriads. Inconceivable +numbers of birds are, doubtless, in these regions, continually passing +over us unseen. It was once a subject of very great wonder to me that +flocks of black-necked swans should almost always appear flying by +immediately after a shower of rain, even when none had been visible for +a long time before, and when they must have come from a very great +distance. When the reason at length occurred to me, I felt very much +disgusted with myself for being puzzled over so very simple a matter. +After rain a flying swan may be visible to the eye at a vastly greater +distance than during fair weather; the sun shining on its intense white +plumage against the dark background of a rain-cloud making it +exceedingly conspicuous. The fact that swans are almost always seen +after rain shows only that they are almost always passing. + +Whenever we are visited by a dust-storm on the pampas myriads of hooded +gulls--Larus macnlipen-nis--appear flying before the dark dust-cloud, +even when not a gull has been seen for months. Dust-storms are of rare +occurrence, and come only after a long drought, and, the water-courses +being all dry, the gulls cannot have been living in the region over +which the storm passes. Yet in seasons of drought gulls must be +continually passing by at a great height, seeing but not seen, except +when driven together and forced towards the earth by the fury of the +storm. + +By August (1873) the owls had vanished, and they had, indeed, good cause +for leaving. The winter had been one of continued drought; the dry grass +and herbage of the preceding year had been consumed by the cattle and +wild animals, or had turned to dust, and with the disappearance of their +food and cover the mice had ceased to be. The famine-stricken cats +sneaked back to the house. It was pitiful to see the little burrowing +owls; for these birds, not having the powerful wings and prescient +instincts of the vagrant Otus brachyotus, are compelled to face the +poverty from which the others escape. Just as abundance had before made +the domestic cats wild, scarcity now made the burrowing owls tame and +fearless of man. They were so reduced as scarcely to be able to fly, and +hung about the houses all day long on the look-out for some stray morsel +of food. I have frequently seen one alight and advance within two or +three yards of the door-step, probably attracted by the smell of roasted +meat. The weather continued dry until late in spring, so reducing the +sheep and cattle that incredible numbers perished during a month of cold +and rainy weather that followed the drought. + +How clearly we can see in all this that the tendency to multiply +rapidly, so advantageous in normal seasons, becomes almost fatal to a +species in seasons of exceptional abundance. Cover and food without +limit enabled the mice to increase at such an amazing rate that the +lesser checks interposed by predatory species were for a while +inappreciable. But as the mice increased, so did their enemies. +Insectivorous and other species acquired the habits of owls and weasels, +preying exclusively on them; while to this innumerable army of residents +was shortly added multitudes of wandering birds coming from distant +regions. No sooner had the herbage perished, depriving the little +victims of cover and food, than the effects of the war became apparent. +In autumn the earth so teemed with them that one could scarcely walk +anywhere without treading on mice; while out of every hollow weed-stalk +lying on the ground dozens could be shaken; but so rapidly had they +devoured, by the trained army of persecutors, that in spring it was hard +to find a survivor, even in the barns and houses. The fact that species +tend to increase in a geometrical ratio makes these great and sudden +changes frequent in many regions of the earth; but it is not often they +present themselves so vividly as in the foregoing instance, for here, +scene after scene in one of Nature's silent passionless tragedies opens +before us, countless myriads of highly organized beings rising into +existence only to perish almost immediately, scarcely a hard-pressed +remnant remaining after the great reaction to continue the species. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SOME CURIOUS ANIMAL WEAPONS. + + +Strictly speaking, the only weapons of vertebrates are teeth, claws, +horns, and spurs. Horns belong only to the ruminants, and the spur is a +rare weapon. There are also many animals in which teeth and claws are +not suited to inflict injury, or in which the proper instincts and +courage to use and develop them are wanted; and these would seem, to be +in a very defenceless condition. Defenceless they are in one sense, but +as a fact they are no worse off than the well-armed species, having +either a protective colouring or a greater swiftness or cunning to +assist them in escaping from their enemies. And there are also many of +these practically toothless and clawless species which have yet been +provided with other organs and means of offence and defence out of +Nature's curious armoury, and concerning a few of these species I +propose to speak in this place. + +Probably such distinctive weapons as horns, spurs, tusks and spines +would be much more common in nature if the conditions of life always +remained the same. But these things are long in fashioning; meanwhile, +conditions are changing; climate, soil, vegetation vary; foes and rivals +diminish or increase; the old go, and others with different weapons and +a new strategy take their place; and just as a skilful man "fighting the +wilderness" fashions a plough from a hunting-knife, turns his implements +into weapons of war, and for everything he possesses discovers a use +never contemplated by its maker, so does Nature--only with an ingenuity +exceeding that of man--use the means she has to meet all contingencies, +and enable her creatures, seemingly so ill-provided, to maintain their +fight for life. Natural selection, like an angry man, can make a weapon +of anything; and, using the word in this wide sense, the mucous +secretions the huanaco discharges into the face of an adversary, and the +pestilential drops "distilled" by the skunk, are weapons, and may be as +effectual in defensive warfare as spines, fangs and tushes. + +I do not know of a more striking instance in the animal kingdom of +adaptation of structure to habit than is afforded by the hairy +armadillo--Dasypus villosus. He appears to us, roughly speaking, to +resemble an ant-eater saddled with a dish cover; yet this creature, with +the cunning Avhich Nature has given it to supplement all deficiencies, +has discovered in its bony encumbrance a highly efficient weapon of +offence. Most other edentates are diurnal and almost exclusively +insectivorous, some feeding only on ants; they have unchangeable habits, +very limited intelligence, and vanish before civilization. The hairy +armadillo alone has struck out a line for itself. Like its fast +disappearing congeners, it is an insect-eater still, but does not like +them seek its food on the surface and in the ant-hill only; all kinds of +insects are preyed on, and by means of its keen scent it discovers worms +and larvae several inches beneath the surface. Its method of taking +worms and grubs resembles that of probing birds, for it throws up no +earth, but forces its sharp snout and wedge-shaped head down to the +required depth; and probably while working it moves round in a circle, +for the hole is conical, though the head of the animal is flat. Where it +has found a rich hunting-ground, the earth is seen pitted with hundreds +of these neat symmetrical bores. It is also an enemy to ground-nesting +birds, being fond of eggs and fledglings; and when unable to capture +prey it will feed on carrion as readily as a wild dog or vulture, +returning night after night to the carcase of a horse or cow as long as +the flesh lasts. Failing animal food, it subsists on vegetable diet; and +I have frequently found their stomachs stuffed with clover, and, +stranger still, with the large, hard grains of the maize, swallowed +entire. + +It is not, therefore, strange that at all seasons, and even when other +animals are starving, the hairy armadillo is always fat and vigorous. In +the desert it is diurnal; but where man appears it becomes more and more +nocturnal, and in populous districts does not go abroad until long after +dark. Yet when a district becomes thickly settled it increases in +numbers; so readily does it adapt itself to new conditions. It is not to +be wondered at that the gauchos, keen observers of nature as they are, +should make this species the hero of many of their fables of the "Uncle +Remus" type, representing it as a versatile creature, exceedingly +fertile in expedients, and duping its sworn friend the fox in various +ways, just as "Brer Rabbit" serves the fox in the North American fables. + +The hairy armadillo will, doubtless, long survive all the other +armadillos, and on this account alone it will have an ever-increasing +interest for the naturalist. I have elsewhere described how it captures +mice; when preying on snakes it proceeds in another manner. A friend of +mine, a careful observer, who was engaged in cattle-breeding amongst the +stony sierras near Cape Corrientes, described to me an encounter he +witnessed between an armadillo and a poisonous snake. While seated on +the hillside one day he observed a snake, about twenty inches in length, +lying coiled up on a stoue five or six yards beneath him. By-and-by, a +hairy armadillo appeared trotting directly towards it. Apparently the +snake perceived and feared its approach, for it quickly uncoiled itself +and began gliding away. Instantly the armadillo rushed on to it, and, +squatting close down, began swaying its body backward and forward with a +regular sawing motion, thus lacerating its victim with the sharp, +deep-cut edges of its bony covering. The snake struggled to free itself, +biting savagely at its aggressor, for its head and neck were disengaged. +Its bites made no impression, and very soon it dropped its head, and +when its enemy drew off, it was dead and very much mangled. The +armadillo at once began its meal, taking the tail in its mouth and +slowly progressing towards the head; but when about a third of the snake +still remained it seemed satisfied, and, leaving that portion, trotted +away. + +Altogether, in its rapacious and varied habits this armadillo appears to +have some points of resemblance with the hedgehog; and possibly, like +the little European mammal it resembles, it is not harmed by the bite of +venomous snakes. + +I once had a cat that killed every snake it found, purely for sport, +since it never ate them. It would jump nimbly round and across its +victim, occasionally dealing it a blow with its cruel claws. The enemies +of the snake are legion. Burrowing owls feed largely on them; so do +herons and storks, killing them with a blow of their javelin beaks, and +swallowing them entire. The sulphur tyrant-bird picks up the young snake +by the tail, and, flying to a branch or stone, uses it like a flail till +its life is battered out. The bird is highly commended in consequence, +reminding one of very ancient words: "Happy shall he be that taketh thy +little ones and dasheth them against the stones." In arraying such a +variety of enemies against the snake, nature has made ample amends for +having endowed it with deadly weapons. Besides, the power possessed by +venomous snakes only seems to us disproportionate; it is not really so, +except in occasional individual encounters. Venomous snakes are always +greatly outnumbered by non-venomous ones in the same district; at any +rate this is the case on the pampas. The greater activity of the latter +counts for more in the result than the deadly weapons of the former. + +The large teguexin lizard of the pampas, called iguana by the country +people, is a notable snake-killer. Snakes have in fact, no more +formidable enemy, for he is quick to see, and swift to overtake them. He +is practically invulnerable, and deals them sudden death with his +powerful tail. The gauchos say that dogs attacking the iguana are +sometimes known to have their legs broken, and I do not doubt it. A +friend of mine was out riding one day after his cattle, and having +attached one end of his lasso to the saddle, He let it trail on the +ground. He noticed a large iguana lying apparently asleep in the sun, +and though he rode by it very closely, it did not stir; but no sooner +had he passed it, than it raised its head, and fixed its attention on +the forty feet of lasso slowly trailing by. Suddenly it rushed after the +rope, and dealt it a succession of violent blows with its tail. When the +whole of the lasso, several yards of which had been pounded in vain, had +been dragged by, the lizard, with uplifted head, continued gazing after +it with the greatest astonishment. Never had such a wonderful snake +crossed its path before! + +Molina, in his _Natural History of Chill,_ says the vizcacha uses its +tail as a weapon; but then Molina is not always reliable. I have +observed vizcachas all my life, and never detected them making use of +any weapon except their chisel teeth. The tail is certainly very +curious, being straight at the base, then curving up outwardly, and +slightly down again at the tip, resembling the spout of a china teapot. +The under surface of the straight portion of the base is padded with a +thick, naked, corneous skin; and, when the animal performs the curious +sportive antics in which it occasionally indulges, it gives rapid +loud-sounding blows on the ground with this part of the tail. The +peculiar form of the tail also makes it a capital support, enabling the +vizcacha to sit erect, with ease and security. + +The frog is a most timid, inoffensive creature, saving itself, when +pursued, by a series of saltatory feats unparalleled amongst +vertebrates. Consequently, when I find a frog, I have no hesitation in +placing my hands upon it, and the cold sensation it gives one is the +worse result I fear. It came to pass, however, that I once encountered a +frog that was not like other frogs, for it possessed an instinct and +weapons of offence which greatly astonished me. I was out snipe shooting +one day when, peering into an old disused burrow, two or three feet +deep, I perceived a burly-looking frog sitting it. It was larger and +stouter-looking than our common Rana, though like it in colour, and I at +once dropped on to my knees and set about its capture. Though it watched +me attentively, the frog remained perfectly motionless, and this greatly +surprised me. Before I was sufficiently near to make a grab, it sprang +straight at my hand, and, catching two of my fingers round with its fore +legs, administered a hug so sudden and violent as to cause an acute +sensation of pain; then, at the very instant I experienced this feeling, +which made me start back quickly, it released its hold and bounded out +and away. I flew after it, and barely managed to overtake it before it +could gain the water. Holding it firmly pressed behind the shoulders, it +was powerless to attack me, and I then noticed the enormous development +of the muscles of the fore legs, usually small in frogs, bulging out in +this individual, like a second pair of thighs, and giving-it a strangely +bold and formidable appearance. On holding my gun within its reach, it +clasped the barrel with such energy as to bruise the skin of its breast +and legs. After allowing it to partially exhaust itself in these +fruitless huggings, I experimented by letting it seize my hand again, +and I noticed that invariably after each squeeze it made a quick, +violent attempt to free itself. Believing that I had discovered a frog +differing in structure from all known species, and possessing a strange +unique instinct of self-preservation, I carried my captive home, +intending to show it to Dr. Burmeister, the director of the National +Museum at Buenos Ayres-Unfortunately, after I had kept it some days, it +effected its escape by pushing up the glass cover of its box, and I have +never since met with another individual like it. That this singular +frog has it in its power to seriously injure an opponent is, of course, +out of the question; but its unexpected attack must be of great +advantage. The effect of the sudden opening of an umbrella in the face +of an angry bull gives, I think, only a faint idea of the astonishment +and confusion it must cause an adversary by its leap, quick as +lightning, and the violent hug it administers; and in the confusion it +finds time to escape. I cannot for a moment believe that an instinct so +admirable, correlated as it is with the structure of the fore legs, can +be merely an individual variation; and I confidently expect that all I +have said about my lost frog will some day be confirmed by others. Rana +luctator would be a good name for this species. + +The toad is a slow-moving creature that puts itself in the way of +persecution; yet, strange to say, the acrid juice it exudes when +irritated is a surer protection to it than venomous fangs are to the +deadliest snake. Toads are, in fact, with a very few exceptions, only +attacked and devoured by snakes, by lizards, and by their own venomous +relative, Ceratophrys ornata. Possibly the cold sluggish natures of all +these creatures protects them against the toad's secretion, which would +be poison to most warm-blooded animals, but I am not so sure that all +fish enjoy a like immunity. I one day noticed a good-sized fish (bagras) +floating, belly upmost, on the water. It had apparently just died, and +had such a glossy, well-nourished look about it, and appeared so full, I +was curious to know the cause of its death. On opening it I found its +stomach quite filled with a very large toad it had swallowed. The toad +looked perfectly fresh, not even a faint discoloration of the skin +showing that the gastric juices had begun to take effect; the fish, in +fact, must have died immediately after swallowing the toad. The country +people in South America believe that the milky secretion exuded by the +toad possesses wonderful curative properties; it is their invariable +specific for shingles--a painful, dangerous malady common amongst them, +and to cure it living toads are applied to the inflamed parb. I dare say +learned physicians would laugh at this cure, but then, if I mistake not, +the learned have in past times laughed at other specifics used by the +vulgar, but which now have honourable places in the pharmacopoeia-- +pepsine, for example. More than two centuries ago (very ancient times +for South America) the gauchos were accustomed to take the lining of the +rhea's stomach, dried and powdered, for ailments caused by impaired +digestion; and the remedy is popular still. Science has gone over to +them, and the ostrich-hunter now makes a double profit, one from the +feathers, and the other from the dried stomachs which he supplies to the +chemists of Buenos Ayres. Yet he was formerly told that to take the +stomach of the ostrich to improve his digestion was as wild an idea as +it would be to swallow birds' feathers in order to fly. + +I just now called Ceratophrys ornata venomous, though its teeth are not +formed to inject poison into the veins, like serpents' teeth. It is a +singular creature, known as _escuerzo_ in the vernacular, and though +beautiful in colour, is in form hideous beyond description. The skin is +of a rich brilliant green, with chocolate-coloured patches, oval in +form, and symmetrically disposed. The lips are bright yellow, the +cavernous mouth pale flesh colour, the throat and under-surface dull +white. The body is lumpy, and about the size of a large man's fist. The +eyes, placed on the summit of a disproportionately large head, are +embedded in horn-like protuberances, capable of being elevated or +depressed at pleasure. When the creature is undisturbed, the eyes, which +are of a pale gold colour, look out as from a couple of watch towers, +but when touched on the head or menaced, the prominences sink down to a +level with the head, closing the eyes completely, and giving the +creature the appearance of being eyeless. The upper jaw is armed with +minute teeth, and there are two teeth in the centre of the lower jaw, +the remaining portions of the jaw being armed with two exceedingly +sharp-edged bony plates. In place of a tongue, it has a round muscular +process with a rough flat disc the size of a halfpenny. + +It is common all over the pampas, ranging as far south as the Rio +Colorado in Patagonia. In the breeding season it congregates in pools, +and one is then struck by their extraordinary vocal powers, which they +exercise by night. The performance in no way resembles the series of +percussive sounds uttered by most batrachians. The notes it utters are +long, as of a wind instrument, not unmelodious, and so powerful as to +make themselves heard distinctly a mile off on still evenings. After the +amorous period these toads retire to moist places and sit inactive, +buried just deep enough to leave the broad green back on a level with +the surface, and it is then very difficult to detect them. In this +position they wait for their prey--frogs, toads, birds, and small +mammals. Often they capture and attempt to swallow things too large for +them, a mistake often made by snakes. In very wet springs they sometimes +come about houses and lie in wait for chickens and ducklings. In +disposition they are most truculent, savagely biting at anything that +comes near them; and when they bite they hang on with the tenacity of a +bulldog, poisoning the blood with their glandular secretions. When +teased, the creature swells itself out to such an extent one almost +expects to see him burst; he follows his tormentors about with slow +awkward leaps, his vast mouth wide open, and uttering an incessant harsh +croaking sound. A gaucho I knew was once bitten by one. He sat down on +the grass, and, dropping his hand at his side, had it seized, and only +freed himself by using his hunting knife to force the creature's mouth +open. He washed and bandaged the wound, and no bad result followed; but +when the toad cannot be shaken off, then the result is different. One +summer two horses were found dead on the plain near my home. One, while +lying down, had been seized by a fold in the skin near the belly; the +other had been grasped by the nose while cropping grass. In both +instances the vicious toad was found dead, with jaws tightly closed, +still hanging to the dead horse. Perhaps they are sometimes incapable of +letting go at will, and like honey bees, destroy themselves in these +savage attacks. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +FEAR IN BIRDS. + + +The statement that birds instinctively fear man is frequently met with +in zoological works written since the _Origin of Species_ appeared; but +almost the only reason--absolutely the only plausible reason, all the +rest being mere supposition--given in support of such a notion is that +birds in desert islands show at first no fear of man, but afterwards, +finding him a dangerous neighbour, they become wild; and their young +also grow up wild. It is thus assumed that the habit acquired by the +former has become hereditary in the latter--or, at all events, that in +time it becomes hereditary. Instincts, which are few in number in any +species, and practically endure for ever, are not, presumably, acquired +with such extraordinary facility. + +Birds become shy where persecuted, and the young, even when not +disturbed, learn a shy habit from the parents, and from other adults +they associate with. I have found small birds shyer in desert places, +where the human form was altogether strange to them, than in +thickly-settled districts. Large birds are actually shyer than the small +ones, although, to the civilized or shooting man they seem astonishingly +tame where they have never been fired at. I have frequently walked quite +openly to within twenty-five or thirty yards of a flock of flamingoes +without alarming them. This, however, was when they were in the water, +or on the opposite side of a stream. Having no experience of guns, they +fancied themselves secure as long as a strip of water separated them +from the approaching object. When standing on dry land they would not +allow so near an approach. Sparrows in England aro very much tamer than +the sparrows I have observed in desert places, where they seldom see a +human being. Nevertheless young sparrows in England are very much tamer +than old birds, as anyone may see for himself. During the past summer, +while living near Kew Gardens, I watched the sparrows a great deal, and +fed forty or fifty of them every day from a back window. The bread and +seed was thrown on to a low roof just outside the window, and I noticed +that the young birds when first able to fly were always brought by the +parents to this feeding place, and that after two or three visits they +would begin to come of their own accord. At such times they would +venture quite close to me, showing as little suspicion as young +chickens. The adults, however, although so much less shy than birds of +other species, were extremely suspicious, snatching up the bread and +flying away; or, if they remained, hopping about in a startled manner, +craning their necks to view me, and making so many gestures and motions, +and little chirps of alarm, that presently the young would become +infected with fear. The lesson was taught them in a surprisingly short +time; their suspicion was seen to increase day by day, and about a week +later they were scarcely to be distinguished, in behaviour from the +adults. It is plain that, with these little birds, fear of man is an +associate feeling, and that, unless it had been taught them, his +presence would trouble them as little as does that of horse, sheep, or +cow. But how about the larger species, used as food, and which have had +a longer and sadder experience of man's destructive power? + +The rhea, or South American ostrich, philosophers tell us, is a very +ancient bird on the earth; and from its great size and inability to +escape by flight, and its excellence as food, especially to savages, who +prefer fat rank-flavoured flesh, it must have been systematically +persecuted by man as long as, or longer than, any bird now existing on +the globe. If fear of man ever becomes hereditary in birds, we ought +certainly to find some trace of such an instinct in this species. I have +been unable to detect any, though I have observed scores of young rheas +in captivity, taken before the parent bird had taught them what to fear. +I also once kept a brood myself, captured just after they had hatched +out. With regard to food they were almost, or perhaps quite, +independent, spending most of the time catching flies, grasshoppers, and +other insects with surprising dexterity; but of the dangers encompassing +the young rhea they knew absolutely frothing. They would follow me about +as if they took me for their parent; and, whenever I imitated the loud +snorting or rasping warning-call emitted the old bird in moments of +danger, they would to me in the greatest terror, though no animal was in +sight, and, squatting at my feet, endeavour to conceal themselves by +thrusting their heads and long necks up my trousers. If I had caused a +person to dress in white or yellow clothes for several consecutive days, +and had then uttered the warning cry each time he showed himself to the +birds, I have no doubt that they would soon have acquired a habit of +running in terror from him, even without the warning cry, and that the +fear of a person in white or yellow would have continued all their +lives. Up to within about twenty years ago, rheas were seldom or never +shot in La Plata and Patagonia, but were always hunted on horseback and +caught with the bolas. The sight of a mounted man would set them off at +once, while a person on foot could walk quite openly to within easy +shooting distance of them; yet their fear of a horseman dates only two +hundred years back--a very short time, when we consider that, before the +Indian borrowed the horse from the invader, he must have systematically +pursued the rhea on foot for centuries. The rhea changed its habits when +the hunter changed his, and now, if an _estanciero_ puts down ostrich +hunting on his estate, in a very few years the birds, although wild +birds still, become as fearless and familiar as domestic animals. I have +known old and ill-tempered males to become a perfect nuisance on some +estancias, running after and attacking every person, whether on foot or +on horseback, that ventured near them. An old instinct of a whole race +could not be thus readily lost here and there on isolated estates +wherever a proprietor chose to protect his birds for half a dozen years. + +I suppose the Talegallus--the best-known brush-turkey--must be looked on +as an exception to all other birds with regard to the point I am +considering; for this abnormal form buries its eggs in the huge mound +made by the male, and troubles herself no more about them. When the +young is fully developed it simply kicks the coffin to pieces in which +its mother interred it, and, burrowing its way up to the sunshine, +enters on the pleasures and pains of an independent existence from +earliest infancy--that is, if a species born into the world in full +possession of all the wisdom of the ancients, can be said ever to know +infancy. At all events, from Mr. Bartlett's observations on the young +hatched in the Zoological Gardens, it appears that they took no notice +of the old birds, but lived quite independently from the moment they +came out of the ground, even flying up into a tree and roosting +separately at night. I am not sure, however, that these observations are +quite conclusive; for it is certain that captivity plays strange pranks +with the instincts of some species, and it is just possible that in a +state of nature the old birds exercise at first some slight parental +supervision, and, like all other species, have a peculiar cry to warn +the young of the dangers to be avoided. If this is not so, then the +young Talegallus must fly or hide with instinctive tear from every +living thing that approaches it. I, at any rate, find it hard to believe +that it has a knowledge, independent of experience, of the different +habits of man and kangaroo, and dis-criminates at first sight between +animals that are dangerous to it and those that are not. This +interesting point will probably never be determined, as, most unhappily, +the Australians are just now zealously engaged in exterminating their +most wonderful bird for the sake of its miserable flesh; and with less +excuse than the Maories could plead with regard to the moa, since they +cannot deny that they have mutton and rabbit enough to satisfy hunger. + +Whether birds fear or have instinctive knowledge of any of their enemies +is a much larger question. Species that run freely on the ground from +the time of quitting the shell know their proper food, and avoid +whatever is injurious. Have all young birds a similarly discriminating +instinct with regard to their enemies? Darwin says, "Fear of any +particular enemy is certainly an instinctive quality, as may be seen in +nestling birds." Here, even man seems to be included among the enemies +feared instinctively; and in another passage he says, "Young chickens +have lost, wholly from habit, that fear of the dog and cat which, no +doubt, was originally instinctive in them." My own observations point to +a contrary conclusion; and I may say that I have had unrivalled +opportunities for studying the habits of young birds. + +Animals of all classes, old and young, shrink with instinctive fear from +any strange object approaching them. A piece of newspaper carried +accidentally by the wind is as great an object of terror to an +inexperienced young bird as a buzzard sweeping down with death in its +talons. Among birds not yet able to fly there are, however, some curious +exceptions; thus the young of most owls and pigeons are excited to anger +rather than fear, and, puffing themselves up, snap and strike at an +intruder with their beaks. Other fledglings simply shrink down in the +nest or squat close on the ground, their fear, apparently, being in +proportion to the suddenness with which the strange animal or object +comes on them; but, if the deadliest enemy approaches with slow caution, +as snakes do--and snakes must be very ancient enemies to birds--there is +no fear or suspicion shown, even when the enemy is in full view and +about to strike. This, it will be understood, is when no warning-cry is +uttered by the parent bird. This shrinking, and, in some cases, hiding +from an object corning swiftly towards them, is the "wildness_"_ of +young birds, which, Darwin says again, is greater in wild than in +domestic species. Of the extreme tameness of the young rhea I have +already spoken; I have also observed young tinamous, plovers, coots, +&c., hatched by fowls, and found them as incapable of distinguishing +friend from foe as the young of domestic birds. The only difference +between the young of wild and tame is that the former are, as a rule, +much more sprightly and active. But there are many exceptions; and if +this greater alertness and activity is what is meant by "wildness," then +the young of some wild birds--rhea, crested screamer, &c.--are actually +much tamer than our newly-hatched chickens and ducklings. + +To return to what may be seen in nestling birds, n very young, and +before their education has begun, if quietly approached and touched, +they open their bills and take food as readily from a man as from the +parent bird. But if while being thus fed the parent returns and emits +the warning note, they instantly cease their hunger-cries, close their +gaping mouths, and crouch down frightened in the nest. This fear caused +by the parent bird's warning note begins to manifest itself even before +the young are hatched--and my observations on this point refer to +several species in three widely separated orders. When the little +prisoner is hammering at its shell, and uttering its feeble _peep,_ as +if begging to be let out, if the warning note is uttered, even at a +considerable distance, the strokes and complaining instantly cease, and +the chick will then remain quiescent in the shell for a long time, or +until the parent, by a changed note, conveys to it an intimation that +the danger is over. Another proof that the nestling has absolutely no +instinctive knowledge of particular enemies, but is taught to fear them +by the parents, is to be found in the striking contrast between the +habits of parasitical and genuine young in the nest, and after they have +left it, while still unable to find their own food. I have had no +opportunities of observing the habits of the young cuckoo in England +with regard to this point, and do not know whether other observers have +paid any attention to the matter or not, but I am very familiar with the +manners of the parasitical starling or cow-bird of South America. The +warning cries of the foster parent have no effect on the young cow-bird +at any time. Until they are able to fly they will readily devour worms +from the hand of a man, even when the old birds are hovering close by +and screaming their danger notes, and while their own young, if the +parasite has allowed any to survive in the nest, are crouching down in +the greatest fear. After the cow-bird has left the nest it is still +stupidly tame, and more than once I have seen one carried off from its +elevated perch by a milvago hawk, when, if it had understood the warning +cry of the foster parent, it would have dropped down into the bush or +grass and escaped. But as soon as the young cow-birds are able to shift +for themselves, and begin to associate with their own kind, their habits +change, and they become suspicious and wild like other birds. + +On this point--the later period at which the parasitical young bird +acquires fear of man--and also bearing on the whole subject under +discussion, I shall add here some observations I once made on a dove +hatched and reared by a pigeon at my home on the pampas. A very large +ombu tree grew not far from the dove-cote, and some of the pigeons used +to make their nests on the lower horizontal branches. One summer a dove +of the most common species, Zenaida maculata, in size a third less than +the domestic pigeon, chanced to drop an egg in one of these nests, and a +young dove was hatched and reared; and, in due time, when able to fly, +it was brought to the dove-cote. I watched it a great deal, and it was +evident that this foster-young, though' with the pigeons, was not nor +ever would be of them, for it could not take kiudly to their flippant +flirty ways. Whenever a male approached it, and with guttural noises and +strange gestures made a pompous declaration of amorous feelings, the +dove would strike vigorously at its undesirable lover, and drive him +off, big as he was; and, as a rule, it would sit apart, afoot or so, +from the others. The dove was also a male; but its male companions, with +instinct tainted by domestication, were ignorant alike of its sex and +different species. Now, it chanced that my pigeons, never being fed and +always finding their own living on the plain like wild birds, were, +although still domestic, not nearly so tame as pigeons usually are in +England. They would not allow a person to approach within two or three +yards of them without flying, and if grain was thrown to them they would +come to it very suspiciously, or not at all. And, of course, the young +pigeons always acquired the exact degree of suspicion shown by the +adults as soon as they were able to fly and consort with the others. But +the foundling Zenaida did not know what their startled gestures and +notes of fear meant when a person approached too near, and as he saw +none of his own kind, he did not acquire their suspicious habit. On the +contrary, he was perfectly tame, although by parentage a wild bird, and +showed no more fear of a man than of a horse. Throughout the winter it +remained with the pigeons, going afield every day with them, and +returning to the dove-cote; but as spring approached the slight tie +which united him to them began to be loosened; their company grew less +and less congenial, and he began to lead a solitary life. But he did not +go to the trees yet. He came to the house, and his favourite perch was +on the low overhanging roof of a vine-covered porch, just over the main +entrance. Here he would pass several hours every day, taking no notice +of the people passing in and out at all times; and when the weather grew +warm he would swell out his breast and coo mournfully by the hour for +our pleasure. + +We can, no doubt, learn best by observing the behaviour of nestlings and +young birds; nevertheless, I find much even in the confirmed habits of +adults to strengthen me in the belief that fear of particular enemies is +in nearly all cases--for I will not say all--the result of experience +and tradition. + +Hawks are the most open, violent, and persistent enemies birds have; and +it is really wonderful to see how well the persecuted kinds appear to +know the power for mischief possessed by different raptorial species, +and how exactly the amount of alarm exhibited is in proportion to the +extent of the danger to be apprehended. Some raptors never attack birds, +others only occasionally; still others prey only on the young and +feeble; and, speaking of La Plata district, where I have observed hawks, +from the milvago chimango--chiefly a carrion-eater--to the destructive +peregrine falcon, there is a very great variety of predatory habits, and +all degrees of courage to be found; yet all these raptors are treated +differently by species liable to be preyed on, and have just as much +respect paid them as their strength and daring entitles them to, and no +more, So much discrimination must seem almost incredible to those who +are not very familiar with the manners of wild birds; I do not think it +could exist if the fear shown resulted from instinct or inherited habit. +There would be no end to the blunders of such an instinct as that; and +in regions where hawks are extremely abundant most of the birds would bo +in a constant state of trepidation. On the pampas the appearance of the +comparatively harmless chimango excites not the least alarm among small +birds, yet at a distance it closely resembles a henharrier, and it also +readily attacks young, sick, and wounded birds; all others know how +little they have to fear from it. When it appears unexpectedly, +sweeping over a hedge or grove with a rapid flight, it is sometimes +mistaken for a more dangerous species; there is then a little flutter of +alarm, some birds springing into the air, but in two or three seconds of +time they discover their mistake, and settle down quietly again, taking +no further notice of the despised carrion-eater. On the other hand, I +have frequently mistaken a harrier (Circus cinereus, in the brown state +of plumage) for a chimango, and have only discovered my mistake by +seeing the commotion among the small birds. The harrier I have +mentioned, also the C. macropterus, feed partly on small birds, which +they flush from the ground and strike down with their claws. When the +harrier appears moving along with a loitering flight near the surface, +it is everywhere attended by a little whirlwind of alarm, small birds +screaming or chirping excitedly and diving into the grass or bushes; but +the alarm does not spread far, and subsides as soon as the hawk has +passed on its way. Buzzards (Buteo and Urubitinga) are much more feared, +and create a more widespread alarm, and they ars certainly more +destructive to birds than harriers. Another curious instance is that of +the sociable hawk (Rostrhanrus sociabilis). This bird spends the summer +and breeds in marshes in La Plata, and birds pay no attention to it, for +it feeds exclusively on water-snails (Ampullaria). But when it visits +woods and plantations to roost, during migration, its appearance creates +as much alarm as that of a true buzzard, which it closely resembles. +Wood-birds, unaccustomed to see it, do not know its peculiar preying +habits, and how little they need fear its presence. I may also mention +that the birds of La Plata seem to fear the kite-like Elanus less than +other hawks, and I believe that its singular resemblance to the common +gull of the district in its size, snowy-white plumage and manner of +flight, has a deceptive effect on most species, and makes them so little +suspicious of it, + +The wide-ranging peregrine falcon is a common species in La Plata, +although, oddly enough, not included in any notice of the avifauna of +that region before 1888. The consternation caused among birds by its +appearance is vastly greater than that produced by any of the raptors I +have mentioned: and it is unquestionably very much more destructive to +birds, since it preys exclusively on them, and, as a rule, merely picks +the flesh from the head and neck, and leaves the untouched body to its +jackal, the carrion-hawk. When the peregrine appears speeding through +the air in a straight line at a great height, the feathered world, as +far as one able to see, is thrown into the greatest commo-tion, all +birds, from the smallest up to species large as duck, ibis, and curlew, +rushing about in the air as if distracted. When the falcon has +disappeared in the sky, and the wave of terror attending its progress +subsides behind it, the birds still continue wild and excited for some +time, showing how deeply they have been moved; for, as a rule, fear is +exceedingly transitory in its effects on animals, + +I must, before concluding this part of my subject, mention another +raptor, also a true falcon, but differing from the peregrine in being +exclusively a marsh-hawk. In size it is nearly a third less than the +male peregrine, which it resembles in its sharp wings and manner of +flight, but its flight is much more rapid. The whole plumage, is +uniformly of a dark grey colour. Unfortunately, though I have observed +it not fewer than a hundred times, I have never been able to procure a +specimen, nor do I find that it is like any American falcon already +described; so that for the present it must remain nameless. Judging +solely from the effect produced by the appearance of this hawk, it must +be even more daring and destructive than its larger relation, the +peregrine. It flies at a great height, and sometimes descends vertically +and with extraordinary velocity, the wings producing a sound like a +deep-toned horn. The sound is doubtless produced at will, and is +certainly less advantageous to the hawk than to the birds it pursues. No +doubt it can afford to despise the wing-power of its quarry; and I have +sometimes thought that it takes a tyrannous delight in witnessing the +consternation caused by its hollow trumpeting sound. This may be only a +fancy, but some hawks do certainly take pleasure in pursuing and +striking birds when not seeking prey. The peregrine has been observed, +Baird says, capturing birds, only to kill and drop them. Many of the +Felidae, we know, evince a similar habit; only these prolong their +pleasure by practising a more refined and deliberate cruelty. + +The sudden appearance overhead of this hawk produces an effect wonderful +to witness. I have frequently seen all the inhabitants of a marsh struck +with panic, acting as if demented, and suddenly grown careless to all +other dangers; and on such occasions I have looked up confident of +seeing the sharp-winged death, suspended above them in the sky. All +birds that happen to be on the wing drop down as if shot into the reeds +or water; ducks away from the margin stretch out their necks +horizontally and drag their bodies, as if wounded, into closer cover; +not one bird is found bold enough to rise up and wheel about the +marauder--a usual proceeding in the case of other hawks; while, at every +sudden stoop the falcon makes, threatening to dash down on his prey, a +low cry of terror rises from the birds beneath; a sound expressive of an +emotion so contagious that it quickly runs like a murmur all over the +marsh, as if a gust of wind had swept moaning through, the rushes. As +long as the falcon hangs overhead, always at a height of about forty +yards, threatening at intervals to dash down, this murmuring sound, made +up of many hundreds of individual cries, is heard swelling and dying +away, and occasionally, when he drops lower than usual, rising to a +sharp scream of terror. + +Sometimes when I have been riding over marshy ground, one of these hawks +has placed himself directly over my head, within fifteen or twenty yards +of me; and it has perhaps acquired the habit of following a horseman in +this way in order to strike at any birds driven up. On one occasion my +horse almost trod on a couple of snipe squatting terrified in the short +grass. The instant they rose the hawk struck at one, the end of his wing +violently smiting my cheek as he stooped, and striking at the snipe on a +level with the knees of my horse. The snipe escaped by diving under the +bridle, and immediately dropped down on the other side of me, and the +hawk, rising up, flew away. + +To return. I think I am justified in believing that fear of hawks, like +fear of men, is, in very nearly all cases, the result of experience and +tradition. Nevertheless, I think it probable that in some species which +have always lived in the open, continually exposed to attack, and which +are preferred as food by raptors, such as duck, snipe, and plover, the +fear of the falcon may be an inherited habit. Among passerine birds I am +also inclined to think that swallows show inherited fear of hawks. +Swallows and humming-birds have least to fear from raptors; yet, while +humming-birds readily pursue and tease hawks, thinking as little of them +as of pigeons or herons, swallows everywhere manifest the greatest +terror at the approach of a true falcon; and they also fear other birds +of prey, though in a much less degree. It has been said that the +European hobby occasionally catches swal-lows on the wing, but this +seems a rare and exceptional habit, and in South America I have never +seen any bird of prey attempt the pursuit of a swallow. The question +then arises, how did this unnecessary fear, so universal in swallows, +originate? Can it be a survival of a far past--a time when some +wide-ranging small falcon, aerial in habits as the swallow itself, +preyed by preference on hirundines only ? + +[NOTE.-Herbert Spencer, who accepts Darwin's inference, explains how the +fear of man, acquired by experience, becomes instinctive in birds, in +the following passage: "It is well known that in newly-discovered lands +not inhabited by man, birds are so devoid of fear as to allow themselves +to be knocked over with sticks; but that, in the course of generations, +they acquire such a dread of man as to fly on his approach: and that +this dread is manifested by young as well as by old. Now unless this +change be ascribed to the killing-off of the least fearful, and the +preservation and multiplication of the most fearful which, considering +the comparatively small number killed by man, is an inadequate cause, it +must be ascribed to accumulated experience; and each experience must be +held to have a share in producing it. We must conclude that in each bird +that escapes with injuries inflicted by man, or is alarmed by the +outcries of other members of the flock (gregarious creatures of any +intelligence being necessarily more or less sympathetic), there is +established an association of ideas between the human aspect and the +pains, direct and in-direct, suffered from human agency. And we must +further con-clude, that the state of consciousness which compels the +bird to take flight, is at first nothing more than an ideal reproduction +of those painful impressions which before followed man's approach; that +such ideal reproduction becomes more vivid and more massive as the +painful experiences, direct or sympathetic, increase; and that thus the +emotion, in its incipient state, is nothing else than an aggregation of +the revived pains before experience. + +"As, in the course of generations, the young birds of this race begin to +display a fear of man before yet they have been injured by him, it is an +unavoidable inference that the nervous system of the race has been +organically modified by these experiences, we have no choice but to +conclude, that when a young bird is led to fly, it is because the +impression produced in its senses by the approaching man entails, +through an incipiently reflex action, a partial excitement of all those +nerves which in its ancestors had been excited under the like +conditions; that this partial excitement has its accompanying painful +consciousness, and that the vague painful consciousness thus arising +constitutes emotion proper--_emotion undecomposable into specific +experiences, and, therefore, seemingly homogeneous"_ (Essays, vol. i. p. +320.)] + +It is comforting to know that the "unavoidable inference" is, after all, +erroneous, and that the nervous system in birds has not yet been +organically altered as a result of man's persecution; for in that case +it would take long to undo the mischief, and we should be indeed far +from that "better friendship" with the children of the air which many of +us would like to see. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +PARENTAL AND EARLY INSTINCTS. + + +Under this heading I have put together several notes from my journals on +subjects which have no connection with each other, except that they +relate chiefly to the parental instincts of some animals I have +observed, and to the instincts of the young at a very early period of +life. + +While taking bats one day in December, I captured a female of our common +Buenos Ayrean species (Molossus bonariensis), with her two young +attached to her, so large that it seemed incredible she should be able +to fly and take insects with such a weight to drag her down. The young +were about a third less in size than the mother, so that she had to +carry a weight greatly exceeding that of her own body. They were +fastened to her breast and belly, one on each side, as when first born; +and, possibly, the young bat does not change its position, or move, like +the young developed opossum, to other parts of the body, until mature +enough to begin an independent life. On forcibly separating them from +their parent, I found that they were not yet able to fly, but when set +free fluttered feebly to the ground. This bat certainly appeared more +burdened with its young than any animal I had ever observed. I have seen +an old female opossum (Didelphys azarae) with eleven young, large as old +rats--the mother being less than a cat in size--all clinging to various +parts of her body; yet able to climb swiftly and with the greatest +agility in the higher branches of a tree. The actual weight was in this +case relatively much greater than in that of the female bat: but then +the opossum never quitted its hold on the tree, and it also supplemented +its hand-like feet, furnished with crooked claws, with its teeth and +long prehensile tail. The poor bat had to seek its living in the empty +air, pursuing its prey with the swiftness of a swallow, and it seemed +wonderful to me that she should have been able to carry about that great +burden with her one pair of wings, and withal to be active enough to +supply herself and her young with food. + +In the end I released her, and saw her fly away and disappear among the +trees, after which I put back the two young bats in the place I had +taken them from, among the thick-clustering foliage of a small acacia +tree. When set free they began to work their way upwards through the +leaves and slender twigs in the most adroit manner, catching a twig with +their teeth, then embracing a whole cluster of leaves with their wings, +just as a person would take up a quantity of loose clothes and hold them +tight by pressing them against the chest. The body would then emerge +above the clasped leaves, and a higher twig would be caught by the +teeth; and so on successively, until they had got as high as they +wished, when they proceeded to hook themselves to a twig and assume the +inverted position side by side; after which, one drew in its head and +went to sleep, while the other began licking the end of its wing, where +my finger and thumb had pressed the delicate membrane. Later in the day +I attempted to feed them with small insects, but they rejected my +friendly attentions in the most unmistakable manner, snapping viciously +at me every time I approached them. In the evening, I stationed myself +close to the tree, and presently had the satisfaction of seeing the +mother return, flying straight to the spot where I had taken her, and in +a few moments she was away again and over the trees with her twins. + +Assuming that these two young bats had, before I found them, existed +like parasites clinging to the parent, their adroit actions when +liberated, and their angry demonstrations at my approach, were very +astonishing; for in all other mammals born in a perfectly helpless +state, like rodents, weasels, edentates, and even marsupials, the +instincts of self-preservation are gradually developed after the period +of activity begins, when the mother leads them out, and they play with +her and Avith each other. In the bat the instincts must ripen to +perfection without exercise or training, and while the animal exists as +passively as a fruit on its stem. + +I have observed that the helpless young of some of the mammals I have +just mentioned seem at first to have no instinctive understanding of the +language of alarm and fear in the parent, as all young-birds have, even +before their eyes are open. Nor is it necessary that they should have +such an instinct, since, in most cases, they are well concealed in +kennels or other safe places; but when, through some accident, they are +exposed, the want of such an instinct makes the task of protecting them +doubly hard for the parent. I once surprised a weasel (Galictis barbara) +in the act of removing her young, or conducting them, rather; and when +she was forced to quit them, although still keeping close by, and +uttering the most piercing cries of anger and solicitude, the young +continued piteously crying out in their shrill voices and moving about +in circles, without making the slightest attempt to escape, or to +conceal themselves, as young birds do. + +Some field mice breed on the surface of the ground in ill-constructed +nests, and their young are certainly the most helpless things in nature. +It is possible that where this dangerous habit exists, the parent has +some admirable complex instincts to safeguard her young, in addition to +the ordinary instincts of most animals of this kind. This idea was +suggested to me by the action of a female mouse which I witnessed by +chance. While walking in a field of stubble one day in autumn, near +Buenos Ayres, I suddenly heard, issuing from near my feet, a chorus of +shrill squealing voices--the familiar excessively sharp little needles +of sound emitted by young, blind and naked mice, when they are disturbed +or in pain. Looking down, I saw close to my foot a nest of them--there +were nine in all, wriggling about and squealing; for the parent, +frightened at my step, had just sprung from them, overturning in her +hurry to escape the slight loosely-felted dome of fine grass and +thistledown which had covered them. I saw her running away, but after +going six or seven yards she stopped, and, turning partly round so as to +watch me, waited in fear and trembling. I remained perfectly +motionless--a sure way to allay fear and suspicion in any wild +creature,--and in a few moments she returned, but with the utmost +caution, frequently pausing to start and tremble, and masking her +approach with corn stumps and little inequalities in the surface of the +ground, until, reaching the nest, she took one of the young in her +mouth, and ran rapidly away to a distance of eight or nine yards and +concealed it in a tuft of dry grass. + +Leaving it, she returned a second time, in the same cautious manner, and +taking another, ran with it to the same spot, and concealed it along +with the first. It was curious that the first young mouse had continued +squealing after being hidden by the mother, for I could hear it +distinctly, the air being very still, but when the second mouse had been +placed with it, the squealing ceased. A third time the old mouse came, +and then instead of going to the same spot, as I had expected, she ran +off in an opposite direction and disappeared among the dry weeds; a +fourth was carried to the same place as the third; and in this way they +were all removed to a distance of some yards from the nest, and placed +in couples, until the last and odd one remained. In due time she came +for it, and ran away with it in a new direction, and was soon out of +sight; and although I waited fully ten minutes, she did not return; nor +could I afterwards find any of the young mice when I looked for them, or +even hear them squeal. + +I have frequently observed newly-born lambs on the pampas, and have +never failed to be surprised at the extreme imbecility they display in +their actions; although this may be due partly to inherited degeneracy +caused by domestication. This imbecile condition continues for two, +sometimes for three days, during which time the lamb apparently acts +purely from instincts, which are far from perfect; but after that, +experience and its dam teach it a better way. When born its first +impulse is to struggle up on to its feet; its second to suck, but here +it does not discriminate like the newly-hatched bird that picks up its +proper food, or it does not know what to suck. It will take into its +mouth whatever comes near, in most cases a tuft of wool on its dam's +neck; and at this it will continue sucking for an indefinite time. It is +highly probable that the strong-smelling secretion of the sheep's udder +attracts the lamb at length to that part; and that without something of +the kind to guide it, in many cases it would actually starve without +finding the teats. I have often seen lambs many hours after birth still +confining their attention to the most accessible locks of wool on the +neck or fore legs of the dams, and believe that in such cases the long +time it took them to find the source of nourishment arose from a +defective sense of smell. Its next important instinct, which comes into +play from the moment it can stand on its feet, impels it to follow after +any object receding from it, and, on the other hand, to run from +anything approaching it. If the dam turns round and approaches it from +even a very short distance, it will start back and run from her in fear, +and will not understand her voice when she bleats to it: at the same +time it will confidently follow after a man, dog, horse, or any other +animal moving from it. A very common experience on the pampas, in the +sheep-country, is to see a lamb start up from sleep and follow the +rider, running along close to the heels of the horse. This is +distressing to a merciful man, tor he cannot shake the little simpleton +off, and if he rides on, no matter how fast, it will keep up him, or +keep him in sight, for half a mile or a mile, and never recover its dam. +The gaucho, who is not merciful, frequently saves himself all trouble +and delay by knocking it senseless with a blow of his whip-handle, and +without checking his horse. I have seen a lamb, about two days old, +start up from sleep, and immediately start off in pursuit of a puff ball +about as big as a man's head, carried past it over the smooth turf by +the wind, and chase it for a distance of five hundred yards, until the +dry ball was brought to a stop by a tuft of coarse grass. This +blundering instiuct is quickly laid aside when the lamb has learned to +distinguish its dam from other objects, and its dam's voice from other +sounds. When four or five days old it will start from sleep, but instead +of rushing blindly away after any receding object, it first looks about +it, and will then recognize and run to its dam. + +I have often been struck with the superiority of the pampa or +creolla--the old native breed of sheep--in the greater vigour of the +young when born over the improved European varieties. The pampa descends +to us from the first sheep introduced into La Plata about three +centuries ago, and is a tall, gaunt bony animal, with lean dry flesh, +like venison, and long straight wool, like goats' hair. In their +struggle for existence in a country subject to sudden great changes of +temperature, to drought, and failure of grass, they have in a great +measure lost the qualities which make the sheep valuable to man as a +food and wool-producing animal; but on the other hand they have to some +extent recovered the vigour of a wild animal, being hardy enough to +exist without any shelter, and requiring from their master man only +protection from the larger carnivores. They are keen-scented, swift of +foot and Wonderfully active, and thrive where other breeds would quickly +starve. I have often seen a lamb dropped on the frosty ground in +bitterly cold windy weather in midwinter, and in less than five seconds +struggle to its feet, and seem as vigorous as any day-old lamb of other +breeds. The dam, impatient at the short delay, and not waiting to give +it suck, has then started off at a brisk trot after the flock, scattered +and galloping before the wind like huanacos rather than sheep, with the +lamb, scarcely a minute in the world, running freely at her side. +Notwithstanding its great vigour it has been proved that the pampa sheep +has not so far outgrown the domestic taint as to be able to maintain its +own existence when left entirely to itself. During the first half of +this century, when cattle-breeding began to be profitable, and wool was +not worth the trouble of shearing, and the gaucho workman would not eat +mutton when beef was to be had, some of the estancieros on the southern +pampas determined to get rid of their sheep, which were of no value to +them; and many flocks were driven a distance out and lost in the wilds. +Out of many thousands thus turned loose to shift for themselves, not one +pair survived to propagate a new race of feral sheep; in a short time +pumas, wild dogs, and other beasts of prey, had destroyed them all. The +sterling qualities of the pampa sheep had their value in other times; at +present the improved kinds are alone considered worth having, and the +original sheep of the country is now rapidly disappearing, though still +found in remote and poor districts, especially in the province of +Cordova; and probably before long it will become extinct, together with +the curious pug-nosed cow of the pampas. + +I have had frequent opportunities of observing the young, from one to +three days old, of the Cervus campestris--the common deer of the pampas, +and the perfection of its instincts at that tender age seem very +wonderful in a ruminant. When the doe with, fawn is approached by a +horseman, even when accompanied with dogs, she stands perfectly +motionless, gazing fixedly at the enemy, the fawn motionless at her +side; and suddenly, as if at a preconcerted signal, the fawn rushes +directly away from her at its utmost speed; and going to a distance of +six hundred to a thousand yards conceals itself in a hollow in the +ground or among the long grass, lying down very close with neck +stretched out horizontally, and will thus remain until sought by the +dam. When very young if found in its hiding-place it will allow itself +to be taken, making no further effort to escape. After the fawn has run +away the doe still maintains her statuesque attitude, as if resolved to +await the onset, and only when the dogs are close to her she also rushes +away, but invariably in a direction as nearly opposite to that taken by +the fawn as possible. At first she runs slowly, with a limping gait, and +frequently pausing, as if to entice her enemies on, like a partridge, +duck or plover when driven from its young; but as they begin to press +her more closely her speed increases, becoming greater the further she +succeeds in leading them from the starting-point. + +The alarm-cry of this deer is a peculiar whistling bark, a low but +far-reaching sound; but when approaching a doe with young I have never +been able to hear it, nor have I seen any movement on the part of the +doe. Yet it is clear that in some mysterious way she inspires the fawn +with sudden violent fear; while the fawn, on its side, instead of being +affected like the young in other mammals, and sticking closer to its +mother, acts in a contrary way, and runs from her. + +Of the birds I am acquainted with, the beautiful jacana (Parra jacana) +appears to come into the world with its faculties and powers in the most +advanced state. It is, in fact, ready to begin active life from the very +moment of leaving the shell, as I once accidentally observed. I found a +nest on a small mound of earth in a shallow lagoon, containing four +eggs, with the shells already chipped by the birds in them. Two yards +from the small nest mound there was a second mound covered with coarse +grass. I got off my horse to examine the nest, and the old birds, +excited beyond measure, fluttered round me close by pouring out their +shrill rapidly-reiterated cries in an unbroken stream, sounding very +much like a policeman's rattle. While I was looking closely at one of +the eggs lying on the palm of my hand, all at once the cracked shell +parted, and at the same moment the young bird leaped from my hand and +fell into the water. I am quite sure that the young bird's sudden escape +from the shell and my hand was the result of a violent effort on its +part to free itself; and it was doubtless inspired to make the effort by +the loud persistent screaming of the parent birds, which it heard while +in the shell. Stooping to pick it up to save it from perishing, I soon +saw that my assistance was not required, for immediately on dropping +into the water, it put out its neck, and with the body nearly submerged, +like a wounded duck trying to escape observation, it swam rapidly to the +second small mound I have mentioned, and, escaping from the water, +concealed itself in the grass, lying close and perfectly motionless like +a young plover. + +In the case of the pampa or creolla sheep, I have shown that during its +long, rough life in La Plata, this variety has in some measure recovered +the natural vigour and ability to maintain existence in adverse +circumstances of its wild ancestors. As much can be said of the creolla +fowl of the pampas; and some observations of mine on the habits of this +variety will perhaps serve to throw light on a vexed question of Natural +History--namely, the cackling of the hen after laying, an instinct which +has been described as "useless" and "disadvantageous." In fowls that +live unconfined, and which are allowed to lay where they like, the +instinct, as we know it, is certainly detrimental, since egg-eating dogs +and pigs soon learn the cause of the outcry, and acquire a habit of +rushing off to find the egg when they hear it. The question then arises: +Does the wild jungle fowl possess the same pernicious instinct? + +The creolla is no doubt the descendant of the fowl originally introduced +about three centuries ago by the first colonists in La Plata, and has +probably not only been uncrossed with any other improved variety, such +as are now fast taking its place, and has lived a much freer life than +is usual with the fowl in Europe. It is a rather small, lean, extremely +active bird, lays about a dozen eggs, and hatches them all, and is of a +yellowish red colour--a hue which is common, I believe, in the old +barn-door fowl of England. The creolla fowl is strong on the wing, and +much more carnivorous and rapacious in habits than other breeds; mice, +frogs, and small snakes are eagerly hunted and devoured by it. At my +home on the pampas a number of these fowls were kept, and were allowed +to range freely about the plantation, which was large, and the adjacent +grounds, where there were thickets of giant cardoon thistle, red-weed, +thorn apple, &c. They always nested at a distance from the house, and it +was almost impossible ever to find their eggs, on account of the extreme +circumspection they observed in going to and from their nests; and when +they succeeded in escaping foxes, skunks, weasels, and opossums, which, +strange to say, they often did, they would rear their chickens away out +of sight and hearing of the house, and only bring them home when winter +deprived them of their leafy covering and made food scarce. During the +summer, in my rambles about the plantation, T would occasionally +surprise one of these half-wild hens with her brood; her distracted +screams and motions would then cause her chicks to scatter and vanish in +all directions, and, until the supposed danger was past, they would lie +as close and well-concealed as young partridges. These fowls in summer +always lived in small parties, each party composed of one cock and as +many hens as he could collect--usually three or four. Each family +occupied its own feeding ground, where it would pass a greater portion +of each day. The hen would nest at a considerable distance from the +feeding ground, sometimes as far as four or five hundred yards away. +After laying an egg she would quit the nest, not walking from it as +other fowls do, but flying, the flight extending to a distance of from +fifteen to about fifty yards; after which, still keeping silence, she +would walk or run, until, arrived at the feeding ground, she would begin +to cackle. At once the cock, if within hearing, would utter a responsive +cackle, whereupon she would run to him and cackle no more. Frequently +the cackling call-note would not be uttered more than two or three +times, sometimes only once, and in a much lower tone than in fowls of +other breeds. + +If we may assume that these fowls, in their long, semi-independent +existence in La Plata, have reverted to the original instincts of the +wild Gallus bankiva, we can see here how advantageous the cackling +instinct must be in enabling the hen in dense tropical jungles to rejoin +the flock after laying an egg. If there are egg-eating animals in the +jungle intelligent enough to discover the meaning of such a short, +subdued cackling call, they would still be unable to find the nest by +going back on the bird's scent, since she flies from the nest in the +first place; and the wild bird probably flies further than the creolla +hen of La Plata. The clamorous cackling of our fowls would appear then +to be nothing more than a perversion of a very useful instinct. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE MEPHITIC SKUNK. + + +It might possibly give the reader some faint conception of the odious +character of this creature (for adjectives are weak to describo it) when +I say that, in talking to strangers from abroad, I have never thought it +necessary to speak of sunstroke, jaguars, or the assassin's knife, but +have never omitted to warn them of the skunk, minutely describing its +habits and personal appearance. + +I knew an Englishman who, on taking a first gallop across the pampas, +saw one, and, quickly dismounting, hurled himself bodily on to it to +effect its capture. Poor man! he did not know that the little animal is +never unwilling to be caught. Men have been blinded for ever by a +discharge of the fiery liquid full in their faces. On a mucous membrane +it burns like sulphuric acid, say the unfortunates who have had the +experience. How does nature protect the skunk itself from the injurious +effects of its potent fluid? I have not unfrequently found individuals +stone-blind, sometimes moving so briskly about that the blindness must +have been of long standing--very possibly in some cases an accidental +drop discharged by the animal itself has caused the loss of sight. When +coming to close quarters with a skunk, by covering up the face, one's +clothes only are ruined. But this is not all one has to fear from an +encounter; the worst is that effluvium, after which crushed garlic is +lavender, which tortures the olfactory nerves, and appears to pervade +the whole system like a pestilent ether, nauseating one until +sea-sickness seems almost a pleasant sensation in comparison. + +To those who know the skunk only from reputation, my words might seem +too strong; many, however, who have come to close quarters with the +little animal will think them ridiculously weak. And consider what must +the feelings be of one who has had the following experience--not an +uncommon experience on the pampas. There is to be a dance at a +neighbouring house a few miles away; he has been looking forward to it, +and, dressing himself with due care, mounts his horse and sets out full +of joyous anticipations. It is a dark windy evening, but there is a +convenient bridle-path through the dense thicket of giant thistles, and +striking it he puts his horse into a swinging gallop. Unhappily the path +is already occupied by a skunk, invisible in the darkness, that, in +obedience to the promptings of its insane instinct, refuses to get out +of it, until the flying hoofs hit it and sand it like a well-kicked +football into the thistles. But the forefoot of the horse, up as high as +his knees perhaps, have been sprinkled, and the rider, after coming out +into the open, dismounts and walks away twenty yards from his animal, +and literally _smells_ himself all over, and with a feeling of profound +relief pronounces himself Not the minutest drop of the diabolical spray +has touched his dancing shoes! Springing into the saddle he proceeds to +his journey's end, is warmly welcomed by his host, and speedily +forgetting his slight misadventure, mingles with a happy crowd of +friends. In a little while people begin exchanging whispers and +significant glances; men are seen smiling at nothing in particular; the +hostess wears a clouded face; the ladies cough and put their scented +handkerchiefs to their noses, and presently they begin to feel faint and +retire from the room. Our hero begins to notice that there is something +wrong, and presently discovers its cause; he, unhappily, has been the +last person in the room to remark that familiar but most abominable +odour, rising like a deadly exhalation from the floor, conquering all +other odours, and every moment becoming more powerful. A drop _has_ +touched his shoe after all; and fearing to be found out, and edging +towards the door, he makes his escape, and is speedily riding home +again; knowing full well that his sudden and early departure from the +scene will be quickly discovered and set down to the right cause. + +In that not always trustworthy book _The Natural History of Chili,_ +Molina tells us how they deal with the animal in the trans-Andine +regions. "When one appears," he says, "some of the company begiu by +caressing it, until an opportunity offers for one of them to seize it by +the tail. In this position the muscles become contracted, the animal is +unable to eject its fluid, and is quickly despatched." One might just as +well talk of caressing a cobra de capello; yet this laughable fiction +finds believers all over South and North America. Professor Baird +gravely introduces it into his great work on the mammalia. I was once +talking about animals in a rancho, when a person present (an Argentine +officer) told that, while visiting an Indian encampment, he had asked +the savages how they contrived to kill skunks without making even a life +in the desert intolerable. A grave old Cacique informed him that the +secret was to go boldly up to the animal, take it by the tail, and +despatch it; for, he said, when you fear it not at all, then it respects +your courage and dies like a lamb--sweetly. The officer, continuing his +story, said that on quitting the Indian camp he started a skunk, and, +glad of an opportunity to test the truth of what he had heard, +dismounted and proceeded to put the Indian plan in practice. Here the +story abruptly ended, and when I eagerly demanded to hear the sequel, +the amateur hunter of furs lit a cigarette and vacantly watched the +ascending smoke. The Indians aro grave jokers, they seldom smile; and +this old traditional skunk-joke, which has run the length of a +continent, finding its way into many wise books, is their revenge on a +superior race. + +I have shot a great many eagles, and occasionally a carancho (Polyborus +tharus), with the plumage smelling strongly of skunk, which shows that +these birds, pressed by hunger, often commit the fearful mistake of +attacking the animal. My friend Mr. Ernest Gibson, of Buenos Ayres, in a +communication to the _Ibis,_ describes an encounter he actually +witnessed between a carancho and a skunk. Riding home one afternoon, he +spied a skunk "shuffling along in the erratic manner usual to that +odoriferous quadruped;" following it at a very short distance was an +eagle-vulture, evidently bent on mischief. Every time the bird came near +the bushy tail rose menacingly; then the carancho would fall behind, +and, after a few moments' hesitation, follow on again. At length, +growing bolder, it sprung forward, seizing the threatening tail with its +claw, but immediately after "began staggering about with dishevelled +plumage, tearful eyes, and a profoundly woe-begone expression on its +vulture face. The skunk, after turning and regarding its victim with an +I-told-you-so look for a few moments, trotted unconcernedly off." + +I was told in Patagonia by a man named Molinos, who was frequently +employed by the Government as guide to expeditions in the desert, that +everywhere throughout that country the skunk is abundant. Some years ago +he was sent with two other men to find and treat with an Indian chief +whose whereabouts were not known. Far in the interior Molinos was +overtaken by a severe winter, his horses died of thirst and fatigue, and +during the three bitterest months of the year he kept himself and his +followers alive by eating the flesh of skunks, the only wild animal that +never failed them. No doubt, on those vast sterile plains where the +skunk abounds, and goes about by day and by night careless of enemies, +the terrible nature of its defensive weapon is the first lesson +experience teaches to every young eagle, fox, wild cat, and puma. + +Dogs kill skunks when made to do so, but it is not a sport they delight +in. One moonlight night, at home, I went out to where the dogs, twelve +in number, were sleeping: while I stood there a skunk appeared and +deliberately came towards me, passing through the dogs where they lay, +and one by one as he passed them they rose up, and, with their tails +between their legs, skulked off. When made to kill skunks often they +become seasoned; but always perform the loathsome task expeditiously, +then rush away with frothing mouths to rub their faces in the wet clay +and rid themselves of the fiery sensation. At one time I possessed only +one dog that could be made to face a skunk, and as the little robbers +were very plentiful, and continually coining about the house in their +usual open, bold way, it was rather hard for the poor brute. This dog +detested them quite as strongly as the others, only he was more +obedient, faithful, and brave. Whenever I bade him attack one of them +he would come close up to me and look up into my face with piteous +pleading eyes, then, finding that he was not to be let off from the +repulsive task, he would charge upon the doomed animal with a blind fury +wonderful to see. Seizing it between his teeth, he would shake it madly, +crushing its bones, then hurl it several feet from him, only to rush +again and again upon it to repeat the operation, doubtless with a +Caligula-like wish in his frantic breast that all the skunks on the +globe had but one backbone. + +I was once on a visit to a sheep-farming brother, far away on the +southern frontier of Buenos Ayres, and amongst the dogs I found there +was one most interesting creature, He was a great, lumbering, stupid, +good-tempered brute, so greedy that when you offered him a piece of meat +he would swallow half your arm, and so obedient that at a word he would +dash himself against the horns of a bull, and face death and danger in +any shape. But, my brother told me, he would not face a skunk--he would +die first. One day I took him out and found a skunk, and for upwards of +half an hour I sat on my horse vainly cheering on my cowardly follower, +and urging him to battle. The very sight of the enemy gave him a fit of +the shivers; and when the irascible little enemy began to advance +against us, going through the performance by means of which he generally +puts his foes to flight without resorting to malodorous +measures--stamping his little feet in rage, jumping up, spluttering and +hissing and flourishing his brush like a warlike banner above his +head--then hardly could I restrain my dog from turning tail and flying +home in abject terror. My cruel persistence was rewarded at last. +Continued shouts, cheers, and hand-clappings began to stir the brute to +a kind of frenzy. Torn by conflicting emotions, he began to revolve +about the skunk at a lumbering gallop, barking, howling, and bristling +up his hair; and at last, shutting his eyes, and with a yell of +desperation, he charged. I fully expected to see the enemy torn to +pieces in a few seconds, but when the dog was still four or five feet +from him the fatal discharge came, and he dropped down as if shot dead. +For some time he lay on the earth perfectly motionless, watched and +gently bedewed by the victorious skunk; then he got up and crept whining +away. Gradually he quickened his pace, finally breaking into a frantic +run. In vain I followed him, shouting at the top of my lungs; he stayed +not to listen, and very speedily vanished from sight--a white speck on +the vast level plain. At noon on the following day he made his +appearance, gaunt and befouled with mud, staggering forward like a +galvanized skeleton. Too worn out even to eat, he flung himself down, +and for hours lay like a dead thing, sleeping off the effects of those +few drops of perfume. + +Dogs, I concluded, like men, have their idiosyncrasies; but I had gained +my point, and proved once more--if any proof were needed--the truth of +that noble panegyric of Bacon's on our faithful servant and companion. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +MIMICRY AND WARNING COLOURS IN GRASSHOPPERS. + + +There is in La Plata a large handsome grasshopper (Zoniopoda tarsata), +the habits of which in its larva and imago stages are in strange +contrast, like those in certain lepidoptera, in which the caterpillars +form societies and act in concert. The adult has a greenish protective +colouring, brown and green banded thighs, bright red hind wings, seen +only during flight. It is solitary and excessively shy in its habits, +living always in concealment among the dense foliage near the surface of +the ground. The yonng are intensely black, like grasshoppers cut out of +jet or ebony, and gregarious in habit, living in bands of forty or fifty +to three or four hundred; and so little shy, that they may sometimes be +taken up by handfuls before they begin to scatter in alarm. Their +gregarious habits and blackness--of all hues in nature the most obvious +to the sight--would alone be enough to make them the most conspicuous of +insects; but they have still other habits which appear as if specially +designed to bring them more prominently into notice. Thus, they all keep +so close together at all times as to have their bodies actually +touching, and when travelling, move so slowly that the laziest snail +might easily overtake and pass one of their bands, and even disappear +beyond their limited horizon in a very short time. + +They often select an exposed weed to feed on, clustering together on its +summit above the surrounding verdure, an exceedingly conspicuous object +to every eye in the neighbourhood. They also frequently change their +feeding-ground; at such times they deliberately cross wide roads and +other open spaces, barren of grass, where, moving so slowly that they +scarcely seem to move at all, they look at a distance like a piece of +black velvet lying on the ground. Thus in every imaginable way they +expose themselves and invite attack; yet, in spite of it all, I have +never detected birds preying on them, and I have sometimes kept one of +these black societies under observation near my house for several days, +watching them at intervals, in places where the trees overhead were the +resort of Icterine and tyrant birds, Guira cuckoos, and other species, +all great hunters after grasshoppers. A young grasshopper is, moreover, +a morsel that seldom comes amiss to any bird, whether insect or seed +eater; and, as a rule, it is extremely shy, nimble, and inconspicuous. +It seems clear that, although the young Zoniopoda does not mimic in its +form any black protected insect, it nevertheless owes its safety to its +blackness, together with the habit it possesses of exposing itself in so +open and bold a manner. Blackness is so common in large protected +insects, as, for instance, in the un-palatable leaf-cutting ants, +scorpions, mygale spiders, wasps, and other dangerous kinds, that it is +manifestly a "warning colour," the most universal and best known in +nature; and the grasshopper, I believe, furthermore mimics the fearless +demeanour of the protected or venomous species, which birds and other +insect-eaters know and respect. It might be supposed that the young +Zoniopoda is itself unpalatable; but this is scarcely probable, for when +the deceptive black mask is once dropped, the excessive shyness, love of +concealment, and protective colouring of the insect show that it is much +sought after by birds. + +While setting this down as an undoubted case of "mimicry," although it +differs in some respects from all other cases I have seen reported, I +cannot help remarking that this most useful word appears to be in some +danger of losing the meaning originally attached to it in zoology. There +are now very few cases of an accidental resemblance found between two +species in nature which are not set down by someone to "mimicry," some +in which even the wildest imagination might well fail to see any +possible benefit to the supposed mimic. In cases where the outward +resemblance of some feeble animal to a widely different and +well-protected species, or to some object like a leaf or stick, and +where such resemblance is manifestly advantageous and has reacted on and +modified the life habits, it is conceivable that slight spontaneous +variations in the structure and colouring of the unprotected species +have been taken advantage of by the principle of natural selection, and +a case of "mimicry" set up, to become more and more perfect in time, as +successive casual variations in the same direction increased the +resemblance. + +The stick-insect is perhaps the most perfect example where resemblance +to an inanimate object has been the result aimed at, so to speak, by +nature; the resemblance of the volucella fly to the humble-bee, on which +it is parasitical, is the most familiar example of one species growing +like another to its own advantage, since only by means of its deceptive +likeness to the humble-bee is it able to penetrate into the nest with +impunity. These two cases, with others of a similar character, were +first called cases of "mimicry" by Kirby and Spence, in their +ever-delightful _Introduction to Entomology--_an old book, but, +curiously enough in these days of popular treatises on all matters of +the kind, still the only general work on insects in the English language +which one who is not an entomologist can read with pleasure. + +A second case of mimicry not yet noticed by any naturalist is seen in +another grasshopper, also common in La Plata (Rhomalea speciosa of +Thun-berg). This is an extremely elegant insect; the head and thorax +chocolate, with cream-coloured markings; the abdomen steel-blue or +purple, a colour I have not seen in any other insects of this family. +The fore wings have a protective colouring; the hind wings are bright +red. When at rest, with the red and purple tints concealed, it is only a +very pretty grasshopper, but the instant it takes wing it becomes the +fac-simile of a very common wasp of the genus Pepris. These wasps vary +greatly in size, some being as large as the hornet; they are solitary, +and feed on the honey of flowers and on fruit, and, besides being +furnished with stings like other wasps--though their sting is nok so +venomous as in other genera--they also, when angry, emit a most +abominable odour, and are thus doubly protected against their enemies. +Their excessive tameness, slow flight, and indolent motions serve to +show that they are not accustomed to be interfered with. All these +strong-smelling wasps have steel-blue or purple bodies, and bright red +wings. So exactly does the Rhomalea grasshopper mimic the Pepris when +flying, that I have been deceived scores of times. I have even seen it +on the leaves, and, after it has flown and settled once more, I have +gone to look at it again, to make sure that my eyes had not deceived me. +It is curious to see how this resemblance has reacted on and modified +the habits of the grasshopper. It is a great flyer, and far more aerial +in its habits than any other insect I am acquainted with in this family, +living always in trees, instead of on or near the surface of the ground. +It is abundant in orchards and plantations round Buenos Ayres, where its +long and peculiarly soft, breezy note may be heard all summer. If the +ancient Athenians possessed so charming an insect as this, their great +regard for the grasshopper was not strange: I only wish that the +"Athenians of South America," as my fellow-townsmen sometimes call +themselves in moments of exaltation, had a feeling of the samo kind--the +regard which does _not_ impale its object on a pin--for the pretty +light-hearted songster of their groves and gardens. + +When taken in the hand, it has the habit, common to most grasshoppers, +of pouring out an inky fluid from its mouth; only the discharge is +unusually copious in this species. It has another habit in defending +itself which is very curious. When captured it instantly curls its body +round, as a wasp does to sting. The suddenness of this action has more +than once caused me to drop an insect I had taken, actually thinking for +the moment that I had taken hold of a wasp. Whether birds would be +deceived and made to drop it or not is a question it would not be easy +to settle; but the instinct certainly looks like 'one of a series of +small adaptations, all tending to make the resemblance to a wasp more +complete and effective. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +DRAGON-FLY STORMS. + + +One of the most curious things I have encountered in my observations on +animal life relates to a habit of the larger species of dragon-flies +inhabiting the Pampas and Patagonia. Dragon-flies are abundant +throughout the country wherever there is water. There are several +species, all more or less brilliantly coloured. The kinds that excited +my wonder, from their habits, are twice as large as the common widely +distributed insects, being three inches to four inches in length, and as +a rule they are sober-coloured, although there is one species--the +largest among them--entirely of a brilliant scarlet. This kind is, +however, exceedingly rare. All the different kinds (of the large +dragon-flies) when travelling associate together, and occasionally, in a +flight composed of countless thousands, one of these brilliant-hued +individuals will catch the eye, appearing as conspicuous among the +others as a poppy or scarlet geranium growing alone in an otherwise +flowerless field. The most common species--and in some cases the entire +flight seems to be composed of this kind only--is the Aeschna +bonariensis Raml, the prevailing colour of which is pale blue. But the +really wonderful thing about them all alike is, that they appear only +when flying before the southwest wind, called _pampero_--the wind that +blows from the interior of the pampas. The pampero is a dry, cold wind, +exceedingly violent. It bursts on the plains very suddenly, and usually +lasts only a short time, sometimes not more than ten minutes; it comes +irregularly, and at all seasons of the year, but is most frequent in the +hot season, and after exceptionally sultry weather. It is in summer and +autumn that the large dragon-flies appear; not _with_ the wind, but--and +this is the most curious part of the matter--in advance of it; and +inasmuch as these insects are not seen in the country at other times, +and frequently appear in seasons of prolonged drought, when all the +marshes and watercourses for many hundreds of miles are dry, they must +of course traverse immense distances, flying before the wind at a speed +of seventy or eighty miles an hour. On some occasions they appear almost +simultaneously with the wind, going by like a flash, and instantly +disappearing from sight. You have scarcely time to see them before the +wind strikes you. As a rule, however, they make their appearance from +five to fifteen minutes before the wind strikes; and when they are in +great numbers the air, to a height of ten or twelve feet above the +surface of the ground, is all at once seen to be full of them, rushing +past with extraordinary velocity in a north-easterly direction. In very +oppressive weather, and when the swiftly advancing pampero brings no +moving mountains of mingled cloud and dust, and is consequently not +expected, the sudden apparition of the dragon-fly is a most welcome one, +for then an immediate burst of cold wind is confidently looked for. In +the expressive vernacular of the gauchos the large dragon-fly is called +_hijo del pampero_--son of the south-west wind. + +It is clear that these great and frequent dragonfly movements are not +explicable on any current hypothesis regarding the annual migrations of +birds, the occasional migrations of butterflies, or the migrations of +some mammals, like the reindeer and buffalo of Arctic America, which, +according to Rae and other observers, perform long journeys north and +south at regular seasons, "from a sense of polarity." Neither this +hypothetical sense in animals, nor "historical memory" will account for +the dragon-fly storms, as the phenomenon of the pampas might be called, +since the insects do not pass and repass between "breeding and +subsistence areas," but all journey in a north-easterly direction; and +of the countless millions flying like thistledown before the great +pampero wind, not one solitary traveller ever returns. + +The cause of the flight is probably dynamical, affecting the insects +with a sudden panic, and compelling them to rush away before the +approaching tempest. The mystery is that they should fly from the wind +before it reaches them, and yet travel in the same direction with it. +When they pass over the level, treeless country, not one insect lags +behind, or permits the wind to overtake it; but, on arriving at a wood +or large plantation they swarm into it, as if seeking shelter from some +swift-pursuing enemy, and on such occasions they sometimes remain +clinging to the trees while the wind spends its force. This is +particularly the case when the wind blows up at a late hour of the day; +then, on the following morning, the dragon-flies are seen clustering to +the foliage in such numbers that many trees are covered with them, a +large tree often appearing as if hung with curtains of some brown +glistening material, too thick to show the green leaves beneath. + +In Patagonia, where the phenomenon of dragon-fly storms is also known, +an Englishman residing at the Rio Negro related to me the following +occurrence which he witnessed there. A race meeting was being held near +the town of El Carmen, on a high exposed piece of ground, when, shortly +before sunset, a violent pampero wind came up, laden with dense +dust-clouds. A few moments before the storm broke, the air all at once +became obscured with a prodigious cloud of dragon-flies. About a hundred +men, most of them on horseback, were congregated on the course at the +time, and the insects, instead of rushing by in their usual way, settled +on the people in such quantities that men and horses were quickly +covered with clinging masses of them. My informant said--and this agrees +with my own observation--that he was greatly impressed by the appearance +of terror shown by the insects; they clung to him as if for dear life, +so that he had the greatest difficulty in ridding himself of them. + +Weissenborn, in London's _Magazine of Natural History_ (N. S. vol. iii.) +describes a great migration of dragon-flies which he witnessed in +Germany in 1839, and also mentions a similar phenomenon occurring in +1816, and extending over a large portion of Europe. But in these cases +the movement took place at the end of May, and the insects travelled due +south; their migrations were therefore similar to those of birds and +butterflies, and were probably due to the same cause. I have been unable +to find any mention of a phenomenon resembling the one with which we are +so familiar on the pampas, and which, strangely enough, has not been +recorded by any European naturalists who have travelled there. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MOSQUITOES AND PARASITE PROBLEMS. + + +There cannot be a doubt that some animals possess an instinctive +knowledge of their enemies--or, at all events, of some of their +enemies--though I do not believe that this faculty is so common as many +naturalists imagine. The most striking example I am acquainted with is +seen in gnats or mosquitoes, and in the minute South American sandflies +(Simulia), when a dragon-fly appears in a place where they are holding +their aerial pastimes. The sudden appearance of a ghost among human +revellers could not produce a greater panic. I have spoken in the last +chapter of periodical storms or waves of dragon-flies in the Plata +region, and mentioned incidentally that the appearance of these insects +is most welcome in oppressively hot weather, since they are known to +come just in advance of a rush of cool wind. In La Plata we also look +for the dragon-fly, and rejoice at its coming, for another reason. We +know that the presence of this noble insect will cause the clouds of +stinging gnats and flies, which make life a burden, to vanish like +smoke. + +When a flight of dragon-flies passes over the country many remain along +the route, as I have said, sheltering themselves wherever trees occur; +and, after the storm blows over, these strangers and stragglers remain +for some days hawking for prey in the neighbourhood. It is curious to +note that they do not show any disposition to seek for watercourses. It +may be that they feel lost in a strange region, or that the panic they +have suffered, in their long flight before the wind, has unsettled their +instincts; for it is certain that they do not, like the dragon-fly in +Mrs. Browning's poem, "return to dream upon the river." They lead +instead a kind of vagabond existence, hanging about the plantations, and +roaming over the surrounding plains. It is then remarked that gnats and +sand-flies apparently cease to exist, even in places where they have +been most abundant. They have not been devoured by the dragon-flies, +which are perhaps very few in number; they have simply got out of the +way, and will remain in close concealment until their enemies take their +departure, or have all been devoured by martins, tyrant birds, and the +big robber-flies or devil's dykes--no name is bad enough for them--of +the family Asilidaa. During these peaceful gnatless days, if a person +thrusts himself into the bushes or herbage in some dark sheltered place, +he will soon begin to hear the thin familiar sounds, as of "horns of +elf-land faintly blowing"; and presently, from the ground and the under +surface of every leaf, the ghost-like withered little starvelings will +appear in scores and in hundreds to settle on him, fear not having +blunted their keen appetites. + +When riding over the pampas on a hot still day, with a pertinacious +cloud of gnats or sandflies hovering just above my head and keeping me +company for miles, I have always devoutly wished for a stray dragon-fly +to show himself. Frequently the wish has been fulfilled, the dragon-fly, +apparently "sagacious of his quarry from afar," sweeping straight at his +prey, and instantly, as if by miracle, the stinging rain has ceased and +the noxious cloud vanished from overhead, to be re-formed no more. This +has always seemed very extraordinary to me; for in other matters gnats +do not appear to possess even that proverbial small dose of intellect +for which we give most insects credit. Before the advent of the +dragon-fly it has perhaps happened that I have been vigorously striking +at them, making it very unpleasant for them, and also killing and +disabling many hundreds--a larger number than the most voracious +dragon-fly could devour in the course of a whole day; and yet, after +brushing and beating them off until my arms have ached with the +exertion, they have continued to rush blindly on their fate, exhibiting +not the faintest symptom of fear. I suppose that for centuries +mosquitoes have, in this way, been brushed and beaten away with hands +and with tails, without learning caution. It is not in their knowledge +that there are hands and tails. A large animal is simply a field on +which they confidently settle to feed, sounding shrill flourishes on +their little trumpets to show how fearless they are. But the dragon-fly +is very ancient on the earth, and if, during the Devonian epoch, when it +existed, it preyed on some blood-sucking insect from which or Culicidae +have come, then these stupid little insects have certainly had ample +time in which to learn well at least one lesson. + +There is not in all organic nature, to my mind, any instance of wasted +energy comparable in magnitude with the mosquito's thirst for blood, and +the instincts and elaborate blood-pumping apparatus with which it is +related. The amount of pollen given off by some wind-fertilized +trees--so great in some places that it covers hundreds of square miles +of earth and water with a film of yellow dust---strikes us as an amazing +waste of material on the part of nature; but in these cases we readily +see that this excessive prodigality is necessary to continue the +species, and that a sufficient number of flowers would not be +impregnated unless the entire trees were bathed for days in the +fertilizing cloud, in which only one out of many millions of floating +particles can ever hit the mark. The mosquito is able to procreate +without ever satisfying its ravenous appetite for blood. To swell its +grey thread-like abdomen to a coral bead is a delight to the insect, but +not necessary to its existence, like food and water to ours; it is the +great prize in the lottery of life, which few can ever succeed in +drawing. In a hot summer, when one has ridden perhaps for half a day +over a low-lying or wet district, through an atmosphere literally +obscured with a fog of mosquitoes, this fact strikes the mind very +forcibly, for in such places it frequently is the case that mammals do +not exist, or are exceedingly rare. In Europe it is different. There, as +Reaumur said, possibly one gnat in every hundred may be able to gratify +its appetite for blood; but of the gnats in many districts in South +America it would be nearer the mark to say that only one in a hundred +millions can ever do so. + +Curtis discovered that only the female mosquito bites or sucks blood, +the male being without tongue or mandibles; and he asks, What, then, +does the male feed on? He conjectures that it feeds on flowers; but, had +he visited some swampy places in hot countries, where flowers are few +and the insects more numerous than the sands on the seashore, he would +most probably have said that the males subsist on decaying vegetable +matter and moisture of slime. It is, however, more important to know +what the female subsists on. We know that she thirsts for warm mammalian +blood, that she seeks it with avidity, and is provided with an admirable +organ for its extraction--only, unfortunately for her, she does not get +it, or, at all events, the few happy individuals that do get it are +swamped in the infinite multitude of those that are doomed by nature to +total abstinence. + +I should like to know whether this belief of Curtis, shared by Westwood +and other distinguished entomologists, but originally put forward merely +as a conjecture, has ever been tested by careful observation and +experiment. If not, then it is strange that it should have crept into +many important works, where it is stated not as a mere guess, but as an +established fact. Thus, Van Beneden, in his work on parasites, while +classing female mosquitoes with his "miserable wretches," yet says, "If +blood fails them, they live, like the males, on the juices of flowers." +If this be so, it is quite certain that the juices fail to satisfy them; +and that, like Dr. Tanner, who was ravenously hungry during his forty +days' fast, in spite of his frequent sips of water, the mosquito still +craves for something better than a cool vegetarian diet. I cannot help +thinking, though the idea may seem fanciful, that mosquitoes feed on +nothing. We know that the ephemerae take no refreshment in the imago +state, the mouth being aborted or atrophied in these short-lived +creatures; but we also know that they belong to an exceedingly ancient +tribe, and possibly, after the earth had ceased to produce their proper +nourishment there came in their history a long hungry period, which did +not kill them, but lasted until their feeding instincts became obsolete, +the mouth lost its use, and their life in its perfect state dwindled to +its present length. + +In any case, how unsatisfactory is the mosquitoes' existence, and what a +curious position they occupy in nature! Let us suppose that, owing to +some great change in the conditions of the earth, rapacious birds were +no longer able to capture prey, and that, by a corresponding change in +their organizations, they were able to subsist on the air they breathed, +with perhaps an occasional green leaf and a sip of water, and yet +retained the old craving for solid food, and the old predatory instincts +and powers undiminished; they would be in the position of mosquitoes in +the imago state. And if then fifty or a hundred individuals were to +succeed every year in capturing something and making one hearty meal, +these few fortunate diners would bear about the same proportion to all +the raptors on the globe as the mosquitoes that succeed in sucking blood +to their unsuccessful fellows. In the case of the hawks, the effect of +the few meals on the entire rapacious family or order would certainly be +_nil;_ and it is impossible to believe for a moment that the +comparatively infinitesimal amount of blood sucked by mosquitoes can. +serve to invigorate the species. The wonder is that the machinery, which +accomplishes nothing, should continue in such perfect working order. + +When we consider the insect's delicate organ, so admirably fitted for +the purpose to which it is applied, it becomes difficult to believe that +it could have been so perfected except in a condition of things utterly +unlike the present. There must have been a time when mosquitoes found +their proper nourishment, and when warm mammalian blood was as necessary +to their existence as honey is to that of the bee, or insect food to the +dragon-fly. + +This applies to many blood-sucking insects besides mosquitoes, and with +special force to the tick tribes (Ixodes), which swarm throughout +Central and South America; for in these degraded spiders the whole body +has been manifestly modified to fit it for a parasitical life; while the +habits of the insect during its blind, helpless, waiting existence on +trees, and its sudden great development when it succeeds in attaching +itself to an animal body, also point irresistibly to the same +conclusion. In the sunny uplands they act (writes Captain Burton) like +the mosquitoes of the hot, humid Beiramar. "The nuisance is general; it +seems to be in the air; every blade of grass has its colony; clusters of +hundreds adhere to the twigs; myriads are found in the bush clumps. Lean +and flat when growing to the leaves, the tick catches man or beast +brushing by, fattens rapidly, and, at the end-of a week's good living, +drops off, _plena cruoris."_ When on trees, Belt says, they +instinctively place themselves on the extreme tips of leaves and shoots, +with their hind legs stretching out, each foot armed with two hooks or +claws, with which to lay hold of any animal brushing by. During this +wretched, incom-plete existence (from which, in most cases, it is never +destined to emerge), its greatest length is about one-fourth of an inch; +but where it fastens itself to an animal the abdomen increases to a +globe as big as a medium-sized Barcelona nut. Being silvery-grey or +white in colour, it becomes, when thus distended, very conspicuous on +any dark surface. I have frequently seen black, smooth-haired dogs with +their coats, turned into a perfect garden of these white spider-flowers +or mushrooms. The white globe is leathery, and nothing can injure it; +and the poor beast cannot rub, bite, or scratch it off, as it is +anchored to his flesh by eight sets of hooks and a triangle of teeth. + +The ticks inhabiting regions rich in bird and insect life, but with few +mammals, are in the same condition as mosquitoes, as far as the supply +of blood goes; and, like the mosquitoes, they are compelled and able to +exist without the nourishment best suited to them. They are nature's +miserable castaways, parasitical tribes lost in a great dry wilderness +where no blood is; and every marsh-born mosquito, piping of the hunger +gnawing its vitals, and every forest tick, blindly feeling with its +grappling-irons for the beast that never brushes by, seems to tell us of +a world peopled with gigantic forms, mammalian and reptilian, which once +afforded abundant pasture to the parasite, and which the parasite +perhaps assisted to overthrow. + +It is almost necessary to transport oneself to the vast tick-infested +wilderness of the New World to appreciate the full significance of a +passage in Belt's _Naturalist in Nicaragua,_ in which it is suggested +that man's hairless condition was perhaps brought about by natural +selection in tropical regions, where he was greatly troubled with +parasites of this kind. It is certain that if in such a country as +Brazil he possessed a hairy coat, affording cover to the tick and +enabling it to get a footing on the body, his condition would be a very +sad one. Savages abhor hairs on the body, and even pluck them off their +faces. This seems like a survival of an ancient habit acquired when the +whole body was clothed with hair; and if primitive man ever possessed +such a habit, nature only followed his lead in giving him a hairless +offspring. + +Is it not also probable that the small amount of mammalian life in South +America, and the aquatic habits of nearly all the large animals in the +warmer districts, is due to the persecutions of the tick? + +The only way in which a large animal can rid itself of the pest is by +going into the water or wallowing in the mud; and this perhaps accounts +for the more or less aquatic habits of the jaguar, aguara-guazu, the +large Cervus paluclosus, tapir, capybara, and peccary. Monkeys, which +are most abundant, are a notable exception; but these animals have the +habit of attending to each other's skins, and spend a great deal of +their time in picking off the parasites. But how do birds escape the +ticks, since these parasites do not confine their attacks to any one +class of aninials, but attach themselves impartially to any living thing +coming within reach of their hooks, from snake to man? My own +observations bearing on this point refer less to the Ixodes than to the +minute bete-rouge, which is excessively abundant in the Plata district, +where it is known as _bicho colorado,_ and in size and habits resembles +the English Leptus autumnalis. It is so small that, notwithstanding its +bright scarlet colour, it can only be discerned by bringing the eye +close to it; and being, moreover, exceedingly active and abundant in all +shady places in summer--making life a misery to careless human +beings--it must be very much more dangerous to birds than the larger +sedentary Ixodes. The bete-rouge invariably lodges beneath the wings of +birds, where the loose scanty plumage affords easy access to the skin. +Domestic birds suffer a great deal from its persecutions, and their. +young, if allowed to run about in shady places, die of the irritation. +Wild birds, however, seem to be very little troubled, and most of those +I have examined have been almost entirely free from parasites. Probably +they are much more sensitive than the domestic birds, and able to feel +and pick off the insects with their beaks before they have penetrated +into the skin. I believe they are also able to protect themselves in +another way, namely, by preventing the parasites from reaching their +bodies at all. I was out under the trees one day with a pet oven-bird +(Furnarius rufus), which had full liberty to range about at will, and +noticed that at short intervals it went through the motions of picking +something from its toes or legs, though I could see nothing on them. At +length I approached my eyes to within a few inches of the bird's feet, +and discovered that the large dry branch on which it stood was covered +with a multitude of parasites, all running rapidly about like foraging +ants, and whenever one came to the bird's feet it at once ran up the +leg. Every time this happened, so far as I could see, the bird felt it. +and quickly and deftly picked it off with the point of its bill. It +seemed very astonishing that the horny covering of the toes and legs +should be so exquisitely sensitive, for the insects are so small and +light that they cannot be felt on the hand, even when a score of them +are running over it; but the fact is as I have stated, and it is highly +probable, I think, that most wild birds keep themselves free from these +little torments in the same way. + +Some observations of mine on a species of Orni-thomyia--a fly +parasitical on birds--might possibly be of use in considering the +question of the anomalous position in nature of insects possessing the +instincts and aptitudes of parasites, and organs manifestly modified to +suit a parasitical mode of life, yet compelled and able to exist free, +feeding, perhaps, on vegetable juices, or, like the ephemerae, on +nothing at all. For it must be borne in mind that I do not assert that +these "occasional" or "accidental" parasites, as some one calls them, +explaining nothing, do not feed on such juices. I do not know what they +feed on. I only know that the joyful alacrity with which gnats and +stinging flies of all kinds abandon the leaves, supposed to afford them +pasture, to attack a warm-blooded animal, serves to show how strong the +impulse is, and how ineradicable the instinct, which must have had an +origin. Perhaps the habits of the bird-fly I have mentioned will serve +to show how, in some cases, the free life of some blood-sucking flies +and other insects might have originated. + +Kirby and Spence, in their _Introduction,_ mention that one or two +species of Ornithomyia have been observed flying about and alighting on +men; and in one case the fly extracted blood and was caught, the species +being thus placed beyond doubt. This circumstance led the authors to +believe that the insect, when the bird it is parasitical on dies, +takes to flight and migrates from body to body, occasionally tasting +blood until, coming to the right body--to wit, that of a bird, or of a +particular species of bird--it once more establishes itself permanently +in the plumage. I fancy that the insect sometimes leads a freer life and +ranges much more than the authors imagined; and I refer to Kirby and +Spence, with apologies to those who regard the _Introduction_ as out of +date, only because I am not aware that we have any later observations on +the subject. + +There is in La Plata a small very common Dendrocolaptine bird--Anumbius +acuticaudatus--much infested by an Ornithomyia, a pretty, pale insect, +half the size of a house-fly, and elegantly striped with green. It is a +very large parasite for so small a bird, yet so cunning and alert is it, +and so swiftly is it able to swim through the plumage, that the bird is +unable to rid itself of so undesirable a companion. The bird lives with +its mate all the year round, much of the time with its grown-up young, +in its nest--a large structure, in which so much building-material is +used that the bird is called in the vernacular Lenatero, or +Firewood-gatherer. On warm bright days without wind, during the absence +of the birds, I have frequently seen a company of from half a dozen to a +dozen or fifteen of the parasitical fly wheeling about in the air above +the nest, hovering and gambolling together, just like house-flies in a +room in summer; but always on the appearance of the birds, returning +from their feeding-ground, they would instantly drop down and disappear +into the nest. How curious this instinct seems! The fly regards the +bird, which affords it the warmth and food essential to life, as its +only deadly enemy; and with an inherited wisdom, like that of the +mosquito with regard to the dragon-fly, or of the horse-fly with regard +to the Monedula wasp, vanishes like smoke from its presence, and only +approaches the bird secretly from a place of concealment. + +The parasitical habit tends inevitably to degrade the species acquiring +it, dulling its senses and faculties, especially those of sight and +locomotion; but the Ornithomyia seems an exception, its dependent life +having had a contrary effect; the extreme sensitiveness, keenness of +sight, and quickness of the bird having reacted on the insect, giving it +a subtlety in its habits and motions almost without a parallel even +among free insects. A man with a blood-sucking flat-bodied flying +squirrel, concealing itself among his clothing and gliding and dodging +all over his body with so much artifice and rapidity as to defeat all +efforts made to capturo it or knock it off, would be a case parallel to +that of the bird-fly on the small bird. It might be supposed that the +Firewood-gatherer, like some ants that keep domestic pets, makes a pet +of the fly; for it is a very pretty insect, barred with green, and with +rainbow reflections on its wings--and birds are believed by some +theorists to possess aesthetic tastes; but the discomfort of having such +a vampire on the body would, I imagine, be too great to allow a kindly +instinct of that nature to grow up. Moreover, I have on several +occasions seen the bird making frantic efforts to capture one of the +flies, which had incautiously flown up from the nest at the wrong +moment. Bird and fly seem to know each other wonderfully well. + +Here, then, we have a parasitical insect specialized in the highest +degree, yet retaining all its pristine faculties unimpaired, its love of +liberty, and of associating in numbers together for sportive exercises, +and well able to take care of itself during its free intervals. And +probably when thrown on the world, as when nests are blown down, or the +birds get killed, or change their quarters, as they often do, it is able +to exist for some time without avian blood. Let us then imagine some of +these orphaned colonies, unable to find birds, but through a slight +change in habits or organization able to exist in the imago state +without sucking blood until they laid their eggs; and succeeding +generations, still better able to stand the altered conditions of life +until they become practically independent (like gnats), multiplying +greatly, and disporting themselves in clouds over forests, yet still +retaining the old hunger for blood and the power to draw it, and ready +at any moment to return to the ancestral habit. It might be said that if +such a result were possible it would have occurred, but that we find no +insect like the Ornithomyia existing independently. With the bird-fly it +has not occurred, as far as we know; but in the past history of some +independent parasites it is possible that something similar to the +imaginary case I have sketched may have taken place. The bush-tick is a +more highly specialized, certainly a more degraded, creature than the +bird-fly, and the very fact of its existence seems to show that it is +possible for even the lowest of the fallen race of parasites to start +afresh in life under new conditions, and to reascend in the scale of +being, although still bearing about it the marks of former degeneracy. + +The connection between the flea and the mammal it feeds on is even less +close than that which exists between the Ornithomyia and bird. The fact +that fleas are so common and universal--for in all lands we have them, +like the poor, always with us; and that they are found on all mammals, +from the king of beasts to the small modest mouse--seems to show a great +amount of variability and adaptiveness, as well as a very high +antiquity. It has often been reported that fleas have been found hopping +on the ground in desert places, where they could not have been dropped +by man or beast; and it has been assumed that these "independent" fleas +must, like gnats and ticks, subsist on vegetable juices. There is no +doubt that they are able to exist and propagate for one or two years +after being deprived of their proper aliment; houses shut up for a year +or longer are sometimes found infested with them; possibly in the +absence of "vegetable juices" they flourish on dust. I have never +detected them hopping on the ground in uninhabited places, although I +once found them in Patagonia, in a hamlet which had been attacked and +depopulated by the Indians about twenty months before my visit. On +entering one of the deserted huts I found the floor literally swarming +with fleas, and in less than ten seconds my legs, to the height of my +knees, were almost black with their numbers. This proves that they are +able toincrease greatly for a period without blood; but I doubt that +they can go on existing and increasing for an indefinite time; perhaps +their true position, with regard to the parasitical habit, is midway +between that of the strict parasite which never leaves the body, and +that of independent parasites like the Culex and the Ixodes, and all +those which are able to exist free for ever, and are parasitical only +when the opportunity offers. + +Entomologists regard the flea as a degraded fly. Certainly it is very +much more degraded than the bird-borne Ornithomyia, with its subtle +motions and instinct, its power of flight and social pastimes. The poor +pulex has lost every trace of wings; nevertheless, in its fallen +condition it has developed some remarkable qualities and saltatory +powers, which give it a lower kind of glory; and, compared with another +parasite with which it shares the human species, it is almost a noble +insect. Darwin has some remarks about the smallness of the brain of an +ant, assuming that this insect possesses a very high intelligence, but I +doubt very much that the ant, which moves in a groove, is mentally the +superior of the unsocial flea. The last is certainly the most teachable; +and if fleas were generally domesticated and made pets of, probably +there would be as many stories about their marvellous intelligence and +fidelity to man as we now hear about our over-praised "friend" the dog. + +With regard to size, the flea probably started on its downward course as +a comparatively large insect, probably larger than the Ornithomyia. That +insect has been able to maintain its existence, without dwindling like +the Leptus into a mere speck, through the great modification in organs +and instinct, which adapt it so beautifully to the feathery element in +which it moves. The bush-tick, wingless from the beginning, and +diverging in another direction, has probably been greatly increased in +size by its parasitical habit; this seems proven by the fact, that as +long as it is parasitical on nothing it remains small, but when able to +fasten itself to an animal it rapidly developes to a great size. Again, +the big globe of its abdomen is coriaceous and elastic, and is probably +as devoid of sensation as a ball of india-rubber. The insect, being made +fast by hooks and teeth to its victim, all efforts to remove it only +increase the pain it causes; and animals that know it well do not +attempt to rub, scratch, or bite it off, therefore the great size and +the conspicuous colour of the tick are positive advantages to it. The +flea, without the subtlety and highly-specialized organs of the +Ornithomyia, or the stick-fast powers and leathery body of the Ixodes, +can only escape its vigilant enemies by making itself invisible; hence +every variation, i.e. increase in jumping-power and diminished bulk, +tending towards this result, has been taken advantage of by natural +selection. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +HUMBLE-BEES AND OTHER MATTERS. + + +Two humble-bees, Bombus thoracicus and B. violaceus, are found on the +pampas; the first, with a primrose yellow thorax, and the extremity of +the abdomen bright rufous, slightly resembles the English B. terrestris; +the rarer species, which is a trifle smaller than the first, is of a +uniform intense black, the body having the appearance of velvet, the +wings being of a deep violaceous blue. + +A census of the humble-bees in any garden or field always shows that the +yellow bees outnumber the black in the proportion of about seven to one; +and I have also found their nests for many years in the same proportion; +about seven nests of the yellow to one nest of the black species. In +habits they are almost identical, and when two species so closely allied +are found inhabiting the same locality, it is only reasonable to infer +that one possesses some advantage over the other, and that the least +favoured species will eventually disappear. In this case, where one so +greatly outnumbers the other, it might be thought that the rarer species +is dying out, or that, on the contrary, it is a new-comer destined to +supplant the older more numerous species. Yet, during the twenty years I +have observed them, there has occurred no change in their relative +positions; though both have greatly increased in numbers during that +time, owing to the spread of cultivation. And yet it would scarcely be +too much to expect some marked change in a period so long as that, even +through the slow-working agency of natural selection; for it is not as +if there had been an exact balance of power between them. In the same +period of time I have seen several species, once common, almost or quite +disappear, while others, very low down as to numbers, have been exalted +to the first rank. In insect life especially, these changes have been +numerous, rapid, and widespread. + +In the district where, as a boy, I chased and caught tinamous, and also +chased ostriches, but failed to catch them, the continued presence of +our two humble-bees, sucking the same flowers and making their nests in +the same situations, has remained a puzzle to my mind. + +The site of the nest is usually a slight depression in the soil in the +shelter of a cardoon bush. The bees deepen the hollow by burrowing in +the earth; and when the spring foliage sheltering it withers up, they +construct a dome-shaped covering of small sticks, thorns, and leaves +bitten into extremely minute pieces. They sometimes take possession of a +small hole or cavity in the ground, and save themselves the labour of +excavation. + +Their architecture closely resembles that of B. terrestris. They make +rudely-shaped oval honey-cells, varying from half an inch to an inch and +a half in length, the smaller ones being the first made; later in the +season the old cocoons are utilized for storing honey. The wax is +chocolate-coloured, and almost the only difference I can find in the +economy of the two species is that the black bee uses a large quantity +of wax in plastering the interior of its nest. The egg-cell of the +yellow bee always contains from twelve to sixteen eggs; that of the +black bee from ten to fourteen; and the eggs of this species are the +largest though the bee is smallest. At the entrance on the edge of the +mound one bee is usually stationed, and, when approached, it hums a +shrill challenge, and throws itself into a menacing attitude. The sting +is exceedingly painful. + +One summer I was so fortunate as to discover two nests of the two kinds +within twelve yards of each other, and I resolved to watch them very +carefully, in order to see whether the two species ever came into +collision, as sometimes happens with ants of different species living +close together. Several times I saw a yellow bee leave its own nest and +hover round or settle on the neighbouring one, upon which the sentinel +black bee would attack and drive it off. One day, while watching, I was +delighted to see a yellow bee actually enter its neighbour's nest, the +sentinel being off duty. In about five minutes' time it came out again +and flew away unmolested. I concluded from this that humble-bees, like +their relations of the hive, occasionally plunder each other's sweets. +On another occasion I found a black bee dead at the entrance of the +yellow bees' nest; doubtless this individual had been caught in the act +of stealing honey, and, after it had been stung to death, it had been +dragged out and left there as a warning to others with like felonious +intentions. + +There is one striking difference between the two species. The yellow bee +is inodorous; the black bee, when angry and attacking, emits an +exceedingly powerful odour: curiously enough, this smell is identical in +character with that made when angry by all the wasps of the South +American genus Pepris--dark blue wasps with red wings. This odour at +first produces a stinging sensation on the nerve of smell, but when +inhaled in large measure becomes very nauseating. On one occasion, while +I was opening a nest, several of the bees buzzing round my head and +thrusting their stings through the veil I wore for protection, gave out +so pungent a smell that I found it unendurable, and was compelled to +retreat. + +It seems strange that a species armed with a venomous sting and +possessing the fierce courage of the humble-bee should also have this +repulsive odour for a protection. It is, in fact, as incongruous as it +would be were our soldiers provided with guns and swords first, and +after with phials of assafoatida to be uncorked in the face of an enemy. + +Why, or how, animals came to be possessed of the power of emitting +pestiferous odours is a mystery; we only see that natural selection has, +in some mstances, chiefly among insects, taken advantage of it to +furnish some of the weaker, more unprotected species with a means of +escape from their enemies. The most stinking example I know is that of a +large hairy caterpillar I have found on dry wood in Patagonia, and +which, when touched, emits an intensely nauseous effluvium. Happily it +is very volatile, but while it lasts it is even more detestable than +that of the skunk. + +The skunk itself offers perhaps the one instance amongst the higher +vertebrates of an animal in which all the original instincts of +self-preservation have died out, giving place to this lower kind of +protection. All the other members of the family it belongs to are +cunning, swift of foot, and, when overtaken, fierce-tempered and well +able to defend themselves with their powerful well-armed jaws. + +For some occult reason they are provided with a gland charged with a +malodorous secretion; and out of this mysterious liquor Nature has +elaborated the skunk's inglorious weapon. The skunk alone when attacked +makes no attempt to escape or to defend itself by biting; but, thrown by +its agitation into a violent convulsion, involuntarily discharges its +foetid liquor into the face of an opponent. When this animal had once +ceased to use so good a weapon as its teeth in defending itself, +degenerating at the same time into a slow-moving creature, without fear +and without cunning, the strength and vileness of its odour would be +continually increased by the cumulative process of natural selection: +and how effective the protection has become is shown by the abundance of +the species throughout the whole American continent. It is lucky for +mankind--especially for naturalists and sportsmen--that other species +have not been improved in the same direction. + +But what can we say of the common deer of the pampas (Cervus +campestris), the male of which gives out an effluvium quite as +far-reaching although not so abominable in character as that of the +Mephitis? It comes in disagreeable whiffs to the human nostril when the +perfumer of the wilderness is not even in sight. Yet it is not a +protection; on the contrary, it is the reverse, and, like the dazzling +white plumage so attractive to birds of prey, a direct disadvantage, +informing all enemies for leagues around of its whereabouts. It is not, +therefore, strange that wherever pumas are found, deer are never very +abundant; the only wonder is that, like the ancient horse of America, +they have not become extinct. + +The gauchos of the pampas, however, give _a reason_ for the powerful +smell of the male deer; and, after some hesitation, I have determined to +set it down here, for the reader to accept or reject, as he thinks +proper. I neither believe nor disbelieve it; for although I do not put +great faith in gaucho natural history, my own observations have not +infrequently confirmed statements of theirs, which a sceptical person +would have regarded as wild indeed. To give one instance: I heard a +gaucho relate that while out riding he had been pursued for a +considerable distance by a large spider; his hearers laughed at him for +a romancer; but as I myself had been attacked and pursued, both when on +foot and on horseback, by a large wolf-spider, common on the pampas, I +did not join in the laugh. They say that the effluvium of C. campestris +is abhorrent to snakes of all kinds, just as pyrethrum powder is to most +insects, and even go so far as to describe its effect as fatal to them; +according to this, the smell is therefore a protection to the deer. In +places where venomous snakes are extremely abundant, as in the Sierra +district on the southern pampas of Buenos Ayres, the gaucho frequently +ties a strip of the male deer's skin, which retains its powerful odour +for an indefinite time, round the neck of a valuable horse as a +protection. It is certain that domestic animals are frequently lost here +through snake-bites. The most common poisonous species--the +Craspedo-cephalus alternatus, called _Vivora de la Cruz_ in the +vernacular--has neither bright colour nor warning rattle to keep off +heavy hoofs, and is moreover of so sluggish a temperament that it will +allow itself to be trodden on before stirring, with the result that its +fangs are not infrequently struck into the nose or foot of browsing +beast. Considering, then, the conditions in which C. campestris is +placed--and it might also be supposed that venomous snakes have in past +times been much more numerous than they are now--it is not impossible to +believe that the powerful smell it emits has been made protective, +especially when we see in other species how repulsive odours have been +turned to account by the principle of natural selection. + +After all, perhaps the wild naturalist of the pampas knows what he is +about when he ties a strip of deer-skin to the neck of his steed and +turns him loose to graze among the snakes. + +The gaucho also affirms that the deer cherishes a wonderful animosity +against snakes; that it becomes greatly excited when it sees one, and +proceeds at once to destroy it; _they say,_ by running round and round +it in a circle, emitting its violent smell in larger measure, until the +snake dies of suffocation. It is hard to believe that the effect can be +so great; but that the deer is a snake hater and killer is certainly +true: in North America, Ceylon, and other districts deer have been +observed excitedly leaping on serpents, and killing them with their +sharp cutting hoofs. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A NOBLE WASP. + +_(Monedula punctata.)_ + + +Naturalists, like kings and emperors, have their favourites, and as my +zoological sympathies, which are wider than my knowledge, embrace all +classes of beings, there are of course several insects for which I have +a special regard; a few in each of the principal orders. My chief +favourite among the hymenopteras is the one representative of the +curious genus Monedula known in La Plata. It is handsome and has +original habits, but it is specially interesting to me for another +reason: I can remember the time when it was extremely rare on the +pampas, so rare that in boyhood the sight of one used to be a great +event to me; and I have watched its rapid increase year by year till it +has come to be one of our commonest species. Its singular habits and +intelligence give it a still better claim to notice. It is a big, showy, +loud-buzzing insect, with pink head and legs, wings with brown +reflections, and body encircled with alternate bands of black and pale +gold, and has a preference for large composite flowers, on the honey of +which it feeds. Its young is, however, an insect-eater; but the Monedula +does not, like other burrowing or sand wasps, put away a store of +insects or spiders, partially paralyzed, as a provision for the grub +till it reaches the pupa state; it actually supplies the grub with +fresh-caught insects as long as food is required, killing the prey it +captures outright, and bringing it in to its young; so that its habits, +in this particular, are more bird- than wasp-like. + +The wasp lays its solitary egg at the extremity of a hole it excavates +for itself on a bare hard piece of ground, and many holes are usually +found close together. When the grub--for I have never been able to find +more than one in a hole--has come out from the egg, the parent begins to +bring in insects, carefully filling up the mouth of the hole with loose +earth after every visit. Without this precaution, which entails a vast +amount of labour, I do not believe one grub out of every fifty would +survive, so overrun are these barren spots of ground used as +breeding-places with hunting spiders, ants, and tiger-beetles. The grub +is a voracious eater, but the diligent mother brings in as much as it +can devour. I have often found as many as six or seven insects, +apparently fresh killed, and not yet touched by the pampered little +glutton, coiled up in the midst of them waiting for an appetite. + +The Monedula is an adroit fly-catcher, for though it kills numbers of +fire-flies and other insects, flies are always preferred, possibly +because they are so little encumbered with wings, and are also more +easily devoured. It occasionally captures insects on the wing, but the +more usual method is to pounce down on its prey when it is at rest. At +one time, before I had learnt their habits, I used frequently to be +startled by two or three or more of these wasps rushing towards my face, +and continuing hovering before it, loudly buzzing, attending me in my +walks about the fields. The reason of this curious proceeding is that +the Monedula preys largely on stinging flies, having learnt from +experience that the stinging fly will generally neglect its own safety +when it has once fastened on a good spot to draw blood from. When a man +or horse stands perfectly motionless the wasps take no notice, but the +moment any movement is made of hand, tail, or stamping hoof, they rush +to the rescue, expecting to find a stinging fly. On the other hand, the +horse has learnt to know and value this fly-scourge, and will stand very +quietly with half a dozen loud Avasps hovering in an alarming manner +close to his head, well knowing that every fly that settles on him will +be instantly snatched away, and that the boisterous Monedula is a better +protection even than the tail--which, by the way, the horse wears very +long in Buenos Ayres. + +I have, in conclusion, to relate an incident I onco witnessed, and which +does not show the Monedula in a very amiable light. I was leaning over a +gate watching one of these wasps feeding on a sunflower. A small +leaf-cutting bee was hurrying about with its shrill busy hum in the +vicinity, and in due time came to the sunflower and settled on it. The +Monedula became irritated, possibly at the shrill voice and bustling +manner of its neighbour, and, after watching it for a few moments on the +flower, deliberately rushed at and drove it off. The leaf-cutter quickly +returned, however--for bees are always extremely averse to leaving a +flower unexplored--but was again driven away with threats and +demonstrations on the part of the Monedula. The little thing went off +and sunned itself on a leaf for a time, then returned to the flower, +only to be instantly ejected again. Other attempts were made, but the +big wasp now kept a jealous watch on its neighbour's movements, and +would not allow it to come within several inches of the flower without +throwing itself into a threatening attitude. The defeated bee retired to +sun itself once more, apparently determined to wait for the big tyrant +to go away; but the other seemed to know what was wanted, and spitefully +made up its mind to stay where it was. The leaf-cutter then gave up the +contest. Suddenly rising up into the air, it hovered, hawk-like, above +the Monedula for a moment, then pounced down on its back, and clung +there, furiously biting, until its animosity was thoroughly appeased; +then it flew off, leaving the other master of the field certainly, but +greatly discomposed, and perhaps seriously injured about the base of the +wings. I was rather surprised that they were not cut quite off, for a +leaf-cutting bee can use its teeth as deftly as a tailor can his shears. + +Doubtless to bees, as to men, revenge is sweeter than honey. But, in the +face of mental science, can a creature as low down in the scale of +organization as a leaf-cutting bee be credited with anything so +intelligent and emotional as deliberate anger and revenge, "which +implies the need of retaliation to satisfy the feelings of the person +(or bee) offended?" According to Bain _(Mental and Moral Science)_ only +the highest animals--stags and bulls he mentions-can be credited with +the developed form of anger, which, he describes as an excitement caused +by pain, reaching the centres of activity, and containing an impulse +knowingly to inflict suffering on another sentient being. Here, if man +only is meant, the spark is perhaps accounted for, but not the barrel of +gunpowder. The explosive material is, however, found in the breast of +nearly every living creature. The bull--ranking high according to Bain, +though I myself should place him nearly on a level mentally with the +majority of the lower animals, both vertebrate and insect--is capable of +a wrath exceeding that of Achilles; and yet the fact that a red rag can +manifestly have no associations, personal or political, for the bull, +shows how uniutcllectual his anger must be. Another instance of +misdirected anger in nature, not quite so familiar .as that of the bull +and red rag, is used as an illustration by one of the prophets: "My +heritage is unto me as a speckled bird; the birds round, about are +against it." I have frequently seen the birds of a thicket gather round +some singularly marked accidental visitor, and finally drive him with +great anger from the neighbourhood. Possibly association comes in a +little here, since any bird, even a small one, strikingly coloured or +marked, might be looked on as a bird of prey. + +The flesh-fly laying its eggs on the carrion-flower is only a striking +instance of the mistakes all instincts are liable to, never more +markedly than in the inherited tendency to fits of frenzied excitement: +the feeling is frequently excited by the wrong object, and explodes at +inopportune moments. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NATURE'S NIGHT LIGHTS. + +_(Remarks about Fireflies and other matters.)_ + + +It was formerly supposed that the light of the firefly (in any family +possessing the luminous power) was a safeguard against the attacks of +other insects, rapacious and nocturnal in their habits. This was Kirby +and Spence's notion, but it might just as well be Pliny's for all the +attention it would receive from modern entomologists: just at present +any observer who lived in the pre-Darwin days is regarded as one of the +ancients. The reasons given for the notion or theory in the celebrated +_Introduction to Entomology_ were not conclusive; nevertheless it was +not an improbable supposition of the authors'; while the theory which +has taken its place in recent zoological writings seems in every way +even less satisfactory. + +Let us first examine the antiquated theory, as it must now be called. By +bringing a raptorial insect and a firefly together, we find that the +flashing light of the latter does actually scare away the former, and is +therefore, for the moment, a protection as effectual as the camp-fire +the traveller lights in a district abounding with beasts of prey. +Notwithstanding this fact, and assuming that we have here the whole +reason of the existence of the light-emitting power, a study of the +firefly's habits compels us to believe that the insect would be just as +well off without the power as with it. Probably it experiences some +pleasure in emitting flashes of light during its evening pastimes, but +this could scarcely be considered an advantage in its struggle for +existence, and it certainly does not account for the possession of the +faculty. + +About the habits of Pyrophorus, the large tropical firefly which has the +seat of its luminosity on the upper surface of the thorax, nothing +definite appears to be known; but it has been said that this instinct is +altogether nocturnal. The Pyrophorus is only found in the sub-tropical +portion of the Argentine country, and I have never met with it. With the +widely-separated Cratomorphus, and the tortoise-shaped Aspisoma, which +emit the light from the abdomen, I am familiar; one species of +Cratomorphus--a long slender insect with yellow wing-cases marked with +two parallel black lines--is "the firefly" known to every one and +excessively abundant in the southern countries of La Plata. This insect +is strictly diurnal in its habits--as much so, in fact, as diurnal +butterflies. They are seen flying about, wooing their mates, and feeding +on composite and umbelliferous flowers at all hours of the day, and are +as active as wasps during the full glare of noon. Birds do not feed on +them, owing to the disagreeable odour, resembling that of phosphorus, +they emit, and probably because they are to be uneatable; but their +insect enemies are not so squeamish, and devour them readily, just as +they also do the blister-fly, which one would imagine a morsel fitted to +disagree with any stomach. One of their enemies is the Monedula wasp; +another, a fly, of the rapacious Asilidas family; and this fly is also a +wasp in appearance, having a purple body and bright red wings, like a +Pepris, and this mimetic resemblance doubtless serves it as a protection +against birds. A majority of raptorial insects are, however, nocturnal, +and from all these enemies that go about under cover of night, the +firefly, as Kirby and Spence rightly conjectured, protects itself, or +rather is involuntarily protected, by means of its frequent flashing +light. We are thus forced to the conclusion that, while the common house +fly and many other diurnal insects spend a considerable portion of the +daylight in purely sportive exercises, the firefly, possessing in its +light a protection from nocturnal enemies, puts off its pastimes until +the evening; then, when its carnival of two or three hours' duration is +over, retires also to rest, putting out its candle, and so exposing +itself to the dangers which surround other diurnal species during the +hours of darkness. I have spoken of the firefly's pastimes advisedly, +for I have really never been able to detect it doing anything in the +evening beyond flitting aimlessly about, like house flies in a room, +hovering and revolving in company by the hour, apparently for amusement. +Thus, the more closely we look at the facts, the more unsatisfactory +does the explanation seem. That the firefly should have become possessed +of so elaborate a machinery, producing incidentally such splendid +results, merely as a protection against one set of enemies for a portion +only of the period during which they are active, is altogether +incredible. + +The current theory, which we owe to Belt, is a prettier one. Certain +insects (also certain Batrachians, reptiles, &c.) are unpalatable to the +rapacious kinds; it is therefore a direct advantage to these unpalatable +species to be distinguishable from all the persecuted, and the more +conspicuous and well-known they are, the less likely are they to be +mistaken by birds, insectivorous mammals, &c., for eatable kinds and +caught or injured. Hence we find that many such species have acquired +for their protection very brilliant or strongly-contrasted +colours--warning colours--which insect-eaters come to know. + +The firefly, a soft-bodied, slow-flying insect, is easily caught and +injured, but it is not fit for food, and, therefore, says the theory, +lest it should be injured or killed by mistake, it has a fiery spark to +warn enemies---birds, bats, and rapacious insects--that it is uneatable. + +The theory of warning colours is an excellent one, but it has been +pushed too far. We have seen that one of the most common fireflies is +diurnal in habits, or, at any rate, that it performs all the important +business of its life by day, when it has neither bright colour nor light +to warn its bird enemies; and out of every hundred species of +insect-eating birds at least ninety-nine are diurnal. Raptorial insects, +as I have said, feed freely on fireflies, so that the supposed warning +is not for them, and it would be hard to believe that the magnificent +display made by luminous insects is useful only in preventing accidental +injuries to them from a few crepuscular bats and goatsuckers. And to +believe even this we should first have to assume that bats and +goatsuckers are differently constituted from all other creatures; for in +other animals--insects, birds, and mammalians--the appearance of fire by +night seems to confuse and frighten, but it certainly cannot be said to +_warn,_ in the sense in which that word is used when we speak of the +brilliant colours of some butterflies, or even of the gestures of some +venomous snakes, and of the sounds they emit. + +Thus we can see that, while the old theory of Kirby and Spence had some +facts to support it, the one now in vogue is purely fanciful. Until some +better suggestion is made, it would perhaps be as well to consider the +luminous organ as having "no very close and direct relation to present +habits of life." About their present habits, however, especially their +crepuscular habits, there is yet much to learn. One thing I have +observed in them has always seemed very strange to me. Occasionally an +individual insect is seen shining with a very large and steady light, or +with a light which very gradually decreases and increases in power, and +at such times it is less active than at others, remaining for long +intervals motionless on the leaves, or moving with a very slow flight. +In South America a firefly displaying this abnormal splendour is said to +be dying, and it is easy to imagine how such a notion originated. The +belief is, however, erroneous, for sometimes, on very rare occasions, +all the insects in one place are simultaneously affected in the same +way, and at such times they mass themselves together in myriads, as if +for migration, or for some other great purpose. Mr. Bigg-Wither, in +South Brazil, and D'Albertis, in New Guinea, noticed these firefly +gatherings; I also once had the rare good fortune to witness a +phenomenon of the kind on a very grand scale. Riding on the pampas one +dark evening an hour after sunset, and passing from high ground +overgrown with giant thistles to a low plain covered with long grass, +bordering a stream of water, I found it all ablaze with myriads of +fireflies. I noticed that all the insects gave out an exceptionally +large, brilliant light, which shone almost steadily. The long grass was +thickly studded with them, while they literally swarmed in the air, all +moving up the valley with a singularly slow and languid flight. When I +galloped down into this river of phosphorescent fire, my horse plunged +and snorted with alarm. I succeeded at length in quieting him, and then +rode slowly through, compelled to keep my mouth and eyes closed, so +thickly did the insects rain on to my face. The air was laden with the +sickening phosphorous smell they emit, but when I had once got free of +the broad fiery zone, stretching away on either hand for miles along the +moist valley, I stood still and gazed back for some time on a scene the +most wonderful and enchanting I have ever witnessed. + +The fascinating and confusing effect which the appearance of fire at +night has on animals is a most interesting subject; and although it is +not probable that anything very fresh remains to be said about it, I am +tempted to add here the results of my own experience. + +When travelling by night, I have frequently been struck with the +behaviour of my horse at the sight of natural fire, or appearance of +fire, always so different from that caused by the sight of fire +artificially created. The steady gleam from the open window or door of a +distant house, or even the unsteady wind-tossed flame of some lonely +camp-fire, has only served to rouse a fresh spirit in him and the desire +to reach it; whereas those infrequent displays of fire which nature +exhibits, such as lightning, or the ignis fatuus, or even a cloud of +fireflies, has always produced a disquieting effect. Experience has +evidently taught the domestic horse to distinguish a light kindled by +man from all others; and, knowing its character, he is just as well able +as his rider to go towards it without experiencing that confusion of +mind caused by a glare in the darkness, the origin and nature of which +is a mystery. The artificially-lighted fire is to the horse only the +possible goal of the journey, and is associated with the thought of rest +and food. Wild animals, as a rule, at any rate in thinly-settled +districts, do not know the meaning of any fire; it only excites +curiosity and fear in them; and they are most disturbed at the sight of +fires made by man, which are brighter and steadier than most natural +fires. We can understand this sensation in animals, since we ourselves +experience a similar one (although in a less degree and not associated +with fear) in the effect which mere brightness has on us, both by day +and night. + +On riding across the monotonous grey Patagonian uplands, where often for +hours one sees not the faintest tinge of bright colour, the intense +glowing crimson of a cactus-fruit, or the broad shining white bosom of +the Patagonian eagle-buzzard (Buteo erythronotus), perched on the summit +of a distant bush, has had a strangely fascinating effect on me, so that +I have been unable to take my eyes off it as long as it continued before +me. Or in passing through extensive desolate marshes, the dazzling white +plumage of a stationary egret has exercised the same attraction. At +night we experience the sensation in a greater degree, when the silver +sheen of the moon makes a broad path on the water; or when a meteor +leaves a glowing track across the sky; while a still more familiar +instance is seen in the powerful attraction on the sight of glowing +embers in a darkened room. The mere brightness, or vividness of the +contrast, fascinates the mind; but the effect on man is comparatively +weak, owing to his fiery education and to his familiarity with brilliant +dyes artificially obtained from nature. How strong this attraction of +mere brightness, even where there is no mystery about it, is to wild +animals is shown by birds of prey almost invariably singling out white +or bright-plumaged birds for attack where bright and sober-coloured +kinds are mingled together. By night the attraction is immeasurably +greater than by day, and the light of a fire steadily gazed at quickly +confuses the mind. The fires which, travellers make for their protection +actually serve to attract the beasts of prey, but the confusion and fear +caused by the bright glare makes it safe for the traveller to lie down +and sleep in the light. Mammals do not lose their heads altogether, +because they are walking on firm ground where muscular exertion and an +exercise of judgment are necessary at every step; whereas birds floating +buoyantly and with little effort through the air are quickly bewildered. +Incredible numbers of migratory birds kill them-selves by dashing +against the windows of lighthouses; on bright moonlight nights the +voyagers are comparatively safe; but during dark cloudy weather the +slaughter is very great; over six hundred birds were killed by striking +a lighthouse in Central America in a single night. On insects the effect +is the same as on the higher animals: on the ground they are attracted +by the light, but keep, like wolves and tigers, at a safe distance from +it; when rushing through the air and unable to keep their eyes from it +they fly into it, or else revolve about it, until, coming too close, +their wings are singed. + +I find that when I am on horseback, going at a swinging gallop, a bright +light affects me far more powerfully than when I am trudging along on +foot. A person mounted on a bicycle and speeding over a level plain on a +dark night, with nothing to guide him except the idea of the direction +in his mind, would be to some extent in the position of the migratory +bird. An exceptionally brilliant ignis fatuus flying before him would +affect him as the gleam of a lamp placed high above the surface affects +the migrants: he would not be able to keep his eyes from it, but would +quickly lose the sense of direction, and probably end his career much as +the bird does, by breaking his machine and perhaps his bones against +some unseen obstruction in the way. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FACTS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT SPIDERS. + + +Some time ago, while turning over a quantity of rubbish in a little-used +room, I disturbed a large black spider. Rushing forth, just in time to +save itself from destruction through the capsizing of a pile of books, +it paused for one moment, took a swift comprehensive glance at the +position, then scuttled away across the floor, and was lost in an +obscure corner of the room. This incident served to remind me of a fact +I was nearly forgetting, that England is not a spiderless country. A +foreigner, however intelligent, coming from warmer regions, might very +easily make that mistake. In Buenos Ayres, the land of my nativity, +earth teems with these interesting little creatures. They abound in and +on the water, they swarm in the grass and herbage, which everywhere +glistens with the silvery veil they spin over it. Indeed it is scarcely +an exaggeration to say that there is an atmosphere of spiders, for they +are always floating about invisible in the air; their filmy threads are +unfelt when they fly against you; and often enough you are not even +aware of the little arrested aeronaut hurrying over your face with feet +lighter than the lightest thistledown. + +It is somewhat strange that although, where other tribes of living +creatures are concerned, I am something of a naturalist, spiders I have +always observed and admired in a non-scientific spirit, and this must be +my excuse for mentioning the habits of some spiders without giving their +specific names--an omission always vexing to the severely-technical +naturalist. They have ministered to the love of the beautiful, the +grotesque, and the marvellous in me; but I have never _collected_ a +spider, and if I wished to preserve one should not know how to do it. I +have been "familiar with the face" of these monsters so long that I have +even learnt to love them; and I believe that if Emerson rightly predicts +that spiders are amongst the things to be expelled from earth by the +perfected man of the future, then a great charm and element of interest +will be lost to nature. Though loving them, I cannot, of course, feel +the same degree of affection towards all the members of so various a +family. The fairy gossamer, scarce seen, a creature of wind and +sunshine; the gem-like Epeira in the centre of its Starry web; even the +terrestrial Salticus, with its puma-like strategy, certainly appeal more +to our aesthetic feelings than does the slow heavy Mygale, looking at a +distance of twenty yards away, as he approaches you, like a gigantic +cockroach mounted on stilts. The rash fury with which the female +wolf-spider defends her young is very admirable; but the admiration she +excites is mingled with other feelings when we remember that the brave +mother proves to her consort a cruel and cannibal spouse. + +Possibly my affection for spiders is due in a great measure to the +compassion I have always felt for them. Pity, 'tis said, is akin to +love; and who can help experiencing that tender emotion that considers +the heavy affliction nature has laid on the spiders in compensation for +the paltry drop of venom with which she, unasked, endowed them! And +here, of course, I am alluding to the wasps. These insects, with a +refinement of cruelty, prefer not to kill their victims outright, but +merely maim them, then house them in cells where the grubs can vivisect +them at leisure. This is one of those revolting facts the fastidious +soul cannot escape from in warm climates; for in and out of open windows +and doors, all day long, all the summer through, comes the busy +beautiful mason-wasp. A long body, wonderfully slim at the waist, bright +yellow legs and thorax, and a dark crimson abdomen,--what object can be +prettier to look at? But in her life this wasp is not beautiful. At +home in summer they were the pests of my life, for nothing would serve +to keep them out. One day, while we were seated at dinner, a clay nest, +which a wasp had succeeded in completing unobserved, detached itself +from the ceiling and fell with a crash on to the table, where it was +shattered to pieces, scattering a shower of green half-living spiders +round it. I shall never forget the feeling of intense repugnance I +experienced at the sight, coupled with detestation of the pretty but +cruel little architect. There is, amongst our wasps, even a more +accomplished spider-scourge than the mason-wasp, and I will here give a +brief account of its habits. On the grassy pampas, dry bare spots of +soil are resorted to by a class of spiders that either make or take +little holes in the ground to reside in, and from which they rush forth +to seize their prey. They also frequently sit inside their dens and +patiently wait there for the intrusion of some bungling insect. Now, in +summer, to a dry spot of ground like this, comes a small wasp, scarcely +longer than a blue-bottle fly, body and wings of a deep shining purplish +blue colour, with only a white mark like a collar on the thorax. It +flirts its blue wings, hurrying about here and there, and is extremely +active, and of a slender graceful figure--the type of an assassin. It +visits and explores every crack and hole in the ground, and, if you +watch it attentively, you will at length see it, on arriving at a hole, +give a little start backwards. It knows that a spider lies concealed +within. Presently, having apparently matured a plan of attack, it +disappears into the hole and remains there for some time. Then, just +when you are beginning to think that the little blue explorer has been +trapped, out it rushes, flying in terror, apparently, from the spider +who issues close behind in hot pursuit; but, before they are three +inches away from the hole, quick as lightning the wasp turns on its +follower, and the two become locked together in a deadly embrace. +Looking like one insect, they spin rapidly round for a few moments, then +up springs the wasp--victorious. The wretched victim is not dead; its +legs move a little, but its soft body is paralyzed, and lies collapsed, +flabby, and powerless as a stranded jellyfish. And this is the +invariable result of every such conflict. In other classes of beings, +even the weakest hunted thing occasionally succeeds in inflicting pain +on its persecutor, and the small trembling mouse, unable to save itself, +can sometimes make the cat shriek with paiu; but there is no weak spot +in the wasp's armour, no fatal error of judgment, not even an accident, +ever to save the wretched victim from its fate. And now comes the most +iniquitous part of the proceeding. When the wasp has sufficiently rested +after the struggle, it deliberately drags the disabled spider back into +its own hole, and, having packed it away at the extremity, lays an egg +alongside of it, then, coming out again, gathers dust and rubbish with +which it fills up and obliterates the hole; and, having thus concluded +its Machiavellian task, it flies cheerfully off in quest of another +victim. + +The extensive Epeira family supply the mason-wasps and other +spider-killers with the majority of their victims. These spiders have +soft, plump, succulent bodies like pats of butter; they inhabit trees +and bushes chiefly, where their geometric webs-betray their whereabouts; +they are timid, comparatively innocuous, and reluctant to quit the +shelter of their green bower, made of a rolled-up leaf; so that there +are many reasons why they should be persecuted. They exhibit a great +variety of curious forms; many are also very richly coloured; but even +their brightest hues--orange, silver, scarlet--have not been given +without regard to the colouring of their surroundings. Green-leafed +bushes arc frequented by vividly green Epeiras, but the imitative +resemblance does not quite end here. The green spider's method of +escape, when the bush is roughly shaken, is to drop itself down on the +earth, where it lies simulating death. In falling, it drops just as a +green leaf would drop, that is, not quite so rapidly as a round, solid +body like a beetle or spider. Now in the bushes there is another Epeira, +in size and form like the last, but differing in colour; for instead of +a vivid green, it is of a faded yellowish white--the exact hue of a +dead, dried-up leaf. This spider, when it lets itself drop--for it has +the same protective habit as the other--falls not so rapidly as a green +freshly broken off leaf or as the green spider would fall, but with a +slower motion, precisely like a leaf withered up till it has become +almost light as a feather. It is not difficult to imagine how this comes +about: either a thicker line, or a greater stiffness or tenacity of the +viscid fluid composing the web and attached to the point the spider +drops from, causes one to fall slower than the other. But how many +tentative variations in the stiffness of the web material must there +have been before the precise degree was attained enabling the two +distinct species, differing in colour, to complete their resemblance to +falling leaves--a fresh green leaf in one case and a dead, withered leaf +in the other! + +The Tetragnatha--a genus of the Epeira family, and known also in +England--are small spiders found on the margin of streams. Their bodies +are slender, oblong, and resembling a canoe in shape; and when they sit +lengthwise on a stem or blade of grass, their long, hair-like legs +arranged straight before and behind them, it is difficult to detect +them, so closely do they resemble a discoloured stripe on the herbage. A +species of Tetragnatha with a curious modification of structure abounds +on the pampas. The long leg of this spider is no thicker than a bristle +from a pig's back, but at the extremity it is flattened and broad, +giving it a striking resemblance to an oar. These spiders are only found +in herbage overhanging the borders of streams: they are very numerous, +and, having a pugnacious temper, are incessantly quarrelling; and it +frequently happens that in these encounters, or where they are pursuing +each other through the leaves, they drop into the water below. I +believe, in fact, that they often drop themselves purposely into it as +the readiest means of escape when hard pressed. When this happens, the +advantage of the modified structure of the legs is seen. The fallen +spider, sitting boat-like on the surface, throws out its long legs, and, +dipping the broad ends into the water, literally rows itself rapidly to +land. + +The gossamer-spider, most spiritual of living things, of which there are +numerous species, some extremely beautiful in colouring and markings, is +the most numerous of our spiders. Only when the declining sun flings a +broad track of shiny silver light on the plain does one get some faint +conception of the unnumbered millions of these buoyant little creatures +busy weaving their gauzy veil over the earth and floating unseen, like +an ethereal vital dust, in the atmosphere. + +This spider carries within its diminutive abdomen a secret which will +possibly serve to vex subtle intellects for a long time to come; for it +is hard to believe that merely by mechanical force, even aided by +currents of air, a creature half as big as a barley grain can +instantaneously snoot out filaments twenty or thirty inches long, and by +means of which it floats itself in the air. + +Naturalists are now giving a great deal of attention to the migrations +of birds in different parts of the world: might not insect and spider +migrations be included with advantage to science in their observations? +The common notion is that the gossamer makes use of its unique method of +locomotion, only to shift its quarters, impelled by want of food or +unfavourable conditions--perhaps only by a roving disposition. I believe +that besides these incessant flittings about from place to place +throughout the summer the gossamer-spiders have great periodical +migrations which are, as a rule, in-visible, since a single floating web +cannot be remarked, and each individual rises and floats away by itself +from its own locality when influenced by the instinct. When great +numbers of spiders rise up simultaneously over a large area, then, +sometimes, the movement forces itself on our attention; for at such +times the whole sky may be filled with visible masses of floating web. +All the great movements of gossamers I have observed have occurred in +the autumn, or, at any rate, several weeks after the summer solstice; +and, like the migrations of birds at the same season of the year, have +been in a northerly direction. I do not assert or believe that the +migratory instinct in the gossamer is universal. In a moist island, like +England, for instance, where the condition of the atmosphere is seldom +favourable, and where the little voyagers would often be blown by +adverse winds to perish far out at sea, it is difficult to believe that +such migrations take place. But where they inhabit a vast area of land, +as in South America, extending without interruption from the equator to +the cold Magellanic regions, and where there is a long autumn of dry, +hot weather, then such an instinct as migration might have been +developed. For this is not a faculty merely of a few birds: the impulse +to migrate at certain seasons affects birds, insects, and even mammals. +In a few birds only is it highly developed, but the elementary feeling, +out of which the wonderful habit of the swallow has grown, exists widely +throughout animated nature. On the continent of Europe it also seems +probable that a great autumnal movement of these spiders takes place; +although, I must confess, I have no grounds for this statement, except +that the floating gossamer is called in Germany "Der fliegender +Summer"--the flying or departing summer. + +I have stated that all migrations of gossamers I have witnessed have +been in the autumn; excepting in one instance, these flights occurred +when the weather was still hot and dry. The exceptionally late migration +was on March 22--a full month after the departure of martins, +humming-birds, flycatchers, and most other true bird-migrants. It struck +me as being so remarkable, and seems to lend so much force to the idea I +have suggested, that I wish to give here an exact copy of the entries +made at the time and on the spot in my notebook. + +"March 22. This afternoon, while I was out shooting, the +gossamer-spiders presented an appearance quite new to me. Walking along +a stream (the Conchitas, near Buenos Ayres), I noticed a broad white +line skirting the low wet ground. This I found was caused by gossamer +web lying in such quantities over the earth as almost to hide the grass +ad thistles under it. The white zone was about twenty yards wide, and +outside it only a few scattered webs were visible on the grass; its +exact length I did not ascertain, but followed it for about two miles +without finding the end. The spiders were so numerous that they +continually baulked one another in their efforts to rise in the air. As +soon as one threw out its lines they would become entangled with those +of another spider, lanced out at the same moment; both spiders would +immediately seem to know the cause of the trouble, for as soon as their +lines fouled they would rush angrily towards each other, each trying to +drive the other from the elevation. Notwithstanding these difficulties, +numbers were continually floating off on the breeze which blew from the +south. + +"I noticed three distinct species: one with a round scarlet body; +another, velvet black, with large square cephalothorax and small pointed +abdomen; the third and most abundant kind were of different shades of +olive green, and varied greatly in size, the largest being fully a +quarter of an inch in length. Apparently these spiders had been driven +up from the low ground along the stream where it was wet, and had +congregated along the borders of the dry ground in readiness to migrate. + +"25th. Went again to visit the spiders, scarcely expecting to find them, +as, since first seeing them, we have had much wind and rain. To my +surprise I found them in greatly increased numbers: on the tops of +cardoons, posts, and other elevated situations they were literally lying +together in heaps. Most of them were large and of the olive-coloured +species; their size had probably prevented them from getting away +earlier, but they were now floating off in great numbers, the weather +being calm and tolerably dry. To-day I noticed a new species with a grey +body, elegantly striped with black, and pink legs--a very pretty spider. + +"26th. Went again to-day and found that the whole vast army of +gossamers, with the exception of a few stragglers sitting on posts and +dry stalks, had vanished. They had taken advantage of the short spell of +fine weather we are now having, after an unusually wet and boisterous +autumn, to make their escape." + +Here it seemed to me that a conjunction of circumstances--first, the +unfavourable season preventing migration at the proper time, and +secondly, the strip of valley out of which the spiders had been driven +to the higher ground till they were massed together--only served to make +visible and evident that a vast annual migration takes place which we +have only to look closely for to discover. + +One of the most original spiders in Buenos Ayres--mentally original, I +mean--is a species of Pholcus; a quiet, inoffensive creature found in +houses, and so abundant that they literally swarm where they are not +frequently swept away from ceilings and obscure corners. Certainly it +seems a poor spider after the dynamical and migratory gossamer; but it +happens, curiously enough, that a study of the habits of this dusty +domestic creature leads us incidentally into the realms of fable and +romance. It is remarkable for the extreme length of its legs, and +resembles in colour and general appearance a crane fly, but is double +the size of that insect. It has a singular method of protecting itself: +when attacked or approached even, gathering its feet together and +fastening them to the centre of its web, it swings itself round and +round with the velocity of a whirligig, so that it appears like a mist +on the web, offering no point for an enemy to strike at. "When a fly is +captured the spider approaches it cautiously and spins a web round it, +continually narrowing the circle it describes, until the victim is +inclosed in a cocoon-like covering. This is a common method with +spiders; but the intelligence--for I can call it by no other word--of +the Pholcus has supplemented this instinctive procedure with a very +curious and unique habit. The Pholcus, in spite of its size, is a weak +creature, possessing little venom to despatch its prey with, so that it +makes a long and laborious task of killing a fly. A fly when caught in +a web is a noisy creature, and it thus happens that when the +Daddylonglegs--as Anglo-Argentines have dubbed this species--succeeds in +snaring a captive the shrill outrageous cries of the victim are heard +for a long time--often for ten or twelve minutes. This noise greatly +excites other spiders in the vicinity, and presently they are seen +quitting their webs and flurrying to the scene of conflict. Sometimes +the captor is driven off, and then the strongest or most daring spider +carries away the fly. But where a large colony are allowed to continue +for a long time in undisturbed possession of a ceiling, when one has +caught a fly he proceeds rapidly to throw a covering of web over it, +then, cutting it away, drops it down and lets it hang suspended by a +line at a distance of two or three feet from the ceiling. The other +spiders arrive on the scene, and after a short investigation retreat to +their own webs, and when the coast is clear our spider proceeds to draw +up the captive fly, which is by this time exhausted with its struggles." + +Now, I have repeatedly remarked that all spiders, when the shrill +humming of an insect caught in a web is heard near them, become +agitated, like the Pholcus, and will, in the same way, quit their own +webs and hurry to the point the sound proceeds from. This fact convinced +me many years ago that spiders are attracted by the sound of musical +instruments, such as violins, concertinas, guitars, &c., simply because +the sound produces the same effect on them as the shrill buzzing of a +captive fly. I have frequently seen spiders come down walls or from +ceilings, attracted by the sound of a guitar, softly played; and by +gently touching metal strings, stretched on a piece of wood, I have +succeeded in attracting spiders on to the strings, within two or three +inches of my fingers; and I always noticed that the spiders seemed to be +eagerly searching for something which they evidently expected to find +there, moving about in an excited manner and looking very hungry and +fierce. I have no doubt that Pelisson's historical spider in the +Bastille came down in a mood and with a manner just as ferocious when +the prisoner called it with musical sounds to be fed. + +The spiders I have spoken of up till now are timid, inoffensive +creatures, chiefly of the Epeira family; but there are many others +exceedingly high-spirited and, like some of the most touchy +hymenopteras, always prepared to "greatly quarrel" over matters of +little moment. The Mygales, of which we have several species, are not to +be treated with contempt. One is extremely abundant on the pampas, the +Mygale fusca, a veritable monster, covered with dark brown hair, and +called in the vernacular _aranea peluda_--hairy spider. In the hot +month of December these spiders take to roaming about on the open plain, +and are then everywhere seen travelling in a straight line with a slow +even pace. They are very great in attitudes, and when one is approached +it immediately throws itself back, like a pugilist preparing for an +encounter, and stands up so erect on its four hind feet that the under +surface of its body is displayed. Humble-bees are commonly supposed to +carry the palm in attitudinizing; and it is wonderful to see the +grotesque motions of these irascible insects when their nest is +approached, elevating their abdomens and two or three legs at a time, so +that they resemble a troupe of acrobats balancing themselves on their +heads or hands, and kicking their legs about in the air. And to impress +the intruder with the dangerous significance of this display they hum a +shrill warning or challenge, and stab at the air with their naked +stings, from which limpid drops of venom are seen to exude. These +threatening gestures probably have an effect. In the case of the hairy +spider, I do not think any creature, however stupid, could mistake its +meaning when it stands suddenly up, a figure horribly grotesque; then, +dropping down on all eights, charges violently forwards. Their long, +shiny black, sickle-shaped falces are dangerous weapons. I knew a native +woman who had been bitten on the leg, and who, after fourteen years, +still suffered at intervals acute pains in the limb. + +The king of the spiders on the pampas is, however, not a Mygale, but a +Lycosa of extraordinary size, light grey in colour, with a black ring +round its middle. It is active and swift, and irritable to such a degree +that one can scarcely help thinking that in this species nature has +overshot her mark. + +When a person passes near one--say, within three or four yards of its +lurking-place--it starts up and gives chase, and will often follow for a +distance of thirty or forty yards. I came once very nearly being bitten +by one of these savage creatures Riding at an easy trot over the dry +grass, I suddenly observed a spider pursuing me, leaping swiftly along +and keeping up with my beast. I aimed a blow with my whip, and the point +of the lash struck the ground close to it, when it instantly leaped upon +and ran up the lash, and was actually within three or four inches of my +hand when I flung the whip from me. + +The gauchos have a very quaint ballad which tells that the city of +Cordova was once invaded by an army of monstrous spiders, and that the +townspeople went out with beating drums and flags flying to repel the +invasion, and that after firing several volleys they were forced to turn +and fly for their lives. I have no doubt that a sudden great increase of +the man-chasing spiders, in a year exceptionally favourable to them, +suggested this fable to some rhyming satirist of the town. + +In conclusion of this part of my subject, I will describe a single +combat of a very terrible nature I once witnessed between two little +spiders belong-ing to the same species. One had a small web against a +wall, and of this web the other coveted possession. After vainly trying +by a series of strategic movements to drive out the lawful owner, it +rushed on to the web, and the two envenomed httle duellists closed in +mortal combat. They did nothing so vulgar and natural as to make use of +their falces, and never once actually touched each other, but the fight +was none the less deadly. Rapidly revolving about, or leaping over, or +passing under, each other, each endeavoured to impede or entangle his +adversary, and the dexterity with which each avoided the cunningly +thrown snare, trying at the same time to entangle its opponent, was +wonderful to see. At length, after this equal battle had raged for some +time, one of the combatants made some fatal mistake, and for a moment +there occurred a break in his motions; instantly the other perceived his +advantage, and began leaping backwards and forwards across his +struggling adversary with such rapidity as to confuse the sight, +producing the appearance of two spiders attacking a third one lying +between them. He then changed his tactics, and began revolving round and +round his prisoner, and very soon the poor vanquished wretch--the +aggressor, let us hope, in the interests of justice--was closely wrapped +in a silvery cocoon, which, unlike the cocoon the caterpillar weaves for +itself, was also its winding-sheet. + +In the foregoing pages I have thrown together some of the most salient +facts I have noted; but the spider-world still remains to me a +wonderland of which I know comparatively nothing. Nor is any very +intimate knowledge of spiders to be got from books, though numberless +lists of new species are constantly being printed; for they have not yet +had, like the social bees and ants, many loving and patient chroniclers +of their ways. The Hubens and Lubbocks have been many; the Moggridges +few. But even a very slight study of these most versatile and +accomplished of nature's children gives rise to some interesting +reflections. One fact that strikes the mind very forcibly is the +world-wide distribution of groups of species possessing highly developed +instincts. One is the zebra-striped Salticus, with its unique +strategy--that is to say, unique amongst spiders. It is said that the +Australian savage approaches a kangaroo in the open by getting up in +sight of its prey and standing perfectly motionless till he is regarded +as an inanimate object, and every time the animal's attention wanders +advancing a step or two until sufficiently near to hurl his spear. The +Salticus approaches a fly in the same manner, till near enough to make +its spring. Another is the Trapdoor spider. Another the Dolomedes, that +runs over the surface of the water in pursuit of its prey, and dives +down to escape from its enemies; and, strangest of all, the Argyroneta, +that has its luminous dwelling at the bottom of streams; and just as a +mason carries bricks and mortar to its building, so does this spider +carry down bubbles of air from the surface to enlarge its mysterious +house, in which it lays its eggs and rears its young. Community of +descent must be supposed of species having such curious and complex +instincts; but how came these feeble creatures, unable to transport +themselves over seas and continents like the aerial gossamer, to be so +widely distributed, and inhabiting regions with such different +conditions? This can only be attributed to the enormous antiquity of the +species, and of this antiquity the earliness in which the instinct +manifests itself in the young spiders is taken as evidence. + +A more important matter, the intelligence of spiders, has not yet +received the attention it deserves. The question of insect +intelligence--naturalists are agreed that insects do possess +intelligence--is an extremely difficult one; probably some of our +conclusions on this matter will have to be reconsidered. For instance, +we regard the Order Hymenoptera as the most intelligent because most of +the social insects are included in it; but it has not yet been proved, +probably never will be proved, that the social instincts resulted from +intelligence which has "lapsed." Whether ants and bees were more +intelligent than other insects during the early stages of their organic +societies or not, it will hardly be disputed by any naturalist who has +observed insects for long that many solitary species display more +intelligence in their actions than those that live in communities. + +The nature of the spider's food and the difficulties in the way of +providing for their wants impose on them a life of solitude: hunger, +perpetual watchfulness, and the sense of danger have given them a +character of mixed ferocity and timidity. But these very conditions, +which have made it impossible for them to form societies like some +insects and progress to a state of things resembling civilization in +men, have served to develop the mind that is in a spider, making of him +a very clever barbarian-The spider's only weapon of defence---his +falces--are as poor a protection against the assaults of his insect foes +as are teeth and finger-nails in man employed against wolves, bears, and +tigers. And the spider is here even worse off than man, since his +enemies are winged and able to sweep down instantly on him from above; +they are also protected with an invulnerable shield, and are armedwith +deadly stings. Like man, also, the spider has a soft, unprotected body, +while his muscular strength, compared with that of the insects he has to +contend with, is almost _nil._ His position in nature then, with +relation to his enemies, is like that of man; only the spider has this +disadvantage, that he cannot combine with others for protection. That he +does protect himself and maintains his place in nature is due, not to +special instincts, which are utterly insufficient, but to the +intelligence which supplements them. At the same time this superior +cunning is closely related with, and probably results indirectly from, +the web he is provided with, and which is almost of the nature of an +artificial aid. Let us take the imaginary case of a man-like monkey, or +of an arboreal man, born with a cord of great length attached to his +waist, which could be either dragged after him or carried in a coil. +After many accidents, experience would eventually teach him to put it to +some use; practice would make him more and more skilful in handling it, +and, indirectly, it would be the means of developing his latent mental +faculties. He would begin by using it, as the monkey does its prehensile +tail, to swing himself from branch to branch, and finally, to escape +from an enemy or in pursuit of his prey, he would be able by means of +his cord to drop himself with safety from the tallest trees, or fly down +the steepest precipices. He would coil up his cord to make a bed to lie +on, and also use it for binding branches together when building himself +a refuge. In a close fight, he would endeavour to entangle an adversary, +and at last he would learn to make a snare with it to capture his prey. +To all these, and to a hundred other uses, the spider has put his web. +And when we see him spread his beautiful geometric snare, held by lines +fixed to widely separated points, while he sits concealed in his +web-lined retreat amongst the leaves where every touch on the +far-reaching structure is telegraphed to him by the communicating line +faithfully as if a nerve had been touched, we must admire the wonderful +perfection to which he has attained in the use of his cord. By these +means he is able to conquer creatures too swift and strong for him, and +make them his prey. When we see him repairing damages, weighting his +light fabric in windy weather with pebbles or sticks, as a fisher +weights his net, and cutting loose a captive whose great strength +threatens the destruction of the web, then we begin to suspect that he +has, above his special instinct, a reason that guides, modifies, and in +many ways supplements it. It is not, however, only on these great +occasions, when the end is sought by unusual means, that spiders show +their intelligence; for even these things might be considered by some as +merely parts of one great complex instinct; but at all times, in all +things, the observer who watches them closely cannot fail to be +convinced that they possess a guiding principle which is not mere +instinct. What the stick or stone was to primitive man, when he had made +the discovery that by holding it in his hand he greatly increased the +force of his blow, the possession of a web has been to the spider in +developing that spark of intellect which it possesses in common with all +animal organisms. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE DEATH-FEIGNING INSTINCT. + + +Most people are familiar with the phenomenon of "death-feigning," +commonly seen in coleopterous insects, and in many spiders. This highly +curious instinct is also possessed by some vertebrates. In insects it is +probably due to temporary paralysis occasioned by sudden concussion, for +when beetles alight abruptly, though voluntarily, they assume that +appearance of death, which lasts for a few moments. Some species, +indeed, are so highly sensitive that the slightest touch, or even a +sudden menace, will instantly throw them into this motionless, +death-simulating condition. Curiously enough, the same causes which +produce this trance in slow-moving species, like those of Scarabseus for +example, have a precisely contrary effect on species endowed with great +activity. Rapacious beetles, when disturbed, scuttle quickly out of +sight, and some water-beetles spin about the surface, in circles or +zigzag lines, so rapidly as to confuse the eye. Our common long-legged +spiders (Pholcus) when approached draw their feet together in the middle +of the web, and spin the body round with such velocity as to resemble a +whirligig. + +Certain mammals and birds also possess the death-simulating instinct, +though it is hardly possible to believe that the action springs from the +same immediate cause in vertebrates and in insects. In the latter it +appears to be a purely physical instinct, the direct result of an +extraneous cause, and resembling the motions of a plant. In mammals and +birds it is evident that violent emotion, and not the rough handling +experienced, is the final cause of the swoon. + +Passing over venomous snakes, skunks, and a few other species in which +the presence of danger excites only anger, fear has a powerful, and in +some cases a disabling, effect on animals; and it is this paralyzing +effect of fear on which the death-feigning instinct, found only in a few +widely-separated species, has probably been built up by the slow +cumulative process of natural selection. + +I have met with some curious instances of the paralyzing effect of fear. +I was told by some hunters in an outlying district of the pampas of its +effect on a jaguar they started, and which took refuge in a dense clump +of dry reeds. Though they could see it, it was impossible to throw the +lasso over its head, and, after vainly trying to dislodge it, they at +length set fire to the reeds. Still it refused to stir, but lay with +head erect, fiercely glaring at them through the flames. Finally it +disappeared from sight in the black smoke; and when the fire had burnt +itself out, it was found, dead and charred, in the same spot. + +On the pampas the gauchos frequently take the black-necked swan by +frightening it. When the birds are feeding or resting on the grass, two +or three men or boys on horseback go quietly to leeward of the flock, +and when opposite to it suddenly wheel and charge it at full speed, +uttering loud shouts, by which the birds are thrown into such terror +that they are incapable of flying, and are quickly despatched. + +I have also seen gaucho boys catch the Silver-bill (Lichenops +perspicillata) by hurling a stick or stone at the bird, then rushing at +it, when it sits perfectly still, disabled by fear, and allows itself to +be taken. I myself once succeeded in taking a small bird of another +species in the same way. + +Amongst mammals our common fox (Canis azarae), and one of the opossums +(Didelphys azarae), are strangely subject to the death-simulating swoon. +For it does indeed seem strange that animals so powerful, fierce, and +able to inflict such terrible injury with their teeth should also +possess this safeguard, apparently more suited to weak inactive +creatures that cannot resist or escape from an enemy and to animals very +low down in the scale of being. When a fox is caught in a trap or run +down by dogs he fights savagely at first, but by-and-by relaxes his +efforts, drops on the ground, and apparently yields up the ghost. The +deception is so well carried out, that dogs are constantly taken in by +it, and no one, not previously acquainted with this clever trickery of +nature, but would at once pronounce the creature dead, and worthy of +some praise for having perished in so brave a spirit. Now, when in this +condition of feigning death, I am quite sure that the animal does not +altogether lose consciousness. It is exceedingly difficult to discover +any evidence of life in the opossum; but when one withdraws a little way +from the feigning fox, and watches him very attentively, a slight +opening of the eye may be detected; and, finally, when left to himself, +he does not recover and start up like an animal that has been stunned, +but slowly and cautiously raises his head first, and only gets up when +his foes are at a safe distance. Yet I have seen gauchos, who are very +cruel to animals, practise the most barbarous experiments on a captive +fox without being able to rouse it into exhibiting any sign of life. +This has greatly puzzled me, since, if death-feigning is simply a +cunning habit, the animal could not suffer itself to be mutilated +without wincing. I can only believe that the fox, though not insensible, +as its behaviour on being left to itself appears to prove, yet has its +body thrown by extreme terror into that benumbed condition which +simulates death, and during which it is unable to feel the tortures +practised on it. + +The swoon sometimes actually takes place before the animal has been +touched, and even when the exciting cause is at a considerable distance. +I was once riding with a gaucho, when we saw, on the open level ground +before us, a fox, not yet fully grown, standing still and watching our +approach. All at once it dropped, and when we came up to the spot it was +lying stretched out, with eyes closed, and apparently dead. Before +passing on my companion, who said it was not the first time he had seen +such a thing, lashed it vigorously with his whip for some moments, but +without producing the slightest effect. + +The death-feigning instinct is possessed in a very marked degree by the +spotted tinamou or common partridge of the pampas (Nothura maculosa). +When captured, after a few violent struggles to escape, it drops its +head, gasps two or three times, and to all appearances dies. If, when +you have seen this, you release your hold, the eyes open instantly, and, +with startling suddenness and a noise of wings, it is up and away, and +beyond your reach for ever. Possibly, while your grasp is on the bird it +does actually become insensible, though its recovery from that condition +is almost instantaneous. Birds when captured do sometimes die in the +hand, purely from terror. The tinamou is excessively timid, and +sometimes when birds of this species are chased--for gaucho boys +frequently run them down on horseback--and when they find no burrows or +thickets to escape into, they actually drop down dead on the plain. +Probably, when they feign death in their captor's hand, they are in +reality very near to death. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +HUMMING-BIRDS. + + +Humming-birds are perhaps the very loveliest things in nature, and many +celebrated writers have exhausted their descriptive powers in vain +efforts to picture them to the imagination. The temptation was certainly +great, after describing the rich setting of tropical foliage and flower, +to speak at length of the wonderful gem contained within it; but they +would in this case have been wise to imitate that modest novel-writer +who introduced a blank space on the page where the description of his +matchless heroine should have appeared. After all that has been written, +the first sight of a living humming-bird, so unlike in its beauty all +other beautiful things, comes like a revelation to the mind. To give any +true conception of it by means of mere word-painting is not more +impossible than it would be to bottle up a supply of the "living +sunbeams" themselves, and convey them across the Atlantic to scatter +them in a sparkling shower over the face of England. + +Doubtless many who have never seen them in a state of nature imagine +that a tolerably correct idea of their appearance can be gained from +Gould's colossal monograph. The pictures there, however, only represent +dead humming-birds. A dead robin is, for purposes of bird-portraiture, +as good as a live robin; the same may be said of even many +brilliant-plumaged species less aerial in their habits than +humming-birds. In butterflies the whole beauty is seldom seen until the +insect is dead, or, at any rate, captive. It was not when Wallace saw +the Ornithoptera croesus flying about, but only when he held it in his +hands, and opened its glorious wings, that the sight of its beauty +overcame him so powerfully. The special kind of beauty which makes the +first sight of a humming-bird a revelation depends on the swift singular +motions as much as on the intense gem-like and metallic brilliancy of +the plumage. + +The minute exquisite form, when the bird hovers on misty wings, probing +the flowers with its coral spear, the fan-like tail expanded, and +poising motionless, exhibits the feathers shot with many hues; and the +next moment vanishes, or all but vanishes, then reappears at another +flower only to vanish again, and so on successively, showing its +splendours not continuously, but like the intermitted flashes of the +firefly--this forms a picture of airy grace and loveliness that baffles +description. All this glory disappears when the bird is dead, and even +when it alights to rest on a bough. Sitting still, it looks like an +exceedingly attenuated kingfisher, without the pretty plumage of that +bird, but retaining its stiff artificial manner. No artist has been so +bold as to attempt to depict the bird as it actually appears, when +balanced before a flower the swift motion of the wings obliterates their +form, making them seem like a mist encircling the body; yet it is +precisely this formless cloud on which the glittering body hangs +suspended, which contributes most to give the humming-bird its wonderful +sprite-like or extra-natural appearance. How strange, then, to find +bird-painters persisting in their efforts to show the humming-bird +flying! When they draw it stiff and upright on its perch the picture is +honest, if ugly; the more ambitious representation is a delusion and a +mockery. + +Coming to the actual colouring--the changeful tints that glow with such +intensity on the scale-like feathers, it is curious to find that Gould +seems to have thought that all difficulties here had been successfully +overcome. The "new process" he spoke so confidently about might no doubt +be used with advantage in reproducing the coarser metallic reflections +on a black plumage, such as we see in the corvine birds; but the +glittering garment of the humming-bird, like the silvery lace woven by +the Epeira, gemmed with dew and touched with rainbow-coloured light, has +never been and never can be imitated by art. + +On this subject one of the latest observers of humming-birds, Mr. +Everard im Thurn, in his work on British Guiana, has the following +passage:--"Hardly more than one point of colour is in reality ever +visible in any one humming-bird at one and the same time, for each point +only shows its peculiar and glittering colour when the light falls upon +it from a particular direction. A true representation of one of these +birds would show it in somewhat sombre colours, except just at the one +point which, when the bird is in the position chosen for representation, +meets the light at the requisite angle, and that point alone should be +shown in full brilliance of colour. A flowery shrub is sometimes seen +surrounded by a cloud of humming-birds, all of one species, and each, of +course, in a different position. If someone would draw such a scene as +that, showing a different detail of colour in each bird, according to +its position, then some idea of the actual appearance of the bird might +be given to one who had never seen an example." + +It is hardly to be expected that anyone will carry out the above +suggestion, and produce a monograph with pages ten or fifteen feet wide +by eighteen feet long, each one showing a cloud of humming-birds of one +species flitting about a flowery bush; but even in such a picture as +that would be, the birds, suspended on unlovely angular projections +instead of "hazy semicircles of indistinctness," and each with an +immovable fleck of brightness on the otherwise sombre plumage, would be +as unlike living humming-birds as anything in the older monographs. + +Whether the glittering iridescent tints and singular ornaments for which +this family is famous result from the cumulative process of conscious or +voluntary sexual selection, as Darwin thought, or are merely the outcome +of a superabundant vitality, as Dr. A. R.. Wallace so strongly +maintains, is a question which science has not yet answered +satisfactorily. The tendency to or habit of varying in the direction of +rich colouring and beautiful or fantastic ornament, might, for all we +know to the contrary, have descended to humming-birds from some +diminutive, curiously-shaped, bright-tinted, flying reptile of arboreal +habits that lived in some far-off epoch in the world's history. It is +not, at all events, maintained by anyone that _all_ birds sprang +originally from one reptilian stock; and the true position of +humming-birds in a natural classification has not yet been settled, for +no intermediate forms exist connecting them with any other group, To the +ordinary mind they appear utterly unlike all other feathered creatures, +and as much entitled to stand apart as, for instance, the pigeon and +ostrich families. It has been maintained by some writers that they are +anatomically related to the swifts, although the differences separating +the two families appear so great as almost to stagger belief in this +notion. Now, however, the very latest authority on this subject, Dr. +Schufeldt, has come to the conclusion that swifts are only greatly +modified Passeres, and that the humming-birds should form an order by +themselves. + +Leaving this question, and regarding them simply with the ornithological +eye that does not see far below the surface of things, when we have +sufficiently admired the unique beauty and marvellous velocity of +humming-birds, there is little more to be said about them. They are +lovely to the eye--indescribably so; and it is not strange that Gould +wrote rapturously of the time when he was at length "permitted to revel +in the delight of seeing the humming-bird in a state of nature." The +feeling, he wrote, which animated him with regard to these most +wonderful works of creation it was impossible to describe, and could +only be appreciated by those who have made natural history a study, and +who "pursue the investigations of her charming mysteries with ardour and +delight." This we can understand; but to what an astonishing degree the +feeling was carried in him, when, after remarking that enthusiasm and +excitement with regard to most things in life become lessened and +eventually deadened by time in most of us, he was able to add, "not +so, however, I believe, with those who take up the study of the Family +of Humming-birds!" It can only be supposed that he regarded natural +history principally as a "science of dead animals--a _necrology_," and +collected humming-birds just as others collect Roman coins, birds' eggs, +old weapons, or blue china, their zeal in the pursuit and faith in its +importance increasing with the growth of their treasures, until they at +last come to believe that though all the enthusiasms and excitements +which give a zest to the lives of other men fade and perish with time, +it is not so with their particular pursuit. The more rational kind of +pleasure experienced by the ornithologist in studying habits and +disposition no doubt results in a great measure from the fact that the +actions of the feathered people have a savour of intelligence in them. +Whatever his theory or conviction about the origin of instincts may +happen to be, or even if he has no convictions on the subject, it must +nevertheless seem plain to him that intelligence is, after all, in most +cases, the guiding principle of life, supplementing and modifying habits +to bring them into closer harmony with the environment, and enlivening +every day with countless little acts which result from judgment and +experience, and form no part of the inherited complex instincts. The +longer he observes any one species or individual, the more does he find +in it to reward his attention; this is not the case, however, with +humming-birds, which possess the avian body but do not rank mentally +with birds. The pleasure one takes in their beauty soon evaporates, and +is succeeded by no fresh interest, so monotonous and mechanical are all +their actions; and we accordingly find that those who are most familiar +with them from personal observation have very little to say about them. +A score of hummingbirds, of as many distinct species, are less to the +student of habits than one little brown-plurnaged bird haunting his +garden or the rush-bed of a neighbouring stream; and, doubtless, for a +reason similar to that which makes a lovely human face uninformed by +intellect seem less permanently attractive than many a homelier +countenance. He grows tired of seeing the feathered fairies perpetually +weaving their aerial ballet-dance about the flowers, and finds it a +relief to watch the little finch or wren or flycatcher of shy temper and +obscure protective colouring. Perhaps it possesses a graceful form and +melodious voice to give it aesthetic value, but even without such +accessories he can observe it day by day with increasing interest and +pleasure; and it only adds piquancy to the feeling to know that the +little bird also watches him with a certain amount of intelligent +curiosity and a great deal of suspicion, and that it studiously +endeavours to conceal from him all the little secrets its life which he +is bent on discovering. + +It has frequently been remarked that humming birds are more like insects +than birds in disposition. Some species, on quitting their perch, +perform wide bee-like circles about the tree before shooting away in a +straight line. Their aimless attacks on other species approaching or +passing near them, even on large birds like hawks and pigeons, is a +habit they have in common with many solitary wood-boring bees. They +also, like dragon-flies and other insects, attack each other when they +come together while feeding; and in this case their action strangely +resembles that of a couple of butterflies, as they revolve about each +other and rise vertically to a great height in the air. Again, like +insects, they are undisturbed at the presence of man while feeding, or +even when engaged in building and incubation; and like various solitary +bees, wasps, &c., they frequently come close to a person walking or +standing, to hover suspended in the air within a few inches of his face; +and if then struck at they often, insect-like, return to circle round +his head. All other birds, even those which display the least +versatility, and in districts where man is seldom seen, show as much +caution as curiosity in his presence; they recognize in the upright +unfamiliar form a living being and a possible enemy. Mr. Whiteley, who +observed humming-birds in Peru, says it is an amusing sight to watch the +Lesbia nuna attempting to pass to a distant spot in a straight line +during a high wind, which, acting on the long tail feathers, carries it +quite away from the point aimed at. Insects presenting a large surface +to the wind are always blown from their course in the same way, for even +in the most windy districts they never appear to learn to guide +themselves; and I have often seen a butterfly endeavouring to reach an +isolated flower blown from it a dozen times before it finally succeeded +or gave up the contest. Birds when shaping their course, unless young +and inexperienced, always make allowance for the force of the wind. +Humming-birds often fly into open rooms, impelled apparently by a +fearless curiosity, and may then be chased about until they drop +exhausted or are beaten down and caught, and, as Gould says, "if then +taken into the hand, they almost immediately feed on any sweet, or pump +up any liquid that may be offered to them, without betraying either fear +or resentment at the previous treatment." Wasps and bees taken in the +same way endeavour to sting their captor, as most people know from +experience, nor do they cease struggling violently to free themselves; +but the dragon-fly is like the humming-bird, and is no sooner caught +after much ill-treatment, than it will greedily devour as many flies and +mosquitoes as one likes to offer it. Only in beings very low in the +scale of nature do we see the instinct of self-preservation in this +extremely simple condition, unmixed with reason or feeling, and so +transient in its effects. The same insensibility to danger is seen when +humming-birds are captured and confined in a room, and when, before a +day is over, they will flutter about their captor's face and even take +nectar from his lips. + +Some observers have thought that hummingbirds come nearest to +humble-bees in their actions. I do not think so. Mr. Bates writes: "They +do not proceed in that methodical manner which bees follow, taking the +flowers seriatim, but skip about from one part of a tree to another in +the most capricious manner." I have observed humble-bees a great deal, +and feel convinced that they arc among the most highly intelligent of +the social hymenoptera. Humming-birds, to my mind, have a much closer +resemblance to the solitary wood-boring bees and to dragon-flies. It +must also be borne in mind that insects have very little time in which +to acquire experience, and that a large portion of their life, in the +imago state, is taken up with the complex business of reproduction. + +The Trochilidae, although confined to one continent, promise to exceed +all other families--even the cosmopolitan finches and warblers--in +number of species. At present over five hundred are known, or as many as +all the species of birds in Europe together; and good reasons exist for +believing that very many more--not less perhaps than one or two hundred +species--yet remain to be discovered. The most prolific region, and +where humming-birds are most highly developed, is known to be West +Brazil and the eastern slopes of the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes. This +is precisely the least known portion of South America; the few +naturalists and collectors who have reached it have returned laden with +spoil, to tell us of a region surpassing all others in the +superabundance and beauty of its bird life. Nothing, however, which can +be said concerning these vast unexplored areas of tropical mountain and +forest so forcibly impresses us with the idea of the unknown riches +contained in them as the story of the Loddigesia mirabilis. This is +perhaps the most wonderful humming-bird known, and no one who had not +previously seen it figured could possibly form an idea of what it is +like from a mere description. An outline sketch of it would probably be +taken by most people as a fantastic design representing a bird-form in +combination with leaves, in size and shape resembling poplar leaves, but +on leaf-stalks of an impossible length, curving and crossing each other +so as to form geometrical figures unlike anything in nature. Yet this +bird (a single specimen) was obtained in Peru half a century ago, and +for upwards of twenty years after its discovery Gould tried to obtain +others, offering as much as fifty pounds for one; but no second specimen +ever gladdened his eyes, nor was anything more heard of it until +Stolzmann refound it in the year 1880. + +The addition of many new species to the long list would, however, be a +matter of small interest, unless fresh facts concerning their habits and +structure were at the same time brought to light; but we can scarcely +expect that the as yet unknown species will supply any link connecting +the Trochilidae with other existing families of birds. The eventual +conclusion will perhaps be that this family has come down independently +from an exceedingly remote past, and with scarcely any modification. +While within certain very narrow limits humming-birds vary more than +other families, outside of these limits they appear relatively +stationary; and, conversely, other birds exhibit least variability in +the one direction in which humming-birds vary excessively. On account of +a trivial difference in habit they have sometimes been separated in two +sub-families: the Phaethornithinae, found in shady tropical forests; and +the Trochilinae, comprising humming-birds which inhabit open sunny +places--and to this division they mostly belong. In both of these purely +arbitrary groups, however, the aerial habits and manner of feeding +poised in the air are identical, although the birds living in shady +forests, where flowers are scarce, obtain their food principally from +the under surfaces of leaves. In their procreant habits the uniformity +is also very great. In all cases the nest is small, deep, cup-shaped, or +conical, composed of soft felted materials, and lined inside with +vegetable down. The eggs are white, and never exceed two in number. +Broadly speaking, they resemble each other as closely in habits as in +structure; the greatest differences in habit in the most widely +separated genera being no greater than may be found in two wrens or +sparrows of the same genus. + +This persistence of character in humming-birds, both as regards +structure and habit, seems the more remarkable when we consider their +very wide distribution over a continent so varied in its conditions, and +where they range from the lowest levels to the limit of perpetual snow +on the Andes, and from the tropics to the wintry Magellanic district; +also that a majority of genera inhabit very circumscribed areas--these +facts, as Dr. Wallace remarks, clearly pointing to a very high +antiquity. + +It is perhaps a law of nature that when a species (or group) fits itself +to a place not previously occupied, and in which it is subject to no +opposition from beings of its own class, or where it attains so great a +perfection as to be able easily to overcome all opposition, the +character eventually loses its original plasticity, or tendency to vary, +since improvement in such a case would be superfluous, and becomes, so +to speak, crystallized in that form which continues thereafter +unaltered. It is, at any rate, clear that while all other birds rub +together in the struggle for existence, the humming-bird, owing to its +aerial life and peculiar manner of seeking its food, is absolutely +untouched by this kind of warfare, and is accordingly as far removed +from all competition with other birds as the solitary savage is removed +from the struggle of life affecting and modifying men in crowded +communities. The lower kind of competition affecting hummingbirds, that +with insects and, within the family, of species with species, has +probably only served to intensify their unique characteristics, and, +perhaps, to lower their intelligence. + +Not only are they removed from that indirect struggle for existence +which acts so powerfully on other families, but they are also, by their +habits and the unequalled velocity of their flight, placed out of reach +of that direct war waged on all other small birds by the rapacious +kinds--birds, mammals, and reptiles. One result of this immunity is that +humming-birds are excessively numerous, albeit such slow breeders; for, +as we have seen, they only lay two eggs, and not only so, but the second +egg is often dropped so long after incubation has begun in the first +that only one is really hatched. Yet Belt expressed the opinion that in +Nicaragua, where he observed humming-birds, they out-numbered all the +other birds together. Considering how abundant birds of all kinds are in +that district, and that most of them have a protective colouring and lay +several eggs, it would be impossible to accept such a statement unless +we believed that humming-birds have, practically, no enemies. + +Another result of their immunity from persecution is the splendid +colouring and strange and beautiful feather ornaments distinguishing +them above all other birds; and excessive variation in this direction is +due, it seems to me, to the very causes which serve to check variation +in all other directions. In their plumage, as Martin long ago wrote, +nature has strained at every variety of effect and revelled in an +infinitude of modifications. How wonderful their garb is, with colours +so varied, so intense, yet seemingly so evanescent!--the glittering +mantle of powdered gold; the emerald green that changes to velvet black; +ruby reds and luminous scarlets; dull bronze that brightens and burns +like polished brass, and pale neutral tints that kindle to rose and +lilac-coloured flame. And to the glory of prismatic colouring are added +feather decorations, such as the racket-plumes and downy muffs of +Spathura, the crest and frills of Lophornis, the sapphire gorget burning +on the snow-white breast of Oreotrochilus, the fiery tail of Cometes, +and, amongst grotesque forms, the long pointed crest-feathers, +representing horns, and flowing-white beard adorning the piebald +goat-like face of Oxypogon. + +Excessive variation in this direction is checked in nearly all other +birds by the need of a protective colouring, few kinds so greatly +excelling in strength and activity as to be able to maintain their +existence without it. Bright feathers constitute a double danger, for +not only do they render their possessor conspicuous, but, just as the +butterfly chooses the gayest flower, so do hawks deliberately single out +from many obscure birds the one with brilliant plumage; but the +rapacious kinds do not waste their energies in the vain pursuit of +hummingbirds. These are in the position of neutrals, free to range at +will amidst the combatants, insulting all alike, and flaunting their +splendid colours with impunity. They are nature's favourites, endowed +with faculties bordering on the miraculous, and all other kinds, gentle +or fierce, ask only to be left alone by them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE CRESTED SCREAMER. + +_(Chalina chavarria.)_ + + +Amongst the feathered notables from all parts of the world found +gathered at the Zoological Gardens in London is the Crested Screamer +from South America. It is in many respects a very singular species, and +its large size, great strength, and majestic demeanour, with the +surprising docility and intelligence it displays when domesticated, give +it a character amongst birds somewhat like that of the elephant amongst +mammals. Briefly and roughly to describe it: in size it is like a swan, +in shape like a lapwing, only with a powerful curved gallinaceous beak. +It is adorned with a long pointed crest and a black neck-ring, the +plumage being otherwise of a pale slaty blue, while the legs and the +naked skin about the eyes are bright red. On each wing, in both sexes, +there are two formidable spurs; the first one, on the second joint, is +an inch and a half long, nearly straight, triangular, and exceedingly +sharp; the second spur, on the last joint, being smaller, broad, and +curved, and roughly resembling in shape and size a lion's claw. There is +another stinking peculiarity. The skin is _emphysematous_--that is, +bloated and yielding to pressure. It crackles when touched, and the +surface, when the feathers are removed, presents a swollen bubbly +appearance; for under the skin there is a layer of air-bubbles extending +over the whole body and even down the legs under the horny tesselated +skin to the toes, the legs thus having a somewhat massive appearance. + +And now just a few words about the position of the screamer in +systematic zoology. It is placed in the Family Palamedeidae, which +contains only three species, but about the Order it belongs to there is +much disagreement. It was formerly classed with the rails, and in +popular books of Natural History still keeps its place with them. "Now +the rail-tribe," says Professor Parker, speaking on this very matter, +"has for a long time been burdened (on paper) with a very false army +list. Everything alive that has had the misfortune to be possessed of +large unwieldy feet has been added to this feeble-minded cowardly group, +until it has become a mixed multitude with discordant voices and with +manners and customs having no consonance or relation." He takes the +screamer from the rail-tribe and classes it with the geese (as also does +Professor Huxley), and concludes his study with these words:--"Amongst +living birds there is not one possessing characters of higher interest, +none that I am acquainted with come nearer, in some important points, to +the lizard; and there are parts of the organization which make it very +probable that it is one of the nearest living relations of the +marvellous _Archaeopteryx_"--an intermediate form between birds and +reptiles belonging to the Upper Jurassic period. + +The screamer's right to dwell with the geese has not been left +unchallenged. The late Professor Garrod finds that "from considerations +of pterylosis, visceral anatomy, myology, and osteology the screamer +cannot be placed along with the Anserine birds." He finds that in some +points it resembles the ostrich and rhea, and concludes: "It seems +therefore to me that, summing these results, the screamer must have +sprung from the primary avian stock as an independent offshoot at much +the same time as did most of the other important families." This time, +he further tells us, was when there occurred a general break-up of the +ancient terrestrial bird-type, when the acquisition of wings brought +many intruders into domains already occupied, calling forth a new +struggle for existence, and bringing out many special qualities by means +of natural selection. + +With this archaeological question I have little to do, and only quote +the above great authorities to show that the screamer appears to be +nearly the last descendant of an exceedingly ancient family, with little +or no relationship to other existing families, and that its pedigree has +been hopelessly lost in the night of an incalculable antiquity. I have +only to speak of the bird as a part of the visible world and as it +appears to the non-scientific lover of nature; for, curiously enough, +while anatomists nave been laboriously seeking for the screamer's +affinities in that "biological field which is as wide as the earth and +deep as the sea," travellers and ornithologists have told us almost +nothing about its strange character and habits. + +Though dressed with Quaker-like sobriety, and without the elegance of +form distinguishing the swan or peacock, this bird yet appeals to the +aesthetic feelings in man more than any species I am acquainted with. +Voice is one of its strong points, as one might readily infer from the +name: nevertheless the name is not an appropriate one, for though the +bird certainly does scream, and that louder than the peacock, its scream +is only a powerful note of alarm uttered occasionally, while the notes +uttered at intervals in the night, or in the day-time, when it soars +upwards like the lark of some far-off imaginary epoch in the world's +history when all tilings, larks included, were on a gigantic scale, are. +properly speaking, singing notes and in quality utterly unlike screams. +Sometimes when walking across Regent's Park I bear the resounding cries +of the bird confined there attempting to sing; above the concert of +cranes, the screams of eagles and macaws, the howling of dogs and wolves +and the muffled roar of lions, one can hear it all over the park. But +those loud notes only sadden me. Exile and captivity have taken all +joyousness from the noble singer, and a moist climate has made him +hoarse; the long clear strains are no more, and he hurries through his +series of confused shrieks as quickly as possible, as if ashamed of the +performance. A lark singing high up in a sunny sky and a lark singing in +a small cage hanging against a shady wall in a London street produce +very different effects; and the spluttering medley of shrill and harsh +sounds from the street singer scarcely seems to proceed from the same +kind of bird as that matchless melody filling the blue heavens. There is +even a greater difference in the notes of the crested screamer when +heard in Regent's Park and when heard on the pampas, where the bird +soars upwards until its bulky body disappears from sight, and from that +vast elevation pours down a perpetual rain of jubilant sound. + +_Screamer_ being a misnomer, I prefer to call the bird by its vernacular +name of _chaja,_ or _chakar_, a more convenient spelling. + +With the chakar the sexes are faithful, even in very large flocks the +birds all being ranged in couples. When one bird begins to sing its +partner immediately joins, but with notes entirely different in quality. +Both birds have some short deep notes, the other notes of the female +being long powerful notes with a trill in them; but over them sounds the +clear piercing voice of the male, ringing forth at the close with great +strength and purity. The song produces the effect of harmony, but, +comparing it with human singing, it is less like a _duo_ than a +_terzetto_ composed of bass, contralto, and soprano. + +At certain times, in districts favourable to them, the chakars often +assemble in immense flocks, thousands of individuals being sometimes +seen congregated together, and in these gatherings the birds frequently +all sing in concert. They invariably--though without rising--sing at +intervals during the night, "counting the hours," as the gauchos say; +the first song being at about nine o'clock, the second at midnight, and +the third just before dawn, but the hours vary in different districts. + +I was once travelling with a party of gauchos when, about midnight, it +being intensely dark, a couple of chakars broke out singing right ahead +of us, thus letting us know that we were approaching a watercourse, +where we intended refreshing our horses. We found it nearly dry, and +when we rode down to the rill of water meandering over the broad dry bed +of the river, a flock of about a thousand chakars set up a perfect roar +of alarm notes, all screaming together, with intervals of silence after; +then they rose up with a mighty rush of wings. They settled down again a +few hundred yards off, and all together burst forth in one of their +grand midnight songs, making the plains echo for miles around. + +There is something strangely impressive in these spontaneous outbursts +of a melody so powerful from one of these large flocks, and though +accustomed to hear these birds from childhood, I have often been +astonished at some new effect produced by a large multitude singing +under certain conditions. Travelling alone one summer day, I carne at +noon to a lake on the pampas called Kakel--a sheet of water narrow +enough for one to see across. Chakars in countless numbers were gathered +along its shores, but they were all ranged in well-defined flocks, +averaging about five hundred birds in each flock. These flocks seemed to +extend all round the lake, and had probably been driven by the drought +from all the plains around to this spot. Presently one flock near me +began singing, and continued their powerful chant for three or four +minutes; when they ceased the next flock took up the strains, and after +it the next, and so on until the notes of the flocks on the opposite +shore came floating strong and clear across the water--then passed away, +growing fainter and fainter, until once more the sound approached me +travelling round to my side again. The effect was very curious, and I +was astonished at the orderly way with which each flock waited its turn +to sing, instead of a general outburst taking place after the first +flock had given the signal. On another occasion I was still more +impressed, for here the largest number of birds I have ever found +congregated at one place all sung together. This was on the southern +pampas, at a place called Gualicho, where I had ridden for an hour +before sunset over a marshy plain where there was still much standing +water in the rushy pools, though it was at the height of the dry season. +This whole plain was covered with an endless flock of chakars, not in +close order, but scattered about in pairs and small groups. In this +desolate spot I found a small rancho inhabited by a gaucho and his +family, and I spent the night with them. The birds were all about the +house, apparently as tame as the domestic fowls, and when I went out to +look for a spot for my horse to feed on, they would not fly away from +me, but merely moved, a few steps out of my path About nine o'clock we +were eating supper in the rancho when suddenly the entire multitude of +birds covering the marsh for miles around burst forth into a tremendous +evening song. It is impossible to describe the effect of this mighty +rush of sound; but let the reader try to imagine half-a-million voices, +each far more powerful than that one which makes itself heard all over +Regent's Park, bursting forth on the silent atmosphere of that dark +lonely plain. One peculiarity was that in this mighty noise, which +sounded louder than the sea thundering on a rocky coast, I seemed to be +able to distinguish hundreds, even thousands, of individual voices. +Forgetting my supper, I sat motionless and overcome with astonishment, +while the air, and even the frail rancho, seemed to be trembling in that +tempest of sound. When it ceased my host remarked with a smile, "We are +accustomed to this, senor--every evening we have this concert." It was a +concert well worth riding a hundred miles to hear. But the chakar +country is just now in a transitional state, and the precise conditions +which made it possible for birds so large in size to form such immense +congregations are rapidly passing away. In desert places, the bird +subsists chiefly on leaves and seeds of aquatic plants; but when the +vast level area of the pampas was settled by man, the ancient stiff +grass-vegetation gave place to the soft clovers and grasses of Europe, +and to this new food the birds took very kindly. Other circumstances +also favoured their increase. They were never persecuted, for the +natives do not eat them, though they are really very good--the flesh +being something like wild goose in flavour. A _higher_ civilization is +changing all this: the country is becoming rapidly overrun with +emigrants, especially by Italians, the pitiless enemies of all +bird-life. + +The chakars, like the skylark, love to soar upwards when singing, and at +such times when they have risen till their dark bulky bodies appear like +floating specks on the blue sky, or until they disappear from sight +altogether, the notes become wonderfully etherealized by distance to a +soft silvery sound, and it is then very delightful to listen to them. + +It seems strange that so ponderous a fowl with only six feet and a half +spread of wings should possess a power of soaring equal to that of +vultures and eagles. Even the vulture with its marvellous wing power +soars chiefly from necessity, and when its crop is full finds no +pleasure in "scaling the heavens by invisible stairs." The chakar leaves +its grass-plot after feeding and soars purely for recreation, taking so +much pleasure in its aerial exercises that in bright warm weather, in +winter and spring, it spends a great part of the day in the upper +regions of the air. On the earth its air is grave and its motions +measured and majestic, and it rises with immense labour, the wings +producing a sound like a high wind. But as the bird mounts higher, +sweeping round as it ascends, just as vultures and eagles do, it +gradually appears to become more buoyant, describing each succeeding +circle with increasing grace. I can only account for this magnificent +flight, beginning so laboriously, by supposing that the bubble space +under the skin becomes inflated with an air lighter than atmospheric +air, enabling a body so heavy with wings disproportionately short to +float with such ease and evident enjoyment at the vast heights to which +the bird ascends. The heavenward flight of a large bird is always a +magnificent spectacle; that of the chakar is peculiarly fascinating on +account of the resounding notes it sings while soaring, and in which the +bird seems to exult in its sublime power and freedom. + +I was once very much surprised at the behaviour of a couple of chakars +during a thunderstorm. On a still sultry day in summer I was standing +watching masses of black cloud coming rapidly over the sky, while a +hundred yards from me stood the two birds also apparently watching the +approaching storm with interest. Presently the edge of the cloud touched +the sun, and a twilight gloom fell on the earth. The very moment the sun +disappeared the birds rose up and soon began singing their long' +resounding notes, though it was loudly thundering at the time, while +vivid flashes of lightning lit the black cloud overhead at short +intervals. I watched their flight and listened to their notes, till +suddenly as they made a wide sweep upwards they disappeared in the +cloud, and at the same moment their voices became muffled, and seemed to +come from an immense distance. The cloud continued emitting sharp +flashes of lightning, but the birds never reappeared, and after six or +seven minutes once more their notes sounded loud and clear above the +muttering thunder. I suppose they had passed through the cloud into the +clear atmosphere above it, but I was extremely surprised at their +fearlessness; for as a rule when soaring birds see a storm coming they +get out of its way, flying before it or stooping to the earth to seek +shelter of some kind, for most living things appear to have a wholesome +dread of thunder and lightning. + +When taken young the chakar becomes very tame and attached to man, +showing no inclination to go back to a wild life. There was one kept at +an estancia called Mangrullos, on the western frontier of Buenos Ayres, +and the people of the house gave me a very curious account of it. The +bird was a male, and had been reared by a soldier's wife at a frontier +outpost called La Esperanza, about twenty-five miles from Mangrullos. +Four years before I saw the bird the Indians had invaded the frontier, +destroying the Esperanza settlement and all the estancias for some +leagues around. For some weeks after the invasion the chakar wandered +about the country, visiting all the ruined estancias, apparently in +quest of human beings, and on arriving at Mangrullos, which had not been +burnt and was still inhabited, it settled down at ones and never +afterwards showed any disposition to go away. It was extremely tame, +associating by day with the poultry, and going to roost with them at +night OH a high perch, probably for the sake of companionship, for in a +wild state the bird roosts on the ground. It was friendly towards all +the members of the household except one, a peon, and against this person +from the first the bird always displayed the greatest antipathy, +threatening him with its wings, puffing itself out, and hissing like an +angry goose. The man had a swarthy, beardless face, and it was +conjectured that the chakar associated him in its mind with the savages +who had destroyed its early home. + +Close to the house there was a lagoon, never dry, which was frequently +visited by flocks of wild chakars. Whenever a flock appeared the tame +bird would go out to join them; and though the chakars are mild-tempered +birds and very rarely quarrel, albeit so well provided with formidable +weapons, they invariably attacked the visitor with great fury, chasing +him back to the house, and not ceasing their persecutions till the +poultry-yard was reached. They appeared to regard this tame bird that +dwelt with man as a kind of renegade, and hated him accordingly. + +Before he had been long at the estancia it began to be noticed that he +followed the broods of young chickens about very assiduously, apparently +taking great interest in their welfare, and even trying to entice them +to follow him. A few newly-hatched chickens were at length offered to +him as an experiment, and he immediately took charge of them with every +token of satisfaction, conducting them about in search of food and +imitating all the actions of a hen. Finding him so good a nurse, large +broods were given to him, and the more the foster-chickens were the +better he seemed pleased. It was very curious to see this big bird with +thirty or forty little animated balls of yellow cotton following him +about, while he moved majestically along, setting down his feet with the +greatest care not to tread on them, and swelling himself up with jealous +anger at the approach of a cat or dog. + +The intelligence, docility, and attachment to man displayed by the +chakar in a domestic state, with perhaps other latent aptitudes only +waiting to be developed by artificial selection, seem to make this +species one peculiarly suited for man's protection, without which it +must inevitably perish. It is sad to reflect that all our domestic +animals have descended to us from those ancient times which we are +accustomed to regard as dark or barbarous, while the effect of our +modern so-called humane civilization has been purely destructive to +animal life. Not one type do we rescue from the carnage going on at an +ever-increasing rate over all the globe. To Australia and America, North +and South, we look in vain for new domestic species, while even from +Africa, with its numerous fine mammalian forms, and where England has +been the conquering colonizing power for nearly a century, we take +nothing. Even the sterling qualities of the elephant, the unique beauty +of the zebra, appeal to us in vain. We are only teaching the tribes of +that vast continent to exterminate a hundred noble species they would +not tame. With grief and shame, even with dismay, we call to mind that +our country is now a stupendous manufactory of destructive engines, +which we are rapidly placing in the hands of all the savage and +semi-savage peoples of the earth, thus ensuring the speedy destruction +of all the finest types in the animal kingdom. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE WOODHEWER FAMILY. + +_(Dendrocolaptidae.)_ + + +The South American Tree-creepers, or Woodhewers, as they are sometimes +called, although confined exclusively to one continent, their range +extending from Southern Mexico to the Magellanic islands, form one of +the largest families of the order Passeres; no fewer than about two +hundred and ninety species (referable to about forty-six genera) having +been already described. As they are mostly small, inconspicuous, +thicket-frequenting birds, shy and fond of concealment to excess, it is +only reasonable to suppose that our list of this family is more +incomplete than of any other family of birds known. Thus, in the +southern Plata and north Pata-gonian districts, supposed to be +exhausted, where my observations have been made, and where, owing to the +open nature of the country, birds are more easily remarked than in the +forests and marshes of the tropical region, I have made notes on the +habits of five species, of which I did not preserve specimens, and +which, as far as I know, have never been described and named. Probably +long before the whole of South America has been "exhausted," there will +be not less than four to five hundred Dendrocolaptine species known. And +yet with the exception of that dry husk of knowledge, concerning size, +form and colouration, which classifiers and cataloguers obtain from +specimens, very little indeed--scarcely anything, in fact--is known +about the Tree-creepers; and it would not be too much to say that there +are many comparatively obscure and uninteresting species in Europe, any +one of which has a larger literature than the entire Tree-creeper +family. No separate work about these birds has seen the light, even in +these days of monographs; but the reason of this comparative neglect is +not far to seek. In the absence of any knowledge, except of the most +fragmentary kind, of the life-habits of exotic species, the +monograph-makers of the Old World naturally take up only the most +important groups--i.e. the groups which most readily attract the +traveller's eye with their gay conspicuous colouring, and which have +acquired a wide celebrity. We thus have a succession of splendid and +expensive works dealing separately with such groups as woodpeckers, +trogons, humming-birds, tanagers, king-fishers, and birds of paradise; +for with these, even if there be nothing to record beyond the usual +dreary details and technicalities concerning geographical distribution, +variations in size and markings of different species, &c., the little +interest of the letter-press is compensated for in the accompanying +plates, which are now produced on a scale of magnitude, and with so +great a degree of perfection, as regards brilliant colouring, spirited +attitudes and general fidelity to nature, that leaves little further +improvement in this direction to be looked for. The Tree-creepers, being +without the inferior charm of bright colour, offer no attraction to the +bird-painter, whose share in the work of the pictorial monograph is, of +course, all-important. Yet even the very slight knowledge we possess of +this family is enough to show that in many respects it is one richly +endowed, possessing characters of greater interest to the student of the +instincts and mental faculties of birds, than any of |the gaily-tinted +families I have mentioned. + +There is, in the Dendrocolaptidae, a splendid harvest for future +observers of the habits of South American birds: some faint idea of its +richness may perhaps be gathered from the small collection of the most +salient facts known to us about them I have brought together and put in +order in this place. And I am here departing a little from the plan +usually observed in this book, which is chiefly occupied with matters of +personal knowledge, seasoned with a little speculation; but in this case +I have thought it best to supplement my own observations with those of +others [Footnote: Azara; D'Orbigny; Darwin; Bridges; Frazer; Leotaud; +Gaumer; Wallace; Bates; Cunningham; Stolzmann; Jelski; Durnford; Gibson; +Burrows; Doering; White, &c.] who have collected and observed birds in +South America, so as to give as comprehensive a survey of the family as +I could. + +It is strange to find a Passerine family, numerous as the Tree-creepers, +uniformly of one colour, or nearly so; for, with few exceptions, these +birds have a brown plumage, without a particle of bright colour. But +although they possess no brilliant or metallic tints, in some species, +as we shall see, there are tints approaching to brightness. +Notwithstanding this family likeness in colour, any person, not an +ornithologist, looking at a collection of specimens comprising many +genera, would hear with surprise and almost incredulity that they all +belonged to one family, so great is the diversity exhibited in their +structure. In size they vary from species smaller than the +golden-crested wren to others larger than the woodcock; but the +differences in size are as nothing compared with those shown in the form +of the beak. Between the minute, straight, conical, tit-like beaks of +the Laptasthenura--a tit in appearance and habits--and the extravagantly +long, sword-shaped bill of Nasica, or the excessively attenuated, +sickle-shaped organ in Xiphorynchus, the divergence is amazing, compared +with what is found in other families; while between these two extremes +there is a heterogeneous assemblage of birds with beaks like creepers, +nuthatches, finches, tyrant-birds, woodpeckers, crows, and even curlews +and ibises. In legs, feet and tails, there are corresponding +differences. There are tails of all lengths and all forms; soft and +stiff, square, acuminated, broad and fan-like, narrow and spine-like, +and many as in the woodpeckers, and used as in that bird to support the +body in climbing. An extremely curious modification is found in +Sittosoma: the tail-feathers in this genus are long and graduated, and +the shafts, projecting beyond the webs at the ends, curve downwards and +form stiff hooks. Concerning the habits of these birds, it has only been +reported that they climb on the trunks of trees: probably they are able +to run vertically up or down with equal facility, and even to suspend +themselves by their feather-hooks when engaged in dislodging insects. +Another curious variation is found in Sylviothorhynchus, a small +wren-like bird and the only member known of the genus, with a tail +resembling that of the lyre-bird, the extravagantly long feathers being +so narrow as to appear almost like shafts destitute of webs. This tail +appears to be purely ornamental. + +This extreme variety in structure indicates a corresponding diversity in +habits; and, assuming it to be a true doctrine that habits vary first +and structure afterwards, anyone might infer from a study of their forms +alone that these birds possess a singular plasticity, or tendency to +vary, in their habits--or, in other words, that they are exceptionally +intelligent; and that such a conclusion would be right I believe a study +of their habits will serve to show. + +The same species is often found to differ in its manner of life in +different localities. Some species of Xenops and Magarornis, like +woodpeckers, climb vertically on tree-trunks in search of insect prey, +but also, like tits, explore the smaller twigs and foliage at the +extremity of the branches; so that the whole tree, from its root to its +topmost foliage, is hunted over by them. The Sclerurus, although an +inhabitant of the darkest forest, and provided with sharply-curved +claws, never seeks its food on trees, but exclusively on the ground, +among the decaying fallen leaves; but, strangely enough, when alarmed it +flies to the trunk of the nearest tree, to which it clings in a vertical +position, and, remaining silent and motionless, escapes observation by +means of its dark protective colour. The Drymornis, a large bird, with +feet and tail like a woodpecker, climbs on tree-trunks to seek its food; +but also possesses the widely-different habit of resorting to the open +plain, especially after a shower, to feed on larvae and earthworms, +extracting them from a depth of three or four inches beneath the surface +with its immense curved probing beak. + +Again, when we consider a large number of species of different groups, +we find that there is not with the Tree-creepers, as with most families, +any special habit or manner of life linking them together; but that, on +the contrary, different genera, and, very frequently, different species +belonging to one genus, possess habits peculiarly their own. In other +families, even where the divergence is greatest, what may be taken as +the original or ancestral habit is seldom or never quite obsolete in any +of the members. This we see, for instance, in the woodpeckers, some of +which have acquired the habit of seeking their food exclusively on the +ground in open places, and even of nesting in the banks of streams. Yet +all these wanderers, even those which have been structurally modified in +accordance with their altered way of life, retain the primitive habit of +clinging vertically to the trunks of trees, although the habit has lost +its use. With the tyrant birds--a family showing an extraordinary amount +of variation--it is the same; for the most divergent kinds are +frequently seen reverting to the family habit of perching on an +elevation, from which to make forays after passing insects, returning +after each capture to the same stand. The thrushes, ranging all over the +globe, afford another striking example. Without speaking of their +nesting habits, their relationship appears in their love of fruit, in +their gait, flight, statuesque attitudes, and abrupt motions. + +With the numerous Dendrocolaptine groups, so widely separated and +apparently unrelated, it would be difficult indeed to say which, of +their most striking habits is the ancestral one. Many of the smaller +species live in trees or bushes, and in their habits resemble tits, +warblers, wrens, and other kinds that subsist on small caterpillars, +spiders, &c., gleaned from the leaves and smaller twigs. The Anumbius +nests on trees, but feeds exclusively on the ground in open places; +while other ground-feeders seek their food among dead leaves in dense +gloomy forests. Coryphistera resembles the lark and pipit in its habits; +Cinclodes, the wagtail; Geobates a Saxicola; Limnornis lives in reed +beds growing in the water; Henicornis in reed beds growing out of the +water; and many other ground species exist concealed in the grass on dry +plains; Homorus seeks its food by digging in the loose soil and dead +leaves about the roots of trees; while Geo-sitta, Furnarius, and +Upercerthia obtain a livelihood chiefly by probing in the soil. It would +not be possible within the present limits to mention in detail all the +different modes of life of those species or groups which do not possess +the tree-creeping habit; after them comes a long array of genera in +which this habit is ingrained, and in which the greatly modified feet +and claws are suited to a climbing existence. As these genera comprise +the largest half of the family, also the largest birds in it, we might +expect to find in the tree-creeping the parental habit of the +Dendrocolaptidae, and that from these tropical forest groups have sprung +the widely-diverging thicket, ground, marsh, sea-beach, and +rock-frequenting groups. It happens, however, that these birds resemble +each other only in their climbing feet; in the form of their beaks they +are as wide apart as are nuthatches, woodpeckers, crows, and curlews. +They also differ markedly in the manner of seeking their food. Some dig +like woodpeckers in decayed wood; others probe only in soft rotten wood; +while the humming-bird-billed Xiphorhynchus, with a beak too long and +slender for probing, explores the interior of deep holes in the trunks +to draw out nocturnal insects, spiders, and centipedes from their +concealment. Xiphoco-laptes uses its sword-like beak as a lever, +thrusting it under and forcing up the loose bark; while Dendrornis, with +its stout corvine beak, tears the bark off. + +In the nesting habits the diversity is greatest. Some ground species +excavate in the earth like kingfishers, only with greater skill, making +cylindrical burrows often four to five feet deep, and terminating in a +round chamber. Others build a massive oven-shaped structure of clay on a +branch or other elevated site. Many of those that creep on trees nest in +holes in the wood. The marsh-frequenting kinds attach spherical or oval +domed nests to the reeds; and in some cases woven grass and clay are so +ingeniously combined that the structure, while light as a basket, is +perfectly impervious to the wet and practically indestructible. The most +curious nests, however, are the large stick structures on trees and +bushes, in the building and repairing of which the birds are in many +cases employed more or less constantly all the year round. These stick +nests vary greatly in form, size, and in other respects. Some have a +spiral passage-way leading from the entrance to the nest cavity, and the +cavity is in many cases only large enough to accommodate the bird; but +in the gigantic structure of Homorus gutturalis it is so large that, if +the upper half of the nest or dome were removed, a condor could +comfortably hatch her eggs and rear her young in it. This nest is +spherical. The allied Homorus lophotis builds a nest equally large, but +with a small cavity for the eggs inside, and outwardly resembling a +gigantic powder-flask, lying horizontally among the lower branches of a +spreading tree. Pracellodomtis sibila-trix, a bird in size like the +English house sparrow, also makes a huge nest, and places it on the +twigs at the terminal end of a horizontal branch from twelve to fifteen +feet above the ground; but when finished, the weight of the structure +bears down the branch-end to within one or two feet of the surface. Mr. +Barrows, who describes this nest, says: "When other branches of the same +tree are similarly loaded, and other trees close at hand bear the same +kind of fruit, the result is very picturesque." Synallaxis phryganophila +makes a stick nest about a foot in depth, and from the top a tubular +passage, formed of slender twigs interlaced, runs down the entire length +of the nest, like a rain-pipe on the wall of a house, and then becoming +external slopes upward, ending at a distance of two to three feet from +the nest. Throughout South America there are several varieties of these +fruit-and-stem or watering-pot shaped nests; they are not, however, all +built by birds of one genus, while in the genus Synallaxis many species +have no tubular passageways attached to their nests. One species--erythro +thorax--in Yucatan, makes so large a nest of sticks, that the +natives do not believe that so small a bird can be the builder. They say +that when the _tzapatan_ begins to sing, all the birds in the forest +repair to it, each one carrying a stick to add to the structure; only +one, a tyrant-bird, brings two sticks, one for itself and one for the +_urubu_ or vulture, that bird being considered too large, heavy, and +ignorant of architecture to assist personally in the work. + +In the southern part of South America, where scattered thorn trees grow +on a dry soil, these big nests are most abundant. "There are plains," +Mr. Barrows writes, "within two miles of the centre of this town +(Concepcion, Argentine Republic), where I have stood and counted, from +one point within a radius of twenty rods, over two hundred of these +curious nests, varying in size from that of a small pumpkin to more than +the volume of a barrel. Often a single tree will contain half a dozen +nests or more; and, not unfrequently, the nests of several different +species are seen crowding each other out of shape on the same bush or +tree." + +It would be a mistake to think that the widely different nesting habits +I have mentioned are found in different genera. I have just spoken of +the big stick nests, with or without passage-ways, of the Synallaxes, +yet the nest of one member of this group is simply a small straight tube +of woven grass, the aperture only large enough to admit the finger, and +open at both ends, so that the bird can pass in and out without turning +round. Another species scoops a circular hollow in the soil, and builds +over it a dome of fine woven grass. It should be mentioned that the +nesting habits of only about fifteen out of the sixty-five species +comprised in this genus are known to us. In the genus Furnarius the +oven-shaped clay structure is known to be made by three species; a +fourth builds a nest of sticks in a tree; a fifth burrows in the side of +a bank, like a kingfisher. + +The explanation of the most striking features of the Dendrocolaptidae, +their monotonous brown plumage, diversity of structure, versatile +habits, and the marvellous development of the nest-making instinct which +they exhibit is to be found, it appears to me, in the fact that they are +the most defenceless of birds. They are timid, unresisting creatures, +without strength or weapons; their movements arc less quick and vigorous +than those of other kinds, and their flight is exceedingly feeble. The +arboreal species flit at intervals from one tree to another; those that +frequent thickets refuse to leave their chosen shelter; while those +inhabiting grassy plains or marshes study concealment, and, when forced +to rise, flutter away just above the surface, like flying-fish +frightened from the water, and, when they have gone thirty or forty +yards, dip into the grass or reeds again. Their life is thus one of +perpetual danger in a far greater degree than with other passerine +families, such as warblers, tyrants, finches, thrushes, &c.; while an +exclusively insect diet, laboriously extracted from secret places, and +inability to change their climate, contribute to make their existence a +hard one. It has been with these birds as with human beings, bred in +"misfortune's school," and subjected to keen competition. One of their +most striking characteristics is a methodical, plodding, almost painful +diligence of manner while seeking their food, so that when viewed side +by side with other species, rejoicing in a gayer plumage and stronger +flight, they seem like sober labourers that never rest among holiday +people bent only on enjoyment. That they are able not only to maintain +their existence, but to rise to the position of a dominant family, is +due to an intelligence and adaptiveness exceeding that of other kinds, +and which has been strengthened, and perhaps directly results from the +hard conditions of their life. + +How great their adaptiveness and variability must be when we find that +every portion of the South American continent is occupied by them; for +there is really no climate, and no kind of soil or vegetation, which +does not possess its appropriate species, modified in colour, form, and +habits to suit the surrounding conditions. In the tropical region, so +rich in bird life of all kinds, in forest, marsh, and savanna, they are +everywhere abundant--food is plentiful there; but when we go to higher +elevations avd cold sterile deserts, where their companion families of +the tropics dwindle away and disappear, the creepers are still present, +for they are evidently able to exist where other kinds would starve. On +the stony plateaus of the Andes, and on the most barren spots in +Patagonia, where no other bird is seen, there are small species of +Synallaxis, which, in their obscure colour and motions on the ground, +resemble mice rather than birds; indeed, the Quichua name for one of +these Synallaxes is _ukatchtuka,_ or mouse-bird. How different is the +life habit here from what we see in the tropical groups--the large birds +with immense beaks, that run vertically on the trunks of the great +forest trees! + +At the extreme southern extremity of the South American continent we +find several species of Cin-clodes, seeking a subsistence like +sandpipers on the beach; they also fly out to sea, and run about on the +floating kelp, exploring the fronds for the small marine animals on +which they live. In the dreary forests of Tierra del Fuego another +creeper, Uxyurus, is by far the commonest bird. "Whether high up or low +down, in the most gloomy, wet, and scarcely penetrable ravines," says +Darwin, "this little bird is to be met with;" and Dr. Cunningham also +relates that in these wintry, savage woods he was always attended in his +walks by parties of these little creepers, which assembled to follow him +out of curiosity. + +To birds placed at so great a disadvantage, by a feeble flight and other +adverse circumstances, in the race of life bright colours would +certainly prove fatal. It is true that brown is not in itself a +protective colour, and the clear, almost silky browns and bright +chestnut tints in several species are certainly not protective; but +these species are sufficiently protected in other ways, and can afford +to be without a strictly adaptive colour, so long as they are not +conspicuous. In a majority of cases, however, the colour is undoubtedly +protective, the brown hue being of a shade that assimilates very closely +to the surroundings. There are pale yellowish browns, lined and mottled, +in species living amidst a sere, scanty vegetation; earthy browns, in +those frequenting open sterile or stony places; while the species that +creep on trees in forests are dark brown in colour, and in many cases +the feathers are mottled in such a manner as to make them curiously +resemble the bark of a tree. The genera Lochmias and Sclerurus are the +darkest, the plumage in these birds being nearly or quite black, washed +or tinged with rhubarb yellow. Their black plumage would render them +conspicuous in the sunshine, but they pass their lives in dense tropical +forests, where the sun at noon sheds only a gloomy twilight. + +If "colour is ever tending to increase and to appear where it is +absent," as Dr. Wallace believes, then we ought to find it varying in +the direction of greater brightness in some species in a family so +numerous and variable as the Dendrocolaptidae, however feeble and in +need of a protective colouring these birds may be in a majority of +pases. And this in effect we do find. In many of the dark-plumaged +species that live in perpetual shade some parts are a very bright +chestnut; while in a few that live in such close concealment as to be +almost independent of protective colouring, the lower plumage has become +pure white. A large number of species have a bright or nearly bright +guiar spot. This is most remarkable in Synallaxis phryganophila, the +chin being sulphur-yellow, beneath which is a spot of velvet-black, and +on either side a white patch, the throat thus having three strongly +contrasted colours, arranged in four divisions. The presence of this +bright throat spot in so many species cannot very well be attributed to +voluntary sexual selection, although believers in that theory are of +course at liberty to imagine that when engaged in courtship, the male +bird, or rather male and female both, as both sexes possess the spot, +hold up their heads vertically to exhibit it. Perhaps it would be safer +to look on it as a mere casual variation, which, like the exquisitely +pencilled feathers and delicate tints on the concealed sides and under +surfaces of the wings of many species possessing outwardly an obscure +protective colouring, is neither injurious nor beneficial in any way, +either to the birds or to the theory. It is more than probable, however, +that in such small feeble-winged, persecuted birds, this spot of colour +would prove highly dangerous on any conspicuous part of the body. In +some of the more vigorous, active species, we can see a tendency towards +a brighter colouring on large, exposed surfaces. In Auto-malus the tail +is bright satiny rufous; in Pseudo-colaptes the entire under surface is +rufous of a peculiar vivid tint, verging on orange or red; in Magarornis +the bosom is black, and beautifully ornamented with small leaf-shaped +spots of a delicate straw-colour. There are several other very pretty +birds in this homely family; but the finest of all is Thripodectes +flammulatus, the whole body being tortoise-shell colour, the wings and +tail bright chesnut. The powerful tanager-like beak of this species +seems also to show that it has diverged from its timid shade-loving +congeners in another direction by becoming a seed and fruit eater. + +Probably the sober and generally protective colouring of the +tree-creepers, even with the variability and adaptiveness displayed in +their habits superadded, would be insufficient to preserve such feeble +birds in the struggle of life without the further advantage derived from +their wonderful nests. It has been said of domed nests that they are a +danger rather than a protection, owing to their large size, which makes +it easy for carnivorous species that prey on eggs and young birds to +find them; while small open nests are usually well concealed. This may +be the case with covered nests made of soft materials, loosely put +together; but it cannot be said of the solid structure the tree-creeper +bnilds, and which, as often as not, the bird erects in the most +conspicuous place it can find, as if, writes Azara, it desired all the +world to admire its work. The annual destruction of adult birds is very +great--more than double that, I believe, which takes place in other +passerine families. Their eggs and young are, however, practically safe +in their great elaborate nests or deep burrows, and, as a rule, they lay +more eggs than other kinds, the full complement being seldom less than +five in the species I am acquainted with, while some lay as many as +nine. Their nests are also made so as to keep out a greater pest than +their carnivorous or egg-devouring enemies--namely, the parasitical +starlings (Molo-thrus), which are found throughout South America, and +are excessively abundant and destructive to birds' nests in some +districts. In most cases, in the big, strong-domed nest or deep burrow, +all the eggs are hatched and all the young reared, the thinning, out +process commencing only after the brood has been led forth into a world +beset with perils. With other families, on the contrary, the greatest +amount of destruction falls on the eggs or fledglings. I have frequently +kept a dozen or twenty pairs of different species--warblers, finches, +tyrants, starlings, &c.--under observation during the breeding season, +and have found that in some cases no young-were reared at all; in other +cases one or two young; while, as often as not, the young actually +reared were only parasitical starlings after all. + +I have still to speak of the voice of the tree-creepers, an important +point in the study of these birds; for, though not accounted singers, +some species emit remarkable sounds; moreover, language in birds is +closely related to the social instinct. They seem to be rather solitary +than gregarious; and this seems only natural in birds so timid, +weak-winged, and hard pressed. It would also be natural to conclude from +what has been said concerning their habits that they are comparatively +silent; for, as a rule, vigorous social birds are loquacious and +loud-voiced, while shy solitary kinds preservo silence, except in the +love season. Nevertheless the creepers are loquacious and have loud +resonant voices; this fact, however, does not really contradict a +well-known principle, for the birds possess the social disposition in an +eminent degree, only the social habit is kept down in them by the +conditions of a life which makes solitude necessary. Thus, a large +proportion of species are found to pair for life; and the only +reasonable explanation of this habit in birds--one which is not very +common in the mammalia--is that such species possess the social temper +or feeling, and live in pairs only because they cannot afford to live in +flocks. Strictly gregarious species pair only for the breeding season. +In the creepers the attachment between the birds thus mated for life is +very great, and, as Azara truly says of Anumbius, so fond of each +other's society are these birds, that when one incubates the other sits +at the entrance to the nest, and when one carries food to its young the +other accompanies it, even if it has found nothing to cany. In these +species that live in pairs, when the two birds are separated they are +perpetually calling to each other, showing how impatient of solitude +they are; while even from the more solitary kind, a high-pitched +call-note is constantly heard in the woods, for these birds, debarred +from associating together, satisfy their instinct by conversing with one +another over long distances. + +The foregoing remarks apply to the Dendrocolap-tidae throughout the +temperate countries of South America--the birds inhabiting extensive +grassy plains and marshes, and districts with a scanty or scattered tree +and bush vegetation. In the forest areas of the hotter regions it is +different; there the birds form large gatherings or "wandering bands," +composed of all the different species found in each district, associated +with birds of other families--wood-peckers, tyrant-birds, bush shrikes, +and many others. These miscellaneous gatherings are not of rare +occurrence, but out of the breeding season are formed daily, the birds +beginning to assemble at about nine or ten o'clock in the morning, +their number increasing through the day until it reaches its maximum +between two and four o'clock in the afternoon, after which it begins to +diminish, each bird going off to its customary shelter or +dwelling-place. Mr. Bates, who first described these wandering bands, +says that he could always find the particular band belonging to a +district any day he wished, for when he failed to meet with it in one +part of the forest he would try other paths, until he eventually found +it. The great Amazonian forests, he tells us, appear strangely silent +and devoid of bird life, and it is possible to ramble about for whole +days without seeing or hearing birds. But now and then the surrounding +trees and bushes appear suddenly swarming with them. "The bustling +crowd loses no time, and, always moving in concert, each bird is +occupied on its own account in searching bark, or leaf, or twig. In a +few moments the host is gone, and the forest path remains deserted and +silent as before." Stolzmann, who observed them in Peru, says that the +sound caused by the busy crowd searching through the foliage, and the +falling of dead leaves and twigs, resembles that produced by a shower of +rain. The Indians of the Amazons, Mr. Bates writes, have a curious +belief to explain these bird armies; they say that the Papa-uira, +supposed to be a small grey bird, fascinates all the others, and leads +them on a weary perpetual dance through the forest. It seems very +wonderful that birds, at other times solitary, should thus combine daily +in large numbers, including in their bands scores of widely different +species, and in size ranging from those no larger than a wren to others +as big as a magpie. It is certainly very advantageous to them. As Belt +remarks, they play into each other's hands; for while the larger +creepers explore the trunks of big trees, others run over the branches +and cling to the lesser twigs, so that every tree in their route, from +its roots to the topmost foliage, is thoroughly examined, and every +spider and caterpillar taken, while the winged insects, driven from +their lurking-places, are seized where they settle, or caught flying by +the tyrant birds. + +I have observed the wandering bands only in Patagonia, where they are on +a very small scale compared with those of the tropical forests. In the +Patagonia thickets the small tit-like creeper, Laptas-thenura, is the +prime mover; and after a considerable number of these have gathered, +creepers of other species and genera unite with them, and finally the +band, as it moves through the thickets, draws to itself other +kinds--flycatchers, finches, &c.--many of the birds running or hopping +on the ground to search for insects in the loose soil or under dead +leaves, while others explore the thorny bushes. My observations of these +small bands lead me to believe that everywhere in South America the +Dendrocolaptidae are the first in combining to act in concert, and that +the birds of other families follow their march and associate with them, +knowing from experience that a rich harvest may be thus reaped. In the +same way birds of various kinds follow the movements of a column of +hunting ants, to catch the insects flying up from the earth to escape +from their enemies; swallows also learn to keep company with the +traveller on horseback, and, crossing and recrossing just before the +hoofs, they catch the small twilight moths driven up from the grass. + +To return to the subject of voice. The tree-creepers do not possess +melodious, or at any rate mellow notes, although in so numerous a family +there is great variety of tone, ranging from a small reedy voice like +the faint stridulation of a grasshopper, to the resounding, +laughter-like, screaming concerts of Homorus, which may be heard +distinctly two miles away. As a rule, the notes are loud ringing calls; +and in many species the cry, rapidly reiterated, resembles a peal of +laughter. With scarcely an exception, they possess no set song; but in +most species that live always in pairs there are loud, vehement, +gratulatory notes uttered by the two birds in concert when they meet +after a brief separation. This habit they possess in common with birds +of other families, as, for instance, the tyrants; but, in some creepers, +out of this confused outburst of joyous sound has been developed a. +musical performance very curious, and perhaps unique among birds. On +meeting, the male and female, standing close together and facing each +other, utter their clear ringing concert, one emitting loud single +measured notes, while the notes of its fellow are rapid, rhythmical +triplets; their voices have a joyous character, and seem to accord, thus +producing a kind of harmony. This manner of singing is perhaps most +perfect in the oven-bird, Furnarias, and it is very curious that the +young birds, when only partially fledged, are constantly heard in the +nest or oven apparently practising these duets in the intervals when the +parents are absent; single measured notes, triplets, and long concluding +trills are all repeated with wonderful fidelity, although these notes +are in character utterly unlike the hunger cry, which is like that of +other fledglings. I cannot help thinking that this fact of the young +birds beginning to sing like the adults, while still confined in their +dark cradle, is one of very considerable significance, especially when +we consider the singular character of the performance; and that it might +even be found to throw some light on the obscure question of the +comparative antiquity of the different and widely separated +Dendrocolaptine groups. It is a doctrine in evolutionary science that +the early maturing of instincts in the young indicates a high antiquity +for the species or group; and there is no reason why this principle +should not be extended, in the case of birds at any rate, to language. +It is true that Daines Barrington's notion that young song-birds learn +to sing only by imitating the adults still holds its ground; and Darwin +gives it his approval in his _Descent of Man._ It is perhaps one of +those doctrines which are partially true, or which do not contain the +whole truth; and it is possible to believe that, while many singing +birds do so learn their songs, or acquire a greater proficiency in them +from hearing the adults, in other species the song comes instinctively, +and is, like other instincts and habits, purely an "inherited memory." + +The case of a species in another order of birds--Crypturi--strikes me as +being similar to this of the oven-bird, and seems to lend some force to +the suggestion I have made concerning the early development of voice in +the young. + +Birds peculiar to South America are said by anatomists to be less +specialized, lower, more ancient, than the birds of the northern +continents, and among those which are considered lowest and most ancient +are the Tinamous (rail and partridge like in their habits), birds that +lead a solitary, retiring life, and in most cases have sweet melancholy +voices. Rhynchotus rufescens, a bird the size of a fowl, inhabiting the +pampas, is perhaps the sweetest-voiced, and sings with great frequency. +Its song or call is heard oftenest towards the evening, and is composed +of five modulated notes, flute-like in character, very expressive, and +uttered by many individuals answering each other as they sit far apart +concealed in the grass. As we might have expected, the faculties and +instincts of the young of this species mature at a very early period; +when extremely small, they abandon their parents to shift for themselves +in solitude; and when not more than one-fourth the size they eventually +attain, they acquire the adult plumage and are able to fly as well as an +old bird. I observed a young bird of this species, less than a quail in +size, at a house on the pampas, and was told that it had been taken from +the nest when just breaking the shell; it had, therefore, never seen or +heard the parent birds. Yet this small chick, every day at the approach +of evening, would retire to the darkest corner of the dining room, and, +concealed under a piece of furniture, would continue uttering its +evening song for an hour or longer at short intervals, and rendering it +so perfectly that I was greatly surprised to hear it; for a thrush or +other songster at the same period of life, when attempting to sing, only +produces a chirping sound. + +The early singing of the oven-bird fledgling is important, owing to the +fact that the group it belongs to comprises the least specialized forms +in the family. They are strong-legged, square-tailed, terrestrial birds, +generally able to perch, have probing beaks, and build the most perfect +mud or stick nests, or burrow in the ground. In the numerous +tree-creeping groups, which, seem as unrelated to the oven-bird as the +woodpecker is to the hoopoe, we find a score of wonderfully different +forms of beak; but many of them retain the probing character, and are +actually used to probe in rotten wood on trees, and to explore the holes +and deep crevices in the trunk. We have also seen that some of these +tree-creepers revert to the ancestral habit (if I may so call it) of +seeking their food by probing in the soil. In others, like Dendrornis, +in which the beak has lost this character, and is used to dig in the +wood or to strip off the bark, it has not been highly specialized, and, +compared with the woodpecker's beak, is a very imperfect organ, +considering the purpose for which it is used. Yet, on the principle that +"similar functional requirements frequently lead to the development of +similar structures in animals which are otherwise very distinct"--as we +see in the tubular tongue in honey-eaters and humming birds--we might +have expected to find in the Dendrocolaptidae a better imitation of the +woodpecker in so variable an organ as the beak, if not in the tongue. + +Probably the oven-birds, and their nearest relations--generalized, +hardy, builders of strong nests, and prolific--represent the parental +form; and when birds of this type had spread over the entire continent +they became in different districts frequenters of marshes, forests, +thickets and savannas. With altered life-habits the numerous divergent +forms originated; some, like Xiphorynchus, retaining a probing beak in a +wonderfully modified form, attenuated in an extreme degree, and bent +like a sickle; others diverging more in the direction of nuthatches and +woodpeckers. + +This sketch of the Dendrocolaptidae, necessarily slight and imperfect, +is based on a knowledge of the habits of about sixty species, belonging +to twenty-eight genera: from personal observation I am acquainted with +less than thirty species. It is astonishing to find how little has been +written about these most interesting birds in South America. One +tree-creeper only, Furnarius rufus, the oven-bird _par excellence,_ has +been mentioned, on account of its wonderful architecture, in almost +every general work of natural history published during the present +century; yet the oven-bird does not surpass, or even equal in interest, +many others in this family of nearly three hundred members. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MUSIC AND DANCING IN NATURE. + + +In reading books of Natural History we meet with numerous instances of +birds possessing the habit of assembling together, in many cases always +at the same spot, to indulge in antics and dancing performances, with or +without the accompaniment of music, vocal or instrumental; and by +instrumental music is here meant all sounds other than vocal made +habitually and during the more or less orderly performances; as, for +instance, drumming and tapping noises; smiting of wings; and humming, +whip-cracking, fan-shutting, grinding, scraping, and horn-blowing +sounds, produced as a rule by the quills. + +There are human dances, in which only one person performs at a time, the +rest of the company looking on; and some birds, in widely separated +genera, have dances of this kind. A striking example is the Rupicola, or +cock of-the-rock, of tropical South America. A mossy level spot of earth +surrounded by bushes is selected for a dancing-place, and kept well +cleared of sticks and stones; round this area the birds assemble, when a +cock-bird, with vivid orange-scarlet crest and plumage, steps into it, +and, with spreading wings and tail, begins a series of movements as if +dancing a minuet; finally, carried away with excitement, he leaps and +gyrates in the most astonishing manner, until, becoming exhausted, he +retires, and another bird takes his place. + +In other species all the birds in a company unite in the set +performances, and seem to obey an impulse which affects them +simultaneously and in the same degree; but sometimes one bird prompts +the others and takes a principal part. One of the most curious instances +I have come across in reading is contained in Mr. Bigg-Wither's +_Pioneering in South Brazil._ He relates that one morning in the dense +forest his attention was roused by the unwonted sound of a bird +singing--songsters being rare in that district. His men, immediately +they caught the sound, invited him to follow them, hinting that he would +probably witness a very curious sight. Cautiously making their way +through the dense undergrowth, they finally came in sight of a small +stony spot of ground, at the end of a tiny glade; and on this spot, some +on the stone and some on the shrubs, were assembled a number of little +birds, about the size of tom-tits, with lovely blue plumage and red +top-knots. One was perched quite still on a twig, singing merrily, while +the others were keeping time with wings and feet in a kind of dance, and +all twittering an accompaniment. He watched them for some time, and was +satisfied that they were having a ball and concert, and thoroughly +enjoying themselves; they then became alarmed, and the performance +abruptly terminated, the birds all going off in different directions. +The natives told him that these little creatures were known as the +"dancing birds." + +This species was probably solitary, except when assembling for the +purpose of display; but in a majority of cases, especially in the +Passerine order, the solitary species performs its antics alone, or with +no witness but its mate. Azara, describing a small finch, which he aptly +named _Oscilador,_ says that early and late in the day it mounts up +vertically to a moderate height; then, flies off to a, distance of +twenty yards, describing a perfect curve in its passage; turning, it +flies back over the imaginary line it has traced, and so on repeatedly, +appearing like a pendulum swung in space by an invisible thread. + +Those who seek to know the cause and origin of this kind of display and +of song in animals are referred to Darwin's _Descent of Man_ for an +explanation. The greater part of that work is occupied with a laborious +argument intended to prove that the love-feeling inspires the animals +engaged in these exhibitions, and that sexual selection, or the +voluntary selection of mates by the females, is the final cause of all +set musical and dancing performances, as well as of bright and +harmonious colouring, and of ornaments. + +The theory, with regard to birds is, that in the love-season, when the +males are excited and engage in courtship, the females do not fall to +the strongest and most active, nor to those that are first in the field; +but that in a large number of species they are endowed with a faculty +corresponding to the aesthetic feeling or taste in man, and deliberately +select males for their superiority in some aesthetic quality, such as +graceful or fantastic motions, melody of voice, brilliancy of colour, or +perfection of ornaments. Doubtless all birds were originally +plain-coloured, without ornaments and without melody, and it is assumed +that so it would always have been in many cases but for the action of +this principle, which, like natural selection, has gone on accumulating +countless small variations, tending to give a greater lustre to the +species in each case, and resulting in all that we most admire in the +animal world--the Rupicola's flame-coloured mantle, the peacock's crest +and starry train, the joyous melody of the lark, and the pretty or +fantastic dancing performances of birds. + +My experience is that mammals and birds, with few exceptions--probably +there are really no exceptions--possess the habit of indulging +frequently in more or less regular or set performances, with or without +sound, or composed of sound exclusively; and that these performances, +which in many animals are only discordant cries and choruses, +and uncouth, irregular motions, in the more aerial, graceful, and +melodious kinds take immeasurably higher, more complex, and more +beautiful forms. Among the mammalians the instinct appears +almost universal; but their displays are, as a rule, less admirable than +those seen in birds. There are some kinds, it is true, like the +squirrels and monkeys, of arboreal habits, almost birdlike in their +restless energy, and in the swiftness and certitude of their motions, in +which the slightest impulse can be instantly expressed in graceful or +fantastic action; others, like the Chinchillidae family, have greatly +developed vocal organs, and resemble birds in loquacity; but mammals +generally, compared with birds, are slow and heavy, and not so readily +moved to exhibitions of the kind I am discussing. + +The terrestrial dances, often very elaborate, of heavy birds, like those +of the gallinaceous kind, are represented in the more volatile species +by performances in the air, and these are very much more beautiful; +while a very large number of birds--hawks, vultures, swifts, swallows, +nightjars, storks, ibises, spoonbills, and gulls--circle about in the +air, singly or in flocks. Sometimes, in serene weather, they rise to a +vast altitude, and float about in one spot for an hour or longer at a +stretch, showing a faint bird-cloud in the blue, that does not change +its form, nor grow lighter and denser like a flock of starlings; but in +the seeming confusion there is perfect order, and amidst many hundreds +each swift- or slow-gliding figure keeps its proper distance with such +exactitude that no two ever touch, even with the extremity of the +long-wings, flapping or motionless:--such a multitude, and such +miraculous precision in the endless curving motions of all the members +of it, that the spectator can lie for an hour on his back without +weariness watching this mystic cloud-dance in the empyrean. + +The black-faced ibis of Patagonia, a bird nearly as large as a turkey, +indulges in a curious mad performance, usually in the evening when +feeding-time is over. The birds of a flock, while winging their way to +the roosting-place, all at once seem possessed with frenzy, +simultaneously dashing downwards with amazing violence, doubling about +in the most eccentric manner; and when close to the surface rising again +to repeat the action, all the while making the air palpitate for miles +around with their hard, metallic cries. Other ibises, also birds of +other genera, have similar aerial performances. + +The displays of most ducks known to me take the form of mock fights on +the water; one exception is the handsome and loquacious whistling +widgeon of La Plata, which has a pretty aerial performance. A dozen or +twenty birds rise up until they appear like small specks in the sky, and +sometimes disappear from sight altogether; and at that great altitude +they continue hovering in one spot, often for an hour or longer, +alternately closing and separating; the fine, bright, whistling notes +and flourishes of the male curiously harmonizing with the grave, +measured notes of the female; and every time they close they slap each +other on the wings so smartly that the sound can be distinctly heard, +like applauding hand-claps, even after the birds have ceased to be +visible. + +The rails, active, sprightly birds with powerful and varied voices, are +great performers; but owing to the nature of the ground they inhabit and +to their shy, suspicious character, it is not easy to observe their +antics. The finest of the Platan rails is the ypecaha, a beautiful, +active bird about the size of the fowl. A number of ypecahas have their +assembling place on a small area of smooth, level ground, just above the +water, and hemmed in by dense rush beds. First, one bird among the +rushes emits a powerful cry, thrice repeated; and this is a note of +invitation, quickly responded to by other birds from all sides as they +hurriedly repair to the usual place. In a few moments they appear, to +the number of a dozen or twenty, bursting from the rushes and running +into the open space, and instantly beginning the performance. This is a +tremendous screaming concert. The screams they utter have a certain +resemblance to the human voice, exerted to its utmost pitch and +expressive of extreme terror, frenzy, and despair. A long, piercing +shriek, astonishing for its vehemence and power, is succeeded by a lower +note, as if in the first the creature had well nigh exhausted itself: +this double scream is repeated several times, and followed by other +sounds, resembling, as they rise and fall, half smothered cries of pains +and moans of anguish. Suddenly the unearthly shrieks are renewed in all +their power. While screaming the birds rush from side to side, as if +possessed with madness, the wings spread and vibrating, the long-beak +wide open and raised vertically. This exhibition lasts three or four +minntes, after which the assembly peacefully breaks up. + +The singular wattled, wing-spurred, and long-, toed jacana has a +remarkable performance, which seems specially designed to bring out the +concealed beauty of the silky, greenish-golden wing-quills-The birds go +singly or in pairs, and a dozen or fifteen individuals may be found in a +marshy place feeding within sight of each other. Occasionally, in +response to a note of invitation, they all in a moment leave off feeding +and fly to one spot, and, forming a close cluster, and emitting short, +excited, rapidly repeated notes, display their wings, like beautiful +flags grouped loosely together: some hold the wings up vertically and +motionless; others, half open and vibrating rapidly, while still others +wave them up and down with a slow, measured motion. + +In the ypecaha and jacana displays both sexes take part. A stranger +performance is that of the spur-winged lapwing of the same region--a +species resembling the lapwing of Europe, but a third larger, brighter +coloured, and armed with spurs. The lapwing display, called by the +natives its "dance," or "serious dance"--by which they mean square +dance--requires three birds for its performance, and is, so far as I +know, unique in this respect. The birds are so fond of it that they +indulge in it all the year round, and at frequent intervals during the +day, also on moonlight nights. If a person watches any two birds for +some time--for they live in pairs--he will see another lapwing, one of a +neighbouring couple, rise up and fly to them, leaving his own mate to +guard their chosen ground; and instead of resenting this visit as an +unwarranted intrusion on their domain, as they would certainly resent +the approach of almost any other bird, they welcome it with notes and +signs of pleasure. Advancing to the visitor, they place themselves +behind it; then all three, keeping step, begin a rapid march, uttering +resonant drumming notes in time with their movements; the notes of the +pair behind being emitted in a stream, like a drum-roll, while the +leader utters loud single notes at regular intervals. The march ceases; +the leader elevates his wings and stands erect and motionless, still +uttering loud notes; while the other two, with puffed-out plumage and +standing exactly abreast stoop forward and downward until the tips of +their beaks touch the ground, and, sinking their rhythmical voices to a +murmur, remain for some time in this posture. The performance is then +over and the visitor goes back to his own ground and mate, to receive a +visitor himself later on. + +In the Passerine order, not the least remarkable displays are witnessed +in birds that are not accounted songsters, as they do not possess the +highly developed vocal organ confined to the suborder Oscines. The +tyrant-birds, which represent in South America the fly-catchers of the +Old World, all have displays of some kind; in a vast majority of cases +these are simply joyous, excited duets between male and female, composed +of impetuous and more or less confused notes and screams, accompanied +with beating of wings and other gestures. In some species choruses take +the place of duets, while in others entirely different forms of display +have been developed. In one group--Cnipolegus--the male indulges in +solitary antics, while the silent, modest-coloured female keeps in +hiding. Thus, the male of Cnipolegus Hudsoni, an intensely +black-plumaged species with a concealed white wing-band, takes his stand +on a dead twig on the summit of a bush. At intervals he leaves his +perch, displaying the intense white on the quills, and producing, as the +wings are thrown open and shut alternately, the effect of successive +flashes of light. Then suddenly the bird begins revolving in the air +about its perch, like a moth wheeling round and close to the flame of a +candle, emitting a series of sharp clicks and making a loud humming with +the wings. While performing this aerial waltz the black and white on the +quills mix, the wings appearing like a grey mist encircling the body. +The fantastic dance over, the bird drops suddenly on to its perch again; +and, until moved to another display, remains as stiff and motionless as +a bird carved out of jet. + +The performance of the scissors-tail, another tyrant-bird, is also +remarkable. This species is grey and white, with black head and tail and +a crocus-yellow crest. On the wing it looks like a large swallow, but +with the two outer tail-feathers a foot long. The scissors-tails always +live in pairs, but at sunset several pairs assemble, the birds calling +excitedly to each other; they then mount upwards, like rockets, to a +great height in the anand, after wheeling about for a few moments, +pro-cipitate themselves downwards with amazing violence in a wild +zigzag, opening and shutting the long tail-feathers like a pair of +shears, and producing loud whirring sounds, as of clocks being wound +rapidly up, with a slight pause after each turn of the key. This aerial +dance over, they alight in separate couples on the tree tops, each +couple joining in a kind of duet of rapidly repeated, castanet-like +sounds. + +The displays of the wood-hewers, or Dendrocolap-tidae, another extensive +family, resemble those of the tyrant-birds in being chiefly duets, male +and female singing excitedly in piercing or resonant voices, and with +much action. The habit varies somewhat in the cachalote, a Patagonian +species of the genus Homorus, about the size of the missel-thrush. Old +and young birds live in a family together, and at intervals, on any fine +day, they engage in a grand screaming contest, which may be heard +distinctly at a distance of a mile and a half. One bird mounts on to a +bush and calls, and instantly all the others hurry to the spot, and +burst out into a chorus of piercing cries that sound like peals and +shrieks of insane laughter. After the chorus, they all pursue each other +wildly about among the bushes for some minutes. + +In some groups the usual duet-like performances have developed into a +kind of harmonious singing, which is very curious and pleasant to hear. +This is pre-eminently the case with the oven-birds, as D'Orbigney first +remarked. Thus, in the red oven-bird, the first bird, on the appearance +of its mate flying to join it, begins to emit loud, measured notes, and +sometimes a continuous trill, somewhat metallic in sound; but +immediately on the other bird striking in this introductory passage is +changed to triplets, strongly accented on the first note, in a _tempo +vivace;_ while the second bird utters loud single notes in the same +time. While thus singing they stand facing each other, necks +outstretched and tails expanded, the wings of the first bird vibrating +rapidly to the rapid utterance, while those of the second bird beat +measured time. The finale consists of three or four notes, uttered by +the second bird alone, strong and clear, in an ascending scale, the last +very piercing. + +In the melodists proper the displays, in a majority of cases, are +exclusively vocal, the singer sitting still on his perch. In the +Troupials, a family of starling-like birds numbering about one hundred +and forty species, there are many that accompany singing with pretty or +grotesque antics. The male screaming cow-bird of La Plata, when perched, +emits a hollow-sounding internal note that swells at the end into a +sharp metallic ring, almost bell-like: this is uttered with wings and +tail spread and depressed, the whole plumage being puffed out as in a +strutting turkey-cock, while the bird hops briskly up and down on its +perch as if dancing. The bell-like note of the male is followed by an +impetuous scream from the female, and the dance ends. Another species, +the common Argentine cow-bird of La Plata, when courting puffs out his +glossy rich violet plumage, and, with wings vibrating, emits a +succession of deep internal notes, followed by a set song in clear, +ringing tones; and then, suddenly taking wing, he flies straight away, +close to the surface, fluttering like a moth, and at a distance of +twenty to thirty yards turns and flies in a wide circle round the +female, singing loudly all the time, hedging her in with melody as it +were. + +Many songsters in widely different families possess the habit of soaring +and falling alternately while singing, and in some cases all the aerial +postures and movements, the swift or slow descent, vertical, often, with +oscillations, or in a spiral, and sometimes with a succession of smooth +oblique lapses, seem to have an admirable correspondence with the +changing and falling voice--melody and motion being united in a more +intimate and beautiful way than in the most perfect and poetic forms of +human dancing. + +One of the soaring singers is a small yellow field-finch of La +Plata--Sycalis luteola; and this species, like some others, changes the +form of its display with the seasons. It lives in immense flocks, and +during the cold season it has, like most finches, only aerial pastimes, +the birds wheeling about in a cloud, pursuing each other with lively +chirpings. In August, when the trees begin to blossom, the flock betakes +itself to a plantation, and, sitting on the branches, the birds sing in +a concert of innumerable voices, producing a great volume of sound, as +of a high wind when heard at a distance. Heard near, it is a great mass +of melody; not a confused tangle of musical sounds as when a host of +Troupials sing in concert, but the notes, although numberless, seem to +flow smoothly and separately, producing an effect on the ear similar to +that which rain does on the sight, when the sun shines on and lightens +up the myriads of falling drops all falling one way. In this manner the +birds sing for hours, without intermission, every day. Then the passion +of love infects them; the pleasant choir breaks up, and its ten thousand +members scatter wide over the surrounding fields and pasture lands. +During courtship the male has a feeble, sketchy music, but his singing +is then accompanied with very charming love antics. His circlings about +the hen-bird; his numberless advances and retreats, and little soarings +above her when his voice swells with importunate passion; his fluttering +lapses back to earth, where he lies prone with outspread, tremulous +wings, a suppliant at her feet, his languishing voice meanwhile dying +down to lispings--all these apt and graceful motions seem to express the +very sickness of the heart. But the melody during this emotional period +is nothing. After the business of pairing and nest-building is over, his +musical displays take a new and finer form. He sits perched on a stalk +above the grass, and at intervals soars up forty or fifty yards high; +rising, he utters a series of long melodious notes; then he descends in +a graceful spiral, the set of the motionless wings giving him the +appearance of a slowly-falling parachute; the voice then also falls, the +notes coming lower, sweeter, and more expressive until he reaches the +surface. After alighting the song continues, the strains becoming +longer, thinner, and clearer, until they dwindle to the finest threads +of sound and faintest tinklings, as from a cithern touched by fairy +fingers. The great charm of the song is in this slow gradation from the +somewhat throaty notes emitted by the bird when ascendino-to the +excessively attenuated sounds at the close. + +In conclusion of this part I shall speak of one species more--the +white-banded mocking-bird of Patagonia, which greatly excels all other +songsters known to me in the copiousness, variety and brilliant +character of its music. Concealed in the foliage this bird will sing by +the half-hour, reproducing with miraculous fidelity the more or less +melodious set songs of a score of species--a strange and beautiful +performance; but wonderful as it seems while it lasts, one almost ceases +to admire this mimicking bird-art when the mocker, as if to show by +contrast his unapproachable superiority, bursts into his own divine +song, uttered with a power, abandon and joyousness resembling, but +greatly exceeding, that of the skylark "singing at heaven's gate;" the +notes issuing in a continuous torrent; the voice so brilliant and +infinitely varied, that if "rivalry and emulation" have as large a place +in feathered breasts as some imagine all that hear this surpassing +melody might well languish ever after in silent despair. + +In a vast majority of the finest musical performances the same notes are +uttered in the same order, and after an interval the song is repeated +without any variation: and it seems impossible that we could in any +other way have such beautiful contrasts and harmonious lights and +shades--the whole song, so to speak, like a "melody sweetly played in +tune." This seeming impossibility is accomplished in the mocking-bird's +song: the notes never come in the same order again and again, but, as if +inspired, in a changed order, with variations and new sounds: and here +again it has some resemblance to the skylark's song, and might be +described as the lark's song with endless variations and brightened and +spiritualized in a degree that cannot be imagined. + +This mocking-bird is one of those species that accompany music with +appropriate motions. And just as its song is, so to speak, inspired and +an im-provization, unlike any song the bird has ever uttered, so its +motions all have the same character of spontaneity, and follow no order, +and yet have a grace and passion and a perfect harmony with the music +unparalleled among birds possessing a similar habit. While singing he +passes from bush to bush, sometimes delaying a few moments on and at +others just touching the summits, and at times sinking out of sight in +the foliage: then, in an access of rapture, soaring vertically to a +height of a hundred feet, with measured wing-beats, like those of a +heron: or, mounting suddenly in a wild, hurried zigzag, then slowly +circling downwards, to sit at last with tail outspread fanwise, and +vans, glistening white in the sunshine, expanded and vibrating, or waved +languidly up and down, with, a motion like that of some broad-winged +butterfly at rest on a flower. + +I wish now to put this question: What relation that we can see or +imagine to the passion of love and the business of courtship, have these +dancing and vocal performances in nine cases out of ten? In such cases, +for instance, as that of the scissors-tail tyrant-bird, and its +pyrotechnic evening displays, when a number of couples leave their nests +containing eggs and young to join in a wild aerial dance: the mad +exhibitions of ypecahas and ibises, and the jacanas' beautiful +exhibition of grouped wings: the triplet dances of the spur-winged +lapwing, to perform which two birds already mated are compelled to call +in a third bird to complete the set: the harmonious duets of the +oven-birds, and the duets and choruses of nearly all the wood-hewers, +and the wing-slapping aerial displays of the whistling widgeons--will it +be seriously contended that the female of this species makes choice of +the male able to administer the most vigorous and artistic slaps? + +The believer in the theory would put all these cases lightly aside, to +cite that of the male cow-bird practising antics before the female and +drawing a wide circle of melody round her; or that of the jet-black, +automaton-like, dancing tyrant-bird; and concerning this species he +would probably say that the plain-plumaged female went about unseen, +critically watching the dancing of different males, to discover the most +excellent performer according to the traditional standard. And this was, +in substance, what Darwin did. There are many species in which the male, +singly or with others, practises antics or sings during the love-season +before the female; and when all such cases, or rather those that are +most striking and bizarre, are brought together, and when it is +gratuitously asserted that the females _do_ choose the males that show +off in the best manner or that sing best, a case for sexual selection +seems to be made out. How unfair the argument is, based on these +carefully selected cases gathered from all regions of the globe, and +often not properly reported, is seen when we turn from the book to +nature and closely consider the habits and actions of all the species +inhabiting any _one_ district. We see then that such cases as those +described and made so much of in the _Descent of Man,_ and cases like +those mentioned in this chapter, are not essentially different in +character, but are manifestations of one instinct, which appears to be +almost universal among the animals. The explanation I have to offer lies +very much on the surface and is very simple indeed, and, like that of +Dr. Wallace with regard [Footnote: It is curious to find that Dr. +Wallace's idea about colour has been independently hit upon by Ruskin. +Of stones he writes in _Frondes Agrestis_:--"I have often had occasion +to allude to the apparent connection of brilliancy of colour with vigour +of life and purity of substance. This is pre-eminently the case in the +mineral kingdom. The perfection with which the particles of any +substance unite in crystallization, corresponds in that kingdom to the +vital power in organic nature."] to colour and ornaments covers the +whole of the facts. We see that the inferior animals, when the +conditions of life are favourable, are subject to periodical fits of +gladness affecting them powerfully and standing out in vivid contrast to +their ordinary temper. And we know what this feeling is--this periodic +intense elation which even civilized man occasionally experiences when +in perfect health, more especially when young. There are moments when +he is mad with joy, when he cannot keep still, when his impulse is to +sing and shout aloud and laugh at nothing, to run and leap and exert +himself in some extravagant way. Among the heavier mammalians the +feeling is manifested in loud noises, bellowings and screamings, and in +lumbering, uncouth motions--throwing up of heels, pretended panics, and +ponderous mock battles. + +In smaller and livelier animals, with greater celerity and certitude in +their motions, the feeling shows itself in more regular and often in +more complex ways. Thus, Felidae when young, and, in very agile, +sprightly species like the Puma, throughout life, simulate all the +actions of an animal hunting its prey--sudden, intense excitement of +discovery, concealment, gradual advance, masked by intervening objects, +with intervals of watching, when they crouch motionless, the eyes +flashing and tail waved from side to side; finally, the rush and spring, +when the playfellow is captured, rolled over on his back and worried to +imaginary death. Other species of the most diverse kinds, in which voice +is greatly developed, join in noisy concerts and choruses; many of the +cats may be mentioned, also dogs and foxes, capybaras and other +loquacious rodents; and in the howling monkeys this kind of performance +rises to the sublime uproar of the tropical forest at eventide. + +Birds are more subject to this universal joyous instinct than mammals, +and there are times when some species are constantly overflowing with +it; and as they are so much freer than mammals, more buoyant and +graceful in action, more loquacious, and have voices so much finer, +their gladness shows itself in a greater variety of ways, with more +regular and beautiful motions, and with melody. But every species, or +group of species, has its own inherited form or style of performance; +and, however rude and irregular this may be, as in the case of the +pretended stampedes and fights of wild cattle, that is the form in which +the feeling will always be expressed. If all men, at some exceedingly +remote period in their history, had agreed to express the common glad +impulse, which they now express in such an infinite variety of ways or +do not express at all, by dancing a minuet, and minuet-dancing had at +last come to be instinctive, and taken to spontaneously by children at +an early period, just as they take to walking "on their hind legs," +man's case would be like that of the inferior animals. + +I was one day watching a flock of plovers, quietly feeding on the +ground, when, in a moment, all the birds were seized by a joyous +madness, and each one, after making a vigorous peck at his nearest +neighbour, began running wildly about, each trying in passing to peck +other birds, while seeking by means of quick doublings to escape being +pecked in turn. This species always expresses its glad impulse in the +same way; but how different in form is this simple game of +touch-who-touch-can from the triplet dances of the spur-winged lapwings, +with their drumming music, pompous gestures, and military precision of +movement! How different also from the aerial performance of another bird +of the same family--the Brazilian stilt--in which one is pursued by the +others, mounting upwards in a wild, eccentric flight until they are all +but lost to view; and back to earth again, and then, skywards once more; +the pursued bird when overtaken giving place to another individual, and +the pursuing pack making the air ring with their melodious barking +cries! How different again are all these from the aerial pastimes of the +snipe, in which the bird, in its violent descent, is able to produce +such wonderful, far-reaching sounds with its tail-feathers! The snipe, +as a rule, is a solitary bird, and, like the oscillating finch mentioned +early in this paper, is content to practise its pastimes without a +witness. In the gregarious kinds all perform together: for this feeling, +like fear, is eminently contagious, and the sight of one bird mad with +joy will quickly make the whole flock mad. There are also species that +always live in pairs, like the scissors-tails already mentioned, that +periodically assemble in numbers for the purpose of display. The crested +screamer, a very large bird, may also be mentioned: male and female sing +somewhat harmoniously together, with voices of almost unparalleled +power: but these birds also congregate in large numbers, and a thousand +couples, or even several thousands, may be assembled together: and, at +intervals, both by day and night, all sing in concert, their combined +voices producing a thunderous melody which seems to shake the earth. As +a rule, however, birds that live always in pairs do not assemble for the +purpose of display, but the joyous instinct is expressed by duet-like +performances between male and female. Thus, in the three South American +Passerine families, the tyrant-birds, wood-hewers, and ant-thrushes, +numbering together between eight and nine hundred species, a very large +majority appear to have displays of this description. + +In my own experience, in cases where the male and female together, or +assembled with others, take equal parts in the set displays, the sexes +arc similar, or differ little; but where the female takes no part in the +displays the superiority of the male in brightness of colour is very +marked. One or two instances bearing on this point may be given. + +A scarlet-breasted troupial of La Plata perches conspicuously on a tall +plant in afield, and at intervals soars up vertically, singing, and, at +the highest ascending point, flight and song end in a kind of aerial +somersault and vocal flourish at the same moment. Meanwhile, the +dull-plumaged female is not seen and not heard: for not even a skulking +crake lives in closer seclusion under the herbage--so widely have the +sexes diverged in this species. Is the female, then, without an instinct +so common r--has she no sudden fits of irrepressible gladness? +Doubtless she has them, and manifests them down in her place of +concealment in lively chirpings and quick motions--the simple, primitive +form in which gladness is expressed in the class of birds. In the +various species of the genus Cnipolegus, already mentioned, the +difference in the sexes is just as great as in the case of the troupial: +the solitary, intensely black, statuesque male has, we have seen, a set +and highly fantastic performance; but on more than one occasion I have +seen four or five females of one species meet together and have a little +simple performance all to themselves--in form a kind of lively mock +fight. + +It might be objected that when a bird takes its stand and repeats a set +finished song at intervals for an hour at a stretch, remaining quietly +perched, such a performance appears to be different in character from +the irregular and simple displays which are unmistakably caused by a +sudden glad impulse. But we are familiar with the truth that in organic +nature great things result from small beginnings--a common flower, and +our own bony skulls, to say nothing of the matter contained within them, +are proofs of it. Only a limited number of species sing in a highly +finished manner. Looking at many species, we find every gradation, every +shade, from the simple joyous chirp and cry to the most perfect melody. +Even in a single branch of the true vocalists we may see it--from the +chirping bunting, and noisy but tuneless sparrow, to linnet and +goldfinch and canary. Not only do a large majority of species show the +singing instinct, or form of display, in a primitive, undeveloped state, +but in that state it continues to show itself in the young of many birds +in which melody is most highly developed in the adult. And where the +development has been solely in the male the female never rises above +that early stage; in her lively chirpings and little mock fights and +chases, and other simple forms which gladness takes in birds, as well as +in her plainer plumage, and absence of ornament, she represents the +species at some remote period. And as with song so with antics and all +set performances aerial or terrestrial, from those of the whale and the +elephant to those of the smallest insect. + +Another point remains to be noticed, and that is the greater frequency +and fulness in displays of all kinds, including song, during the love +season. And here Dr. Wallace's colour and ornament theory helps us to an +explanation. At the season of courtship, when the conditions of life are +most favourable vitality is at its maximum, and naturally it is then +that the proficiency in all kinds of dancing-antics, aerial and +terrestrial, appears greatest, and that melody attains its highest +perfection. This applies chiefly to birds, but even among birds there +are exceptions, as we have seen in the case of the field-finch, Sycalis +luteola. The love-excitement is doubtless pleasurable to them, and it +takes the form in which keenly pleasurable emotions are habitually +expressed, although not infrequently with variations due to the greater +intensity of the feeling. In some migrants the males arrive before the +females, and no sooner have they recovered from the effects of their +journey than they burst out into rapturous singing; these are not +love-strains, since the females have not yet arrived, and pairing-time +is perhaps a mouth distant; their singing merely expresses their +overflowing gladness. The forest at that season is vocal, not only with +the fine melody of the true songsters, but with hoarse cawings, piercing +cries, shrill duets, noisy choruses, drummings, boomings, trills, +wood-tappings--every sound with which different species express the glad +impulse; and birds like the parrot that only exert their powerful voices +in screamings--because "they can do no other"--then scream their +loudest. When courtship begins it has in many cases the effect of +increasing the beauty of the performance, giving added sweetness, verve, +and brilliance to the song, and freedom and grace to the gestures and +motions. But, as I have said, there are exceptions. Thus, some birds +that are good melodists at other times sing in a feeble, disjointed +manner during courtship. In Patagonia I found that several of the birds +with good voices--one a mocking bird--were, like the robin at home, +autumn and winter songsters. + +The argument has been stated very binefly: but little would be gained by +the mere multiplication of instances, since, however many, they would bo +selected instances--from a single district, it is true, while those in +the _Descent of Man_ were brought together from an immeasurably wider +field; but the principle is the same in both cases, and to what I have +written it may be objected that, if, instead of twenty-five, I had given +a hundred cases, taking them as they came, they might have shown a +larger proportion of instances like that of the cow-bird, in which the +male has a set performance practised only during the love-season and in +the presence of the female. + +It is, no doubt, true that all collections of facts relating to animal +life present nature to us somewhat as a "fantastic realm"--unavoidably +so, in a measure, since the writing would be too bulky, or too dry, or +too something inconvenient, if we did not take only the most prominent +facts that come before us, remove them from their places, where alone +they can be seen in their proper relations to numerous other less +prominent facts, and rearrange them patch work-wise to make up our +literature. But I am convinced that any student of the subject who will +cast aside his books--supposing that they have not already bred a habit +in his mind of seeing only "in accordance with verbal statement"--and go +directly to nature to note the actions of animals for himself--actions +which, in many cases, appear to lose all significance when set down in +writing--the result of such independent investigation will be a +conviction that conscious sexual selection on the part of the female is +not the cause of music and dancing performances in birds, nor of the +brighter colours and ornaments that distinguish the male. It is true +that the females of some species, both in the vertebrate and insect +kingdoms, do exercise a preference; but in a vast majority of species +the male takes the female he finds, or that he is able to win from other +competitors; and if we go to the reptile class we find that in the +ophidian order, which excels in variety and richness of colour, there is +no such thing as preferential mating; and if we go to the insect class, +we find that in butterflies, which surpass all creatures in their +glorious beauty, the female gives herself up to the embrace of the first +male that appears, or else is captured by the strongest male, just as +she might be by a mantis or some other rapacious insect. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +BIOGRAPHY OF THE VIZCACHA. + +_(Lagostomus Trichodactylus.)_ + + +The vizcacha is perhaps the most characteristic of the South American +Rodentia, [Footnote: "According to Mr. Waterhouse, of all rodents the +vizcacha is most nearly related to marsupials; but in the points in +which it approaches this order its relations are general, that is, not +to any one marsupial species more than to another. As these points of +affinity are believed to be real and not merely adaptive, they must be +due in accordance with our view to inheritance from a common progenitor. +Therefore wo must suppose either that all rodents, including the +vizcacha, branched off from some ancient marsupial, which will naturally +have been more or less intermediate in character with respect to all +existing marsupials; or, that both lodents and marsupials branched off +from a common progenitor. ... On either view we must suppose that the +vizcacha has retained, by inheritance, more of the characters of its +ancient progenitor than have other rodents."--DARWIN; _Origin of +Species._] while its habits, in some respects, are more interesting than +those of any other rodent known: it is, moreover, the most common mammal +we have on the pampas; and all these considerations have induced me to +write a very full account of its customs. It is necessary to add that +since the following pages were written at my home on the pampas a great +war of extermination has been waged against this animal by the +landowners, which has been more fortunate in its results--or unfortunate +if one's sympathies are with the vizcacha--than the war of the +Australians against their imported rodent--the smaller and more prolific +rabbit. + +The vizcachas on the pampas of Buenos Ayres live in societies, usually +numbering twenty or thirty members. The village, which is called +Vizcachera, is composed of a dozen or fifteen burrows or mouths; for one +entrance often serves for two or more distinct holes. Often, where the +ground is soft, there are twenty or thirty or more burrows in an old +vizcachera; but on stony, or "tosca" soil even an old one may have no +more than four or five burrows. They are deep wide-mouthed holes, placed +very close together, the entire village covering an area of from one +hundred to two hundred square feet of ground. + +The burrows vary greatly in extent; and usually in a vizcachera there +are several that, at a distance of from four to six feet from the +entrance, open into large circular chambers. From these chambers other +burrows diverge in all directions, some running horizontally, others +obliquely downwards to a maximum depth of six feet from the surface: +some of these burrows or galleries communicate with those of other +burrows. A vast amount of loose earth is thus brought up, and forms a +very irregular mound, fifteen to thirty inches above the surrounding +level. + +It will afford some conception of the numbers of these vizcacheras on +the settled pampas when I say that, in some directions, a person might +ride five hundred miles and never advance half a mile without seeing one +or more of them. In districts where, as far as the eye can see, the +plains are as level and smooth as a bowling-green, especially in winter +when the grass is close-cropped, and where the rough giant-thistle has +not sprung up, these mounds appear like brown or dark spots on a green +surface. They are the only irregularities that occur to catch the eye, +and consequently form an important feature in the scenery. In some +places they are so near together that a person on horseback may count a +hundred of them from one point of view. + +The sites of which the vizcacha invariably makes choice to work on, as +well as his manner of burrow-ing, adapt him peculiarly to live and +thrive on the open pampas. Other burrowing species seem always to fix +upon some spot where there is a bank or a sudden depression in the soil, +or where there is rank herbage, or a bush or tree, about the roots of +which to begin their kennel. They are averse to commence digging on a +clear level surface, either because it is not easy for them where they +have nothing to rest their foreheads against while scratching, or +because they possess a wary instinct that impels them to place the body +in concealment whilst working on the surface, thus securing the +concealment of the burrow after it is made. Certain it is that where +large hedges have been planted on the pampas, multitudes of opossums, +weasels, skunks, armadillos, &c., come and make their burrows beneath +them; and where there are no hedges or trees, all these species make +their kennels under bushes of the perennial thistle, or where there is a +shelter of some kind. The vizcacha, on the contrary, chooses an open +level spot, the cleanest he can find to burrow on. The first thing that +strikes the observer when viewing the vizcachera closely is the enormous +size of the entrance of the burrows, or, at least, of several of the +central ones in the mound; for there are usually several smaller outside +burrows. The pit-like opening to some of these principal burrows is +often four to six feet across the mouth, and sometimes deep enough for a +tall man to stand up waist-deep in. How these large entrances can be +made on a level surface may be seen when the first burrow or burrows of +an incipient vizcachera are formed. It is not possible to tell what +induces a vizcacha to be the founder of a new community; for they +increase very slowly, and furthermore are extremely fond of each other's +society; and it is invariably one individual that leaves his native +village to found a new and independent one. If it were to have better +pasture at hand, then he would certainly remove to a considerable +distance; but he merely goes from forty to fifty or sixty yards off to +begin his work. Thus it is that in desert places, where these animals +are rare, a solitary vizcachera is never seen; but there are always +several close together, though there may be no others on the surrounding +plain for leagues. When the vizcacha has made his habitation, it is but +a single burrow, with only himself for an inhabitant, perhaps for many +months. Sooner or later, however, others join him: and these will be the +parents of innumerable generations; for they construct no temporary +lodging-place, as do the armadillos and other species, but their +posterity continues in the quiet possession of the habitations +bequeathed to it; how long, it is impossible to say. Old men who have +lived all their lives in one district remember that many of the +vizcacheras around them existed when they were children. It is +invariably a male that begins a new village, and makes his burrow in the +following manner, though he does not always observe the same method. He +works very straight into the earth, digging a hole twelve or fourteen +inches wide, but not so deep, at an angle of about 25 degrees with the +surface. But after he has progressed inwards a few feet, the vizcacha is +no longer satisfied with merely scattering away the loose earth he +fetches up, but cleans it away so far in a straight line from the +entrance, and scratches so much on this line (apparently to make the +slope gentler), that he soon forms a trench a foot or more in depth, and +often three or four feet in length. Its use is, as I have inferred, to +facilitate the conveying of the loose earth as far as possible from the +entrance of the burrow. But after a while the animal is unwilling that +it should accumulate even at the end of this long passage; he therefore +proceeds to make two additional trenches, that form an acute, sometimes +a right angle, converging into the first, so that when the whole is +completed it takes the form of a capital Y. + +These trenches are continually deepened and lengthened as the burrow +progresses, the angular segment of earth between them, scratched away, +until by degrees it has been entirely conveyed off, and in its place is +the one deep great unsymmetrical mouth I have already described. There +are soils that will not admit of the animals working in this manner. +Where there are large cakes of "tosca" near the surface, as in many +localities on the southern pampas, the vizcacha makes its burrow as best +he can, and without the regular trenches. In earths that crumble much, +sand or gravel, he also works under great disadvantages. + +The burrows are made best in the black and red moulds of the pampas; but +even in such soils the entrances of many burrows are made differently. +In some the central trench is wanting, or is so short that there appear +but two passages converging directly into the burrow; or these two +trenches may be so curved inwards as to form the segment of a circle. +Many other forms may also be noticed, but usually they appear to be only +modifications of the most common Y-shaped system. + +As I have remarked that its manner of burrowing has peculiarly adapted +the vizcacha to the pampas, it may be asked what particular advantage a +species that makes a wide-mouthed burrow possesses over those that +excavate in the usual way. On a declivity, or at the base of rocks or +trees, there would be none; but on the perfectly level and shelterless +pampas, the durability of the burrow, a circumstance favourable to the +animal's preservation, is owing altogether to its being made in this +way, and to several barrows being made together. The two outer trenches +diverge so widely from the mouth that half the earth brought out is cast +behind instead of before it, thus creating a mound of equal height about +the entrance, by which it is secured from water during great rainfalls, +while the cattle avoid treading over the great pit-like entrances. But +the burrows of the dolichotis, armadillo, and other species, when made +on perfectly level ground, are soon trod on and broken in by cattle; in +summer they are choked up with dust and rubbish; and, the loose earth +having all been thrown up together in a heap on one side, there is no +barrier to the water which in eveiy great rainfall flows in and +obliterates the kennel, drowning or driving out the tenant. + +I have been minute in describing the habitations of the vizcacha, as I +esteem the subject of prime importance in considering the zoology of +this portion of America. The vizcacha does not benefit himself alone by +his perhaps unique style of burrowing; but this habit has proved +advantageous to several other species, and has been so favourable to two +of our birds that they are among the most common species found here, +whereas without these burrows they would have been exceedingly rare, +since the natural banks in which they breed are scarcely found anywhere +on the pampas. I refer to the Minera (Geositta cunicularia), which makes +its breeding-holes in the bank-like sides of the vizcacha's burrow, and +to the little swallow (Atticora cyanoleuca) which breeds in these +excavations when forsaken by the Minera. Few old vizcacheras are seen +without some of these little parasitical burrows in them. + +Birds are not the only beings in this way related to the vizcachas: the +fox and the weasel of the pampas live almost altogether in them. Several +insects also frequent these burrows that are seldom found anywhere else. +Of these the most interesting are:--a large predacious nocturnal bug, +shining black, with red wings; a nocturnal Cicindela, a beautiful +insect, with dark green striated wing-cases and pale red legs; also +several diminutive wingless wasps. Of the last I have counted six +species, most of them marked with strongly contrasted colours, black, +red, and white. There are also other wasps that prey on the spiders +found on the vizcachera. All these and others are so numerous on the +mounds that dozens of them might there be collected any summer day; but +if sought for in other situations they are exceedingly rare. If the dry +mound of soft earth which the vizcacha elevates amidst a waste of humid, +close-growing grass is not absolutely necessary to the existence of all +these species, it supplies them with at least one favourable condition, +and without doubt thereby greatly increases their numbers: they, too, +whether predacious or preyed on, have so many relations with other +outside species, and these again with still others, that it would be no +mere fancy to say that probably hundreds of species are either directly +or indirectly affected in their struggle for existence by the +vizcacheras so abundantly sprinkled over the pampas. + +In winter the vizcachas seldom leave their burrows till dark, but in +summer come out before sunset; and the vizcachera is then a truly +interesting spectacle. Usually one of the old males first appears, and +sits on some prominent place on the mound, apparently in no haste to +begin his evening meal. When approached from the front he stirs not, but +eyes the intruder with a bold indifferent stare. If the person passes to +one side, he deigns not to turn his head. + +Other vizcachas soon begin to appear, each one quietly taking up his +station at his burrow's mouth, the females, known by their greatly +inferior size and lighter grey colour, sitting upright on their +haunches, as if to command a better view, and indicating by divers +sounds and gestures that fear and curiosity struggles in them for +mastery; for they are always wilder and sprightlier in their motions +than the males. With eyes fixed on the intruder, at intervals they dodge +the head, emitting at the same time an internal note with great +vehemence; and suddenly, as the danger comes nearer, they plunge +simultaneously, with a startled cry, into their burrows. But in some +curiosity is the strongest emotion; for, in spite of their fellow's +contagious example, and already half down the entrance, again they start +up to scrutinize the stranger, and will then often permit him to walk +within five or six paces of them. + +Standing on the mound there is frequently a pair of burrowing owls +(Pholeoptynx cunicularia). These birds generally make their own burrows +to breed in, or sometimes take possession of one of the lesser outside +burrows of the village; but their favourite residence, when not engaged +in tending their eggs or young, is on the vizcachera. Here a pair will +sit all day; and I have often remarked a couple close together on the +edge of the burrow; and when the vizcacha came out in the evening, +though but a hand's breadth from them, they did not stir, nor did he +notice them, so accustomed are these creatures to each other. Usually a +couple of the little burrowing Geositta are also present. They are +lively creatures, running with great rapidity about the mound and bare +space that surrounds it, suddenly stopping and jerking their tails in a +slow deliberate manner, and occasionally uttering their cry, a trill, or +series of quick short clear notes, resembling somewhat the shrill +excessive laughter of a child. Among the grave, stationary vizcachas, of +which they take no heed, perhaps half a dozen or more little swallows +(Atticora cyanoleuca) are seen, now clinging altogether to the bank-like +entrance of a burrow, now hovering over it in a moth-like manner, as if +uncertain where to alight, and anon sweeping about in circles, but never +ceasing their low and sorrowful notes. + +The vizcachera with all its incongruous inhabitants thus collected upon +it is to a stranger one of the most novel sights the pampas afford. + +The vizcacha appears to be a rather common species over all the +extensive Argentine territory; but they are so exceedingly abundant on +the pampas inhabited by man, and comparatively so rare in the desert +places I have been in, that I was at first much surprised at finding +them so unequally distributed. I have also mentioned that the vizcacha +is a tame familiar creature. This is in the pastoral districts, where +they are never disturbed; but in wild regions, where he is scarce, he is +exceedingly wary, coming forth long after dark, and plunging into his +burrow on the slightest alarm, so that it is a rare thing to get a sight +of him. The reason is evident enough; in desert regions the vizcacha has +several deadly enemies in the larger rapacious mammals. Of these the +puma or lion (Felis concolor) is the most numerous, as it is also the +swiftest, most subtle, and most voracious; for, as regards these traits, +the jaguar (F. onca) is an inferior animal. To the insatiable bloody +appetite of this creature nothing comes amiss; he takes the male ostrich +by surprise, and slays that wariest of wild things on his nest; He +captures little birds with the dexterity of a cat, and hunts for diurnal +armadillos; he comes unawares upon the deer and huanaco, and, springing +like lightning on them, dislocates their necks before their bodies touch +the earth. Often after he has thus slain them, he leaves their bodies +untouched for the Polyborus and vulture to feast on, so great a delight +does he take in destroying life. The vizcacha falls an easy victim to +this subtle creature; and it is not to be wondered at that it becomes +wild to excess, and rare in regions hunted over by such an enemy, even +when all other conditions are favourable to its increase. But as soon +as these wild regions are settled by man the pumas are exterminated, and +the sole remaining foe of the vizcacha is the fox, comparatively an +insignificant one. + +The fox takes up his residence in a vizcachera, and succeeds, after +some quarrelling (manifested in snarls, growls, and other subterranean +warlike sounds), in ejecting the rightful owners of one of the burrows, +which forthwith becomes his. Certainly the vizcachas are not much +injured by being compelled to relinquish the use of one of their kennels +for a season or permanently; for, if the locality suits him, the fox +remains with them always. Soon they grow accustomed to the unwelcome +stranger; he is quiet and unassuming in demeanour, and often in the +evening sits on the mound in their company, until they regard him with +the same indifference they do the burrowing owl. But in spring, when the +young vizcachas are large enough to leave their cells, then the fox +makes them his prey; and if it is a bitch fox, with a family of eight or +nine young to provide for, she will grow so bold as to hunt her helpless +quarry from hole to hole, and do battle with the old ones, and carry off +the young in spite of them, so that all the young animals in the village +are eventually destroyed. Often when the young foxes are large enough to +follow their mother, the whole family takes leave of the vizcachera +where such cruel havoc has been made to settle in another, there to +continue their depredations. But the fox has ever a relentless foe in +man, and meets with no end of bitter persecutions; it is consequently +much more abundant in desert or thinly settled districts than in such as +are populous, so that in these the check the vizcachas receive from the +foxes is not appreciable. + +The abundance of cattle on the pampas has made it unnecessary to use the +vizcacha as an article of food. His skin is of no value; therefore man, +the destroyer of his enemies, has hitherto been the greatest benefactor +of his species. Thus they have been permitted to multiply and spread +themselves to an amazing extent, so that the half-domestic cattle on the +pampas are not nearly so familiar with man, or so fearless of his +presence as are the vizcachas. It is not that they do him no injury, but +because they do it indirectly, that they have so long enjoyed immunity +from persecution. It is amusing to see the sheep-farmer, the greatest +sufferer from the vizcachas, regarding them with such indifference as to +permit them to swarm on his "run," and burrow within a stone's throw of +his dwelling with impunity, and yet going a distance from home to +persecute with unreasonable animosity a fox, skunk, or opossum on +account of the small annual loss it inflicts on the poultry-yard. That +the vizcacha has comparatively no adverse conditions to war with +wherever man is settled is evident when we consider its very slow rate +of increase, and yet see them in such incalculable numbers. The female +has but one litter in the year of two young, sometimes of three. She +becomes pregnant late in April, and brings forth in September; the +period of gestation is, I think, rather less than five months. + +The vizcacha is about two years growing. A full-sized male measures to +the root of the tail twenty-two inches, and weighs from fourteen to +fifteen pounds; the female is nineteen inches in length, and her +greatest weight nine pounds. Probably it is a long-lived, and certainly +it is a very hardy animal. Where it has any green substance to eat it +never drinks water; but after a long summer drought, when for months it +has subsisted on bits of dried thistle-stalks and old withered grass, if +a shower falls it will come out of its burrows even at noonday and drink +eagerly from the pools. It has been erroneously stated that vizcachas +subsist on roots. Their food is grass and seeds; but they may also +sometimes eat roots, as the ground is occasionally seen scratched up +about the burrows. In March, when the stalks of the perennial cardoon or +Castile thistle (Cynara cardunculus) are dry, the vizcachas fell them by +gnawing about their roots, and afterwards tear to pieces the great dry +flower-heads to get the seeds imbedded deeply in them, of which they +seem very fond. Large patches of thistle are often found served thus, +the ground about them literally white with the silvery bristles they +have scattered. This cutting down tall plants to get the seeds at the +top seems very like an act of pure intelligence; but the fact is, the +vizcachas cut down every tall plant they can. I have seen whole acres of +maize destroyed by them, yet the plants cut down were left untouched. If +posts be put into the ground within range of their nightly rambles they +will gnaw till they have felled them, unless of a wood hard enough to +resist their chisel-like incisors. + +The strongest instinct of this animal is to clear the ground thoroughly +about its burrows; and it is this destructive habit that makes it +necessary for cultivators of the soil to destroy all the vizcachas in or +near their fields. On the uninhabited pampas, where the long grasses +grow, I have often admired the vizcachera; for it is there the centre of +a clean space, often of half an acre in extent, on which there is an +even close-shaven turf: this clearing is surrounded by the usual rough +growth of herbs and giant grasses. In such situations this habit of +clearing the ground is eminently advantageous to them, as it affords +them a comparatively safe spot to feed and disport themselves on, and +over which they can fly to their burrows without meeting any +obstruction, on the slightest alarm. + +Of course the instinct continues to operate where it is no longer of any +advantage. In summer, when the thistles are green, even when growing +near the burrows, and the giant thistle (Carduus mariana) springs up +most luxuriantly right on the mound, the vizcachas will not touch them, +either disliking the strong astringent sap, or repelled by the thorns +with which they are armed. As soon as they dry, and the thorns become +brittle, they are levelled; afterwards, when the animal begins to drag +them about and cut them up, as his custom is, he accidentally discovers +and feasts on the seed: for vizcachas are fond of exercising their teeth +on hard substances, such as sticks and bones, just as cats are of +"sharpening their claws" on trees. + +Another remarkable habit of the vizcacha, that of dragging to and +heaping about the mouth of his burrow every stalk he cuts down, and +every portable object that by dint of great strength he can carry, has +been mentioned by Azara, Darwin, and others. On the level plains it is a +useful habit; for as the vizcachas are continually deepening and +widening their burrows, the earth thrown out soon covers up these +materials, and so assists in raising the mound. On the Buenos-Ayrean +pampas numbers of vizcacheras would annually be destroyed by water in +the great sudden rainfalls were the mounds loss high. But this is only +an advantage when the animals inhabit a perfectly level country subject +to flooding rains; for where the surface is unequal they invariably +prefer high to low ground to burrow on, and are thus secured from +destruction by water; yet the instinct is as strong in such situations +as on the level plains. The most that can be said of a habit apparently +so obscure in its origin and uses is, that it appears to be part of the +instinct of clearing the ground about the village. Every tall stalk the +vizcacha cuts down, every portable object he finds, must be removed to +make the surface clean and smooth; but while encumbered with it he does +not proceed further from his burrows, but invariably re-tires towards +them, and so deposits it upon the mound. So well known is this habit, +that whatever article is lost by night--whip, pistol, or knife--the +loser next morning visits the vizcacheras in the vicinity, quite sure of +finding it there. People also visit the vizcacheras to pick up sticks +for firewood. + +The vizcachas are cleanly in their habits; and the fur, though it has a +strong earthy smell, is kept exceedingly neat. The hind leg and foot +afford a very beautiful instance of adaptation. Propped by the hard +curved tail, they sit up erect, and as firmly on the long horny disks on +the undersides of the hind legs as a man stands on his feet. Most to be +admired, on the middle toe the skin thickens into a round cushion, in +which the curved teeth-like bristles are set; nicely graduated in +length, so that "each particular hair" may come into contact with the +skin when the animal scratches or combs itself. As to the uses of this +appendage there can be no difference of opinion, as there is about the +serrated claw in birds. It is quite obvious that the animal cannot +scratch himself with his hind paw (as all mammals do) without making use +of this natural comb. Then the entire foot is modified, so that this +comb shall be well protected, and yet not be hindered from performing +its office: thus the inner toe is pressed close to the middle one, and +so depressed that it comes under the cushion of skin, and cannot +possibly get before the bristles, or interfere their coming against the +skin in scratching, as certainly be the case if this toe were free as +outer one. + +Again, the vizcachas appear to form the deep trenches before the burrows +by scratching the earth violently backwards with the hind claws. Now +these straight, sharp, dagger-shaped claws, and especially the middle +one, are so long that the vizcacha is able to perform all this rough +work without the bristles coming into contact with the ground, and so +getting worn by the friction. The Tehuelcho Indians in Patagonia comb +their hair with a brush-comb very much like that on the vizcacha's toe, +but in their case it does not properly fulfil its office, or else the +savages make little use of it. Vizcachas have a remarkable way of +dusting themselves: the animal suddenly throws himself on his back, and, +bringing over his hind legs towards his head, depresses them till his +feet touch the ground. In this strange posture he scratches up the earth +with great rapidity, raising a little cloud of dust, then rights himself +with a jerk, and, after an interval, repeats the dusting. Usually they +scratch a hole in the ground to deposit their excrements in. Whilst +opening one of the outside burrows that had no communication with the +others, I once discovered a vast deposit of their dung (so great that it +must have been accumulating for years) at the extremity. To ascertain +whether this be a constant, or only a casual habit, it would be +necessary to open up entirely a vast number of vizcacheras. When a +vizcacha dies in his burrow the carcass is, after some days, dragged out +and left upon the mound. + +The language of the vizcacha is wonderful for its variety. When the male +is feeding he frequently pauses to utter a succession of loud, +percussive, and somewhat jarring cries; these he utters in a leisurely +manner, and immediately after goes on feeding. Often he utters this cry +in a low grunting tone. One of his commonest expressions sounds like the +violent hawking of a man clearing his throat. At other times he bursts +into piercing tones that may be heard a mile off, beginning like the +excited and quick-repeated squeals of a young pig, and growing longer, +more attenuated, and quavering towards the end. After retiring alarmed +into the burrows, he repeats at intervals a deep internal moan. All +these, and many other indescribable guttural, sighing, shrill, and deep +tones, are varied a thousand ways in strength and intonation, according +to the age, sex, or emotions of the individual; and I doubt if there is +in the world any other four-footed thing so loquacious, or with a +dialect so extensive. I take great pleasure in going to some spot where +they are abundant, and sitting quietly to listen to them; for they are +holding a perpetual discussion, all night long, which the presence of a +human being will not interrupt. + +At night, when the vizcachas are all out feeding, in places where they +are very abundant (and in some districts they literally swarm) any very +loud and sudden sound, as the report of a gun, or a clap of unexpected +thunder, will produce a most extraordinary effect. No sooner has the +report broken on the stillness of night than a perfect storm of cries +bursts forth over the surrounding country. After eight or nine seconds +there is in the storm a momentary hill or pause; and then it breaks +forth again, apparently louder than before. There is so much difference +in the tones of different animals that the cries of individuals close at +hand may be distinguished amidst the roar of blended voices coming from +a distance. It sounds as if thousands and tens of thousands of them +were striving to express every emotion at the highest pitch of their +voices; so that the effect is indescribable, and fills a stranger with +astonishment. Should a gun be fired off several times, their cries +become less each time; and after the third or fourth time it produces no +effect. They have a peculiar, sharp, sudden, "far-darting" alarm-note +when a dog is spied, that is repeated by all that hear it, and produces +an instantaneous panic, sending every vizcacha flying to his burrow. + +But though they manifest such a terror of dogs when out feeding at night +(for the slowest dog can overtake them), in the evening, when sitting +upon their mounds, they treat them with tantalizing contempt. If the dog +is a novice, the instant he spies the animal he rushes violently at it; +the vizcacha waits the charge with imperturbable calmness till his enemy +is within one or two yards, and then disappears into the burrow. After +having been foiled in this way many times, the dog resorts to stratagem: +he crouches down as if transformed for the nonce into a Felis, and +steals on with wonderfully slow and cautious steps, his hair bristling, +tail hanging, and eyes intent on his motionless intended victim; when +within seven or eight yards he makes a sudden rush, but invariably with +the same dis-appointing result. The persistence with which the dogs go +on hoping against hope in this unprofitable game, in which they always +act the stupid part, is highly amusing, and is very interesting to the +naturalist; for it shows that the native dogs on .the pampas have +developed a very remarkable instinct, and one that might be perfected by +artificial selection; but dogs with the hunting habits of the cat would, +I think, be of little use to man. When it is required to train dogs to +hunt the nocturnal armadillo (Dasypus villosus), then this deep-rooted +(and, it might be added, hereditary) passion for vizcachas is +excessively annoying, and it is often necessary to administer hundreds +of blows and rebukes before a dog is induced to track an armadillo +without leaving the scent every few moments to make futile grabs at his +old enemies. + +The following instance will show how little suspicion of man the +vizcachas have. A few years ago I went out shooting them on three +consecutive evenings. I worked in a circle, constantly revisiting the +same burrows, never going a greater distance from home than could be +walked in four or five minutes. During the three evenings I shot sixty +vizcachas dead; and probably as many more escaped badly wounded into +their burrows; for they are hard to kill, and however badly wounded, if +sitting near the burrow when struck, are almost certain to escape into +it. But on the third evening I found them no wilder, and killed about as +many as on the first. After this I gave up shooting them in disgust; it +was dull sport, and to exterminate or frighten them away with a gun +seemed an impossibility. + +It is a very unusual thing to eat the vizcacha, most people, and +especially the gauchos, having a silly unaccountable prejudice against +their flesh. I have found it very good, and while engaged writing this +chapter have dined on it served up in various ways. The young animals +are rather insipid, the old males tough, but the mature females are +excellent--the flesh being tender, exceedingly white, fragrant to the +nostrils, and with a very delicate game-flavour. + +Within the last ten years so much new land has been brought under +cultivation that farmers have been compelled to destroy incredible +numbers of vizcachas: many large "estancieros" (cattle-breeders) have +followed the example set by the grain-growers, and have had them +exterminated on their estates. Now all that Azara, on hearsay, tells +about the vizcachas perishing in their burrows, when these are covered +up, but that they can support life thus buried for a period of ten or +twelve days, and that during that time animals will come from other +villages and disinter them, unless frightened off with dogs, is strictly +true. Country workmen are so well acquainted with these facts that they +frequently undertake to destroy all the vizcacheras on an estate for so +paltry a sum as ten-pence in English money for each one, and yet will +make double the money at this work than they can at any other. By day +they partly open up, then cover up the burrows with a great quantity of +earth, and by night go round with dogs to drive away the vizcachas from +the still open burrows that come to dig out their buried friends. After +all the vizcacheras on an estate have been thus served, the workmen are +usually bound by previous agreement to keep guard over them for a space +of eight or ten days before they receive their hire: for the animals +covered up are then supposed to be all dead. Some of these men I have +talked with have assured me that living vizcachas have been found after +fourteen days--a proof of their great endurance. There is nothing +strange, I think, in the mere fact of the vizcacha being unable to work +his way out when thus buried alive; for, for all I know to the contrary, +other species may, when their burrows are well covered up, perish in the +same manner; but it certainly is remarkable that other vizcachas should +come from a distance to dig out those that are buried alive. In this +good office they are exceedingly zealous; and I have frequently +surprised them after sunrise, at a considerable distance from their own +burrows, diligently scratching at those that had been covered up. The +vizcachas are fond of each other's society, and live peaceably together; +but their goodwill is not restricted to the members of their own little +community; it extends to the whole species, so that as soon as night +comes many animals leave their own and go to visit the adjacent +villages. If one approaches a vizcachera at night, usually some of the +vizcachas on it scamper off to distant burrows: these are neighbours +merely come to pay a friendly visit. This intercourse is so frequent +that little straight paths are formed from one vizcachera to another. +The extreme attachment between members of different communities makes it +appear less strange that they should assist each other: either the +desire to see, as usual, their buried neighbours becomes intense enough +to impel them to work their way to them; or cries of distress from the +prisoners reach and incite them to attempt their deliverance. Many +social species are thus powerfully affected by cries of distress from +one of their fellows; and some will attempt a rescue in the face of +great danger--the weasel and the peccary for example. + +Mild and sociable as the vizcachas are towards each other, each one is +exceedingly jealous of any intrusion into his particular burrow, and +indeed always resents such a breach of discipline with the utmost fury. +Several individuals may reside in the compartments of the same burrow; +but beyond themselves not even their next-door neighbour is permitted to +enter; their hospitality ends where it begins, at the entrance. It is +difficult to compel a vizcacha to enter a burrow not his own; even when +hotly pursued by dogs they often refuse to do so. When driven into one, +the instant their enemies retire a little space they rush out of it, as +if they thought the hiding-place but little less dangerous than the open +plain. I have frequently seen vizcachas, chased into the wrong burrows, +summarily ejected by those inside: and sometimes they make their escape +only after being well bitten for their offence. + +I have now stated the most interesting facts I have collected concerning +the vizcacha: when others rewrite its history they doubtless will, +according to the opportunities of observation they enjoy, be able to +make some additions to it, but probably none of great consequence. I +have observed this species in Patagonia and Buenos Ayres only; and as I +have found that its habits are considerably modified by circumstances in +the different localities where I have met with it, I am sure that other +variations will occur in the more distant regions, where the conditions +vary. + +The most remarkable thing to be said about the vizcacha is, that +although regarded by Mr. Waterhouse, and others who have studied its +affinities, as one of the lowest of the rodents, exhibiting strong +Marsupial characters, the living animal appears to be more intelligent +than other rodents, not of South America only, but also of those of a +higher type in other continents. A parallel case is, perhaps, to be +found in the hairy armadillo, an extremely versatile and intelligent +animal, although only an edentate. And among birds the ypecaha--a large +La Plata rail--might also be mentioned as an example of what ought not +to be; for it is a bold and intelligent bird, more than a match for the +fowl, both in courage and in cunning; and yet it is one of the family +which Professor Parker--from the point of view of the +anatomist--characterizes as a "feeble-minded, cowardly group." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE DYING HUANACO. + + +Lest any one should misread the title to this chapter, I hasten to say +that the huanaco, or guanaco as it is often spelt, is not a perishing +species; nor, as things are, is it likely to perish soon, despite the +fact that civilized men, Britons especially, are now enthusiastically +engaged in the extermination of all the nobler mammalians:--a very +glorious crusade, the triumphant conclusion of which will doubtless be +witnessed by the succeeding generation, more favoured in this respect +than ours. The huanaco, happily for it, exists in a barren, desolate +region, in its greatest part waterless and uninhabitable to human +beings; and the chapter-heading refers to a singular instinct of the +dying animals, in very many cases allowed, by the exceptional conditions +in which they are placed, to die naturally. + +And first, a few words about its place in nature and general habits. The +huanaco is a small camel--small, that is, compared with its existing +relation--without a hump, and, unlike the camel of the Old World, +non-specializad; doubtless it is a very ancient animal on the earth, and +for all we know to the contrary, may have existed contemporaneously with +some of the earliest known representatives of the camel type, whose +remains occur in the lower and upper miocene deposits--Poebrotherium, +Protolabis, Procamelus, Pliauchenia, and Macrauchenia. It ranges from +Tierra del Fuego and the adjacent islands, northwards over the whole of +Patagonia, and along the Andes into Peru and Bolivia. On the great +mountain chain it is both a wild and a domestic animal, since the llama, +the beast of burden of the ancient Peruvians, is no doubt only a +variety: but as man's slave it has changed so greatly from the original +form that some naturalists have regarded the llama as a distinct +species, which, like the camel of the East, exists only in a domestic +state. It has had time enough to vary, as it is more than probable that +the tamed and useful animal was inherited by the children of the sun +from races and nations that came before them: and how far back Andean +civilization extends may be inferred from the belief expressed by the +famous American archaeologist, Squiers, that the ruined city of +Tiahuanaco, in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca, is as old as Thebes and +the Pyramids. + +It is, however, with the wild animal, the huanaco, that I am concerned. +A full-grown male measures seven to eight feet in length, and four feet +high to the shoulder; it is well clothed in a coat of thick woolly hair, +of a pale reddish colour, Longest and palest on the under parts. In +appearance it is very unlike the camel, in spite of the long legs and +neck; in its finely-shaped head and long ears, and its proud and +graceful carriage, it resembles an antelope rather than its huge and, +from an aesthetic point of view, deformed Asiatic relation. In habits it +is gregarious, and is usually seen in small herds, but herds numbering +several hundreds or even a thousand are occasionally met with on the +stony, desolate plateaus of Southern Patagonia; but the huanaco is able +to thrive and grow fat where almost any other herbivore would starve. +While the herd feeds one animal acts as sentinel, stationed on the +hillside, and on the appearance of danger utters a shrill neigh of +alarm, and instantly all take to flight. But although excessively shy +and wary they are also very inquisitive, and have enough intelligence to +know that a single horseman can do them no harm, for they will not only +approach to look closely at him, but will sometimes follow him for +miles. They are also excitable, and at times indulge in strange freaks. +Darwin writes:--"On the mountains of Tierra del Fuego I have more than +once seen a huanaco, on being approached, not only neigh and squeal, but +prance and leap about in a most ridiculous manner, apparently in +defiance as a challenge." And Captain King relates that while sailing +into Port Desire he witnessed a chase of a huanaco after a fox, both +animals evidently going at their greatest speed, so that they soon +passed out of sight. I have known some tame huanacos, and in that state +they make amusing intelligent pets, fond of being caressed, but often so +frolicsome and mischievous as to be a nuisance to their master. It is +well known that at the southern extremity of Patagonia the huanacos have +a dying place, a spot to which all individuals inhabiting the +surrounding plains repair at the approach of death to deposit their +bones. Darwin and Fitzroy first recorded this strange instinct in their +personal narratives, and their observations have since been fully +confirmed by others. The best known of these dying or burial-places are +on the banks of the Santa Cruz and Gallegos rivers, where the river +valleys are covered with dense primeval thickets of bushes and trees of +stunted growth; there the ground is covered with the bones of countless +dead generations. "The animals," says Darwin, "in most cases must have +crawled, before dying, beneath and among the bushes." A strange instinct +in a creature so preeminently social in its habits; a dweller all its +life long on the open, barren plateaus and mountain sides! What a +subject for a painter! The grey wilderness of dwarf thorn trees, aged +and grotesque and scanty-leaved, nourished for a thousand years on the +bones that whiten the stony ground at their roots; the interior lit +faintly with the rays of the departing sun, chill and grey, and silent +and motionless--the huanacos' Golgotha. In the long centuries, +stretching back into a dim immeasurable past, so many of this race have +journeyed hither from the mountain and the plain to suffer the sharp +pang of death, that, to the imagination, something of it all seems to +have passed into that hushed and mournful nature. And now one more, the +latest pilgrim, has come, all his little strength spent in his struggle +to penetrate the close thicket; looking old and gaunt and ghostly in the +twilight; with long ragged hair; staring into the gloom out of +death-dimmed sunken eyes. England has one artist who might show it to us +on canvas, who would be able to catch the feeling of such a scene--of +that mysterious, passionless tragedy of nature--I refer to J. M. Swan, +the painter of the "Prodigal Son" and the "Lioness Defending her Cubs." + +To his account of the animal's dying place and instinct, Darwin adds: "I +do not at all understand the reason of this, but I may observe that the +wounded huanacos at the Santa Cruz invariably walked towards the river." + +It would, no doubt, be rash to affirm of any instinct that it is +absolutely unique; but, putting aside some doubtful reports about a +custom of the Asiatic elephant, which may have originated in the account +of Sindbad the Sailor's discovery of an elephant's burial place, we have +no knowledge of an instinct similar to that of the huanaco in any other +animal. So far as we know, it stands alone and apart, with nothing in +the actions of other species leading up, or suggesting any family +likeness to it. But what chiefly attracts the mind to it is its +strangeness. It looks, in fact, less like an instinct of one of the +inferior creatures than the superstitious observance of human beings, +who have knowledge of death, and believe in a continued existence after +dissolution; of a triba that in past times had conceived the idea that +the liberated spirit is only able to find its way to its future abode by +starting at death from the ancient dying-place of the tribe or family, +and thence moving westward, or skyward, or underground, over the +well-worn immemorial track, invisible to material eyes. + +But, although alone among animal instincts-in its strange and useless +purpose--for it is as absolutely useless to the species or race as to +the dying individual--it is not the only useless instinct we know of: +there are many others, both simple and complex; and of such instincts we +believe, with good reason, that they once played an important part in +the life of the species, and were only rendered useless by changes in +the condition of life, or in the organism, or in both. In other words, +when the special conditions that gave them value no longer existed, the +correlated and perfect instinct was not, in these cases, eradicated, but +remained, in abeyance and still capable of being called into activity by +a new and false stimulus simulating the old and true. Viewed in this +way, the huanaco's instinct might be regarded as something remaining to +the animal from a remote past, not altogether unaffected by time +perhaps; and like some ceremonial usage among men that has long ceased +to have any significance, or like a fragment of ancient history, or a +tradition, which in the course of time has received some new and false +interpretation. The false interpretation, to continue the metaphor, is, +in this case, that the _purpose_ of the animal in going to a certain +spot, to which it has probably never previously resorted, is to die +there. A false interpretation, because, in the first place, it is +incredible that an instinct of no advantage to the species, in its +struggle for existence and predominance should arise and become +permanent; and, in the second place, it is equally incredible that it +could ever have been to the advantage of the species or race to, have a +dying place. We must, then, suppose that there is in the sensations +preceding death, when death comes slowly, some resemblance to the +sensations experienced by the animal at a period when its curious +instinct first took form and crystallized; these would be painful +sensations that threatened life; and freedom from them, and safety to +the animal, would only exist in a certain well-remembered spot. Further, +we might assume that it was at first only the memory of a few +individuals that caused the animals to seek the place of safety; that a +habit was thus formed; that in time this traditional habit became +instinctive, so that the animals, old and young, made their way +unerringly to the place of refuge whenever the old danger returned. And +such an instinct, slowly matured and made perfect to enable this animal +to escape extinction during periods of great danger to mammalian life, +lasting hundreds or even thousands of years, and destructive of +numberless other species less hardy and adaptive than the generalized +huanaco, might well continue to exist, to be occasionally called into +life by a false stimulus, for many centuries after it had ceased to be +of any advantage. + +Once we accept this explanation as probable--namely, that the huanaco, +in withdrawing from the herd to drop down and die in the ancient dying +ground, is in reality only seeking an historically remembered place of +refuge, and not of death--the action of the animal loses much of its +mysterious character; we come on to firm ground, and find that we are no +longer considering an instinct absolutely unique, with no action or +instinct in any other animal leading up or suggesting any family +likeness to it, as I said before. We find, in fact, that there is at +least one very important and very well-known instinct in another class +of creatures, which has a strong resemblance to that of the huanaco, as +I have interpreted it, and which may even serve to throw a side light on +the origin of the huanaco's instinct. I refer to a habit of some +ophidians, in temperate and cold countries, of returning annually to +hybernate in the saine den. + +A typical instance is that of the rattlesnake in the colder parts of +North America. On the approach of winter these reptiles go into hiding, +and it has been observed that in some districts a very large number of +individuals, hundreds, and even thousands, will repair from the +surrounding country to the ancestral den. Here the serpents gather in a +mass to remain in a wholly or semi-torpid condition until the return of +spring brings them out again, to scatter abroad to their usual summer +haunts. Clearly in this case the knowledge of the hyberna-ting den is +not merely traditional--that is, handed down from generation to +generation, through the young each year following the adults, and so +forming the habit of repairing at certain seasons to a certain place; +for the young serpent soon abandons its parent to lead an independent +life; and on the approach of cold weather the hybernating den may be a +long distance away, ten or twenty, or even thirty miles from the spot in +which it was born. The annual return to the hybernating den is then a +fixed unalterable instinct, like the autumnal migration of some birds to +a warmer latitude. It is doubtless favourable to the serpents to +hybernate in large numbers massed together; and the habit of resorting +annually to the same spot once formed, we can imagine that the +individuals--perhaps a single couple in the first place--frequenting +some very deep, dry, and well-sheltered cavern, safe from enemies, would +have a great advantage over others of their race; that they would be +stronger and increase more, and spread during the summer months further +and further from the cavern on all sides; and that the further afield +they went the more would the instinct be perfected; since all the young +serpents that did not have the instinct of returning unerringly to the +ancestral refuge, and that, like the outsiders of their race, to put it +in that way, merely crept into the first hole they found on the approach +of the cold season, would be more liable to destruction. Probably most +snakes get killed long before a natural decline sets in; to say that not +one in a thousand dies of old age would probably be no exaggeration; but +if they were as safe from enemies and accidents as some less prolific +and more highly-organized animals, so that many would reach the natural +term of life, and death came slowly, we can imagine that in such a +heat-loving creature the failure of the vital powers would simulate the +sensations caused by a falling temperature, and cause the old or sick +serpent, even in midsummer, to creep instinctively away to the ancient +refuge, where many a long life-killing frost had been safely tided over +in the past. + +The huanaco has never been a hybernating animal; but we must assume +that, like the crotalus of the north, he had formed a habit of +congregating with his fellows at certain seasons at the same spot; +further, that these were seasons of suffering to the animal--the +suffering, or discomfort and danger, having in the first place given +rise to the habit. Assuming again that the habit had existed so long as +to become, like that of the reptile, a fixed, immutable instinct, a +hereditary knowledge, so that the young huanacos, untaught by the +adults, would go alone and unerringly to the meeting-place from any +distance, it is but an easy step to the belief, that after the +conditions had changed, and the refuges were no longer needed, this +instinctive knowledge would still exist in them, and that they would +take the old road when stimulated by the pain of a wound; or the +miserable sensations experienced in disease or during the decay of the +life-energy, when the senses grow dim, and the breath fails, and the +blood is thin and cold. + +I presume that most persons who have observed animals a great deal have +met with cases in which the animal has acted automatically, or +instinctively, when the stimulus has been a false one. I will relate one +such case, observed by myself, and which strikes me as being apposite to +the question I am considering. It must be premised that this is an +instance of an acquired habit; but this does not affect my argument, +since I have all along assumed that the huanaco--a highly sagacious +species in the highest class of vertebrates--first acquired a habit from +experience of seeking a remembered refuge, and that such habit was the +parent, as it were, or the first clay model, of the perfect and +indestructible instinct that was to be. + +It is not an uncommon thing in the Argentino pampas--I have on two +occasions witnessed it myself--for a riding-horse to come home, or to +the gate of his owner's house, to die. I am speaking of riding-horses +that are never doctored, nor treated mercifully; that look on their +master as an enemy rather than a friend; horses that live out in the +open, and have to be hunted to the corral or enclosure, or roughly +captured with a lasso as they run, when their services are required. I +retain a very vivid recollection of the first occasion of witnessing an +action of this kind in a horse, although I was only a boy at the time. +On going out one summer evening I saw one of the horses of the +establishment standing unsaddled and unbridled leaning his head over the +gate. Going to the spot, I stroked his nose, and then, turning to an old +native who happened to be near, asked him what could be the meaning of +such a thing. "I think he is going to die," he answered; "horses often +come to the house to die." And next morning the poor beast was found +lying dead not twenty yards from the gate; although he had not appeared +ill when I stroked his nose on the previous evening; but when I saw him +lying there dead, and remembered the old native's words, it seemed to me +as marvellous and inexplicable that a horse should act in that way, as +if some wild creature--a rhea, a fawn, or dolichotes--had come to exhale +his last breath at the gates of his enemy and constant persecutor, man. + +I now believe that the sensations of sickness and approaching death in +the riding-horse of the pampas resemble or similate the pains, so often +experienced, of hunger, thirst and fatigue combined, together with the +oppressive sensations caused by the ponderous native saddle, or recado, +with its huge surcingle of raw hide drawn up so tightly as to hinder +free respiration. The suffering animal remembers how at the last relief +invariably came, when the twelve or fifteen hours' torture were over, +the toil and the want, and when the great iron bridle and ponderous gear +were removed, and he had freedom and food and drink and rest. At the +gate or at the door of his master's house, the sudden relief had always +come to him; and there does he sometimes go in his sickness, his fear +overmastered by his suffering, to find it again. + +Discussing this question with a friend, who has a subtle mind and great +experience of the horse in semi-barbarous countries, and of many other +animals, wild and tame, in many regions of the globe, he put forward a +different explanation of the action of the horse in coming home to die, +which he thinks simpler and more probable than mine. It is, that a dying +or ailing animal instinctively withdraws itself from its fellows--an +action of self-preservation in the individual in opposition to the +well-known instincts of the healthy animals, which impels the whole herd +to turn upon and persecute the sickly member, thus destroying its +chances of recovery. The desire of the suffering animal is not only to +leave its fellows, but to get to some solitary place where they cannot +follow, or would never find him, to escape at once from a great and +pressing danger. But on the pastoral pampas, where horses are so +numerous that on that level, treeless area they are always and +everywhere visible, no hiding-place is discoverable. In such a case, the +animal, goaded by its instinctive fear, turns to the one spot that +horses avoid; and although that spot has hitherto been fearful to him, +the old fear is forgotten in the present and far more vivid one; the +vicinity of his master's house represents a solitary place to him, and +he seeks it, just as the stricken deer seeks the interior of some close +forest, oblivious for the time, in its anxiety to escape from the herd, +of the dangers lurking in it, and which he formerly avoided. + +I have not set this explanation down merely because it does credit to my +friend's ingenuity, but because it strikes me that it is the only +alternative explanation that can be given of the animal's action in +coming home to die. Another fact concerning the ill-tamed and +barbarously treated horses of the pampas, which, to my mind, strengthens +the view I have taken, remains to be mentioned. It is not an uncommon +thing for one of these horses, after escaping, saddled and bridled, and +wandering about for anight or night and day on the plains, to return of +its own accord to the house. It is clear that in a case of this kind the +animal comes home to seek relief. I have known one horse that always had +to be hunted like a wild animal to be caught, and that invariably after +being saddled tried to break loose, to return in this way to the gate +after wandering about, saddled and bridled, for over twenty hours in +uncomfortable freedom. + +The action of the riding-horse returning to a master he is accustomed to +fly from, as from an enemy, to be released of saddle and bridle, is, no +doubt more intelligent than that of the dying horse coming home to be +relieved from his sufferings, but the motive is the same in both cases; +at the gate the only pain the animal has ever experienced has invariably +begun, and there it has ended, and when the spur of some new pain +afflicts him--new and yet like the old--it is to the well-remembered +hated gate that it urges him. + +To return to the huanaco. After tracing the dying instinct back to its +hypothetical origin--namely, a habit acquired by the animal in some past +period of seeking refuge from some kind of pain and danger at a certain +spot, it is only natural to speculate a little further as to the nature +of that danger and of the conditions the animal existed in. + +If the huanaco is as old on the earth as its antique generalized form +have led naturalists to suppose, we can well believe that it has +survived not only a great many lost mammalian types, but many changes in +the conditions of its life. Let us then imagine that at some remote +period a change took place in the climate of Patagonia, and that it +became colder and colder, owing to some cause affecting only that +portion of the antarctic region; such a cause, for instance, as a great +accumulation of icebergs on the northern shores of the antarctic +continent, extending century by century until a large portion of the now +open sea became blocked up with solid ice. If the change was gradual and +the snow became deeper each winter and lasted longer, an intelligent, +gregarious, and exceedingly hardy and active animal like the huanaco, +able to exist on the driest woody fibres, would stand the beat chance of +maintaining its existence in such altered conditions, and would form new +habits to meet the new danger. One would be that at the approach of a +period of deep snow and deadly cold, all the herds frequenting one +place would gather together at the most favourable spots in the river +valleys, where the vegetation is dense and some food could be had while +the surrounding country continued covered with deep snow. They would, in +fact, make choice of exactly such localities as are now used for dying +places. There they would be sheltered from the cutting-winds, the twigs +and bark would supply them with food, the warmth from a great many +individuals massed together would serve to keep the snow partially +melted under foot, and would prevent their being smothered, while the +stiff and closely interlaced branches would keep a roof of snow above +them, and thus protected they would keep alive until the return of mild +weather released them. In the course of many generations all weakly +animals, and all in which the habit of seeking the refuge at the proper +time was weak or uncertain in its action would perish, but their loss +would be an advantage to the survivors. + +It is worthy of remark that it is only at the southern extremity of +Patagonia that the huanacos have dying places. In Northern Patagonia, +and on the Chilian and Peruvian Andes no such instinct has been +observed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE STRANGE INSTINCTS OF CATTLE. + + +My purpose in this paper is to discuss a group of curious and useless +emotional instincts of social animals, which have not yet been properly +explained. Excepting two of the number, placed first and last in the +list, they are not related in their origin; consequently they are here +grouped together arbitrarily, only for the reason that we are very +familiar with them on account of their survival in our domestic animals, +and because they are, as I have said, useless; also because they +resemble each other, among the passions and actions of the lower +animals, in their effect on our minds. This is in all cases unpleasant, +and sometimes exceedingly painful, as when species that rank next to +ourselves in their developed intelligence and organized societies, such +as elephants, monkeys, dogs, and cattle, are seen under the domination +of impulses, in some cases resembling insanity, and in others simulating +the darkest passions of man. + +These instincts are:-- + +(1) The excitement caused by the smell of blood, noticeable in horses +and cattle among our domestic animals, and varying greatly in degree, +from an emotion so slight as to be scarcely perceptible to the greatest +extremes of rage or terror. + +(2) The angry excitement roused in some animals when a scarlet or +bright-red cloth is shown to them. So well known is this apparently +insane instinct in our cattle that it has given rise to a proverb and +metaphor familiar in a variety of forms to everyone. + +(3) The persecution of a sick or weakly animal by its companions. + +(4) The sudden deadly fury that seizes on the herd or family at the +sight of a companion in extreme distress. Herbivorous mammals at such +times will trample and gore the distressed one to death. In the case of +wolves, and other savage-tempered carnivorous species, the distressed +fellow is frequently torn to pieces and devoured on the spot. + +To take the first two together. When we consider that blood is red; that +the smell of it is, or may be, or has been, associated with that vivid +hue in the animal's mind; that blood, seen and smelt is, or has been, +associated with the sight of wounds and with cries of pain and rage or +terror from the wounded or captive animal, there appears at first sight +to be some reason for connecting these two instinctive passions as +having the same origin--namely, terror and rage caused by the sight of a +member of the herd struck down and bleeding, or struggling for life in +the grasp of an enemy. I do not mean to say that such an image is +actually present in the animal's mind, but that the inherited or +instinctive passion is one in kind and in its working with the passion +of the animal when experience and reason were its guides. + +But the more I consider the point the more am I inclined to regard these +two instincts as separate in their origin, although I retain the belief +that cattle and horses and several wild animals are violently excited by +the smell of blood for the reason just given--namely, their inherited +memory associates the smell of blood with the presence among them of +some powerful enemy that threatens their life. To this point I shall +return when dealing with the last and most painful of the instincts I am +considering. + +The following incident will show how violently this blood passion +sometimes affects cattle, when they are permitted to exist in a +half-wild condition, as on the pampas. I was out with my gun one day, a +few miles from home, when I came across a patch on the ground where the +grass was pressed or trodden down and stained with blood. I concluded +that some thievish gauchos had slaughtered a fat cow there on the +previous night, and, to avoid detection, had somehow managed to carry +the whole of it away on their horses. As I walked on, a herd of cattle, +numbering about three hundred, appeared moving slowly on towards a small +stream a mile away; they were travelling in a thin long line, and would +pass the blood-stained spot at a distance of seven to eight hundred +yards, but the wind from it would blow across their track. When the +tainted wind struck the leaders of the herd they instantly stood still, +raising their heads, then broke out into loud excited bellowings; and +finally turning they started off at a fast trot, following up the scent +in a straight line, until they arrived at the place where one of their +kind had met its death. The contagion spread, and before long all the +cattle were congregated on the fatal spot, and began moving round in a +dense mass, bellowing continually. + +It may be remarked here that the animal has a peculiar language on +occasions like this; it emits a succession of short bellowing cries, +like excited exclamations, followed by a very loud cry, alternately +sinking into a hoarse murmur, and rising to a kind of scream that grates +harshly on the sense. Of the ordinary "cow-music" I am a great admirer, +and take as much pleasure in it as in the cries and melody of birds and +the sound of the wind in trees; but this performance of cattle excited +by the smell of blood is most distressing to hear. + +The animals that had forced their way into the centre of the mass to the +spot where the blood was, pawed the earth, and dug it up with their +horns, and trampled each other down in their frantic excitement. It was +terrible to see and hear them. The action of those on the border of the +living mass in perpetually moving round in a circle with dolorous +bellowings, was like that of the women in an Indian village when a +warrior dies, and all night they shriek and howl with simulated grief, +going round and round the dead man's hut in an endless procession. + +The "bull and red rag" instinct, as it may be called, comes next in +order. It is a familiar fact that brightness in itself powerfully +attracts most if not all animals. The higher mammalians are affected in +the same way as birds and insects, although not in the same degree. This +fact partly explains the rage of the bull. A scarlet flag fluttering in +the wind or lying on the grass attracts his attention powerfully, as it +does that of other animals; but though curious about the nature of the +bright object, it does not anger him. His anger is excited--and this is +the whole secret of the matter--when the colour is flaunted by a man; +when it forces him to fix his attention on a man, i.e. an animal of +another species that rules or drives him, and that he fears, but with +only a slight fear, which may at any moment be overcome by his naturally +bold aggressive disposition, Not only does the vivid colour compel him +to fix his attention on the being that habitually interferes with his +liberty, and is consequently regarded with unfriendly eyes, but it also +produces the illusion on his mind that the man is near him, that he is +approaching him in an aggressive manner: it is an insult, a challenge, +which, being of so explosive a temper, he is not slow to accept. + +On the pampas I was once standing with some gauchos at the gate of a +corral into which a herd of half-wild cattle had just been driven. One +of the men, to show his courage and agility, got off his horse and +boldly placed himself in the centre of the open gate. His action +attracted the attention of one of the nearest cows, and lowering her +horns she began watching him in a threatening manner. He then suddenly +displayed the scarlet lining of his poncho, and instantly she charged +him furiously: with a quick movement to one side he escaped her horns, +and after we had driven her back, resumed his former position and +challenged her again in the same way. The experiment was repeated not +less than half a dozen times, and always with the same result. The +cattle were all in a savage temper, and would have instantly charged him +on his placing himself before them on foot without the display of +scarlet cloth, but their fear of the mounted men, standing with lassos +in their hand on either side of him, kept them in check. But whenever +the attention of any one individual among them was forcibly drawn to him +by the display of vivid colour, and fixed on him alone, the presence of +the horsemen was forgotten and fear was swallowed by rage. It is a fact, +I think, that most animals that exhibit angry excitement when a scarlet +rag is flourished aggressively at them, are easily excited to anger at +all times. Domestic geese and turkeys may be mentioned among birds: they +do not fly at a grown person, but they will often fly at a child that +challenges them in this way; and it is a fact that they do not at any +time fear a child very much and will sometimes attack him without being +challenged. I think that the probability of the view I have taken is +increased by another fact--namely, that the sudden display of scarlet +colour sometimes affects timid animals with an extreme fear, just as, on +the other hand, it excites those that are bold and aggressive to anger. +Domestic sheep, forinstance, that vary greatly in disposition in +different races or breeds, and even in different individuals, may be +affected in the two opposite ways, some exhibiting extreme terror and +others only anger at a sudden display of scarlet colour by the shepherd +or herder. + +The persecution of a sick animal by its companions comes next under +consideration. + +It will have been remarked, with surprise by some readers, no doubt, +that I have set down as two different instincts this persecution of a +sick or weakly individual by its fellows, and the sudden deadly rage +that sometimes impels the herd to turn upon and destroy a wounded or +distressed companion. It is usual for writers on the instincts of +animals to speak of them as one: and I presume that they regard this +sudden deadly rage of several individuals against a companion as merely +an extreme form of the common persecuting instinct or impulse. They are +not really one, but are as distinct in origin and character as it is +possible for any two instincts to be. The violent and fatal impulse +starts simultaneously into life and action, and is contagious, affecting +all the members of the herd like a sudden madness. The other is neither +violent nor contagious: the persecution is intermittent: it is often +confined to one or to a very few members of the herd, and seldom joined +in by the chief member, the leader or head to whom all the others give +way. + +Concerning this head of the herd, or flock, or pack, it is necessary to +say something more. Some gregarious animals, particularly birds, live +together in the most perfect peace and amity; and here no leader is +required, because in their long association together as a species in +flocks, they have attained to a oneness of mind, so to speak, which +causes them to move or rest, and to act at all times harmoniously +together, as if controlled and guided by an extrane-ous force. I may +mention that the kindly instinct in animals, which is almost universal +between male and female in the vertebrates, is most apparent in these +harmoniously acting birds. Thus, in La Plata, I have remarked, in more +than one species, that a lame or sick individual, unable to keop pace +with the flock and find its food, has not only been waited for, but in +some cases some of the flock have constantly attended it, keeping close +to it both when flying and on the ground; and, I have no doubt, feeding +it just as they would have fed their young. + +Naturally among such kinds no one member is of more consideration than +another. But among mammals such equality and harmony is rare. The +instinct of one and all is to lord it over the others, with the result +that one more powerful or domineering gets the mastery, to keep it +thereafter as long as he can. The lower animals are, in this respect, +very much like us; and in all kinds that are at all fierce-tempered the +mastery of one over all, and of a few under him over the others, is most +salutary; indeed, it is inconceivable that they should be able to exist +together under any other system. + +On cattle-breeding establishments on the pampas, where it is usual to +keep a large number of fierce-tempered dogs, I have observed these +animals a great deal, and presume that they are very much like feral +dogs and wolves in their habits. Their quarrels are incessant; but when +a fight begins the head of the pack as a rule rushes to the spot, +whereupon the fighters separate and march off in different directions, +or else cast themselves down and deprecate their tyrant's wrath with +abject gestures and whines. If the combatants are both strong and have +worked themselves into a mad rage before their head puts in an +appearance, it may go hard with him: they know him no longer, and all he +can do is to join in the fray; then, if the fighters turn on him, he may +be so injured that his power is gone, and the next best dog in the pack +takes his place. The hottest contests are always between dogs that are +well matched; neither will give place to the other, and so they fight it +out; but from the foremost in strength and power down to the weakest +there is a gradation of authority; each one knows just how far he can +go, which companion he can bully when he is in a bad temper or wishes to +assert himself, and to which he must humbly yield in his turn. In such a +state the weakest one must always yield to all the others, and cast +himself down, seeming to call himself a slave and worshipper of any +other member of the pack that chooses to snarl at him, or command him to +give up his bone with a good grace. + +This masterful or domineering temper, so common among social mammals, is +the cause of the persecution of the sick and weakly. When an animal +begins to ail he can no longer hold his own; he ceases to resent the +occasional ill-natured attacks made on him; his non-combative condition +is quickly discovered, and he at once drops down to a place below the +lowest; it is common knowledge in the herd that he may be buffeted with +impunity by all, even by those that have hitherto suffered buffets but +have given none. But judging from my own observation, this persecution, +is not, as a rule, severe, and is seldom fatal. + +It is often the case that a sick or injured animal withdraws and hides +himself from the herd; the instinct of the "stricken deer" this might be +called. But I do not think that we need assume that the ailing +individual goes away to escape the danger of being ill-used by his +companions. He is sick and drooping and consequently unfit to be with +the healthy and vigorous; that is the simplest and probably the true +explanation of his action; although in some cases he might be driven +from them by persistent rough usage. However peaceably gregarious +mammals may live together, and however fond of each other's company they +may be, they do not, as a rule, treat each other gently. Furthermore, +their games are exceedingly rough and require that they shall be in a +vigorous state of health to escape injury. Horned animals have no +buttons to the sharp weapons they prod and strike each other with in a +sportive spirit. I have often witnessed the games of wild and half-wild +horses with astonishment; for it seemed that broken bones must result +from the sounding kicks they freely bestowed on one another. This +roughness itself would be a sufficient cause for the action of the +individual, sick and out of tune and untouched by the glad contagion of +the others, in escaping from them; and to leave them would be to its +advantage (and to that of the race) since, if not fatally injured or +sick unto death, its chances of recovery to perfect health would be +thereby greatly increased. + +It remains now to speak of that seemingly most cruel of instincts which +stands last on my list. It is very common among gregarious animals that +are at all combative in disposition, and still survives in our domestic +cattle, although very rarely witnessed in England. My first experience +of it was just before I had reached the age of five years. I was not at +that early period trying to find out any of nature's secrets, but the +scene I witnessed printed itself very vividly on my mind, so that I can +recall it as well as if my years had been five-and-twenty; perhaps +better. It was on a summer's evening, and I was out by myself at some +distance from the house, playing about the high exposed roots of some +old trees; on the other side of the trees the cattle, just returned from +pasture, were gathered on the bare level ground. Hearing a great +commotion among them, I climbed on to one of the high exposed roots, +and, looking over, saw a cow on the ground, apparently unable to rise, +moaning and bellowing in a distressed way, while a number of her +companions were crowding round and goring her. + +What is the meaning of such an instinct? Darwin has but few words on the +subject. "Can we believe," he says, in his posthumous _Essay on +Instinct, "_when a wounded herbivorous animal returns to its own herd +and is then attacked and gored, that this cruel and very common instinct +is of any service to the species?" At the same time, he hints that such +an instinct might in some circumstances be useful, and his hint has been +developed into the current belief among naturalists on the subject. Here +it is, in Dr. Romanes' words: "We may readily imagine that the instinct +displayed by many herbivorous animals of goring sick and wounded +companions, is really of use in countries where the presence of weak +members in a herd is a source of danger to the herd from the prevalence +of wild beasts." Here it is assumed that the sick are set upon and +killed, but this is not the fact; sickness and decay from age or some +other cause are slow things, and increase imperceptibly, so that the +sight of a drooping member grows familiar to the herd, as does that of a +member with some malformation, or unusual shade of colour, or altogether +white, as in the case of an albino. + +Sick and weak members, as we have seen, while subject to some +ill-treatment from their companions (only because they can be +ill-treated with impunity), do not rouse the herd to a deadly animosity; +the violent and fatal attack is often as not made on a member in perfect +health and vigour and unwoundecl, although, owing to some accident, in +great distress, and perhaps danger, at the moment. + +The instinct is, then, not only useless but actually detrimental; and, +this being so, the action of the herd in destroying one of its members +is not even to be regarded as an instinct proper, but rather as an +aberration of an instinct, a blunder, into which animals sometimes fall +when excited to action in unusual circumstances. + +The first thing that strikes us is that in these wild abnormal moments +of social animals, they are acting in violent contradiction to the whole +tenor of their lives; that in turning against a distressed fellow they +oppose themselves to the law of their being, to the whole body of +instincts, primary and secondary, and habits, which have made it +possible for them to exist together in communities. It is, I think, by +reflecting on the abnormal character of such an action that we are led +to a true interpretation of this "dark saying of Nature." + +Every one is familiar with Bacon's famous passage about the dog, and the +noble courage which that animal puts on when "maintained by a man; who +is to him in place of a God, or _melior natura;_ which courage is +manifestly such as that creature, without the confidence of a better +nature than its own, could never attain." Not so. The dog is a social +animal, and acts instinctively in concert with his fellows; and the +courage he manifests is of the family, not the individual. In the +domestic state the man he is accustomed to associate with and obey +stands to him in the place of the controlling pack, and to his mind, +which is canine and not human, _is_ the pack. A similar "noble courage," +greatly surpassing that exhibited on all other occasions, is displayed +by an infinite number of mammals and birds of gregarious habits, when +repelling the attacks of some powerful and dangerous enemy, or when they +rush to the rescue of one of their captive fellows. Concerning this rage +and desperate courage of social animals in the face of an enemy, we see +(1) that it is excited by the distressed cries, or by the sight of a +member of the herd or family dying from or struggling in the clutches of +an enemy; (2) that it affects animals when a number af individuals are +together, and is eminently contagious, like fear, that communicates +itself, quick as lightning, from one to another until all are in a +panic, and like the joyous emotion that impels the members of a herd or +flock to rush simultaneously into play. + +Now, it is a pretty familiar fact that animals acting instinctively, as +well as men acting intelligently, have at times their delusions and +their illusions, and see things falsely, and are moved to action by a +false stimulus to their own disadvantage. When the individuals of a herd +or family are excited to a sudden deadly rage by the distressed cries of +one of their fellows, or by the sight of its bleeding wounds and the +smell of its blood, or when they see it frantically struggling on the +ground, or in the cleft of a tree or rock, as if in the clutches of a +powerful enemy, they do not turn on it to kill but to rescue it. + +In whatever way the rescuing instinct may have risen, whether simply +through natural selection or, as is more probable, through an +intelligent habit becoming fixed and hereditary, its effectiveness +depends altogether on the emotion of overmastering rage excited in the +animal--rage against a tangible visible enemy, or invisible, and excited +by the cries or struggles of a suffering companion; clearly, then, it +could not provide against the occasional rare accidents that animals +meet with, which causes them to act precisely in the way they do when +seized or struck down by an enemy. An illusion is the result of the +emotion similar to the illusion produced by vivid expectation in +ourselves, which has caused many a man to see in a friend and companion +the adversary he looked to see, and to slay him in his false-seeing +anger. + +An illusion just as great, leading to action equally violent, but +ludicrous rather than painful to witness, may be seen in dogs, when +encouraged by a man to the attack, and made by his cries and gestures to +expect that some animal they are accustomed to hunt is about to be +unearthed or overtaken; and if, when they are in this disposition, he +cunningly exhibits and sets them on a dummy, made perhaps of old rags +and leather and stuffed with straw, they will seize, worry, and tear it +to pieces with the greatest fury, and without the faintest suspicion of +its true character. + +That wild elephants will attack a distressed fellow seemed astonishing +to Darwin, when he remembered the case of an elephant after escaping +from a pit helping its fellow to escape also. But it is precisely the +animals, high or low in the organic scale, that are social, and possess +the instinct of helping each other, that will on occasions attack a +fellow in misfortune--such an attack being no more than a blunder of the +helping instinct. + +Felix de Azara records a rather cruel experiment on the temper of some +tame rats confined in a cage. The person who kept them caught the tail +of one of the animals and began sharply pinching it, keeping his hand +concealed under the cage. Its cries of pain and struggles to free itself +greatly excited the other rats; and after rushing wildly round for some +moments they flew at their distressed companion, and fixing their teeth +in its throat quickly dispatched it. In this case if the hand that held +the tail had been visible and in the cage, the bites would undoubtedly +have been inflicted on it; but no enemy was visible; yet the fury and +impulse to attack an enemy was present in the animals. In such +circumstances, the excitement must be discharged--the instinct obeyed, +and in the absence of any other object of attack the illusion is +produced and it discharges itself on the struggling companion. It is +sometimes seen in dogs, when three or four or five are near together, +that if one suddenly utters a howl or cry of pain, when no man is near +it and no cause apparent, the others run to it, and seeing nothing, turn +round and attack each other. Here the exciting cause--the cry for +help--is not strong enough to produce the illusion which is sometimes +fatal to the suffering member; but each dog mistakingly thinks that the +others, or one of the others, inflicted the injury, and his impulse is +to take the part of the injured animal. If the cry for help--caused +perhaps by a sudden cramp or the prick of a thorn--is not very sharp or +intense, the other dogs will not attack, but merely look and growl at +each other in a suspicious way. + +To go back to Azara's anecdote. Why, it may be asked--and this question +has been put to me in conversation--if killing a distressed companion is +of no advantage to the race, and if something must be attacked--why did +not these rats in this instance attack the cage they were shut in, and +bite at the woodwork and wires? Or, in the case related by Mr. Andrew +Lang in _Longman's Magazine_ some time ago, in which the members of a +herd of cattle in Scotland turned with sudden amazing fury on one of the +cows that had got wedged between two rocks and was struggling with +distressed bellowings to free itself--why did they not attack the +prisoning rocks instead of goring their unfortunate comrade to death? +For it is well known that animals will, on occasions, turn angrily upon +and attack inanimate objects that cause them injury or hinder their +freedom of action. And we know that this mythic faculty--the mind's +projection of itself into visible nature--survives in ourselves, that +there are exceptional moments in our lives when it comes back to us; no +one, for instance, would be astonished to hear that any man, even a +philosopher, had angrily kicked away or imprecated a stool or other +inanimate object against which he had accidentally barked his shins. The +answer is, that there is no connection between these two things--the +universal mythic faculty of the mind, and that bold and violent instinct +of social animals of rushing to the rescue of a stricken or distressed +companion, which has a definite, a narrow, purpose--namely, to fall upon +an enemy endowed not merely with the life and intelligence common to all +things, including rocks, trees, and waters, but with animal form and +motion. + +I had intended in this place to give other instances, observed in +several widely-separated species, including monkeys; but it is not +necessary, as I consider that all the facts, however varied, are covered +by the theory I have suggested--even a fact I like the one mentioned in +this chapter of cattle bellowing and madly digging up the ground where +the blood of one of their kind had been spilt: also such a fact as that +of wild cattle and other animals caught in a trap or enclosure attacking +and destroying each other in their frenzy; and the fact that some +fierce-tempered carnivorous mammals will devour the companion they have +killed. It is an instinct of animals like wolves and peccaries to devour +the enemy they have overcome and slain: thus, when the jaguar captures a +peccary out of a drove, and does not quickly escape with his prize into +a tree, he is instantly attacked and slain and then consumed, even to +the skin and bones. This is the wolf's and the peccary's instinct; and +the devouring of one of their own companions is an inevitable +consequence of the mistake made in the first place of attacking and +killing it. In no other circumstances, not even when starving, do they +prey on their own species. + +If the explanation I have offered should seem a true or highly probable +one, it will, I feel sure, prove acceptable to many lovers of animals, +who, regarding tins seemingly ruthless instinct, not as an aberration +but as in some vague way advantageous to animals in their struggle for +existence, are yet unable to think of it without pain and horror; +indeed, I know those who refuse to think of it at all, who would gladly +disbelieve it if they could. + +It should be a relief to them to be able to look on it no longer as +something ugly and hateful, a blot on nature, but as an illusion, a +mistake, an unconscious crime, so to speak, that has for its motive the +noblest passion that animals know--that sublime courage and daring which +they exhibit in defence of a distressed companion. This fiery spirit in +animals, which makes them forget their own safety, moves our hearts by +its close resemblance to one of the most highly-prized human virtues; +just as we are moved to intellectual admiration by the wonderful +migratory instinct in birds that simulates some of the highest +achievements of the mind of man. And we know that this beautiful +instinct is also liable to mistakes--that many travellers leave us +annually never to return. Such a mistake was undoubtedly the cause of +the late visitation of Pallas' sand-grouse: owing perhaps to some +unusual atmospheric or dynamic condition, or to some change in the +nervous system of the birds, they deviated widely from their usual +route, to scatter in countless thousands over the whole of Europe and +perish slowly in climates not suited to them; while others, overpassing +the cold strange continent, sped on over colder, stranger seas, to drop +at last like aerolites, quenching their lives in the waves. + +Whether because it is true, as Professor Freeman and some others will +have it, that humanity is a purely modern virtue; or because the +doctrine of Darwin, by showing that we are related to other forms of +life, that our best feelings have their roots low down in the temper and +instincts of the social species, has brought us nearer in spirit to the +inferior animals, it is certain that our regard for them has grown, and +is growing, and that new facts and fresh inferences that make us think +more highly of them are increasingly welcome. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +HORSE AND MAN. + + +There is no mode of progression so delightful as riding on horseback. +Walking, rowing, bicycling are pleasant exercises in their way, but the +muscular exertion and constant exercise of judgment they call for occupy +the mind partly to the exclusion of other things; so that a long walk +may sometimes be only a long walk and nothing more. In riding +we are not conscious of exertion, and as for that close observation and +accurate discernment necessary in traversing the ground with speed and +safety, it is left to the faithful servant that carries us. Pitfalls, +hillocks, slippery places, the thousand little inequalities of the +surface that have to be measured with infallible eye, these disturb us +little. To fly or go slowly at will, to pass unshaken over rough and +smooth alike, fording rivers without being wet, and mounting hills +without climbing, this is indeed unmixed delight. It is the nearest +approach to bird-life we seem capable of, since all the monster bubbles +and flying fabrics that have been the sport of winds from the days of +Montgolfier downwards have brought us no nearer to it. The aeronaut +gasping for breath above the clouds offers only a sad spectacle of the +imbecility of science and man's shattered hopes. To the free inhabitants +of air we can only liken the mounted Arab, vanishing, hawklike, over the +boundless desert. + +In riding there is always exhilarating motion; yet, if the scenery +encountered be charming, you are apparently sitting still, while, +river-like, it flows toward and past you, ever giving place to fresh +visions of beauty. Above all, the mind is free, as when one lies idly on +the grass gazing up into the sky. And, speaking of myself, there is even +more than this immunity from any tax on the understanding such as we +require in walking; the rhythmic motion, the sensation as of night, +acting on the brain like a stimulus. That anyone should be able to think +better lying, sitting, or standing, than when speeding along on +horseback, is to me incomprehensible. This is doubtless due to early +training and long use; for on those great pampas where I first saw the +light and was taught at a tender age to ride, we come to look on man as +a parasitical creature, fitted by nature to occupy the back of a horse, +in which position only he has full and free use of all his faculties. +Possibly the gaucho--the horseman of the pampas--is born with this idea +in his brain; if so, it would only be reasonable to suppose that its +correlative exists in a modification of structure. Certain it is that an +intoxicated gaucho lifted on to the back of his horse is perfectly safe +in his seat. The horse may do his best to rid himself of his burden; the +rider's legs--or posterior arms as they might appropriately be +called--retain their iron grip, notwithstanding the fuddled brain. + +The gaucho is more or less bow-legged; and, of course, the more crooked +his legs are, the better for him in his struggle for existence. Off his +horse his motions are awkward, like those of certain tardigrade mammals +of arboreal habits when removed from their tree. He waddles in his walk; +his hands feel for the reins; his toes turn inwards like a duck's. And +here, perhaps, we can see why foreign travellers, judging him from their +own standpoint, invariably bring against him the charge of laziness. On +horseback he is of all men most active. His patient endurance under +privations that would drive other men to despair, his laborious days and +feats of horsemanship, the long journeys he performs without rest or +food, seem to simple dwellers on the surface of the earth almost like +miracles. Deprive him of his horse, and he can do nothing but sit on +the ground cross-legged, or _en cuclillas_,--on his heels. You have, to +use his own figurative language, cut off his feet. + +Darwin in his earlier years appears not to have possessed the power of +reading men with that miraculous intelligence always distinguishing his +researches concerning other and lower orders of beings. In the _Voyage +of a Naturalist,_ speaking of this supposed indolence of the gauchos, he +tells that in one place where workmen were in great request, seeing a +poor gaucho sitting in a listless attitude, he asked him why he did not +work. The man's answer was that _he was too poor to work!_ The +philosopher was astonished and amused at the reply, but failed to +understand it. And yet, to one acquainted with these lovers of brief +phrases, what more intelligible answer could have been returned? The +poor fellow simply meant to say that his horses had been stolen--a thing +of frequent occurrence in that country, or, perhaps, that some minion of +the Government of the moment had seized them for the use of the State. + +To return to the starting point, the pleasures of riding do not flow +exclusively from the agreeable sensations attendant on flight-like +motion; there is also the knowledge, sweet in itself, that not a mere +cunningly fashioned machine, like that fabled horse of brass "on which +the Tartar king did ride," sustains us; but a something with life and +thought, like ourselves, that feels what we feel, understands us, and +keenly participates in our pleasures. Take, for example, the horse on +which some quiet old country gentleman is accustomed to travel; how +soberly and evenly he jogs along, picking his way over the ground. But +let him fall into the hands of a lively youngster, and how soon he picks +up a frisky spirit! Were horses less plastic, more the creatures of +custom than they are, it would always be necessary, before buying one, +to inquire into the disposition of its owner. + +When I was thirteen years old I was smitten with love for a horse I once +saw--an untamable-looking brute, that rolled his eyes, turbulently, +under a cloud of black mane tumbling over his forehead. I could not take +my sight off this proud, beautiful creature, and I longed to possess him +with a great longing. His owner--a worthless vagabond, as it +happened--marked my enthusiastic admiration, and a day or two +afterwards, having lost all his money at cards, he came to me, offering +to sell me the horse. Having obtained my father's consent, I rushed off +to the man with all the money I possessed--about thirty or thirty-five +shillings, I believe. After some grumbling, and finding he could get no +more, he accepted the money. My new possession filled me with unbounded +delight, and I spent the time caressing him and leading him about the +grounds in search of succulent grasses and choice leaves to feed him on. +I am sure this horse understood and loved me, for, in spite of that +savage look, which his eyes never quite lost, he always displayed a +singular gentleness towards me. He never attempted to upset me, though +he promptly threw--to my great delight, I must confess--anyone else who +ventured to mount him. Probably the secret of his conduct was that he +hated the whip. Of this individual, if not of the species, the +celebrated description held true:--"The horse is a docile animal, but if +you flog him he will not do so." After he had been mine a few days, I +rode on him one morning to witness a cattle-marking on a neighbouring +estate. I found thirty or forty gauchos on the ground engaged in +catching and branding the cattle. It was rough, dangerous work, but +apparently not rough enough to satisfy the men, so after branding an +animal and releasing him from their lassos, several of the mounted +gauchos would, purely for sport, endeavour to knock it down as it rushed +away, by charging furiously on to it. As I sat there enjoying the fun, +my horse stood very quietly under me, also eagerly watching the sport. +At length a bull was released, and, smarting from the fiery torture, +lowered his horns and rushed away towards the open plain. Three horsemen +in succession shot out from the crowd, and charged the bull at full +speed; one by one, by suddenly swerving his body round, he avoided them, +and was escaping scot-free. At this moment my horse--possibly +interpreting a casual touch of my hand on his neck, or some movement of +my body, as a wish to join in the sport--suddenly sprang forward and +charged on the flying bull like a thunderbolt, striking him full in the +middle of his body, and hurling him with a tremendous shock to earth. +The stricken beast rolled violently over, while my horse stood still as +a stone watching him. Strange to say, I was not unseated, but, +turning-round, galloped back, greeted by a shout of applause from the +spectators--the only sound of that description I have ever had the +privilege of listening to. They little knew that my horse had +accomplished the perilous feat without his rider's guidance. No doubt he +had been accustomed to do such things, and, perhaps, for the moment, had +forgotten that he had passed into the hands of a new owner--one of +tender years. He never voluntarily attempted an adventure of that kind +again; he knew, I suppose, that he no longer carried on his back a +reckless dare-devil, who valued not life. Poor Picaso! he was mine till +he died. I have had scores of horses since, but never one I loved so +well. + +With the gauchos the union between man and horse is not of so intimate a +nature as with the Indians of the pampas. Horses are too cheap, where a +man without shoes to his feet may possess a herd of them, for the +closest kind of friendship to ripen. The Indian has also less +individuality of character. The immutable nature of the conditions he is +placed in, and his savage life, which is a perpetual chase, bring him +nearer to the level of the beast he rides. And probably the acquired +sagacity of the horse in the long co-partnership of centuries has become +hereditary, and of the nature of an instinct. The Indian horse is more +docile, he understands his master better; the slightest touch of the +hand on his neck, which seems to have developed a marvellous +sensitiveness, is sufficient to guide him. The gaucho labours to give +his horse "a silken mouth," as he aptly calls it; the Indian's horse has +it from birth. Occasionally the gaucho sleeps in the saddle; the Indian +can die on his horse. During frontier warfare one hears at times of a +dead warrior being found and removed with difficulty from the horse that +carried him out of the fight, and about whose neck his rigid fingers +were clasped in death. Even in the gaucho country, however, where, I +grieve to confess, the horse is not deservedly esteemed, there are very +remarkable instances of equine attachment and fidelity to man, and of a +fellowship between horse and rider of the closest kind. One only I will +relate. + +When Rosas, that man of "blood and iron," was Dictator of the Argentine +country--a position which he held for a quarter of a centuiy--desertors +from the army were inexorably shot when caught, as they generally were. +But where my boyhood was spent there was a deserter, a man named Santa +Anna, who for seven years, without ever leaving the neighbourhood of his +home, succeeded in eluding his pursuers by means of the marvellous +sagacity and watchful care exercised by his horse. When taking his rest +on the plain--for he seldom slept under a roof--his faithful horse kept +guard. At the first sight of mounted men on the horizon he would fly to +his master, and, seizing his cloak between his teeth, rouse him with a +vigorous shake. The hunted man would start up, and in a moment man and +horse would vanish into one of the dense reed-beds abounding in the +place, and where no man could follow. I have not space to tell more +about this horse; but at last, in the fulness of time, when the figs +were ripe--literally as well as figuratively, for it happened in the +autumn of the year--the long tyrannous rule ended, and Santa Anna came +out of the reed-beds, where he had lived his wild-animal life, to mix +with his fellows. I knew him some years later. He was a rather +heavy-looking man, with little to say, and his reputation for honesty +was not good in the place; but I dare say there was something good in +him. + +Students of nature are familiar with the modifying effects of new +conditions on man and brute. Take, for example, the gaucho: he must +every day traverse vast distances, see quickly, judge rapidly, be ready +at all times to encounter hunger and fatigue, violent changes of +temperature, great and sudden perils. These conditions have made him +differ widely from the peasant of the Peninsula; he has the endurance +and keen sight of a wolf, is fertile in expedients, quick in action, +values human life not at all, and is in pain or defeat a Stoic. +Unquestionably the horse he rides has also suffered a great change. He +differs as much from the English hunter, for instance, as one animal can +well differ from another of the same species. He never pounds the earth +and wastes his energies in vain parade. He has not the dauntless courage +that performs such brilliant feats in the field, and that often as not +attempts the impossible. In the chase he husbands all his strength, +carrying his head low, and almost grazing the ground with his hoofs, so +that he is not a showy animal. Constant use, or the slow cumulative +process of natural selection, has served to develop a keenness of sense +almost preternatural. The vulture's eye, with all the advantage derived +from the vulture's vast elevation above the scene surveyed, is not so +far-reaching as the sense of smell in the pampa horse. A common +phenomenon on the pampas is a sudden migration of the horses of a +district to some distant place. This occurs in seasons of drought, when +grass or water fails. The horses migrate to some district where, from +showers having fallen or other circumstances, there is a better supply +of food and drink. A slight breeze blowing from the more favoured +region, which may be forty or fifty miles away, or even much further, is +enough to start them off. Yet, during the scorching days of midsummer, +very little moisture or smell of grass can possibly reach them from such +a distance. + +Another phenomenon, even more striking, is familiar to every +frontiersman. For some reason, the gaucho horse manifests the greatest +terror at an Indian invasion. No doubt his fear is, in part at any rate, +an associate feeling, the coming of the Indians being always a time of +excitement and com-motion, sweeping like a great wave over the country; +houses are in flames, families flying, cattle being driven at frantic +speed to places of greater safety. Be this as it may, long before the +marauders reach the settlement (often when they are still a whole day's +journey from it) the horses take the alarm and come wildly flying in: +the contagion quickly spreads to the horned cattle, and a general +stampede ensues. The gauchos maintain that the horses _smell_ the +Indians. I believe they are right, for when passing a distant Indian +camp, from which the wind blew, the horses driven before me have +suddenly taken fright and run away, leading me a chase of many miles. +The explanation that ostriches, deer, and other fleet animals driven in +before the invaders might be the cause of the stampede cannot be +accepted, since the horses are familiar with the sight of these animals +flying from their gaucho hunters. + +There is a pretty fable of a cat and dog lying in a dark room, aptly +illustrating the fine senses of these two species. "Listen! I heard a +feather drop!" said the dog. "Oh, no!" said the cat, "it was a, needle; +I saw it." The horse is not commonly believed to have senses keen as +that, and a dog tracing his master's steps over the city pavement is +supposed to be a feat no other animal can equal. No doubt the artificial +life a horse lives in England, giving so little play to many of his most +important faculties, has served to blunt them. He is a splendid +creature; but the noble bearing, the dash and reckless courage that +distinguish him from the modest horse of the desert, have not been +acquired without a corresponding loss in other things. When ridden by +night the Indian horse--and sometimes the same habit is found in the +gaucho's animal--drops his head lower and lower as the darkness +increases, with the danger arising from the presence of innumerable +kennels concealed in the grass, until his nose sweeps the surface like a +foxhound's. That this action is dictated by a powerful instinct of +self-preservation is plain; for, when I have attempted to forcibly drag +the animal's head up, he has answered such an experiment by taking the +bit in his teeth, and violently pulling the reins out of my hand. His +miraculous sense of smell measures the exact position of every hidden +kennel, every treacherous spot, and enables him to pass swiftly and +securely over it. + +On the desert pampa the gaucho, for a reason that he knows, calls the +puma the "friend of man." The Arab gives this designation to his horse; +but in Europe, where we do not associate closely with the horse, the dog +naturally takes the foremost place in our affections. The very highest +praise yet given to this animal is probably to be found in Bacon's essay +on Atheism. "For take an example of a dog," he says, "and mark what a +generosity and courage he will put on when he finds himself maintained +by a man, who is to him in place of a god, or _melior natura,_ which +courage is manifestly such as that creature, without the confidence of a +better nature than its own, could never attain!" Can we not say as much +of the horse? The very horses that fly terror-stricken from the smell of +an Indian will, when "maintained by a man," readily charge into a whole +host of yelling savages. + +I once had a horse at home, born and bred on the place, so docile that +whenever I required him I could go to him where the horses were at +pasture, and, though they all galloped off at my approach, he would +calmly wait to be caught. Springing on to his back, I would go after the +other horses, or gallop home with only my hand on his neck to guide him. +I did not often ride him, as he was slow and lazy, but with timid women +and children he was a favourite; he was also frequently used for farm +work, in or out of harness, and I could shoot from his back. In the +peach season he would roam about the plantation, getting the fruit, of +which he was very fond, by tugging at the lower branches of the trees +and shaking it down in showers. One intensely dark night I was riding +home on this horse. I came through a road with a wire fence on each +side, two miles in length, and when I had got nearly to the end of this +road my horse suddenly stopped short, uttering a succession of loud +terrified snorts. I could see nothing but the intense blackness of the +night before me and tried to encourage him to go on. Touching him on +the neck, I found his hair wet with the sudden profuse sweat of extreme +fear. The whip made no impression on him. He continued to back away, his +eyes apparently fixed on some object of horror just before him, while he +trembled to such a degree that I was shaken in the saddle. He attempted +several times to wheel round and run away, but I was determined not to +yield to him, and continued the contest. Suddenly, when I was beginning +to despair of getting home by that road, he sprang forward, and +regularly charged the (to me) invisible object before him, and in +another moment, when he had apparently passed it, taking the bit between +his teeth he almost flew over the ground, never pausing till he brought +me to my own door. When I dismounted his terror seemed gone, but he hung +his head in a dejected manner, like a horse that has been under the +saddle all day. I have never witnessed another such instance of almost +maddening fear. His terror and apprehension were like what we can +imagine a man experiencing at sight of a ghost in some dark solitary +place. + +Yet he did not forcibly carry me away from it, as he might so easily +have done; but, finding himself maintained by a "nature superior to his +own," he preferred to face it. I have never met in the dog a more +striking example of this noblest kind of brute courage. The incident did +not impress me very much at the moment, but when I came to reflect that +my sight was mere blindness compared with that of my horse, and that it +was not likely his imagination clothed any familiar natural object with +fantastic terrors, it certainly did impress me very deeply. + +I am loth to finish with, my subject, in which, to express myself in the +manner of the gauchos, I have passed over many matters, like good grass +and fragrant herbs the galloping horse sniffs at but cannot stay to +taste; and especially loth to conclude with this last incident, which +has in it an element of gloom. I would rather first go back for a few +moments to my original theme--the pleasures of riding, for the sake of +mentioning a species of pleasure my English reader has probably never +tasted or even heard of. When riding by night on the pampas, I used to +enjoy lying back on my horse till my head and shoulders rested well on +his back, my feet also being raised till they pressed against his neck; +and in this position, which practice can make both safe and comfortable, +gaze up into the starry sky. To enjoy this method of riding thoroughly, +a sure-footed unshod horse with perfect confidence in his rider is +necessary; and he must be made to go at a swift and smooth pace over +level grassy ground. With these conditions the sensation is positively +delightful. Nothing of earth is visible, only the vast circle of the +heavens glittering with innumerable stars; the muffled sound of the +hoofs on the soft sward becomes in fancy only the rushing of the wings +of our Pegasus, while the enchanting illusion that we are soaring +through space possesses the mind. Unfortunately, however, this method of +riding is impracticable in England. And, even if people with enthusiasm +enough could be found to put it in practice by importing swift +light-footed Arabian or pampa horses, and careering about level parks on +dark starry nights, probably a shout of derision would be raised against +so undignified a pastime. + +_Apropos_ of dignity, I will relate, in conclusion, an incident in my +London life which may possibly interest psychologists. Some time ago in +Oxford Street I got on top of an omnibus travelling west. My mind was +preoccupied, I was anxious to get home, and, in an absent kind of way, I +became irritated at the painfully slow rate of progress. It was all an +old familiar experience, the deep thought, lessening pace, and +consequent irritation. The indolent brute I imagined myself riding was, +as usual, taking advantage of his rider's abstraction; but I would soon +"feelingly persuade" him that I was not so far gone as to lose sight of +the difference between a swinging gallop and a walk. So, elevating my +umbrella, I dealt the side of the omnibus a sounding blow, very much to +the astonishment of my fellow-passengers. So overgrown are we with +usages, habits, tricks of thought and action springing from the soil we +inhabit; and when we have broken away and removed ourselves far from it, +so long do the dead tendrils still cling to us! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV, + +SEEN AND LOST, + + +We can imagine what the feelings of a lapidary would be--an enthusiast +whose life is given to the study of precious stones, and whose sole +delight is in the contemplation of their manifold beauty--if a stranger +should come in to him, and, opening his hand, exhibit a new unknown gem, +splendid as ruby or as sapphire, yet manifestly no mere variety of any +familiar stone, but differing as widely from all others as diamond from +opal or cat's-eye; and then, just when he is beginning to rejoice in +that strange exquisite loveliness, the hand should close and the +stranger, with a mocking smile on his lips, go forth and disappear from +sight in the crowd. A feeling such as that would be is not unfrequently +experienced by the field naturalist whose favoured lot it is to live in +a country not yet "thoroughly worked out," with its every wild +inhabitant scientifically named, accurately described, and skilfully +figured in some colossal monograph. One swift glance of the practised +eye, ever eagerly searching for some new-thing, and he knows that here +at length is a form never previously seen by him; but his joy is perhaps +only for a few moments, and the prize is snatched from sight for ever. +The lapidary might have some doubts; he might think that the stranger +had, after all, only mocked him with the sight of a wonderful artificial +gem, and that a close examination would have proved its worthlessness; +but the naturalist can have no doubts: if he is an enthusiast, well +acquainted with the fauna of his district, and has good eyesight, he +knows that there is no mistake; for there it is, the new strange form, +photographed by instantaneous process on his mind, and there it will +remain, a tantalizing image, its sharp lines and fresh colouring +unblurred by time. + +Walking in some open forest glade, he may look up just in time to see a +great strange butterfly--a blue Morpho, let us say, wandering in some +far country where this angel insect is unknown--passing athwart his +vision with careless, buoyant flight, the most sylph-like thing in +nature, and all blue and pure like its aerial home, but with a more +delicate and wonderful brilliance in its cerulean colour, giving such +unimaginable glory to its broad airy wings; and then, almost before his +soul has had time to feel its joy, it may soar away unloitering over the +tall trees, to be seen no more. + +But the admiration, the delight, and the desire are equally great, and +the loss just as keenly felt, whether the strange species seen happens +to be one surpassingly beautiful or not. Its newness is to the +naturalist its greatest attraction. How beautiful beyond all others +seems a certain small unnamed brown bird to my mind! So many years have +passed and its image has not yet grown dim; yet I saw it only for a few +moments, when it hopped out from, the thick foliage and perched within +two or three yards of me, not afraid, but only curious; and after +peering at me first with one eye and then the other, and wiping its +small dagger on a twig, it flew away and was seen no more. For many days +I sought for it, and for years waited its reappearance, and it was more +to me than ninety and nine birds which I had always known; yet it was +very modest, dressed in a brown suit, very pale on the breast and white +on the throat, and for distinction a straw-coloured stripe over the +eye--that ribbon which Queen Nature bestows on so many of her feathered +subjects, in recognition, I suppose, of some small and common kind of +merit. If I should meet with it in a collection I should know it again; +only, in that case it would look plain and homely to me--this little +bird that for a time made all others seem unbeautiful. + +Even a richer prize may come in sight for a brief period--one of the +nobler mammalians, which are fewer in number, and bound to earth like +ourselves, and therefore so much better known than the wandering +children of air. In. some secluded spot, resting amidst luxuriant +herbage or forest undergrowth, a slight rustling makes us start, and, +lo! looking at us from the clustering leaves, a strange face; the +leaf-like ears erect, the dark eyes round with astonishment, and the +sharp black nose twitching and sniffing audibly, to take in the +unfamiliar flavour of a human presence from the air, like the pursed-up +and smacking lips of a wine-drinker tasting a new vintage. No sooner +seen than gone, like a dream, a phantom, the quaint furry face to be +thereafter only an image in memory. + +Sometimes the prize may be a very rich one, and actually within reach of +the hand--challenging the hand, as it were, to grasp it, and yet +presently slip away to be seen no more, although it maybe sought for day +after day, with a hungry longing comparable to that of some poor tramp +who finds a gold doubloon in the forest, and just when he is beginning +to realize all that it means to him drops it in the grass and cannot +find it again. There is not the faintest motion in the foliage, no +rustle of any dry leaf, and yet we know that something has +moved--something has come or has gone; and, gazing fixedly at one spot, +we suddenly see that it is still there, close to us, the pointed +ophidian head and long neck, not drawn back and threatening, but sloping +forward, dark and polished as the green and purple weed-stems springing +from marshy soil, and with an irregular chain of spots extending down +the side. Motionless, too, as the stems it is; but presently the tongue, +crimson and glistening, darts out and flickers, like a small jet of +smoke and flame, and is withdrawn; then the smooth serpent head drops +down, and the thing is gone. + +How I saw and lost the noble wrestling frog has been recounted in +Chapter IV.: other tantalizing experiences of the same kind remain to be +told in the present chapter, which is not intended for the severe +naturalist, but rather for such readers as may like to hear something +about the pains and pleasures of the seeker as well as the result of the +seeking. + +One of my earliest experiences of seeing and losing relates to a +humming-bird--a veritable "jewel of ornithology." I was only a boy at +the time, but already pretty well acquainted with the birds of the +district I lived in, near La Plata River, and among them were three +species of the hummingbird. One spring day I saw a fourth--a wonderful +little thing, only half as big as the smallest of the other three--the +well-known Phaithornis splendens--and scarcely larger than a bumble-bee. +I was within three feet of it as it sucked at the flowers, suspended +motionless in the air, the wings appearing formless and mist-like from +their rapid vibratory motion, but the rest of the upper plumage was seen +distinctly as anything can be seen. The head and neck and upper part of +the back were emerald green, with the metallic glitter usually seen in +the burnished scale-like feathers of these small birds; the lower half +of the back was velvet-black; the tail and tail-coverts white as snow. +On two other occasions, at intervals of a few days, I saw this brilliant +little stranger, always very near, and tried without success to capture +it, after which, it disappeared from the plantation. Four years later I +saw it once again not far from the same place. It was late in summer, +and I was out walking on the level plain where the ground was carpeted +with short grass, and nothing else grew there except a solitary stunted +cardoou thistle-bush with one flower on its central stem above the +grey-green artichoke-like leaves. The disc of the great thorny blossom +was as broad as that of a sunflower, purple in colour, delicately +frosted with white; on this flat disc several insects were +feeding--flies, fireflies, and small wasps--and I paused for a few +minutes in my walk to watch them. Suddenly a small misty object flew +swiftly downwards past my face, and paused motionless in the air an inch +or two above the rim of the flower. Once more my lost humming-bird, +which I remembered so well! The exquisitely graceful form, half circled +by the misty moth-like wings, the glittering green and velvet-black +mantle, and snow-white tail spread open like a fan--there it hung like a +beautiful bird-shaped gem suspended by an invisible gossamer thread. +One--two--three moments passed, while I gazed, trembling with rapturous +excitement, and then, before I had time to collect my faculties and make +a forlorn attempt to capture it with my hat, away it flew, gliding so +swiftly on the air that form and colour were instantly lost, and in +appearance it was only an obscure grey line traced rapidly along the, +low sky and fading quickly out ol sight. And that was the last I ever +saw of it. + +The case of this small "winged gem," still wandering nameless in the +wilds, reminds me of yet another bird seen and lost, also remarkable for +its diminutive size. For years I looked for it, and when the wished-for +opportunity came, and it was in my power to secure it, I refrained; and +Fate punished me by never permitting me to see it again. On several +occasions while riding on the pampas I had caught glimpses of this +minute bird flitting up mothlike, with uncertain tremulous flight, and +again dipping into the weeds, tall grass, or thistles. Its plumage was +yellowish in hue, like sere dead herbage, and its extremely slender body +looked longer and slimmer than it was, owing to the great length of its +tail, or of the two middle tail-feathers. I knew that it was a +Synallaxis--a genus of small birds of the Woodhewer family. Now, as I +have said in a former chapter, these are wise little birds, more +interesting--I had almost said more beautiful--in their wisdom, or +wisdom-simulating instincts, than the quatzel in its resplendent green, +or the cock-of-the-rock in its vivid scarlet and orange mantle. Wrens +and mocking-birds have melody for their chief attraction, and the name +of each kind is, to our minds, also the name of a certain kind of sweet +music; we think of swifts and swallows in connection with the mysterious +migratory instinct; and humming-birds have a glittering mantle, and the +miraculous motions necessary to display its ever-changing iridescent +beauty. In like manner, the homely Dendrocolaptidae possess the genius +for building, and an account of one of these small birds without its +nest would be like a biography of Sir Christopher Wren that made no +mention of his works. It was not strange then that when I saw this small +bird the question rose to my mind, what kind of nest does it build? + +One morning in the month of October, the great breeding-time for birds +in the Southern Hemisphere, while cautiously picking my way through a +bed of eardoon bushes, the mysterious little creature flitted up and +perched among the clustering leaves quite near to me. It uttered a +feeble grasshopper-like chirp; and then a second individual, smaller, +paler-coloured, and if possible shyer than the first, showed itself for +two or three seconds, after which both birds dived once more into +concealment. How glad I was to see them! for here they were, male and +female, in a suitable spot in my own fields, where they evidently meant +to breed. Every day after that I paid them one cautious visit, and by +waiting from five to fifteen minutes, standing motionless among the +thistles, I always succeeded in getting them to show themselves for a +few moments. I could easily have secured them then, but my wish was to +discover their nesting habits; and after watching for some days, I was +rewarded by finding their nest; then for three days more I watched it +slowly progressing towards completion, and each time I approached it one +of the small birds would flit out to vanish into the herbage. The +structure was about six inches long, and not more than two inches in +diameter, and was placed horizontally on a broad stiff eardoon leaf, +sheltered by other leaves above. It was made of the finest dry grass +loosely woven, and formed a simple perfectly straight tube, open at both +ends. The aperture was so small that I could only insert my little +finger, and the bird could not, of course, have turned round in so +narrow a passage, and so always went in at one end and left by the +other. On visiting the spot on the fourth day I found, to my intense +chagrin, that the delicate fabric had been broken and thrown down by +some animal; also, that the birds had utterly vanished--for I sought +them in vain, both there and in every weedy and thistly spot in the +neighbourhood. The bird without the nest had seemed a useless thing to +possess; now, for all my pains, I had only a wisp of fine dry grass in +my hand, and no bird. The shy, modest little creature, dwelling +violet-like amidst clustering leaves, and even when showing itself still +"half-hidden from the eye," was thereafter to be only a tantalizing +image in memory. Still, my case was not so hopeless as that of the +imagined lapidary; for however rare a species may be, and near to its +final extinction, there must always be many individuals existing, and I +was cheered by the thought that I might yet meet with one at some future +time. And, even if this particular species was not to gladden my sight +again, there were others, scores and hundreds more, and at any moment I +might expect to see one shining, a living gem, on Nature's open extended +palm. + +Sometimes it has happened that an animal would have been overlooked or +passed by with scant notice, to be forgotten, perhaps, but for some +singular action or habit which has instantly given it a strange +importance, and made its possession desirable. + +I was once engaged in the arduous and monotonous task of driving a large +number of sheep a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, in +excessively hot weather, when sheep prefer standing still to travelling. +Five or six gauchos were with me, and we were on the southern pampas of +Buenos Ayres, near to a long precipitous stony sierra which rose to a +height of five or six hundred feet above the plain. Who that has +travelled for eighteen days on a dead level in a broiling sun can resist +a hill? That sierra was more sublime to us than Conon-dagua, than +Illimani. + +Leaving the sheep, I rode to it with three of the men; aad after +securing our horses on the lower slope, we began our laborious ascent. +Now the gaucho when taken from his horse, on which he lives like a kind +of parasite, is a very slow-moving creature, and I soon left my friends +far behind. Coming to a place where ferns and flowering herbage grew +thick, I began to hear all about me sounds of a character utterly unlike +any natural sound I was acquainted with--innumerable low clear voices +tinkling or pealing like minute sweet-toned, resonant bells--for the +sounds were purely metallic and perfectly bell-like. I was completely +ringed round with the mysterious music, and as I walked it rose and sank +rhythmically, keeping time to my steps. I stood still, and immediately +the sounds ceased. I took a step forwards, and again the fairy-bells +were set ringing, as if at each step my foot touched a central meeting +point of a thousand radiating threads, each thread attached to a peal of +little bells hanging concealed among the herbage. I waited for my +companions, and called their attention to the phenomenon, and to them +also it was a thing strange and perplexing. "It is the bell-snake!" +cried one excitedly. This is the rattle-snake; but although at that time +I had no experience of this reptile, I knew that he was wrong. Yet how +natural the mistake! The Spanish name of "bell-snake" had made him +imagine that the whirring sound of the vibrating rattles, resembling +muffled cicada music, is really bell-like in character. Eventually we +discovered that the sound was made by grasshoppers; but they were seen +only to be lost, for I could not capture one, so excessively shy and +cunning had the perpetual ringing of their own little tocsins made them. +And presently I had to return to my muttons; and afterwards there was no +opportunity of revisiting the spot to observe so singular a habit again +and collect specimens. It was a very slender grasshopper, about an inch +and a half long, of a uniform, tawny, protective colour--the colour of +an old dead leaf. It also possessed a protective habit common to most +grasshoppers, of embracing a slender vertical stem with its four fine +front legs, and moving cunningly round so as to keep the stem always in +front of it to screen itself from sight. Only other grasshoppers are +silent when alarmed, and the silence and masking action are related, and +together prevent the insect from being detected. But this particular +species, or race, or colony, living on the sides of the isolated sierra, +had acquired a contrary habit, resembling a habit of gregarious birds +and mammals. For this informing sound (unless it mimicked some +_warning-sound,_ as of a rattlesnake, which it didn't) could not +possibly be beneficial to individuals living alone, as grasshoppers +generally do, but, on the contrary, only detrimental; and such a habit +was therefore purely for the public good, and could only have arisen in +a species that always lived in communities. + +On another occasion, in the middle of the hot season, I was travelling +alone across-country in a locality which was new to me, a few leagues +east of La Plata River, in its widest part. About eleven o'clock in the +morning I came to a low-lying level plain where the close-cropped grass +was vivid green, although elsewhere all over the country the vegetation +was scorched and dead, and dry as ashes. The ground being so favourable, +I crossed this low plain at a swinging gallop, and in about thirty +minutes' time. In that half-hour I saw a vast number of snakes, all of +one kind, and a species new to me; but my anxiety to reach my +destination before the oppressive heat of the afternoon made me hurry +on. So numerous were the snakes in that green place that frequently I +had as many as a dozen in sight at one time. It looked to me like a +coronelia--harmless colubrine snakes--but was more than twice as large +as either of the two species of that genus I was already familiar with. +In size they varied greatly, ranging from two to fully five feet in +length, and the colour was dull yellow or tan, slightly lined and +mottled with shades of brown. Among dead or partially withered grass and +herbage they would have been undistinguishable at even a very short +distance, but on the vivid green turf they were strangely conspicuous, +some being plainly visible forty or fifty yards away; and not one was +seen coiled up. They were all lying motionless, stretched out full +length, and looking like dark yellow or tan-coloured ribbons, thrown on +to the grass. It was most unusual to see so many snakes together, +although not surprising in the circumstances. The December heats had +dried up all the watercourses and killed the vegetation, and made the +earth hard and harsh as burnt bricks; and at such times snakes, +especially the more active non-venomous kinds, will travel long +distances, in their slow way, in search of water. Those I saw during my +ride had probably been attracted by the moisture from a large area of +country; and although there was no water, the soft fresh grass must have +been grateful to them. Snakes are seen coiled up when they are at home; +when travelling and far afield, they lie as a rule extended full length, +even when resting--and they are generally resting. Pausing at length, +before quitting this green plain, to give my horse a minute's rest, I +got off and approached a large snake; but when I was quite twelve yards +from it, it lifted its head, and, turning deliberately round, came +rather swiftly at me. I retreated, and it followed, until, springing on +to my horse, I left it, greatly surprised at its action, and beginning +to think that it must be venomous. As I rode on the feeling of surprise +increased, conquering haste; and in the end, seeing more snakes, I +dismounted and approached the largest, when exactly the same thing +occurred again, the snake rousing itself and coming angrily at me when I +was still (considering the dull lethargic character of the deadliest +kinds) at an absurd distance from it. Again and again I repeated the +experiment, with the same result. And at length I stunned one with a +blow of my whip to examine its mouth, but found no poison-fangs in it. + +I then resumed my journey, expecting to meet with more snakes of the +same kind at my destination; but there were none, and very soon business +called me to a distant place, and I never met with this species +afterwards. But when I rode away from that green spot, and was once more +on the higher, desolate, wind-swept plain surrounding it--a rustling sea +of giant thistles, still erect, although dead, and red as rust, and +filling the hot blue sky with silvery down--it was with a very strange +feeling. The change from the green and living to the dead and dry and +dusty was so great! There seemed to be something mysterious, +extra-natural, in that low level plain, so green and fresh and snaky, +where my horse's hoofs had made no sound--a place where no man dwelt, +and no cattle pastured, and no wild bird folded its wing. And the +serpents there were not like others--the mechanical coiled-up thing we +know, a mere bone-and-muscle man-trap, set by the elements, to spring +and strike when trodden on: but these had a high intelligence, a lofty +spirit, and were filled with a noble rage and astonishment that any +other kind of creature, even a man, should venture there to disturb +their sacred peace. It was a fancy, born of that sense of mystery which +the unknown and the unusual in nature wakes in us--an obsolescent +feeling that still links us to the savage. But the simple fact was +wonderful enough, and that has been set down simply and apart from all +fancies. If the reader happens not to be a naturalist, it is right to +tell him that a naturalist cannot exaggerate consciously; and if he be +capable of unconscious exaggeration, then ho is no naturalist. He +should hasten "to join the innumerable caravan that moves" to the +fantastic realms of romance. Looking at the simple fact scientifically, +it was a case of mimicry--the harmless snake mimicking the fierce +threatening gestures and actions proper to some deadly kind. Only with +this difference: the venomous snake, of all deadly things in nature, is +the slowest to resentment, the most reluctant to enter into a quarrel; +whereas in this species angry demonstrations were made when the intruder +was yet far off, and before he had shown any hostile intentions. + +My last case--the last, that is, of the few I have selected--relates to +a singular variation in the human species. On this occasion I was again +travelling alone in a strange district on the southern frontier of +Buenos Ayres. On a bitterly cold midwinter day, shortly before noon, I +arrived, stiff and tired, at one of those pilgrims' rests on the pampas +--a wayside _pulperia,_ or public house, where the traveller can procure +anything he may require or desire, from a tumbler of Brazilian rum to +make glad his heart, to a poncho, or cloak of blue cloth with fluffy +scarlet lining, to keep him warm o' nights; and, to speed him on his +way, a pair of cast-iron spurs weighing six pounds avoirdupois, with +rowels eight inches in diameter, manufactured in this island for the use +of barbarous men beyond the sea. The wretched mud-and-grass building was +surrounded by a foss crossed by a plank drawbridge; outside of the +enclosure twelve or fourteen saddled horses were standing, and from the +loud noise of talk and laughter in the bar I conjectured that a goodly +company of rough frontiersmen were already making merry at that early +hour. It was necessary for me to go in among them to see the proprietor +of the place and ask permission to visit his kitchen in order to make +myself a "tin of coffee," that being the refreshment I felt inclined +for. When I went in and made my salutation, one man wheeled round square +before me, stared straight into my oyes, and in an exceedingly +high-pitched reedy or screechy voice and a sing-song tone returned my +"good morning," and bade me call for the liquid I loved best at his +expense. I declined with thanks, and in accordance with gaucho etiquette +added that I was prepared to pay for his liquor. It was then for him to +say that he had already been served and so let the matter drop, but he +did not do so: he screamed out in his wild animal voice that he would +take gin. I paid for his drink, and would, I think, have felt greatly +surprised at his strange insolent behaviour, so unlike that of the +usually courteous gaucho, but this thing affected me not at all, so +profoundly had his singular appearance and voice impressed me; and for +the rest of the time I remained in the place I continued to watch him +narrowly. Professor Huxley has somewhere said, "A variation frequently +occurs, but those who notice it take no care about noting down the +particulars." That is not a failing of mine, and this is what I noted +down while the man's appearance was still fresh in memory. He was about +five feet eleven inches in height--very tall for a gaucho--straight and +athletic, with exceedingly broad shoulders, which made his round head +look small; long arms and huge hands. The round flat face, coarse black +hair, swarthy reddish colour, and smooth hairless cheeks seemed to show +that he had more Indian than Spanish blood in him, while his round black +eyes were even more like those of a rapacious animal in expression than +in the pure-blooded Indian. He also had the Indian or half-breed's +moustache, when that natural ornament is permitted to grow, and which is +composed of thick bristles standing out like a cat's whiskers. The mouth +was the marvellous feature, for it was twice the size of an average +mouth, and the two lips were alike in thickness. This mouth did not +smile, but snarled, both when he spoke and when he should have smiled; +and when he snarled the wliolo of his teeth and a part of the gums were +displayed. The teeth were not as in other human beings--incisors, +canines, and molars: they were all exactly alike, above and below, each +tooth a gleaming white triangle, broad at the gum where it touched its +companion teeth, and with a point sharp as the sharpest-pointed dagger. +They were like the teeth of a shark or crocodile. I noticed that when he +showed them, which was very often, they were not set together as in +dogs, weasels, and other savage snarling animals, but apart, showing the +whole terrible serration in the huge red mouth. + +After getting his gin he joined in the boisterous conversation with the +others, and this gave me an opportunity of studying his face for several +minutes, all the time with a curious feeling that I had put myself into +a cage with a savage animal of horrible aspect, whose instincts were +utterly unknown to me, and were probably not very pleasant. It was +interesting to note that whenever one of the others addressed him +directly, or turned to him when speaking, it was with a curious +expression, not of fear, but partly amusement and partly something else +which I could not fathom. Now, one might think that this was natural +enough purely on account of the man's extraordinary appearance. I do not +think that a sufficient explanation; for however strange a man's +appearance may be, his intimate friends and associates soon lose all +sense of wonder at his strangeness, and even forget that he is unlike +others. My belief is that this curiosity, or whatever it was they showed +in their faces, was due to something in his character--a mental +strangeness, showing itself at unexpected times, and which might flash, +out at any moment to amuse or astonish them. There was certainly a +correspondence between the snarling action of the mouth and the +dangerous form of the teeth, perfect as that in any snarling animal; and +such animals, it should be remembered, snarl not only when angry and +threatening, but in their playful moods as well. Other and more +important correspondences or correlations might have existed; and the +voice was certainly unlike any human voice I have ever heard, whether in +white, red, or black man. But the time I had for observation was short, +the conversation revealed nothing further, and by-and-by I went away in +search of the odorous kitchen, where there would be hot water for +coffee, or at all events cold water and a kettle, and materials for +making a fire--to wit, bones of dead cattle, "buffalo chips," and rancid +fat. + +I have never been worried with the wish, or ambition to be a head-hunter +in the Dyak sense, but on this one occasion I did wish that it had been +possible, without violating any law, or doing anything to a +fellow-creature which I should not like done to myself, to have obtained +possession of this man's head, with its set of unique and terrible +teeth. For how, in the name of Evolution, did he come by them, and by +other physical peculiarities--the snarling habit and that high-pitched +animal voice, for instance--which made him a being different from +others--one separate and far apart? Was he, so admirably formed, so +complete and well-balanced, merely a freak of nature, to use an +old-fashioned phrase--a sport, or spontaneous individual variation--an +experiment for a new human type, imagined by Nature in some past period, +inconceivably long ago, but which she had only now, too late, found time +to carry out? Or rather was he like that little hairy maiden exhibited +not long ago in London, a reproduction of the past, the mystery called +reversion--a something in the life of a species like memory in the life +of an individual, the memory which suddenly brings back to the old man's +mind the image of his childhood? For no dream-monster in human form ever +appeared to me with so strange and terrible a face; and this was no +dream but sober fact, for I saw and spoke with this man; and unless cold +steel has given him his quietus, or his own horse has crushed him, or a +mad bull sored him--all natural forms of death in that wild land--he is +probably still living and in the prime of life, and perhaps at this very +moment drinking gin at some astonished traveller's expense at that very +bar where I met him. The old Palaeolithic man, judging from the few +remains we have of him, must have had an unspeakably savage and, to our +way of thinking, repulsive and horrible aspect, with his villainous low +receding forehead, broad nose, great projecting upper jaw, and +retreating chin; to meet such a man face to face in Piccadilly would +frighten a nervous person of the present time. But his teeth were not +unlike our own, only very much larger and more powerful, and well +adapted to their work of masticating the flesh, underdone and possibly +raw, of mammoth and rhinoceros. If, then, this living man recalls a type +of the past, it is of a remoter past, a more primitive man, the volume +of whose history is missing from the geological record. To speculate on +such a subject seems idle and useless; and when I coveted possession of +that head it was not because I thought that it might lead to any fresh +discovery. A lower motive inspired the feeling. I wished for it only +that I might bring it over the sea, to drop it like a new apple of +discord, suited to the spirit of the times, among the anthropologists +and evolutionists generally of this old and learned world. Inscribed, of +course, "To the most learned," but giving no locality and no +particulars. I wished to do that for the pleasure--not a very noble kind +of pleasure, I allow--of witnessing from some safe hiding-place the +stupendous strife that would have ensued--a battle more furious, lasting +and fatal to many a brave knight of biology, than was ever yet fought +over any bone or bony fragment or fabric ever picked up, including the +celebrated cranium of the Neanderthal. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +THE PUMA, OR LION OF AMERICA. + + +The following passage occurs in an article on "The Naturalist in La +Plata," by the late Professor Piomanes, which appeared in the +_Nineteenth Century,_ May, 1893. After quoting the account of the puma's +habits and character given in the book, the writer says:--"I have +received corroboration touching all these points from a gentleman who, +when walking alone and unarmed on the skirts of a forest, was greatly +alarmed by a large puma coming out to meet him. Deeming it best not to +stand, he advanced to meet the animal, which thereupon began to gambol +around his feet and rub against his legs, after the manner of an +affectionate cat. At first he thought these movements must have been +preliminary to some peculiar mode of attack, and therefore he did not +respond, but walked quietly on, until the puma suddenly desisted and +re-entered the forest. This gentleman says that, until the publication +of Mr. Hudson's book, he had always remained under the impression that +that particular puma must have been insane." + +MUSIC AND DANCING IN NATURE. + +I have found among my papers the following mislaid note on the subject +of sportive displays of mammalians, which should have been used on page +281, where the subject is briefly treated:--Most mammalians are +comparatively silent and live on the ground, and not having the power to +escape easily, which birds have, and being more persecuted by man, they +do not often disport themselves unrestrainedly in his presence; it is +difficult to watch any wild animal without the watcher's presence being +known or suspected. Nevertheless, their displays are not so rare as we +might imagine. I have more than once detected species, with which I was, +or imagined myself to be, well acquainted, disporting themselves in a +manner that took me completely by surprise. While out tinamou shooting +one day in autumn, near my own home in La Plata, I spied a troop of +about a dozen weasels racing madly about over a vizcacha village--the +mound and group of pit-like burrows inhabited by a community of +vizcachas. These weasels were of the large common species, Galictis +barbara, about the size of a cat; and were engaged in a pastime +resembling a complicated dance, and so absorbed were they on that +occasion that they took no notice of me when I walked up to within nine +or ten yards of them, and stood still to watch the performance. They +were all swiftly racing about and leaping over the pits, always doubling +quickly back when the limit of the mound was reached, and although +apparently carried away with excitement, and crossing each other's +tracks at all angles, and this so rapidly and with so many changes of +direction that I became confused when trying to keep any one animal in +view, they never collided nor even came near enough to touch one +another. The whole performance resembled, on a greatly magnified scale +and without its beautiful smoothness and lightning swiftness, the +fantastic dance of small black water-beetles, frequently seen on the +surface of a pool or stream, during which the insects glide about in a +limited area with such celerity as to appear like black curving lines +traced by flying invisible pens; and as the lines everywhere cross and +intersect, they form an intricate pattern on the surface, After watching +the weasel dance for some minutes, I stepped up to the mound, whereupon +the animals became alarmed and rushed pell-mell into the burrows, but +only to reappear in a few seconds, thrusting up their long ebony-black +necks and flat grey-capped heads, snarling chattering at me, glaring +with fierce, beady eyes. + + + + +THE STRANGE INSTINCTS OF CATTLE. + + +In November and December, 1893, a short correspondence appeared in the +_Field_ on the curious subject of "Dogs burying their dead." It arose +through a letter from a Mr. Gould, of Albany, Western Australia, +relating the following incident:-- + +A settler shot a bitch from a neighbouring estate that had formed the +habit of coming on to his land to visit and play with his dog. The dog, +finding his companion dead, was observed to dig a large hole in the +ground, into which he dragged the carcase; but he did not cover it with +earth. The writer wished to know if any reader of the _Field_ had met +with a similar case. Some notes, which I contributed in reply to this +letter, bear on one of the subjects treated in the chapter on "strange +instincts," namely, the instinct of social animals to protect and shield +their fellows; and for this reason I have thought it best to reproduce +them in this place. + +I remember on one occasion watching at intervals, for an entire day, a +large and very savage dog keeping watch over the body of a dead bitch +that had been shot. He made no attempt to bury the dead animal, but he +never left it. He was observed more than once trying to drag the body +away, doubtless with the intention of hiding it; not succeeding in these +attempts, he settled down by its side again, although it was evident +that he was suffering greatly from thirst and heat. It was at last only +with the greatest trouble that the people of the house succeeded in +getting the body away and burying it out of his sight. + +Another instance, more to the point, occurred at my own house on the +pampas, and I was one of several persons who witnessed it. A small, red, +long-haired bitch--a variety of the common native cur--gave birth to +four or five pups. A peon was told to destroy them, and, waiting until +the bitch was out of sight, he carried them off to the end of the +orchard, some 400 or 500 yards from the house, and threw them into a +pool of water which was only two to three feet deep. The bitch passed +the rest of the day in rushing frantically about, searching for her +young, and in the evening, a little after dark, actually succeeded in +finding them, although they were lying at the bottom of the pool. She +got them all out, and carried them, one by one, to another part of the +grounds, where she passed the night with them, uttering at intervals the +most piercing cries. In the morning she carried them to still another +spot, where there was a soft mould, and then dug a hole large and deep +enough to bury them all, covering them over with the loose earth. Her +task done, she returned to the house to sleep all day, but when night +came again the whole piteous performance was repeated: the pups were dug +up, and she passed the long, piercingly cold night--for it was in the +depth of winter--trying to keep them warm, and uttering, as before, +distressing cries. Yet a third time the whole thing was repeated; but +after the third night, when the dog came home to sleep, the dead pups +were taken out of the ground and buried at a distance. + +Such an action as this strikes one with astonishment only because we +have the custom of burying our dead, and are too ready at all times to +regard the dog as human-like. But the explanation of the action in this +case is to be found in the familiar fact that very many animals, +including the dog, have the habit or instinct of burying or concealing +the thing they wish to leave in safety. Thus, the dog buries the bone it +does not want to eat, and when hungry digs it up again. When a dog +buries or hides the dead body of the she dog it was attached to, or the +she dog buries her dead young, it is with the same motive--namely, to +conceal the animal that cannot be roused, and that it would not be safe +to leave exposed, + +It is plain to all who observe their actions that the lower animals have +no comprehension of death. In the case of two animals that are +accustomed to play or to be much together, if one dies, or is killed, +and its body left, the other will come to sniff at, touch, and at last +try to rouse it; but finding all attempts vain, it will at length go +away to seek companionship elsewhere. In cases where the attachment is +much stronger, the dead body may he watched over for an indefinite +period. A brother of mine once related to me a very pathetic incident +which occurred at an estancia on the pampas where he was staying. A +large portion of the land was a low, level, marshy plain, partly +overgrown with reeds and rushes; and one day, in this wilderness, a +little boy of eight or nine, from the estancia, lost himself. A small +dog, his invariable attendant, had gone out with him, but did not +return. Seven days later the poor boy was found, at a great distance +from the house, lying on the grass, where he had died of exhaustion. The +dog was lying coiled up at his side, and appeared to be sleeping; but, +when spoken to, he did not stir, and was presently found to be dead too. +The dog could have gone back at any moment to the estancia, but his +instinct of attachment overcame all others; he kept guard over his +little master, who slept so soundly and so long, until he, too, slept in +the same way. + +A still more remarkable case of this kind was given in one of my books, +of a gaucho, accompanied by his dog, who was chased and overtaken by a +troop of soldiers during one of the civil wars in Uruguay. Suspecting +him of being a spy, or, at all events, an enemy, his captors cut his +throat, then rode away, calling to the dog to follow them; but the +animal refused to leave his dead master's side. Returning to the spot a +few days later, they saw the body of the man they had killed surrounded +by a large number of vultures, which the dog, in a frenzy of excitement, +was occupied in keeping at a respectable distance. It was observed that +the dog, after making one of his sallies, driving the birds away with +furious barkings, would set out at a run to a small stream not far from +the spot; but when half way to it he would look back, and, seeing the +vultures advancing once more to the corpse, would rush back to protect +it. The soldiers watched him for some time with great interest, and once +more they tried in vain to get him to follow them. Two days afterwards +they revisited the spot, to find the dog lying dead by the side of his +dead master. I had this story from the lips of one of the witnesses. + +In all such cases, whether the dog watches over, conceals, or buries a +dead body, he is doubtless moved by the same instinct which leads him to +safeguard the animal he is attached to--another dog or his human master. +But, as the dead animal is past help, it is, of course, a blunder of the +instinct; and the blunder must be of very much less frequent occurrence +among wild than among domestic animals. In a state of nature, when a +gregarious animal dies, he dies, as a rule, alone; his body is not seen +by his former companions, and he is not missed. When he dies by +violence--which is the common fate--the body is carried off or devoured +by the killer. This being the usual order, there is no instinct, except +in a very few species, relating to the disposal of the dead among +mammals and other vertebrates, such as is found in ants and other social +insects. There are a few mammalians that live together in small +communities, in a habitation made to last for many generations, in which +such an instinct would appear necessary, and it accordingly exists, but +is very imperfect. This is the case with the vizcacha, the large rodent +of the pampas, which lives with its fellows, to the number of twenty or +thirty, in a cluster of huge burrows. When a vizcacha dies in a burrow, +the body is dragged out and thrown on to the mound among the mass of +rubbish collected on it--but not until he has been dead a long time, and +there is nothing left of him but the dry bones held together by the +skin. In that condition the other members of the community probably +cease to look on him as one of their companions who has fallen into a +long sleep; he is no more than so much rubbish, which must be cleared +out of an old disused burrow. Probably the beaver possesses some rude +instinct similar to that of the vizcacha. + +_Apropos_ of animals burying their treasures (or connections) for +safety, it is worth mentioning that the skunk of the pampas occasionally +buries her young in the kennel, when hunger compels her to go out +foraging. I had often heard of this habit of the female skunk from the +gauchos, and one day had the rare good fortune to witness an animal +engaged in obliterating her own kennel. The senses of the skunk are so +defective that one is able at times to approach very near to without +alarming them. In this instance I sat on my horse at a distance of +twenty yards, and watched the animal at work, drawing in the loose earth +with her fore feet until the entrance to the kennel was filled up to +within three inches of the surface; then, dropping into the shallow +cavity, she pressed the loose mould down with her nose. Her task +finished, she trotted away, and the hollow in the soil, when I examined +it closely, looked only like the mouth of an ancient choked-up burrow. +The young inhabit a circular chamber, lined with fine dry grass, at the +end of a narrow passage from 3 ft. to 5 ft. long, and no doubt have air +enough to serve them until their parent returns; but I believe the skunk +only buries her young when they are very small. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Naturalist in La Plata, by W. H. Hudson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA *** + +This file should be named 7plat10.txt or 7plat10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7plat11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7plat10a.txt + +Produced by Eric Eldred + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Naturalist in La Plata + +Author: W. H. Hudson + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7446] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 1, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA *** + + + + +Produced by Eric Eldred + + + + + + +THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA + +BY + +W. H. HUDSON, C.M.Z.S. + + +JOINT AUTHOR OF "ARGENTINE ORNITHOLOGY" + + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. SMIT + +THIRD EDITION. + +NEW YORK +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY +1895 + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The plan I have followed in this work has been to sift and arrange the +facts I have gathered concerning the habits of the animals best known to +me, preserving those only, which, in my judgment, appeared worth +recording. In some instances a variety of subjects have linked +themselves together in my mind, and have been grouped under one heading; +consequently the scope of the book is not indicated by the list of +contents: this want is, however, made good by an index at the end. + +It is seldom an easy matter to give a suitable name to a book of this +description. I am conscious that the one I have made choice of displays +a lack of originality; also, that this kind of title has been used +hitherto for works constructed more or less on the plan of the famous +_Naturalist on the Amazons._ After I have made this apology the reader, +on his part, will readily admit that, in treating of the Natural History +of a district so well known, and often described as the southern portion +of La Plata, which has a temperate climate, and where nature is neither +exuberant nor grand, a personal narrative would have seemed superfluous. + +The greater portion of the matter contained in this volume has already +seen the light in the form of papers contributed to the _Field,_ with +other journals that treat of Natural History; and to the monthly +magazines:--_Longmans', The Nineteenth Century, The Gentleman's +Magazine,_ and others: I am indebted to the Editors and Proprietors of +these periodicals for kindly allowing me to make use of this material. + +Of all animals, birds have perhaps afforded me most pleasure; but most +of the fresh knowledge I have collected in this department is contained +in a larger work _(Argentine Ornithology),_ of which Dr. P. L. Sclater +is part author. As I have not gone over any of the subjects dealt with +in that work, bird-life has not received more than a fair share of +attention in the present volume. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. THE DESERT PAMPAS + +CHAPTER II. CUB PUMA, OR LION OF AMERICA + +CHAPTER III. WAVE OF LIFE + +CHAPTER IV. SOME CURIOUS ANIMAL WEAPONS + +CHAPTER V. FEAR IN BIRDS + +CHAPTER VI. PARENTAL AND EARLY INSTINCTS + +CHAPTER VII. THE MEPHITIC SKUNK + +CHAPTER VIII. MIMICRY AND WARNING COLOURS IN GRASSHOPPERS + +CHAPTER IX. DRAGON-FLY STORMS + +CHAPTER X. MOSQUITOES AND PARASITE PROBLEMS + +CHAPTER XI. HUMBLE-BEES AND OTHER MATTERS + +CHAPTER XII. A NOBLE WASP + +CHAPTER XIII. NATURE'S NIGHT-LIGHTS + +CHAPTER XIV. FACTS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT SPIDERS + +CHAPTER XV. THE DEATH-FEIGNING INSTINCT + +CHAPTER XVI. HUMMING-BIRDS + +CHAPTER XVII. THE CRESTED SCREAMER + +CHAPTER XVIII. THE WOODHEWER FAMILY + +CHAPTER XIX. MUSIC AND DANCING IN NATURE + +CHAPTER XX. BIOGRAPHY OF THE VIZCACHA + +CHAPTER XXI. THE DYING HUANACO + +CHAPTER XXII. THE STRANGE INSTINCTS OF CATTLE + +CHAPTER XXIII. HORSE AND MAN + +CHAPTER XXIV. SEEN AND LOST + +APPENDIX + +INDEX + + + + +THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA, + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DESERT PAMPAS. + + +During recent years we have heard much about the great and rapid changes +now going on in the plants and animals of all the temperate regions of +the globe colonized by Europeans. These changes, if taken merely as +evidence of material progress, must be a matter of rejoicing to those +who are satisfied, and more than satisfied, with our system of +civilization, or method of outwitting Nature by the removal of all +checks on the undue increase of our own species. To one who finds a +charm in things as they exist in the unconquered provinces of Nature's +dominions, and who, not being over-anxious to reach the end of his +journey, is content to perform it on horseback, or in a waggon drawn by +bullocks, it is permissible to lament the altered aspect of the earth's +surface, together with the disappearance of numberless noble and +beautiful forms, both of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. For he +cannot find it in his heart to love the forms by which they are +replaced; these are cultivated and domesticated, and have only become +useful to man at the cost of that grace and spirit which freedom and +wildness give. In numbers they are many--twenty-five millions of sheep +in this district, fifty millions in that, a hundred millions in a +third--but how few are the species in place of those destroyed? and when +the owner of many sheep and much wheat desires variety--for he possesses +this instinctive desire, albeit in conflict with and overborne by the +perverted instinct of destruction--what is there left to him, beyond his +very own, except the weeds that spring up in his fields under all skies, +ringing him round with old-world monotonous forms, as tenacious of their +undesired union with him as the rats and cockroaches that inhabit his +house? + +We hear most frequently of North America, New Zealand, and Australia in +this connection; but nowhere on the globe has civilization "written +strange defeatures" more markedly than on that great area of level +country called by English writers _the pampas_, but by the Spanish more +appropriately _La Pampa_--from the Quichua word signifying open space or +country--since it forms in most part one continuous plain, extending on +its eastern border from the river Parana, in latitude 32 degrees, to the +Patagonian formation on the river Colorado, and comprising about two +hundred thousand square miles of humid, grassy country. + +This district has been colonized by Europeans since the middle of the +sixteenth century; but down to within a very few years ago immigration +was on too limited a scale to make any very great change; and, speaking +only of the pampean country, the conquered territory was a long, +thinly-settled strip, purely pastoral, and the Indians, with their +primitive mode of warfare, were able to keep back the invaders from the +greater portion of their ancestral hunting-grounds. Not twenty years +ago a ride of two hundred miles, starting from the capital city, +Buenos Ayres, was enough to place one well beyond the furthest +south-western frontier outpost. In 1879 the Argentine Government +determined to rid the country of the aborigines, or, at all events, to +break their hostile and predatory spirit once for all; with the result +that the entire area of the grassy pampas, with a great portion of +the sterile pampas and Patagonia, has been made available to the +emigrant. There is no longer anything to deter the starvelings +of the Old World from possessing themselves of this new land of +promise, flowing, like Australia, with milk and tallow, if not with +honey; any emasculated migrant from a Genoese or Neapolitan +slum is now competent to "fight the wilderness" out there, with his +eight-shilling fowling-piece and the implements of his trade. The +barbarians no longer exist to frighten his soul with dreadful war cries; +they have moved away to another more remote and shadowy region, called +in their own language _Alhuemapu_, and not known to geographers. For +the results so long and ardently wished for have swiftly followed on +General Roca's military expedition; and the changes witnessed during the +last decade on the pampas exceed in magnitude those which had been +previously effected by three centuries of occupation. + +In view of this wave of change now rapidly sweeping away the old +order, with whatever beauty and grace it possessed, it might not seem +inopportune at the present moment to give a rapid sketch, from the field +naturalist's point of view, of the great plain, as it existed before the +agencies introduced by European colonists had done their work, and as it +still exists in its remoter parts. + +The humid, grassy, pampean country extends, roughly speaking, half-way +from the Atlantic Ocean and the Plata and Paraná rivers to the Andes, +and passes gradually into the "Monte Formation," or _sterile pampa_--a +sandy, more or less barren district, producing a dry, harsh, ligneous +vegetation, principally thorny bushes and low trees, of which the chañar +(Gurliaca decorticans) is the most common; hence the name of +"Chañar-steppe" used by some writers: and this formation extends +southwards down into Patagonia. Scientists have not yet been able to +explain why the pampas, with a humid climate, and a soil exceedingly +rich, have produced nothing but grass, while the dry, sterile +territories on their north, west, and south borders have an arborescent +vegetation. Darwin's conjecture that the extreme violence of the +_pampero,_ or south-west wind, prevented trees from growing, is now +proved to have been ill-founded since the introduction of the Eucalyptus +globulus; for this noble tree attains to an extraordinary height on the +pampas, and exhibits there a luxuriance of foliage never seen in +Australia. + +To this level area--my "parish of Selborne," or, at all events, a goodly +portion of it--with the sea on one hand, and on the other the +practically infinite expanse of grassy desert--another sea, not "in vast +fluctuations fixed," but in comparative calm--I should like to conduct +the reader in imagination: a country all the easier to be imagined on +account of the absence of mountains, woods, lakes, and rivers. There is, +indeed, little to be imagined--not even a sense of vastness; and Darwin, +touching on this point, in the _Journal of a Naturalist,_ aptly +says:--"At sea, a person's eye being six feet above the surface of the +water, his horizon is two miles and four-fifths distant. In like manner, +the more level the plain, the more nearly does the horizon approach +within these narrow limits; and this, in my opinion, entirely destroys +the grandeur which one would have imagined that a vast plain would have +possessed." + +I remember my first experience of a hill, after having been always shut +within "these narrow limits." It was one of the range of sierras near +Cape Corrientes, and not above eight hundred feet high; yet, when I had +gained the summit, I was amazed at the vastness of the earth, as it +appeared to me from that modest elevation. Persons born and bred on the +pampas, when they first visit a mountainous district, frequently +experience a sensation as of "a ball in the throat" which seems to +prevent free respiration. + +In most places the rich, dry soil is occupied by a coarse grass, three +or four feet high, growing in large tussocks, and all the year round of +a deep green; a few slender herbs and trefoils, with long, twining +stems, maintain a frail existence among the tussocks; but the strong +grass crowds out most plants, and scarcely a flower relieves its uniform +everlasting verdure. There are patches, sometimes large areas, where it +does not grow, and these are carpeted by small creeping herbs of a +livelier green, and are gay in spring with flowers, chiefly of the +composite and papilionaceous kinds; and verbenas, scarlet, purple, rose, +and white. On moist or marshy grounds there are also several lilies, +yellow, white, and red, two or three flags, and various other small +flowers; but altogether the flora of the pampas is the poorest in +species of any fertile district on the globe. On moist clayey ground +flourishes the stately pampa grass, Gynerium argenteum, the spears of +which often attain a height of eight or nine feet. I have ridden through +many leagues of this grass with the feathery spikes high as my head, and +often higher. It would be impossible for me to give anything like an +adequate idea of the exquisite loveliness, at certain times and seasons, +of this queen of grasses, the chief glory of the solitary pampa. +Everyone is familiar with it in cultivation; but the garden-plant has a +sadly decaying, draggled look at all times, and to my mind, is often +positively ugly with its dense withering mass of coarse leaves, drooping +on the ground, and bundle of spikes, always of the same dead white or +dirty cream-colour. Now colour--the various ethereal tints that give a +blush to its cloud-like purity--is one of the chief beauties of this +grass on its native soil; and travellers who have galloped across the +pampas at a season of the year when the spikes are dead, and white as +paper or parchment, have certainly missed its greatest charm. The plant +is social, and in some places where scarcely any other kind exists it +covers large areas with a sea of fleecy-white plumes; in late summer, +and in autumn, the tints are seen, varying from the most delicate rose, +tender and illusive as the blush on the white under-plumage of some +gulls, to purple and violaceous. At no time does it look so perfect as +in the evening, before and after sunset, when the softened light imparts +a mistiness to the crowding plumes, and the traveller cannot help +fancying that the tints, which then seem richest, are caught from the +level rays of the sun, or reflected from the coloured vapours of the +afterglow. + +The last occasion on which I saw the pampa grass in its full beauty was +at the close of a bright day in March, ending in one of those perfect +sunsets seen only in the wilderness, where no lines of house or hedge +mar the enchanting disorder of nature, and the earth and sky tints are +in harmony. I had been travelling all day with one companion, and for +two hours we had ridden through the matchless grass, which spread away +for miles on every side, the myriads of white spears, touched with +varied colour, blending in the distance and appearing almost like the +surface of a cloud. Hearing a swishing sound behind us, we turned +sharply round, and saw, not forty yards away in our rear, a party of +five mounted Indians, coming swiftly towards us: but at the very moment +we saw them their animals came to a dead halt, and at the same instant +the five riders leaped up, and stood erect on their horses' backs. +Satisfied that they had no intention of attacking us, and were only +looking out for strayed horses, we continued watching them for some +time, as they stood gazing away over the plain in different directions, +motionless and silent, like bronze men on strange horse-shaped pedestals +of dark stone; so dark in their copper skins and long black hair, +against the far-off ethereal sky, flushed with amber light; and at their +feet, and all around, the cloud of white and faintly-blushing plumes. +That farewell scene was printed very vividly on my memory, but cannot be +shown to another, nor could it be even if a Ruskin's pen or a Turner's +pencil were mine; for the flight of the sea-mew is not more impossible +to us than the power to picture forth the image of Nature in our souls, +when she reveals herself in one of those "special moments" which have +"special grace" in situations where her wild beauty has never been +spoiled by man. + +At other hours and seasons the general aspect of the plain is +monotonous, and in spite of the unobstructed view, and the unfailing +verdure and sunshine, somewhat melancholy, although never sombre: and +doubtless the depressed and melancholy feeling the pampa inspires in +those who are unfamiliar with it is due in a great measure to the +paucity of life, and to the profound silence. The wind, as may well be +imagined on that extensive level area, is seldom at rest; there, as in +the forest, it is a "bard of many breathings," and the strings it +breathes upon give out an endless variety of sorrowful sounds, from the +sharp fitful sibilations of the dry wiry grasses on the barren places, +to the long mysterious moans that swell and die in the tall polished +rushes of the marsh. It is also curious to note that with a few +exceptions the resident birds are comparatively very silent, even those +belonging to groups which elsewhere are highly loquacious. The reason of +this is not far to seek. In woods and thickets, where birds abound +most, they are continually losing sight of each other, and are only +prevented from scattering by calling often; while the muffling effect on +sound of the close foliage, to' which may be added a spirit of emulation +where many voices are heard, incites most species, especially those that +are social, to exert their voices to the utmost pitch in singing, +calling, and screaming. On the open pampas, birds, which are not +compelled to live concealed on the surface, can see each other at long +distances, and perpetual calling is not needful: moreover, in that still +atmosphere sound travels far. As a rule their voices are strangely +subdued; nature's silence has infected them, and they have become silent +by habit. This is not the case with aquatic species, which are nearly +all migrants from noisier regions, and mass themselves in lagoons and +marshes, where they are all loquacious together. It is also noteworthy +that the subdued bird-voices, some of which are exceedingly sweet and +expressive, and the notes of many of the insects and batrachians have a +great resemblance, and seem to be in accord with the aeolian tones of +the wind in reeds and grasses: a stranger to the pampas, even a +naturalist accustomed to a different fauna, will often find it hard to +distinguish between bird, frog, and insect voices. + +The mammalia is poor in species, and with the single exception of the +well-known vizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus), there is not one of +which it can truly be said that it is in any special way the product of +the pampas, or, in other words, that its instincts are better suited to +the conditions of the pampas than to those of other districts. As a +fact, this large rodent inhabits a vast extent of country, north, west, +and south of the true pampas, but nowhere is he so thoroughly on his +native heath as on the great grassy plain. There, to some extent, he +even makes his own conditions, like the beaver. He lives in a small +community of twenty or thirty members, in a village of deep-chambered +burrows, all with their pit-like entrances closely grouped together; and +as the village endures for ever, or for an indefinite time, the earth +constantly being brought up forms a mound thirty or forty feet in +diameter; and this protects the habitation from floods on low or level +ground. Again, he is not swift of foot, and all rapacious beasts are his +enemies; he also loves to feed on tender succulent herbs and grasses, to +seek for which he would have to go far afield among the giant grass, +where his watchful foes are lying in wait to seize him; he saves himself +from this danger by making a clearing all round his abode, on which a +smooth turf is formed; and here the animals feed and have their evening +pastimes in comparative security: for when an enemy approaches, he is +easily seen; the note of alarm is sounded, and the whole company +scuttles away to their refuge. In districts having a different soil and +vegetation, as in Patagonia, the vizcachas' curious, unique instincts +are of no special advantage, which makes it seem probable that they have +been formed on the pampas. + +How marvellous a thing it seems that the two species of mammalians--the +beaver and the vizcacha--that most nearly simulate men's intelligent +actions in their social organizing instincts, and their habitations, +which are made to endure, should belong to an order so low down as the +Rodents! And in the case of the latter species, it adds to the marvel +when we find that the vizcacha, according to Water-house, is the lowest +of the order in its marsupial affinities. + +The vizcacha is the most common rodent on the pampas, and the Rodent +order is represented by the largest number of species. The finest is the +so-called Patagonian hare--Dolichotis patagonica--a beautiful animal +twice as large as a hare, with ears shorter and more rounded, and legs +relatively much longer. The fur is grey and chestnut brown. It is +diurnal in its habits, lives in kennels, and is usually met with in +pairs, or small flocks. It is better suited to a sterile country like +Patagonia than to the grassy humid plain; nevertheless it was found +throughout the whole of the pampas; but in a country where the wisdom of +a Sir William Harcourt was never needed to slip the leash, this king of +the Rodentia is now nearly extinct. + +A common rodent is the coypú--Myiopotamus coypú--yellowish in colour +with bright red incisors; a rat in shape, and as large as an otter. It +is aquatic, lives in holes in the banks, and where there are no banks it +makes a platform nest among the rushes. Of an evening they are all out +swimming and playing in the water, conversing together in their strange +tones, which sound like the moans and cries of wounded and suffering +men; and among them the mother-coypú is seen with her progeny, numbering +eight or nine, with as many on her back as she can accommodate, while +the others swim after her, crying for a ride. + +With reference to this animal, which, as we have seen, is prolific, a +strange thing once happened in Buenos Ayres. The coypú was much more +abundant fifty years ago than now, and its skin, which has a fine fur +under the long coarse hair, was largely exported to Europe. About that +time the Dictator Rosas issued a decree prohibiting the hunting of the +coypú. The result was that the animals increased and multiplied +exceedingly, and, abandoning their aquatic habits, they became +terrestrial and migratory, and swarmed everywhere in search of food. +Suddenly a mysterious malady fell on them, from which they quickly +perished, and became almost extinct. + +What a blessed thing it would be for poor rabbit-worried Australia if a +similar plague should visit that country, and fall on the right animal! +On the other hand, what a calamity if the infection, wide-spread, +incurable, and swift as the wind in its course, should attack the +too-numerous sheep! And who knows what mysterious, unheard-of +retributions that revengeful deity Nature may not be meditating in her +secret heart for the loss of her wild four-footed children slain by +settlers, and the spoiling of her ancient beautiful order! + +A small pampa rodent worthy of notice is the Cavia australis, called +_cui_ in the vernacular from its voice: a timid, social, mouse-coloured +little creature, with a low gurgling language, like running babbling +waters; in habits resembling its domestic pied relation the guinea pig. +It loves to run on clean ground, and on the pampas makes little +rat-roads all about its hiding-place, which little roads tell a story to +the fox, and such like; therefore the little cavy's habits, and the +habits of all cavies, I fancy, are not so well suited to the humid +grassy region as to other districts, with sterile ground to run and play +upon, and thickets in which to hide. + +A more interesting animal is the Ctenomys magellanica, a little less +than the rat in size, with a shorter tail, pale grey fur, and red +incisors. It is called _tuco-tuco_ from its voice, and _oculto_ from its +habits; for it is a dweller underground, and requires a loose, sandy +soil in which, like the mole, it may _swim_ beneath the surface. +Consequently the pampa, with its heavy, moist mould, is not the tuco's +proper place; nevertheless, wherever there is a stretch of sandy soil, +or a range of dunes, there it is found living; not seen, but heard; for +all day long and all night sounds its voice, resonant and loud, like a +succession of blows from a hammer; as if a company of gnomes were +toiling far down underfoot, beating on their anvils, first with strong +measured strokes, then with lighter and faster, and with a swing and +rhythm as if the little men were beating in time to some rude chant +unheard above the surface. How came these isolated colonies of a species +so subterranean in habits, and requiring a sandy soil to move in, so far +from their proper district--that sterile country from which they are +separated by wide, unsuitable areas? They cannot perform long overland +journeys like the rat. Perhaps the dunes have travelled, carrying their +little cattle with them. + +Greatest among the carnivores are the two cat-monarchs of South America, +the jaguar and puma. Whatever may be their relative positions elsewhere, +on the pampas the puma is mightiest, being much more abundant and better +able to thrive than its spotted rival. Versatile in its preying habits, +its presence on the pampa is not surprising; but probably only an +extreme abundance of large mammalian prey, which has not existed in +recent times, could have, tempted an animal of the river and +forest-loving habits of the jaguar to colonize this cold, treeless, and +comparatively waterless desert. There are two other important cats. The +grass-cat, not unlike Felis catus in its robust form and dark colour, +but a larger, more powerful animal, inexpressibly savage in disposition. +The second, Felis geoffroyi, is a larger and more beautiful animal, +coloured like a leopard; it is called wood-cat, and, as the name would +seem to indicate, is an intruder from wooded districts north of the +pampas. + +There are two canines: one is Azara's beautiful grey fox-like dog, +purely a fox in habits, and common everywhere. The other is far more +interesting and extremely rare; it is called _aguará,_ its nearest ally +being the _aguará-guazú,_ the Canis jubatus or maned wolf of +naturalists, found north of the pampean district. The aguará is smaller +and has no mane; it is like the dingo in size, but slimmer and with a +sharper nose, and lias a much brighter red colour. At night when camping +out I have heard its dismal screams, but the screamer was sought in +vain; while from the gauchos of the frontier I could only learn that it +is a harmless, shy, solitary animal, that ever flies to remoter wilds +from its destroyer, man. They offered me a skin--what more could I want? +Simple souls! it was no more to me than the skin of a dead dog, with +long, bright red hair. Those who love dead animals may have them in any +number by digging with a. spade in that vast sepulchre of the pampas, +where perished the hosts of antiquity. I love the living that are above +the earth; and how small a remnant they are in South America we know, +and now yearly becoming more precious as it dwindles away. + +The pestiferous skunk is universal; and there are two quaint-looking +weasels, intensely black in colour, and grey on the back and flat crown. +One, the Galictis barbara, is a large bold animal that hunts in +companies; and when these long-bodied creatures sit up erect, glaring +with beady eyes, grinning and chattering at the passer-by, they look +like little friars in black robes and grey cowls; but the expression on +their round faces is malignant and bloodthirsty beyond anything in +nature, and it would perhaps be more decent to liken them to devils +rather than to humans. + +On the pampas there is, strictly speaking, only one ruminant, the Cervus +campestris, which is common. The most curious thing about this animal is +that the male emits a rank, musky odour, so powerful that when the wind +blows from it the effluvium comes in nauseating gusts to the nostrils +from a distance exceeding two miles. It is really astonishing that only +one small ruminant should be found on this immense grassy area, so +admirably suited to herbivorous quadrupeds, a portion of which at the +present moment affords sufficient pasture to eighty millions of sheep, +cattle, and horses. In La Plata the author of _The Mammoth and the +Flood_ will find few to quarrel with his doctrine. + +Of Edentates there are four. The giant armadillo does not range so far, +and the delicate little pink fairy armadillo, the truncated +Chlamydophorus, is a dweller in the sand-dunes of Mendoza, and has never +colonized the grassy pampas. The Tatusia hybrida, called "little mule" +from the length of its ears, and the Dasypus tricinctus, which, when +disturbed, rolls itself into a ball, the wedge-shaped head and +wedge-shaped tail admirably fitting into the deep-cut shell side by +side; and the _quirquincho_ (Dasypus minutus), all inhabit the pampa, +are diurnal, and feed exclusively on insects, chiefly ants. Wherever the +country becomes settled, these three disappear, owing to the dulness of +their senses, especially that of sight, and to the diurnal habit, which +was an advantage to them, and enabled them to survive when rapacious +animals, which are mostly nocturnal, were their only enemies. The +fourth, and most important, is the hairy armadillo, with habits which +are in strange contrast to those of its perishing congeners, and which +seem to mock many hard-and-fast rules concerning animal life. It is +omnivorous, and will thrive on anything from grass to flesh, found dead +and in all stages of decay, or captured by means of its own strategy. +Furthermore, its habits change to suit its conditions: thus, where +nocturnal carnivores are its enemies, it is diurnal; but where man +appears as a chief persecutor, it becomes nocturnal. It is much hunted +for its flesh, dogs being trained for the purpose; yet it actually +becomes more abundant as population increases in any district; and, if +versatility in habits or adaptiveness can be taken as a measure of +intelligence, this poor armadillo, a survival of the past, so old on the +earth as to have existed contemporaneously with the giant glyptodon, is +the superior of the large-brained cats and canines. + +To finish with the mammalia, there are two interesting opossums, both of +the genus Didelphys, but in habits as wide apart as cat from otter. One +of these marsupials appears so much at home on the plains that I almost +regret having said that the vizcacha alone gives us the idea of being in +its habits the _product_ of the pampas. This animal--Didelphys +crassicaudata--has a long slender, wedge-, shaped head and body, +admirably adapted for pushing through the thick grass and rushes; for it +is both terrestrial and aquatic, therefore well suited to inhabit low, +level plains liable to be flooded. On dry land its habits are similar to +those of a weasel; in lagoons, where it dives and swims with great ease, +it constructs a globular nest suspended from the rushes. The fur is +soft, of a rich yellow, reddish above, and on the sides and under +surfaces varying in some parts to orange, in others exhibiting beautiful +copper and terra-cotta tints. These lovely tints and the metallic lustre +soon fade from the fur, otherwise this animal would be much sought after +in the interests of those who love to decorate themselves with the +spoils of beautiful dead animals--beast and bird. The other opossum is +the black and white Didelphys azarae; and it is indeed strange to find +this animal on the pampas, although its presence there is not so +mysterious as that of the tuco-tuco. It shuffles along slowly and +awkwardly on the ground, but is a great traveller nevertheless. Tschudi +met it mountaineering on the Andes at an enormous altitude, and, true to +its lawless nature, it confronted me in Patagonia, where the books say +no marsupial dwells. In every way it is adapted to an arboreal life, yet +it is everywhere found on the level country, far removed from the +conditions which one would imagine to be necessary to its existence. For +how many thousands of years has this marsupial been a dweller on the +plain, all its best faculties unexercised, its beautiful grasping hands +pressed to the ground, and its prehensile tail dragged like an idle rope +behind it! Yet, if one is brought to a tree, it will take to it as +readily as a duck to water, or an armadillo to earth, climbing up the +trunk and about the branches with a monkey-like agility. How reluctant +Nature seems in some cases to undo her own work! How long she will +allow a specialized organ, with the correlated instinct, to rest without +use, yet ready to flash forth on the instant, bright and keen-edged, as +in the ancient days of strife, ages past, before peace came to dwell on +earth! + +The avi-fauna is relatively much richer than the mammalia, owing to the +large number of aquatic species, most of which are migratory with their +"breeding" or "subsistence-areas" on the pampas. In more senses than one +they constitute a "floating population," and their habits have in no way +been modified by the conditions of the country. The order, including +storks, ibises, herons, spoonbills, and flamingoes, counts about +eighteen species; and the most noteworthy birds in it are two great +ibises nearly as large as turkeys, with mighty resonant voices. The duck +order is very rich, numbering at least twenty species, including two +beautiful upland geese, winter visitors from Magellanic lands, and two +swans, the lovely black-necked, and the pure white with rosy bill. Of +rails, or ralline birds, there are ten or twelve, ranging from a small +spotted creature no bigger than a thrush to some large majestic birds. +One is the courlan, called "crazy widow" from its mourning plumage and +long melancholy screams, which on still evenings may be heard a league +away. Another is the graceful variegated _ypicaha,_ fond of social +gatherings, where the birds perform a dance and make the desolate +marshes resound with their insane humanlike voices. A smaller kind, +Porphyriops melanops, has a night-cry like a burst of shrill hysterical +laughter, which has won for it the name of "witch;" while another, +Rallus rythyrhynchus, is called "little donkey" from its braying cries. +Strange eerie voices have all these birds. Of the remaining aquatic +species, the most important is the spur-winged crested screamer; a noble +bird as large as a swan, yet its favourite pastime is to soar upwards +until it loses itself to sight in the blue ether, whenca it pours forth +its resounding choral notes, which reach the distant earth clarified, +and with a rhythmic swell and fall as of chiming bells. It also sings by +night, "counting the hours," the gauchos say, and where they have +congregated together in tens of thousands the mighty roar of their +combined voices produces an astonishingly grand effect. + +The largest aquatic order is that of the Limicolse--snipes, plover, and +their allies--which has about twenty-five species. The vociferous +spur-winged lapwing; the beautiful black and white stilt; a true snipe, +and a painted snipe, are, strictly speaking, the only residents; and it +is astonishing to find, that, of the five-and-twenty species, at least +thirteen are visitors from North America, several of them having their +breeding-places quite away in the Arctic regions. This is one of those +facts concerning the annual migration of birds which almost stagger +belief; for among them are species with widely different habits, upland, +marsh and sea-shore birds, and in their great biannual journey they pass +through a variety of climates, visiting many countries where the +conditions seem suited to their requirements. Nevertheless, in +September, and even as early as August, they begin to arrive on the +pampas, the golden plover often still wearing his black nuptial dress; +singly and in pairs, in small flocks, and in clouds they come--curlew, +godwit, plover, tatler, tringa--piping the wild notes to which the +Greenlander listened in June, now to the gaucho herdsman on the green +plains of La Plata, then to the wild Indian in his remote village; and +soon, further south, to the houseless huanaco-hunter in the grey +wilderness of Patagonia. + +Here is a puzzle for ornithologists. In summer on the pampas we have a +godwit--Limosa hudsonica; in March it goes north to breed; later in the +season flocks of the same species arrive from the south to winter on the +pampas. And besides this godwit, there are several other North American +species, which have colonies in the southern hemi-spere, with a reversed +migration and breeding season. Why do these southern birds winter so far +south? Do they really breed in Patagonia? If so, their migration is an +extremely limited one compared with that of the northern birds--seven or +eight hundred miles, on the outside, in one case, against almost as many +thousands of miles in the other. Considering that some species which +migrate as far south as Patagonia breed in the Arctic regions as far +north as latitude 82 degrees, and probably higher still, it would be +strange indeed if none of the birds which winter in Patagonia and on the +pampas were summer visitors to that great austral continent, which has +an estimated area twice as large as that of Europe, and a climate milder +than the arctic one. The migrants would have about six hundred miles of +sea to cross from Tierra del Fuego; but we know that the golden plover +and other species, which sometimes touch at the Bermudas when +travelling, fly much further than that without resting. The fact that a +common Argentine titlark, a non-migrant and a weak flyer, has been met +with at the South Shetland Islands, close to the antarctic continent, +shows that the journey may be easily accomplished by birds with strong +flight; and that even the winter climate of that unknown land is not too +severe to allow an accidental colonist, like this small delicate bird, +to survive. The godwit, already mentioned, has been observed in flocks +at the Falkland Islands in May, that is, three months after the same +species had taken its autumal departure from the neighbouring mainland. +Can it be believed that these late visitors to the Falklands were +breeders in Patagonia, and had migrated east to winter in so bleak a +region? It is far more probable that they came from the south. Officers +of sailing ships beating round Cape Horn might be able to settle this +question definitely by looking out, and listening at night, for flights +of birds, travelling north from about the first week in January to the +end of February; and in September and October travelling south. Probably +not fewer than a dozen species of the plover order are breeders on the +great austral continent; also other aquatic birds--ducks and geese; and +many Passerine birds, chiefly of the Tyrant family. + +Should the long projected Australasian expedition to the South Polar +regions ever be carried to a successful issue, there will probably be +important results for ornithology, in spite of the astounding theory +which has found a recent advocate in Canon Tristram, that all life +originated at the North Pole, whence it spread over the globe, but never +succeeded in crossing the deep sea surrounding the antarctic continent, +which has consequently remained till now desolate, "a giant ash (and +ice) of death." Nor is it unlikely that animals of a higher class than +birds exist there; and the discovery of new mammalians, differing in +type from those we know, would certainly be glad tidings to most +students of nature. + +Land birds on the pampas are few in species and in numbers. This may be +accounted for by the absence of trees and other elevations on which +birds prefer to roost and nest; and by the scarcity of food. Insects are +few in dry situations; and the large perennial grasses, which occupy +most of the ground, yield a miserable yearly harvest of a few minute +seeds; so that this district is a poor one both for soft and hard billed +birds. Hawks of several genera, in moderate numbers, are there, but +generally keep to the marshes. Eagles and vultures are somewhat +unworthily represented by carrion-hawks (Polyborinae); the lordly +carancho, almost eagle-like in size, black and crested, with a very +large, pale blue, hooked beak--his battle axe: and his humble follower +and jackal, the brown and harrier-like chimango. These nest on the +ground, are versatile in their habits, carrion-eaters, also killers on +their own account, and, like wild dogs, sometimes hunt in bands, which +gives them an advantage. They are the unfailing attendants of all +flesh-hunters, human or feline; and also furiously pursue and persecute +all eagles and true vultures that venture on that great sea of grass, to +wander thereafter, for ever lost and harried, "the Hagars and Ishmaels +of their kind." + +The owls are few and all of wide-ranging species. The most common is the +burrowing-owl, found in both Americas. Not a retiring owl this, but all +day long, in cold and in heat, it stands exposed at the mouth of its +kennel, or on the vizcacha's mound, staring at the passer-by with an +expression of grave surprise and reprehension in its round yellow eyes; +male and female invariably together, standing stiff and erect, almost +touching--of all birds that pair for life the most Darby and Joan like. + +Of the remaining land birds, numbering about forty species, a few that +are most attractive on account of their beauty, engaging habits, or +large size, may be mentioned here. On the southern portion of the pampas +the military starling (Sturnella) is found, and looks like the European +starling, with the added beauty of a scarlet breast: among resident +pampas birds the only one with a touch of brilliant colouring. It has a +pleasing, careless song, uttered on the wing, and in winter congregates +in great flocks, to travel slowly northwards over the plains. When thus +travelling the birds observe a kind of order, and the flock feeding +along the ground shows a very extended front--a representation in +bird-life of the "thin red line"--and advances by the hindmost birds +constantly flying over the others and alighting in the front ranks. + +Among the tyrant-birds are several species of the beautiful wing-banded +genus, snow-white in colour, with black on the wings and tail: these are +extremely graceful birds, and strong flyers, and in desert places, where +man seldom intrudes, they gather to follow the traveller, calling to +each other with low whistling notes, and in the distance look like white +flowers as they perch on the topmost stems of the tall bending grasses. + +The most characteristic pampean birds are the tinamous--called +partridges in the vernacular--the rufous tinamou, large as a fowl, and +the spotted tinamou, which is about the size of the English partridge. +Their habits are identical: both lay eggs of a beautiful wine-purple +colour, and in both species the young acquire the adult plumage and +power of flight when very small, and fly better than the adults. They +have small heads, slender curved beaks, unfeathered legs and feet, and +are tailless; the plumage is deep yellowish, marked with black and brown +above. They live concealed, skulking like rails through the tall grass, +fly reluctantly, and when driven up, their flight is exceedingly noisy +and violent, the bird soon exhausting itself. They are solitary, but +many live in proximity, frequently calling to each other with soft +plaintive voices. The evening call-notes of the larger bird are +flute-like in character, and singularly sweet and expressive. + +The last figure to be introduced into this sketch--which is not a +catalogue--is that of the Rhea. Glyptodon, Toxodon, Mylodon, +Megatherium, have passed away, leaving no descendants, and only pigmy +representatives if any; but among the feathered inhabitants of the pampa +the grand archaic ostrich of America survives from a time when there +were also giants among the avians. Vain as such efforts usually are, one +cannot help trying to imagine something of the past history of this +majestic bird, before man came to lead the long chase now about to end +so mournfully. Its fleetness, great staying powers, and beautiful +strategy when hunted, make it seem probable that it was not without +pursuers, other than the felines, among its ancient enemies, long-winded +and tenacious of their quarry; and these were perhaps of a type still +represented by the wolf or hound-like aguará and aguara-guazú. It might +be supposed that when almost all the larger forms, both mammal and bird, +were overtaken by destruction, and when the existing rhea was on the +verge of extinction, these long-legged swift canines changed their +habits and lost their bold spirit, degenerating at last into hunters of +small birds and mammals, on which they are said to live. + +The rhea possesses a unique habit, which is a puzzle to us, although it +probably once had some significance--namely, that of running, when +hunted, with one wing raised vertically, like a great sail--a veritable +"ship of the wilderness." In every way it is adapted to the conditions +of the pampas in a far greater degree than other pampean birds, only +excepting the rufous and spotted tinamous. Its commanding stature gives +it a wide horizon; and its dim, pale, bluish-grey colour assimilates to +that of the haze, and renders it invisible at even a moderate distance. +Its large form fades out of sight mysteriously, and the hunter strains +his eyes in vain to distinguish it on the blue expanse. Its figure and +carriage have a quaint majestic grace, somewhat unavian in character, +and peculiar to itself. There are few more strangely fascinating sights +in nature than that of the old black-necked cock bird, standing with +raised agitated wings among the tall plumed grasses, and calling +together his scattered hens with hollow boomings and long mysterious +suspira-tions, as if a wind blowing high up in the void sky had found a +voice. Rhea-hunting with the bolas, on a horse possessing both speed and +endurance, and trained to follow the bird in all his quick doublings, is +unquestionably one of the most fascinating forms of sport ever invented, +by man. The quarry has even more than that fair chance of escape, +without which all sport degenerates into mere butchery, unworthy of +rational beings; moreover, in this unique method of hunting the ostrich +the capture depends on a preparedness for all the shifts .and sudden +changes of course practised by the bird when closely followed, which is +like instinct or intuition; and, finally, in a dexterity in casting the +bolas at the right moment, with a certain aim, which no amount of +practice can give to those who are not to the manner born. + +This 'wild mirth of the desert,' which the gaucho has known for the last +three centuries, is now passing away, for the rhea's fleetness can no +longer avail him. He may scorn the horse and his rider, what time he +lifts himself up, but the cowardly murderous methods of science, and a +systematic war of extermination, have left him no chance. And with the +rhea go the flamingo, antique and splendid; and the swans in their +bridal plumage; and the rufous tinamou--sweet and mournful melodist of +the eventide; and the noble crested screamer, that clarion-voiced +watch-bird of the night in the wilderness. Those, and the other large +avians, together with the finest of the mammalians, will shortly be lost +to the pampas utterly as the great bustard is to England, and as the +wild turkey and bison and many other species will shortly be lost to +North America. What a wail there would be in the world if a sudden +destruction were to fall on the accumulated art-treasures of the +National Gallery, and the marbles in the British Museum, and the +contents of the King's Library--the old prints and' mediaeval +illuminations! And these are only the work of human hands and +brains--impressions of individual genius on perishable material, +immortal only in the sense that the silken cocoon of the dead moth is +so, because they continue to exist and shine when the artist's hands and +brain are dust:--and man has the long day of life before him in which to +do again things like these, and better than these, if there is any truth +in evolution. But the forms of life in the two higher vertebrate classes +are Nature's most perfect work; and the life of even a single species is +of incalculably greater value to mankind, for what it teaches and would +continue to teach, than all the chiselled marbles and painted canvases +the world contains; though doubtless there are many persons who are +devoted to art, but blind to some things greater than art, who will set +me down as a Philistine for saying so. And, above all others, we should +protect and hold sacred those types, Nature's masterpieces, which are +first singled out for destruction on account of their size, or +splendour, or rarity, and that false detestable glory which is accorded +to their most successful slayers. In ancient times the spirit of life +shone brightest in these; and when others that shared the earth with +them were taken by death they were left, being more worthy of +perpetuation. Like immortal flowers they have drifted down to us on the +ocean of time, and their strangeness and beauty bring to our +imaginations a dream and a picture of that unknown world, immeasurably +far removed, where man was not: and when they perish, something of +gladness goes out from nature, and the sunshine loses something of its +brightness. Nor does their loss affect us and our times only. The +species now being exterminated, not only in South America but everywhere +on the globe, are, so far as we know, untouched by decadence. They are +links in a chain, and branches on the tree of life, with their roots in +a past inconceivably remote; and but for our action they would continue +to flourish, reaching outward to an equally distant future, blossoming +into higher and more beautiful forms, and gladdening innumerable +generations of our descendants. But we think nothing of all this: we +must give full scope to our passion for taking life, though by so doing +we "ruin the great work of time;" not in the sense in which the poet +used those words, but in one truer, and wider, and infinitely sadder. +Only when this sporting rage has spent itself, when there are no longer +any animals of the larger kinds remaining, the loss we are now +inflicting on this our heritage, in which we have a life-interest only, +will be rightly appreciated. It is hardly to be supposed or hoped that +posterity will feel satisfied with our monographs of extinct species, +and the few crumbling bones and faded feathers, which may possibly +survive half a dozen centuries in some happily-placed museum. On the +contrary, such dreary mementoes will only serve to remind them of their +loss; and if they remember us at all, it will only be to hate our +memory, and our age--this enlightened, scientific, humanitarian age, +which should have for a motto "Let us slay all noble and beautiful +things, for tomorrow we die." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE PUMA, OB LION OF AMERICA. + + +The Puma has been singularly unfortunate in its biographers. Formerly it +often happened that writers were led away by isolated and highly +exaggerated incidents to attribute very shining qualities to their +favourite animals; the lion of the Old World thus came to be regarded as +brave and I magnanimous above all beasts of the field--the Bayard of the +four-footed kind, a reputation which these prosaic and sceptical times +have not suffered it to keep. Precisely the contrary has happened with +the puma of literature; for, although to those personally acquainted +with the habits of this lesser lion of the New World it is known to +possess a marvellous courage and daring, it is nevertheless +always spoken of in books of natural history as the most pusillanimous +of the larger carnivores. It does not attack man, and Azara is perfectly +correct when he affirms that it never hurts, or threatens to hurt, man +or child, even when it finds them sleeping. This, however, is not a full +statement of the facts; the puma will not even defend itself against +man. How natural, then, to conclude that it is too timid to attack a +human being, or to defend itself, but scarcely philosophical; for even +the most cowardly carnivores we know--dogs and hyaenas, for +instance--will readily attack a disabled or sleeping man when pressed by +hunger; and when driven to desperation no animal is too small or too +feeble to make a show of resistance. In such a case "even the armadillo +defends itself," as the gaucho proverb says. Besides, the conclusion is +in contradiction to many other well-known facts. Putting-aside the +puma's passivity in the presence of man, it is a bold hunter that +invariably prefers large to small game; in desert places killing +peccary, tapir, ostrich, deer, huanaco, &c., all powerful, well-armed, +or swift animals. Huanaco skeletons seen in Patagonia almost invariably +have the neck dislocated, showing that the puma was the executioner. +Those only who have hunted the huanaco on the sterile plains and +mountains it inhabits know how wary, keen-scented, and fleet of foot it +is. I once spent several weeks with a surveying party in a district +where pumas were very abundant, and saw not less than half a dozen deer +every day, freshly killed in most cases, and all with dislocated necks. +Where prey is scarce and difficult to capture, the puma, after +satisfying its hunger, invariably conceals the animal it has killed, +covering it over carefully with grass and brushwood; these deer, +however, had all been left exposed to the caracaras and foxes after a +portion of the breast had been eaten, and in many cases the flesh had +not been touched, the captor having satisfied itself with sucking the +blood. It struck me very forcibly that the puma of the desert pampas is, +among mammals, like the peregrine falcon of the same district among +birds; for there this wide-ranging raptor only attacks comparatively +large birds, and, after fastidiously picking a meal from the flesh of +the head and neck, abandons the untouched body to the polybori and other +hawks of the more ignoble sort. + +In pastoral districts the puma is very destructive to the larger +domestic animals, and has an extraordinary fondness for horseflesh. This +was first noticed by Molina, whose _Natural History of Chili_ was +written a century and a half ago. In Patagonia I heard on all sides that +it was extremely difficult to breed horses, as the colts were mostly +killed by the pumas. A native told me that on one occasion, while +driving his horses home through the thicket, a puma sprang out of the +bushes on to a colt following behind the troop, killing it before his +eyes and not more than six yards from his horse's head. In this +instance, my informant said, the puma alighted directly on the colt's +back, with one fore foot grasping its bosom, while with the other it +seized the head, and, giving it a violent wrench, dislocated the neck. +The colt fell to the earth as if shot, and he affirmed that it was dead +before it touched the ground. + +Naturalists have thought it strange that the horse, once common +throughout America, should have become extinct over a continent +apparently so well suited to it and where it now multiplies so greatly. +As a fact wherever pumas abound the wild horse of the present time, +introduced from Europe, can hardly maintain its existence. Formerly in +many places horses ran wild and multiplied to an amazing extent, but +this happened, I believe, only in districts where the puma was scarce or +had already been driven out by man. My own experience is that on the +desert pampas wild horses are exceedingly scarce, and from all accounts +it is the same throughout Patagonia. + +Next to horseflesh, sheep is preferred, and where the puma can come at a +flock, he will not trouble himself to attack horned cattle. In Patagonia +especially I found this to be the case. I resided for some time at an +estancia close to the town of El Carmen, on the Rio Negro, which during +my stay was infested by a very bold and cunning puma. To protect the +sheep from his attacks an enclosure was made of upright willow-poles +fifteen feet long, while the gate, by which he would have to enter, was +close to the house and nearly six feet high. In spite of the +difficulties thus put in the way, and of the presence of several large +dogs, also of the watch we kept in the hope of shooting him, every +cloudy night he came, and after killing one or more sheep got safely +away. One dark night he killed four sheep; I detected him in the act, +and going up to the gate, was trying to make out his invisible form in +the gloom as he flitted about knocking the sheep over, when suddenly he +leaped clear over my head and made his escape, the bullets I sent after +him in the dark failing to hit him. Yet at this place twelve or fourteen +calves, belonging to the milch cows, were every night shut into a small +brushwood pen, at a distance from the house where the enemy could easily +have destroyed every one of them. When I expressed surprise at this +arrangement, the owner said that the puma was not fond of calves' flesh, +and came only for the sheep. Frequently after his nocturnal visits we +found, by tracing his footprints in the loose sand, that he had actually +used the calves' pen as a place of concealment while waiting to make his +attack on the sheep. + +The puma often kills full-grown cows and horses, but exhibits a still +greater daring when attacking the jaguar, the largest of American +carnivores, although, compared with its swift, agile enemy, as heavy as +a rhinoceros. Azara states that it is generally believed in La Plata and +Paraguay that the puma attacks and conquers the jaguar; but he did not +credit what he heard, which was not strange, since he had already set +the puma down as a cowardly animal, because it does not attempt to harm +man or child. Nevertheless, it is well known that where the two species +inhabit the same district they are at enmity, the puma being the +persistent persecutor of the jaguar, following and harassing it as a +tyrant-bird harasses an eagle or hawk, moving about it with such +rapidity as to confuse it, and, when an opportunity occurs, springing +upon its back and inflicting terrible wounds with teeth and claws. +Jaguars with scarred backs are frequently killed, and others, not long +escaped from their tormentors, have been found so greatly lacerated that +they were easily overcome by the hunters. + +In Kingsley's American _Standard Natural History_, it is stated that the +puma in North California has a feud with the grizzly bear similar to +that of the southern animal with the jaguar. In its encounter with the +grizzly it is said to be always the victor; and this is borne out by the +finding of the bodies of bears, which have evidently perished in the +struggle. + +How strange that this most cunning, bold, and bloodthirsty of the +Felidae, the persecutor of the jaguar and the scourge of the ruminants +in the regions it inhabits, able to kill its prey with the celerity of a +rifle bullet, never attacks a human being! Even the cowardly, +carrion-feeding dog will attack a man when it can do so with impunity; +but in places where the puma is the only large beast of prey, it is +notorious that it is there perfectly safe for even a small child to go +out and sleep on the plain. At the same time it will not fly from man +(though the contrary is always stated in books of Natural History) +except in places where it is continually persecuted. Nor is this all: it +will not, as a rule, even defend itself against man, although in some +rare instances it has been known to do so. + +The mysterious, gentle instinct of this ungentle species, which causes +the gauchos of the pampas to name it man's friend--"amigo del +cristiano"--has been persistently ignored by all travellers and +naturalists who have mentioned the puma. They have thus made it a very +incongruous creature, strong enough to kill a horse, yet so cowardly +withal that it invariably flies from a human being--even from a sleeping +child! Possibly its real reputation was known to some of those who havo +spoken about it; if so, they attributed what they heard to the love of +the marvellous and the romantic, natural to the non-scientific mind; or +else preferred not to import into their writings matter which has so +great a likeness to fable, and might have the effect of imperilling +their reputation for sober-mindedness. + +It is, however, possible that the singular instinct of tho southern +puma, which is unique among animals in a state of nature, is not +possessed by the entire species, ranging as it does over a hundred +degrees of latitude, from British North America to Tierra del Fuego. The +widely different conditions of life in the various regions it inhabits +must necessarily have caused some divergence. Concerning its habits in +the dense forests of the Amazonian region, where it must have developed +special instincts suited to its semi-arboreal life, scarcely anything +has been recorded. Everyone is, however, familiar with the dreaded +cougar, catamount, or panther--sometimes called "painter"--of North +American literature, thrilling descriptions of encounters with this +imaginary man-eating monster being freely scattered through the +backwoods or border romances, many of them written by authors who have +the reputation of being true to nature. It may be true that this cougar +of a cold climate did occasionally attack man, or, as it is often +stated, follow him in the forest with the intention of springing on him +unawares; but on this point nothing definite will ever be known, as the +pioneers hunters of the past were only anxious to shoot cougar and not +to study its instinct and disposition. It is now many years since +Audubon and Bachman wrote, "This animal, which has excited so much +terror in the minds of the ignorant and timid, has been nearly +exterminated in all the Atlantic States, and we do not recollect a +single well-authenticated instance where any hunter's life fell a +sacrifice in a cougar hunt." It might be added, I believe, that no +authentic instance has been recorded of the puma making an unprovoked +attack on any human being. In South America also the traveller in the +wilderness is sometimes followed by a puma; but he would certainly be +very much surprised if told that it follows with the intention of +springing on him unawares and devouring his flesh, + +I have spoken of the comparative ease with which the puma overcomes even +large animals, comparing it in this respect with the peregrine falcon; +but all predacious species are liable to frequent failures, sometimes to +fatal mishaps, and even the cunning, swift-killing puma is no exception. +Its attacks are successfully resisted by the ass, which does not, like +the horse, lose his presence of mind, but when assaulted thrusts his +head well down between its fore-legs and kicks violently until the enemy +is thrown or driven off. Pigs, when in large herds, also safely defy the +puma, massing themselves together for defence in their well-known +manner, and presenting a serried line of tusks to the aggressor. During +my stay in Patagonia a puma met its fate in a manner so singular that +the incident caused considerable sensation among the settlers on the Rio +Negro at the time. A man named Linares, the chief of the tame Indians +settled in the neighbourhood of El Carmen, while riding near the river +had his curiosity aroused by the appearance and behaviour of a young cow +standing alone in the grass, her head, armed with long and exceedingly +sharp horns, much raised, and watching his approach in a manner which +betokened a state of dangerous excitement. She had recently dropped her +calf, and he at once conjectured that it had been attacked, and perhaps +killed, by some animal of prey. To satisfy himself on this point he +began to search for it, and while thus engaged the cow repeatedly +charged him with the greatest fury. Presently he discovered the calf +lying dead among the long grass; and by its side lay a full-grown puma, +also dead, and with a large wound in its side, just behind the shoulder. +The calf had been killed by the puma, for its throat showed the wounds +of large teeth, and the puma had been killed by the cow. When he saw it +he could, he affirmed, scarcely believe the evidence of his own senses, +for was an unheard-of thing that a puma should be injured by any other +animal. His opinion was that it had come down from the hills in a +starving condition, and having sprung upon the calf, the taste of blood +had made it for a moment careless of its own safety, and during that +moment the infuriated cow had charged, and driving one of her long sharp +horns into some vital part, killed it instantly. + +The puma is, with the exception of some monkeys, the most playful animal +in existence. The young of all the Felidae spend a large portion of +their time in characteristic gambols; the adults, however, acquire a +grave and dignified demeanour, only the female playing on occasions with +her offspring; but this she always does with a certain formality of +manner, as if the relaxation were indulged in not spontaneously, but for +the sake of the young and as being a necessary part of their education. +Some writer has described the lion's assumption of gaiety as more grim +than its most serious moods. The puma at heart is always a kitten, +taking unmeasured delight in its frolics, and when, as often happens, +one lives alone in the desert, it will amuse itself by the hour fighting +mock battles or playing at hide-and-seek with imaginary companions, and +lying in wait and putting all its wonderful strategy in practice to +capture a passing butterfly. Azara kept a young male for four months, +which spent its whole time playing with the slaves. This animal, he +says, would not refuse any food offered to it; but when not hungry it +would bury the meat in the sand, and when inclined to eat dig it up, +and, taking it to the water-trough, wash it clean. I have only known one +puma kept as a pet, and this animal, in seven or eight years had never +shown a trace of ill-temper. When approached, he would lie down, purring +loudly, and twist himself about a person's legs, begging to be caressed. +A string or handkerchief drawn about was sufficient to keep him in a +happy state of excitement for an hour; and when one person was tired of +playing with him he was ready for a game with the next comer. + +I was told by a person who had spent most of his life on the pampas that +on one occasion, when travelling in the neighbourhood of Cape +Corrientes, his horse died under him, and he was compelled to continue +his journey on foot, burdened with his heavy native horse-gear. At night +he made his bed under the shelter of a rock, on the slope of a stony +sierra; a bright moon was shining, and about nine o'clock in the evening +four pumas appeared, two adults with their two half-grown young. Not +feeling the least alarm at their presence, he did not stir; and after a +while they began to gambol together close to him, concealing themselves +from each other among the rocks, just as kittens do, and frequently +while pursuing one another leaping over him. He continued watching them +until past midnight, then fell asleep, and did not wake until morning, +when they had left him. + +This man was an Englishman by birth, but having gone very young to South +America he had taken kindly to the semi-barbarous life of the gauchos, +and had imbibed all their peculiar notions, one of which is that human +life is not worth very much. "What does it matter?" they often say, and +shrug their shoulders, when told of a comrade's death; "so many +beautiful horses die!" I asked him if he had ever killed a puma, and he +replied that he had killed only one and had sworn never to kill another. +He said that while out one day with another gaucho looking for cattle a +puma was found. It sat up with its back against a stone, and did not +move even when his companion threw the noose of his lasso over its neck. +My informant then dismounted, and, drawing his knife, advanced to kill +it: still the puma made no attempt to free itself from the lasso, but it +seemed to know, he said, what was coming, for it began to tremble, the +tears ran from its eyes, and it whined in the most pitiful manner. He +killed it as it sat there unresisting before him, but after +accomplishing the deed felt that he had committed a murder. It was the +only thing ho had ever done in his life, he added, which filled him with +remorse when he remembered it. This I thought a rather startling +declaration, as I knew that he had killed several individuals of his own +species in duels, fought with knives, in the fashion of the gauchos. + +All who have killed or witnessed the killing of the puma--and I have +questioned scores of hunters on this point--agree that it resigns itself +in this unresisting, pathetic manner to death at the hands of man. +Claudio Gay, in his _Natural History of Chili,_ says, "When attacked by +man its energy and daring at once forsake it, and it becomes a weak, +inoffensive animal, and trembling, and uttering piteous moans, and +shedding abundant tears, it seems to implore compassion from a generous +enemy." The enemy is not often generous; but many gauchos have assured +me, when speaking on this subject, that although they kill the puma +readily to protect their domestic animals, they consider it an evil +thing to take its life in desert places, where it is man's only friend +among the wild animals. + +When the hunter is accompanied by dogs, then the puma, instead of +drooping and shedding tears, is roused to a sublime rage: its hair +stands erect; its eyes shine like balls of green flame; it spits and +snarls like a furious torn cat. The hunter's presence seems at such +times to be ignored altogether, its whole attention being given to the +dogs and its rage directed against them. In Patagonia a sheep-farming +Scotchman, with whom I spent some days, showed me the skulls of five +pumas which he had shot in the vicinity of his ranche. One was of an +exceptionally large individual, and I here relate what he told me of his +encounter with this animal, as it shows just how the puma almost +invariably behaves when attacked by man and dogs. He was out on foot +with his flock, when the dogs discovered the animal concealed among the +bushes. He had left his gun at home, and having no weapon, and finding +that the dogs dared not attack it where it sat in a defiant attitude +with its back against a thorny bush, he looked about and found a large +dry stick, and going boldly up to it tried to stun it with a violent +blow on the head. But though it never looked at him, its fiery eyes +gazing steadily at the dogs all the time, he could not hit it, for with +a quick side movement it avoided every blow. The small heed the puma +paid him, and the apparent ease with which it avoided his best-aimed +blows, only served to rouse his spirit, and at length striking with +increased force his stick came to the ground and was broken to pieces. +For some moments he now stood within two yards of the animal perfectly +defenceless and not knowing what to do. Suddenly it sprang past him, +actually brushing against his arm with its side, and began pursuing the +dogs round and round among the bushes. In the end my informant's partner +appeared on the scene with his rifle, and the puma was shot. + +In encounters of this kind the most curious thing is that the puma +steadfastly refuses to recognize an enemy in man, although it finds him +acting in concert with its hated canine foe, about whose hostile +intentions it has no such delusion. + +Several years ago a paragraph, which reached me in South America, +appeared in the English papers relating an incident characteristic of +the puma in a wild beast show in this country. The animal was taken out +of its cage and led about the grounds by its keeper, followed by a large +number of spectators. Suddenly it was struck motionless by some object +in the crowd, at which it gazed steadily with a look of intense +excitement; then springing violently away it dragged the chain from the +keeper's hand and dashed in among the people, who immediately fled +screaming in all directions. Their fears were, however, idle, the object +of the puma's rage being a dog which it had spied among the crowd. + +It is said that when taken adult pumas invariably pine away and die; +when brought up in captivity they invariably make playful, affectionate +pets, and are gentle towards all human beings, but very seldom overcome +their instinctive animosity towards the dog. + +One of the very few authentic instances I have met with of this animal +defending itself against a human being was related to me at a place on +the pampas called Saladillo. At the time of my visit there jaguars and +pumas were very abundant and extremely destructive to the cattle and +horses. Sheep it had not yet been considered worth while to introduce, +but immense herds of pigs were kept at every estancia, these animals +being able to protect themselves. One gaucho had so repeatedly +distinguished himself by his boldness and dexterity in killing jaguars +that he was by general consent made the leader of every tiger-hunt. One +day the comandante of the district got twelve or fourteen men together, +the tiger-slayer among them, and started in search of a jaguar which had +been seen that morning in the neighbourhood of his estancia. The animal +was eventually found and surrounded, and as it was crouching among some +clumps of tall pampas grass, where throwing a lasso over its neck would +be a somewhat difficult and dangerous operation, all gave way to the +famous hunter, who at once uncoiled his lasso and proceeded in a +leisurely manner to form the loop. While thus engaged he made the +mistake of allowing his horse, which had grown restive, to turn aside +from the hunted animal. The jaguar, instantly taking advantage of the +oversight, burst from its cover and sprang first on to the haunches of +the horse, then seizing the hunter by his poncho dragged him to the +earth, and would no doubt have quickly despatched him if a lasso, thrown +by one of the other men, had not closed round its neck at this critical +moment. It was quickly dragged off, and eventually killed. But the +discomfited hunter did not stay to assist at the finish. He arose from +the ground unharmed, but in a violent passion and blaspheming horribly, +for he knew that his reputation, which he priced above everything, had +suffered a great blow, and that he would be mercilessly ridiculed by his +associates. Getting on his horse he rode away by himself from the scene +of his misadventure. Of what happened to him on his homeward ride there +were no witnesses; but his own account was as follows, and inasmuch as +it told against his own prowess it was readily believed: Before riding a +league, and while his bosom was still burning with rage, a puma started +up from the long grass in his path, but made no attempt to run away; it +merely sat up, he said, and looked at him in a provokingly fearless +manner. To slay this animal with his knife, and so revenge himself on it +for the defeat he had just suffered, was his first thought. He alighted +and secured his horse by tying its fore feet together, then, drawing his +long, heavy knife, rushed at the puma. Still it did not stir. Raising +his weapon he struck with a force which would have split the animal's +skull open if the blow had fallen where it was intended to fall, but +with a quick movement the puma avoided it, and at the same time lifted a +foot and with lightning rapidity dealt the aggressor a blow on the face, +its unsheathed claws literally dragging down the flesh from his cheek, +laying the bone bare. After inflicting this terrible punishment and +eyeing its fallen foe for a few seconds it trotted quietly away. The +wounded man succeeded in getting on to his horse and reaching his home. +The hanging flesh was restored to its place and the ghastly rents sewn +up, and in the end he recovered: but he was disfigured for life; his +temper also completely changed; he became morose and morbidly sensitive +to the ridicule of his neighbours, and he never again ventured to join +them in their hunting expeditions. I inquired of the comandante, and of +others, whether any case had come to their knowledge in that district in +which the puma had shown anything beyond a mere passive friendliness +towards man; in reply they related the following incident, which had +occurred at the Saladillo a few years before my visit: The men all went +out one day beyond the frontier to form a _cerco,_ as it is called, to +hunt ostriches and other game. The hunters, numbering about thirty, +spread themselves round in a vast ring and, advancing towards the +centre, drove the animals before them. During the excitement of the +chase which followed, while they were all engaged in preventing the +ostriches, deer, &c., from doubling back and escaping, it was not +noticed that one of the hunters had disappeared; his horse, however, +returned to its home during the evening, and on the next morning a fresh +hunt for the lost man was organized. He was eventually found lying on +the ground with a broken leg, where he had been thrown at the beginning +of the hunt. He related that about an hour after it had become dark a +puma appeared and sat near him, but did not seem to notice him. After a +while it became restless, frequently going away and returning, and +finally it kept away so long, that he thought it had left him for good. +About midnight he heard the deep roar of a jaguar, and gave himself up +for lost. By raising himself on his elbow he was able to see the outline +of the beast crouching near him, but its face was turned from him, and +it appeared to be intently watching some object on which it was about to +spring. Presently it crept out of sight, then he heard snarlings and +growlings and the sharp yell of a puma, and he knew that the two beasts +were fighting. Before morning he saw the jaguar several times, but the +puma renewed the contest with it again and again until morning appeared, +after which he saw and heard no more of them. + +Extraordinary as this story sounds, it did not seem so to me when I +heard it, for I had already met with many anecdotes of a similar nature +in various parts of the country, some of them vastly more interesting +than the one I have just narrated; only I did not get them at first +hand, and am consequently not able to vouch for their accuracy; but in +this case it seemed to me that there was really no room for doubt. All +that I had previously heard had compelled me to believe that the puma +really does possess a unique instinct of friendliness for man, the +origin of which, like that of many other well-known instincts of +animals, must remain a mystery. The fact that the puma never makes an +unprovoked attack on a human being, or eats human flesh, and that it +refuses, except in some very rare cases, even to defend itself, does not +seem really less wonderful in an animal of its bold and sanguinary +temper thau that it should follow the traveller in the wilderness, or +come near him when he lies sleeping or disabled, and even occasionally +defend him from its enemy the jaguar. We know that certain sounds, +colours, or smells, which are not particularly noticed by most animals, +produce an extraordinary effect on some species; and it is possible to +believe, I think, that the human form or countenance, or the odour of +the human body, may also have the effect on the puma of suspending its +predatory instincts and inspiring it with a gentleness towards man, +which we are only accustomed to see in our domesticated carnivores or in +feral animals towards those of their own species. Wolves, when pressed +with hunger, will sometimes devour a fellow wolf; as a rule, however, +rapacious animals will starve to death rather than prey on one of their +own kind, nor is it a common thing for them to attack other species +possessing instincts similar to their own. The puma, we have seen, +violently attacks other large carnivores, not to feed on them, but +merely to satisfy its animosity; and, while respecting man, it is, +within the tropics, a great hunter and eater of monkeys, which of all +animals most resemble men. We can only conclude with Humboldt that there +is something mysterious in the hatreds and affections of animals. + +The view here taken of the puma's character imparts, I think, a fresh +interest to some things concerning the species, which have appeared in +historical and other works, and which I propose to discuss briefly in +this place. + +There is a remarkable passage in Byron's _Narrative of the loss of the +Wager,_ which was quoted by Admiral Fitzroy in his _Voyage of the +Beagle,_ to prove that tho puma inhabits Tierra del Fuego and the +adjacent islands; no other large beast of prey being known in that part +of America. "I heard," he says, "a growling close by me, which made me +think it advisable to retire as soon as possible: the woods were, so +gloomy I could see nothing; but, as I retired, this noise followed me +close till I got out of them. Some of our men did assure me that they +had seen a very large beast in the woods. . . I proposed to four of the +people to go to the end of the bay, about two miles distant from the +bell tent, to occupy the skeleton of an old Indian wigwam, which I had +discovered in a walk that way on our first landing. This we covered to +windward with seaweed; and, lighting a fire, laid ourselves down in +hopes of finding a remedy for our hunger in sleep; but we had not long +composed ourselves before one of our company was disturbed by the +blowing of some animal at his face; and, upon opening his eyes, was not +a little astonished to see by the glimmering of the fire, a large beast +standing over him. He had presence of mind enough to snatch a brand from +the fire, which was now very low, and thrust it at the nose of tho +animal, which thereupon made off. . . . In the morning we were not a +little anxious to know how our companions had fared; and this anxiety +was increased upon our tracing the footsteps of the beast in the sand, +in a direction towards the bell tent. The impression was deep and plain, +of a large round foot well furnished with claws. Upon acquainting the +people in the tent with the circumstances of our story, we found that +they had been visited by the same unwelcome guest." + +Mr. Andrew Murray, in his work on the Geographical Distribution of +Mammals, gives the Straits of Magellan as the extreme southern limit of +the puma's range, and in discussing the above passage from Byron he +writes: "This reference, however, gives no support to the notion of the +animal alluded to having been a puma. . . . The description of the +footprints clearly shows that the animal could not have been a puma. +None of the cat tribe leave any trace of a claw in their footprints. . . +The dogs, on the other hand, leave a very well-defined claw-mark. . . . +Commodore Byron and his party had therefore suffered a false alarm. The +creature which had disturbed them was, doubtless, one of the harmless +domestic dogs of the natives." + +The assurance that the bold hardy adventurer and his men suffered a +false alarm, and were thrown into a great state of excitement at the +appearance of one of the wretched domestic dogs of the Fuegians, with +which they were familiar, comes charmingly, it must be said, from a +closet naturalist, who surveys the world of savage beasts from his +London study. He apparently forgets that Commodore Byron lived in a time +when the painful accuracy and excessive minuteness we are accustomed to +was not expected from a writer, whenever he happened to touch on any +matters connected with zoology. + +This kind of criticism, which seizes on a slight inaccuracy in one +passage, and totally ignores an important statement in another--as, for +instance, that of the "great beast" seen in the woods--might be extended +to other portions of the book, and Byron's entire narrative made to +appear as purely a work of the imagination as Peter Wilkin's adventures +in those same antarctic seas. + +Mr. J. W. Boddam Whetham, in his work _Across Central America_ (1877), +gives an anecdote of the puma, which he heard at Sacluk, in Guatemala, +and which strangely resembles some of the stories I have heard on the +pampas. He writes: "The following event, most extraordinary if true, is +said to have occurred in this forest to a mahogany-cutter, who had been +out marking trees. As he was returning to his hut, he suddenly felt a +soft body pressing against him, and on looking down saw a cougar, which, +with tail erect, and purring like a cat, twisted itself in and out of +his legs, and glided round him, turning up its fierce eyes as if with +laughter. Horror-stricken and with faltering steps he kept on, and the +terrible animal still circled about, now rolling over, and now touching +him with a paw like a cat playing with a mouse. At last the suspense +became too great, and with a loud shout he struck desperately at the +creature with his axe. It bounded on one side and crouched snarling and +showing its teeth. Just as it was about to spring, the man's companion, +who had heard his call, appeared in the distance, and with a growl the +beast vanished into the thick bushes." + +Now, after allowing for exaggeration, if there is no foundation for +stories of this character, it is really a very wonderful coincidence +that they should be met with in countries so widely separated as +Patagonia and Central America. Pumas, doubtless, are scarce in +Guatemala; and, as in other places where they have met with nothing but +persecution from man, they are shy of him; but had this adventure +occurred on the pampas, where they are better known, the person +concerned in it would not have said that the puma played with him as a +cat with a mouse, but rather as a tame cat plays with a child; nor, +probably, would he have been terrified into imagining that the animal, +even after its caresses had met with so rough a return, was about to +spring on him. + +In Clavigero's _History of Lower California,_ it is related that a very +extraordinary state of things was discovered to exist in that country by +the first missionaries who settled there at the end of the seventeenth +century, and which was actually owing to the pumas. The author says that +there were no bears or tigers (jaguars); these had most probably been +driven out by their old enemies; but the pumas had increased to a +prodigious extent, so that the whole peninsula was overrun by them; and +this was owing to the superstitious regard in which they were held by +the natives, who not only did not kill them, but never ventured to +disturb them in any way. The Indians were actually to some extent +dependent on the puma's success in hunting for their subsistence; they +watched the movements of the vultures in order to discover the spot in +which the remains of any animal it had captured had been left by the +puma, and whenever the birds were seen circling about persistently over +one place, they hastened to take possession of the carcass, discovered +in this way. The domestic animals, imported by the missionaries, were +quickly destroyed by the virtual masters of the country, and against +these enemies the Jesuits preached a crusade in vain: for although the +Indians readily embraced Christianity and were baptized, they were not +to be shaken in their notions concerning the sacred _Chimbicá,_ as the +puma was called. The missions languished in consequence; the priests +existed in a state of semi-starvation, depending on provisions sent to +them at long intervals from the distant Mexican settlements; and for +many years all their efforts to raise the savages from their miserable +condition were thrown away. At length, in 1701, the mission of Loreto +was taken charge of by one Padre Ugarte, described by Clavigero as a +person of indomitable energy, and great physical strength and courage, a +true muscular Christian, who occasionally varied his method of +instruction by administering corporal chastisements to his hearers when +they laughed at his doctrines, or at the mistakes he made in their +language, while preaching to them. Ugarte, like his predecessors, could +not move the Indians to hunt the puma, but he was a man of action, with +a wholesome belief in the efficacy of example, and his opportunity came +at last. + +One day, while riding in the wood, he saw at a distance a puma walking +deliberately towards him. Alighting from his mule, he took up a large +stone and advanced to meet the animal, and when sufficiently near hurled +the missile with such precision and force that he knocked ifc down +senseless. After killing it, he found that the heaviest part of his task +remained, as it was necessary for the success of his project to carry +the beast, still warm and bleeding, to the Indian village; but mow his +mule steadfastly refused to approach it. Father Ugarte was not, +however, to be defeated, and partly by stratagem, partly by force, he +finally succeeded in getting the puma on to the mule's back, after which +he rode in triumph to the settlement. The Indians at first thought it +all a trick of their priest, who was so anxious to involve them in a +conflict with the pumas, and standing at a distance they began jeering +at him, and exclaiming that he had found the animal dead! But when they +were induced to approach, and saw that it was still warm and bleeding, +they were astonished beyond measure, and began to watch the priest +narrowly, thinking that he would presently drop down and die in sight of +them all. It was their belief that death would quickly overtake the +slayer of a puma. As this did not happen, the priest gained a great +influence over them, and in the end they were persuaded to turn their +weapons against the Chimbicá. + +Clavigero has nothing to say concerning the origin of this Californian +superstition; but with some knowledge of the puma's character, it is not +difficult to imagine what it may have been. No doubt these savages had +been very well acquainted from ancient times with the animal's instinct +of friendliness toward man, and its extreme hatred of other carnivores, +which prey on the human species; and finding it ranged on their side, as +it were, in the hard struggle of life in the desert, they were induced +to spare it, and even to regard it as a friend; and such a feeling, +among primitive men, might in the course of time degenerate into such a +superstition as that of the Californians. + +I shall, in conclusion, relate here the story of Maldonada, which is not +generally known, although familiar to Buenos Ayreans as the story of +Lady Godiva's ride through Coventry is to the people of that town. The +case of Maldonada is circumstantially narrated by Rui Diaz de Guzman, in +his history of the colonization of the Plata: he was a person high in +authority in the young colonies, and is regarded by students of South +American history as an accurate and sober-minded chronicler of the +events of his own times. He relates that in the year 1536 the settlers +at Buenos Ayres, having exhausted their provisions, and being compelled +by hostile Indians to keep within their pallisades, were reduced to the +verge of starvation. The Governor Mendoza went off to seek help from the +other colonies up the river, deputing his authority to one Captain Ruiz, +who, according to all accounts, displayed an excessively tyrannous and +truculent disposition while in power. The people were finally reduced to +a ration of sis ounces of flour per day for each person; but as the +flour was putrid and only made them ill, they were forced to live on any +small animals they could capture, including snakes, frogs and toads. +Some horrible details are given by Rui Diaz, and other writers; one, Del +Barco Centenera, affirms that of two thousand persons in the town +eighteen hundred perished of hunger. During this unhappy time, beasts of +prey in large numbers were attracted to the settlement by the effluvium +of the corpses, buried just outside the pallisades; and this made the +condition of the survivors more miserable still, since they could +venture into the neighbouring woods only at the risk of a violent death. +Nevertheless, many did so venture, and among these was the young woman +Maldonada, who, losing herself in the forest, strayed to a distance, and +was eventually found by a party of Indians, and carried by them to their +village. + +Some months later, Captain Ruiz discovered her whereabouts, and +persuaded the savages to bring her to the settlement; then, accusing her +of having gone to the Indian village in order to betray the colony, he +condemned her to be devoured by wild beasts. She was taken to a wood at +a distance of a league from the town, and left there, tied to a tree, +for the space of two nights and a day. A party of soldiers then went to +the spot, expecting to find her bones picked clean by the beasts, but +were greatly astonished to find Maldonada still alive, without hurt or +scratch. She told them that a puma had come to her aid, and had kept at +her side, defending her life against all the other beasts that +approached her. She was instantly released, and taken back to the town, +her deliverance through the action of the puma probably being looked on +as direct interposition of Providence to save her. + +Rui Diaz concludes with the following paragraph, in which he affirms +that he knew the woman Maldonada, which may be taken as proof that she +was among the few that survived the first disastrous settlement and +lived on to more fortunate times: his pious pun on her name would be +lost in a translation:--"De esta manera quedo libre la que ofrecieron a +las fieras: la cual mujer yo la conoci, y la llamaban la Maldonada, que +mas bien se le podia llamar la BIENDONADA; pues por este suceso se ha de +ver no haber merecido el castigo á que la ofrecieron." + +If such a thing were to happen now, in any portion of southern South +America, where the puma's disposition is best known, it would not be +looked on as a miracle, as it was, and that unavoidably, in the case of +Maldonada. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A WAVE OF LIFE, + + +For many years, while living in my own home on the pampas, I kept a +journal, in which all my daily observations on the habits of animals and +kindred matters were carefully noted. Turning back to 1872-3, I find my +jottings for that season contain a history of one of those waves of +life--for I can think of no better name for the phenomenon in +question--that are of such frequent occurrence in thinly-settled +regions, though in countries like England, seen very rarely, and on a +very limited scale. An exceptionally bounteous season, the accidental +mitigation of a check, or other favourable circumstance, often causes an +increase so sudden and inordinate of small prolific species, that when +we actually witness it we are no longer surprised at the notion +prevalent amongst the common people that mice, frogs, crickets, &c., are +occasionally rained down from the clouds. + +In the summer of 1872-3 we had plenty of sunshine, with frequent +showers; so that the hot months brought no dearth of wild flowers, as in +most years. The abundance of flowers resulted in a wonderful increase of +humble bees. I have never known them so plentiful before; in and about +the plantation adjoining my house I found, during the season, no fewer +than seventeen nests. + +The season was also favourable for mice; that is, of course, favourable +for the time being, unfavourable in the long run, since the short-lived, +undue preponderance of a species is invariably followed by a long period +of undue depression. These prolific little creatures were soon so +abundant that the dogs subsisted almost exclusively on them; the fowls +also, from incessantly pursuing and killing them, became quite rapacious +in their manner; whilst the sulphur tyrant-birds (Pitangus) and the +Guira cuckoos preyed on nothing but mice. + +The domestic cats, as they invariably do in such plentiful seasons, +absented themselves from the house, assuming all the habits of their +wild congeners, and slinking from the sight of man--even of a former +fireside companion--with a shy secrecy in their motions, an apparent +affectation of fear, almost ludicrous to see. Foxes, weasels, and +opossums fared sumptuously. Even for the common armadillo (Dasypus +villosus) it was a season of affluence, for this creature is very adroit +in capturing mice. This fact might seem surprising to anyone who marks +the uncouth figure, toothless gums, and the motions--anything but light +and graceful--of the armadillo and perhaps fancying that, to be a +dexterous mouser, an animal should bear some resemblance in habits and +structure to the felidas. But animals, like men, are compelled to adapt +themselves to their surroundings; new habits are acquired, and the exact +co-relation between habit and structure is seldom maintained. + +I kept an armadillo at this time, and good cheer and the sedentary life +he led in captivity made him excessively fat; but the mousing exploits +of even this individual were most interesting. Occasionally I took him +into the fields to give him a taste of liberty, though at such times I +always took the precaution to keep hold of a cord fastened to one of his +hind legs; for as often as he came to a kennel of one of his wild +fellows, he would attempt to escape into it. He invariably travelled +with an ungainly trotting gait, carrying his nose, beagle-like, close to +the ground. His sense of smell was exceedingly acute, and when near his +prey he became agitated, and quickened his motions, pausing frequently +to sniff the earth, till, discovering the exact spot where the mouse +lurked, he would stop and creep cautiously to it; then, after slowly +raising himself to a sitting posture, spring suddenly forwards, throwing +his body like a trap over the mouse, or nest of mice, concealed beneath +the grass. + +A curious instance of intelligence in a cat was brought to my notice at +this time by one of my neighbours, a native. His children had made the +discovery that some excitement and fun was to be had by placing a long +hollow stalk of the giant thistle with a mouse in it--and every hollow +stalk at this time had one for a tenant--before a cat, and then watching +her movements. Smelling her prey, she would spring at one end of the +stalk--the end towards which the mouse would be moving at the same time, +but would catch nothing, for the mouse, instead of running out, would +turn back to run to the other end; whereupon the cat, all excitement, +would jump there to seize it; and so the contest would continue for a +long time, an exhibition of the cleverness and the stupidity of +instinct, both of the pursuer and the pursued. There were several cats +at the house, and all acted in the same way except one. When a stalk was +placed before this cat, instead of becoming excited like the others, it +went quickly to one end and smelt' at the opening, then, satisfied that +its prey was inside, it deliberately bit a long piece out of the stalk +with its teeth, then another strip, and so on progressively, until the +entire stick had been opened up to within six or eight inches of the +further end, when the mouse came out and was caught. Every stalk placed +before this cat was demolished in the same businesslike way; but the +other cats, though they were made to look on while the stick was being +broken up by their fellow, could never learn the trick. + +In the autumn of the .year countless numbers of storks (Ciconia maguari) +and of short-eared owls (Otus brachyotus) made their appearance. They +had also come to assist at the general feast. + +Remembering the opinion of Mr. E. Newman, quoted by Darwin, that +two-thirds of the humble bees in England are annually destroyed by mice, +I determined to continue observing these insects, in order to ascertain +whether the same thing occurred on the pampas. I carefully revisited all +the nests I had found, and was amazed at the rapid disappearance of all +the bees. I was quite convinced that the mice had devoured or driven +them out, for the weather was still warm, and flowers and fruit on which +humble bees feed were very abundant. + +After cold weather set in the storks went away, probably on account of +the scarcity of water, for the owls remained. So numerous were they +during the winter, that any evening after sunset I could count forty or +fifty individuals hovering over the trees about my house. Unfortunately +they did not confine their attentions to the mice, but became +destructive to the birds as well. I frequently watched them at dusk, +beating about the trees and bushes in a systematic manner, often a dozen +or more of them wheeling together about one tree, like so many moths +about a candle, and one occasionally dashing through the branches until +a pigeon--usually the Zenaida maculata--or other bird was scared from +its perch. The instant the bird left the tree they would all give chase, +disappearing in the darkness. I could not endure to see the havoc they +were making amongst the ovenbirds (Furnarius rufus--a species for which +I have a regard and affection almost superstitious), so I began to shoot +the marauders. Very soon, however, I found it was impossible to protect +my little favourites. Night after night the owls mustered in their usual +numbers, so rapidly were the gaps I made in their ranks refilled. I grew +sick of the cruel war in which I had so hopelessly joined, and resolved, +not without pain, to let things take their course. A singular +circumstance was that the owls began to breed in the middle of winter. +The field-labourers and boys found many nests with eggs and young birds +in the neighbourhood. I saw one nest in July, our coldest month, with +three half-grown young birds in it. They were excessively fat, and, +though it was noon-day, had their crops full. There were three mice and +two young cavies (Cavia australis) lying untouched in the nest. + +The short-eared owl is of a wandering disposition, ard performs long +journeys at all seasons of the year in search of districts where food is +abundant; and perhaps these winter-breeders came from a region where +scarcity of prey, or some such cause, had prevented them from nesting at +their usual time in summer. + +The gradual increase or decrease continually going on in many species +about us is little remarked; but the sudden infrequent appearance in +vast numbers of large and comparatively rare species is regarded by most +people as a very wonderful phenomenon, not easily explained. On the +pampas, whenever grasshoppers, mice, frogs or crickets become +excessively abundant we confidently look for the appearance of +multitudes of the birds that prey on them. However obvious may be the +cause of the first phenomenon--the sudden inordinate increase during a +favourable year of a species always prolific--the attendant one always +creates astonishment: For how, it is asked, do these largo birds, seldom +seen at other times, receive information in the distant regions they +inhabit of an abundance of food in any particular locality? Years have +perhaps passed during which, scarcely an individual of these kinds has +been seen: all at once armies of the majestic white storks are seen +conspicuously marching about the plain in all directions; while the +night air resounds with the solemn hootings of innumerable owls. It is +plain that these birds have been drawn from over an immense area to one +spot; and the question is how have they been drawn? + +Many large birds possessing great powers of flight are, when not +occupied with the business of propagation, incessantly wandering from +place to place in search of food. They are not, as a rule, regular +migrants, for their wanderings begin and end irrespective of seasons, +and where they find abundance they remain the whole year. They fly at a +very great height, and traverse immense distances. When the favourite +food of any one of these species is plentiful in any particular region +all the individuals that discover it remain, and attract to them all of +their kind passing overhead. This happens on the pampas with the stork, +the short-eared owl, the hooded gull and the dominican or black-backed +gull--the leading species among the feathered nomads: a few first appear +like harbingers; these are presently joined by new comers in +considerable numbers, and before long they are in myriads. Inconceivable +numbers of birds are, doubtless, in these regions, continually passing +over us unseen. It was once a subject of very great wonder to me that +flocks of black-necked swans should almost always appear flying by +immediately after a shower of rain, even when none had been visible for +a long time before, and when they must have come from a very great +distance. When the reason at length occurred to me, I felt very much +disgusted with myself for being puzzled over so very simple a matter. +After rain a flying swan may be visible to the eye at a vastly greater +distance than during fair weather; the sun shining on its intense white +plumage against the dark background of a rain-cloud making it +exceedingly conspicuous. The fact that swans are almost always seen +after rain shows only that they are almost always passing. + +Whenever we are visited by a dust-storm on the pampas myriads of hooded +gulls--Larus macnlipen-nis--appear flying before the dark dust-cloud, +even when not a gull has been seen for months. Dust-storms are of rare +occurrence, and come only after a long drought, and, the water-courses +being all dry, the gulls cannot have been living in the region over +which the storm passes. Yet in seasons of drought gulls must be +continually passing by at a great height, seeing but not seen, except +when driven together and forced towards the earth by the fury of the +storm. + +By August (1873) the owls had vanished, and they had, indeed, good cause +for leaving. The winter had been one of continued drought; the dry grass +and herbage of the preceding year had been consumed by the cattle and +wild animals, or had turned to dust, and with the disappearance of their +food and cover the mice had ceased to be. The famine-stricken cats +sneaked back to the house. It was pitiful to see the little burrowing +owls; for these birds, not having the powerful wings and prescient +instincts of the vagrant Otus brachyotus, are compelled to face the +poverty from which the others escape. Just as abundance had before made +the domestic cats wild, scarcity now made the burrowing owls tame and +fearless of man. They were so reduced as scarcely to be able to fly, and +hung about the houses all day long on the look-out for some stray morsel +of food. I have frequently seen one alight and advance within two or +three yards of the door-step, probably attracted by the smell of roasted +meat. The weather continued dry until late in spring, so reducing the +sheep and cattle that incredible numbers perished during a month of cold +and rainy weather that followed the drought. + +How clearly we can see in all this that the tendency to multiply +rapidly, so advantageous in normal seasons, becomes almost fatal to a +species in seasons of exceptional abundance. Cover and food without +limit enabled the mice to increase at such an amazing rate that the +lesser checks interposed by predatory species were for a while +inappreciable. But as the mice increased, so did their enemies. +Insectivorous and other species acquired the habits of owls and weasels, +preying exclusively on them; while to this innumerable army of residents +was shortly added multitudes of wandering birds coming from distant +regions. No sooner had the herbage perished, depriving the little +victims of cover and food, than the effects of the war became apparent. +In autumn the earth so teemed with them that one could scarcely walk +anywhere without treading on mice; while out of every hollow weed-stalk +lying on the ground dozens could be shaken; but so rapidly had they +devoured, by the trained army of persecutors, that in spring it was hard +to find a survivor, even in the barns and houses. The fact that species +tend to increase in a geometrical ratio makes these great and sudden +changes frequent in many regions of the earth; but it is not often they +present themselves so vividly as in the foregoing instance, for here, +scene after scene in one of Nature's silent passionless tragedies opens +before us, countless myriads of highly organized beings rising into +existence only to perish almost immediately, scarcely a hard-pressed +remnant remaining after the great reaction to continue the species. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SOME CURIOUS ANIMAL WEAPONS. + + +Strictly speaking, the only weapons of vertebrates are teeth, claws, +horns, and spurs. Horns belong only to the ruminants, and the spur is a +rare weapon. There are also many animals in which teeth and claws are +not suited to inflict injury, or in which the proper instincts and +courage to use and develop them are wanted; and these would seem, to be +in a very defenceless condition. Defenceless they are in one sense, but +as a fact they are no worse off than the well-armed species, having +either a protective colouring or a greater swiftness or cunning to +assist them in escaping from their enemies. And there are also many of +these practically toothless and clawless species which have yet been +provided with other organs and means of offence and defence out of +Nature's curious armoury, and concerning a few of these species I +propose to speak in this place. + +Probably such distinctive weapons as horns, spurs, tusks and spines +would be much more common in nature if the conditions of life always +remained the same. But these things are long in fashioning; meanwhile, +conditions are changing; climate, soil, vegetation vary; foes and rivals +diminish or increase; the old go, and others with different weapons and +a new strategy take their place; and just as a skilful man "fighting the +wilderness" fashions a plough from a hunting-knife, turns his implements +into weapons of war, and for everything he possesses discovers a use +never contemplated by its maker, so does Nature--only with an ingenuity +exceeding that of man--use the means she has to meet all contingencies, +and enable her creatures, seemingly so ill-provided, to maintain their +fight for life. Natural selection, like an angry man, can make a weapon +of anything; and, using the word in this wide sense, the mucous +secretions the huanaco discharges into the face of an adversary, and the +pestilential drops "distilled" by the skunk, are weapons, and may be as +effectual in defensive warfare as spines, fangs and tushes. + +I do not know of a more striking instance in the animal kingdom of +adaptation of structure to habit than is afforded by the hairy +armadillo--Dasypus villosus. He appears to us, roughly speaking, to +resemble an ant-eater saddled with a dish cover; yet this creature, with +the cunning Avhich Nature has given it to supplement all deficiencies, +has discovered in its bony encumbrance a highly efficient weapon of +offence. Most other edentates are diurnal and almost exclusively +insectivorous, some feeding only on ants; they have unchangeable habits, +very limited intelligence, and vanish before civilization. The hairy +armadillo alone has struck out a line for itself. Like its fast +disappearing congeners, it is an insect-eater still, but does not like +them seek its food on the surface and in the ant-hill only; all kinds of +insects are preyed on, and by means of its keen scent it discovers worms +and larvae several inches beneath the surface. Its method of taking +worms and grubs resembles that of probing birds, for it throws up no +earth, but forces its sharp snout and wedge-shaped head down to the +required depth; and probably while working it moves round in a circle, +for the hole is conical, though the head of the animal is flat. Where it +has found a rich hunting-ground, the earth is seen pitted with hundreds +of these neat symmetrical bores. It is also an enemy to ground-nesting +birds, being fond of eggs and fledglings; and when unable to capture +prey it will feed on carrion as readily as a wild dog or vulture, +returning night after night to the carcase of a horse or cow as long as +the flesh lasts. Failing animal food, it subsists on vegetable diet; and +I have frequently found their stomachs stuffed with clover, and, +stranger still, with the large, hard grains of the maize, swallowed +entire. + +It is not, therefore, strange that at all seasons, and even when other +animals are starving, the hairy armadillo is always fat and vigorous. In +the desert it is diurnal; but where man appears it becomes more and more +nocturnal, and in populous districts does not go abroad until long after +dark. Yet when a district becomes thickly settled it increases in +numbers; so readily does it adapt itself to new conditions. It is not to +be wondered at that the gauchos, keen observers of nature as they are, +should make this species the hero of many of their fables of the "Uncle +Remus" type, representing it as a versatile creature, exceedingly +fertile in expedients, and duping its sworn friend the fox in various +ways, just as "Brer Rabbit" serves the fox in the North American fables. + +The hairy armadillo will, doubtless, long survive all the other +armadillos, and on this account alone it will have an ever-increasing +interest for the naturalist. I have elsewhere described how it captures +mice; when preying on snakes it proceeds in another manner. A friend of +mine, a careful observer, who was engaged in cattle-breeding amongst the +stony sierras near Cape Corrientes, described to me an encounter he +witnessed between an armadillo and a poisonous snake. While seated on +the hillside one day he observed a snake, about twenty inches in length, +lying coiled up on a stoue five or six yards beneath him. By-and-by, a +hairy armadillo appeared trotting directly towards it. Apparently the +snake perceived and feared its approach, for it quickly uncoiled itself +and began gliding away. Instantly the armadillo rushed on to it, and, +squatting close down, began swaying its body backward and forward with a +regular sawing motion, thus lacerating its victim with the sharp, +deep-cut edges of its bony covering. The snake struggled to free itself, +biting savagely at its aggressor, for its head and neck were disengaged. +Its bites made no impression, and very soon it dropped its head, and +when its enemy drew off, it was dead and very much mangled. The +armadillo at once began its meal, taking the tail in its mouth and +slowly progressing towards the head; but when about a third of the snake +still remained it seemed satisfied, and, leaving that portion, trotted +away. + +Altogether, in its rapacious and varied habits this armadillo appears to +have some points of resemblance with the hedgehog; and possibly, like +the little European mammal it resembles, it is not harmed by the bite of +venomous snakes. + +I once had a cat that killed every snake it found, purely for sport, +since it never ate them. It would jump nimbly round and across its +victim, occasionally dealing it a blow with its cruel claws. The enemies +of the snake are legion. Burrowing owls feed largely on them; so do +herons and storks, killing them with a blow of their javelin beaks, and +swallowing them entire. The sulphur tyrant-bird picks up the young snake +by the tail, and, flying to a branch or stone, uses it like a flail till +its life is battered out. The bird is highly commended in consequence, +reminding one of very ancient words: "Happy shall he be that taketh thy +little ones and dasheth them against the stones." In arraying such a +variety of enemies against the snake, nature has made ample amends for +having endowed it with deadly weapons. Besides, the power possessed by +venomous snakes only seems to us disproportionate; it is not really so, +except in occasional individual encounters. Venomous snakes are always +greatly outnumbered by non-venomous ones in the same district; at any +rate this is the case on the pampas. The greater activity of the latter +counts for more in the result than the deadly weapons of the former. + +The large teguexin lizard of the pampas, called iguana by the country +people, is a notable snake-killer. Snakes have in fact, no more +formidable enemy, for he is quick to see, and swift to overtake them. He +is practically invulnerable, and deals them sudden death with his +powerful tail. The gauchos say that dogs attacking the iguana are +sometimes known to have their legs broken, and I do not doubt it. A +friend of mine was out riding one day after his cattle, and having +attached one end of his lasso to the saddle, He let it trail on the +ground. He noticed a large iguana lying apparently asleep in the sun, +and though he rode by it very closely, it did not stir; but no sooner +had he passed it, than it raised its head, and fixed its attention on +the forty feet of lasso slowly trailing by. Suddenly it rushed after the +rope, and dealt it a succession of violent blows with its tail. When the +whole of the lasso, several yards of which had been pounded in vain, had +been dragged by, the lizard, with uplifted head, continued gazing after +it with the greatest astonishment. Never had such a wonderful snake +crossed its path before! + +Molina, in his _Natural History of Chill,_ says the vizcacha uses its +tail as a weapon; but then Molina is not always reliable. I have +observed vizcachas all my life, and never detected them making use of +any weapon except their chisel teeth. The tail is certainly very +curious, being straight at the base, then curving up outwardly, and +slightly down again at the tip, resembling the spout of a china teapot. +The under surface of the straight portion of the base is padded with a +thick, naked, corneous skin; and, when the animal performs the curious +sportive antics in which it occasionally indulges, it gives rapid +loud-sounding blows on the ground with this part of the tail. The +peculiar form of the tail also makes it a capital support, enabling the +vizcacha to sit erect, with ease and security. + +The frog is a most timid, inoffensive creature, saving itself, when +pursued, by a series of saltatory feats unparalleled amongst +vertebrates. Consequently, when I find a frog, I have no hesitation in +placing my hands upon it, and the cold sensation it gives one is the +worse result I fear. It came to pass, however, that I once encountered a +frog that was not like other frogs, for it possessed an instinct and +weapons of offence which greatly astonished me. I was out snipe shooting +one day when, peering into an old disused burrow, two or three feet +deep, I perceived a burly-looking frog sitting it. It was larger and +stouter-looking than our common Rana, though like it in colour, and I at +once dropped on to my knees and set about its capture. Though it watched +me attentively, the frog remained perfectly motionless, and this greatly +surprised me. Before I was sufficiently near to make a grab, it sprang +straight at my hand, and, catching two of my fingers round with its fore +legs, administered a hug so sudden and violent as to cause an acute +sensation of pain; then, at the very instant I experienced this feeling, +which made me start back quickly, it released its hold and bounded out +and away. I flew after it, and barely managed to overtake it before it +could gain the water. Holding it firmly pressed behind the shoulders, it +was powerless to attack me, and I then noticed the enormous development +of the muscles of the fore legs, usually small in frogs, bulging out in +this individual, like a second pair of thighs, and giving-it a strangely +bold and formidable appearance. On holding my gun within its reach, it +clasped the barrel with such energy as to bruise the skin of its breast +and legs. After allowing it to partially exhaust itself in these +fruitless huggings, I experimented by letting it seize my hand again, +and I noticed that invariably after each squeeze it made a quick, +violent attempt to free itself. Believing that I had discovered a frog +differing in structure from all known species, and possessing a strange +unique instinct of self-preservation, I carried my captive home, +intending to show it to Dr. Burmeister, the director of the National +Museum at Buenos Ayres-Unfortunately, after I had kept it some days, it +effected its escape by pushing up the glass cover of its box, and I have +never since met with another individual like it. That this singular +frog has it in its power to seriously injure an opponent is, of course, +out of the question; but its unexpected attack must be of great +advantage. The effect of the sudden opening of an umbrella in the face +of an angry bull gives, I think, only a faint idea of the astonishment +and confusion it must cause an adversary by its leap, quick as +lightning, and the violent hug it administers; and in the confusion it +finds time to escape. I cannot for a moment believe that an instinct so +admirable, correlated as it is with the structure of the fore legs, can +be merely an individual variation; and I confidently expect that all I +have said about my lost frog will some day be confirmed by others. Rana +luctator would be a good name for this species. + +The toad is a slow-moving creature that puts itself in the way of +persecution; yet, strange to say, the acrid juice it exudes when +irritated is a surer protection to it than venomous fangs are to the +deadliest snake. Toads are, in fact, with a very few exceptions, only +attacked and devoured by snakes, by lizards, and by their own venomous +relative, Ceratophrys ornata. Possibly the cold sluggish natures of all +these creatures protects them against the toad's secretion, which would +be poison to most warm-blooded animals, but I am not so sure that all +fish enjoy a like immunity. I one day noticed a good-sized fish (bagras) +floating, belly upmost, on the water. It had apparently just died, and +had such a glossy, well-nourished look about it, and appeared so full, I +was curious to know the cause of its death. On opening it I found its +stomach quite filled with a very large toad it had swallowed. The toad +looked perfectly fresh, not even a faint discoloration of the skin +showing that the gastric juices had begun to take effect; the fish, in +fact, must have died immediately after swallowing the toad. The country +people in South America believe that the milky secretion exuded by the +toad possesses wonderful curative properties; it is their invariable +specific for shingles--a painful, dangerous malady common amongst them, +and to cure it living toads are applied to the inflamed parb. I dare say +learned physicians would laugh at this cure, but then, if I mistake not, +the learned have in past times laughed at other specifics used by the +vulgar, but which now have honourable places in the pharmacopoeia-- +pepsine, for example. More than two centuries ago (very ancient times +for South America) the gauchos were accustomed to take the lining of the +rhea's stomach, dried and powdered, for ailments caused by impaired +digestion; and the remedy is popular still. Science has gone over to +them, and the ostrich-hunter now makes a double profit, one from the +feathers, and the other from the dried stomachs which he supplies to the +chemists of Buenos Ayres. Yet he was formerly told that to take the +stomach of the ostrich to improve his digestion was as wild an idea as +it would be to swallow birds' feathers in order to fly. + +I just now called Ceratophrys ornata venomous, though its teeth are not +formed to inject poison into the veins, like serpents' teeth. It is a +singular creature, known as _escuerzo_ in the vernacular, and though +beautiful in colour, is in form hideous beyond description. The skin is +of a rich brilliant green, with chocolate-coloured patches, oval in +form, and symmetrically disposed. The lips are bright yellow, the +cavernous mouth pale flesh colour, the throat and under-surface dull +white. The body is lumpy, and about the size of a large man's fist. The +eyes, placed on the summit of a disproportionately large head, are +embedded in horn-like protuberances, capable of being elevated or +depressed at pleasure. When the creature is undisturbed, the eyes, which +are of a pale gold colour, look out as from a couple of watch towers, +but when touched on the head or menaced, the prominences sink down to a +level with the head, closing the eyes completely, and giving the +creature the appearance of being eyeless. The upper jaw is armed with +minute teeth, and there are two teeth in the centre of the lower jaw, +the remaining portions of the jaw being armed with two exceedingly +sharp-edged bony plates. In place of a tongue, it has a round muscular +process with a rough flat disc the size of a halfpenny. + +It is common all over the pampas, ranging as far south as the Rio +Colorado in Patagonia. In the breeding season it congregates in pools, +and one is then struck by their extraordinary vocal powers, which they +exercise by night. The performance in no way resembles the series of +percussive sounds uttered by most batrachians. The notes it utters are +long, as of a wind instrument, not unmelodious, and so powerful as to +make themselves heard distinctly a mile off on still evenings. After the +amorous period these toads retire to moist places and sit inactive, +buried just deep enough to leave the broad green back on a level with +the surface, and it is then very difficult to detect them. In this +position they wait for their prey--frogs, toads, birds, and small +mammals. Often they capture and attempt to swallow things too large for +them, a mistake often made by snakes. In very wet springs they sometimes +come about houses and lie in wait for chickens and ducklings. In +disposition they are most truculent, savagely biting at anything that +comes near them; and when they bite they hang on with the tenacity of a +bulldog, poisoning the blood with their glandular secretions. When +teased, the creature swells itself out to such an extent one almost +expects to see him burst; he follows his tormentors about with slow +awkward leaps, his vast mouth wide open, and uttering an incessant harsh +croaking sound. A gaucho I knew was once bitten by one. He sat down on +the grass, and, dropping his hand at his side, had it seized, and only +freed himself by using his hunting knife to force the creature's mouth +open. He washed and bandaged the wound, and no bad result followed; but +when the toad cannot be shaken off, then the result is different. One +summer two horses were found dead on the plain near my home. One, while +lying down, had been seized by a fold in the skin near the belly; the +other had been grasped by the nose while cropping grass. In both +instances the vicious toad was found dead, with jaws tightly closed, +still hanging to the dead horse. Perhaps they are sometimes incapable of +letting go at will, and like honey bees, destroy themselves in these +savage attacks. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +FEAR IN BIRDS. + + +The statement that birds instinctively fear man is frequently met with +in zoological works written since the _Origin of Species_ appeared; but +almost the only reason--absolutely the only plausible reason, all the +rest being mere supposition--given in support of such a notion is that +birds in desert islands show at first no fear of man, but afterwards, +finding him a dangerous neighbour, they become wild; and their young +also grow up wild. It is thus assumed that the habit acquired by the +former has become hereditary in the latter--or, at all events, that in +time it becomes hereditary. Instincts, which are few in number in any +species, and practically endure for ever, are not, presumably, acquired +with such extraordinary facility. + +Birds become shy where persecuted, and the young, even when not +disturbed, learn a shy habit from the parents, and from other adults +they associate with. I have found small birds shyer in desert places, +where the human form was altogether strange to them, than in +thickly-settled districts. Large birds are actually shyer than the small +ones, although, to the civilized or shooting man they seem astonishingly +tame where they have never been fired at. I have frequently walked quite +openly to within twenty-five or thirty yards of a flock of flamingoes +without alarming them. This, however, was when they were in the water, +or on the opposite side of a stream. Having no experience of guns, they +fancied themselves secure as long as a strip of water separated them +from the approaching object. When standing on dry land they would not +allow so near an approach. Sparrows in England aro very much tamer than +the sparrows I have observed in desert places, where they seldom see a +human being. Nevertheless young sparrows in England are very much tamer +than old birds, as anyone may see for himself. During the past summer, +while living near Kew Gardens, I watched the sparrows a great deal, and +fed forty or fifty of them every day from a back window. The bread and +seed was thrown on to a low roof just outside the window, and I noticed +that the young birds when first able to fly were always brought by the +parents to this feeding place, and that after two or three visits they +would begin to come of their own accord. At such times they would +venture quite close to me, showing as little suspicion as young +chickens. The adults, however, although so much less shy than birds of +other species, were extremely suspicious, snatching up the bread and +flying away; or, if they remained, hopping about in a startled manner, +craning their necks to view me, and making so many gestures and motions, +and little chirps of alarm, that presently the young would become +infected with fear. The lesson was taught them in a surprisingly short +time; their suspicion was seen to increase day by day, and about a week +later they were scarcely to be distinguished, in behaviour from the +adults. It is plain that, with these little birds, fear of man is an +associate feeling, and that, unless it had been taught them, his +presence would trouble them as little as does that of horse, sheep, or +cow. But how about the larger species, used as food, and which have had +a longer and sadder experience of man's destructive power? + +The rhea, or South American ostrich, philosophers tell us, is a very +ancient bird on the earth; and from its great size and inability to +escape by flight, and its excellence as food, especially to savages, who +prefer fat rank-flavoured flesh, it must have been systematically +persecuted by man as long as, or longer than, any bird now existing on +the globe. If fear of man ever becomes hereditary in birds, we ought +certainly to find some trace of such an instinct in this species. I have +been unable to detect any, though I have observed scores of young rheas +in captivity, taken before the parent bird had taught them what to fear. +I also once kept a brood myself, captured just after they had hatched +out. With regard to food they were almost, or perhaps quite, +independent, spending most of the time catching flies, grasshoppers, and +other insects with surprising dexterity; but of the dangers encompassing +the young rhea they knew absolutely frothing. They would follow me about +as if they took me for their parent; and, whenever I imitated the loud +snorting or rasping warning-call emitted the old bird in moments of +danger, they would to me in the greatest terror, though no animal was in +sight, and, squatting at my feet, endeavour to conceal themselves by +thrusting their heads and long necks up my trousers. If I had caused a +person to dress in white or yellow clothes for several consecutive days, +and had then uttered the warning cry each time he showed himself to the +birds, I have no doubt that they would soon have acquired a habit of +running in terror from him, even without the warning cry, and that the +fear of a person in white or yellow would have continued all their +lives. Up to within about twenty years ago, rheas were seldom or never +shot in La Plata and Patagonia, but were always hunted on horseback and +caught with the bolas. The sight of a mounted man would set them off at +once, while a person on foot could walk quite openly to within easy +shooting distance of them; yet their fear of a horseman dates only two +hundred years back--a very short time, when we consider that, before the +Indian borrowed the horse from the invader, he must have systematically +pursued the rhea on foot for centuries. The rhea changed its habits when +the hunter changed his, and now, if an _estanciero_ puts down ostrich +hunting on his estate, in a very few years the birds, although wild +birds still, become as fearless and familiar as domestic animals. I have +known old and ill-tempered males to become a perfect nuisance on some +estancias, running after and attacking every person, whether on foot or +on horseback, that ventured near them. An old instinct of a whole race +could not be thus readily lost here and there on isolated estates +wherever a proprietor chose to protect his birds for half a dozen years. + +I suppose the Talegallus--the best-known brush-turkey--must be looked on +as an exception to all other birds with regard to the point I am +considering; for this abnormal form buries its eggs in the huge mound +made by the male, and troubles herself no more about them. When the +young is fully developed it simply kicks the coffin to pieces in which +its mother interred it, and, burrowing its way up to the sunshine, +enters on the pleasures and pains of an independent existence from +earliest infancy--that is, if a species born into the world in full +possession of all the wisdom of the ancients, can be said ever to know +infancy. At all events, from Mr. Bartlett's observations on the young +hatched in the Zoological Gardens, it appears that they took no notice +of the old birds, but lived quite independently from the moment they +came out of the ground, even flying up into a tree and roosting +separately at night. I am not sure, however, that these observations are +quite conclusive; for it is certain that captivity plays strange pranks +with the instincts of some species, and it is just possible that in a +state of nature the old birds exercise at first some slight parental +supervision, and, like all other species, have a peculiar cry to warn +the young of the dangers to be avoided. If this is not so, then the +young Talegallus must fly or hide with instinctive tear from every +living thing that approaches it. I, at any rate, find it hard to believe +that it has a knowledge, independent of experience, of the different +habits of man and kangaroo, and dis-criminates at first sight between +animals that are dangerous to it and those that are not. This +interesting point will probably never be determined, as, most unhappily, +the Australians are just now zealously engaged in exterminating their +most wonderful bird for the sake of its miserable flesh; and with less +excuse than the Maories could plead with regard to the moa, since they +cannot deny that they have mutton and rabbit enough to satisfy hunger. + +Whether birds fear or have instinctive knowledge of any of their enemies +is a much larger question. Species that run freely on the ground from +the time of quitting the shell know their proper food, and avoid +whatever is injurious. Have all young birds a similarly discriminating +instinct with regard to their enemies? Darwin says, "Fear of any +particular enemy is certainly an instinctive quality, as may be seen in +nestling birds." Here, even man seems to be included among the enemies +feared instinctively; and in another passage he says, "Young chickens +have lost, wholly from habit, that fear of the dog and cat which, no +doubt, was originally instinctive in them." My own observations point to +a contrary conclusion; and I may say that I have had unrivalled +opportunities for studying the habits of young birds. + +Animals of all classes, old and young, shrink with instinctive fear from +any strange object approaching them. A piece of newspaper carried +accidentally by the wind is as great an object of terror to an +inexperienced young bird as a buzzard sweeping down with death in its +talons. Among birds not yet able to fly there are, however, some curious +exceptions; thus the young of most owls and pigeons are excited to anger +rather than fear, and, puffing themselves up, snap and strike at an +intruder with their beaks. Other fledglings simply shrink down in the +nest or squat close on the ground, their fear, apparently, being in +proportion to the suddenness with which the strange animal or object +comes on them; but, if the deadliest enemy approaches with slow caution, +as snakes do--and snakes must be very ancient enemies to birds--there is +no fear or suspicion shown, even when the enemy is in full view and +about to strike. This, it will be understood, is when no warning-cry is +uttered by the parent bird. This shrinking, and, in some cases, hiding +from an object corning swiftly towards them, is the "wildness_"_ of +young birds, which, Darwin says again, is greater in wild than in +domestic species. Of the extreme tameness of the young rhea I have +already spoken; I have also observed young tinamous, plovers, coots, +&c., hatched by fowls, and found them as incapable of distinguishing +friend from foe as the young of domestic birds. The only difference +between the young of wild and tame is that the former are, as a rule, +much more sprightly and active. But there are many exceptions; and if +this greater alertness and activity is what is meant by "wildness," then +the young of some wild birds--rhea, crested screamer, &c.--are actually +much tamer than our newly-hatched chickens and ducklings. + +To return to what may be seen in nestling birds, n very young, and +before their education has begun, if quietly approached and touched, +they open their bills and take food as readily from a man as from the +parent bird. But if while being thus fed the parent returns and emits +the warning note, they instantly cease their hunger-cries, close their +gaping mouths, and crouch down frightened in the nest. This fear caused +by the parent bird's warning note begins to manifest itself even before +the young are hatched--and my observations on this point refer to +several species in three widely separated orders. When the little +prisoner is hammering at its shell, and uttering its feeble _peep,_ as +if begging to be let out, if the warning note is uttered, even at a +considerable distance, the strokes and complaining instantly cease, and +the chick will then remain quiescent in the shell for a long time, or +until the parent, by a changed note, conveys to it an intimation that +the danger is over. Another proof that the nestling has absolutely no +instinctive knowledge of particular enemies, but is taught to fear them +by the parents, is to be found in the striking contrast between the +habits of parasitical and genuine young in the nest, and after they have +left it, while still unable to find their own food. I have had no +opportunities of observing the habits of the young cuckoo in England +with regard to this point, and do not know whether other observers have +paid any attention to the matter or not, but I am very familiar with the +manners of the parasitical starling or cow-bird of South America. The +warning cries of the foster parent have no effect on the young cow-bird +at any time. Until they are able to fly they will readily devour worms +from the hand of a man, even when the old birds are hovering close by +and screaming their danger notes, and while their own young, if the +parasite has allowed any to survive in the nest, are crouching down in +the greatest fear. After the cow-bird has left the nest it is still +stupidly tame, and more than once I have seen one carried off from its +elevated perch by a milvago hawk, when, if it had understood the warning +cry of the foster parent, it would have dropped down into the bush or +grass and escaped. But as soon as the young cow-birds are able to shift +for themselves, and begin to associate with their own kind, their habits +change, and they become suspicious and wild like other birds. + +On this point--the later period at which the parasitical young bird +acquires fear of man--and also bearing on the whole subject under +discussion, I shall add here some observations I once made on a dove +hatched and reared by a pigeon at my home on the pampas. A very large +ombú tree grew not far from the dove-cote, and some of the pigeons used +to make their nests on the lower horizontal branches. One summer a dove +of the most common species, Zenaida maculata, in size a third less than +the domestic pigeon, chanced to drop an egg in one of these nests, and a +young dove was hatched and reared; and, in due time, when able to fly, +it was brought to the dove-cote. I watched it a great deal, and it was +evident that this foster-young, though' with the pigeons, was not nor +ever would be of them, for it could not take kiudly to their flippant +flirty ways. Whenever a male approached it, and with guttural noises and +strange gestures made a pompous declaration of amorous feelings, the +dove would strike vigorously at its undesirable lover, and drive him +off, big as he was; and, as a rule, it would sit apart, afoot or so, +from the others. The dove was also a male; but its male companions, with +instinct tainted by domestication, were ignorant alike of its sex and +different species. Now, it chanced that my pigeons, never being fed and +always finding their own living on the plain like wild birds, were, +although still domestic, not nearly so tame as pigeons usually are in +England. They would not allow a person to approach within two or three +yards of them without flying, and if grain was thrown to them they would +come to it very suspiciously, or not at all. And, of course, the young +pigeons always acquired the exact degree of suspicion shown by the +adults as soon as they were able to fly and consort with the others. But +the foundling Zenaida did not know what their startled gestures and +notes of fear meant when a person approached too near, and as he saw +none of his own kind, he did not acquire their suspicious habit. On the +contrary, he was perfectly tame, although by parentage a wild bird, and +showed no more fear of a man than of a horse. Throughout the winter it +remained with the pigeons, going afield every day with them, and +returning to the dove-cote; but as spring approached the slight tie +which united him to them began to be loosened; their company grew less +and less congenial, and he began to lead a solitary life. But he did not +go to the trees yet. He came to the house, and his favourite perch was +on the low overhanging roof of a vine-covered porch, just over the main +entrance. Here he would pass several hours every day, taking no notice +of the people passing in and out at all times; and when the weather grew +warm he would swell out his breast and coo mournfully by the hour for +our pleasure. + +We can, no doubt, learn best by observing the behaviour of nestlings and +young birds; nevertheless, I find much even in the confirmed habits of +adults to strengthen me in the belief that fear of particular enemies is +in nearly all cases--for I will not say all--the result of experience +and tradition. + +Hawks are the most open, violent, and persistent enemies birds have; and +it is really wonderful to see how well the persecuted kinds appear to +know the power for mischief possessed by different raptorial species, +and how exactly the amount of alarm exhibited is in proportion to the +extent of the danger to be apprehended. Some raptors never attack birds, +others only occasionally; still others prey only on the young and +feeble; and, speaking of La Plata district, where I have observed hawks, +from the milvago chimango--chiefly a carrion-eater--to the destructive +peregrine falcon, there is a very great variety of predatory habits, and +all degrees of courage to be found; yet all these raptors are treated +differently by species liable to be preyed on, and have just as much +respect paid them as their strength and daring entitles them to, and no +more, So much discrimination must seem almost incredible to those who +are not very familiar with the manners of wild birds; I do not think it +could exist if the fear shown resulted from instinct or inherited habit. +There would be no end to the blunders of such an instinct as that; and +in regions where hawks are extremely abundant most of the birds would bo +in a constant state of trepidation. On the pampas the appearance of the +comparatively harmless chimango excites not the least alarm among small +birds, yet at a distance it closely resembles a henharrier, and it also +readily attacks young, sick, and wounded birds; all others know how +little they have to fear from it. When it appears unexpectedly, +sweeping over a hedge or grove with a rapid flight, it is sometimes +mistaken for a more dangerous species; there is then a little flutter of +alarm, some birds springing into the air, but in two or three seconds of +time they discover their mistake, and settle down quietly again, taking +no further notice of the despised carrion-eater. On the other hand, I +have frequently mistaken a harrier (Circus cinereus, in the brown state +of plumage) for a chimango, and have only discovered my mistake by +seeing the commotion among the small birds. The harrier I have +mentioned, also the C. macropterus, feed partly on small birds, which +they flush from the ground and strike down with their claws. When the +harrier appears moving along with a loitering flight near the surface, +it is everywhere attended by a little whirlwind of alarm, small birds +screaming or chirping excitedly and diving into the grass or bushes; but +the alarm does not spread far, and subsides as soon as the hawk has +passed on its way. Buzzards (Buteo and Urubitinga) are much more feared, +and create a more widespread alarm, and they ars certainly more +destructive to birds than harriers. Another curious instance is that of +the sociable hawk (Rostrhanrus sociabilis). This bird spends the summer +and breeds in marshes in La Plata, and birds pay no attention to it, for +it feeds exclusively on water-snails (Ampullaria). But when it visits +woods and plantations to roost, during migration, its appearance creates +as much alarm as that of a true buzzard, which it closely resembles. +Wood-birds, unaccustomed to see it, do not know its peculiar preying +habits, and how little they need fear its presence. I may also mention +that the birds of La Plata seem to fear the kite-like Elanus less than +other hawks, and I believe that its singular resemblance to the common +gull of the district in its size, snowy-white plumage and manner of +flight, has a deceptive effect on most species, and makes them so little +suspicious of it, + +The wide-ranging peregrine falcon is a common species in La Plata, +although, oddly enough, not included in any notice of the avifauna of +that region before 1888. The consternation caused among birds by its +appearance is vastly greater than that produced by any of the raptors I +have mentioned: and it is unquestionably very much more destructive to +birds, since it preys exclusively on them, and, as a rule, merely picks +the flesh from the head and neck, and leaves the untouched body to its +jackal, the carrion-hawk. When the peregrine appears speeding through +the air in a straight line at a great height, the feathered world, as +far as one able to see, is thrown into the greatest commo-tion, all +birds, from the smallest up to species large as duck, ibis, and curlew, +rushing about in the air as if distracted. When the falcon has +disappeared in the sky, and the wave of terror attending its progress +subsides behind it, the birds still continue wild and excited for some +time, showing how deeply they have been moved; for, as a rule, fear is +exceedingly transitory in its effects on animals, + +I must, before concluding this part of my subject, mention another +raptor, also a true falcon, but differing from the peregrine in being +exclusively a marsh-hawk. In size it is nearly a third less than the +male peregrine, which it resembles in its sharp wings and manner of +flight, but its flight is much more rapid. The whole plumage, is +uniformly of a dark grey colour. Unfortunately, though I have observed +it not fewer than a hundred times, I have never been able to procure a +specimen, nor do I find that it is like any American falcon already +described; so that for the present it must remain nameless. Judging +solely from the effect produced by the appearance of this hawk, it must +be even more daring and destructive than its larger relation, the +peregrine. It flies at a great height, and sometimes descends vertically +and with extraordinary velocity, the wings producing a sound like a +deep-toned horn. The sound is doubtless produced at will, and is +certainly less advantageous to the hawk than to the birds it pursues. No +doubt it can afford to despise the wing-power of its quarry; and I have +sometimes thought that it takes a tyrannous delight in witnessing the +consternation caused by its hollow trumpeting sound. This may be only a +fancy, but some hawks do certainly take pleasure in pursuing and +striking birds when not seeking prey. The peregrine has been observed, +Baird says, capturing birds, only to kill and drop them. Many of the +Felidae, we know, evince a similar habit; only these prolong their +pleasure by practising a more refined and deliberate cruelty. + +The sudden appearance overhead of this hawk produces an effect wonderful +to witness. I have frequently seen all the inhabitants of a marsh struck +with panic, acting as if demented, and suddenly grown careless to all +other dangers; and on such occasions I have looked up confident of +seeing the sharp-winged death, suspended above them in the sky. All +birds that happen to be on the wing drop down as if shot into the reeds +or water; ducks away from the margin stretch out their necks +horizontally and drag their bodies, as if wounded, into closer cover; +not one bird is found bold enough to rise up and wheel about the +marauder--a usual proceeding in the case of other hawks; while, at every +sudden stoop the falcon makes, threatening to dash down on his prey, a +low cry of terror rises from the birds beneath; a sound expressive of an +emotion so contagious that it quickly runs like a murmur all over the +marsh, as if a gust of wind had swept moaning through, the rushes. As +long as the falcon hangs overhead, always at a height of about forty +yards, threatening at intervals to dash down, this murmuring sound, made +up of many hundreds of individual cries, is heard swelling and dying +away, and occasionally, when he drops lower than usual, rising to a +sharp scream of terror. + +Sometimes when I have been riding over marshy ground, one of these hawks +has placed himself directly over my head, within fifteen or twenty yards +of me; and it has perhaps acquired the habit of following a horseman in +this way in order to strike at any birds driven up. On one occasion my +horse almost trod on a couple of snipe squatting terrified in the short +grass. The instant they rose the hawk struck at one, the end of his wing +violently smiting my cheek as he stooped, and striking at the snipe on a +level with the knees of my horse. The snipe escaped by diving under the +bridle, and immediately dropped down on the other side of me, and the +hawk, rising up, flew away. + +To return. I think I am justified in believing that fear of hawks, like +fear of men, is, in very nearly all cases, the result of experience and +tradition. Nevertheless, I think it probable that in some species which +have always lived in the open, continually exposed to attack, and which +are preferred as food by raptors, such as duck, snipe, and plover, the +fear of the falcon may be an inherited habit. Among passerine birds I am +also inclined to think that swallows show inherited fear of hawks. +Swallows and humming-birds have least to fear from raptors; yet, while +humming-birds readily pursue and tease hawks, thinking as little of them +as of pigeons or herons, swallows everywhere manifest the greatest +terror at the approach of a true falcon; and they also fear other birds +of prey, though in a much less degree. It has been said that the +European hobby occasionally catches swal-lows on the wing, but this +seems a rare and exceptional habit, and in South America I have never +seen any bird of prey attempt the pursuit of a swallow. The question +then arises, how did this unnecessary fear, so universal in swallows, +originate? Can it be a survival of a far past--a time when some +wide-ranging small falcon, aerial in habits as the swallow itself, +preyed by preference on hirundines only ? + +[NOTE.-Herbert Spencer, who accepts Darwin's inference, explains how the +fear of man, acquired by experience, becomes instinctive in birds, in +the following passage: "It is well known that in newly-discovered lands +not inhabited by man, birds are so devoid of fear as to allow themselves +to be knocked over with sticks; but that, in the course of generations, +they acquire such a dread of man as to fly on his approach: and that +this dread is manifested by young as well as by old. Now unless this +change be ascribed to the killing-off of the least fearful, and the +preservation and multiplication of the most fearful which, considering +the comparatively small number killed by man, is an inadequate cause, it +must be ascribed to accumulated experience; and each experience must be +held to have a share in producing it. We must conclude that in each bird +that escapes with injuries inflicted by man, or is alarmed by the +outcries of other members of the flock (gregarious creatures of any +intelligence being necessarily more or less sympathetic), there is +established an association of ideas between the human aspect and the +pains, direct and in-direct, suffered from human agency. And we must +further con-clude, that the state of consciousness which compels the +bird to take flight, is at first nothing more than an ideal reproduction +of those painful impressions which before followed man's approach; that +such ideal reproduction becomes more vivid and more massive as the +painful experiences, direct or sympathetic, increase; and that thus the +emotion, in its incipient state, is nothing else than an aggregation of +the revived pains before experience. + +"As, in the course of generations, the young birds of this race begin to +display a fear of man before yet they have been injured by him, it is an +unavoidable inference that the nervous system of the race has been +organically modified by these experiences, we have no choice but to +conclude, that when a young bird is led to fly, it is because the +impression produced in its senses by the approaching man entails, +through an incipiently reflex action, a partial excitement of all those +nerves which in its ancestors had been excited under the like +conditions; that this partial excitement has its accompanying painful +consciousness, and that the vague painful consciousness thus arising +constitutes emotion proper--_emotion undecomposable into specific +experiences, and, therefore, seemingly homogeneous"_ (Essays, vol. i. p. +320.)] + +It is comforting to know that the "unavoidable inference" is, after all, +erroneous, and that the nervous system in birds has not yet been +organically altered as a result of man's persecution; for in that case +it would take long to undo the mischief, and we should be indeed far +from that "better friendship" with the children of the air which many of +us would like to see. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +PARENTAL AND EARLY INSTINCTS. + + +Under this heading I have put together several notes from my journals on +subjects which have no connection with each other, except that they +relate chiefly to the parental instincts of some animals I have +observed, and to the instincts of the young at a very early period of +life. + +While taking bats one day in December, I captured a female of our common +Buenos Ayrean species (Molossus bonariensis), with her two young +attached to her, so large that it seemed incredible she should be able +to fly and take insects with such a weight to drag her down. The young +were about a third less in size than the mother, so that she had to +carry a weight greatly exceeding that of her own body. They were +fastened to her breast and belly, one on each side, as when first born; +and, possibly, the young bat does not change its position, or move, like +the young developed opossum, to other parts of the body, until mature +enough to begin an independent life. On forcibly separating them from +their parent, I found that they were not yet able to fly, but when set +free fluttered feebly to the ground. This bat certainly appeared more +burdened with its young than any animal I had ever observed. I have seen +an old female opossum (Didelphys azarae) with eleven young, large as old +rats--the mother being less than a cat in size--all clinging to various +parts of her body; yet able to climb swiftly and with the greatest +agility in the higher branches of a tree. The actual weight was in this +case relatively much greater than in that of the female bat: but then +the opossum never quitted its hold on the tree, and it also supplemented +its hand-like feet, furnished with crooked claws, with its teeth and +long prehensile tail. The poor bat had to seek its living in the empty +air, pursuing its prey with the swiftness of a swallow, and it seemed +wonderful to me that she should have been able to carry about that great +burden with her one pair of wings, and withal to be active enough to +supply herself and her young with food. + +In the end I released her, and saw her fly away and disappear among the +trees, after which I put back the two young bats in the place I had +taken them from, among the thick-clustering foliage of a small acacia +tree. When set free they began to work their way upwards through the +leaves and slender twigs in the most adroit manner, catching a twig with +their teeth, then embracing a whole cluster of leaves with their wings, +just as a person would take up a quantity of loose clothes and hold them +tight by pressing them against the chest. The body would then emerge +above the clasped leaves, and a higher twig would be caught by the +teeth; and so on successively, until they had got as high as they +wished, when they proceeded to hook themselves to a twig and assume the +inverted position side by side; after which, one drew in its head and +went to sleep, while the other began licking the end of its wing, where +my finger and thumb had pressed the delicate membrane. Later in the day +I attempted to feed them with small insects, but they rejected my +friendly attentions in the most unmistakable manner, snapping viciously +at me every time I approached them. In the evening, I stationed myself +close to the tree, and presently had the satisfaction of seeing the +mother return, flying straight to the spot where I had taken her, and in +a few moments she was away again and over the trees with her twins. + +Assuming that these two young bats had, before I found them, existed +like parasites clinging to the parent, their adroit actions when +liberated, and their angry demonstrations at my approach, were very +astonishing; for in all other mammals born in a perfectly helpless +state, like rodents, weasels, edentates, and even marsupials, the +instincts of self-preservation are gradually developed after the period +of activity begins, when the mother leads them out, and they play with +her and Avith each other. In the bat the instincts must ripen to +perfection without exercise or training, and while the animal exists as +passively as a fruit on its stem. + +I have observed that the helpless young of some of the mammals I have +just mentioned seem at first to have no instinctive understanding of the +language of alarm and fear in the parent, as all young-birds have, even +before their eyes are open. Nor is it necessary that they should have +such an instinct, since, in most cases, they are well concealed in +kennels or other safe places; but when, through some accident, they are +exposed, the want of such an instinct makes the task of protecting them +doubly hard for the parent. I once surprised a weasel (Galictis barbara) +in the act of removing her young, or conducting them, rather; and when +she was forced to quit them, although still keeping close by, and +uttering the most piercing cries of anger and solicitude, the young +continued piteously crying out in their shrill voices and moving about +in circles, without making the slightest attempt to escape, or to +conceal themselves, as young birds do. + +Some field mice breed on the surface of the ground in ill-constructed +nests, and their young are certainly the most helpless things in nature. +It is possible that where this dangerous habit exists, the parent has +some admirable complex instincts to safeguard her young, in addition to +the ordinary instincts of most animals of this kind. This idea was +suggested to me by the action of a female mouse which I witnessed by +chance. While walking in a field of stubble one day in autumn, near +Buenos Ayres, I suddenly heard, issuing from near my feet, a chorus of +shrill squealing voices--the familiar excessively sharp little needles +of sound emitted by young, blind and naked mice, when they are disturbed +or in pain. Looking down, I saw close to my foot a nest of them--there +were nine in all, wriggling about and squealing; for the parent, +frightened at my step, had just sprung from them, overturning in her +hurry to escape the slight loosely-felted dome of fine grass and +thistledown which had covered them. I saw her running away, but after +going six or seven yards she stopped, and, turning partly round so as to +watch me, waited in fear and trembling. I remained perfectly +motionless--a sure way to allay fear and suspicion in any wild +creature,--and in a few moments she returned, but with the utmost +caution, frequently pausing to start and tremble, and masking her +approach with corn stumps and little inequalities in the surface of the +ground, until, reaching the nest, she took one of the young in her +mouth, and ran rapidly away to a distance of eight or nine yards and +concealed it in a tuft of dry grass. + +Leaving it, she returned a second time, in the same cautious manner, and +taking another, ran with it to the same spot, and concealed it along +with the first. It was curious that the first young mouse had continued +squealing after being hidden by the mother, for I could hear it +distinctly, the air being very still, but when the second mouse had been +placed with it, the squealing ceased. A third time the old mouse came, +and then instead of going to the same spot, as I had expected, she ran +off in an opposite direction and disappeared among the dry weeds; a +fourth was carried to the same place as the third; and in this way they +were all removed to a distance of some yards from the nest, and placed +in couples, until the last and odd one remained. In due time she came +for it, and ran away with it in a new direction, and was soon out of +sight; and although I waited fully ten minutes, she did not return; nor +could I afterwards find any of the young mice when I looked for them, or +even hear them squeal. + +I have frequently observed newly-born lambs on the pampas, and have +never failed to be surprised at the extreme imbecility they display in +their actions; although this may be due partly to inherited degeneracy +caused by domestication. This imbecile condition continues for two, +sometimes for three days, during which time the lamb apparently acts +purely from instincts, which are far from perfect; but after that, +experience and its dam teach it a better way. When born its first +impulse is to struggle up on to its feet; its second to suck, but here +it does not discriminate like the newly-hatched bird that picks up its +proper food, or it does not know what to suck. It will take into its +mouth whatever comes near, in most cases a tuft of wool on its dam's +neck; and at this it will continue sucking for an indefinite time. It is +highly probable that the strong-smelling secretion of the sheep's udder +attracts the lamb at length to that part; and that without something of +the kind to guide it, in many cases it would actually starve without +finding the teats. I have often seen lambs many hours after birth still +confining their attention to the most accessible locks of wool on the +neck or fore legs of the dams, and believe that in such cases the long +time it took them to find the source of nourishment arose from a +defective sense of smell. Its next important instinct, which comes into +play from the moment it can stand on its feet, impels it to follow after +any object receding from it, and, on the other hand, to run from +anything approaching it. If the dam turns round and approaches it from +even a very short distance, it will start back and run from her in fear, +and will not understand her voice when she bleats to it: at the same +time it will confidently follow after a man, dog, horse, or any other +animal moving from it. A very common experience on the pampas, in the +sheep-country, is to see a lamb start up from sleep and follow the +rider, running along close to the heels of the horse. This is +distressing to a merciful man, tor he cannot shake the little simpleton +off, and if he rides on, no matter how fast, it will keep up him, or +keep him in sight, for half a mile or a mile, and never recover its dam. +The gaucho, who is not merciful, frequently saves himself all trouble +and delay by knocking it senseless with a blow of his whip-handle, and +without checking his horse. I have seen a lamb, about two days old, +start up from sleep, and immediately start off in pursuit of a puff ball +about as big as a man's head, carried past it over the smooth turf by +the wind, and chase it for a distance of five hundred yards, until the +dry ball was brought to a stop by a tuft of coarse grass. This +blundering instiuct is quickly laid aside when the lamb has learned to +distinguish its dam from other objects, and its dam's voice from other +sounds. When four or five days old it will start from sleep, but instead +of rushing blindly away after any receding object, it first looks about +it, and will then recognize and run to its dam. + +I have often been struck with the superiority of the pampa or +creolla--the old native breed of sheep--in the greater vigour of the +young when born over the improved European varieties. The pampa descends +to us from the first sheep introduced into La Plata about three +centuries ago, and is a tall, gaunt bony animal, with lean dry flesh, +like venison, and long straight wool, like goats' hair. In their +struggle for existence in a country subject to sudden great changes of +temperature, to drought, and failure of grass, they have in a great +measure lost the qualities which make the sheep valuable to man as a +food and wool-producing animal; but on the other hand they have to some +extent recovered the vigour of a wild animal, being hardy enough to +exist without any shelter, and requiring from their master man only +protection from the larger carnivores. They are keen-scented, swift of +foot and Wonderfully active, and thrive where other breeds would quickly +starve. I have often seen a lamb dropped on the frosty ground in +bitterly cold windy weather in midwinter, and in less than five seconds +struggle to its feet, and seem as vigorous as any day-old lamb of other +breeds. The dam, impatient at the short delay, and not waiting to give +it suck, has then started off at a brisk trot after the flock, scattered +and galloping before the wind like huanacos rather than sheep, with the +lamb, scarcely a minute in the world, running freely at her side. +Notwithstanding its great vigour it has been proved that the pampa sheep +has not so far outgrown the domestic taint as to be able to maintain its +own existence when left entirely to itself. During the first half of +this century, when cattle-breeding began to be profitable, and wool was +not worth the trouble of shearing, and the gaucho workman would not eat +mutton when beef was to be had, some of the estancieros on the southern +pampas determined to get rid of their sheep, which were of no value to +them; and many flocks were driven a distance out and lost in the wilds. +Out of many thousands thus turned loose to shift for themselves, not one +pair survived to propagate a new race of feral sheep; in a short time +pumas, wild dogs, and other beasts of prey, had destroyed them all. The +sterling qualities of the pampa sheep had their value in other times; at +present the improved kinds are alone considered worth having, and the +original sheep of the country is now rapidly disappearing, though still +found in remote and poor districts, especially in the province of +Cordova; and probably before long it will become extinct, together with +the curious pug-nosed cow of the pampas. + +I have had frequent opportunities of observing the young, from one to +three days old, of the Cervus campestris--the common deer of the pampas, +and the perfection of its instincts at that tender age seem very +wonderful in a ruminant. When the doe with, fawn is approached by a +horseman, even when accompanied with dogs, she stands perfectly +motionless, gazing fixedly at the enemy, the fawn motionless at her +side; and suddenly, as if at a preconcerted signal, the fawn rushes +directly away from her at its utmost speed; and going to a distance of +six hundred to a thousand yards conceals itself in a hollow in the +ground or among the long grass, lying down very close with neck +stretched out horizontally, and will thus remain until sought by the +dam. When very young if found in its hiding-place it will allow itself +to be taken, making no further effort to escape. After the fawn has run +away the doe still maintains her statuesque attitude, as if resolved to +await the onset, and only when the dogs are close to her she also rushes +away, but invariably in a direction as nearly opposite to that taken by +the fawn as possible. At first she runs slowly, with a limping gait, and +frequently pausing, as if to entice her enemies on, like a partridge, +duck or plover when driven from its young; but as they begin to press +her more closely her speed increases, becoming greater the further she +succeeds in leading them from the starting-point. + +The alarm-cry of this deer is a peculiar whistling bark, a low but +far-reaching sound; but when approaching a doe with young I have never +been able to hear it, nor have I seen any movement on the part of the +doe. Yet it is clear that in some mysterious way she inspires the fawn +with sudden violent fear; while the fawn, on its side, instead of being +affected like the young in other mammals, and sticking closer to its +mother, acts in a contrary way, and runs from her. + +Of the birds I am acquainted with, the beautiful jacana (Parra jacana) +appears to come into the world with its faculties and powers in the most +advanced state. It is, in fact, ready to begin active life from the very +moment of leaving the shell, as I once accidentally observed. I found a +nest on a small mound of earth in a shallow lagoon, containing four +eggs, with the shells already chipped by the birds in them. Two yards +from the small nest mound there was a second mound covered with coarse +grass. I got off my horse to examine the nest, and the old birds, +excited beyond measure, fluttered round me close by pouring out their +shrill rapidly-reiterated cries in an unbroken stream, sounding very +much like a policeman's rattle. While I was looking closely at one of +the eggs lying on the palm of my hand, all at once the cracked shell +parted, and at the same moment the young bird leaped from my hand and +fell into the water. I am quite sure that the young bird's sudden escape +from the shell and my hand was the result of a violent effort on its +part to free itself; and it was doubtless inspired to make the effort by +the loud persistent screaming of the parent birds, which it heard while +in the shell. Stooping to pick it up to save it from perishing, I soon +saw that my assistance was not required, for immediately on dropping +into the water, it put out its neck, and with the body nearly submerged, +like a wounded duck trying to escape observation, it swam rapidly to the +second small mound I have mentioned, and, escaping from the water, +concealed itself in the grass, lying close and perfectly motionless like +a young plover. + +In the case of the pampa or creolla sheep, I have shown that during its +long, rough life in La Plata, this variety has in some measure recovered +the natural vigour and ability to maintain existence in adverse +circumstances of its wild ancestors. As much can be said of the creolla +fowl of the pampas; and some observations of mine on the habits of this +variety will perhaps serve to throw light on a vexed question of Natural +History--namely, the cackling of the hen after laying, an instinct which +has been described as "useless" and "disadvantageous." In fowls that +live unconfined, and which are allowed to lay where they like, the +instinct, as we know it, is certainly detrimental, since egg-eating dogs +and pigs soon learn the cause of the outcry, and acquire a habit of +rushing off to find the egg when they hear it. The question then arises: +Does the wild jungle fowl possess the same pernicious instinct? + +The creolla is no doubt the descendant of the fowl originally introduced +about three centuries ago by the first colonists in La Plata, and has +probably not only been uncrossed with any other improved variety, such +as are now fast taking its place, and has lived a much freer life than +is usual with the fowl in Europe. It is a rather small, lean, extremely +active bird, lays about a dozen eggs, and hatches them all, and is of a +yellowish red colour--a hue which is common, I believe, in the old +barn-door fowl of England. The creolla fowl is strong on the wing, and +much more carnivorous and rapacious in habits than other breeds; mice, +frogs, and small snakes are eagerly hunted and devoured by it. At my +home on the pampas a number of these fowls were kept, and were allowed +to range freely about the plantation, which was large, and the adjacent +grounds, where there were thickets of giant cardoon thistle, red-weed, +thorn apple, &c. They always nested at a distance from the house, and it +was almost impossible ever to find their eggs, on account of the extreme +circumspection they observed in going to and from their nests; and when +they succeeded in escaping foxes, skunks, weasels, and opossums, which, +strange to say, they often did, they would rear their chickens away out +of sight and hearing of the house, and only bring them home when winter +deprived them of their leafy covering and made food scarce. During the +summer, in my rambles about the plantation, T would occasionally +surprise one of these half-wild hens with her brood; her distracted +screams and motions would then cause her chicks to scatter and vanish in +all directions, and, until the supposed danger was past, they would lie +as close and well-concealed as young partridges. These fowls in summer +always lived in small parties, each party composed of one cock and as +many hens as he could collect--usually three or four. Each family +occupied its own feeding ground, where it would pass a greater portion +of each day. The hen would nest at a considerable distance from the +feeding ground, sometimes as far as four or five hundred yards away. +After laying an egg she would quit the nest, not walking from it as +other fowls do, but flying, the flight extending to a distance of from +fifteen to about fifty yards; after which, still keeping silence, she +would walk or run, until, arrived at the feeding ground, she would begin +to cackle. At once the cock, if within hearing, would utter a responsive +cackle, whereupon she would run to him and cackle no more. Frequently +the cackling call-note would not be uttered more than two or three +times, sometimes only once, and in a much lower tone than in fowls of +other breeds. + +If we may assume that these fowls, in their long, semi-independent +existence in La Plata, have reverted to the original instincts of the +wild Gallus bankiva, we can see here how advantageous the cackling +instinct must be in enabling the hen in dense tropical jungles to rejoin +the flock after laying an egg. If there are egg-eating animals in the +jungle intelligent enough to discover the meaning of such a short, +subdued cackling call, they would still be unable to find the nest by +going back on the bird's scent, since she flies from the nest in the +first place; and the wild bird probably flies further than the creolla +hen of La Plata. The clamorous cackling of our fowls would appear then +to be nothing more than a perversion of a very useful instinct. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE MEPHITIC SKUNK. + + +It might possibly give the reader some faint conception of the odious +character of this creature (for adjectives are weak to describo it) when +I say that, in talking to strangers from abroad, I have never thought it +necessary to speak of sunstroke, jaguars, or the assassin's knife, but +have never omitted to warn them of the skunk, minutely describing its +habits and personal appearance. + +I knew an Englishman who, on taking a first gallop across the pampas, +saw one, and, quickly dismounting, hurled himself bodily on to it to +effect its capture. Poor man! he did not know that the little animal is +never unwilling to be caught. Men have been blinded for ever by a +discharge of the fiery liquid full in their faces. On a mucous membrane +it burns like sulphuric acid, say the unfortunates who have had the +experience. How does nature protect the skunk itself from the injurious +effects of its potent fluid? I have not unfrequently found individuals +stone-blind, sometimes moving so briskly about that the blindness must +have been of long standing--very possibly in some cases an accidental +drop discharged by the animal itself has caused the loss of sight. When +coming to close quarters with a skunk, by covering up the face, one's +clothes only are ruined. But this is not all one has to fear from an +encounter; the worst is that effluvium, after which crushed garlic is +lavender, which tortures the olfactory nerves, and appears to pervade +the whole system like a pestilent ether, nauseating one until +sea-sickness seems almost a pleasant sensation in comparison. + +To those who know the skunk only from reputation, my words might seem +too strong; many, however, who have come to close quarters with the +little animal will think them ridiculously weak. And consider what must +the feelings be of one who has had the following experience--not an +uncommon experience on the pampas. There is to be a dance at a +neighbouring house a few miles away; he has been looking forward to it, +and, dressing himself with due care, mounts his horse and sets out full +of joyous anticipations. It is a dark windy evening, but there is a +convenient bridle-path through the dense thicket of giant thistles, and +striking it he puts his horse into a swinging gallop. Unhappily the path +is already occupied by a skunk, invisible in the darkness, that, in +obedience to the promptings of its insane instinct, refuses to get out +of it, until the flying hoofs hit it and sand it like a well-kicked +football into the thistles. But the forefoot of the horse, up as high as +his knees perhaps, have been sprinkled, and the rider, after coming out +into the open, dismounts and walks away twenty yards from his animal, +and literally _smells_ himself all over, and with a feeling of profound +relief pronounces himself Not the minutest drop of the diabolical spray +has touched his dancing shoes! Springing into the saddle he proceeds to +his journey's end, is warmly welcomed by his host, and speedily +forgetting his slight misadventure, mingles with a happy crowd of +friends. In a little while people begin exchanging whispers and +significant glances; men are seen smiling at nothing in particular; the +hostess wears a clouded face; the ladies cough and put their scented +handkerchiefs to their noses, and presently they begin to feel faint and +retire from the room. Our hero begins to notice that there is something +wrong, and presently discovers its cause; he, unhappily, has been the +last person in the room to remark that familiar but most abominable +odour, rising like a deadly exhalation from the floor, conquering all +other odours, and every moment becoming more powerful. A drop _has_ +touched his shoe after all; and fearing to be found out, and edging +towards the door, he makes his escape, and is speedily riding home +again; knowing full well that his sudden and early departure from the +scene will be quickly discovered and set down to the right cause. + +In that not always trustworthy book _The Natural History of Chili,_ +Molina tells us how they deal with the animal in the trans-Andine +regions. "When one appears," he says, "some of the company begiu by +caressing it, until an opportunity offers for one of them to seize it by +the tail. In this position the muscles become contracted, the animal is +unable to eject its fluid, and is quickly despatched." One might just as +well talk of caressing a cobra de capello; yet this laughable fiction +finds believers all over South and North America. Professor Baird +gravely introduces it into his great work on the mammalia. I was once +talking about animals in a rancho, when a person present (an Argentine +officer) told that, while visiting an Indian encampment, he had asked +the savages how they contrived to kill skunks without making even a life +in the desert intolerable. A grave old Cacique informed him that the +secret was to go boldly up to the animal, take it by the tail, and +despatch it; for, he said, when you fear it not at all, then it respects +your courage and dies like a lamb--sweetly. The officer, continuing his +story, said that on quitting the Indian camp he started a skunk, and, +glad of an opportunity to test the truth of what he had heard, +dismounted and proceeded to put the Indian plan in practice. Here the +story abruptly ended, and when I eagerly demanded to hear the sequel, +the amateur hunter of furs lit a cigarette and vacantly watched the +ascending smoke. The Indians aro grave jokers, they seldom smile; and +this old traditional skunk-joke, which has run the length of a +continent, finding its way into many wise books, is their revenge on a +superior race. + +I have shot a great many eagles, and occasionally a carancho (Polyborus +tharus), with the plumage smelling strongly of skunk, which shows that +these birds, pressed by hunger, often commit the fearful mistake of +attacking the animal. My friend Mr. Ernest Gibson, of Buenos Ayres, in a +communication to the _Ibis,_ describes an encounter he actually +witnessed between a carancho and a skunk. Riding home one afternoon, he +spied a skunk "shuffling along in the erratic manner usual to that +odoriferous quadruped;" following it at a very short distance was an +eagle-vulture, evidently bent on mischief. Every time the bird came near +the bushy tail rose menacingly; then the carancho would fall behind, +and, after a few moments' hesitation, follow on again. At length, +growing bolder, it sprung forward, seizing the threatening tail with its +claw, but immediately after "began staggering about with dishevelled +plumage, tearful eyes, and a profoundly woe-begone expression on its +vulture face. The skunk, after turning and regarding its victim with an +I-told-you-so look for a few moments, trotted unconcernedly off." + +I was told in Patagonia by a man named Molinos, who was frequently +employed by the Government as guide to expeditions in the desert, that +everywhere throughout that country the skunk is abundant. Some years ago +he was sent with two other men to find and treat with an Indian chief +whose whereabouts were not known. Far in the interior Molinos was +overtaken by a severe winter, his horses died of thirst and fatigue, and +during the three bitterest months of the year he kept himself and his +followers alive by eating the flesh of skunks, the only wild animal that +never failed them. No doubt, on those vast sterile plains where the +skunk abounds, and goes about by day and by night careless of enemies, +the terrible nature of its defensive weapon is the first lesson +experience teaches to every young eagle, fox, wild cat, and puma. + +Dogs kill skunks when made to do so, but it is not a sport they delight +in. One moonlight night, at home, I went out to where the dogs, twelve +in number, were sleeping: while I stood there a skunk appeared and +deliberately came towards me, passing through the dogs where they lay, +and one by one as he passed them they rose up, and, with their tails +between their legs, skulked off. When made to kill skunks often they +become seasoned; but always perform the loathsome task expeditiously, +then rush away with frothing mouths to rub their faces in the wet clay +and rid themselves of the fiery sensation. At one time I possessed only +one dog that could be made to face a skunk, and as the little robbers +were very plentiful, and continually coining about the house in their +usual open, bold way, it was rather hard for the poor brute. This dog +detested them quite as strongly as the others, only he was more +obedient, faithful, and brave. Whenever I bade him attack one of them +he would come close up to me and look up into my face with piteous +pleading eyes, then, finding that he was not to be let off from the +repulsive task, he would charge upon the doomed animal with a blind fury +wonderful to see. Seizing it between his teeth, he would shake it madly, +crushing its bones, then hurl it several feet from him, only to rush +again and again upon it to repeat the operation, doubtless with a +Caligula-like wish in his frantic breast that all the skunks on the +globe had but one backbone. + +I was once on a visit to a sheep-farming brother, far away on the +southern frontier of Buenos Ayres, and amongst the dogs I found there +was one most interesting creature, He was a great, lumbering, stupid, +good-tempered brute, so greedy that when you offered him a piece of meat +he would swallow half your arm, and so obedient that at a word he would +dash himself against the horns of a bull, and face death and danger in +any shape. But, my brother told me, he would not face a skunk--he would +die first. One day I took him out and found a skunk, and for upwards of +half an hour I sat on my horse vainly cheering on my cowardly follower, +and urging him to battle. The very sight of the enemy gave him a fit of +the shivers; and when the irascible little enemy began to advance +against us, going through the performance by means of which he generally +puts his foes to flight without resorting to malodorous +measures--stamping his little feet in rage, jumping up, spluttering and +hissing and flourishing his brush like a warlike banner above his +head--then hardly could I restrain my dog from turning tail and flying +home in abject terror. My cruel persistence was rewarded at last. +Continued shouts, cheers, and hand-clappings began to stir the brute to +a kind of frenzy. Torn by conflicting emotions, he began to revolve +about the skunk at a lumbering gallop, barking, howling, and bristling +up his hair; and at last, shutting his eyes, and with a yell of +desperation, he charged. I fully expected to see the enemy torn to +pieces in a few seconds, but when the dog was still four or five feet +from him the fatal discharge came, and he dropped down as if shot dead. +For some time he lay on the earth perfectly motionless, watched and +gently bedewed by the victorious skunk; then he got up and crept whining +away. Gradually he quickened his pace, finally breaking into a frantic +run. In vain I followed him, shouting at the top of my lungs; he stayed +not to listen, and very speedily vanished from sight--a white speck on +the vast level plain. At noon on the following day he made his +appearance, gaunt and befouled with mud, staggering forward like a +galvanized skeleton. Too worn out even to eat, he flung himself down, +and for hours lay like a dead thing, sleeping off the effects of those +few drops of perfume. + +Dogs, I concluded, like men, have their idiosyncrasies; but I had gained +my point, and proved once more--if any proof were needed--the truth of +that noble panegyric of Bacon's on our faithful servant and companion. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +MIMICRY AND WARNING COLOURS IN GRASSHOPPERS. + + +There is in La Plata a large handsome grasshopper (Zoniopoda tarsata), +the habits of which in its larva and imago stages are in strange +contrast, like those in certain lepidoptera, in which the caterpillars +form societies and act in concert. The adult has a greenish protective +colouring, brown and green banded thighs, bright red hind wings, seen +only during flight. It is solitary and excessively shy in its habits, +living always in concealment among the dense foliage near the surface of +the ground. The yonng are intensely black, like grasshoppers cut out of +jet or ebony, and gregarious in habit, living in bands of forty or fifty +to three or four hundred; and so little shy, that they may sometimes be +taken up by handfuls before they begin to scatter in alarm. Their +gregarious habits and blackness--of all hues in nature the most obvious +to the sight--would alone be enough to make them the most conspicuous of +insects; but they have still other habits which appear as if specially +designed to bring them more prominently into notice. Thus, they all keep +so close together at all times as to have their bodies actually +touching, and when travelling, move so slowly that the laziest snail +might easily overtake and pass one of their bands, and even disappear +beyond their limited horizon in a very short time. + +They often select an exposed weed to feed on, clustering together on its +summit above the surrounding verdure, an exceedingly conspicuous object +to every eye in the neighbourhood. They also frequently change their +feeding-ground; at such times they deliberately cross wide roads and +other open spaces, barren of grass, where, moving so slowly that they +scarcely seem to move at all, they look at a distance like a piece of +black velvet lying on the ground. Thus in every imaginable way they +expose themselves and invite attack; yet, in spite of it all, I have +never detected birds preying on them, and I have sometimes kept one of +these black societies under observation near my house for several days, +watching them at intervals, in places where the trees overhead were the +resort of Icterine and tyrant birds, Guira cuckoos, and other species, +all great hunters after grasshoppers. A young grasshopper is, moreover, +a morsel that seldom comes amiss to any bird, whether insect or seed +eater; and, as a rule, it is extremely shy, nimble, and inconspicuous. +It seems clear that, although the young Zoniopoda does not mimic in its +form any black protected insect, it nevertheless owes its safety to its +blackness, together with the habit it possesses of exposing itself in so +open and bold a manner. Blackness is so common in large protected +insects, as, for instance, in the un-palatable leaf-cutting ants, +scorpions, mygale spiders, wasps, and other dangerous kinds, that it is +manifestly a "warning colour," the most universal and best known in +nature; and the grasshopper, I believe, furthermore mimics the fearless +demeanour of the protected or venomous species, which birds and other +insect-eaters know and respect. It might be supposed that the young +Zoniopoda is itself unpalatable; but this is scarcely probable, for when +the deceptive black mask is once dropped, the excessive shyness, love of +concealment, and protective colouring of the insect show that it is much +sought after by birds. + +While setting this down as an undoubted case of "mimicry," although it +differs in some respects from all other cases I have seen reported, I +cannot help remarking that this most useful word appears to be in some +danger of losing the meaning originally attached to it in zoology. There +are now very few cases of an accidental resemblance found between two +species in nature which are not set down by someone to "mimicry," some +in which even the wildest imagination might well fail to see any +possible benefit to the supposed mimic. In cases where the outward +resemblance of some feeble animal to a widely different and +well-protected species, or to some object like a leaf or stick, and +where such resemblance is manifestly advantageous and has reacted on and +modified the life habits, it is conceivable that slight spontaneous +variations in the structure and colouring of the unprotected species +have been taken advantage of by the principle of natural selection, and +a case of "mimicry" set up, to become more and more perfect in time, as +successive casual variations in the same direction increased the +resemblance. + +The stick-insect is perhaps the most perfect example where resemblance +to an inanimate object has been the result aimed at, so to speak, by +nature; the resemblance of the volucella fly to the humble-bee, on which +it is parasitical, is the most familiar example of one species growing +like another to its own advantage, since only by means of its deceptive +likeness to the humble-bee is it able to penetrate into the nest with +impunity. These two cases, with others of a similar character, were +first called cases of "mimicry" by Kirby and Spence, in their +ever-delightful _Introduction to Entomology--_an old book, but, +curiously enough in these days of popular treatises on all matters of +the kind, still the only general work on insects in the English language +which one who is not an entomologist can read with pleasure. + +A second case of mimicry not yet noticed by any naturalist is seen in +another grasshopper, also common in La Plata (Rhomalea speciosa of +Thun-berg). This is an extremely elegant insect; the head and thorax +chocolate, with cream-coloured markings; the abdomen steel-blue or +purple, a colour I have not seen in any other insects of this family. +The fore wings have a protective colouring; the hind wings are bright +red. When at rest, with the red and purple tints concealed, it is only a +very pretty grasshopper, but the instant it takes wing it becomes the +fac-simile of a very common wasp of the genus Pepris. These wasps vary +greatly in size, some being as large as the hornet; they are solitary, +and feed on the honey of flowers and on fruit, and, besides being +furnished with stings like other wasps--though their sting is nok so +venomous as in other genera--they also, when angry, emit a most +abominable odour, and are thus doubly protected against their enemies. +Their excessive tameness, slow flight, and indolent motions serve to +show that they are not accustomed to be interfered with. All these +strong-smelling wasps have steel-blue or purple bodies, and bright red +wings. So exactly does the Rhomalea grasshopper mimic the Pepris when +flying, that I have been deceived scores of times. I have even seen it +on the leaves, and, after it has flown and settled once more, I have +gone to look at it again, to make sure that my eyes had not deceived me. +It is curious to see how this resemblance has reacted on and modified +the habits of the grasshopper. It is a great flyer, and far more aerial +in its habits than any other insect I am acquainted with in this family, +living always in trees, instead of on or near the surface of the ground. +It is abundant in orchards and plantations round Buenos Ayres, where its +long and peculiarly soft, breezy note may be heard all summer. If the +ancient Athenians possessed so charming an insect as this, their great +regard for the grasshopper was not strange: I only wish that the +"Athenians of South America," as my fellow-townsmen sometimes call +themselves in moments of exaltation, had a feeling of the samo kind--the +regard which does _not_ impale its object on a pin--for the pretty +light-hearted songster of their groves and gardens. + +When taken in the hand, it has the habit, common to most grasshoppers, +of pouring out an inky fluid from its mouth; only the discharge is +unusually copious in this species. It has another habit in defending +itself which is very curious. When captured it instantly curls its body +round, as a wasp does to sting. The suddenness of this action has more +than once caused me to drop an insect I had taken, actually thinking for +the moment that I had taken hold of a wasp. Whether birds would be +deceived and made to drop it or not is a question it would not be easy +to settle; but the instinct certainly looks like 'one of a series of +small adaptations, all tending to make the resemblance to a wasp more +complete and effective. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +DRAGON-FLY STORMS. + + +One of the most curious things I have encountered in my observations on +animal life relates to a habit of the larger species of dragon-flies +inhabiting the Pampas and Patagonia. Dragon-flies are abundant +throughout the country wherever there is water. There are several +species, all more or less brilliantly coloured. The kinds that excited +my wonder, from their habits, are twice as large as the common widely +distributed insects, being three inches to four inches in length, and as +a rule they are sober-coloured, although there is one species--the +largest among them--entirely of a brilliant scarlet. This kind is, +however, exceedingly rare. All the different kinds (of the large +dragon-flies) when travelling associate together, and occasionally, in a +flight composed of countless thousands, one of these brilliant-hued +individuals will catch the eye, appearing as conspicuous among the +others as a poppy or scarlet geranium growing alone in an otherwise +flowerless field. The most common species--and in some cases the entire +flight seems to be composed of this kind only--is the Aeschna +bonariensis Raml, the prevailing colour of which is pale blue. But the +really wonderful thing about them all alike is, that they appear only +when flying before the southwest wind, called _pampero_--the wind that +blows from the interior of the pampas. The pampero is a dry, cold wind, +exceedingly violent. It bursts on the plains very suddenly, and usually +lasts only a short time, sometimes not more than ten minutes; it comes +irregularly, and at all seasons of the year, but is most frequent in the +hot season, and after exceptionally sultry weather. It is in summer and +autumn that the large dragon-flies appear; not _with_ the wind, but--and +this is the most curious part of the matter--in advance of it; and +inasmuch as these insects are not seen in the country at other times, +and frequently appear in seasons of prolonged drought, when all the +marshes and watercourses for many hundreds of miles are dry, they must +of course traverse immense distances, flying before the wind at a speed +of seventy or eighty miles an hour. On some occasions they appear almost +simultaneously with the wind, going by like a flash, and instantly +disappearing from sight. You have scarcely time to see them before the +wind strikes you. As a rule, however, they make their appearance from +five to fifteen minutes before the wind strikes; and when they are in +great numbers the air, to a height of ten or twelve feet above the +surface of the ground, is all at once seen to be full of them, rushing +past with extraordinary velocity in a north-easterly direction. In very +oppressive weather, and when the swiftly advancing pampero brings no +moving mountains of mingled cloud and dust, and is consequently not +expected, the sudden apparition of the dragon-fly is a most welcome one, +for then an immediate burst of cold wind is confidently looked for. In +the expressive vernacular of the gauchos the large dragon-fly is called +_hijo del pampero_--son of the south-west wind. + +It is clear that these great and frequent dragonfly movements are not +explicable on any current hypothesis regarding the annual migrations of +birds, the occasional migrations of butterflies, or the migrations of +some mammals, like the reindeer and buffalo of Arctic America, which, +according to Rae and other observers, perform long journeys north and +south at regular seasons, "from a sense of polarity." Neither this +hypothetical sense in animals, nor "historical memory" will account for +the dragon-fly storms, as the phenomenon of the pampas might be called, +since the insects do not pass and repass between "breeding and +subsistence areas," but all journey in a north-easterly direction; and +of the countless millions flying like thistledown before the great +pampero wind, not one solitary traveller ever returns. + +The cause of the flight is probably dynamical, affecting the insects +with a sudden panic, and compelling them to rush away before the +approaching tempest. The mystery is that they should fly from the wind +before it reaches them, and yet travel in the same direction with it. +When they pass over the level, treeless country, not one insect lags +behind, or permits the wind to overtake it; but, on arriving at a wood +or large plantation they swarm into it, as if seeking shelter from some +swift-pursuing enemy, and on such occasions they sometimes remain +clinging to the trees while the wind spends its force. This is +particularly the case when the wind blows up at a late hour of the day; +then, on the following morning, the dragon-flies are seen clustering to +the foliage in such numbers that many trees are covered with them, a +large tree often appearing as if hung with curtains of some brown +glistening material, too thick to show the green leaves beneath. + +In Patagonia, where the phenomenon of dragon-fly storms is also known, +an Englishman residing at the Rio Negro related to me the following +occurrence which he witnessed there. A race meeting was being held near +the town of El Carmen, on a high exposed piece of ground, when, shortly +before sunset, a violent pampero wind came up, laden with dense +dust-clouds. A few moments before the storm broke, the air all at once +became obscured with a prodigious cloud of dragon-flies. About a hundred +men, most of them on horseback, were congregated on the course at the +time, and the insects, instead of rushing by in their usual way, settled +on the people in such quantities that men and horses were quickly +covered with clinging masses of them. My informant said--and this agrees +with my own observation--that he was greatly impressed by the appearance +of terror shown by the insects; they clung to him as if for dear life, +so that he had the greatest difficulty in ridding himself of them. + +Weissenborn, in London's _Magazine of Natural History_ (N. S. vol. iii.) +describes a great migration of dragon-flies which he witnessed in +Germany in 1839, and also mentions a similar phenomenon occurring in +1816, and extending over a large portion of Europe. But in these cases +the movement took place at the end of May, and the insects travelled due +south; their migrations were therefore similar to those of birds and +butterflies, and were probably due to the same cause. I have been unable +to find any mention of a phenomenon resembling the one with which we are +so familiar on the pampas, and which, strangely enough, has not been +recorded by any European naturalists who have travelled there. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MOSQUITOES AND PARASITE PROBLEMS. + + +There cannot be a doubt that some animals possess an instinctive +knowledge of their enemies--or, at all events, of some of their +enemies--though I do not believe that this faculty is so common as many +naturalists imagine. The most striking example I am acquainted with is +seen in gnats or mosquitoes, and in the minute South American sandflies +(Simulia), when a dragon-fly appears in a place where they are holding +their aerial pastimes. The sudden appearance of a ghost among human +revellers could not produce a greater panic. I have spoken in the last +chapter of periodical storms or waves of dragon-flies in the Plata +region, and mentioned incidentally that the appearance of these insects +is most welcome in oppressively hot weather, since they are known to +come just in advance of a rush of cool wind. In La Plata we also look +for the dragon-fly, and rejoice at its coming, for another reason. We +know that the presence of this noble insect will cause the clouds of +stinging gnats and flies, which make life a burden, to vanish like +smoke. + +When a flight of dragon-flies passes over the country many remain along +the route, as I have said, sheltering themselves wherever trees occur; +and, after the storm blows over, these strangers and stragglers remain +for some days hawking for prey in the neighbourhood. It is curious to +note that they do not show any disposition to seek for watercourses. It +may be that they feel lost in a strange region, or that the panic they +have suffered, in their long flight before the wind, has unsettled their +instincts; for it is certain that they do not, like the dragon-fly in +Mrs. Browning's poem, "return to dream upon the river." They lead +instead a kind of vagabond existence, hanging about the plantations, and +roaming over the surrounding plains. It is then remarked that gnats and +sand-flies apparently cease to exist, even in places where they have +been most abundant. They have not been devoured by the dragon-flies, +which are perhaps very few in number; they have simply got out of the +way, and will remain in close concealment until their enemies take their +departure, or have all been devoured by martins, tyrant birds, and the +big robber-flies or devil's dykes--no name is bad enough for them--of +the family Asilidaa. During these peaceful gnatless days, if a person +thrusts himself into the bushes or herbage in some dark sheltered place, +he will soon begin to hear the thin familiar sounds, as of "horns of +elf-land faintly blowing"; and presently, from the ground and the under +surface of every leaf, the ghost-like withered little starvelings will +appear in scores and in hundreds to settle on him, fear not having +blunted their keen appetites. + +When riding over the pampas on a hot still day, with a pertinacious +cloud of gnats or sandflies hovering just above my head and keeping me +company for miles, I have always devoutly wished for a stray dragon-fly +to show himself. Frequently the wish has been fulfilled, the dragon-fly, +apparently "sagacious of his quarry from afar," sweeping straight at his +prey, and instantly, as if by miracle, the stinging rain has ceased and +the noxious cloud vanished from overhead, to be re-formed no more. This +has always seemed very extraordinary to me; for in other matters gnats +do not appear to possess even that proverbial small dose of intellect +for which we give most insects credit. Before the advent of the +dragon-fly it has perhaps happened that I have been vigorously striking +at them, making it very unpleasant for them, and also killing and +disabling many hundreds--a larger number than the most voracious +dragon-fly could devour in the course of a whole day; and yet, after +brushing and beating them off until my arms have ached with the +exertion, they have continued to rush blindly on their fate, exhibiting +not the faintest symptom of fear. I suppose that for centuries +mosquitoes have, in this way, been brushed and beaten away with hands +and with tails, without learning caution. It is not in their knowledge +that there are hands and tails. A large animal is simply a field on +which they confidently settle to feed, sounding shrill flourishes on +their little trumpets to show how fearless they are. But the dragon-fly +is very ancient on the earth, and if, during the Devonian epoch, when it +existed, it preyed on some blood-sucking insect from which or Culicidae +have come, then these stupid little insects have certainly had ample +time in which to learn well at least one lesson. + +There is not in all organic nature, to my mind, any instance of wasted +energy comparable in magnitude with the mosquito's thirst for blood, and +the instincts and elaborate blood-pumping apparatus with which it is +related. The amount of pollen given off by some wind-fertilized +trees--so great in some places that it covers hundreds of square miles +of earth and water with a film of yellow dust---strikes us as an amazing +waste of material on the part of nature; but in these cases we readily +see that this excessive prodigality is necessary to continue the +species, and that a sufficient number of flowers would not be +impregnated unless the entire trees were bathed for days in the +fertilizing cloud, in which only one out of many millions of floating +particles can ever hit the mark. The mosquito is able to procreate +without ever satisfying its ravenous appetite for blood. To swell its +grey thread-like abdomen to a coral bead is a delight to the insect, but +not necessary to its existence, like food and water to ours; it is the +great prize in the lottery of life, which few can ever succeed in +drawing. In a hot summer, when one has ridden perhaps for half a day +over a low-lying or wet district, through an atmosphere literally +obscured with a fog of mosquitoes, this fact strikes the mind very +forcibly, for in such places it frequently is the case that mammals do +not exist, or are exceedingly rare. In Europe it is different. There, as +Reaumur said, possibly one gnat in every hundred may be able to gratify +its appetite for blood; but of the gnats in many districts in South +America it would be nearer the mark to say that only one in a hundred +millions can ever do so. + +Curtis discovered that only the female mosquito bites or sucks blood, +the male being without tongue or mandibles; and he asks, What, then, +does the male feed on? He conjectures that it feeds on flowers; but, had +he visited some swampy places in hot countries, where flowers are few +and the insects more numerous than the sands on the seashore, he would +most probably have said that the males subsist on decaying vegetable +matter and moisture of slime. It is, however, more important to know +what the female subsists on. We know that she thirsts for warm mammalian +blood, that she seeks it with avidity, and is provided with an admirable +organ for its extraction--only, unfortunately for her, she does not get +it, or, at all events, the few happy individuals that do get it are +swamped in the infinite multitude of those that are doomed by nature to +total abstinence. + +I should like to know whether this belief of Curtis, shared by Westwood +and other distinguished entomologists, but originally put forward merely +as a conjecture, has ever been tested by careful observation and +experiment. If not, then it is strange that it should have crept into +many important works, where it is stated not as a mere guess, but as an +established fact. Thus, Van Beneden, in his work on parasites, while +classing female mosquitoes with his "miserable wretches," yet says, "If +blood fails them, they live, like the males, on the juices of flowers." +If this be so, it is quite certain that the juices fail to satisfy them; +and that, like Dr. Tanner, who was ravenously hungry during his forty +days' fast, in spite of his frequent sips of water, the mosquito still +craves for something better than a cool vegetarian diet. I cannot help +thinking, though the idea may seem fanciful, that mosquitoes feed on +nothing. We know that the ephemerae take no refreshment in the imago +state, the mouth being aborted or atrophied in these short-lived +creatures; but we also know that they belong to an exceedingly ancient +tribe, and possibly, after the earth had ceased to produce their proper +nourishment there came in their history a long hungry period, which did +not kill them, but lasted until their feeding instincts became obsolete, +the mouth lost its use, and their life in its perfect state dwindled to +its present length. + +In any case, how unsatisfactory is the mosquitoes' existence, and what a +curious position they occupy in nature! Let us suppose that, owing to +some great change in the conditions of the earth, rapacious birds were +no longer able to capture prey, and that, by a corresponding change in +their organizations, they were able to subsist on the air they breathed, +with perhaps an occasional green leaf and a sip of water, and yet +retained the old craving for solid food, and the old predatory instincts +and powers undiminished; they would be in the position of mosquitoes in +the imago state. And if then fifty or a hundred individuals were to +succeed every year in capturing something and making one hearty meal, +these few fortunate diners would bear about the same proportion to all +the raptors on the globe as the mosquitoes that succeed in sucking blood +to their unsuccessful fellows. In the case of the hawks, the effect of +the few meals on the entire rapacious family or order would certainly be +_nil;_ and it is impossible to believe for a moment that the +comparatively infinitesimal amount of blood sucked by mosquitoes can. +serve to invigorate the species. The wonder is that the machinery, which +accomplishes nothing, should continue in such perfect working order. + +When we consider the insect's delicate organ, so admirably fitted for +the purpose to which it is applied, it becomes difficult to believe that +it could have been so perfected except in a condition of things utterly +unlike the present. There must have been a time when mosquitoes found +their proper nourishment, and when warm mammalian blood was as necessary +to their existence as honey is to that of the bee, or insect food to the +dragon-fly. + +This applies to many blood-sucking insects besides mosquitoes, and with +special force to the tick tribes (Ixodes), which swarm throughout +Central and South America; for in these degraded spiders the whole body +has been manifestly modified to fit it for a parasitical life; while the +habits of the insect during its blind, helpless, waiting existence on +trees, and its sudden great development when it succeeds in attaching +itself to an animal body, also point irresistibly to the same +conclusion. In the sunny uplands they act (writes Captain Burton) like +the mosquitoes of the hot, humid Beiramar. "The nuisance is general; it +seems to be in the air; every blade of grass has its colony; clusters of +hundreds adhere to the twigs; myriads are found in the bush clumps. Lean +and flat when growing to the leaves, the tick catches man or beast +brushing by, fattens rapidly, and, at the end-of a week's good living, +drops off, _plena cruoris."_ When on trees, Belt says, they +instinctively place themselves on the extreme tips of leaves and shoots, +with their hind legs stretching out, each foot armed with two hooks or +claws, with which to lay hold of any animal brushing by. During this +wretched, incom-plete existence (from which, in most cases, it is never +destined to emerge), its greatest length is about one-fourth of an inch; +but where it fastens itself to an animal the abdomen increases to a +globe as big as a medium-sized Barcelona nut. Being silvery-grey or +white in colour, it becomes, when thus distended, very conspicuous on +any dark surface. I have frequently seen black, smooth-haired dogs with +their coats, turned into a perfect garden of these white spider-flowers +or mushrooms. The white globe is leathery, and nothing can injure it; +and the poor beast cannot rub, bite, or scratch it off, as it is +anchored to his flesh by eight sets of hooks and a triangle of teeth. + +The ticks inhabiting regions rich in bird and insect life, but with few +mammals, are in the same condition as mosquitoes, as far as the supply +of blood goes; and, like the mosquitoes, they are compelled and able to +exist without the nourishment best suited to them. They are nature's +miserable castaways, parasitical tribes lost in a great dry wilderness +where no blood is; and every marsh-born mosquito, piping of the hunger +gnawing its vitals, and every forest tick, blindly feeling with its +grappling-irons for the beast that never brushes by, seems to tell us of +a world peopled with gigantic forms, mammalian and reptilian, which once +afforded abundant pasture to the parasite, and which the parasite +perhaps assisted to overthrow. + +It is almost necessary to transport oneself to the vast tick-infested +wilderness of the New World to appreciate the full significance of a +passage in Belt's _Naturalist in Nicaragua,_ in which it is suggested +that man's hairless condition was perhaps brought about by natural +selection in tropical regions, where he was greatly troubled with +parasites of this kind. It is certain that if in such a country as +Brazil he possessed a hairy coat, affording cover to the tick and +enabling it to get a footing on the body, his condition would be a very +sad one. Savages abhor hairs on the body, and even pluck them off their +faces. This seems like a survival of an ancient habit acquired when the +whole body was clothed with hair; and if primitive man ever possessed +such a habit, nature only followed his lead in giving him a hairless +offspring. + +Is it not also probable that the small amount of mammalian life in South +America, and the aquatic habits of nearly all the large animals in the +warmer districts, is due to the persecutions of the tick? + +The only way in which a large animal can rid itself of the pest is by +going into the water or wallowing in the mud; and this perhaps accounts +for the more or less aquatic habits of the jaguar, aguará-guazú, the +large Cervus paluclosus, tapir, capybara, and peccary. Monkeys, which +are most abundant, are a notable exception; but these animals have the +habit of attending to each other's skins, and spend a great deal of +their time in picking off the parasites. But how do birds escape the +ticks, since these parasites do not confine their attacks to any one +class of aninials, but attach themselves impartially to any living thing +coming within reach of their hooks, from snake to man? My own +observations bearing on this point refer less to the Ixodes than to the +minute bete-rouge, which is excessively abundant in the Plata district, +where it is known as _bicho colorado,_ and in size and habits resembles +the English Leptus autumnalis. It is so small that, notwithstanding its +bright scarlet colour, it can only be discerned by bringing the eye +close to it; and being, moreover, exceedingly active and abundant in all +shady places in summer--making life a misery to careless human +beings--it must be very much more dangerous to birds than the larger +sedentary Ixodes. The bete-rouge invariably lodges beneath the wings of +birds, where the loose scanty plumage affords easy access to the skin. +Domestic birds suffer a great deal from its persecutions, and their. +young, if allowed to run about in shady places, die of the irritation. +Wild birds, however, seem to be very little troubled, and most of those +I have examined have been almost entirely free from parasites. Probably +they are much more sensitive than the domestic birds, and able to feel +and pick off the insects with their beaks before they have penetrated +into the skin. I believe they are also able to protect themselves in +another way, namely, by preventing the parasites from reaching their +bodies at all. I was out under the trees one day with a pet oven-bird +(Furnarius rufus), which had full liberty to range about at will, and +noticed that at short intervals it went through the motions of picking +something from its toes or legs, though I could see nothing on them. At +length I approached my eyes to within a few inches of the bird's feet, +and discovered that the large dry branch on which it stood was covered +with a multitude of parasites, all running rapidly about like foraging +ants, and whenever one came to the bird's feet it at once ran up the +leg. Every time this happened, so far as I could see, the bird felt it. +and quickly and deftly picked it off with the point of its bill. It +seemed very astonishing that the horny covering of the toes and legs +should be so exquisitely sensitive, for the insects are so small and +light that they cannot be felt on the hand, even when a score of them +are running over it; but the fact is as I have stated, and it is highly +probable, I think, that most wild birds keep themselves free from these +little torments in the same way. + +Some observations of mine on a species of Orni-thomyia--a fly +parasitical on birds--might possibly be of use in considering the +question of the anomalous position in nature of insects possessing the +instincts and aptitudes of parasites, and organs manifestly modified to +suit a parasitical mode of life, yet compelled and able to exist free, +feeding, perhaps, on vegetable juices, or, like the ephemerae, on +nothing at all. For it must be borne in mind that I do not assert that +these "occasional" or "accidental" parasites, as some one calls them, +explaining nothing, do not feed on such juices. I do not know what they +feed on. I only know that the joyful alacrity with which gnats and +stinging flies of all kinds abandon the leaves, supposed to afford them +pasture, to attack a warm-blooded animal, serves to show how strong the +impulse is, and how ineradicable the instinct, which must have had an +origin. Perhaps the habits of the bird-fly I have mentioned will serve +to show how, in some cases, the free life of some blood-sucking flies +and other insects might have originated. + +Kirby and Spence, in their _Introduction,_ mention that one or two +species of Ornithomyia have been observed flying about and alighting on +men; and in one case the fly extracted blood and was caught, the species +being thus placed beyond doubt. This circumstance led the authors to +believe that the insect, when the bird it is parasitical on dies, +takes to flight and migrates from body to body, occasionally tasting +blood until, coming to the right body--to wit, that of a bird, or of a +particular species of bird--it once more establishes itself permanently +in the plumage. I fancy that the insect sometimes leads a freer life and +ranges much more than the authors imagined; and I refer to Kirby and +Spence, with apologies to those who regard the _Introduction_ as out of +date, only because I am not aware that we have any later observations on +the subject. + +There is in La Plata a small very common Dendrocolaptine bird--Anumbius +acuticaudatus--much infested by an Ornithomyia, a pretty, pale insect, +half the size of a house-fly, and elegantly striped with green. It is a +very large parasite for so small a bird, yet so cunning and alert is it, +and so swiftly is it able to swim through the plumage, that the bird is +unable to rid itself of so undesirable a companion. The bird lives with +its mate all the year round, much of the time with its grown-up young, +in its nest--a large structure, in which so much building-material is +used that the bird is called in the vernacular Leñatero, or +Firewood-gatherer. On warm bright days without wind, during the absence +of the birds, I have frequently seen a company of from half a dozen to a +dozen or fifteen of the parasitical fly wheeling about in the air above +the nest, hovering and gambolling together, just like house-flies in a +room in summer; but always on the appearance of the birds, returning +from their feeding-ground, they would instantly drop down and disappear +into the nest. How curious this instinct seems! The fly regards the +bird, which affords it the warmth and food essential to life, as its +only deadly enemy; and with an inherited wisdom, like that of the +mosquito with regard to the dragon-fly, or of the horse-fly with regard +to the Monedula wasp, vanishes like smoke from its presence, and only +approaches the bird secretly from a place of concealment. + +The parasitical habit tends inevitably to degrade the species acquiring +it, dulling its senses and faculties, especially those of sight and +locomotion; but the Ornithomyia seems an exception, its dependent life +having had a contrary effect; the extreme sensitiveness, keenness of +sight, and quickness of the bird having reacted on the insect, giving it +a subtlety in its habits and motions almost without a parallel even +among free insects. A man with a blood-sucking flat-bodied flying +squirrel, concealing itself among his clothing and gliding and dodging +all over his body with so much artifice and rapidity as to defeat all +efforts made to capturo it or knock it off, would be a case parallel to +that of the bird-fly on the small bird. It might be supposed that the +Firewood-gatherer, like some ants that keep domestic pets, makes a pet +of the fly; for it is a very pretty insect, barred with green, and with +rainbow reflections on its wings--and birds are believed by some +theorists to possess aesthetic tastes; but the discomfort of having such +a vampire on the body would, I imagine, be too great to allow a kindly +instinct of that nature to grow up. Moreover, I have on several +occasions seen the bird making frantic efforts to capture one of the +flies, which had incautiously flown up from the nest at the wrong +moment. Bird and fly seem to know each other wonderfully well. + +Here, then, we have a parasitical insect specialized in the highest +degree, yet retaining all its pristine faculties unimpaired, its love of +liberty, and of associating in numbers together for sportive exercises, +and well able to take care of itself during its free intervals. And +probably when thrown on the world, as when nests are blown down, or the +birds get killed, or change their quarters, as they often do, it is able +to exist for some time without avian blood. Let us then imagine some of +these orphaned colonies, unable to find birds, but through a slight +change in habits or organization able to exist in the imago state +without sucking blood until they laid their eggs; and succeeding +generations, still better able to stand the altered conditions of life +until they become practically independent (like gnats), multiplying +greatly, and disporting themselves in clouds over forests, yet still +retaining the old hunger for blood and the power to draw it, and ready +at any moment to return to the ancestral habit. It might be said that if +such a result were possible it would have occurred, but that we find no +insect like the Ornithomyia existing independently. With the bird-fly it +has not occurred, as far as we know; but in the past history of some +independent parasites it is possible that something similar to the +imaginary case I have sketched may have taken place. The bush-tick is a +more highly specialized, certainly a more degraded, creature than the +bird-fly, and the very fact of its existence seems to show that it is +possible for even the lowest of the fallen race of parasites to start +afresh in life under new conditions, and to reascend in the scale of +being, although still bearing about it the marks of former degeneracy. + +The connection between the flea and the mammal it feeds on is even less +close than that which exists between the Ornithomyia and bird. The fact +that fleas are so common and universal--for in all lands we have them, +like the poor, always with us; and that they are found on all mammals, +from the king of beasts to the small modest mouse--seems to show a great +amount of variability and adaptiveness, as well as a very high +antiquity. It has often been reported that fleas have been found hopping +on the ground in desert places, where they could not have been dropped +by man or beast; and it has been assumed that these "independent" fleas +must, like gnats and ticks, subsist on vegetable juices. There is no +doubt that they are able to exist and propagate for one or two years +after being deprived of their proper aliment; houses shut up for a year +or longer are sometimes found infested with them; possibly in the +absence of "vegetable juices" they flourish on dust. I have never +detected them hopping on the ground in uninhabited places, although I +once found them in Patagonia, in a hamlet which had been attacked and +depopulated by the Indians about twenty months before my visit. On +entering one of the deserted huts I found the floor literally swarming +with fleas, and in less than ten seconds my legs, to the height of my +knees, were almost black with their numbers. This proves that they are +able toincrease greatly for a period without blood; but I doubt that +they can go on existing and increasing for an indefinite time; perhaps +their true position, with regard to the parasitical habit, is midway +between that of the strict parasite which never leaves the body, and +that of independent parasites like the Culex and the Ixodes, and all +those which are able to exist free for ever, and are parasitical only +when the opportunity offers. + +Entomologists regard the flea as a degraded fly. Certainly it is very +much more degraded than the bird-borne Ornithomyia, with its subtle +motions and instinct, its power of flight and social pastimes. The poor +pulex has lost every trace of wings; nevertheless, in its fallen +condition it has developed some remarkable qualities and saltatory +powers, which give it a lower kind of glory; and, compared with another +parasite with which it shares the human species, it is almost a noble +insect. Darwin has some remarks about the smallness of the brain of an +ant, assuming that this insect possesses a very high intelligence, but I +doubt very much that the ant, which moves in a groove, is mentally the +superior of the unsocial flea. The last is certainly the most teachable; +and if fleas were generally domesticated and made pets of, probably +there would be as many stories about their marvellous intelligence and +fidelity to man as we now hear about our over-praised "friend" the dog. + +With regard to size, the flea probably started on its downward course as +a comparatively large insect, probably larger than the Ornithomyia. That +insect has been able to maintain its existence, without dwindling like +the Leptus into a mere speck, through the great modification in organs +and instinct, which adapt it so beautifully to the feathery element in +which it moves. The bush-tick, wingless from the beginning, and +diverging in another direction, has probably been greatly increased in +size by its parasitical habit; this seems proven by the fact, that as +long as it is parasitical on nothing it remains small, but when able to +fasten itself to an animal it rapidly developes to a great size. Again, +the big globe of its abdomen is coriaceous and elastic, and is probably +as devoid of sensation as a ball of india-rubber. The insect, being made +fast by hooks and teeth to its victim, all efforts to remove it only +increase the pain it causes; and animals that know it well do not +attempt to rub, scratch, or bite it off, therefore the great size and +the conspicuous colour of the tick are positive advantages to it. The +flea, without the subtlety and highly-specialized organs of the +Ornithomyia, or the stick-fast powers and leathery body of the Ixodes, +can only escape its vigilant enemies by making itself invisible; hence +every variation, i.e. increase in jumping-power and diminished bulk, +tending towards this result, has been taken advantage of by natural +selection. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +HUMBLE-BEES AND OTHER MATTERS. + + +Two humble-bees, Bombus thoracicus and B. violaceus, are found on the +pampas; the first, with a primrose yellow thorax, and the extremity of +the abdomen bright rufous, slightly resembles the English B. terrestris; +the rarer species, which is a trifle smaller than the first, is of a +uniform intense black, the body having the appearance of velvet, the +wings being of a deep violaceous blue. + +A census of the humble-bees in any garden or field always shows that the +yellow bees outnumber the black in the proportion of about seven to one; +and I have also found their nests for many years in the same proportion; +about seven nests of the yellow to one nest of the black species. In +habits they are almost identical, and when two species so closely allied +are found inhabiting the same locality, it is only reasonable to infer +that one possesses some advantage over the other, and that the least +favoured species will eventually disappear. In this case, where one so +greatly outnumbers the other, it might be thought that the rarer species +is dying out, or that, on the contrary, it is a new-comer destined to +supplant the older more numerous species. Yet, during the twenty years I +have observed them, there has occurred no change in their relative +positions; though both have greatly increased in numbers during that +time, owing to the spread of cultivation. And yet it would scarcely be +too much to expect some marked change in a period so long as that, even +through the slow-working agency of natural selection; for it is not as +if there had been an exact balance of power between them. In the same +period of time I have seen several species, once common, almost or quite +disappear, while others, very low down as to numbers, have been exalted +to the first rank. In insect life especially, these changes have been +numerous, rapid, and widespread. + +In the district where, as a boy, I chased and caught tinamous, and also +chased ostriches, but failed to catch them, the continued presence of +our two humble-bees, sucking the same flowers and making their nests in +the same situations, has remained a puzzle to my mind. + +The site of the nest is usually a slight depression in the soil in the +shelter of a cardoon bush. The bees deepen the hollow by burrowing in +the earth; and when the spring foliage sheltering it withers up, they +construct a dome-shaped covering of small sticks, thorns, and leaves +bitten into extremely minute pieces. They sometimes take possession of a +small hole or cavity in the ground, and save themselves the labour of +excavation. + +Their architecture closely resembles that of B. terrestris. They make +rudely-shaped oval honey-cells, varying from half an inch to an inch and +a half in length, the smaller ones being the first made; later in the +season the old cocoons are utilized for storing honey. The wax is +chocolate-coloured, and almost the only difference I can find in the +economy of the two species is that the black bee uses a large quantity +of wax in plastering the interior of its nest. The egg-cell of the +yellow bee always contains from twelve to sixteen eggs; that of the +black bee from ten to fourteen; and the eggs of this species are the +largest though the bee is smallest. At the entrance on the edge of the +mound one bee is usually stationed, and, when approached, it hums a +shrill challenge, and throws itself into a menacing attitude. The sting +is exceedingly painful. + +One summer I was so fortunate as to discover two nests of the two kinds +within twelve yards of each other, and I resolved to watch them very +carefully, in order to see whether the two species ever came into +collision, as sometimes happens with ants of different species living +close together. Several times I saw a yellow bee leave its own nest and +hover round or settle on the neighbouring one, upon which the sentinel +black bee would attack and drive it off. One day, while watching, I was +delighted to see a yellow bee actually enter its neighbour's nest, the +sentinel being off duty. In about five minutes' time it came out again +and flew away unmolested. I concluded from this that humble-bees, like +their relations of the hive, occasionally plunder each other's sweets. +On another occasion I found a black bee dead at the entrance of the +yellow bees' nest; doubtless this individual had been caught in the act +of stealing honey, and, after it had been stung to death, it had been +dragged out and left there as a warning to others with like felonious +intentions. + +There is one striking difference between the two species. The yellow bee +is inodorous; the black bee, when angry and attacking, emits an +exceedingly powerful odour: curiously enough, this smell is identical in +character with that made when angry by all the wasps of the South +American genus Pepris--dark blue wasps with red wings. This odour at +first produces a stinging sensation on the nerve of smell, but when +inhaled in large measure becomes very nauseating. On one occasion, while +I was opening a nest, several of the bees buzzing round my head and +thrusting their stings through the veil I wore for protection, gave out +so pungent a smell that I found it unendurable, and was compelled to +retreat. + +It seems strange that a species armed with a venomous sting and +possessing the fierce courage of the humble-bee should also have this +repulsive odour for a protection. It is, in fact, as incongruous as it +would be were our soldiers provided with guns and swords first, and +after with phials of assafoatida to be uncorked in the face of an enemy. + +Why, or how, animals came to be possessed of the power of emitting +pestiferous odours is a mystery; we only see that natural selection has, +in some mstances, chiefly among insects, taken advantage of it to +furnish some of the weaker, more unprotected species with a means of +escape from their enemies. The most stinking example I know is that of a +large hairy caterpillar I have found on dry wood in Patagonia, and +which, when touched, emits an intensely nauseous effluvium. Happily it +is very volatile, but while it lasts it is even more detestable than +that of the skunk. + +The skunk itself offers perhaps the one instance amongst the higher +vertebrates of an animal in which all the original instincts of +self-preservation have died out, giving place to this lower kind of +protection. All the other members of the family it belongs to are +cunning, swift of foot, and, when overtaken, fierce-tempered and well +able to defend themselves with their powerful well-armed jaws. + +For some occult reason they are provided with a gland charged with a +malodorous secretion; and out of this mysterious liquor Nature has +elaborated the skunk's inglorious weapon. The skunk alone when attacked +makes no attempt to escape or to defend itself by biting; but, thrown by +its agitation into a violent convulsion, involuntarily discharges its +foetid liquor into the face of an opponent. When this animal had once +ceased to use so good a weapon as its teeth in defending itself, +degenerating at the same time into a slow-moving creature, without fear +and without cunning, the strength and vileness of its odour would be +continually increased by the cumulative process of natural selection: +and how effective the protection has become is shown by the abundance of +the species throughout the whole American continent. It is lucky for +mankind--especially for naturalists and sportsmen--that other species +have not been improved in the same direction. + +But what can we say of the common deer of the pampas (Cervus +campestris), the male of which gives out an effluvium quite as +far-reaching although not so abominable in character as that of the +Mephitis? It comes in disagreeable whiffs to the human nostril when the +perfumer of the wilderness is not even in sight. Yet it is not a +protection; on the contrary, it is the reverse, and, like the dazzling +white plumage so attractive to birds of prey, a direct disadvantage, +informing all enemies for leagues around of its whereabouts. It is not, +therefore, strange that wherever pumas are found, deer are never very +abundant; the only wonder is that, like the ancient horse of America, +they have not become extinct. + +The gauchos of the pampas, however, give _a reason_ for the powerful +smell of the male deer; and, after some hesitation, I have determined to +set it down here, for the reader to accept or reject, as he thinks +proper. I neither believe nor disbelieve it; for although I do not put +great faith in gaucho natural history, my own observations have not +infrequently confirmed statements of theirs, which a sceptical person +would have regarded as wild indeed. To give one instance: I heard a +gaucho relate that while out riding he had been pursued for a +considerable distance by a large spider; his hearers laughed at him for +a romancer; but as I myself had been attacked and pursued, both when on +foot and on horseback, by a large wolf-spider, common on the pampas, I +did not join in the laugh. They say that the effluvium of C. campestris +is abhorrent to snakes of all kinds, just as pyrethrum powder is to most +insects, and even go so far as to describe its effect as fatal to them; +according to this, the smell is therefore a protection to the deer. In +places where venomous snakes are extremely abundant, as in the Sierra +district on the southern pampas of Buenos Ayres, the gaucho frequently +ties a strip of the male deer's skin, which retains its powerful odour +for an indefinite time, round the neck of a valuable horse as a +protection. It is certain that domestic animals are frequently lost here +through snake-bites. The most common poisonous species--the +Craspedo-cephalus alternatus, called _Vivora de la Cruz_ in the +vernacular--has neither bright colour nor warning rattle to keep off +heavy hoofs, and is moreover of so sluggish a temperament that it will +allow itself to be trodden on before stirring, with the result that its +fangs are not infrequently struck into the nose or foot of browsing +beast. Considering, then, the conditions in which C. campestris is +placed--and it might also be supposed that venomous snakes have in past +times been much more numerous than they are now--it is not impossible to +believe that the powerful smell it emits has been made protective, +especially when we see in other species how repulsive odours have been +turned to account by the principle of natural selection. + +After all, perhaps the wild naturalist of the pampas knows what he is +about when he ties a strip of deer-skin to the neck of his steed and +turns him loose to graze among the snakes. + +The gaucho also affirms that the deer cherishes a wonderful animosity +against snakes; that it becomes greatly excited when it sees one, and +proceeds at once to destroy it; _they say,_ by running round and round +it in a circle, emitting its violent smell in larger measure, until the +snake dies of suffocation. It is hard to believe that the effect can be +so great; but that the deer is a snake hater and killer is certainly +true: in North America, Ceylon, and other districts deer have been +observed excitedly leaping on serpents, and killing them with their +sharp cutting hoofs. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A NOBLE WASP. + +_(Monedula punctata.)_ + + +Naturalists, like kings and emperors, have their favourites, and as my +zoological sympathies, which are wider than my knowledge, embrace all +classes of beings, there are of course several insects for which I have +a special regard; a few in each of the principal orders. My chief +favourite among the hymenopteras is the one representative of the +curious genus Monedula known in La Plata. It is handsome and has +original habits, but it is specially interesting to me for another +reason: I can remember the time when it was extremely rare on the +pampas, so rare that in boyhood the sight of one used to be a great +event to me; and I have watched its rapid increase year by year till it +has come to be one of our commonest species. Its singular habits and +intelligence give it a still better claim to notice. It is a big, showy, +loud-buzzing insect, with pink head and legs, wings with brown +reflections, and body encircled with alternate bands of black and pale +gold, and has a preference for large composite flowers, on the honey of +which it feeds. Its young is, however, an insect-eater; but the Monedula +does not, like other burrowing or sand wasps, put away a store of +insects or spiders, partially paralyzed, as a provision for the grub +till it reaches the pupa state; it actually supplies the grub with +fresh-caught insects as long as food is required, killing the prey it +captures outright, and bringing it in to its young; so that its habits, +in this particular, are more bird- than wasp-like. + +The wasp lays its solitary egg at the extremity of a hole it excavates +for itself on a bare hard piece of ground, and many holes are usually +found close together. When the grub--for I have never been able to find +more than one in a hole--has come out from the egg, the parent begins to +bring in insects, carefully filling up the mouth of the hole with loose +earth after every visit. Without this precaution, which entails a vast +amount of labour, I do not believe one grub out of every fifty would +survive, so overrun are these barren spots of ground used as +breeding-places with hunting spiders, ants, and tiger-beetles. The grub +is a voracious eater, but the diligent mother brings in as much as it +can devour. I have often found as many as six or seven insects, +apparently fresh killed, and not yet touched by the pampered little +glutton, coiled up in the midst of them waiting for an appetite. + +The Monedula is an adroit fly-catcher, for though it kills numbers of +fire-flies and other insects, flies are always preferred, possibly +because they are so little encumbered with wings, and are also more +easily devoured. It occasionally captures insects on the wing, but the +more usual method is to pounce down on its prey when it is at rest. At +one time, before I had learnt their habits, I used frequently to be +startled by two or three or more of these wasps rushing towards my face, +and continuing hovering before it, loudly buzzing, attending me in my +walks about the fields. The reason of this curious proceeding is that +the Monedula preys largely on stinging flies, having learnt from +experience that the stinging fly will generally neglect its own safety +when it has once fastened on a good spot to draw blood from. When a man +or horse stands perfectly motionless the wasps take no notice, but the +moment any movement is made of hand, tail, or stamping hoof, they rush +to the rescue, expecting to find a stinging fly. On the other hand, the +horse has learnt to know and value this fly-scourge, and will stand very +quietly with half a dozen loud Avasps hovering in an alarming manner +close to his head, well knowing that every fly that settles on him will +be instantly snatched away, and that the boisterous Monedula is a better +protection even than the tail--which, by the way, the horse wears very +long in Buenos Ayres. + +I have, in conclusion, to relate an incident I onco witnessed, and which +does not show the Monedula in a very amiable light. I was leaning over a +gate watching one of these wasps feeding on a sunflower. A small +leaf-cutting bee was hurrying about with its shrill busy hum in the +vicinity, and in due time came to the sunflower and settled on it. The +Monedula became irritated, possibly at the shrill voice and bustling +manner of its neighbour, and, after watching it for a few moments on the +flower, deliberately rushed at and drove it off. The leaf-cutter quickly +returned, however--for bees are always extremely averse to leaving a +flower unexplored--but was again driven away with threats and +demonstrations on the part of the Monedula. The little thing went off +and sunned itself on a leaf for a time, then returned to the flower, +only to be instantly ejected again. Other attempts were made, but the +big wasp now kept a jealous watch on its neighbour's movements, and +would not allow it to come within several inches of the flower without +throwing itself into a threatening attitude. The defeated bee retired to +sun itself once more, apparently determined to wait for the big tyrant +to go away; but the other seemed to know what was wanted, and spitefully +made up its mind to stay where it was. The leaf-cutter then gave up the +contest. Suddenly rising up into the air, it hovered, hawk-like, above +the Monedula for a moment, then pounced down on its back, and clung +there, furiously biting, until its animosity was thoroughly appeased; +then it flew off, leaving the other master of the field certainly, but +greatly discomposed, and perhaps seriously injured about the base of the +wings. I was rather surprised that they were not cut quite off, for a +leaf-cutting bee can use its teeth as deftly as a tailor can his shears. + +Doubtless to bees, as to men, revenge is sweeter than honey. But, in the +face of mental science, can a creature as low down in the scale of +organization as a leaf-cutting bee be credited with anything so +intelligent and emotional as deliberate anger and revenge, "which +implies the need of retaliation to satisfy the feelings of the person +(or bee) offended?" According to Bain _(Mental and Moral Science)_ only +the highest animals--stags and bulls he mentions-can be credited with +the developed form of anger, which, he describes as an excitement caused +by pain, reaching the centres of activity, and containing an impulse +knowingly to inflict suffering on another sentient being. Here, if man +only is meant, the spark is perhaps accounted for, but not the barrel of +gunpowder. The explosive material is, however, found in the breast of +nearly every living creature. The bull--ranking high according to Bain, +though I myself should place him nearly on a level mentally with the +majority of the lower animals, both vertebrate and insect--is capable of +a wrath exceeding that of Achilles; and yet the fact that a red rag can +manifestly have no associations, personal or political, for the bull, +shows how uniutcllectual his anger must be. Another instance of +misdirected anger in nature, not quite so familiar .as that of the bull +and red rag, is used as an illustration by one of the prophets: "My +heritage is unto me as a speckled bird; the birds round, about are +against it." I have frequently seen the birds of a thicket gather round +some singularly marked accidental visitor, and finally drive him with +great anger from the neighbourhood. Possibly association comes in a +little here, since any bird, even a small one, strikingly coloured or +marked, might be looked on as a bird of prey. + +The flesh-fly laying its eggs on the carrion-flower is only a striking +instance of the mistakes all instincts are liable to, never more +markedly than in the inherited tendency to fits of frenzied excitement: +the feeling is frequently excited by the wrong object, and explodes at +inopportune moments. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +NATURE'S NIGHT LIGHTS. + +_(Remarks about Fireflies and other matters.)_ + + +It was formerly supposed that the light of the firefly (in any family +possessing the luminous power) was a safeguard against the attacks of +other insects, rapacious and nocturnal in their habits. This was Kirby +and Spence's notion, but it might just as well be Pliny's for all the +attention it would receive from modern entomologists: just at present +any observer who lived in the pre-Darwin days is regarded as one of the +ancients. The reasons given for the notion or theory in the celebrated +_Introduction to Entomology_ were not conclusive; nevertheless it was +not an improbable supposition of the authors'; while the theory which +has taken its place in recent zoological writings seems in every way +even less satisfactory. + +Let us first examine the antiquated theory, as it must now be called. By +bringing a raptorial insect and a firefly together, we find that the +flashing light of the latter does actually scare away the former, and is +therefore, for the moment, a protection as effectual as the camp-fire +the traveller lights in a district abounding with beasts of prey. +Notwithstanding this fact, and assuming that we have here the whole +reason of the existence of the light-emitting power, a study of the +firefly's habits compels us to believe that the insect would be just as +well off without the power as with it. Probably it experiences some +pleasure in emitting flashes of light during its evening pastimes, but +this could scarcely be considered an advantage in its struggle for +existence, and it certainly does not account for the possession of the +faculty. + +About the habits of Pyrophorus, the large tropical firefly which has the +seat of its luminosity on the upper surface of the thorax, nothing +definite appears to be known; but it has been said that this instinct is +altogether nocturnal. The Pyrophorus is only found in the sub-tropical +portion of the Argentine country, and I have never met with it. With the +widely-separated Cratomorphus, and the tortoise-shaped Aspisoma, which +emit the light from the abdomen, I am familiar; one species of +Cratomorphus--a long slender insect with yellow wing-cases marked with +two parallel black lines--is "the firefly" known to every one and +excessively abundant in the southern countries of La Plata. This insect +is strictly diurnal in its habits--as much so, in fact, as diurnal +butterflies. They are seen flying about, wooing their mates, and feeding +on composite and umbelliferous flowers at all hours of the day, and are +as active as wasps during the full glare of noon. Birds do not feed on +them, owing to the disagreeable odour, resembling that of phosphorus, +they emit, and probably because they are to be uneatable; but their +insect enemies are not so squeamish, and devour them readily, just as +they also do the blister-fly, which one would imagine a morsel fitted to +disagree with any stomach. One of their enemies is the Monedula wasp; +another, a fly, of the rapacious Asilidas family; and this fly is also a +wasp in appearance, having a purple body and bright red wings, like a +Pepris, and this mimetic resemblance doubtless serves it as a protection +against birds. A majority of raptorial insects are, however, nocturnal, +and from all these enemies that go about under cover of night, the +firefly, as Kirby and Spence rightly conjectured, protects itself, or +rather is involuntarily protected, by means of its frequent flashing +light. We are thus forced to the conclusion that, while the common house +fly and many other diurnal insects spend a considerable portion of the +daylight in purely sportive exercises, the firefly, possessing in its +light a protection from nocturnal enemies, puts off its pastimes until +the evening; then, when its carnival of two or three hours' duration is +over, retires also to rest, putting out its candle, and so exposing +itself to the dangers which surround other diurnal species during the +hours of darkness. I have spoken of the firefly's pastimes advisedly, +for I have really never been able to detect it doing anything in the +evening beyond flitting aimlessly about, like house flies in a room, +hovering and revolving in company by the hour, apparently for amusement. +Thus, the more closely we look at the facts, the more unsatisfactory +does the explanation seem. That the firefly should have become possessed +of so elaborate a machinery, producing incidentally such splendid +results, merely as a protection against one set of enemies for a portion +only of the period during which they are active, is altogether +incredible. + +The current theory, which we owe to Belt, is a prettier one. Certain +insects (also certain Batrachians, reptiles, &c.) are unpalatable to the +rapacious kinds; it is therefore a direct advantage to these unpalatable +species to be distinguishable from all the persecuted, and the more +conspicuous and well-known they are, the less likely are they to be +mistaken by birds, insectivorous mammals, &c., for eatable kinds and +caught or injured. Hence we find that many such species have acquired +for their protection very brilliant or strongly-contrasted +colours--warning colours--which insect-eaters come to know. + +The firefly, a soft-bodied, slow-flying insect, is easily caught and +injured, but it is not fit for food, and, therefore, says the theory, +lest it should be injured or killed by mistake, it has a fiery spark to +warn enemies---birds, bats, and rapacious insects--that it is uneatable. + +The theory of warning colours is an excellent one, but it has been +pushed too far. We have seen that one of the most common fireflies is +diurnal in habits, or, at any rate, that it performs all the important +business of its life by day, when it has neither bright colour nor light +to warn its bird enemies; and out of every hundred species of +insect-eating birds at least ninety-nine are diurnal. Raptorial insects, +as I have said, feed freely on fireflies, so that the supposed warning +is not for them, and it would be hard to believe that the magnificent +display made by luminous insects is useful only in preventing accidental +injuries to them from a few crepuscular bats and goatsuckers. And to +believe even this we should first have to assume that bats and +goatsuckers are differently constituted from all other creatures; for in +other animals--insects, birds, and mammalians--the appearance of fire by +night seems to confuse and frighten, but it certainly cannot be said to +_warn,_ in the sense in which that word is used when we speak of the +brilliant colours of some butterflies, or even of the gestures of some +venomous snakes, and of the sounds they emit. + +Thus we can see that, while the old theory of Kirby and Spence had some +facts to support it, the one now in vogue is purely fanciful. Until some +better suggestion is made, it would perhaps be as well to consider the +luminous organ as having "no very close and direct relation to present +habits of life." About their present habits, however, especially their +crepuscular habits, there is yet much to learn. One thing I have +observed in them has always seemed very strange to me. Occasionally an +individual insect is seen shining with a very large and steady light, or +with a light which very gradually decreases and increases in power, and +at such times it is less active than at others, remaining for long +intervals motionless on the leaves, or moving with a very slow flight. +In South America a firefly displaying this abnormal splendour is said to +be dying, and it is easy to imagine how such a notion originated. The +belief is, however, erroneous, for sometimes, on very rare occasions, +all the insects in one place are simultaneously affected in the same +way, and at such times they mass themselves together in myriads, as if +for migration, or for some other great purpose. Mr. Bigg-Wither, in +South Brazil, and D'Albertis, in New Guinea, noticed these firefly +gatherings; I also once had the rare good fortune to witness a +phenomenon of the kind on a very grand scale. Riding on the pampas one +dark evening an hour after sunset, and passing from high ground +overgrown with giant thistles to a low plain covered with long grass, +bordering a stream of water, I found it all ablaze with myriads of +fireflies. I noticed that all the insects gave out an exceptionally +large, brilliant light, which shone almost steadily. The long grass was +thickly studded with them, while they literally swarmed in the air, all +moving up the valley with a singularly slow and languid flight. When I +galloped down into this river of phosphorescent fire, my horse plunged +and snorted with alarm. I succeeded at length in quieting him, and then +rode slowly through, compelled to keep my mouth and eyes closed, so +thickly did the insects rain on to my face. The air was laden with the +sickening phosphorous smell they emit, but when I had once got free of +the broad fiery zone, stretching away on either hand for miles along the +moist valley, I stood still and gazed back for some time on a scene the +most wonderful and enchanting I have ever witnessed. + +The fascinating and confusing effect which the appearance of fire at +night has on animals is a most interesting subject; and although it is +not probable that anything very fresh remains to be said about it, I am +tempted to add here the results of my own experience. + +When travelling by night, I have frequently been struck with the +behaviour of my horse at the sight of natural fire, or appearance of +fire, always so different from that caused by the sight of fire +artificially created. The steady gleam from the open window or door of a +distant house, or even the unsteady wind-tossed flame of some lonely +camp-fire, has only served to rouse a fresh spirit in him and the desire +to reach it; whereas those infrequent displays of fire which nature +exhibits, such as lightning, or the ignis fatuus, or even a cloud of +fireflies, has always produced a disquieting effect. Experience has +evidently taught the domestic horse to distinguish a light kindled by +man from all others; and, knowing its character, he is just as well able +as his rider to go towards it without experiencing that confusion of +mind caused by a glare in the darkness, the origin and nature of which +is a mystery. The artificially-lighted fire is to the horse only the +possible goal of the journey, and is associated with the thought of rest +and food. Wild animals, as a rule, at any rate in thinly-settled +districts, do not know the meaning of any fire; it only excites +curiosity and fear in them; and they are most disturbed at the sight of +fires made by man, which are brighter and steadier than most natural +fires. We can understand this sensation in animals, since we ourselves +experience a similar one (although in a less degree and not associated +with fear) in the effect which mere brightness has on us, both by day +and night. + +On riding across the monotonous grey Patagonian uplands, where often for +hours one sees not the faintest tinge of bright colour, the intense +glowing crimson of a cactus-fruit, or the broad shining white bosom of +the Patagonian eagle-buzzard (Buteo erythronotus), perched on the summit +of a distant bush, has had a strangely fascinating effect on me, so that +I have been unable to take my eyes off it as long as it continued before +me. Or in passing through extensive desolate marshes, the dazzling white +plumage of a stationary egret has exercised the same attraction. At +night we experience the sensation in a greater degree, when the silver +sheen of the moon makes a broad path on the water; or when a meteor +leaves a glowing track across the sky; while a still more familiar +instance is seen in the powerful attraction on the sight of glowing +embers in a darkened room. The mere brightness, or vividness of the +contrast, fascinates the mind; but the effect on man is comparatively +weak, owing to his fiery education and to his familiarity with brilliant +dyes artificially obtained from nature. How strong this attraction of +mere brightness, even where there is no mystery about it, is to wild +animals is shown by birds of prey almost invariably singling out white +or bright-plumaged birds for attack where bright and sober-coloured +kinds are mingled together. By night the attraction is immeasurably +greater than by day, and the light of a fire steadily gazed at quickly +confuses the mind. The fires which, travellers make for their protection +actually serve to attract the beasts of prey, but the confusion and fear +caused by the bright glare makes it safe for the traveller to lie down +and sleep in the light. Mammals do not lose their heads altogether, +because they are walking on firm ground where muscular exertion and an +exercise of judgment are necessary at every step; whereas birds floating +buoyantly and with little effort through the air are quickly bewildered. +Incredible numbers of migratory birds kill them-selves by dashing +against the windows of lighthouses; on bright moonlight nights the +voyagers are comparatively safe; but during dark cloudy weather the +slaughter is very great; over six hundred birds were killed by striking +a lighthouse in Central America in a single night. On insects the effect +is the same as on the higher animals: on the ground they are attracted +by the light, but keep, like wolves and tigers, at a safe distance from +it; when rushing through the air and unable to keep their eyes from it +they fly into it, or else revolve about it, until, coming too close, +their wings are singed. + +I find that when I am on horseback, going at a swinging gallop, a bright +light affects me far more powerfully than when I am trudging along on +foot. A person mounted on a bicycle and speeding over a level plain on a +dark night, with nothing to guide him except the idea of the direction +in his mind, would be to some extent in the position of the migratory +bird. An exceptionally brilliant ignis fatuus flying before him would +affect him as the gleam of a lamp placed high above the surface affects +the migrants: he would not be able to keep his eyes from it, but would +quickly lose the sense of direction, and probably end his career much as +the bird does, by breaking his machine and perhaps his bones against +some unseen obstruction in the way. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +FACTS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT SPIDERS. + + +Some time ago, while turning over a quantity of rubbish in a little-used +room, I disturbed a large black spider. Rushing forth, just in time to +save itself from destruction through the capsizing of a pile of books, +it paused for one moment, took a swift comprehensive glance at the +position, then scuttled away across the floor, and was lost in an +obscure corner of the room. This incident served to remind me of a fact +I was nearly forgetting, that England is not a spiderless country. A +foreigner, however intelligent, coming from warmer regions, might very +easily make that mistake. In Buenos Ayres, the land of my nativity, +earth teems with these interesting little creatures. They abound in and +on the water, they swarm in the grass and herbage, which everywhere +glistens with the silvery veil they spin over it. Indeed it is scarcely +an exaggeration to say that there is an atmosphere of spiders, for they +are always floating about invisible in the air; their filmy threads are +unfelt when they fly against you; and often enough you are not even +aware of the little arrested aeronaut hurrying over your face with feet +lighter than the lightest thistledown. + +It is somewhat strange that although, where other tribes of living +creatures are concerned, I am something of a naturalist, spiders I have +always observed and admired in a non-scientific spirit, and this must be +my excuse for mentioning the habits of some spiders without giving their +specific names--an omission always vexing to the severely-technical +naturalist. They have ministered to the love of the beautiful, the +grotesque, and the marvellous in me; but I have never _collected_ a +spider, and if I wished to preserve one should not know how to do it. I +have been "familiar with the face" of these monsters so long that I have +even learnt to love them; and I believe that if Emerson rightly predicts +that spiders are amongst the things to be expelled from earth by the +perfected man of the future, then a great charm and element of interest +will be lost to nature. Though loving them, I cannot, of course, feel +the same degree of affection towards all the members of so various a +family. The fairy gossamer, scarce seen, a creature of wind and +sunshine; the gem-like Epeira in the centre of its Starry web; even the +terrestrial Salticus, with its puma-like strategy, certainly appeal more +to our aesthetic feelings than does the slow heavy Mygale, looking at a +distance of twenty yards away, as he approaches you, like a gigantic +cockroach mounted on stilts. The rash fury with which the female +wolf-spider defends her young is very admirable; but the admiration she +excites is mingled with other feelings when we remember that the brave +mother proves to her consort a cruel and cannibal spouse. + +Possibly my affection for spiders is due in a great measure to the +compassion I have always felt for them. Pity, 'tis said, is akin to +love; and who can help experiencing that tender emotion that considers +the heavy affliction nature has laid on the spiders in compensation for +the paltry drop of venom with which she, unasked, endowed them! And +here, of course, I am alluding to the wasps. These insects, with a +refinement of cruelty, prefer not to kill their victims outright, but +merely maim them, then house them in cells where the grubs can vivisect +them at leisure. This is one of those revolting facts the fastidious +soul cannot escape from in warm climates; for in and out of open windows +and doors, all day long, all the summer through, comes the busy +beautiful mason-wasp. A long body, wonderfully slim at the waist, bright +yellow legs and thorax, and a dark crimson abdomen,--what object can be +prettier to look at? But in her life this wasp is not beautiful. At +home in summer they were the pests of my life, for nothing would serve +to keep them out. One day, while we were seated at dinner, a clay nest, +which a wasp had succeeded in completing unobserved, detached itself +from the ceiling and fell with a crash on to the table, where it was +shattered to pieces, scattering a shower of green half-living spiders +round it. I shall never forget the feeling of intense repugnance I +experienced at the sight, coupled with detestation of the pretty but +cruel little architect. There is, amongst our wasps, even a more +accomplished spider-scourge than the mason-wasp, and I will here give a +brief account of its habits. On the grassy pampas, dry bare spots of +soil are resorted to by a class of spiders that either make or take +little holes in the ground to reside in, and from which they rush forth +to seize their prey. They also frequently sit inside their dens and +patiently wait there for the intrusion of some bungling insect. Now, in +summer, to a dry spot of ground like this, comes a small wasp, scarcely +longer than a blue-bottle fly, body and wings of a deep shining purplish +blue colour, with only a white mark like a collar on the thorax. It +flirts its blue wings, hurrying about here and there, and is extremely +active, and of a slender graceful figure--the type of an assassin. It +visits and explores every crack and hole in the ground, and, if you +watch it attentively, you will at length see it, on arriving at a hole, +give a little start backwards. It knows that a spider lies concealed +within. Presently, having apparently matured a plan of attack, it +disappears into the hole and remains there for some time. Then, just +when you are beginning to think that the little blue explorer has been +trapped, out it rushes, flying in terror, apparently, from the spider +who issues close behind in hot pursuit; but, before they are three +inches away from the hole, quick as lightning the wasp turns on its +follower, and the two become locked together in a deadly embrace. +Looking like one insect, they spin rapidly round for a few moments, then +up springs the wasp--victorious. The wretched victim is not dead; its +legs move a little, but its soft body is paralyzed, and lies collapsed, +flabby, and powerless as a stranded jellyfish. And this is the +invariable result of every such conflict. In other classes of beings, +even the weakest hunted thing occasionally succeeds in inflicting pain +on its persecutor, and the small trembling mouse, unable to save itself, +can sometimes make the cat shriek with paiu; but there is no weak spot +in the wasp's armour, no fatal error of judgment, not even an accident, +ever to save the wretched victim from its fate. And now comes the most +iniquitous part of the proceeding. When the wasp has sufficiently rested +after the struggle, it deliberately drags the disabled spider back into +its own hole, and, having packed it away at the extremity, lays an egg +alongside of it, then, coming out again, gathers dust and rubbish with +which it fills up and obliterates the hole; and, having thus concluded +its Machiavellian task, it flies cheerfully off in quest of another +victim. + +The extensive Epeira family supply the mason-wasps and other +spider-killers with the majority of their victims. These spiders have +soft, plump, succulent bodies like pats of butter; they inhabit trees +and bushes chiefly, where their geometric webs-betray their whereabouts; +they are timid, comparatively innocuous, and reluctant to quit the +shelter of their green bower, made of a rolled-up leaf; so that there +are many reasons why they should be persecuted. They exhibit a great +variety of curious forms; many are also very richly coloured; but even +their brightest hues--orange, silver, scarlet--have not been given +without regard to the colouring of their surroundings. Green-leafed +bushes arc frequented by vividly green Epeiras, but the imitative +resemblance does not quite end here. The green spider's method of +escape, when the bush is roughly shaken, is to drop itself down on the +earth, where it lies simulating death. In falling, it drops just as a +green leaf would drop, that is, not quite so rapidly as a round, solid +body like a beetle or spider. Now in the bushes there is another Epeira, +in size and form like the last, but differing in colour; for instead of +a vivid green, it is of a faded yellowish white--the exact hue of a +dead, dried-up leaf. This spider, when it lets itself drop--for it has +the same protective habit as the other--falls not so rapidly as a green +freshly broken off leaf or as the green spider would fall, but with a +slower motion, precisely like a leaf withered up till it has become +almost light as a feather. It is not difficult to imagine how this comes +about: either a thicker line, or a greater stiffness or tenacity of the +viscid fluid composing the web and attached to the point the spider +drops from, causes one to fall slower than the other. But how many +tentative variations in the stiffness of the web material must there +have been before the precise degree was attained enabling the two +distinct species, differing in colour, to complete their resemblance to +falling leaves--a fresh green leaf in one case and a dead, withered leaf +in the other! + +The Tetragnatha--a genus of the Epeira family, and known also in +England--are small spiders found on the margin of streams. Their bodies +are slender, oblong, and resembling a canoe in shape; and when they sit +lengthwise on a stem or blade of grass, their long, hair-like legs +arranged straight before and behind them, it is difficult to detect +them, so closely do they resemble a discoloured stripe on the herbage. A +species of Tetragnatha with a curious modification of structure abounds +on the pampas. The long leg of this spider is no thicker than a bristle +from a pig's back, but at the extremity it is flattened and broad, +giving it a striking resemblance to an oar. These spiders are only found +in herbage overhanging the borders of streams: they are very numerous, +and, having a pugnacious temper, are incessantly quarrelling; and it +frequently happens that in these encounters, or where they are pursuing +each other through the leaves, they drop into the water below. I +believe, in fact, that they often drop themselves purposely into it as +the readiest means of escape when hard pressed. When this happens, the +advantage of the modified structure of the legs is seen. The fallen +spider, sitting boat-like on the surface, throws out its long legs, and, +dipping the broad ends into the water, literally rows itself rapidly to +land. + +The gossamer-spider, most spiritual of living things, of which there are +numerous species, some extremely beautiful in colouring and markings, is +the most numerous of our spiders. Only when the declining sun flings a +broad track of shiny silver light on the plain does one get some faint +conception of the unnumbered millions of these buoyant little creatures +busy weaving their gauzy veil over the earth and floating unseen, like +an ethereal vital dust, in the atmosphere. + +This spider carries within its diminutive abdomen a secret which will +possibly serve to vex subtle intellects for a long time to come; for it +is hard to believe that merely by mechanical force, even aided by +currents of air, a creature half as big as a barley grain can +instantaneously snoot out filaments twenty or thirty inches long, and by +means of which it floats itself in the air. + +Naturalists are now giving a great deal of attention to the migrations +of birds in different parts of the world: might not insect and spider +migrations be included with advantage to science in their observations? +The common notion is that the gossamer makes use of its unique method of +locomotion, only to shift its quarters, impelled by want of food or +unfavourable conditions--perhaps only by a roving disposition. I believe +that besides these incessant flittings about from place to place +throughout the summer the gossamer-spiders have great periodical +migrations which are, as a rule, in-visible, since a single floating web +cannot be remarked, and each individual rises and floats away by itself +from its own locality when influenced by the instinct. When great +numbers of spiders rise up simultaneously over a large area, then, +sometimes, the movement forces itself on our attention; for at such +times the whole sky may be filled with visible masses of floating web. +All the great movements of gossamers I have observed have occurred in +the autumn, or, at any rate, several weeks after the summer solstice; +and, like the migrations of birds at the same season of the year, have +been in a northerly direction. I do not assert or believe that the +migratory instinct in the gossamer is universal. In a moist island, like +England, for instance, where the condition of the atmosphere is seldom +favourable, and where the little voyagers would often be blown by +adverse winds to perish far out at sea, it is difficult to believe that +such migrations take place. But where they inhabit a vast area of land, +as in South America, extending without interruption from the equator to +the cold Magellanic regions, and where there is a long autumn of dry, +hot weather, then such an instinct as migration might have been +developed. For this is not a faculty merely of a few birds: the impulse +to migrate at certain seasons affects birds, insects, and even mammals. +In a few birds only is it highly developed, but the elementary feeling, +out of which the wonderful habit of the swallow has grown, exists widely +throughout animated nature. On the continent of Europe it also seems +probable that a great autumnal movement of these spiders takes place; +although, I must confess, I have no grounds for this statement, except +that the floating gossamer is called in Germany "Der fliegender +Summer"--the flying or departing summer. + +I have stated that all migrations of gossamers I have witnessed have +been in the autumn; excepting in one instance, these flights occurred +when the weather was still hot and dry. The exceptionally late migration +was on March 22--a full month after the departure of martins, +humming-birds, flycatchers, and most other true bird-migrants. It struck +me as being so remarkable, and seems to lend so much force to the idea I +have suggested, that I wish to give here an exact copy of the entries +made at the time and on the spot in my notebook. + +"March 22. This afternoon, while I was out shooting, the +gossamer-spiders presented an appearance quite new to me. Walking along +a stream (the Conchitas, near Buenos Ayres), I noticed a broad white +line skirting the low wet ground. This I found was caused by gossamer +web lying in such quantities over the earth as almost to hide the grass +ad thistles under it. The white zone was about twenty yards wide, and +outside it only a few scattered webs were visible on the grass; its +exact length I did not ascertain, but followed it for about two miles +without finding the end. The spiders were so numerous that they +continually baulked one another in their efforts to rise in the air. As +soon as one threw out its lines they would become entangled with those +of another spider, lanced out at the same moment; both spiders would +immediately seem to know the cause of the trouble, for as soon as their +lines fouled they would rush angrily towards each other, each trying to +drive the other from the elevation. Notwithstanding these difficulties, +numbers were continually floating off on the breeze which blew from the +south. + +"I noticed three distinct species: one with a round scarlet body; +another, velvet black, with large square cephalothorax and small pointed +abdomen; the third and most abundant kind were of different shades of +olive green, and varied greatly in size, the largest being fully a +quarter of an inch in length. Apparently these spiders had been driven +up from the low ground along the stream where it was wet, and had +congregated along the borders of the dry ground in readiness to migrate. + +"25th. Went again to visit the spiders, scarcely expecting to find them, +as, since first seeing them, we have had much wind and rain. To my +surprise I found them in greatly increased numbers: on the tops of +cardoons, posts, and other elevated situations they were literally lying +together in heaps. Most of them were large and of the olive-coloured +species; their size had probably prevented them from getting away +earlier, but they were now floating off in great numbers, the weather +being calm and tolerably dry. To-day I noticed a new species with a grey +body, elegantly striped with black, and pink legs--a very pretty spider. + +"26th. Went again to-day and found that the whole vast army of +gossamers, with the exception of a few stragglers sitting on posts and +dry stalks, had vanished. They had taken advantage of the short spell of +fine weather we are now having, after an unusually wet and boisterous +autumn, to make their escape." + +Here it seemed to me that a conjunction of circumstances--first, the +unfavourable season preventing migration at the proper time, and +secondly, the strip of valley out of which the spiders had been driven +to the higher ground till they were massed together--only served to make +visible and evident that a vast annual migration takes place which we +have only to look closely for to discover. + +One of the most original spiders in Buenos Ayres--mentally original, I +mean--is a species of Pholcus; a quiet, inoffensive creature found in +houses, and so abundant that they literally swarm where they are not +frequently swept away from ceilings and obscure corners. Certainly it +seems a poor spider after the dynamical and migratory gossamer; but it +happens, curiously enough, that a study of the habits of this dusty +domestic creature leads us incidentally into the realms of fable and +romance. It is remarkable for the extreme length of its legs, and +resembles in colour and general appearance a crane fly, but is double +the size of that insect. It has a singular method of protecting itself: +when attacked or approached even, gathering its feet together and +fastening them to the centre of its web, it swings itself round and +round with the velocity of a whirligig, so that it appears like a mist +on the web, offering no point for an enemy to strike at. "When a fly is +captured the spider approaches it cautiously and spins a web round it, +continually narrowing the circle it describes, until the victim is +inclosed in a cocoon-like covering. This is a common method with +spiders; but the intelligence--for I can call it by no other word--of +the Pholcus has supplemented this instinctive procedure with a very +curious and unique habit. The Pholcus, in spite of its size, is a weak +creature, possessing little venom to despatch its prey with, so that it +makes a long and laborious task of killing a fly. A fly when caught in +a web is a noisy creature, and it thus happens that when the +Daddylonglegs--as Anglo-Argentines have dubbed this species--succeeds in +snaring a captive the shrill outrageous cries of the victim are heard +for a long time--often for ten or twelve minutes. This noise greatly +excites other spiders in the vicinity, and presently they are seen +quitting their webs and flurrying to the scene of conflict. Sometimes +the captor is driven off, and then the strongest or most daring spider +carries away the fly. But where a large colony are allowed to continue +for a long time in undisturbed possession of a ceiling, when one has +caught a fly he proceeds rapidly to throw a covering of web over it, +then, cutting it away, drops it down and lets it hang suspended by a +line at a distance of two or three feet from the ceiling. The other +spiders arrive on the scene, and after a short investigation retreat to +their own webs, and when the coast is clear our spider proceeds to draw +up the captive fly, which is by this time exhausted with its struggles." + +Now, I have repeatedly remarked that all spiders, when the shrill +humming of an insect caught in a web is heard near them, become +agitated, like the Pholcus, and will, in the same way, quit their own +webs and hurry to the point the sound proceeds from. This fact convinced +me many years ago that spiders are attracted by the sound of musical +instruments, such as violins, concertinas, guitars, &c., simply because +the sound produces the same effect on them as the shrill buzzing of a +captive fly. I have frequently seen spiders come down walls or from +ceilings, attracted by the sound of a guitar, softly played; and by +gently touching metal strings, stretched on a piece of wood, I have +succeeded in attracting spiders on to the strings, within two or three +inches of my fingers; and I always noticed that the spiders seemed to be +eagerly searching for something which they evidently expected to find +there, moving about in an excited manner and looking very hungry and +fierce. I have no doubt that Pelisson's historical spider in the +Bastille came down in a mood and with a manner just as ferocious when +the prisoner called it with musical sounds to be fed. + +The spiders I have spoken of up till now are timid, inoffensive +creatures, chiefly of the Epeira family; but there are many others +exceedingly high-spirited and, like some of the most touchy +hymenopteras, always prepared to "greatly quarrel" over matters of +little moment. The Mygales, of which we have several species, are not to +be treated with contempt. One is extremely abundant on the pampas, the +Mygale fusca, a veritable monster, covered with dark brown hair, and +called in the vernacular _aranea peluda_--hairy spider. In the hot +month of December these spiders take to roaming about on the open plain, +and are then everywhere seen travelling in a straight line with a slow +even pace. They are very great in attitudes, and when one is approached +it immediately throws itself back, like a pugilist preparing for an +encounter, and stands up so erect on its four hind feet that the under +surface of its body is displayed. Humble-bees are commonly supposed to +carry the palm in attitudinizing; and it is wonderful to see the +grotesque motions of these irascible insects when their nest is +approached, elevating their abdomens and two or three legs at a time, so +that they resemble a troupe of acrobats balancing themselves on their +heads or hands, and kicking their legs about in the air. And to impress +the intruder with the dangerous significance of this display they hum a +shrill warning or challenge, and stab at the air with their naked +stings, from which limpid drops of venom are seen to exude. These +threatening gestures probably have an effect. In the case of the hairy +spider, I do not think any creature, however stupid, could mistake its +meaning when it stands suddenly up, a figure horribly grotesque; then, +dropping down on all eights, charges violently forwards. Their long, +shiny black, sickle-shaped falces are dangerous weapons. I knew a native +woman who had been bitten on the leg, and who, after fourteen years, +still suffered at intervals acute pains in the limb. + +The king of the spiders on the pampas is, however, not a Mygale, but a +Lycosa of extraordinary size, light grey in colour, with a black ring +round its middle. It is active and swift, and irritable to such a degree +that one can scarcely help thinking that in this species nature has +overshot her mark. + +When a person passes near one--say, within three or four yards of its +lurking-place--it starts up and gives chase, and will often follow for a +distance of thirty or forty yards. I came once very nearly being bitten +by one of these savage creatures Riding at an easy trot over the dry +grass, I suddenly observed a spider pursuing me, leaping swiftly along +and keeping up with my beast. I aimed a blow with my whip, and the point +of the lash struck the ground close to it, when it instantly leaped upon +and ran up the lash, and was actually within three or four inches of my +hand when I flung the whip from me. + +The gauchos have a very quaint ballad which tells that the city of +Cordova was once invaded by an army of monstrous spiders, and that the +townspeople went out with beating drums and flags flying to repel the +invasion, and that after firing several volleys they were forced to turn +and fly for their lives. I have no doubt that a sudden great increase of +the man-chasing spiders, in a year exceptionally favourable to them, +suggested this fable to some rhyming satirist of the town. + +In conclusion of this part of my subject, I will describe a single +combat of a very terrible nature I once witnessed between two little +spiders belong-ing to the same species. One had a small web against a +wall, and of this web the other coveted possession. After vainly trying +by a series of strategic movements to drive out the lawful owner, it +rushed on to the web, and the two envenomed httle duellists closed in +mortal combat. They did nothing so vulgar and natural as to make use of +their falces, and never once actually touched each other, but the fight +was none the less deadly. Rapidly revolving about, or leaping over, or +passing under, each other, each endeavoured to impede or entangle his +adversary, and the dexterity with which each avoided the cunningly +thrown snare, trying at the same time to entangle its opponent, was +wonderful to see. At length, after this equal battle had raged for some +time, one of the combatants made some fatal mistake, and for a moment +there occurred a break in his motions; instantly the other perceived his +advantage, and began leaping backwards and forwards across his +struggling adversary with such rapidity as to confuse the sight, +producing the appearance of two spiders attacking a third one lying +between them. He then changed his tactics, and began revolving round and +round his prisoner, and very soon the poor vanquished wretch--the +aggressor, let us hope, in the interests of justice--was closely wrapped +in a silvery cocoon, which, unlike the cocoon the caterpillar weaves for +itself, was also its winding-sheet. + +In the foregoing pages I have thrown together some of the most salient +facts I have noted; but the spider-world still remains to me a +wonderland of which I know comparatively nothing. Nor is any very +intimate knowledge of spiders to be got from books, though numberless +lists of new species are constantly being printed; for they have not yet +had, like the social bees and ants, many loving and patient chroniclers +of their ways. The Hubens and Lubbocks have been many; the Moggridges +few. But even a very slight study of these most versatile and +accomplished of nature's children gives rise to some interesting +reflections. One fact that strikes the mind very forcibly is the +world-wide distribution of groups of species possessing highly developed +instincts. One is the zebra-striped Salticus, with its unique +strategy--that is to say, unique amongst spiders. It is said that the +Australian savage approaches a kangaroo in the open by getting up in +sight of its prey and standing perfectly motionless till he is regarded +as an inanimate object, and every time the animal's attention wanders +advancing a step or two until sufficiently near to hurl his spear. The +Salticus approaches a fly in the same manner, till near enough to make +its spring. Another is the Trapdoor spider. Another the Dolomedes, that +runs over the surface of the water in pursuit of its prey, and dives +down to escape from its enemies; and, strangest of all, the Argyroneta, +that has its luminous dwelling at the bottom of streams; and just as a +mason carries bricks and mortar to its building, so does this spider +carry down bubbles of air from the surface to enlarge its mysterious +house, in which it lays its eggs and rears its young. Community of +descent must be supposed of species having such curious and complex +instincts; but how came these feeble creatures, unable to transport +themselves over seas and continents like the aerial gossamer, to be so +widely distributed, and inhabiting regions with such different +conditions? This can only be attributed to the enormous antiquity of the +species, and of this antiquity the earliness in which the instinct +manifests itself in the young spiders is taken as evidence. + +A more important matter, the intelligence of spiders, has not yet +received the attention it deserves. The question of insect +intelligence--naturalists are agreed that insects do possess +intelligence--is an extremely difficult one; probably some of our +conclusions on this matter will have to be reconsidered. For instance, +we regard the Order Hymenoptera as the most intelligent because most of +the social insects are included in it; but it has not yet been proved, +probably never will be proved, that the social instincts resulted from +intelligence which has "lapsed." Whether ants and bees were more +intelligent than other insects during the early stages of their organic +societies or not, it will hardly be disputed by any naturalist who has +observed insects for long that many solitary species display more +intelligence in their actions than those that live in communities. + +The nature of the spider's food and the difficulties in the way of +providing for their wants impose on them a life of solitude: hunger, +perpetual watchfulness, and the sense of danger have given them a +character of mixed ferocity and timidity. But these very conditions, +which have made it impossible for them to form societies like some +insects and progress to a state of things resembling civilization in +men, have served to develop the mind that is in a spider, making of him +a very clever barbarian-The spider's only weapon of defence---his +falces--are as poor a protection against the assaults of his insect foes +as are teeth and finger-nails in man employed against wolves, bears, and +tigers. And the spider is here even worse off than man, since his +enemies are winged and able to sweep down instantly on him from above; +they are also protected with an invulnerable shield, and are armedwith +deadly stings. Like man, also, the spider has a soft, unprotected body, +while his muscular strength, compared with that of the insects he has to +contend with, is almost _nil._ His position in nature then, with +relation to his enemies, is like that of man; only the spider has this +disadvantage, that he cannot combine with others for protection. That he +does protect himself and maintains his place in nature is due, not to +special instincts, which are utterly insufficient, but to the +intelligence which supplements them. At the same time this superior +cunning is closely related with, and probably results indirectly from, +the web he is provided with, and which is almost of the nature of an +artificial aid. Let us take the imaginary case of a man-like monkey, or +of an arboreal man, born with a cord of great length attached to his +waist, which could be either dragged after him or carried in a coil. +After many accidents, experience would eventually teach him to put it to +some use; practice would make him more and more skilful in handling it, +and, indirectly, it would be the means of developing his latent mental +faculties. He would begin by using it, as the monkey does its prehensile +tail, to swing himself from branch to branch, and finally, to escape +from an enemy or in pursuit of his prey, he would be able by means of +his cord to drop himself with safety from the tallest trees, or fly down +the steepest precipices. He would coil up his cord to make a bed to lie +on, and also use it for binding branches together when building himself +a refuge. In a close fight, he would endeavour to entangle an adversary, +and at last he would learn to make a snare with it to capture his prey. +To all these, and to a hundred other uses, the spider has put his web. +And when we see him spread his beautiful geometric snare, held by lines +fixed to widely separated points, while he sits concealed in his +web-lined retreat amongst the leaves where every touch on the +far-reaching structure is telegraphed to him by the communicating line +faithfully as if a nerve had been touched, we must admire the wonderful +perfection to which he has attained in the use of his cord. By these +means he is able to conquer creatures too swift and strong for him, and +make them his prey. When we see him repairing damages, weighting his +light fabric in windy weather with pebbles or sticks, as a fisher +weights his net, and cutting loose a captive whose great strength +threatens the destruction of the web, then we begin to suspect that he +has, above his special instinct, a reason that guides, modifies, and in +many ways supplements it. It is not, however, only on these great +occasions, when the end is sought by unusual means, that spiders show +their intelligence; for even these things might be considered by some as +merely parts of one great complex instinct; but at all times, in all +things, the observer who watches them closely cannot fail to be +convinced that they possess a guiding principle which is not mere +instinct. What the stick or stone was to primitive man, when he had made +the discovery that by holding it in his hand he greatly increased the +force of his blow, the possession of a web has been to the spider in +developing that spark of intellect which it possesses in common with all +animal organisms. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE DEATH-FEIGNING INSTINCT. + + +Most people are familiar with the phenomenon of "death-feigning," +commonly seen in coleopterous insects, and in many spiders. This highly +curious instinct is also possessed by some vertebrates. In insects it is +probably due to temporary paralysis occasioned by sudden concussion, for +when beetles alight abruptly, though voluntarily, they assume that +appearance of death, which lasts for a few moments. Some species, +indeed, are so highly sensitive that the slightest touch, or even a +sudden menace, will instantly throw them into this motionless, +death-simulating condition. Curiously enough, the same causes which +produce this trance in slow-moving species, like those of Scarabseus for +example, have a precisely contrary effect on species endowed with great +activity. Rapacious beetles, when disturbed, scuttle quickly out of +sight, and some water-beetles spin about the surface, in circles or +zigzag lines, so rapidly as to confuse the eye. Our common long-legged +spiders (Pholcus) when approached draw their feet together in the middle +of the web, and spin the body round with such velocity as to resemble a +whirligig. + +Certain mammals and birds also possess the death-simulating instinct, +though it is hardly possible to believe that the action springs from the +same immediate cause in vertebrates and in insects. In the latter it +appears to be a purely physical instinct, the direct result of an +extraneous cause, and resembling the motions of a plant. In mammals and +birds it is evident that violent emotion, and not the rough handling +experienced, is the final cause of the swoon. + +Passing over venomous snakes, skunks, and a few other species in which +the presence of danger excites only anger, fear has a powerful, and in +some cases a disabling, effect on animals; and it is this paralyzing +effect of fear on which the death-feigning instinct, found only in a few +widely-separated species, has probably been built up by the slow +cumulative process of natural selection. + +I have met with some curious instances of the paralyzing effect of fear. +I was told by some hunters in an outlying district of the pampas of its +effect on a jaguar they started, and which took refuge in a dense clump +of dry reeds. Though they could see it, it was impossible to throw the +lasso over its head, and, after vainly trying to dislodge it, they at +length set fire to the reeds. Still it refused to stir, but lay with +head erect, fiercely glaring at them through the flames. Finally it +disappeared from sight in the black smoke; and when the fire had burnt +itself out, it was found, dead and charred, in the same spot. + +On the pampas the gauchos frequently take the black-necked swan by +frightening it. When the birds are feeding or resting on the grass, two +or three men or boys on horseback go quietly to leeward of the flock, +and when opposite to it suddenly wheel and charge it at full speed, +uttering loud shouts, by which the birds are thrown into such terror +that they are incapable of flying, and are quickly despatched. + +I have also seen gaucho boys catch the Silver-bill (Lichenops +perspicillata) by hurling a stick or stone at the bird, then rushing at +it, when it sits perfectly still, disabled by fear, and allows itself to +be taken. I myself once succeeded in taking a small bird of another +species in the same way. + +Amongst mammals our common fox (Canis azarae), and one of the opossums +(Didelphys azarae), are strangely subject to the death-simulating swoon. +For it does indeed seem strange that animals so powerful, fierce, and +able to inflict such terrible injury with their teeth should also +possess this safeguard, apparently more suited to weak inactive +creatures that cannot resist or escape from an enemy and to animals very +low down in the scale of being. When a fox is caught in a trap or run +down by dogs he fights savagely at first, but by-and-by relaxes his +efforts, drops on the ground, and apparently yields up the ghost. The +deception is so well carried out, that dogs are constantly taken in by +it, and no one, not previously acquainted with this clever trickery of +nature, but would at once pronounce the creature dead, and worthy of +some praise for having perished in so brave a spirit. Now, when in this +condition of feigning death, I am quite sure that the animal does not +altogether lose consciousness. It is exceedingly difficult to discover +any evidence of life in the opossum; but when one withdraws a little way +from the feigning fox, and watches him very attentively, a slight +opening of the eye may be detected; and, finally, when left to himself, +he does not recover and start up like an animal that has been stunned, +but slowly and cautiously raises his head first, and only gets up when +his foes are at a safe distance. Yet I have seen gauchos, who are very +cruel to animals, practise the most barbarous experiments on a captive +fox without being able to rouse it into exhibiting any sign of life. +This has greatly puzzled me, since, if death-feigning is simply a +cunning habit, the animal could not suffer itself to be mutilated +without wincing. I can only believe that the fox, though not insensible, +as its behaviour on being left to itself appears to prove, yet has its +body thrown by extreme terror into that benumbed condition which +simulates death, and during which it is unable to feel the tortures +practised on it. + +The swoon sometimes actually takes place before the animal has been +touched, and even when the exciting cause is at a considerable distance. +I was once riding with a gaucho, when we saw, on the open level ground +before us, a fox, not yet fully grown, standing still and watching our +approach. All at once it dropped, and when we came up to the spot it was +lying stretched out, with eyes closed, and apparently dead. Before +passing on my companion, who said it was not the first time he had seen +such a thing, lashed it vigorously with his whip for some moments, but +without producing the slightest effect. + +The death-feigning instinct is possessed in a very marked degree by the +spotted tinamou or common partridge of the pampas (Nothura maculosa). +When captured, after a few violent struggles to escape, it drops its +head, gasps two or three times, and to all appearances dies. If, when +you have seen this, you release your hold, the eyes open instantly, and, +with startling suddenness and a noise of wings, it is up and away, and +beyond your reach for ever. Possibly, while your grasp is on the bird it +does actually become insensible, though its recovery from that condition +is almost instantaneous. Birds when captured do sometimes die in the +hand, purely from terror. The tinamou is excessively timid, and +sometimes when birds of this species are chased--for gaucho boys +frequently run them down on horseback--and when they find no burrows or +thickets to escape into, they actually drop down dead on the plain. +Probably, when they feign death in their captor's hand, they are in +reality very near to death. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +HUMMING-BIRDS. + + +Humming-birds are perhaps the very loveliest things in nature, and many +celebrated writers have exhausted their descriptive powers in vain +efforts to picture them to the imagination. The temptation was certainly +great, after describing the rich setting of tropical foliage and flower, +to speak at length of the wonderful gem contained within it; but they +would in this case have been wise to imitate that modest novel-writer +who introduced a blank space on the page where the description of his +matchless heroine should have appeared. After all that has been written, +the first sight of a living humming-bird, so unlike in its beauty all +other beautiful things, comes like a revelation to the mind. To give any +true conception of it by means of mere word-painting is not more +impossible than it would be to bottle up a supply of the "living +sunbeams" themselves, and convey them across the Atlantic to scatter +them in a sparkling shower over the face of England. + +Doubtless many who have never seen them in a state of nature imagine +that a tolerably correct idea of their appearance can be gained from +Gould's colossal monograph. The pictures there, however, only represent +dead humming-birds. A dead robin is, for purposes of bird-portraiture, +as good as a live robin; the same may be said of even many +brilliant-plumaged species less aerial in their habits than +humming-birds. In butterflies the whole beauty is seldom seen until the +insect is dead, or, at any rate, captive. It was not when Wallace saw +the Ornithoptera croesus flying about, but only when he held it in his +hands, and opened its glorious wings, that the sight of its beauty +overcame him so powerfully. The special kind of beauty which makes the +first sight of a humming-bird a revelation depends on the swift singular +motions as much as on the intense gem-like and metallic brilliancy of +the plumage. + +The minute exquisite form, when the bird hovers on misty wings, probing +the flowers with its coral spear, the fan-like tail expanded, and +poising motionless, exhibits the feathers shot with many hues; and the +next moment vanishes, or all but vanishes, then reappears at another +flower only to vanish again, and so on successively, showing its +splendours not continuously, but like the intermitted flashes of the +firefly--this forms a picture of airy grace and loveliness that baffles +description. All this glory disappears when the bird is dead, and even +when it alights to rest on a bough. Sitting still, it looks like an +exceedingly attenuated kingfisher, without the pretty plumage of that +bird, but retaining its stiff artificial manner. No artist has been so +bold as to attempt to depict the bird as it actually appears, when +balanced before a flower the swift motion of the wings obliterates their +form, making them seem like a mist encircling the body; yet it is +precisely this formless cloud on which the glittering body hangs +suspended, which contributes most to give the humming-bird its wonderful +sprite-like or extra-natural appearance. How strange, then, to find +bird-painters persisting in their efforts to show the humming-bird +flying! When they draw it stiff and upright on its perch the picture is +honest, if ugly; the more ambitious representation is a delusion and a +mockery. + +Coming to the actual colouring--the changeful tints that glow with such +intensity on the scale-like feathers, it is curious to find that Gould +seems to have thought that all difficulties here had been successfully +overcome. The "new process" he spoke so confidently about might no doubt +be used with advantage in reproducing the coarser metallic reflections +on a black plumage, such as we see in the corvine birds; but the +glittering garment of the humming-bird, like the silvery lace woven by +the Epeira, gemmed with dew and touched with rainbow-coloured light, has +never been and never can be imitated by art. + +On this subject one of the latest observers of humming-birds, Mr. +Everard im Thurn, in his work on British Guiana, has the following +passage:--"Hardly more than one point of colour is in reality ever +visible in any one humming-bird at one and the same time, for each point +only shows its peculiar and glittering colour when the light falls upon +it from a particular direction. A true representation of one of these +birds would show it in somewhat sombre colours, except just at the one +point which, when the bird is in the position chosen for representation, +meets the light at the requisite angle, and that point alone should be +shown in full brilliance of colour. A flowery shrub is sometimes seen +surrounded by a cloud of humming-birds, all of one species, and each, of +course, in a different position. If someone would draw such a scene as +that, showing a different detail of colour in each bird, according to +its position, then some idea of the actual appearance of the bird might +be given to one who had never seen an example." + +It is hardly to be expected that anyone will carry out the above +suggestion, and produce a monograph with pages ten or fifteen feet wide +by eighteen feet long, each one showing a cloud of humming-birds of one +species flitting about a flowery bush; but even in such a picture as +that would be, the birds, suspended on unlovely angular projections +instead of "hazy semicircles of indistinctness," and each with an +immovable fleck of brightness on the otherwise sombre plumage, would be +as unlike living humming-birds as anything in the older monographs. + +Whether the glittering iridescent tints and singular ornaments for which +this family is famous result from the cumulative process of conscious or +voluntary sexual selection, as Darwin thought, or are merely the outcome +of a superabundant vitality, as Dr. A. R.. Wallace so strongly +maintains, is a question which science has not yet answered +satisfactorily. The tendency to or habit of varying in the direction of +rich colouring and beautiful or fantastic ornament, might, for all we +know to the contrary, have descended to humming-birds from some +diminutive, curiously-shaped, bright-tinted, flying reptile of arboreal +habits that lived in some far-off epoch in the world's history. It is +not, at all events, maintained by anyone that _all_ birds sprang +originally from one reptilian stock; and the true position of +humming-birds in a natural classification has not yet been settled, for +no intermediate forms exist connecting them with any other group, To the +ordinary mind they appear utterly unlike all other feathered creatures, +and as much entitled to stand apart as, for instance, the pigeon and +ostrich families. It has been maintained by some writers that they are +anatomically related to the swifts, although the differences separating +the two families appear so great as almost to stagger belief in this +notion. Now, however, the very latest authority on this subject, Dr. +Schufeldt, has come to the conclusion that swifts are only greatly +modified Passeres, and that the humming-birds should form an order by +themselves. + +Leaving this question, and regarding them simply with the ornithological +eye that does not see far below the surface of things, when we have +sufficiently admired the unique beauty and marvellous velocity of +humming-birds, there is little more to be said about them. They are +lovely to the eye--indescribably so; and it is not strange that Gould +wrote rapturously of the time when he was at length "permitted to revel +in the delight of seeing the humming-bird in a state of nature." The +feeling, he wrote, which animated him with regard to these most +wonderful works of creation it was impossible to describe, and could +only be appreciated by those who have made natural history a study, and +who "pursue the investigations of her charming mysteries with ardour and +delight." This we can understand; but to what an astonishing degree the +feeling was carried in him, when, after remarking that enthusiasm and +excitement with regard to most things in life become lessened and +eventually deadened by time in most of us, he was able to add, "not +so, however, I believe, with those who take up the study of the Family +of Humming-birds!" It can only be supposed that he regarded natural +history principally as a "science of dead animals--a _necrology_," and +collected humming-birds just as others collect Roman coins, birds' eggs, +old weapons, or blue china, their zeal in the pursuit and faith in its +importance increasing with the growth of their treasures, until they at +last come to believe that though all the enthusiasms and excitements +which give a zest to the lives of other men fade and perish with time, +it is not so with their particular pursuit. The more rational kind of +pleasure experienced by the ornithologist in studying habits and +disposition no doubt results in a great measure from the fact that the +actions of the feathered people have a savour of intelligence in them. +Whatever his theory or conviction about the origin of instincts may +happen to be, or even if he has no convictions on the subject, it must +nevertheless seem plain to him that intelligence is, after all, in most +cases, the guiding principle of life, supplementing and modifying habits +to bring them into closer harmony with the environment, and enlivening +every day with countless little acts which result from judgment and +experience, and form no part of the inherited complex instincts. The +longer he observes any one species or individual, the more does he find +in it to reward his attention; this is not the case, however, with +humming-birds, which possess the avian body but do not rank mentally +with birds. The pleasure one takes in their beauty soon evaporates, and +is succeeded by no fresh interest, so monotonous and mechanical are all +their actions; and we accordingly find that those who are most familiar +with them from personal observation have very little to say about them. +A score of hummingbirds, of as many distinct species, are less to the +student of habits than one little brown-plurnaged bird haunting his +garden or the rush-bed of a neighbouring stream; and, doubtless, for a +reason similar to that which makes a lovely human face uninformed by +intellect seem less permanently attractive than many a homelier +countenance. He grows tired of seeing the feathered fairies perpetually +weaving their aerial ballet-dance about the flowers, and finds it a +relief to watch the little finch or wren or flycatcher of shy temper and +obscure protective colouring. Perhaps it possesses a graceful form and +melodious voice to give it aesthetic value, but even without such +accessories he can observe it day by day with increasing interest and +pleasure; and it only adds piquancy to the feeling to know that the +little bird also watches him with a certain amount of intelligent +curiosity and a great deal of suspicion, and that it studiously +endeavours to conceal from him all the little secrets its life which he +is bent on discovering. + +It has frequently been remarked that humming birds are more like insects +than birds in disposition. Some species, on quitting their perch, +perform wide bee-like circles about the tree before shooting away in a +straight line. Their aimless attacks on other species approaching or +passing near them, even on large birds like hawks and pigeons, is a +habit they have in common with many solitary wood-boring bees. They +also, like dragon-flies and other insects, attack each other when they +come together while feeding; and in this case their action strangely +resembles that of a couple of butterflies, as they revolve about each +other and rise vertically to a great height in the air. Again, like +insects, they are undisturbed at the presence of man while feeding, or +even when engaged in building and incubation; and like various solitary +bees, wasps, &c., they frequently come close to a person walking or +standing, to hover suspended in the air within a few inches of his face; +and if then struck at they often, insect-like, return to circle round +his head. All other birds, even those which display the least +versatility, and in districts where man is seldom seen, show as much +caution as curiosity in his presence; they recognize in the upright +unfamiliar form a living being and a possible enemy. Mr. Whiteley, who +observed humming-birds in Peru, says it is an amusing sight to watch the +Lesbia nuna attempting to pass to a distant spot in a straight line +during a high wind, which, acting on the long tail feathers, carries it +quite away from the point aimed at. Insects presenting a large surface +to the wind are always blown from their course in the same way, for even +in the most windy districts they never appear to learn to guide +themselves; and I have often seen a butterfly endeavouring to reach an +isolated flower blown from it a dozen times before it finally succeeded +or gave up the contest. Birds when shaping their course, unless young +and inexperienced, always make allowance for the force of the wind. +Humming-birds often fly into open rooms, impelled apparently by a +fearless curiosity, and may then be chased about until they drop +exhausted or are beaten down and caught, and, as Gould says, "if then +taken into the hand, they almost immediately feed on any sweet, or pump +up any liquid that may be offered to them, without betraying either fear +or resentment at the previous treatment." Wasps and bees taken in the +same way endeavour to sting their captor, as most people know from +experience, nor do they cease struggling violently to free themselves; +but the dragon-fly is like the humming-bird, and is no sooner caught +after much ill-treatment, than it will greedily devour as many flies and +mosquitoes as one likes to offer it. Only in beings very low in the +scale of nature do we see the instinct of self-preservation in this +extremely simple condition, unmixed with reason or feeling, and so +transient in its effects. The same insensibility to danger is seen when +humming-birds are captured and confined in a room, and when, before a +day is over, they will flutter about their captor's face and even take +nectar from his lips. + +Some observers have thought that hummingbirds come nearest to +humble-bees in their actions. I do not think so. Mr. Bates writes: "They +do not proceed in that methodical manner which bees follow, taking the +flowers seriatim, but skip about from one part of a tree to another in +the most capricious manner." I have observed humble-bees a great deal, +and feel convinced that they arc among the most highly intelligent of +the social hymenoptera. Humming-birds, to my mind, have a much closer +resemblance to the solitary wood-boring bees and to dragon-flies. It +must also be borne in mind that insects have very little time in which +to acquire experience, and that a large portion of their life, in the +imago state, is taken up with the complex business of reproduction. + +The Trochilidae, although confined to one continent, promise to exceed +all other families--even the cosmopolitan finches and warblers--in +number of species. At present over five hundred are known, or as many as +all the species of birds in Europe together; and good reasons exist for +believing that very many more--not less perhaps than one or two hundred +species--yet remain to be discovered. The most prolific region, and +where humming-birds are most highly developed, is known to be West +Brazil and the eastern slopes of the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes. This +is precisely the least known portion of South America; the few +naturalists and collectors who have reached it have returned laden with +spoil, to tell us of a region surpassing all others in the +superabundance and beauty of its bird life. Nothing, however, which can +be said concerning these vast unexplored areas of tropical mountain and +forest so forcibly impresses us with the idea of the unknown riches +contained in them as the story of the Loddigesia mirabilis. This is +perhaps the most wonderful humming-bird known, and no one who had not +previously seen it figured could possibly form an idea of what it is +like from a mere description. An outline sketch of it would probably be +taken by most people as a fantastic design representing a bird-form in +combination with leaves, in size and shape resembling poplar leaves, but +on leaf-stalks of an impossible length, curving and crossing each other +so as to form geometrical figures unlike anything in nature. Yet this +bird (a single specimen) was obtained in Peru half a century ago, and +for upwards of twenty years after its discovery Gould tried to obtain +others, offering as much as fifty pounds for one; but no second specimen +ever gladdened his eyes, nor was anything more heard of it until +Stolzmann refound it in the year 1880. + +The addition of many new species to the long list would, however, be a +matter of small interest, unless fresh facts concerning their habits and +structure were at the same time brought to light; but we can scarcely +expect that the as yet unknown species will supply any link connecting +the Trochilidae with other existing families of birds. The eventual +conclusion will perhaps be that this family has come down independently +from an exceedingly remote past, and with scarcely any modification. +While within certain very narrow limits humming-birds vary more than +other families, outside of these limits they appear relatively +stationary; and, conversely, other birds exhibit least variability in +the one direction in which humming-birds vary excessively. On account of +a trivial difference in habit they have sometimes been separated in two +sub-families: the Phaethornithinae, found in shady tropical forests; and +the Trochilinae, comprising humming-birds which inhabit open sunny +places--and to this division they mostly belong. In both of these purely +arbitrary groups, however, the aerial habits and manner of feeding +poised in the air are identical, although the birds living in shady +forests, where flowers are scarce, obtain their food principally from +the under surfaces of leaves. In their procreant habits the uniformity +is also very great. In all cases the nest is small, deep, cup-shaped, or +conical, composed of soft felted materials, and lined inside with +vegetable down. The eggs are white, and never exceed two in number. +Broadly speaking, they resemble each other as closely in habits as in +structure; the greatest differences in habit in the most widely +separated genera being no greater than may be found in two wrens or +sparrows of the same genus. + +This persistence of character in humming-birds, both as regards +structure and habit, seems the more remarkable when we consider their +very wide distribution over a continent so varied in its conditions, and +where they range from the lowest levels to the limit of perpetual snow +on the Andes, and from the tropics to the wintry Magellanic district; +also that a majority of genera inhabit very circumscribed areas--these +facts, as Dr. Wallace remarks, clearly pointing to a very high +antiquity. + +It is perhaps a law of nature that when a species (or group) fits itself +to a place not previously occupied, and in which it is subject to no +opposition from beings of its own class, or where it attains so great a +perfection as to be able easily to overcome all opposition, the +character eventually loses its original plasticity, or tendency to vary, +since improvement in such a case would be superfluous, and becomes, so +to speak, crystallized in that form which continues thereafter +unaltered. It is, at any rate, clear that while all other birds rub +together in the struggle for existence, the humming-bird, owing to its +aerial life and peculiar manner of seeking its food, is absolutely +untouched by this kind of warfare, and is accordingly as far removed +from all competition with other birds as the solitary savage is removed +from the struggle of life affecting and modifying men in crowded +communities. The lower kind of competition affecting hummingbirds, that +with insects and, within the family, of species with species, has +probably only served to intensify their unique characteristics, and, +perhaps, to lower their intelligence. + +Not only are they removed from that indirect struggle for existence +which acts so powerfully on other families, but they are also, by their +habits and the unequalled velocity of their flight, placed out of reach +of that direct war waged on all other small birds by the rapacious +kinds--birds, mammals, and reptiles. One result of this immunity is that +humming-birds are excessively numerous, albeit such slow breeders; for, +as we have seen, they only lay two eggs, and not only so, but the second +egg is often dropped so long after incubation has begun in the first +that only one is really hatched. Yet Belt expressed the opinion that in +Nicaragua, where he observed humming-birds, they out-numbered all the +other birds together. Considering how abundant birds of all kinds are in +that district, and that most of them have a protective colouring and lay +several eggs, it would be impossible to accept such a statement unless +we believed that humming-birds have, practically, no enemies. + +Another result of their immunity from persecution is the splendid +colouring and strange and beautiful feather ornaments distinguishing +them above all other birds; and excessive variation in this direction is +due, it seems to me, to the very causes which serve to check variation +in all other directions. In their plumage, as Martin long ago wrote, +nature has strained at every variety of effect and revelled in an +infinitude of modifications. How wonderful their garb is, with colours +so varied, so intense, yet seemingly so evanescent!--the glittering +mantle of powdered gold; the emerald green that changes to velvet black; +ruby reds and luminous scarlets; dull bronze that brightens and burns +like polished brass, and pale neutral tints that kindle to rose and +lilac-coloured flame. And to the glory of prismatic colouring are added +feather decorations, such as the racket-plumes and downy muffs of +Spathura, the crest and frills of Lophornis, the sapphire gorget burning +on the snow-white breast of Oreotrochilus, the fiery tail of Cometes, +and, amongst grotesque forms, the long pointed crest-feathers, +representing horns, and flowing-white beard adorning the piebald +goat-like face of Oxypogon. + +Excessive variation in this direction is checked in nearly all other +birds by the need of a protective colouring, few kinds so greatly +excelling in strength and activity as to be able to maintain their +existence without it. Bright feathers constitute a double danger, for +not only do they render their possessor conspicuous, but, just as the +butterfly chooses the gayest flower, so do hawks deliberately single out +from many obscure birds the one with brilliant plumage; but the +rapacious kinds do not waste their energies in the vain pursuit of +hummingbirds. These are in the position of neutrals, free to range at +will amidst the combatants, insulting all alike, and flaunting their +splendid colours with impunity. They are nature's favourites, endowed +with faculties bordering on the miraculous, and all other kinds, gentle +or fierce, ask only to be left alone by them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE CRESTED SCREAMER. + +_(Chalina chavarria.)_ + + +Amongst the feathered notables from all parts of the world found +gathered at the Zoological Gardens in London is the Crested Screamer +from South America. It is in many respects a very singular species, and +its large size, great strength, and majestic demeanour, with the +surprising docility and intelligence it displays when domesticated, give +it a character amongst birds somewhat like that of the elephant amongst +mammals. Briefly and roughly to describe it: in size it is like a swan, +in shape like a lapwing, only with a powerful curved gallinaceous beak. +It is adorned with a long pointed crest and a black neck-ring, the +plumage being otherwise of a pale slaty blue, while the legs and the +naked skin about the eyes are bright red. On each wing, in both sexes, +there are two formidable spurs; the first one, on the second joint, is +an inch and a half long, nearly straight, triangular, and exceedingly +sharp; the second spur, on the last joint, being smaller, broad, and +curved, and roughly resembling in shape and size a lion's claw. There is +another stinking peculiarity. The skin is _emphysematous_--that is, +bloated and yielding to pressure. It crackles when touched, and the +surface, when the feathers are removed, presents a swollen bubbly +appearance; for under the skin there is a layer of air-bubbles extending +over the whole body and even down the legs under the horny tesselated +skin to the toes, the legs thus having a somewhat massive appearance. + +And now just a few words about the position of the screamer in +systematic zoology. It is placed in the Family Palamedeidae, which +contains only three species, but about the Order it belongs to there is +much disagreement. It was formerly classed with the rails, and in +popular books of Natural History still keeps its place with them. "Now +the rail-tribe," says Professor Parker, speaking on this very matter, +"has for a long time been burdened (on paper) with a very false army +list. Everything alive that has had the misfortune to be possessed of +large unwieldy feet has been added to this feeble-minded cowardly group, +until it has become a mixed multitude with discordant voices and with +manners and customs having no consonance or relation." He takes the +screamer from the rail-tribe and classes it with the geese (as also does +Professor Huxley), and concludes his study with these words:--"Amongst +living birds there is not one possessing characters of higher interest, +none that I am acquainted with come nearer, in some important points, to +the lizard; and there are parts of the organization which make it very +probable that it is one of the nearest living relations of the +marvellous _Archaeopteryx_"--an intermediate form between birds and +reptiles belonging to the Upper Jurassic period. + +The screamer's right to dwell with the geese has not been left +unchallenged. The late Professor Garrod finds that "from considerations +of pterylosis, visceral anatomy, myology, and osteology the screamer +cannot be placed along with the Anserine birds." He finds that in some +points it resembles the ostrich and rhea, and concludes: "It seems +therefore to me that, summing these results, the screamer must have +sprung from the primary avian stock as an independent offshoot at much +the same time as did most of the other important families." This time, +he further tells us, was when there occurred a general break-up of the +ancient terrestrial bird-type, when the acquisition of wings brought +many intruders into domains already occupied, calling forth a new +struggle for existence, and bringing out many special qualities by means +of natural selection. + +With this archaeological question I have little to do, and only quote +the above great authorities to show that the screamer appears to be +nearly the last descendant of an exceedingly ancient family, with little +or no relationship to other existing families, and that its pedigree has +been hopelessly lost in the night of an incalculable antiquity. I have +only to speak of the bird as a part of the visible world and as it +appears to the non-scientific lover of nature; for, curiously enough, +while anatomists nave been laboriously seeking for the screamer's +affinities in that "biological field which is as wide as the earth and +deep as the sea," travellers and ornithologists have told us almost +nothing about its strange character and habits. + +Though dressed with Quaker-like sobriety, and without the elegance of +form distinguishing the swan or peacock, this bird yet appeals to the +aesthetic feelings in man more than any species I am acquainted with. +Voice is one of its strong points, as one might readily infer from the +name: nevertheless the name is not an appropriate one, for though the +bird certainly does scream, and that louder than the peacock, its scream +is only a powerful note of alarm uttered occasionally, while the notes +uttered at intervals in the night, or in the day-time, when it soars +upwards like the lark of some far-off imaginary epoch in the world's +history when all tilings, larks included, were on a gigantic scale, are. +properly speaking, singing notes and in quality utterly unlike screams. +Sometimes when walking across Regent's Park I bear the resounding cries +of the bird confined there attempting to sing; above the concert of +cranes, the screams of eagles and macaws, the howling of dogs and wolves +and the muffled roar of lions, one can hear it all over the park. But +those loud notes only sadden me. Exile and captivity have taken all +joyousness from the noble singer, and a moist climate has made him +hoarse; the long clear strains are no more, and he hurries through his +series of confused shrieks as quickly as possible, as if ashamed of the +performance. A lark singing high up in a sunny sky and a lark singing in +a small cage hanging against a shady wall in a London street produce +very different effects; and the spluttering medley of shrill and harsh +sounds from the street singer scarcely seems to proceed from the same +kind of bird as that matchless melody filling the blue heavens. There is +even a greater difference in the notes of the crested screamer when +heard in Regent's Park and when heard on the pampas, where the bird +soars upwards until its bulky body disappears from sight, and from that +vast elevation pours down a perpetual rain of jubilant sound. + +_Screamer_ being a misnomer, I prefer to call the bird by its vernacular +name of _chajá,_ or _chakar_, a more convenient spelling. + +With the chakar the sexes are faithful, even in very large flocks the +birds all being ranged in couples. When one bird begins to sing its +partner immediately joins, but with notes entirely different in quality. +Both birds have some short deep notes, the other notes of the female +being long powerful notes with a trill in them; but over them sounds the +clear piercing voice of the male, ringing forth at the close with great +strength and purity. The song produces the effect of harmony, but, +comparing it with human singing, it is less like a _duo_ than a +_terzetto_ composed of bass, contralto, and soprano. + +At certain times, in districts favourable to them, the chakars often +assemble in immense flocks, thousands of individuals being sometimes +seen congregated together, and in these gatherings the birds frequently +all sing in concert. They invariably--though without rising--sing at +intervals during the night, "counting the hours," as the gauchos say; +the first song being at about nine o'clock, the second at midnight, and +the third just before dawn, but the hours vary in different districts. + +I was once travelling with a party of gauchos when, about midnight, it +being intensely dark, a couple of chakars broke out singing right ahead +of us, thus letting us know that we were approaching a watercourse, +where we intended refreshing our horses. We found it nearly dry, and +when we rode down to the rill of water meandering over the broad dry bed +of the river, a flock of about a thousand chakars set up a perfect roar +of alarm notes, all screaming together, with intervals of silence after; +then they rose up with a mighty rush of wings. They settled down again a +few hundred yards off, and all together burst forth in one of their +grand midnight songs, making the plains echo for miles around. + +There is something strangely impressive in these spontaneous outbursts +of a melody so powerful from one of these large flocks, and though +accustomed to hear these birds from childhood, I have often been +astonished at some new effect produced by a large multitude singing +under certain conditions. Travelling alone one summer day, I carne at +noon to a lake on the pampas called Kakel--a sheet of water narrow +enough for one to see across. Chakars in countless numbers were gathered +along its shores, but they were all ranged in well-defined flocks, +averaging about five hundred birds in each flock. These flocks seemed to +extend all round the lake, and had probably been driven by the drought +from all the plains around to this spot. Presently one flock near me +began singing, and continued their powerful chant for three or four +minutes; when they ceased the next flock took up the strains, and after +it the next, and so on until the notes of the flocks on the opposite +shore came floating strong and clear across the water--then passed away, +growing fainter and fainter, until once more the sound approached me +travelling round to my side again. The effect was very curious, and I +was astonished at the orderly way with which each flock waited its turn +to sing, instead of a general outburst taking place after the first +flock had given the signal. On another occasion I was still more +impressed, for here the largest number of birds I have ever found +congregated at one place all sung together. This was on the southern +pampas, at a place called Gualicho, where I had ridden for an hour +before sunset over a marshy plain where there was still much standing +water in the rushy pools, though it was at the height of the dry season. +This whole plain was covered with an endless flock of chakars, not in +close order, but scattered about in pairs and small groups. In this +desolate spot I found a small rancho inhabited by a gaucho and his +family, and I spent the night with them. The birds were all about the +house, apparently as tame as the domestic fowls, and when I went out to +look for a spot for my horse to feed on, they would not fly away from +me, but merely moved, a few steps out of my path About nine o'clock we +were eating supper in the rancho when suddenly the entire multitude of +birds covering the marsh for miles around burst forth into a tremendous +evening song. It is impossible to describe the effect of this mighty +rush of sound; but let the reader try to imagine half-a-million voices, +each far more powerful than that one which makes itself heard all over +Regent's Park, bursting forth on the silent atmosphere of that dark +lonely plain. One peculiarity was that in this mighty noise, which +sounded louder than the sea thundering on a rocky coast, I seemed to be +able to distinguish hundreds, even thousands, of individual voices. +Forgetting my supper, I sat motionless and overcome with astonishment, +while the air, and even the frail rancho, seemed to be trembling in that +tempest of sound. When it ceased my host remarked with a smile, "We are +accustomed to this, señor--every evening we have this concert." It was a +concert well worth riding a hundred miles to hear. But the chakar +country is just now in a transitional state, and the precise conditions +which made it possible for birds so large in size to form such immense +congregations are rapidly passing away. In desert places, the bird +subsists chiefly on leaves and seeds of aquatic plants; but when the +vast level area of the pampas was settled by man, the ancient stiff +grass-vegetation gave place to the soft clovers and grasses of Europe, +and to this new food the birds took very kindly. Other circumstances +also favoured their increase. They were never persecuted, for the +natives do not eat them, though they are really very good--the flesh +being something like wild goose in flavour. A _higher_ civilization is +changing all this: the country is becoming rapidly overrun with +emigrants, especially by Italians, the pitiless enemies of all +bird-life. + +The chakars, like the skylark, love to soar upwards when singing, and at +such times when they have risen till their dark bulky bodies appear like +floating specks on the blue sky, or until they disappear from sight +altogether, the notes become wonderfully etherealized by distance to a +soft silvery sound, and it is then very delightful to listen to them. + +It seems strange that so ponderous a fowl with only six feet and a half +spread of wings should possess a power of soaring equal to that of +vultures and eagles. Even the vulture with its marvellous wing power +soars chiefly from necessity, and when its crop is full finds no +pleasure in "scaling the heavens by invisible stairs." The chakar leaves +its grass-plot after feeding and soars purely for recreation, taking so +much pleasure in its aerial exercises that in bright warm weather, in +winter and spring, it spends a great part of the day in the upper +regions of the air. On the earth its air is grave and its motions +measured and majestic, and it rises with immense labour, the wings +producing a sound like a high wind. But as the bird mounts higher, +sweeping round as it ascends, just as vultures and eagles do, it +gradually appears to become more buoyant, describing each succeeding +circle with increasing grace. I can only account for this magnificent +flight, beginning so laboriously, by supposing that the bubble space +under the skin becomes inflated with an air lighter than atmospheric +air, enabling a body so heavy with wings disproportionately short to +float with such ease and evident enjoyment at the vast heights to which +the bird ascends. The heavenward flight of a large bird is always a +magnificent spectacle; that of the chakar is peculiarly fascinating on +account of the resounding notes it sings while soaring, and in which the +bird seems to exult in its sublime power and freedom. + +I was once very much surprised at the behaviour of a couple of chakars +during a thunderstorm. On a still sultry day in summer I was standing +watching masses of black cloud coming rapidly over the sky, while a +hundred yards from me stood the two birds also apparently watching the +approaching storm with interest. Presently the edge of the cloud touched +the sun, and a twilight gloom fell on the earth. The very moment the sun +disappeared the birds rose up and soon began singing their long' +resounding notes, though it was loudly thundering at the time, while +vivid flashes of lightning lit the black cloud overhead at short +intervals. I watched their flight and listened to their notes, till +suddenly as they made a wide sweep upwards they disappeared in the +cloud, and at the same moment their voices became muffled, and seemed to +come from an immense distance. The cloud continued emitting sharp +flashes of lightning, but the birds never reappeared, and after six or +seven minutes once more their notes sounded loud and clear above the +muttering thunder. I suppose they had passed through the cloud into the +clear atmosphere above it, but I was extremely surprised at their +fearlessness; for as a rule when soaring birds see a storm coming they +get out of its way, flying before it or stooping to the earth to seek +shelter of some kind, for most living things appear to have a wholesome +dread of thunder and lightning. + +When taken young the chakar becomes very tame and attached to man, +showing no inclination to go back to a wild life. There was one kept at +an estancia called Mangrullos, on the western frontier of Buenos Ayres, +and the people of the house gave me a very curious account of it. The +bird was a male, and had been reared by a soldier's wife at a frontier +outpost called La Esperanza, about twenty-five miles from Mangrullos. +Four years before I saw the bird the Indians had invaded the frontier, +destroying the Esperanza settlement and all the estancias for some +leagues around. For some weeks after the invasion the chakar wandered +about the country, visiting all the ruined estancias, apparently in +quest of human beings, and on arriving at Mangrullos, which had not been +burnt and was still inhabited, it settled down at ones and never +afterwards showed any disposition to go away. It was extremely tame, +associating by day with the poultry, and going to roost with them at +night OH a high perch, probably for the sake of companionship, for in a +wild state the bird roosts on the ground. It was friendly towards all +the members of the household except one, a peon, and against this person +from the first the bird always displayed the greatest antipathy, +threatening him with its wings, puffing itself out, and hissing like an +angry goose. The man had a swarthy, beardless face, and it was +conjectured that the chakar associated him in its mind with the savages +who had destroyed its early home. + +Close to the house there was a lagoon, never dry, which was frequently +visited by flocks of wild chakars. Whenever a flock appeared the tame +bird would go out to join them; and though the chakars are mild-tempered +birds and very rarely quarrel, albeit so well provided with formidable +weapons, they invariably attacked the visitor with great fury, chasing +him back to the house, and not ceasing their persecutions till the +poultry-yard was reached. They appeared to regard this tame bird that +dwelt with man as a kind of renegade, and hated him accordingly. + +Before he had been long at the estancia it began to be noticed that he +followed the broods of young chickens about very assiduously, apparently +taking great interest in their welfare, and even trying to entice them +to follow him. A few newly-hatched chickens were at length offered to +him as an experiment, and he immediately took charge of them with every +token of satisfaction, conducting them about in search of food and +imitating all the actions of a hen. Finding him so good a nurse, large +broods were given to him, and the more the foster-chickens were the +better he seemed pleased. It was very curious to see this big bird with +thirty or forty little animated balls of yellow cotton following him +about, while he moved majestically along, setting down his feet with the +greatest care not to tread on them, and swelling himself up with jealous +anger at the approach of a cat or dog. + +The intelligence, docility, and attachment to man displayed by the +chakar in a domestic state, with perhaps other latent aptitudes only +waiting to be developed by artificial selection, seem to make this +species one peculiarly suited for man's protection, without which it +must inevitably perish. It is sad to reflect that all our domestic +animals have descended to us from those ancient times which we are +accustomed to regard as dark or barbarous, while the effect of our +modern so-called humane civilization has been purely destructive to +animal life. Not one type do we rescue from the carnage going on at an +ever-increasing rate over all the globe. To Australia and America, North +and South, we look in vain for new domestic species, while even from +Africa, with its numerous fine mammalian forms, and where England has +been the conquering colonizing power for nearly a century, we take +nothing. Even the sterling qualities of the elephant, the unique beauty +of the zebra, appeal to us in vain. We are only teaching the tribes of +that vast continent to exterminate a hundred noble species they would +not tame. With grief and shame, even with dismay, we call to mind that +our country is now a stupendous manufactory of destructive engines, +which we are rapidly placing in the hands of all the savage and +semi-savage peoples of the earth, thus ensuring the speedy destruction +of all the finest types in the animal kingdom. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE WOODHEWER FAMILY. + +_(Dendrocolaptidae.)_ + + +The South American Tree-creepers, or Woodhewers, as they are sometimes +called, although confined exclusively to one continent, their range +extending from Southern Mexico to the Magellanic islands, form one of +the largest families of the order Passeres; no fewer than about two +hundred and ninety species (referable to about forty-six genera) having +been already described. As they are mostly small, inconspicuous, +thicket-frequenting birds, shy and fond of concealment to excess, it is +only reasonable to suppose that our list of this family is more +incomplete than of any other family of birds known. Thus, in the +southern Plata and north Pata-gonian districts, supposed to be +exhausted, where my observations have been made, and where, owing to the +open nature of the country, birds are more easily remarked than in the +forests and marshes of the tropical region, I have made notes on the +habits of five species, of which I did not preserve specimens, and +which, as far as I know, have never been described and named. Probably +long before the whole of South America has been "exhausted," there will +be not less than four to five hundred Dendrocolaptine species known. And +yet with the exception of that dry husk of knowledge, concerning size, +form and colouration, which classifiers and cataloguers obtain from +specimens, very little indeed--scarcely anything, in fact--is known +about the Tree-creepers; and it would not be too much to say that there +are many comparatively obscure and uninteresting species in Europe, any +one of which has a larger literature than the entire Tree-creeper +family. No separate work about these birds has seen the light, even in +these days of monographs; but the reason of this comparative neglect is +not far to seek. In the absence of any knowledge, except of the most +fragmentary kind, of the life-habits of exotic species, the +monograph-makers of the Old World naturally take up only the most +important groups--i.e. the groups which most readily attract the +traveller's eye with their gay conspicuous colouring, and which have +acquired a wide celebrity. We thus have a succession of splendid and +expensive works dealing separately with such groups as woodpeckers, +trogons, humming-birds, tanagers, king-fishers, and birds of paradise; +for with these, even if there be nothing to record beyond the usual +dreary details and technicalities concerning geographical distribution, +variations in size and markings of different species, &c., the little +interest of the letter-press is compensated for in the accompanying +plates, which are now produced on a scale of magnitude, and with so +great a degree of perfection, as regards brilliant colouring, spirited +attitudes and general fidelity to nature, that leaves little further +improvement in this direction to be looked for. The Tree-creepers, being +without the inferior charm of bright colour, offer no attraction to the +bird-painter, whose share in the work of the pictorial monograph is, of +course, all-important. Yet even the very slight knowledge we possess of +this family is enough to show that in many respects it is one richly +endowed, possessing characters of greater interest to the student of the +instincts and mental faculties of birds, than any of |the gaily-tinted +families I have mentioned. + +There is, in the Dendrocolaptidae, a splendid harvest for future +observers of the habits of South American birds: some faint idea of its +richness may perhaps be gathered from the small collection of the most +salient facts known to us about them I have brought together and put in +order in this place. And I am here departing a little from the plan +usually observed in this book, which is chiefly occupied with matters of +personal knowledge, seasoned with a little speculation; but in this case +I have thought it best to supplement my own observations with those of +others [Footnote: Azara; D'Orbigny; Darwin; Bridges; Frazer; Leotaud; +Gaumer; Wallace; Bates; Cunningham; Stolzmann; Jelski; Durnford; Gibson; +Burrows; Doering; White, &c.] who have collected and observed birds in +South America, so as to give as comprehensive a survey of the family as +I could. + +It is strange to find a Passerine family, numerous as the Tree-creepers, +uniformly of one colour, or nearly so; for, with few exceptions, these +birds have a brown plumage, without a particle of bright colour. But +although they possess no brilliant or metallic tints, in some species, +as we shall see, there are tints approaching to brightness. +Notwithstanding this family likeness in colour, any person, not an +ornithologist, looking at a collection of specimens comprising many +genera, would hear with surprise and almost incredulity that they all +belonged to one family, so great is the diversity exhibited in their +structure. In size they vary from species smaller than the +golden-crested wren to others larger than the woodcock; but the +differences in size are as nothing compared with those shown in the form +of the beak. Between the minute, straight, conical, tit-like beaks of +the Laptasthenura--a tit in appearance and habits--and the extravagantly +long, sword-shaped bill of Nasica, or the excessively attenuated, +sickle-shaped organ in Xiphorynchus, the divergence is amazing, compared +with what is found in other families; while between these two extremes +there is a heterogeneous assemblage of birds with beaks like creepers, +nuthatches, finches, tyrant-birds, woodpeckers, crows, and even curlews +and ibises. In legs, feet and tails, there are corresponding +differences. There are tails of all lengths and all forms; soft and +stiff, square, acuminated, broad and fan-like, narrow and spine-like, +and many as in the woodpeckers, and used as in that bird to support the +body in climbing. An extremely curious modification is found in +Sittosoma: the tail-feathers in this genus are long and graduated, and +the shafts, projecting beyond the webs at the ends, curve downwards and +form stiff hooks. Concerning the habits of these birds, it has only been +reported that they climb on the trunks of trees: probably they are able +to run vertically up or down with equal facility, and even to suspend +themselves by their feather-hooks when engaged in dislodging insects. +Another curious variation is found in Sylviothorhynchus, a small +wren-like bird and the only member known of the genus, with a tail +resembling that of the lyre-bird, the extravagantly long feathers being +so narrow as to appear almost like shafts destitute of webs. This tail +appears to be purely ornamental. + +This extreme variety in structure indicates a corresponding diversity in +habits; and, assuming it to be a true doctrine that habits vary first +and structure afterwards, anyone might infer from a study of their forms +alone that these birds possess a singular plasticity, or tendency to +vary, in their habits--or, in other words, that they are exceptionally +intelligent; and that such a conclusion would be right I believe a study +of their habits will serve to show. + +The same species is often found to differ in its manner of life in +different localities. Some species of Xenops and Magarornis, like +woodpeckers, climb vertically on tree-trunks in search of insect prey, +but also, like tits, explore the smaller twigs and foliage at the +extremity of the branches; so that the whole tree, from its root to its +topmost foliage, is hunted over by them. The Sclerurus, although an +inhabitant of the darkest forest, and provided with sharply-curved +claws, never seeks its food on trees, but exclusively on the ground, +among the decaying fallen leaves; but, strangely enough, when alarmed it +flies to the trunk of the nearest tree, to which it clings in a vertical +position, and, remaining silent and motionless, escapes observation by +means of its dark protective colour. The Drymornis, a large bird, with +feet and tail like a woodpecker, climbs on tree-trunks to seek its food; +but also possesses the widely-different habit of resorting to the open +plain, especially after a shower, to feed on larvae and earthworms, +extracting them from a depth of three or four inches beneath the surface +with its immense curved probing beak. + +Again, when we consider a large number of species of different groups, +we find that there is not with the Tree-creepers, as with most families, +any special habit or manner of life linking them together; but that, on +the contrary, different genera, and, very frequently, different species +belonging to one genus, possess habits peculiarly their own. In other +families, even where the divergence is greatest, what may be taken as +the original or ancestral habit is seldom or never quite obsolete in any +of the members. This we see, for instance, in the woodpeckers, some of +which have acquired the habit of seeking their food exclusively on the +ground in open places, and even of nesting in the banks of streams. Yet +all these wanderers, even those which have been structurally modified in +accordance with their altered way of life, retain the primitive habit of +clinging vertically to the trunks of trees, although the habit has lost +its use. With the tyrant birds--a family showing an extraordinary amount +of variation--it is the same; for the most divergent kinds are +frequently seen reverting to the family habit of perching on an +elevation, from which to make forays after passing insects, returning +after each capture to the same stand. The thrushes, ranging all over the +globe, afford another striking example. Without speaking of their +nesting habits, their relationship appears in their love of fruit, in +their gait, flight, statuesque attitudes, and abrupt motions. + +With the numerous Dendrocolaptine groups, so widely separated and +apparently unrelated, it would be difficult indeed to say which, of +their most striking habits is the ancestral one. Many of the smaller +species live in trees or bushes, and in their habits resemble tits, +warblers, wrens, and other kinds that subsist on small caterpillars, +spiders, &c., gleaned from the leaves and smaller twigs. The Anumbius +nests on trees, but feeds exclusively on the ground in open places; +while other ground-feeders seek their food among dead leaves in dense +gloomy forests. Coryphistera resembles the lark and pipit in its habits; +Cinclodes, the wagtail; Geobates a Saxicola; Limnornis lives in reed +beds growing in the water; Henicornis in reed beds growing out of the +water; and many other ground species exist concealed in the grass on dry +plains; Homorus seeks its food by digging in the loose soil and dead +leaves about the roots of trees; while Geo-sitta, Furnarius, and +Upercerthia obtain a livelihood chiefly by probing in the soil. It would +not be possible within the present limits to mention in detail all the +different modes of life of those species or groups which do not possess +the tree-creeping habit; after them comes a long array of genera in +which this habit is ingrained, and in which the greatly modified feet +and claws are suited to a climbing existence. As these genera comprise +the largest half of the family, also the largest birds in it, we might +expect to find in the tree-creeping the parental habit of the +Dendrocolaptidae, and that from these tropical forest groups have sprung +the widely-diverging thicket, ground, marsh, sea-beach, and +rock-frequenting groups. It happens, however, that these birds resemble +each other only in their climbing feet; in the form of their beaks they +are as wide apart as are nuthatches, woodpeckers, crows, and curlews. +They also differ markedly in the manner of seeking their food. Some dig +like woodpeckers in decayed wood; others probe only in soft rotten wood; +while the humming-bird-billed Xiphorhynchus, with a beak too long and +slender for probing, explores the interior of deep holes in the trunks +to draw out nocturnal insects, spiders, and centipedes from their +concealment. Xiphoco-laptes uses its sword-like beak as a lever, +thrusting it under and forcing up the loose bark; while Dendrornis, with +its stout corvine beak, tears the bark off. + +In the nesting habits the diversity is greatest. Some ground species +excavate in the earth like kingfishers, only with greater skill, making +cylindrical burrows often four to five feet deep, and terminating in a +round chamber. Others build a massive oven-shaped structure of clay on a +branch or other elevated site. Many of those that creep on trees nest in +holes in the wood. The marsh-frequenting kinds attach spherical or oval +domed nests to the reeds; and in some cases woven grass and clay are so +ingeniously combined that the structure, while light as a basket, is +perfectly impervious to the wet and practically indestructible. The most +curious nests, however, are the large stick structures on trees and +bushes, in the building and repairing of which the birds are in many +cases employed more or less constantly all the year round. These stick +nests vary greatly in form, size, and in other respects. Some have a +spiral passage-way leading from the entrance to the nest cavity, and the +cavity is in many cases only large enough to accommodate the bird; but +in the gigantic structure of Homorus gutturalis it is so large that, if +the upper half of the nest or dome were removed, a condor could +comfortably hatch her eggs and rear her young in it. This nest is +spherical. The allied Homorus lophotis builds a nest equally large, but +with a small cavity for the eggs inside, and outwardly resembling a +gigantic powder-flask, lying horizontally among the lower branches of a +spreading tree. Pracellodomtis sibila-trix, a bird in size like the +English house sparrow, also makes a huge nest, and places it on the +twigs at the terminal end of a horizontal branch from twelve to fifteen +feet above the ground; but when finished, the weight of the structure +bears down the branch-end to within one or two feet of the surface. Mr. +Barrows, who describes this nest, says: "When other branches of the same +tree are similarly loaded, and other trees close at hand bear the same +kind of fruit, the result is very picturesque." Synallaxis phryganophila +makes a stick nest about a foot in depth, and from the top a tubular +passage, formed of slender twigs interlaced, runs down the entire length +of the nest, like a rain-pipe on the wall of a house, and then becoming +external slopes upward, ending at a distance of two to three feet from +the nest. Throughout South America there are several varieties of these +fruit-and-stem or watering-pot shaped nests; they are not, however, all +built by birds of one genus, while in the genus Synallaxis many species +have no tubular passageways attached to their nests. One species--erythro +thorax--in Yucatan, makes so large a nest of sticks, that the +natives do not believe that so small a bird can be the builder. They say +that when the _tzapatan_ begins to sing, all the birds in the forest +repair to it, each one carrying a stick to add to the structure; only +one, a tyrant-bird, brings two sticks, one for itself and one for the +_urubú_ or vulture, that bird being considered too large, heavy, and +ignorant of architecture to assist personally in the work. + +In the southern part of South America, where scattered thorn trees grow +on a dry soil, these big nests are most abundant. "There are plains," +Mr. Barrows writes, "within two miles of the centre of this town +(Concepcion, Argentine Republic), where I have stood and counted, from +one point within a radius of twenty rods, over two hundred of these +curious nests, varying in size from that of a small pumpkin to more than +the volume of a barrel. Often a single tree will contain half a dozen +nests or more; and, not unfrequently, the nests of several different +species are seen crowding each other out of shape on the same bush or +tree." + +It would be a mistake to think that the widely different nesting habits +I have mentioned are found in different genera. I have just spoken of +the big stick nests, with or without passage-ways, of the Synallaxes, +yet the nest of one member of this group is simply a small straight tube +of woven grass, the aperture only large enough to admit the finger, and +open at both ends, so that the bird can pass in and out without turning +round. Another species scoops a circular hollow in the soil, and builds +over it a dome of fine woven grass. It should be mentioned that the +nesting habits of only about fifteen out of the sixty-five species +comprised in this genus are known to us. In the genus Furnarius the +oven-shaped clay structure is known to be made by three species; a +fourth builds a nest of sticks in a tree; a fifth burrows in the side of +a bank, like a kingfisher. + +The explanation of the most striking features of the Dendrocolaptidae, +their monotonous brown plumage, diversity of structure, versatile +habits, and the marvellous development of the nest-making instinct which +they exhibit is to be found, it appears to me, in the fact that they are +the most defenceless of birds. They are timid, unresisting creatures, +without strength or weapons; their movements arc less quick and vigorous +than those of other kinds, and their flight is exceedingly feeble. The +arboreal species flit at intervals from one tree to another; those that +frequent thickets refuse to leave their chosen shelter; while those +inhabiting grassy plains or marshes study concealment, and, when forced +to rise, flutter away just above the surface, like flying-fish +frightened from the water, and, when they have gone thirty or forty +yards, dip into the grass or reeds again. Their life is thus one of +perpetual danger in a far greater degree than with other passerine +families, such as warblers, tyrants, finches, thrushes, &c.; while an +exclusively insect diet, laboriously extracted from secret places, and +inability to change their climate, contribute to make their existence a +hard one. It has been with these birds as with human beings, bred in +"misfortune's school," and subjected to keen competition. One of their +most striking characteristics is a methodical, plodding, almost painful +diligence of manner while seeking their food, so that when viewed side +by side with other species, rejoicing in a gayer plumage and stronger +flight, they seem like sober labourers that never rest among holiday +people bent only on enjoyment. That they are able not only to maintain +their existence, but to rise to the position of a dominant family, is +due to an intelligence and adaptiveness exceeding that of other kinds, +and which has been strengthened, and perhaps directly results from the +hard conditions of their life. + +How great their adaptiveness and variability must be when we find that +every portion of the South American continent is occupied by them; for +there is really no climate, and no kind of soil or vegetation, which +does not possess its appropriate species, modified in colour, form, and +habits to suit the surrounding conditions. In the tropical region, so +rich in bird life of all kinds, in forest, marsh, and savanna, they are +everywhere abundant--food is plentiful there; but when we go to higher +elevations avd cold sterile deserts, where their companion families of +the tropics dwindle away and disappear, the creepers are still present, +for they are evidently able to exist where other kinds would starve. On +the stony plateaus of the Andes, and on the most barren spots in +Patagonia, where no other bird is seen, there are small species of +Synallaxis, which, in their obscure colour and motions on the ground, +resemble mice rather than birds; indeed, the Quichua name for one of +these Synallaxes is _ukatchtuka,_ or mouse-bird. How different is the +life habit here from what we see in the tropical groups--the large birds +with immense beaks, that run vertically on the trunks of the great +forest trees! + +At the extreme southern extremity of the South American continent we +find several species of Cin-clodes, seeking a subsistence like +sandpipers on the beach; they also fly out to sea, and run about on the +floating kelp, exploring the fronds for the small marine animals on +which they live. In the dreary forests of Tierra del Fuego another +creeper, Uxyurus, is by far the commonest bird. "Whether high up or low +down, in the most gloomy, wet, and scarcely penetrable ravines," says +Darwin, "this little bird is to be met with;" and Dr. Cunningham also +relates that in these wintry, savage woods he was always attended in his +walks by parties of these little creepers, which assembled to follow him +out of curiosity. + +To birds placed at so great a disadvantage, by a feeble flight and other +adverse circumstances, in the race of life bright colours would +certainly prove fatal. It is true that brown is not in itself a +protective colour, and the clear, almost silky browns and bright +chestnut tints in several species are certainly not protective; but +these species are sufficiently protected in other ways, and can afford +to be without a strictly adaptive colour, so long as they are not +conspicuous. In a majority of cases, however, the colour is undoubtedly +protective, the brown hue being of a shade that assimilates very closely +to the surroundings. There are pale yellowish browns, lined and mottled, +in species living amidst a sere, scanty vegetation; earthy browns, in +those frequenting open sterile or stony places; while the species that +creep on trees in forests are dark brown in colour, and in many cases +the feathers are mottled in such a manner as to make them curiously +resemble the bark of a tree. The genera Lochmias and Sclerurus are the +darkest, the plumage in these birds being nearly or quite black, washed +or tinged with rhubarb yellow. Their black plumage would render them +conspicuous in the sunshine, but they pass their lives in dense tropical +forests, where the sun at noon sheds only a gloomy twilight. + +If "colour is ever tending to increase and to appear where it is +absent," as Dr. Wallace believes, then we ought to find it varying in +the direction of greater brightness in some species in a family so +numerous and variable as the Dendrocolaptidae, however feeble and in +need of a protective colouring these birds may be in a majority of +pases. And this in effect we do find. In many of the dark-plumaged +species that live in perpetual shade some parts are a very bright +chestnut; while in a few that live in such close concealment as to be +almost independent of protective colouring, the lower plumage has become +pure white. A large number of species have a bright or nearly bright +guiar spot. This is most remarkable in Synallaxis phryganophila, the +chin being sulphur-yellow, beneath which is a spot of velvet-black, and +on either side a white patch, the throat thus having three strongly +contrasted colours, arranged in four divisions. The presence of this +bright throat spot in so many species cannot very well be attributed to +voluntary sexual selection, although believers in that theory are of +course at liberty to imagine that when engaged in courtship, the male +bird, or rather male and female both, as both sexes possess the spot, +hold up their heads vertically to exhibit it. Perhaps it would be safer +to look on it as a mere casual variation, which, like the exquisitely +pencilled feathers and delicate tints on the concealed sides and under +surfaces of the wings of many species possessing outwardly an obscure +protective colouring, is neither injurious nor beneficial in any way, +either to the birds or to the theory. It is more than probable, however, +that in such small feeble-winged, persecuted birds, this spot of colour +would prove highly dangerous on any conspicuous part of the body. In +some of the more vigorous, active species, we can see a tendency towards +a brighter colouring on large, exposed surfaces. In Auto-malus the tail +is bright satiny rufous; in Pseudo-colaptes the entire under surface is +rufous of a peculiar vivid tint, verging on orange or red; in Magarornis +the bosom is black, and beautifully ornamented with small leaf-shaped +spots of a delicate straw-colour. There are several other very pretty +birds in this homely family; but the finest of all is Thripodectes +flammulatus, the whole body being tortoise-shell colour, the wings and +tail bright chesnut. The powerful tanager-like beak of this species +seems also to show that it has diverged from its timid shade-loving +congeners in another direction by becoming a seed and fruit eater. + +Probably the sober and generally protective colouring of the +tree-creepers, even with the variability and adaptiveness displayed in +their habits superadded, would be insufficient to preserve such feeble +birds in the struggle of life without the further advantage derived from +their wonderful nests. It has been said of domed nests that they are a +danger rather than a protection, owing to their large size, which makes +it easy for carnivorous species that prey on eggs and young birds to +find them; while small open nests are usually well concealed. This may +be the case with covered nests made of soft materials, loosely put +together; but it cannot be said of the solid structure the tree-creeper +bnilds, and which, as often as not, the bird erects in the most +conspicuous place it can find, as if, writes Azara, it desired all the +world to admire its work. The annual destruction of adult birds is very +great--more than double that, I believe, which takes place in other +passerine families. Their eggs and young are, however, practically safe +in their great elaborate nests or deep burrows, and, as a rule, they lay +more eggs than other kinds, the full complement being seldom less than +five in the species I am acquainted with, while some lay as many as +nine. Their nests are also made so as to keep out a greater pest than +their carnivorous or egg-devouring enemies--namely, the parasitical +starlings (Molo-thrus), which are found throughout South America, and +are excessively abundant and destructive to birds' nests in some +districts. In most cases, in the big, strong-domed nest or deep burrow, +all the eggs are hatched and all the young reared, the thinning, out +process commencing only after the brood has been led forth into a world +beset with perils. With other families, on the contrary, the greatest +amount of destruction falls on the eggs or fledglings. I have frequently +kept a dozen or twenty pairs of different species--warblers, finches, +tyrants, starlings, &c.--under observation during the breeding season, +and have found that in some cases no young-were reared at all; in other +cases one or two young; while, as often as not, the young actually +reared were only parasitical starlings after all. + +I have still to speak of the voice of the tree-creepers, an important +point in the study of these birds; for, though not accounted singers, +some species emit remarkable sounds; moreover, language in birds is +closely related to the social instinct. They seem to be rather solitary +than gregarious; and this seems only natural in birds so timid, +weak-winged, and hard pressed. It would also be natural to conclude from +what has been said concerning their habits that they are comparatively +silent; for, as a rule, vigorous social birds are loquacious and +loud-voiced, while shy solitary kinds preservo silence, except in the +love season. Nevertheless the creepers are loquacious and have loud +resonant voices; this fact, however, does not really contradict a +well-known principle, for the birds possess the social disposition in an +eminent degree, only the social habit is kept down in them by the +conditions of a life which makes solitude necessary. Thus, a large +proportion of species are found to pair for life; and the only +reasonable explanation of this habit in birds--one which is not very +common in the mammalia--is that such species possess the social temper +or feeling, and live in pairs only because they cannot afford to live in +flocks. Strictly gregarious species pair only for the breeding season. +In the creepers the attachment between the birds thus mated for life is +very great, and, as Azara truly says of Anumbius, so fond of each +other's society are these birds, that when one incubates the other sits +at the entrance to the nest, and when one carries food to its young the +other accompanies it, even if it has found nothing to cany. In these +species that live in pairs, when the two birds are separated they are +perpetually calling to each other, showing how impatient of solitude +they are; while even from the more solitary kind, a high-pitched +call-note is constantly heard in the woods, for these birds, debarred +from associating together, satisfy their instinct by conversing with one +another over long distances. + +The foregoing remarks apply to the Dendrocolap-tidae throughout the +temperate countries of South America--the birds inhabiting extensive +grassy plains and marshes, and districts with a scanty or scattered tree +and bush vegetation. In the forest areas of the hotter regions it is +different; there the birds form large gatherings or "wandering bands," +composed of all the different species found in each district, associated +with birds of other families--wood-peckers, tyrant-birds, bush shrikes, +and many others. These miscellaneous gatherings are not of rare +occurrence, but out of the breeding season are formed daily, the birds +beginning to assemble at about nine or ten o'clock in the morning, +their number increasing through the day until it reaches its maximum +between two and four o'clock in the afternoon, after which it begins to +diminish, each bird going off to its customary shelter or +dwelling-place. Mr. Bates, who first described these wandering bands, +says that he could always find the particular band belonging to a +district any day he wished, for when he failed to meet with it in one +part of the forest he would try other paths, until he eventually found +it. The great Amazonian forests, he tells us, appear strangely silent +and devoid of bird life, and it is possible to ramble about for whole +days without seeing or hearing birds. But now and then the surrounding +trees and bushes appear suddenly swarming with them. "The bustling +crowd loses no time, and, always moving in concert, each bird is +occupied on its own account in searching bark, or leaf, or twig. In a +few moments the host is gone, and the forest path remains deserted and +silent as before." Stolzmann, who observed them in Peru, says that the +sound caused by the busy crowd searching through the foliage, and the +falling of dead leaves and twigs, resembles that produced by a shower of +rain. The Indians of the Amazons, Mr. Bates writes, have a curious +belief to explain these bird armies; they say that the Papa-uira, +supposed to be a small grey bird, fascinates all the others, and leads +them on a weary perpetual dance through the forest. It seems very +wonderful that birds, at other times solitary, should thus combine daily +in large numbers, including in their bands scores of widely different +species, and in size ranging from those no larger than a wren to others +as big as a magpie. It is certainly very advantageous to them. As Belt +remarks, they play into each other's hands; for while the larger +creepers explore the trunks of big trees, others run over the branches +and cling to the lesser twigs, so that every tree in their route, from +its roots to the topmost foliage, is thoroughly examined, and every +spider and caterpillar taken, while the winged insects, driven from +their lurking-places, are seized where they settle, or caught flying by +the tyrant birds. + +I have observed the wandering bands only in Patagonia, where they are on +a very small scale compared with those of the tropical forests. In the +Patagonia thickets the small tit-like creeper, Laptas-thenura, is the +prime mover; and after a considerable number of these have gathered, +creepers of other species and genera unite with them, and finally the +band, as it moves through the thickets, draws to itself other +kinds--flycatchers, finches, &c.--many of the birds running or hopping +on the ground to search for insects in the loose soil or under dead +leaves, while others explore the thorny bushes. My observations of these +small bands lead me to believe that everywhere in South America the +Dendrocolaptidae are the first in combining to act in concert, and that +the birds of other families follow their march and associate with them, +knowing from experience that a rich harvest may be thus reaped. In the +same way birds of various kinds follow the movements of a column of +hunting ants, to catch the insects flying up from the earth to escape +from their enemies; swallows also learn to keep company with the +traveller on horseback, and, crossing and recrossing just before the +hoofs, they catch the small twilight moths driven up from the grass. + +To return to the subject of voice. The tree-creepers do not possess +melodious, or at any rate mellow notes, although in so numerous a family +there is great variety of tone, ranging from a small reedy voice like +the faint stridulation of a grasshopper, to the resounding, +laughter-like, screaming concerts of Homorus, which may be heard +distinctly two miles away. As a rule, the notes are loud ringing calls; +and in many species the cry, rapidly reiterated, resembles a peal of +laughter. With scarcely an exception, they possess no set song; but in +most species that live always in pairs there are loud, vehement, +gratulatory notes uttered by the two birds in concert when they meet +after a brief separation. This habit they possess in common with birds +of other families, as, for instance, the tyrants; but, in some creepers, +out of this confused outburst of joyous sound has been developed a. +musical performance very curious, and perhaps unique among birds. On +meeting, the male and female, standing close together and facing each +other, utter their clear ringing concert, one emitting loud single +measured notes, while the notes of its fellow are rapid, rhythmical +triplets; their voices have a joyous character, and seem to accord, thus +producing a kind of harmony. This manner of singing is perhaps most +perfect in the oven-bird, Furnarias, and it is very curious that the +young birds, when only partially fledged, are constantly heard in the +nest or oven apparently practising these duets in the intervals when the +parents are absent; single measured notes, triplets, and long concluding +trills are all repeated with wonderful fidelity, although these notes +are in character utterly unlike the hunger cry, which is like that of +other fledglings. I cannot help thinking that this fact of the young +birds beginning to sing like the adults, while still confined in their +dark cradle, is one of very considerable significance, especially when +we consider the singular character of the performance; and that it might +even be found to throw some light on the obscure question of the +comparative antiquity of the different and widely separated +Dendrocolaptine groups. It is a doctrine in evolutionary science that +the early maturing of instincts in the young indicates a high antiquity +for the species or group; and there is no reason why this principle +should not be extended, in the case of birds at any rate, to language. +It is true that Daines Barrington's notion that young song-birds learn +to sing only by imitating the adults still holds its ground; and Darwin +gives it his approval in his _Descent of Man._ It is perhaps one of +those doctrines which are partially true, or which do not contain the +whole truth; and it is possible to believe that, while many singing +birds do so learn their songs, or acquire a greater proficiency in them +from hearing the adults, in other species the song comes instinctively, +and is, like other instincts and habits, purely an "inherited memory." + +The case of a species in another order of birds--Crypturi--strikes me as +being similar to this of the oven-bird, and seems to lend some force to +the suggestion I have made concerning the early development of voice in +the young. + +Birds peculiar to South America are said by anatomists to be less +specialized, lower, more ancient, than the birds of the northern +continents, and among those which are considered lowest and most ancient +are the Tinamous (rail and partridge like in their habits), birds that +lead a solitary, retiring life, and in most cases have sweet melancholy +voices. Rhynchotus rufescens, a bird the size of a fowl, inhabiting the +pampas, is perhaps the sweetest-voiced, and sings with great frequency. +Its song or call is heard oftenest towards the evening, and is composed +of five modulated notes, flute-like in character, very expressive, and +uttered by many individuals answering each other as they sit far apart +concealed in the grass. As we might have expected, the faculties and +instincts of the young of this species mature at a very early period; +when extremely small, they abandon their parents to shift for themselves +in solitude; and when not more than one-fourth the size they eventually +attain, they acquire the adult plumage and are able to fly as well as an +old bird. I observed a young bird of this species, less than a quail in +size, at a house on the pampas, and was told that it had been taken from +the nest when just breaking the shell; it had, therefore, never seen or +heard the parent birds. Yet this small chick, every day at the approach +of evening, would retire to the darkest corner of the dining room, and, +concealed under a piece of furniture, would continue uttering its +evening song for an hour or longer at short intervals, and rendering it +so perfectly that I was greatly surprised to hear it; for a thrush or +other songster at the same period of life, when attempting to sing, only +produces a chirping sound. + +The early singing of the oven-bird fledgling is important, owing to the +fact that the group it belongs to comprises the least specialized forms +in the family. They are strong-legged, square-tailed, terrestrial birds, +generally able to perch, have probing beaks, and build the most perfect +mud or stick nests, or burrow in the ground. In the numerous +tree-creeping groups, which, seem as unrelated to the oven-bird as the +woodpecker is to the hoopoe, we find a score of wonderfully different +forms of beak; but many of them retain the probing character, and are +actually used to probe in rotten wood on trees, and to explore the holes +and deep crevices in the trunk. We have also seen that some of these +tree-creepers revert to the ancestral habit (if I may so call it) of +seeking their food by probing in the soil. In others, like Dendrornis, +in which the beak has lost this character, and is used to dig in the +wood or to strip off the bark, it has not been highly specialized, and, +compared with the woodpecker's beak, is a very imperfect organ, +considering the purpose for which it is used. Yet, on the principle that +"similar functional requirements frequently lead to the development of +similar structures in animals which are otherwise very distinct"--as we +see in the tubular tongue in honey-eaters and humming birds--we might +have expected to find in the Dendrocolaptidae a better imitation of the +woodpecker in so variable an organ as the beak, if not in the tongue. + +Probably the oven-birds, and their nearest relations--generalized, +hardy, builders of strong nests, and prolific--represent the parental +form; and when birds of this type had spread over the entire continent +they became in different districts frequenters of marshes, forests, +thickets and savannas. With altered life-habits the numerous divergent +forms originated; some, like Xiphorynchus, retaining a probing beak in a +wonderfully modified form, attenuated in an extreme degree, and bent +like a sickle; others diverging more in the direction of nuthatches and +woodpeckers. + +This sketch of the Dendrocolaptidae, necessarily slight and imperfect, +is based on a knowledge of the habits of about sixty species, belonging +to twenty-eight genera: from personal observation I am acquainted with +less than thirty species. It is astonishing to find how little has been +written about these most interesting birds in South America. One +tree-creeper only, Furnarius rufus, the oven-bird _par excellence,_ has +been mentioned, on account of its wonderful architecture, in almost +every general work of natural history published during the present +century; yet the oven-bird does not surpass, or even equal in interest, +many others in this family of nearly three hundred members. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MUSIC AND DANCING IN NATURE. + + +In reading books of Natural History we meet with numerous instances of +birds possessing the habit of assembling together, in many cases always +at the same spot, to indulge in antics and dancing performances, with or +without the accompaniment of music, vocal or instrumental; and by +instrumental music is here meant all sounds other than vocal made +habitually and during the more or less orderly performances; as, for +instance, drumming and tapping noises; smiting of wings; and humming, +whip-cracking, fan-shutting, grinding, scraping, and horn-blowing +sounds, produced as a rule by the quills. + +There are human dances, in which only one person performs at a time, the +rest of the company looking on; and some birds, in widely separated +genera, have dances of this kind. A striking example is the Rupicola, or +cock of-the-rock, of tropical South America. A mossy level spot of earth +surrounded by bushes is selected for a dancing-place, and kept well +cleared of sticks and stones; round this area the birds assemble, when a +cock-bird, with vivid orange-scarlet crest and plumage, steps into it, +and, with spreading wings and tail, begins a series of movements as if +dancing a minuet; finally, carried away with excitement, he leaps and +gyrates in the most astonishing manner, until, becoming exhausted, he +retires, and another bird takes his place. + +In other species all the birds in a company unite in the set +performances, and seem to obey an impulse which affects them +simultaneously and in the same degree; but sometimes one bird prompts +the others and takes a principal part. One of the most curious instances +I have come across in reading is contained in Mr. Bigg-Wither's +_Pioneering in South Brazil._ He relates that one morning in the dense +forest his attention was roused by the unwonted sound of a bird +singing--songsters being rare in that district. His men, immediately +they caught the sound, invited him to follow them, hinting that he would +probably witness a very curious sight. Cautiously making their way +through the dense undergrowth, they finally came in sight of a small +stony spot of ground, at the end of a tiny glade; and on this spot, some +on the stone and some on the shrubs, were assembled a number of little +birds, about the size of tom-tits, with lovely blue plumage and red +top-knots. One was perched quite still on a twig, singing merrily, while +the others were keeping time with wings and feet in a kind of dance, and +all twittering an accompaniment. He watched them for some time, and was +satisfied that they were having a ball and concert, and thoroughly +enjoying themselves; they then became alarmed, and the performance +abruptly terminated, the birds all going off in different directions. +The natives told him that these little creatures were known as the +"dancing birds." + +This species was probably solitary, except when assembling for the +purpose of display; but in a majority of cases, especially in the +Passerine order, the solitary species performs its antics alone, or with +no witness but its mate. Azara, describing a small finch, which he aptly +named _Oscilador,_ says that early and late in the day it mounts up +vertically to a moderate height; then, flies off to a, distance of +twenty yards, describing a perfect curve in its passage; turning, it +flies back over the imaginary line it has traced, and so on repeatedly, +appearing like a pendulum swung in space by an invisible thread. + +Those who seek to know the cause and origin of this kind of display and +of song in animals are referred to Darwin's _Descent of Man_ for an +explanation. The greater part of that work is occupied with a laborious +argument intended to prove that the love-feeling inspires the animals +engaged in these exhibitions, and that sexual selection, or the +voluntary selection of mates by the females, is the final cause of all +set musical and dancing performances, as well as of bright and +harmonious colouring, and of ornaments. + +The theory, with regard to birds is, that in the love-season, when the +males are excited and engage in courtship, the females do not fall to +the strongest and most active, nor to those that are first in the field; +but that in a large number of species they are endowed with a faculty +corresponding to the aesthetic feeling or taste in man, and deliberately +select males for their superiority in some aesthetic quality, such as +graceful or fantastic motions, melody of voice, brilliancy of colour, or +perfection of ornaments. Doubtless all birds were originally +plain-coloured, without ornaments and without melody, and it is assumed +that so it would always have been in many cases but for the action of +this principle, which, like natural selection, has gone on accumulating +countless small variations, tending to give a greater lustre to the +species in each case, and resulting in all that we most admire in the +animal world--the Rupicola's flame-coloured mantle, the peacock's crest +and starry train, the joyous melody of the lark, and the pretty or +fantastic dancing performances of birds. + +My experience is that mammals and birds, with few exceptions--probably +there are really no exceptions--possess the habit of indulging +frequently in more or less regular or set performances, with or without +sound, or composed of sound exclusively; and that these performances, +which in many animals are only discordant cries and choruses, +and uncouth, irregular motions, in the more aerial, graceful, and +melodious kinds take immeasurably higher, more complex, and more +beautiful forms. Among the mammalians the instinct appears +almost universal; but their displays are, as a rule, less admirable than +those seen in birds. There are some kinds, it is true, like the +squirrels and monkeys, of arboreal habits, almost birdlike in their +restless energy, and in the swiftness and certitude of their motions, in +which the slightest impulse can be instantly expressed in graceful or +fantastic action; others, like the Chinchillidae family, have greatly +developed vocal organs, and resemble birds in loquacity; but mammals +generally, compared with birds, are slow and heavy, and not so readily +moved to exhibitions of the kind I am discussing. + +The terrestrial dances, often very elaborate, of heavy birds, like those +of the gallinaceous kind, are represented in the more volatile species +by performances in the air, and these are very much more beautiful; +while a very large number of birds--hawks, vultures, swifts, swallows, +nightjars, storks, ibises, spoonbills, and gulls--circle about in the +air, singly or in flocks. Sometimes, in serene weather, they rise to a +vast altitude, and float about in one spot for an hour or longer at a +stretch, showing a faint bird-cloud in the blue, that does not change +its form, nor grow lighter and denser like a flock of starlings; but in +the seeming confusion there is perfect order, and amidst many hundreds +each swift- or slow-gliding figure keeps its proper distance with such +exactitude that no two ever touch, even with the extremity of the +long-wings, flapping or motionless:--such a multitude, and such +miraculous precision in the endless curving motions of all the members +of it, that the spectator can lie for an hour on his back without +weariness watching this mystic cloud-dance in the empyrean. + +The black-faced ibis of Patagonia, a bird nearly as large as a turkey, +indulges in a curious mad performance, usually in the evening when +feeding-time is over. The birds of a flock, while winging their way to +the roosting-place, all at once seem possessed with frenzy, +simultaneously dashing downwards with amazing violence, doubling about +in the most eccentric manner; and when close to the surface rising again +to repeat the action, all the while making the air palpitate for miles +around with their hard, metallic cries. Other ibises, also birds of +other genera, have similar aerial performances. + +The displays of most ducks known to me take the form of mock fights on +the water; one exception is the handsome and loquacious whistling +widgeon of La Plata, which has a pretty aerial performance. A dozen or +twenty birds rise up until they appear like small specks in the sky, and +sometimes disappear from sight altogether; and at that great altitude +they continue hovering in one spot, often for an hour or longer, +alternately closing and separating; the fine, bright, whistling notes +and flourishes of the male curiously harmonizing with the grave, +measured notes of the female; and every time they close they slap each +other on the wings so smartly that the sound can be distinctly heard, +like applauding hand-claps, even after the birds have ceased to be +visible. + +The rails, active, sprightly birds with powerful and varied voices, are +great performers; but owing to the nature of the ground they inhabit and +to their shy, suspicious character, it is not easy to observe their +antics. The finest of the Platan rails is the ypecaha, a beautiful, +active bird about the size of the fowl. A number of ypecahas have their +assembling place on a small area of smooth, level ground, just above the +water, and hemmed in by dense rush beds. First, one bird among the +rushes emits a powerful cry, thrice repeated; and this is a note of +invitation, quickly responded to by other birds from all sides as they +hurriedly repair to the usual place. In a few moments they appear, to +the number of a dozen or twenty, bursting from the rushes and running +into the open space, and instantly beginning the performance. This is a +tremendous screaming concert. The screams they utter have a certain +resemblance to the human voice, exerted to its utmost pitch and +expressive of extreme terror, frenzy, and despair. A long, piercing +shriek, astonishing for its vehemence and power, is succeeded by a lower +note, as if in the first the creature had well nigh exhausted itself: +this double scream is repeated several times, and followed by other +sounds, resembling, as they rise and fall, half smothered cries of pains +and moans of anguish. Suddenly the unearthly shrieks are renewed in all +their power. While screaming the birds rush from side to side, as if +possessed with madness, the wings spread and vibrating, the long-beak +wide open and raised vertically. This exhibition lasts three or four +minntes, after which the assembly peacefully breaks up. + +The singular wattled, wing-spurred, and long-, toed jacana has a +remarkable performance, which seems specially designed to bring out the +concealed beauty of the silky, greenish-golden wing-quills-The birds go +singly or in pairs, and a dozen or fifteen individuals may be found in a +marshy place feeding within sight of each other. Occasionally, in +response to a note of invitation, they all in a moment leave off feeding +and fly to one spot, and, forming a close cluster, and emitting short, +excited, rapidly repeated notes, display their wings, like beautiful +flags grouped loosely together: some hold the wings up vertically and +motionless; others, half open and vibrating rapidly, while still others +wave them up and down with a slow, measured motion. + +In the ypecaha and jacana displays both sexes take part. A stranger +performance is that of the spur-winged lapwing of the same region--a +species resembling the lapwing of Europe, but a third larger, brighter +coloured, and armed with spurs. The lapwing display, called by the +natives its "dance," or "serious dance"--by which they mean square +dance--requires three birds for its performance, and is, so far as I +know, unique in this respect. The birds are so fond of it that they +indulge in it all the year round, and at frequent intervals during the +day, also on moonlight nights. If a person watches any two birds for +some time--for they live in pairs--he will see another lapwing, one of a +neighbouring couple, rise up and fly to them, leaving his own mate to +guard their chosen ground; and instead of resenting this visit as an +unwarranted intrusion on their domain, as they would certainly resent +the approach of almost any other bird, they welcome it with notes and +signs of pleasure. Advancing to the visitor, they place themselves +behind it; then all three, keeping step, begin a rapid march, uttering +resonant drumming notes in time with their movements; the notes of the +pair behind being emitted in a stream, like a drum-roll, while the +leader utters loud single notes at regular intervals. The march ceases; +the leader elevates his wings and stands erect and motionless, still +uttering loud notes; while the other two, with puffed-out plumage and +standing exactly abreast stoop forward and downward until the tips of +their beaks touch the ground, and, sinking their rhythmical voices to a +murmur, remain for some time in this posture. The performance is then +over and the visitor goes back to his own ground and mate, to receive a +visitor himself later on. + +In the Passerine order, not the least remarkable displays are witnessed +in birds that are not accounted songsters, as they do not possess the +highly developed vocal organ confined to the suborder Oscines. The +tyrant-birds, which represent in South America the fly-catchers of the +Old World, all have displays of some kind; in a vast majority of cases +these are simply joyous, excited duets between male and female, composed +of impetuous and more or less confused notes and screams, accompanied +with beating of wings and other gestures. In some species choruses take +the place of duets, while in others entirely different forms of display +have been developed. In one group--Cnipolegus--the male indulges in +solitary antics, while the silent, modest-coloured female keeps in +hiding. Thus, the male of Cnipolegus Hudsoni, an intensely +black-plumaged species with a concealed white wing-band, takes his stand +on a dead twig on the summit of a bush. At intervals he leaves his +perch, displaying the intense white on the quills, and producing, as the +wings are thrown open and shut alternately, the effect of successive +flashes of light. Then suddenly the bird begins revolving in the air +about its perch, like a moth wheeling round and close to the flame of a +candle, emitting a series of sharp clicks and making a loud humming with +the wings. While performing this aerial waltz the black and white on the +quills mix, the wings appearing like a grey mist encircling the body. +The fantastic dance over, the bird drops suddenly on to its perch again; +and, until moved to another display, remains as stiff and motionless as +a bird carved out of jet. + +The performance of the scissors-tail, another tyrant-bird, is also +remarkable. This species is grey and white, with black head and tail and +a crocus-yellow crest. On the wing it looks like a large swallow, but +with the two outer tail-feathers a foot long. The scissors-tails always +live in pairs, but at sunset several pairs assemble, the birds calling +excitedly to each other; they then mount upwards, like rockets, to a +great height in the anand, after wheeling about for a few moments, +pro-cipitate themselves downwards with amazing violence in a wild +zigzag, opening and shutting the long tail-feathers like a pair of +shears, and producing loud whirring sounds, as of clocks being wound +rapidly up, with a slight pause after each turn of the key. This aerial +dance over, they alight in separate couples on the tree tops, each +couple joining in a kind of duet of rapidly repeated, castanet-like +sounds. + +The displays of the wood-hewers, or Dendrocolap-tidae, another extensive +family, resemble those of the tyrant-birds in being chiefly duets, male +and female singing excitedly in piercing or resonant voices, and with +much action. The habit varies somewhat in the cachalote, a Patagonian +species of the genus Homorus, about the size of the missel-thrush. Old +and young birds live in a family together, and at intervals, on any fine +day, they engage in a grand screaming contest, which may be heard +distinctly at a distance of a mile and a half. One bird mounts on to a +bush and calls, and instantly all the others hurry to the spot, and +burst out into a chorus of piercing cries that sound like peals and +shrieks of insane laughter. After the chorus, they all pursue each other +wildly about among the bushes for some minutes. + +In some groups the usual duet-like performances have developed into a +kind of harmonious singing, which is very curious and pleasant to hear. +This is pre-eminently the case with the oven-birds, as D'Orbigney first +remarked. Thus, in the red oven-bird, the first bird, on the appearance +of its mate flying to join it, begins to emit loud, measured notes, and +sometimes a continuous trill, somewhat metallic in sound; but +immediately on the other bird striking in this introductory passage is +changed to triplets, strongly accented on the first note, in a _tempo +vivace;_ while the second bird utters loud single notes in the same +time. While thus singing they stand facing each other, necks +outstretched and tails expanded, the wings of the first bird vibrating +rapidly to the rapid utterance, while those of the second bird beat +measured time. The finale consists of three or four notes, uttered by +the second bird alone, strong and clear, in an ascending scale, the last +very piercing. + +In the melodists proper the displays, in a majority of cases, are +exclusively vocal, the singer sitting still on his perch. In the +Troupials, a family of starling-like birds numbering about one hundred +and forty species, there are many that accompany singing with pretty or +grotesque antics. The male screaming cow-bird of La Plata, when perched, +emits a hollow-sounding internal note that swells at the end into a +sharp metallic ring, almost bell-like: this is uttered with wings and +tail spread and depressed, the whole plumage being puffed out as in a +strutting turkey-cock, while the bird hops briskly up and down on its +perch as if dancing. The bell-like note of the male is followed by an +impetuous scream from the female, and the dance ends. Another species, +the common Argentine cow-bird of La Plata, when courting puffs out his +glossy rich violet plumage, and, with wings vibrating, emits a +succession of deep internal notes, followed by a set song in clear, +ringing tones; and then, suddenly taking wing, he flies straight away, +close to the surface, fluttering like a moth, and at a distance of +twenty to thirty yards turns and flies in a wide circle round the +female, singing loudly all the time, hedging her in with melody as it +were. + +Many songsters in widely different families possess the habit of soaring +and falling alternately while singing, and in some cases all the aerial +postures and movements, the swift or slow descent, vertical, often, with +oscillations, or in a spiral, and sometimes with a succession of smooth +oblique lapses, seem to have an admirable correspondence with the +changing and falling voice--melody and motion being united in a more +intimate and beautiful way than in the most perfect and poetic forms of +human dancing. + +One of the soaring singers is a small yellow field-finch of La +Plata--Sycalis luteola; and this species, like some others, changes the +form of its display with the seasons. It lives in immense flocks, and +during the cold season it has, like most finches, only aerial pastimes, +the birds wheeling about in a cloud, pursuing each other with lively +chirpings. In August, when the trees begin to blossom, the flock betakes +itself to a plantation, and, sitting on the branches, the birds sing in +a concert of innumerable voices, producing a great volume of sound, as +of a high wind when heard at a distance. Heard near, it is a great mass +of melody; not a confused tangle of musical sounds as when a host of +Troupials sing in concert, but the notes, although numberless, seem to +flow smoothly and separately, producing an effect on the ear similar to +that which rain does on the sight, when the sun shines on and lightens +up the myriads of falling drops all falling one way. In this manner the +birds sing for hours, without intermission, every day. Then the passion +of love infects them; the pleasant choir breaks up, and its ten thousand +members scatter wide over the surrounding fields and pasture lands. +During courtship the male has a feeble, sketchy music, but his singing +is then accompanied with very charming love antics. His circlings about +the hen-bird; his numberless advances and retreats, and little soarings +above her when his voice swells with importunate passion; his fluttering +lapses back to earth, where he lies prone with outspread, tremulous +wings, a suppliant at her feet, his languishing voice meanwhile dying +down to lispings--all these apt and graceful motions seem to express the +very sickness of the heart. But the melody during this emotional period +is nothing. After the business of pairing and nest-building is over, his +musical displays take a new and finer form. He sits perched on a stalk +above the grass, and at intervals soars up forty or fifty yards high; +rising, he utters a series of long melodious notes; then he descends in +a graceful spiral, the set of the motionless wings giving him the +appearance of a slowly-falling parachute; the voice then also falls, the +notes coming lower, sweeter, and more expressive until he reaches the +surface. After alighting the song continues, the strains becoming +longer, thinner, and clearer, until they dwindle to the finest threads +of sound and faintest tinklings, as from a cithern touched by fairy +fingers. The great charm of the song is in this slow gradation from the +somewhat throaty notes emitted by the bird when ascendino-to the +excessively attenuated sounds at the close. + +In conclusion of this part I shall speak of one species more--the +white-banded mocking-bird of Patagonia, which greatly excels all other +songsters known to me in the copiousness, variety and brilliant +character of its music. Concealed in the foliage this bird will sing by +the half-hour, reproducing with miraculous fidelity the more or less +melodious set songs of a score of species--a strange and beautiful +performance; but wonderful as it seems while it lasts, one almost ceases +to admire this mimicking bird-art when the mocker, as if to show by +contrast his unapproachable superiority, bursts into his own divine +song, uttered with a power, abandon and joyousness resembling, but +greatly exceeding, that of the skylark "singing at heaven's gate;" the +notes issuing in a continuous torrent; the voice so brilliant and +infinitely varied, that if "rivalry and emulation" have as large a place +in feathered breasts as some imagine all that hear this surpassing +melody might well languish ever after in silent despair. + +In a vast majority of the finest musical performances the same notes are +uttered in the same order, and after an interval the song is repeated +without any variation: and it seems impossible that we could in any +other way have such beautiful contrasts and harmonious lights and +shades--the whole song, so to speak, like a "melody sweetly played in +tune." This seeming impossibility is accomplished in the mocking-bird's +song: the notes never come in the same order again and again, but, as if +inspired, in a changed order, with variations and new sounds: and here +again it has some resemblance to the skylark's song, and might be +described as the lark's song with endless variations and brightened and +spiritualized in a degree that cannot be imagined. + +This mocking-bird is one of those species that accompany music with +appropriate motions. And just as its song is, so to speak, inspired and +an im-provization, unlike any song the bird has ever uttered, so its +motions all have the same character of spontaneity, and follow no order, +and yet have a grace and passion and a perfect harmony with the music +unparalleled among birds possessing a similar habit. While singing he +passes from bush to bush, sometimes delaying a few moments on and at +others just touching the summits, and at times sinking out of sight in +the foliage: then, in an access of rapture, soaring vertically to a +height of a hundred feet, with measured wing-beats, like those of a +heron: or, mounting suddenly in a wild, hurried zigzag, then slowly +circling downwards, to sit at last with tail outspread fanwise, and +vans, glistening white in the sunshine, expanded and vibrating, or waved +languidly up and down, with, a motion like that of some broad-winged +butterfly at rest on a flower. + +I wish now to put this question: What relation that we can see or +imagine to the passion of love and the business of courtship, have these +dancing and vocal performances in nine cases out of ten? In such cases, +for instance, as that of the scissors-tail tyrant-bird, and its +pyrotechnic evening displays, when a number of couples leave their nests +containing eggs and young to join in a wild aerial dance: the mad +exhibitions of ypecahas and ibises, and the jacanas' beautiful +exhibition of grouped wings: the triplet dances of the spur-winged +lapwing, to perform which two birds already mated are compelled to call +in a third bird to complete the set: the harmonious duets of the +oven-birds, and the duets and choruses of nearly all the wood-hewers, +and the wing-slapping aerial displays of the whistling widgeons--will it +be seriously contended that the female of this species makes choice of +the male able to administer the most vigorous and artistic slaps? + +The believer in the theory would put all these cases lightly aside, to +cite that of the male cow-bird practising antics before the female and +drawing a wide circle of melody round her; or that of the jet-black, +automaton-like, dancing tyrant-bird; and concerning this species he +would probably say that the plain-plumaged female went about unseen, +critically watching the dancing of different males, to discover the most +excellent performer according to the traditional standard. And this was, +in substance, what Darwin did. There are many species in which the male, +singly or with others, practises antics or sings during the love-season +before the female; and when all such cases, or rather those that are +most striking and bizarre, are brought together, and when it is +gratuitously asserted that the females _do_ choose the males that show +off in the best manner or that sing best, a case for sexual selection +seems to be made out. How unfair the argument is, based on these +carefully selected cases gathered from all regions of the globe, and +often not properly reported, is seen when we turn from the book to +nature and closely consider the habits and actions of all the species +inhabiting any _one_ district. We see then that such cases as those +described and made so much of in the _Descent of Man,_ and cases like +those mentioned in this chapter, are not essentially different in +character, but are manifestations of one instinct, which appears to be +almost universal among the animals. The explanation I have to offer lies +very much on the surface and is very simple indeed, and, like that of +Dr. Wallace with regard [Footnote: It is curious to find that Dr. +Wallace's idea about colour has been independently hit upon by Ruskin. +Of stones he writes in _Frondes Agrestis_:--"I have often had occasion +to allude to the apparent connection of brilliancy of colour with vigour +of life and purity of substance. This is pre-eminently the case in the +mineral kingdom. The perfection with which the particles of any +substance unite in crystallization, corresponds in that kingdom to the +vital power in organic nature."] to colour and ornaments covers the +whole of the facts. We see that the inferior animals, when the +conditions of life are favourable, are subject to periodical fits of +gladness affecting them powerfully and standing out in vivid contrast to +their ordinary temper. And we know what this feeling is--this periodic +intense elation which even civilized man occasionally experiences when +in perfect health, more especially when young. There are moments when +he is mad with joy, when he cannot keep still, when his impulse is to +sing and shout aloud and laugh at nothing, to run and leap and exert +himself in some extravagant way. Among the heavier mammalians the +feeling is manifested in loud noises, bellowings and screamings, and in +lumbering, uncouth motions--throwing up of heels, pretended panics, and +ponderous mock battles. + +In smaller and livelier animals, with greater celerity and certitude in +their motions, the feeling shows itself in more regular and often in +more complex ways. Thus, Felidae when young, and, in very agile, +sprightly species like the Puma, throughout life, simulate all the +actions of an animal hunting its prey--sudden, intense excitement of +discovery, concealment, gradual advance, masked by intervening objects, +with intervals of watching, when they crouch motionless, the eyes +flashing and tail waved from side to side; finally, the rush and spring, +when the playfellow is captured, rolled over on his back and worried to +imaginary death. Other species of the most diverse kinds, in which voice +is greatly developed, join in noisy concerts and choruses; many of the +cats may be mentioned, also dogs and foxes, capybaras and other +loquacious rodents; and in the howling monkeys this kind of performance +rises to the sublime uproar of the tropical forest at eventide. + +Birds are more subject to this universal joyous instinct than mammals, +and there are times when some species are constantly overflowing with +it; and as they are so much freer than mammals, more buoyant and +graceful in action, more loquacious, and have voices so much finer, +their gladness shows itself in a greater variety of ways, with more +regular and beautiful motions, and with melody. But every species, or +group of species, has its own inherited form or style of performance; +and, however rude and irregular this may be, as in the case of the +pretended stampedes and fights of wild cattle, that is the form in which +the feeling will always be expressed. If all men, at some exceedingly +remote period in their history, had agreed to express the common glad +impulse, which they now express in such an infinite variety of ways or +do not express at all, by dancing a minuet, and minuet-dancing had at +last come to be instinctive, and taken to spontaneously by children at +an early period, just as they take to walking "on their hind legs," +man's case would be like that of the inferior animals. + +I was one day watching a flock of plovers, quietly feeding on the +ground, when, in a moment, all the birds were seized by a joyous +madness, and each one, after making a vigorous peck at his nearest +neighbour, began running wildly about, each trying in passing to peck +other birds, while seeking by means of quick doublings to escape being +pecked in turn. This species always expresses its glad impulse in the +same way; but how different in form is this simple game of +touch-who-touch-can from the triplet dances of the spur-winged lapwings, +with their drumming music, pompous gestures, and military precision of +movement! How different also from the aerial performance of another bird +of the same family--the Brazilian stilt--in which one is pursued by the +others, mounting upwards in a wild, eccentric flight until they are all +but lost to view; and back to earth again, and then, skywards once more; +the pursued bird when overtaken giving place to another individual, and +the pursuing pack making the air ring with their melodious barking +cries! How different again are all these from the aerial pastimes of the +snipe, in which the bird, in its violent descent, is able to produce +such wonderful, far-reaching sounds with its tail-feathers! The snipe, +as a rule, is a solitary bird, and, like the oscillating finch mentioned +early in this paper, is content to practise its pastimes without a +witness. In the gregarious kinds all perform together: for this feeling, +like fear, is eminently contagious, and the sight of one bird mad with +joy will quickly make the whole flock mad. There are also species that +always live in pairs, like the scissors-tails already mentioned, that +periodically assemble in numbers for the purpose of display. The crested +screamer, a very large bird, may also be mentioned: male and female sing +somewhat harmoniously together, with voices of almost unparalleled +power: but these birds also congregate in large numbers, and a thousand +couples, or even several thousands, may be assembled together: and, at +intervals, both by day and night, all sing in concert, their combined +voices producing a thunderous melody which seems to shake the earth. As +a rule, however, birds that live always in pairs do not assemble for the +purpose of display, but the joyous instinct is expressed by duet-like +performances between male and female. Thus, in the three South American +Passerine families, the tyrant-birds, wood-hewers, and ant-thrushes, +numbering together between eight and nine hundred species, a very large +majority appear to have displays of this description. + +In my own experience, in cases where the male and female together, or +assembled with others, take equal parts in the set displays, the sexes +arc similar, or differ little; but where the female takes no part in the +displays the superiority of the male in brightness of colour is very +marked. One or two instances bearing on this point may be given. + +A scarlet-breasted troupial of La Plata perches conspicuously on a tall +plant in afield, and at intervals soars up vertically, singing, and, at +the highest ascending point, flight and song end in a kind of aerial +somersault and vocal flourish at the same moment. Meanwhile, the +dull-plumaged female is not seen and not heard: for not even a skulking +crake lives in closer seclusion under the herbage--so widely have the +sexes diverged in this species. Is the female, then, without an instinct +so common r--has she no sudden fits of irrepressible gladness? +Doubtless she has them, and manifests them down in her place of +concealment in lively chirpings and quick motions--the simple, primitive +form in which gladness is expressed in the class of birds. In the +various species of the genus Cnipolegus, already mentioned, the +difference in the sexes is just as great as in the case of the troupial: +the solitary, intensely black, statuesque male has, we have seen, a set +and highly fantastic performance; but on more than one occasion I have +seen four or five females of one species meet together and have a little +simple performance all to themselves--in form a kind of lively mock +fight. + +It might be objected that when a bird takes its stand and repeats a set +finished song at intervals for an hour at a stretch, remaining quietly +perched, such a performance appears to be different in character from +the irregular and simple displays which are unmistakably caused by a +sudden glad impulse. But we are familiar with the truth that in organic +nature great things result from small beginnings--a common flower, and +our own bony skulls, to say nothing of the matter contained within them, +are proofs of it. Only a limited number of species sing in a highly +finished manner. Looking at many species, we find every gradation, every +shade, from the simple joyous chirp and cry to the most perfect melody. +Even in a single branch of the true vocalists we may see it--from the +chirping bunting, and noisy but tuneless sparrow, to linnet and +goldfinch and canary. Not only do a large majority of species show the +singing instinct, or form of display, in a primitive, undeveloped state, +but in that state it continues to show itself in the young of many birds +in which melody is most highly developed in the adult. And where the +development has been solely in the male the female never rises above +that early stage; in her lively chirpings and little mock fights and +chases, and other simple forms which gladness takes in birds, as well as +in her plainer plumage, and absence of ornament, she represents the +species at some remote period. And as with song so with antics and all +set performances aerial or terrestrial, from those of the whale and the +elephant to those of the smallest insect. + +Another point remains to be noticed, and that is the greater frequency +and fulness in displays of all kinds, including song, during the love +season. And here Dr. Wallace's colour and ornament theory helps us to an +explanation. At the season of courtship, when the conditions of life are +most favourable vitality is at its maximum, and naturally it is then +that the proficiency in all kinds of dancing-antics, aerial and +terrestrial, appears greatest, and that melody attains its highest +perfection. This applies chiefly to birds, but even among birds there +are exceptions, as we have seen in the case of the field-finch, Sycalis +luteola. The love-excitement is doubtless pleasurable to them, and it +takes the form in which keenly pleasurable emotions are habitually +expressed, although not infrequently with variations due to the greater +intensity of the feeling. In some migrants the males arrive before the +females, and no sooner have they recovered from the effects of their +journey than they burst out into rapturous singing; these are not +love-strains, since the females have not yet arrived, and pairing-time +is perhaps a mouth distant; their singing merely expresses their +overflowing gladness. The forest at that season is vocal, not only with +the fine melody of the true songsters, but with hoarse cawings, piercing +cries, shrill duets, noisy choruses, drummings, boomings, trills, +wood-tappings--every sound with which different species express the glad +impulse; and birds like the parrot that only exert their powerful voices +in screamings--because "they can do no other"--then scream their +loudest. When courtship begins it has in many cases the effect of +increasing the beauty of the performance, giving added sweetness, verve, +and brilliance to the song, and freedom and grace to the gestures and +motions. But, as I have said, there are exceptions. Thus, some birds +that are good melodists at other times sing in a feeble, disjointed +manner during courtship. In Patagonia I found that several of the birds +with good voices--one a mocking bird--were, like the robin at home, +autumn and winter songsters. + +The argument has been stated very binefly: but little would be gained by +the mere multiplication of instances, since, however many, they would bo +selected instances--from a single district, it is true, while those in +the _Descent of Man_ were brought together from an immeasurably wider +field; but the principle is the same in both cases, and to what I have +written it may be objected that, if, instead of twenty-five, I had given +a hundred cases, taking them as they came, they might have shown a +larger proportion of instances like that of the cow-bird, in which the +male has a set performance practised only during the love-season and in +the presence of the female. + +It is, no doubt, true that all collections of facts relating to animal +life present nature to us somewhat as a "fantastic realm"--unavoidably +so, in a measure, since the writing would be too bulky, or too dry, or +too something inconvenient, if we did not take only the most prominent +facts that come before us, remove them from their places, where alone +they can be seen in their proper relations to numerous other less +prominent facts, and rearrange them patch work-wise to make up our +literature. But I am convinced that any student of the subject who will +cast aside his books--supposing that they have not already bred a habit +in his mind of seeing only "in accordance with verbal statement"--and go +directly to nature to note the actions of animals for himself--actions +which, in many cases, appear to lose all significance when set down in +writing--the result of such independent investigation will be a +conviction that conscious sexual selection on the part of the female is +not the cause of music and dancing performances in birds, nor of the +brighter colours and ornaments that distinguish the male. It is true +that the females of some species, both in the vertebrate and insect +kingdoms, do exercise a preference; but in a vast majority of species +the male takes the female he finds, or that he is able to win from other +competitors; and if we go to the reptile class we find that in the +ophidian order, which excels in variety and richness of colour, there is +no such thing as preferential mating; and if we go to the insect class, +we find that in butterflies, which surpass all creatures in their +glorious beauty, the female gives herself up to the embrace of the first +male that appears, or else is captured by the strongest male, just as +she might be by a mantis or some other rapacious insect. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +BIOGRAPHY OF THE VIZCACHA. + +_(Lagostomus Trichodactylus.)_ + + +The vizcacha is perhaps the most characteristic of the South American +Rodentia, [Footnote: "According to Mr. Waterhouse, of all rodents the +vizcacha is most nearly related to marsupials; but in the points in +which it approaches this order its relations are general, that is, not +to any one marsupial species more than to another. As these points of +affinity are believed to be real and not merely adaptive, they must be +due in accordance with our view to inheritance from a common progenitor. +Therefore wo must suppose either that all rodents, including the +vizcacha, branched off from some ancient marsupial, which will naturally +have been more or less intermediate in character with respect to all +existing marsupials; or, that both lodents and marsupials branched off +from a common progenitor. ... On either view we must suppose that the +vizcacha has retained, by inheritance, more of the characters of its +ancient progenitor than have other rodents."--DARWIN; _Origin of +Species._] while its habits, in some respects, are more interesting than +those of any other rodent known: it is, moreover, the most common mammal +we have on the pampas; and all these considerations have induced me to +write a very full account of its customs. It is necessary to add that +since the following pages were written at my home on the pampas a great +war of extermination has been waged against this animal by the +landowners, which has been more fortunate in its results--or unfortunate +if one's sympathies are with the vizcacha--than the war of the +Australians against their imported rodent--the smaller and more prolific +rabbit. + +The vizcachas on the pampas of Buenos Ayres live in societies, usually +numbering twenty or thirty members. The village, which is called +Vizcachera, is composed of a dozen or fifteen burrows or mouths; for one +entrance often serves for two or more distinct holes. Often, where the +ground is soft, there are twenty or thirty or more burrows in an old +vizcachera; but on stony, or "tosca" soil even an old one may have no +more than four or five burrows. They are deep wide-mouthed holes, placed +very close together, the entire village covering an area of from one +hundred to two hundred square feet of ground. + +The burrows vary greatly in extent; and usually in a vizcachera there +are several that, at a distance of from four to six feet from the +entrance, open into large circular chambers. From these chambers other +burrows diverge in all directions, some running horizontally, others +obliquely downwards to a maximum depth of six feet from the surface: +some of these burrows or galleries communicate with those of other +burrows. A vast amount of loose earth is thus brought up, and forms a +very irregular mound, fifteen to thirty inches above the surrounding +level. + +It will afford some conception of the numbers of these vizcacheras on +the settled pampas when I say that, in some directions, a person might +ride five hundred miles and never advance half a mile without seeing one +or more of them. In districts where, as far as the eye can see, the +plains are as level and smooth as a bowling-green, especially in winter +when the grass is close-cropped, and where the rough giant-thistle has +not sprung up, these mounds appear like brown or dark spots on a green +surface. They are the only irregularities that occur to catch the eye, +and consequently form an important feature in the scenery. In some +places they are so near together that a person on horseback may count a +hundred of them from one point of view. + +The sites of which the vizcacha invariably makes choice to work on, as +well as his manner of burrow-ing, adapt him peculiarly to live and +thrive on the open pampas. Other burrowing species seem always to fix +upon some spot where there is a bank or a sudden depression in the soil, +or where there is rank herbage, or a bush or tree, about the roots of +which to begin their kennel. They are averse to commence digging on a +clear level surface, either because it is not easy for them where they +have nothing to rest their foreheads against while scratching, or +because they possess a wary instinct that impels them to place the body +in concealment whilst working on the surface, thus securing the +concealment of the burrow after it is made. Certain it is that where +large hedges have been planted on the pampas, multitudes of opossums, +weasels, skunks, armadillos, &c., come and make their burrows beneath +them; and where there are no hedges or trees, all these species make +their kennels under bushes of the perennial thistle, or where there is a +shelter of some kind. The vizcacha, on the contrary, chooses an open +level spot, the cleanest he can find to burrow on. The first thing that +strikes the observer when viewing the vizcachera closely is the enormous +size of the entrance of the burrows, or, at least, of several of the +central ones in the mound; for there are usually several smaller outside +burrows. The pit-like opening to some of these principal burrows is +often four to six feet across the mouth, and sometimes deep enough for a +tall man to stand up waist-deep in. How these large entrances can be +made on a level surface may be seen when the first burrow or burrows of +an incipient vizcachera are formed. It is not possible to tell what +induces a vizcacha to be the founder of a new community; for they +increase very slowly, and furthermore are extremely fond of each other's +society; and it is invariably one individual that leaves his native +village to found a new and independent one. If it were to have better +pasture at hand, then he would certainly remove to a considerable +distance; but he merely goes from forty to fifty or sixty yards off to +begin his work. Thus it is that in desert places, where these animals +are rare, a solitary vizcachera is never seen; but there are always +several close together, though there may be no others on the surrounding +plain for leagues. When the vizcacha has made his habitation, it is but +a single burrow, with only himself for an inhabitant, perhaps for many +months. Sooner or later, however, others join him: and these will be the +parents of innumerable generations; for they construct no temporary +lodging-place, as do the armadillos and other species, but their +posterity continues in the quiet possession of the habitations +bequeathed to it; how long, it is impossible to say. Old men who have +lived all their lives in one district remember that many of the +vizcacheras around them existed when they were children. It is +invariably a male that begins a new village, and makes his burrow in the +following manner, though he does not always observe the same method. He +works very straight into the earth, digging a hole twelve or fourteen +inches wide, but not so deep, at an angle of about 25 degrees with the +surface. But after he has progressed inwards a few feet, the vizcacha is +no longer satisfied with merely scattering away the loose earth he +fetches up, but cleans it away so far in a straight line from the +entrance, and scratches so much on this line (apparently to make the +slope gentler), that he soon forms a trench a foot or more in depth, and +often three or four feet in length. Its use is, as I have inferred, to +facilitate the conveying of the loose earth as far as possible from the +entrance of the burrow. But after a while the animal is unwilling that +it should accumulate even at the end of this long passage; he therefore +proceeds to make two additional trenches, that form an acute, sometimes +a right angle, converging into the first, so that when the whole is +completed it takes the form of a capital Y. + +These trenches are continually deepened and lengthened as the burrow +progresses, the angular segment of earth between them, scratched away, +until by degrees it has been entirely conveyed off, and in its place is +the one deep great unsymmetrical mouth I have already described. There +are soils that will not admit of the animals working in this manner. +Where there are large cakes of "tosca" near the surface, as in many +localities on the southern pampas, the vizcacha makes its burrow as best +he can, and without the regular trenches. In earths that crumble much, +sand or gravel, he also works under great disadvantages. + +The burrows are made best in the black and red moulds of the pampas; but +even in such soils the entrances of many burrows are made differently. +In some the central trench is wanting, or is so short that there appear +but two passages converging directly into the burrow; or these two +trenches may be so curved inwards as to form the segment of a circle. +Many other forms may also be noticed, but usually they appear to be only +modifications of the most common Y-shaped system. + +As I have remarked that its manner of burrowing has peculiarly adapted +the vizcacha to the pampas, it may be asked what particular advantage a +species that makes a wide-mouthed burrow possesses over those that +excavate in the usual way. On a declivity, or at the base of rocks or +trees, there would be none; but on the perfectly level and shelterless +pampas, the durability of the burrow, a circumstance favourable to the +animal's preservation, is owing altogether to its being made in this +way, and to several barrows being made together. The two outer trenches +diverge so widely from the mouth that half the earth brought out is cast +behind instead of before it, thus creating a mound of equal height about +the entrance, by which it is secured from water during great rainfalls, +while the cattle avoid treading over the great pit-like entrances. But +the burrows of the dolichotis, armadillo, and other species, when made +on perfectly level ground, are soon trod on and broken in by cattle; in +summer they are choked up with dust and rubbish; and, the loose earth +having all been thrown up together in a heap on one side, there is no +barrier to the water which in eveiy great rainfall flows in and +obliterates the kennel, drowning or driving out the tenant. + +I have been minute in describing the habitations of the vizcacha, as I +esteem the subject of prime importance in considering the zoology of +this portion of America. The vizcacha does not benefit himself alone by +his perhaps unique style of burrowing; but this habit has proved +advantageous to several other species, and has been so favourable to two +of our birds that they are among the most common species found here, +whereas without these burrows they would have been exceedingly rare, +since the natural banks in which they breed are scarcely found anywhere +on the pampas. I refer to the Minera (Geositta cunicularia), which makes +its breeding-holes in the bank-like sides of the vizcacha's burrow, and +to the little swallow (Atticora cyanoleuca) which breeds in these +excavations when forsaken by the Minera. Few old vizcacheras are seen +without some of these little parasitical burrows in them. + +Birds are not the only beings in this way related to the vizcachas: the +fox and the weasel of the pampas live almost altogether in them. Several +insects also frequent these burrows that are seldom found anywhere else. +Of these the most interesting are:--a large predacious nocturnal bug, +shining black, with red wings; a nocturnal Cicindela, a beautiful +insect, with dark green striated wing-cases and pale red legs; also +several diminutive wingless wasps. Of the last I have counted six +species, most of them marked with strongly contrasted colours, black, +red, and white. There are also other wasps that prey on the spiders +found on the vizcachera. All these and others are so numerous on the +mounds that dozens of them might there be collected any summer day; but +if sought for in other situations they are exceedingly rare. If the dry +mound of soft earth which the vizcacha elevates amidst a waste of humid, +close-growing grass is not absolutely necessary to the existence of all +these species, it supplies them with at least one favourable condition, +and without doubt thereby greatly increases their numbers: they, too, +whether predacious or preyed on, have so many relations with other +outside species, and these again with still others, that it would be no +mere fancy to say that probably hundreds of species are either directly +or indirectly affected in their struggle for existence by the +vizcacheras so abundantly sprinkled over the pampas. + +In winter the vizcachas seldom leave their burrows till dark, but in +summer come out before sunset; and the vizcachera is then a truly +interesting spectacle. Usually one of the old males first appears, and +sits on some prominent place on the mound, apparently in no haste to +begin his evening meal. When approached from the front he stirs not, but +eyes the intruder with a bold indifferent stare. If the person passes to +one side, he deigns not to turn his head. + +Other vizcachas soon begin to appear, each one quietly taking up his +station at his burrow's mouth, the females, known by their greatly +inferior size and lighter grey colour, sitting upright on their +haunches, as if to command a better view, and indicating by divers +sounds and gestures that fear and curiosity struggles in them for +mastery; for they are always wilder and sprightlier in their motions +than the males. With eyes fixed on the intruder, at intervals they dodge +the head, emitting at the same time an internal note with great +vehemence; and suddenly, as the danger comes nearer, they plunge +simultaneously, with a startled cry, into their burrows. But in some +curiosity is the strongest emotion; for, in spite of their fellow's +contagious example, and already half down the entrance, again they start +up to scrutinize the stranger, and will then often permit him to walk +within five or six paces of them. + +Standing on the mound there is frequently a pair of burrowing owls +(Pholeoptynx cunicularia). These birds generally make their own burrows +to breed in, or sometimes take possession of one of the lesser outside +burrows of the village; but their favourite residence, when not engaged +in tending their eggs or young, is on the vizcachera. Here a pair will +sit all day; and I have often remarked a couple close together on the +edge of the burrow; and when the vizcacha came out in the evening, +though but a hand's breadth from them, they did not stir, nor did he +notice them, so accustomed are these creatures to each other. Usually a +couple of the little burrowing Geositta are also present. They are +lively creatures, running with great rapidity about the mound and bare +space that surrounds it, suddenly stopping and jerking their tails in a +slow deliberate manner, and occasionally uttering their cry, a trill, or +series of quick short clear notes, resembling somewhat the shrill +excessive laughter of a child. Among the grave, stationary vizcachas, of +which they take no heed, perhaps half a dozen or more little swallows +(Atticora cyanoleuca) are seen, now clinging altogether to the bank-like +entrance of a burrow, now hovering over it in a moth-like manner, as if +uncertain where to alight, and anon sweeping about in circles, but never +ceasing their low and sorrowful notes. + +The vizcachera with all its incongruous inhabitants thus collected upon +it is to a stranger one of the most novel sights the pampas afford. + +The vizcacha appears to be a rather common species over all the +extensive Argentine territory; but they are so exceedingly abundant on +the pampas inhabited by man, and comparatively so rare in the desert +places I have been in, that I was at first much surprised at finding +them so unequally distributed. I have also mentioned that the vizcacha +is a tame familiar creature. This is in the pastoral districts, where +they are never disturbed; but in wild regions, where he is scarce, he is +exceedingly wary, coming forth long after dark, and plunging into his +burrow on the slightest alarm, so that it is a rare thing to get a sight +of him. The reason is evident enough; in desert regions the vizcacha has +several deadly enemies in the larger rapacious mammals. Of these the +puma or lion (Felis concolor) is the most numerous, as it is also the +swiftest, most subtle, and most voracious; for, as regards these traits, +the jaguar (F. onca) is an inferior animal. To the insatiable bloody +appetite of this creature nothing comes amiss; he takes the male ostrich +by surprise, and slays that wariest of wild things on his nest; He +captures little birds with the dexterity of a cat, and hunts for diurnal +armadillos; he comes unawares upon the deer and huanaco, and, springing +like lightning on them, dislocates their necks before their bodies touch +the earth. Often after he has thus slain them, he leaves their bodies +untouched for the Polyborus and vulture to feast on, so great a delight +does he take in destroying life. The vizcacha falls an easy victim to +this subtle creature; and it is not to be wondered at that it becomes +wild to excess, and rare in regions hunted over by such an enemy, even +when all other conditions are favourable to its increase. But as soon +as these wild regions are settled by man the pumas are exterminated, and +the sole remaining foe of the vizcacha is the fox, comparatively an +insignificant one. + +The fox takes up his residence in a vizcachera, and succeeds, after +some quarrelling (manifested in snarls, growls, and other subterranean +warlike sounds), in ejecting the rightful owners of one of the burrows, +which forthwith becomes his. Certainly the vizcachas are not much +injured by being compelled to relinquish the use of one of their kennels +for a season or permanently; for, if the locality suits him, the fox +remains with them always. Soon they grow accustomed to the unwelcome +stranger; he is quiet and unassuming in demeanour, and often in the +evening sits on the mound in their company, until they regard him with +the same indifference they do the burrowing owl. But in spring, when the +young vizcachas are large enough to leave their cells, then the fox +makes them his prey; and if it is a bitch fox, with a family of eight or +nine young to provide for, she will grow so bold as to hunt her helpless +quarry from hole to hole, and do battle with the old ones, and carry off +the young in spite of them, so that all the young animals in the village +are eventually destroyed. Often when the young foxes are large enough to +follow their mother, the whole family takes leave of the vizcachera +where such cruel havoc has been made to settle in another, there to +continue their depredations. But the fox has ever a relentless foe in +man, and meets with no end of bitter persecutions; it is consequently +much more abundant in desert or thinly settled districts than in such as +are populous, so that in these the check the vizcachas receive from the +foxes is not appreciable. + +The abundance of cattle on the pampas has made it unnecessary to use the +vizcacha as an article of food. His skin is of no value; therefore man, +the destroyer of his enemies, has hitherto been the greatest benefactor +of his species. Thus they have been permitted to multiply and spread +themselves to an amazing extent, so that the half-domestic cattle on the +pampas are not nearly so familiar with man, or so fearless of his +presence as are the vizcachas. It is not that they do him no injury, but +because they do it indirectly, that they have so long enjoyed immunity +from persecution. It is amusing to see the sheep-farmer, the greatest +sufferer from the vizcachas, regarding them with such indifference as to +permit them to swarm on his "run," and burrow within a stone's throw of +his dwelling with impunity, and yet going a distance from home to +persecute with unreasonable animosity a fox, skunk, or opossum on +account of the small annual loss it inflicts on the poultry-yard. That +the vizcacha has comparatively no adverse conditions to war with +wherever man is settled is evident when we consider its very slow rate +of increase, and yet see them in such incalculable numbers. The female +has but one litter in the year of two young, sometimes of three. She +becomes pregnant late in April, and brings forth in September; the +period of gestation is, I think, rather less than five months. + +The vizcacha is about two years growing. A full-sized male measures to +the root of the tail twenty-two inches, and weighs from fourteen to +fifteen pounds; the female is nineteen inches in length, and her +greatest weight nine pounds. Probably it is a long-lived, and certainly +it is a very hardy animal. Where it has any green substance to eat it +never drinks water; but after a long summer drought, when for months it +has subsisted on bits of dried thistle-stalks and old withered grass, if +a shower falls it will come out of its burrows even at noonday and drink +eagerly from the pools. It has been erroneously stated that vizcachas +subsist on roots. Their food is grass and seeds; but they may also +sometimes eat roots, as the ground is occasionally seen scratched up +about the burrows. In March, when the stalks of the perennial cardoon or +Castile thistle (Cynara cardunculus) are dry, the vizcachas fell them by +gnawing about their roots, and afterwards tear to pieces the great dry +flower-heads to get the seeds imbedded deeply in them, of which they +seem very fond. Large patches of thistle are often found served thus, +the ground about them literally white with the silvery bristles they +have scattered. This cutting down tall plants to get the seeds at the +top seems very like an act of pure intelligence; but the fact is, the +vizcachas cut down every tall plant they can. I have seen whole acres of +maize destroyed by them, yet the plants cut down were left untouched. If +posts be put into the ground within range of their nightly rambles they +will gnaw till they have felled them, unless of a wood hard enough to +resist their chisel-like incisors. + +The strongest instinct of this animal is to clear the ground thoroughly +about its burrows; and it is this destructive habit that makes it +necessary for cultivators of the soil to destroy all the vizcachas in or +near their fields. On the uninhabited pampas, where the long grasses +grow, I have often admired the vizcachera; for it is there the centre of +a clean space, often of half an acre in extent, on which there is an +even close-shaven turf: this clearing is surrounded by the usual rough +growth of herbs and giant grasses. In such situations this habit of +clearing the ground is eminently advantageous to them, as it affords +them a comparatively safe spot to feed and disport themselves on, and +over which they can fly to their burrows without meeting any +obstruction, on the slightest alarm. + +Of course the instinct continues to operate where it is no longer of any +advantage. In summer, when the thistles are green, even when growing +near the burrows, and the giant thistle (Carduus mariana) springs up +most luxuriantly right on the mound, the vizcachas will not touch them, +either disliking the strong astringent sap, or repelled by the thorns +with which they are armed. As soon as they dry, and the thorns become +brittle, they are levelled; afterwards, when the animal begins to drag +them about and cut them up, as his custom is, he accidentally discovers +and feasts on the seed: for vizcachas are fond of exercising their teeth +on hard substances, such as sticks and bones, just as cats are of +"sharpening their claws" on trees. + +Another remarkable habit of the vizcacha, that of dragging to and +heaping about the mouth of his burrow every stalk he cuts down, and +every portable object that by dint of great strength he can carry, has +been mentioned by Azara, Darwin, and others. On the level plains it is a +useful habit; for as the vizcachas are continually deepening and +widening their burrows, the earth thrown out soon covers up these +materials, and so assists in raising the mound. On the Buenos-Ayrean +pampas numbers of vizcacheras would annually be destroyed by water in +the great sudden rainfalls were the mounds loss high. But this is only +an advantage when the animals inhabit a perfectly level country subject +to flooding rains; for where the surface is unequal they invariably +prefer high to low ground to burrow on, and are thus secured from +destruction by water; yet the instinct is as strong in such situations +as on the level plains. The most that can be said of a habit apparently +so obscure in its origin and uses is, that it appears to be part of the +instinct of clearing the ground about the village. Every tall stalk the +vizcacha cuts down, every portable object he finds, must be removed to +make the surface clean and smooth; but while encumbered with it he does +not proceed further from his burrows, but invariably re-tires towards +them, and so deposits it upon the mound. So well known is this habit, +that whatever article is lost by night--whip, pistol, or knife--the +loser next morning visits the vizcacheras in the vicinity, quite sure of +finding it there. People also visit the vizcacheras to pick up sticks +for firewood. + +The vizcachas are cleanly in their habits; and the fur, though it has a +strong earthy smell, is kept exceedingly neat. The hind leg and foot +afford a very beautiful instance of adaptation. Propped by the hard +curved tail, they sit up erect, and as firmly on the long horny disks on +the undersides of the hind legs as a man stands on his feet. Most to be +admired, on the middle toe the skin thickens into a round cushion, in +which the curved teeth-like bristles are set; nicely graduated in +length, so that "each particular hair" may come into contact with the +skin when the animal scratches or combs itself. As to the uses of this +appendage there can be no difference of opinion, as there is about the +serrated claw in birds. It is quite obvious that the animal cannot +scratch himself with his hind paw (as all mammals do) without making use +of this natural comb. Then the entire foot is modified, so that this +comb shall be well protected, and yet not be hindered from performing +its office: thus the inner toe is pressed close to the middle one, and +so depressed that it comes under the cushion of skin, and cannot +possibly get before the bristles, or interfere their coming against the +skin in scratching, as certainly be the case if this toe were free as +outer one. + +Again, the vizcachas appear to form the deep trenches before the burrows +by scratching the earth violently backwards with the hind claws. Now +these straight, sharp, dagger-shaped claws, and especially the middle +one, are so long that the vizcacha is able to perform all this rough +work without the bristles coming into contact with the ground, and so +getting worn by the friction. The Tehuelcho Indians in Patagonia comb +their hair with a brush-comb very much like that on the vizcacha's toe, +but in their case it does not properly fulfil its office, or else the +savages make little use of it. Vizcachas have a remarkable way of +dusting themselves: the animal suddenly throws himself on his back, and, +bringing over his hind legs towards his head, depresses them till his +feet touch the ground. In this strange posture he scratches up the earth +with great rapidity, raising a little cloud of dust, then rights himself +with a jerk, and, after an interval, repeats the dusting. Usually they +scratch a hole in the ground to deposit their excrements in. Whilst +opening one of the outside burrows that had no communication with the +others, I once discovered a vast deposit of their dung (so great that it +must have been accumulating for years) at the extremity. To ascertain +whether this be a constant, or only a casual habit, it would be +necessary to open up entirely a vast number of vizcacheras. When a +vizcacha dies in his burrow the carcass is, after some days, dragged out +and left upon the mound. + +The language of the vizcacha is wonderful for its variety. When the male +is feeding he frequently pauses to utter a succession of loud, +percussive, and somewhat jarring cries; these he utters in a leisurely +manner, and immediately after goes on feeding. Often he utters this cry +in a low grunting tone. One of his commonest expressions sounds like the +violent hawking of a man clearing his throat. At other times he bursts +into piercing tones that may be heard a mile off, beginning like the +excited and quick-repeated squeals of a young pig, and growing longer, +more attenuated, and quavering towards the end. After retiring alarmed +into the burrows, he repeats at intervals a deep internal moan. All +these, and many other indescribable guttural, sighing, shrill, and deep +tones, are varied a thousand ways in strength and intonation, according +to the age, sex, or emotions of the individual; and I doubt if there is +in the world any other four-footed thing so loquacious, or with a +dialect so extensive. I take great pleasure in going to some spot where +they are abundant, and sitting quietly to listen to them; for they are +holding a perpetual discussion, all night long, which the presence of a +human being will not interrupt. + +At night, when the vizcachas are all out feeding, in places where they +are very abundant (and in some districts they literally swarm) any very +loud and sudden sound, as the report of a gun, or a clap of unexpected +thunder, will produce a most extraordinary effect. No sooner has the +report broken on the stillness of night than a perfect storm of cries +bursts forth over the surrounding country. After eight or nine seconds +there is in the storm a momentary hill or pause; and then it breaks +forth again, apparently louder than before. There is so much difference +in the tones of different animals that the cries of individuals close at +hand may be distinguished amidst the roar of blended voices coming from +a distance. It sounds as if thousands and tens of thousands of them +were striving to express every emotion at the highest pitch of their +voices; so that the effect is indescribable, and fills a stranger with +astonishment. Should a gun be fired off several times, their cries +become less each time; and after the third or fourth time it produces no +effect. They have a peculiar, sharp, sudden, "far-darting" alarm-note +when a dog is spied, that is repeated by all that hear it, and produces +an instantaneous panic, sending every vizcacha flying to his burrow. + +But though they manifest such a terror of dogs when out feeding at night +(for the slowest dog can overtake them), in the evening, when sitting +upon their mounds, they treat them with tantalizing contempt. If the dog +is a novice, the instant he spies the animal he rushes violently at it; +the vizcacha waits the charge with imperturbable calmness till his enemy +is within one or two yards, and then disappears into the burrow. After +having been foiled in this way many times, the dog resorts to stratagem: +he crouches down as if transformed for the nonce into a Felis, and +steals on with wonderfully slow and cautious steps, his hair bristling, +tail hanging, and eyes intent on his motionless intended victim; when +within seven or eight yards he makes a sudden rush, but invariably with +the same dis-appointing result. The persistence with which the dogs go +on hoping against hope in this unprofitable game, in which they always +act the stupid part, is highly amusing, and is very interesting to the +naturalist; for it shows that the native dogs on .the pampas have +developed a very remarkable instinct, and one that might be perfected by +artificial selection; but dogs with the hunting habits of the cat would, +I think, be of little use to man. When it is required to train dogs to +hunt the nocturnal armadillo (Dasypus villosus), then this deep-rooted +(and, it might be added, hereditary) passion for vizcachas is +excessively annoying, and it is often necessary to administer hundreds +of blows and rebukes before a dog is induced to track an armadillo +without leaving the scent every few moments to make futile grabs at his +old enemies. + +The following instance will show how little suspicion of man the +vizcachas have. A few years ago I went out shooting them on three +consecutive evenings. I worked in a circle, constantly revisiting the +same burrows, never going a greater distance from home than could be +walked in four or five minutes. During the three evenings I shot sixty +vizcachas dead; and probably as many more escaped badly wounded into +their burrows; for they are hard to kill, and however badly wounded, if +sitting near the burrow when struck, are almost certain to escape into +it. But on the third evening I found them no wilder, and killed about as +many as on the first. After this I gave up shooting them in disgust; it +was dull sport, and to exterminate or frighten them away with a gun +seemed an impossibility. + +It is a very unusual thing to eat the vizcacha, most people, and +especially the gauchos, having a silly unaccountable prejudice against +their flesh. I have found it very good, and while engaged writing this +chapter have dined on it served up in various ways. The young animals +are rather insipid, the old males tough, but the mature females are +excellent--the flesh being tender, exceedingly white, fragrant to the +nostrils, and with a very delicate game-flavour. + +Within the last ten years so much new land has been brought under +cultivation that farmers have been compelled to destroy incredible +numbers of vizcachas: many large "estancieros" (cattle-breeders) have +followed the example set by the grain-growers, and have had them +exterminated on their estates. Now all that Azara, on hearsay, tells +about the vizcachas perishing in their burrows, when these are covered +up, but that they can support life thus buried for a period of ten or +twelve days, and that during that time animals will come from other +villages and disinter them, unless frightened off with dogs, is strictly +true. Country workmen are so well acquainted with these facts that they +frequently undertake to destroy all the vizcacheras on an estate for so +paltry a sum as ten-pence in English money for each one, and yet will +make double the money at this work than they can at any other. By day +they partly open up, then cover up the burrows with a great quantity of +earth, and by night go round with dogs to drive away the vizcachas from +the still open burrows that come to dig out their buried friends. After +all the vizcacheras on an estate have been thus served, the workmen are +usually bound by previous agreement to keep guard over them for a space +of eight or ten days before they receive their hire: for the animals +covered up are then supposed to be all dead. Some of these men I have +talked with have assured me that living vizcachas have been found after +fourteen days--a proof of their great endurance. There is nothing +strange, I think, in the mere fact of the vizcacha being unable to work +his way out when thus buried alive; for, for all I know to the contrary, +other species may, when their burrows are well covered up, perish in the +same manner; but it certainly is remarkable that other vizcachas should +come from a distance to dig out those that are buried alive. In this +good office they are exceedingly zealous; and I have frequently +surprised them after sunrise, at a considerable distance from their own +burrows, diligently scratching at those that had been covered up. The +vizcachas are fond of each other's society, and live peaceably together; +but their goodwill is not restricted to the members of their own little +community; it extends to the whole species, so that as soon as night +comes many animals leave their own and go to visit the adjacent +villages. If one approaches a vizcachera at night, usually some of the +vizcachas on it scamper off to distant burrows: these are neighbours +merely come to pay a friendly visit. This intercourse is so frequent +that little straight paths are formed from one vizcachera to another. +The extreme attachment between members of different communities makes it +appear less strange that they should assist each other: either the +desire to see, as usual, their buried neighbours becomes intense enough +to impel them to work their way to them; or cries of distress from the +prisoners reach and incite them to attempt their deliverance. Many +social species are thus powerfully affected by cries of distress from +one of their fellows; and some will attempt a rescue in the face of +great danger--the weasel and the peccary for example. + +Mild and sociable as the vizcachas are towards each other, each one is +exceedingly jealous of any intrusion into his particular burrow, and +indeed always resents such a breach of discipline with the utmost fury. +Several individuals may reside in the compartments of the same burrow; +but beyond themselves not even their next-door neighbour is permitted to +enter; their hospitality ends where it begins, at the entrance. It is +difficult to compel a vizcacha to enter a burrow not his own; even when +hotly pursued by dogs they often refuse to do so. When driven into one, +the instant their enemies retire a little space they rush out of it, as +if they thought the hiding-place but little less dangerous than the open +plain. I have frequently seen vizcachas, chased into the wrong burrows, +summarily ejected by those inside: and sometimes they make their escape +only after being well bitten for their offence. + +I have now stated the most interesting facts I have collected concerning +the vizcacha: when others rewrite its history they doubtless will, +according to the opportunities of observation they enjoy, be able to +make some additions to it, but probably none of great consequence. I +have observed this species in Patagonia and Buenos Ayres only; and as I +have found that its habits are considerably modified by circumstances in +the different localities where I have met with it, I am sure that other +variations will occur in the more distant regions, where the conditions +vary. + +The most remarkable thing to be said about the vizcacha is, that +although regarded by Mr. Waterhouse, and others who have studied its +affinities, as one of the lowest of the rodents, exhibiting strong +Marsupial characters, the living animal appears to be more intelligent +than other rodents, not of South America only, but also of those of a +higher type in other continents. A parallel case is, perhaps, to be +found in the hairy armadillo, an extremely versatile and intelligent +animal, although only an edentate. And among birds the ypecaha--a large +La Plata rail--might also be mentioned as an example of what ought not +to be; for it is a bold and intelligent bird, more than a match for the +fowl, both in courage and in cunning; and yet it is one of the family +which Professor Parker--from the point of view of the +anatomist--characterizes as a "feeble-minded, cowardly group." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE DYING HUANACO. + + +Lest any one should misread the title to this chapter, I hasten to say +that the huanaco, or guanaco as it is often spelt, is not a perishing +species; nor, as things are, is it likely to perish soon, despite the +fact that civilized men, Britons especially, are now enthusiastically +engaged in the extermination of all the nobler mammalians:--a very +glorious crusade, the triumphant conclusion of which will doubtless be +witnessed by the succeeding generation, more favoured in this respect +than ours. The huanaco, happily for it, exists in a barren, desolate +region, in its greatest part waterless and uninhabitable to human +beings; and the chapter-heading refers to a singular instinct of the +dying animals, in very many cases allowed, by the exceptional conditions +in which they are placed, to die naturally. + +And first, a few words about its place in nature and general habits. The +huanaco is a small camel--small, that is, compared with its existing +relation--without a hump, and, unlike the camel of the Old World, +non-specializad; doubtless it is a very ancient animal on the earth, and +for all we know to the contrary, may have existed contemporaneously with +some of the earliest known representatives of the camel type, whose +remains occur in the lower and upper miocene deposits--Poebrotherium, +Protolabis, Procamelus, Pliauchenia, and Macrauchenia. It ranges from +Tierra del Fuego and the adjacent islands, northwards over the whole of +Patagonia, and along the Andes into Peru and Bolivia. On the great +mountain chain it is both a wild and a domestic animal, since the llama, +the beast of burden of the ancient Peruvians, is no doubt only a +variety: but as man's slave it has changed so greatly from the original +form that some naturalists have regarded the llama as a distinct +species, which, like the camel of the East, exists only in a domestic +state. It has had time enough to vary, as it is more than probable that +the tamed and useful animal was inherited by the children of the sun +from races and nations that came before them: and how far back Andean +civilization extends may be inferred from the belief expressed by the +famous American archaeologist, Squiers, that the ruined city of +Tiahuanaco, in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca, is as old as Thebes and +the Pyramids. + +It is, however, with the wild animal, the huanaco, that I am concerned. +A full-grown male measures seven to eight feet in length, and four feet +high to the shoulder; it is well clothed in a coat of thick woolly hair, +of a pale reddish colour, Longest and palest on the under parts. In +appearance it is very unlike the camel, in spite of the long legs and +neck; in its finely-shaped head and long ears, and its proud and +graceful carriage, it resembles an antelope rather than its huge and, +from an aesthetic point of view, deformed Asiatic relation. In habits it +is gregarious, and is usually seen in small herds, but herds numbering +several hundreds or even a thousand are occasionally met with on the +stony, desolate plateaus of Southern Patagonia; but the huanaco is able +to thrive and grow fat where almost any other herbivore would starve. +While the herd feeds one animal acts as sentinel, stationed on the +hillside, and on the appearance of danger utters a shrill neigh of +alarm, and instantly all take to flight. But although excessively shy +and wary they are also very inquisitive, and have enough intelligence to +know that a single horseman can do them no harm, for they will not only +approach to look closely at him, but will sometimes follow him for +miles. They are also excitable, and at times indulge in strange freaks. +Darwin writes:--"On the mountains of Tierra del Fuego I have more than +once seen a huanaco, on being approached, not only neigh and squeal, but +prance and leap about in a most ridiculous manner, apparently in +defiance as a challenge." And Captain King relates that while sailing +into Port Desire he witnessed a chase of a huanaco after a fox, both +animals evidently going at their greatest speed, so that they soon +passed out of sight. I have known some tame huanacos, and in that state +they make amusing intelligent pets, fond of being caressed, but often so +frolicsome and mischievous as to be a nuisance to their master. It is +well known that at the southern extremity of Patagonia the huanacos have +a dying place, a spot to which all individuals inhabiting the +surrounding plains repair at the approach of death to deposit their +bones. Darwin and Fitzroy first recorded this strange instinct in their +personal narratives, and their observations have since been fully +confirmed by others. The best known of these dying or burial-places are +on the banks of the Santa Cruz and Gallegos rivers, where the river +valleys are covered with dense primeval thickets of bushes and trees of +stunted growth; there the ground is covered with the bones of countless +dead generations. "The animals," says Darwin, "in most cases must have +crawled, before dying, beneath and among the bushes." A strange instinct +in a creature so preeminently social in its habits; a dweller all its +life long on the open, barren plateaus and mountain sides! What a +subject for a painter! The grey wilderness of dwarf thorn trees, aged +and grotesque and scanty-leaved, nourished for a thousand years on the +bones that whiten the stony ground at their roots; the interior lit +faintly with the rays of the departing sun, chill and grey, and silent +and motionless--the huanacos' Golgotha. In the long centuries, +stretching back into a dim immeasurable past, so many of this race have +journeyed hither from the mountain and the plain to suffer the sharp +pang of death, that, to the imagination, something of it all seems to +have passed into that hushed and mournful nature. And now one more, the +latest pilgrim, has come, all his little strength spent in his struggle +to penetrate the close thicket; looking old and gaunt and ghostly in the +twilight; with long ragged hair; staring into the gloom out of +death-dimmed sunken eyes. England has one artist who might show it to us +on canvas, who would be able to catch the feeling of such a scene--of +that mysterious, passionless tragedy of nature--I refer to J. M. Swan, +the painter of the "Prodigal Son" and the "Lioness Defending her Cubs." + +To his account of the animal's dying place and instinct, Darwin adds: "I +do not at all understand the reason of this, but I may observe that the +wounded huanacos at the Santa Cruz invariably walked towards the river." + +It would, no doubt, be rash to affirm of any instinct that it is +absolutely unique; but, putting aside some doubtful reports about a +custom of the Asiatic elephant, which may have originated in the account +of Sindbad the Sailor's discovery of an elephant's burial place, we have +no knowledge of an instinct similar to that of the huanaco in any other +animal. So far as we know, it stands alone and apart, with nothing in +the actions of other species leading up, or suggesting any family +likeness to it. But what chiefly attracts the mind to it is its +strangeness. It looks, in fact, less like an instinct of one of the +inferior creatures than the superstitious observance of human beings, +who have knowledge of death, and believe in a continued existence after +dissolution; of a triba that in past times had conceived the idea that +the liberated spirit is only able to find its way to its future abode by +starting at death from the ancient dying-place of the tribe or family, +and thence moving westward, or skyward, or underground, over the +well-worn immemorial track, invisible to material eyes. + +But, although alone among animal instincts-in its strange and useless +purpose--for it is as absolutely useless to the species or race as to +the dying individual--it is not the only useless instinct we know of: +there are many others, both simple and complex; and of such instincts we +believe, with good reason, that they once played an important part in +the life of the species, and were only rendered useless by changes in +the condition of life, or in the organism, or in both. In other words, +when the special conditions that gave them value no longer existed, the +correlated and perfect instinct was not, in these cases, eradicated, but +remained, in abeyance and still capable of being called into activity by +a new and false stimulus simulating the old and true. Viewed in this +way, the huanaco's instinct might be regarded as something remaining to +the animal from a remote past, not altogether unaffected by time +perhaps; and like some ceremonial usage among men that has long ceased +to have any significance, or like a fragment of ancient history, or a +tradition, which in the course of time has received some new and false +interpretation. The false interpretation, to continue the metaphor, is, +in this case, that the _purpose_ of the animal in going to a certain +spot, to which it has probably never previously resorted, is to die +there. A false interpretation, because, in the first place, it is +incredible that an instinct of no advantage to the species, in its +struggle for existence and predominance should arise and become +permanent; and, in the second place, it is equally incredible that it +could ever have been to the advantage of the species or race to, have a +dying place. We must, then, suppose that there is in the sensations +preceding death, when death comes slowly, some resemblance to the +sensations experienced by the animal at a period when its curious +instinct first took form and crystallized; these would be painful +sensations that threatened life; and freedom from them, and safety to +the animal, would only exist in a certain well-remembered spot. Further, +we might assume that it was at first only the memory of a few +individuals that caused the animals to seek the place of safety; that a +habit was thus formed; that in time this traditional habit became +instinctive, so that the animals, old and young, made their way +unerringly to the place of refuge whenever the old danger returned. And +such an instinct, slowly matured and made perfect to enable this animal +to escape extinction during periods of great danger to mammalian life, +lasting hundreds or even thousands of years, and destructive of +numberless other species less hardy and adaptive than the generalized +huanaco, might well continue to exist, to be occasionally called into +life by a false stimulus, for many centuries after it had ceased to be +of any advantage. + +Once we accept this explanation as probable--namely, that the huanaco, +in withdrawing from the herd to drop down and die in the ancient dying +ground, is in reality only seeking an historically remembered place of +refuge, and not of death--the action of the animal loses much of its +mysterious character; we come on to firm ground, and find that we are no +longer considering an instinct absolutely unique, with no action or +instinct in any other animal leading up or suggesting any family +likeness to it, as I said before. We find, in fact, that there is at +least one very important and very well-known instinct in another class +of creatures, which has a strong resemblance to that of the huanaco, as +I have interpreted it, and which may even serve to throw a side light on +the origin of the huanaco's instinct. I refer to a habit of some +ophidians, in temperate and cold countries, of returning annually to +hybernate in the saine den. + +A typical instance is that of the rattlesnake in the colder parts of +North America. On the approach of winter these reptiles go into hiding, +and it has been observed that in some districts a very large number of +individuals, hundreds, and even thousands, will repair from the +surrounding country to the ancestral den. Here the serpents gather in a +mass to remain in a wholly or semi-torpid condition until the return of +spring brings them out again, to scatter abroad to their usual summer +haunts. Clearly in this case the knowledge of the hyberna-ting den is +not merely traditional--that is, handed down from generation to +generation, through the young each year following the adults, and so +forming the habit of repairing at certain seasons to a certain place; +for the young serpent soon abandons its parent to lead an independent +life; and on the approach of cold weather the hybernating den may be a +long distance away, ten or twenty, or even thirty miles from the spot in +which it was born. The annual return to the hybernating den is then a +fixed unalterable instinct, like the autumnal migration of some birds to +a warmer latitude. It is doubtless favourable to the serpents to +hybernate in large numbers massed together; and the habit of resorting +annually to the same spot once formed, we can imagine that the +individuals--perhaps a single couple in the first place--frequenting +some very deep, dry, and well-sheltered cavern, safe from enemies, would +have a great advantage over others of their race; that they would be +stronger and increase more, and spread during the summer months further +and further from the cavern on all sides; and that the further afield +they went the more would the instinct be perfected; since all the young +serpents that did not have the instinct of returning unerringly to the +ancestral refuge, and that, like the outsiders of their race, to put it +in that way, merely crept into the first hole they found on the approach +of the cold season, would be more liable to destruction. Probably most +snakes get killed long before a natural decline sets in; to say that not +one in a thousand dies of old age would probably be no exaggeration; but +if they were as safe from enemies and accidents as some less prolific +and more highly-organized animals, so that many would reach the natural +term of life, and death came slowly, we can imagine that in such a +heat-loving creature the failure of the vital powers would simulate the +sensations caused by a falling temperature, and cause the old or sick +serpent, even in midsummer, to creep instinctively away to the ancient +refuge, where many a long life-killing frost had been safely tided over +in the past. + +The huanaco has never been a hybernating animal; but we must assume +that, like the crotalus of the north, he had formed a habit of +congregating with his fellows at certain seasons at the same spot; +further, that these were seasons of suffering to the animal--the +suffering, or discomfort and danger, having in the first place given +rise to the habit. Assuming again that the habit had existed so long as +to become, like that of the reptile, a fixed, immutable instinct, a +hereditary knowledge, so that the young huanacos, untaught by the +adults, would go alone and unerringly to the meeting-place from any +distance, it is but an easy step to the belief, that after the +conditions had changed, and the refuges were no longer needed, this +instinctive knowledge would still exist in them, and that they would +take the old road when stimulated by the pain of a wound; or the +miserable sensations experienced in disease or during the decay of the +life-energy, when the senses grow dim, and the breath fails, and the +blood is thin and cold. + +I presume that most persons who have observed animals a great deal have +met with cases in which the animal has acted automatically, or +instinctively, when the stimulus has been a false one. I will relate one +such case, observed by myself, and which strikes me as being apposite to +the question I am considering. It must be premised that this is an +instance of an acquired habit; but this does not affect my argument, +since I have all along assumed that the huanaco--a highly sagacious +species in the highest class of vertebrates--first acquired a habit from +experience of seeking a remembered refuge, and that such habit was the +parent, as it were, or the first clay model, of the perfect and +indestructible instinct that was to be. + +It is not an uncommon thing in the Argentino pampas--I have on two +occasions witnessed it myself--for a riding-horse to come home, or to +the gate of his owner's house, to die. I am speaking of riding-horses +that are never doctored, nor treated mercifully; that look on their +master as an enemy rather than a friend; horses that live out in the +open, and have to be hunted to the corral or enclosure, or roughly +captured with a lasso as they run, when their services are required. I +retain a very vivid recollection of the first occasion of witnessing an +action of this kind in a horse, although I was only a boy at the time. +On going out one summer evening I saw one of the horses of the +establishment standing unsaddled and unbridled leaning his head over the +gate. Going to the spot, I stroked his nose, and then, turning to an old +native who happened to be near, asked him what could be the meaning of +such a thing. "I think he is going to die," he answered; "horses often +come to the house to die." And next morning the poor beast was found +lying dead not twenty yards from the gate; although he had not appeared +ill when I stroked his nose on the previous evening; but when I saw him +lying there dead, and remembered the old native's words, it seemed to me +as marvellous and inexplicable that a horse should act in that way, as +if some wild creature--a rhea, a fawn, or dolichotes--had come to exhale +his last breath at the gates of his enemy and constant persecutor, man. + +I now believe that the sensations of sickness and approaching death in +the riding-horse of the pampas resemble or similate the pains, so often +experienced, of hunger, thirst and fatigue combined, together with the +oppressive sensations caused by the ponderous native saddle, or recado, +with its huge surcingle of raw hide drawn up so tightly as to hinder +free respiration. The suffering animal remembers how at the last relief +invariably came, when the twelve or fifteen hours' torture were over, +the toil and the want, and when the great iron bridle and ponderous gear +were removed, and he had freedom and food and drink and rest. At the +gate or at the door of his master's house, the sudden relief had always +come to him; and there does he sometimes go in his sickness, his fear +overmastered by his suffering, to find it again. + +Discussing this question with a friend, who has a subtle mind and great +experience of the horse in semi-barbarous countries, and of many other +animals, wild and tame, in many regions of the globe, he put forward a +different explanation of the action of the horse in coming home to die, +which he thinks simpler and more probable than mine. It is, that a dying +or ailing animal instinctively withdraws itself from its fellows--an +action of self-preservation in the individual in opposition to the +well-known instincts of the healthy animals, which impels the whole herd +to turn upon and persecute the sickly member, thus destroying its +chances of recovery. The desire of the suffering animal is not only to +leave its fellows, but to get to some solitary place where they cannot +follow, or would never find him, to escape at once from a great and +pressing danger. But on the pastoral pampas, where horses are so +numerous that on that level, treeless area they are always and +everywhere visible, no hiding-place is discoverable. In such a case, the +animal, goaded by its instinctive fear, turns to the one spot that +horses avoid; and although that spot has hitherto been fearful to him, +the old fear is forgotten in the present and far more vivid one; the +vicinity of his master's house represents a solitary place to him, and +he seeks it, just as the stricken deer seeks the interior of some close +forest, oblivious for the time, in its anxiety to escape from the herd, +of the dangers lurking in it, and which he formerly avoided. + +I have not set this explanation down merely because it does credit to my +friend's ingenuity, but because it strikes me that it is the only +alternative explanation that can be given of the animal's action in +coming home to die. Another fact concerning the ill-tamed and +barbarously treated horses of the pampas, which, to my mind, strengthens +the view I have taken, remains to be mentioned. It is not an uncommon +thing for one of these horses, after escaping, saddled and bridled, and +wandering about for anight or night and day on the plains, to return of +its own accord to the house. It is clear that in a case of this kind the +animal comes home to seek relief. I have known one horse that always had +to be hunted like a wild animal to be caught, and that invariably after +being saddled tried to break loose, to return in this way to the gate +after wandering about, saddled and bridled, for over twenty hours in +uncomfortable freedom. + +The action of the riding-horse returning to a master he is accustomed to +fly from, as from an enemy, to be released of saddle and bridle, is, no +doubt more intelligent than that of the dying horse coming home to be +relieved from his sufferings, but the motive is the same in both cases; +at the gate the only pain the animal has ever experienced has invariably +begun, and there it has ended, and when the spur of some new pain +afflicts him--new and yet like the old--it is to the well-remembered +hated gate that it urges him. + +To return to the huanaco. After tracing the dying instinct back to its +hypothetical origin--namely, a habit acquired by the animal in some past +period of seeking refuge from some kind of pain and danger at a certain +spot, it is only natural to speculate a little further as to the nature +of that danger and of the conditions the animal existed in. + +If the huanaco is as old on the earth as its antique generalized form +have led naturalists to suppose, we can well believe that it has +survived not only a great many lost mammalian types, but many changes in +the conditions of its life. Let us then imagine that at some remote +period a change took place in the climate of Patagonia, and that it +became colder and colder, owing to some cause affecting only that +portion of the antarctic region; such a cause, for instance, as a great +accumulation of icebergs on the northern shores of the antarctic +continent, extending century by century until a large portion of the now +open sea became blocked up with solid ice. If the change was gradual and +the snow became deeper each winter and lasted longer, an intelligent, +gregarious, and exceedingly hardy and active animal like the huanaco, +able to exist on the driest woody fibres, would stand the beat chance of +maintaining its existence in such altered conditions, and would form new +habits to meet the new danger. One would be that at the approach of a +period of deep snow and deadly cold, all the herds frequenting one +place would gather together at the most favourable spots in the river +valleys, where the vegetation is dense and some food could be had while +the surrounding country continued covered with deep snow. They would, in +fact, make choice of exactly such localities as are now used for dying +places. There they would be sheltered from the cutting-winds, the twigs +and bark would supply them with food, the warmth from a great many +individuals massed together would serve to keep the snow partially +melted under foot, and would prevent their being smothered, while the +stiff and closely interlaced branches would keep a roof of snow above +them, and thus protected they would keep alive until the return of mild +weather released them. In the course of many generations all weakly +animals, and all in which the habit of seeking the refuge at the proper +time was weak or uncertain in its action would perish, but their loss +would be an advantage to the survivors. + +It is worthy of remark that it is only at the southern extremity of +Patagonia that the huanacos have dying places. In Northern Patagonia, +and on the Chilian and Peruvian Andes no such instinct has been +observed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE STRANGE INSTINCTS OF CATTLE. + + +My purpose in this paper is to discuss a group of curious and useless +emotional instincts of social animals, which have not yet been properly +explained. Excepting two of the number, placed first and last in the +list, they are not related in their origin; consequently they are here +grouped together arbitrarily, only for the reason that we are very +familiar with them on account of their survival in our domestic animals, +and because they are, as I have said, useless; also because they +resemble each other, among the passions and actions of the lower +animals, in their effect on our minds. This is in all cases unpleasant, +and sometimes exceedingly painful, as when species that rank next to +ourselves in their developed intelligence and organized societies, such +as elephants, monkeys, dogs, and cattle, are seen under the domination +of impulses, in some cases resembling insanity, and in others simulating +the darkest passions of man. + +These instincts are:-- + +(1) The excitement caused by the smell of blood, noticeable in horses +and cattle among our domestic animals, and varying greatly in degree, +from an emotion so slight as to be scarcely perceptible to the greatest +extremes of rage or terror. + +(2) The angry excitement roused in some animals when a scarlet or +bright-red cloth is shown to them. So well known is this apparently +insane instinct in our cattle that it has given rise to a proverb and +metaphor familiar in a variety of forms to everyone. + +(3) The persecution of a sick or weakly animal by its companions. + +(4) The sudden deadly fury that seizes on the herd or family at the +sight of a companion in extreme distress. Herbivorous mammals at such +times will trample and gore the distressed one to death. In the case of +wolves, and other savage-tempered carnivorous species, the distressed +fellow is frequently torn to pieces and devoured on the spot. + +To take the first two together. When we consider that blood is red; that +the smell of it is, or may be, or has been, associated with that vivid +hue in the animal's mind; that blood, seen and smelt is, or has been, +associated with the sight of wounds and with cries of pain and rage or +terror from the wounded or captive animal, there appears at first sight +to be some reason for connecting these two instinctive passions as +having the same origin--namely, terror and rage caused by the sight of a +member of the herd struck down and bleeding, or struggling for life in +the grasp of an enemy. I do not mean to say that such an image is +actually present in the animal's mind, but that the inherited or +instinctive passion is one in kind and in its working with the passion +of the animal when experience and reason were its guides. + +But the more I consider the point the more am I inclined to regard these +two instincts as separate in their origin, although I retain the belief +that cattle and horses and several wild animals are violently excited by +the smell of blood for the reason just given--namely, their inherited +memory associates the smell of blood with the presence among them of +some powerful enemy that threatens their life. To this point I shall +return when dealing with the last and most painful of the instincts I am +considering. + +The following incident will show how violently this blood passion +sometimes affects cattle, when they are permitted to exist in a +half-wild condition, as on the pampas. I was out with my gun one day, a +few miles from home, when I came across a patch on the ground where the +grass was pressed or trodden down and stained with blood. I concluded +that some thievish gauchos had slaughtered a fat cow there on the +previous night, and, to avoid detection, had somehow managed to carry +the whole of it away on their horses. As I walked on, a herd of cattle, +numbering about three hundred, appeared moving slowly on towards a small +stream a mile away; they were travelling in a thin long line, and would +pass the blood-stained spot at a distance of seven to eight hundred +yards, but the wind from it would blow across their track. When the +tainted wind struck the leaders of the herd they instantly stood still, +raising their heads, then broke out into loud excited bellowings; and +finally turning they started off at a fast trot, following up the scent +in a straight line, until they arrived at the place where one of their +kind had met its death. The contagion spread, and before long all the +cattle were congregated on the fatal spot, and began moving round in a +dense mass, bellowing continually. + +It may be remarked here that the animal has a peculiar language on +occasions like this; it emits a succession of short bellowing cries, +like excited exclamations, followed by a very loud cry, alternately +sinking into a hoarse murmur, and rising to a kind of scream that grates +harshly on the sense. Of the ordinary "cow-music" I am a great admirer, +and take as much pleasure in it as in the cries and melody of birds and +the sound of the wind in trees; but this performance of cattle excited +by the smell of blood is most distressing to hear. + +The animals that had forced their way into the centre of the mass to the +spot where the blood was, pawed the earth, and dug it up with their +horns, and trampled each other down in their frantic excitement. It was +terrible to see and hear them. The action of those on the border of the +living mass in perpetually moving round in a circle with dolorous +bellowings, was like that of the women in an Indian village when a +warrior dies, and all night they shriek and howl with simulated grief, +going round and round the dead man's hut in an endless procession. + +The "bull and red rag" instinct, as it may be called, comes next in +order. It is a familiar fact that brightness in itself powerfully +attracts most if not all animals. The higher mammalians are affected in +the same way as birds and insects, although not in the same degree. This +fact partly explains the rage of the bull. A scarlet flag fluttering in +the wind or lying on the grass attracts his attention powerfully, as it +does that of other animals; but though curious about the nature of the +bright object, it does not anger him. His anger is excited--and this is +the whole secret of the matter--when the colour is flaunted by a man; +when it forces him to fix his attention on a man, i.e. an animal of +another species that rules or drives him, and that he fears, but with +only a slight fear, which may at any moment be overcome by his naturally +bold aggressive disposition, Not only does the vivid colour compel him +to fix his attention on the being that habitually interferes with his +liberty, and is consequently regarded with unfriendly eyes, but it also +produces the illusion on his mind that the man is near him, that he is +approaching him in an aggressive manner: it is an insult, a challenge, +which, being of so explosive a temper, he is not slow to accept. + +On the pampas I was once standing with some gauchos at the gate of a +corral into which a herd of half-wild cattle had just been driven. One +of the men, to show his courage and agility, got off his horse and +boldly placed himself in the centre of the open gate. His action +attracted the attention of one of the nearest cows, and lowering her +horns she began watching him in a threatening manner. He then suddenly +displayed the scarlet lining of his poncho, and instantly she charged +him furiously: with a quick movement to one side he escaped her horns, +and after we had driven her back, resumed his former position and +challenged her again in the same way. The experiment was repeated not +less than half a dozen times, and always with the same result. The +cattle were all in a savage temper, and would have instantly charged him +on his placing himself before them on foot without the display of +scarlet cloth, but their fear of the mounted men, standing with lassos +in their hand on either side of him, kept them in check. But whenever +the attention of any one individual among them was forcibly drawn to him +by the display of vivid colour, and fixed on him alone, the presence of +the horsemen was forgotten and fear was swallowed by rage. It is a fact, +I think, that most animals that exhibit angry excitement when a scarlet +rag is flourished aggressively at them, are easily excited to anger at +all times. Domestic geese and turkeys may be mentioned among birds: they +do not fly at a grown person, but they will often fly at a child that +challenges them in this way; and it is a fact that they do not at any +time fear a child very much and will sometimes attack him without being +challenged. I think that the probability of the view I have taken is +increased by another fact--namely, that the sudden display of scarlet +colour sometimes affects timid animals with an extreme fear, just as, on +the other hand, it excites those that are bold and aggressive to anger. +Domestic sheep, forinstance, that vary greatly in disposition in +different races or breeds, and even in different individuals, may be +affected in the two opposite ways, some exhibiting extreme terror and +others only anger at a sudden display of scarlet colour by the shepherd +or herder. + +The persecution of a sick animal by its companions comes next under +consideration. + +It will have been remarked, with surprise by some readers, no doubt, +that I have set down as two different instincts this persecution of a +sick or weakly individual by its fellows, and the sudden deadly rage +that sometimes impels the herd to turn upon and destroy a wounded or +distressed companion. It is usual for writers on the instincts of +animals to speak of them as one: and I presume that they regard this +sudden deadly rage of several individuals against a companion as merely +an extreme form of the common persecuting instinct or impulse. They are +not really one, but are as distinct in origin and character as it is +possible for any two instincts to be. The violent and fatal impulse +starts simultaneously into life and action, and is contagious, affecting +all the members of the herd like a sudden madness. The other is neither +violent nor contagious: the persecution is intermittent: it is often +confined to one or to a very few members of the herd, and seldom joined +in by the chief member, the leader or head to whom all the others give +way. + +Concerning this head of the herd, or flock, or pack, it is necessary to +say something more. Some gregarious animals, particularly birds, live +together in the most perfect peace and amity; and here no leader is +required, because in their long association together as a species in +flocks, they have attained to a oneness of mind, so to speak, which +causes them to move or rest, and to act at all times harmoniously +together, as if controlled and guided by an extrane-ous force. I may +mention that the kindly instinct in animals, which is almost universal +between male and female in the vertebrates, is most apparent in these +harmoniously acting birds. Thus, in La Plata, I have remarked, in more +than one species, that a lame or sick individual, unable to keop pace +with the flock and find its food, has not only been waited for, but in +some cases some of the flock have constantly attended it, keeping close +to it both when flying and on the ground; and, I have no doubt, feeding +it just as they would have fed their young. + +Naturally among such kinds no one member is of more consideration than +another. But among mammals such equality and harmony is rare. The +instinct of one and all is to lord it over the others, with the result +that one more powerful or domineering gets the mastery, to keep it +thereafter as long as he can. The lower animals are, in this respect, +very much like us; and in all kinds that are at all fierce-tempered the +mastery of one over all, and of a few under him over the others, is most +salutary; indeed, it is inconceivable that they should be able to exist +together under any other system. + +On cattle-breeding establishments on the pampas, where it is usual to +keep a large number of fierce-tempered dogs, I have observed these +animals a great deal, and presume that they are very much like feral +dogs and wolves in their habits. Their quarrels are incessant; but when +a fight begins the head of the pack as a rule rushes to the spot, +whereupon the fighters separate and march off in different directions, +or else cast themselves down and deprecate their tyrant's wrath with +abject gestures and whines. If the combatants are both strong and have +worked themselves into a mad rage before their head puts in an +appearance, it may go hard with him: they know him no longer, and all he +can do is to join in the fray; then, if the fighters turn on him, he may +be so injured that his power is gone, and the next best dog in the pack +takes his place. The hottest contests are always between dogs that are +well matched; neither will give place to the other, and so they fight it +out; but from the foremost in strength and power down to the weakest +there is a gradation of authority; each one knows just how far he can +go, which companion he can bully when he is in a bad temper or wishes to +assert himself, and to which he must humbly yield in his turn. In such a +state the weakest one must always yield to all the others, and cast +himself down, seeming to call himself a slave and worshipper of any +other member of the pack that chooses to snarl at him, or command him to +give up his bone with a good grace. + +This masterful or domineering temper, so common among social mammals, is +the cause of the persecution of the sick and weakly. When an animal +begins to ail he can no longer hold his own; he ceases to resent the +occasional ill-natured attacks made on him; his non-combative condition +is quickly discovered, and he at once drops down to a place below the +lowest; it is common knowledge in the herd that he may be buffeted with +impunity by all, even by those that have hitherto suffered buffets but +have given none. But judging from my own observation, this persecution, +is not, as a rule, severe, and is seldom fatal. + +It is often the case that a sick or injured animal withdraws and hides +himself from the herd; the instinct of the "stricken deer" this might be +called. But I do not think that we need assume that the ailing +individual goes away to escape the danger of being ill-used by his +companions. He is sick and drooping and consequently unfit to be with +the healthy and vigorous; that is the simplest and probably the true +explanation of his action; although in some cases he might be driven +from them by persistent rough usage. However peaceably gregarious +mammals may live together, and however fond of each other's company they +may be, they do not, as a rule, treat each other gently. Furthermore, +their games are exceedingly rough and require that they shall be in a +vigorous state of health to escape injury. Horned animals have no +buttons to the sharp weapons they prod and strike each other with in a +sportive spirit. I have often witnessed the games of wild and half-wild +horses with astonishment; for it seemed that broken bones must result +from the sounding kicks they freely bestowed on one another. This +roughness itself would be a sufficient cause for the action of the +individual, sick and out of tune and untouched by the glad contagion of +the others, in escaping from them; and to leave them would be to its +advantage (and to that of the race) since, if not fatally injured or +sick unto death, its chances of recovery to perfect health would be +thereby greatly increased. + +It remains now to speak of that seemingly most cruel of instincts which +stands last on my list. It is very common among gregarious animals that +are at all combative in disposition, and still survives in our domestic +cattle, although very rarely witnessed in England. My first experience +of it was just before I had reached the age of five years. I was not at +that early period trying to find out any of nature's secrets, but the +scene I witnessed printed itself very vividly on my mind, so that I can +recall it as well as if my years had been five-and-twenty; perhaps +better. It was on a summer's evening, and I was out by myself at some +distance from the house, playing about the high exposed roots of some +old trees; on the other side of the trees the cattle, just returned from +pasture, were gathered on the bare level ground. Hearing a great +commotion among them, I climbed on to one of the high exposed roots, +and, looking over, saw a cow on the ground, apparently unable to rise, +moaning and bellowing in a distressed way, while a number of her +companions were crowding round and goring her. + +What is the meaning of such an instinct? Darwin has but few words on the +subject. "Can we believe," he says, in his posthumous _Essay on +Instinct, "_when a wounded herbivorous animal returns to its own herd +and is then attacked and gored, that this cruel and very common instinct +is of any service to the species?" At the same time, he hints that such +an instinct might in some circumstances be useful, and his hint has been +developed into the current belief among naturalists on the subject. Here +it is, in Dr. Romanes' words: "We may readily imagine that the instinct +displayed by many herbivorous animals of goring sick and wounded +companions, is really of use in countries where the presence of weak +members in a herd is a source of danger to the herd from the prevalence +of wild beasts." Here it is assumed that the sick are set upon and +killed, but this is not the fact; sickness and decay from age or some +other cause are slow things, and increase imperceptibly, so that the +sight of a drooping member grows familiar to the herd, as does that of a +member with some malformation, or unusual shade of colour, or altogether +white, as in the case of an albino. + +Sick and weak members, as we have seen, while subject to some +ill-treatment from their companions (only because they can be +ill-treated with impunity), do not rouse the herd to a deadly animosity; +the violent and fatal attack is often as not made on a member in perfect +health and vigour and unwoundecl, although, owing to some accident, in +great distress, and perhaps danger, at the moment. + +The instinct is, then, not only useless but actually detrimental; and, +this being so, the action of the herd in destroying one of its members +is not even to be regarded as an instinct proper, but rather as an +aberration of an instinct, a blunder, into which animals sometimes fall +when excited to action in unusual circumstances. + +The first thing that strikes us is that in these wild abnormal moments +of social animals, they are acting in violent contradiction to the whole +tenor of their lives; that in turning against a distressed fellow they +oppose themselves to the law of their being, to the whole body of +instincts, primary and secondary, and habits, which have made it +possible for them to exist together in communities. It is, I think, by +reflecting on the abnormal character of such an action that we are led +to a true interpretation of this "dark saying of Nature." + +Every one is familiar with Bacon's famous passage about the dog, and the +noble courage which that animal puts on when "maintained by a man; who +is to him in place of a God, or _melior natura;_ which courage is +manifestly such as that creature, without the confidence of a better +nature than its own, could never attain." Not so. The dog is a social +animal, and acts instinctively in concert with his fellows; and the +courage he manifests is of the family, not the individual. In the +domestic state the man he is accustomed to associate with and obey +stands to him in the place of the controlling pack, and to his mind, +which is canine and not human, _is_ the pack. A similar "noble courage," +greatly surpassing that exhibited on all other occasions, is displayed +by an infinite number of mammals and birds of gregarious habits, when +repelling the attacks of some powerful and dangerous enemy, or when they +rush to the rescue of one of their captive fellows. Concerning this rage +and desperate courage of social animals in the face of an enemy, we see +(1) that it is excited by the distressed cries, or by the sight of a +member of the herd or family dying from or struggling in the clutches of +an enemy; (2) that it affects animals when a number af individuals are +together, and is eminently contagious, like fear, that communicates +itself, quick as lightning, from one to another until all are in a +panic, and like the joyous emotion that impels the members of a herd or +flock to rush simultaneously into play. + +Now, it is a pretty familiar fact that animals acting instinctively, as +well as men acting intelligently, have at times their delusions and +their illusions, and see things falsely, and are moved to action by a +false stimulus to their own disadvantage. When the individuals of a herd +or family are excited to a sudden deadly rage by the distressed cries of +one of their fellows, or by the sight of its bleeding wounds and the +smell of its blood, or when they see it frantically struggling on the +ground, or in the cleft of a tree or rock, as if in the clutches of a +powerful enemy, they do not turn on it to kill but to rescue it. + +In whatever way the rescuing instinct may have risen, whether simply +through natural selection or, as is more probable, through an +intelligent habit becoming fixed and hereditary, its effectiveness +depends altogether on the emotion of overmastering rage excited in the +animal--rage against a tangible visible enemy, or invisible, and excited +by the cries or struggles of a suffering companion; clearly, then, it +could not provide against the occasional rare accidents that animals +meet with, which causes them to act precisely in the way they do when +seized or struck down by an enemy. An illusion is the result of the +emotion similar to the illusion produced by vivid expectation in +ourselves, which has caused many a man to see in a friend and companion +the adversary he looked to see, and to slay him in his false-seeing +anger. + +An illusion just as great, leading to action equally violent, but +ludicrous rather than painful to witness, may be seen in dogs, when +encouraged by a man to the attack, and made by his cries and gestures to +expect that some animal they are accustomed to hunt is about to be +unearthed or overtaken; and if, when they are in this disposition, he +cunningly exhibits and sets them on a dummy, made perhaps of old rags +and leather and stuffed with straw, they will seize, worry, and tear it +to pieces with the greatest fury, and without the faintest suspicion of +its true character. + +That wild elephants will attack a distressed fellow seemed astonishing +to Darwin, when he remembered the case of an elephant after escaping +from a pit helping its fellow to escape also. But it is precisely the +animals, high or low in the organic scale, that are social, and possess +the instinct of helping each other, that will on occasions attack a +fellow in misfortune--such an attack being no more than a blunder of the +helping instinct. + +Felix de Azara records a rather cruel experiment on the temper of some +tame rats confined in a cage. The person who kept them caught the tail +of one of the animals and began sharply pinching it, keeping his hand +concealed under the cage. Its cries of pain and struggles to free itself +greatly excited the other rats; and after rushing wildly round for some +moments they flew at their distressed companion, and fixing their teeth +in its throat quickly dispatched it. In this case if the hand that held +the tail had been visible and in the cage, the bites would undoubtedly +have been inflicted on it; but no enemy was visible; yet the fury and +impulse to attack an enemy was present in the animals. In such +circumstances, the excitement must be discharged--the instinct obeyed, +and in the absence of any other object of attack the illusion is +produced and it discharges itself on the struggling companion. It is +sometimes seen in dogs, when three or four or five are near together, +that if one suddenly utters a howl or cry of pain, when no man is near +it and no cause apparent, the others run to it, and seeing nothing, turn +round and attack each other. Here the exciting cause--the cry for +help--is not strong enough to produce the illusion which is sometimes +fatal to the suffering member; but each dog mistakingly thinks that the +others, or one of the others, inflicted the injury, and his impulse is +to take the part of the injured animal. If the cry for help--caused +perhaps by a sudden cramp or the prick of a thorn--is not very sharp or +intense, the other dogs will not attack, but merely look and growl at +each other in a suspicious way. + +To go back to Azara's anecdote. Why, it may be asked--and this question +has been put to me in conversation--if killing a distressed companion is +of no advantage to the race, and if something must be attacked--why did +not these rats in this instance attack the cage they were shut in, and +bite at the woodwork and wires? Or, in the case related by Mr. Andrew +Lang in _Longman's Magazine_ some time ago, in which the members of a +herd of cattle in Scotland turned with sudden amazing fury on one of the +cows that had got wedged between two rocks and was struggling with +distressed bellowings to free itself--why did they not attack the +prisoning rocks instead of goring their unfortunate comrade to death? +For it is well known that animals will, on occasions, turn angrily upon +and attack inanimate objects that cause them injury or hinder their +freedom of action. And we know that this mythic faculty--the mind's +projection of itself into visible nature--survives in ourselves, that +there are exceptional moments in our lives when it comes back to us; no +one, for instance, would be astonished to hear that any man, even a +philosopher, had angrily kicked away or imprecated a stool or other +inanimate object against which he had accidentally barked his shins. The +answer is, that there is no connection between these two things--the +universal mythic faculty of the mind, and that bold and violent instinct +of social animals of rushing to the rescue of a stricken or distressed +companion, which has a definite, a narrow, purpose--namely, to fall upon +an enemy endowed not merely with the life and intelligence common to all +things, including rocks, trees, and waters, but with animal form and +motion. + +I had intended in this place to give other instances, observed in +several widely-separated species, including monkeys; but it is not +necessary, as I consider that all the facts, however varied, are covered +by the theory I have suggested--even a fact I like the one mentioned in +this chapter of cattle bellowing and madly digging up the ground where +the blood of one of their kind had been spilt: also such a fact as that +of wild cattle and other animals caught in a trap or enclosure attacking +and destroying each other in their frenzy; and the fact that some +fierce-tempered carnivorous mammals will devour the companion they have +killed. It is an instinct of animals like wolves and peccaries to devour +the enemy they have overcome and slain: thus, when the jaguar captures a +peccary out of a drove, and does not quickly escape with his prize into +a tree, he is instantly attacked and slain and then consumed, even to +the skin and bones. This is the wolf's and the peccary's instinct; and +the devouring of one of their own companions is an inevitable +consequence of the mistake made in the first place of attacking and +killing it. In no other circumstances, not even when starving, do they +prey on their own species. + +If the explanation I have offered should seem a true or highly probable +one, it will, I feel sure, prove acceptable to many lovers of animals, +who, regarding tins seemingly ruthless instinct, not as an aberration +but as in some vague way advantageous to animals in their struggle for +existence, are yet unable to think of it without pain and horror; +indeed, I know those who refuse to think of it at all, who would gladly +disbelieve it if they could. + +It should be a relief to them to be able to look on it no longer as +something ugly and hateful, a blot on nature, but as an illusion, a +mistake, an unconscious crime, so to speak, that has for its motive the +noblest passion that animals know--that sublime courage and daring which +they exhibit in defence of a distressed companion. This fiery spirit in +animals, which makes them forget their own safety, moves our hearts by +its close resemblance to one of the most highly-prized human virtues; +just as we are moved to intellectual admiration by the wonderful +migratory instinct in birds that simulates some of the highest +achievements of the mind of man. And we know that this beautiful +instinct is also liable to mistakes--that many travellers leave us +annually never to return. Such a mistake was undoubtedly the cause of +the late visitation of Pallas' sand-grouse: owing perhaps to some +unusual atmospheric or dynamic condition, or to some change in the +nervous system of the birds, they deviated widely from their usual +route, to scatter in countless thousands over the whole of Europe and +perish slowly in climates not suited to them; while others, overpassing +the cold strange continent, sped on over colder, stranger seas, to drop +at last like aerolites, quenching their lives in the waves. + +Whether because it is true, as Professor Freeman and some others will +have it, that humanity is a purely modern virtue; or because the +doctrine of Darwin, by showing that we are related to other forms of +life, that our best feelings have their roots low down in the temper and +instincts of the social species, has brought us nearer in spirit to the +inferior animals, it is certain that our regard for them has grown, and +is growing, and that new facts and fresh inferences that make us think +more highly of them are increasingly welcome. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +HORSE AND MAN. + + +There is no mode of progression so delightful as riding on horseback. +Walking, rowing, bicycling are pleasant exercises in their way, but the +muscular exertion and constant exercise of judgment they call for occupy +the mind partly to the exclusion of other things; so that a long walk +may sometimes be only a long walk and nothing more. In riding +we are not conscious of exertion, and as for that close observation and +accurate discernment necessary in traversing the ground with speed and +safety, it is left to the faithful servant that carries us. Pitfalls, +hillocks, slippery places, the thousand little inequalities of the +surface that have to be measured with infallible eye, these disturb us +little. To fly or go slowly at will, to pass unshaken over rough and +smooth alike, fording rivers without being wet, and mounting hills +without climbing, this is indeed unmixed delight. It is the nearest +approach to bird-life we seem capable of, since all the monster bubbles +and flying fabrics that have been the sport of winds from the days of +Montgolfier downwards have brought us no nearer to it. The aeronaut +gasping for breath above the clouds offers only a sad spectacle of the +imbecility of science and man's shattered hopes. To the free inhabitants +of air we can only liken the mounted Arab, vanishing, hawklike, over the +boundless desert. + +In riding there is always exhilarating motion; yet, if the scenery +encountered be charming, you are apparently sitting still, while, +river-like, it flows toward and past you, ever giving place to fresh +visions of beauty. Above all, the mind is free, as when one lies idly on +the grass gazing up into the sky. And, speaking of myself, there is even +more than this immunity from any tax on the understanding such as we +require in walking; the rhythmic motion, the sensation as of night, +acting on the brain like a stimulus. That anyone should be able to think +better lying, sitting, or standing, than when speeding along on +horseback, is to me incomprehensible. This is doubtless due to early +training and long use; for on those great pampas where I first saw the +light and was taught at a tender age to ride, we come to look on man as +a parasitical creature, fitted by nature to occupy the back of a horse, +in which position only he has full and free use of all his faculties. +Possibly the gaucho--the horseman of the pampas--is born with this idea +in his brain; if so, it would only be reasonable to suppose that its +correlative exists in a modification of structure. Certain it is that an +intoxicated gaucho lifted on to the back of his horse is perfectly safe +in his seat. The horse may do his best to rid himself of his burden; the +rider's legs--or posterior arms as they might appropriately be +called--retain their iron grip, notwithstanding the fuddled brain. + +The gaucho is more or less bow-legged; and, of course, the more crooked +his legs are, the better for him in his struggle for existence. Off his +horse his motions are awkward, like those of certain tardigrade mammals +of arboreal habits when removed from their tree. He waddles in his walk; +his hands feel for the reins; his toes turn inwards like a duck's. And +here, perhaps, we can see why foreign travellers, judging him from their +own standpoint, invariably bring against him the charge of laziness. On +horseback he is of all men most active. His patient endurance under +privations that would drive other men to despair, his laborious days and +feats of horsemanship, the long journeys he performs without rest or +food, seem to simple dwellers on the surface of the earth almost like +miracles. Deprive him of his horse, and he can do nothing but sit on +the ground cross-legged, or _en cuclillas_,--on his heels. You have, to +use his own figurative language, cut off his feet. + +Darwin in his earlier years appears not to have possessed the power of +reading men with that miraculous intelligence always distinguishing his +researches concerning other and lower orders of beings. In the _Voyage +of a Naturalist,_ speaking of this supposed indolence of the gauchos, he +tells that in one place where workmen were in great request, seeing a +poor gaucho sitting in a listless attitude, he asked him why he did not +work. The man's answer was that _he was too poor to work!_ The +philosopher was astonished and amused at the reply, but failed to +understand it. And yet, to one acquainted with these lovers of brief +phrases, what more intelligible answer could have been returned? The +poor fellow simply meant to say that his horses had been stolen--a thing +of frequent occurrence in that country, or, perhaps, that some minion of +the Government of the moment had seized them for the use of the State. + +To return to the starting point, the pleasures of riding do not flow +exclusively from the agreeable sensations attendant on flight-like +motion; there is also the knowledge, sweet in itself, that not a mere +cunningly fashioned machine, like that fabled horse of brass "on which +the Tartar king did ride," sustains us; but a something with life and +thought, like ourselves, that feels what we feel, understands us, and +keenly participates in our pleasures. Take, for example, the horse on +which some quiet old country gentleman is accustomed to travel; how +soberly and evenly he jogs along, picking his way over the ground. But +let him fall into the hands of a lively youngster, and how soon he picks +up a frisky spirit! Were horses less plastic, more the creatures of +custom than they are, it would always be necessary, before buying one, +to inquire into the disposition of its owner. + +When I was thirteen years old I was smitten with love for a horse I once +saw--an untamable-looking brute, that rolled his eyes, turbulently, +under a cloud of black mane tumbling over his forehead. I could not take +my sight off this proud, beautiful creature, and I longed to possess him +with a great longing. His owner--a worthless vagabond, as it +happened--marked my enthusiastic admiration, and a day or two +afterwards, having lost all his money at cards, he came to me, offering +to sell me the horse. Having obtained my father's consent, I rushed off +to the man with all the money I possessed--about thirty or thirty-five +shillings, I believe. After some grumbling, and finding he could get no +more, he accepted the money. My new possession filled me with unbounded +delight, and I spent the time caressing him and leading him about the +grounds in search of succulent grasses and choice leaves to feed him on. +I am sure this horse understood and loved me, for, in spite of that +savage look, which his eyes never quite lost, he always displayed a +singular gentleness towards me. He never attempted to upset me, though +he promptly threw--to my great delight, I must confess--anyone else who +ventured to mount him. Probably the secret of his conduct was that he +hated the whip. Of this individual, if not of the species, the +celebrated description held true:--"The horse is a docile animal, but if +you flog him he will not do so." After he had been mine a few days, I +rode on him one morning to witness a cattle-marking on a neighbouring +estate. I found thirty or forty gauchos on the ground engaged in +catching and branding the cattle. It was rough, dangerous work, but +apparently not rough enough to satisfy the men, so after branding an +animal and releasing him from their lassos, several of the mounted +gauchos would, purely for sport, endeavour to knock it down as it rushed +away, by charging furiously on to it. As I sat there enjoying the fun, +my horse stood very quietly under me, also eagerly watching the sport. +At length a bull was released, and, smarting from the fiery torture, +lowered his horns and rushed away towards the open plain. Three horsemen +in succession shot out from the crowd, and charged the bull at full +speed; one by one, by suddenly swerving his body round, he avoided them, +and was escaping scot-free. At this moment my horse--possibly +interpreting a casual touch of my hand on his neck, or some movement of +my body, as a wish to join in the sport--suddenly sprang forward and +charged on the flying bull like a thunderbolt, striking him full in the +middle of his body, and hurling him with a tremendous shock to earth. +The stricken beast rolled violently over, while my horse stood still as +a stone watching him. Strange to say, I was not unseated, but, +turning-round, galloped back, greeted by a shout of applause from the +spectators--the only sound of that description I have ever had the +privilege of listening to. They little knew that my horse had +accomplished the perilous feat without his rider's guidance. No doubt he +had been accustomed to do such things, and, perhaps, for the moment, had +forgotten that he had passed into the hands of a new owner--one of +tender years. He never voluntarily attempted an adventure of that kind +again; he knew, I suppose, that he no longer carried on his back a +reckless dare-devil, who valued not life. Poor Picáso! he was mine till +he died. I have had scores of horses since, but never one I loved so +well. + +With the gauchos the union between man and horse is not of so intimate a +nature as with the Indians of the pampas. Horses are too cheap, where a +man without shoes to his feet may possess a herd of them, for the +closest kind of friendship to ripen. The Indian has also less +individuality of character. The immutable nature of the conditions he is +placed in, and his savage life, which is a perpetual chase, bring him +nearer to the level of the beast he rides. And probably the acquired +sagacity of the horse in the long co-partnership of centuries has become +hereditary, and of the nature of an instinct. The Indian horse is more +docile, he understands his master better; the slightest touch of the +hand on his neck, which seems to have developed a marvellous +sensitiveness, is sufficient to guide him. The gaucho labours to give +his horse "a silken mouth," as he aptly calls it; the Indian's horse has +it from birth. Occasionally the gaucho sleeps in the saddle; the Indian +can die on his horse. During frontier warfare one hears at times of a +dead warrior being found and removed with difficulty from the horse that +carried him out of the fight, and about whose neck his rigid fingers +were clasped in death. Even in the gaucho country, however, where, I +grieve to confess, the horse is not deservedly esteemed, there are very +remarkable instances of equine attachment and fidelity to man, and of a +fellowship between horse and rider of the closest kind. One only I will +relate. + +When Rosas, that man of "blood and iron," was Dictator of the Argentine +country--a position which he held for a quarter of a centuiy--desertors +from the army were inexorably shot when caught, as they generally were. +But where my boyhood was spent there was a deserter, a man named Santa +Anna, who for seven years, without ever leaving the neighbourhood of his +home, succeeded in eluding his pursuers by means of the marvellous +sagacity and watchful care exercised by his horse. When taking his rest +on the plain--for he seldom slept under a roof--his faithful horse kept +guard. At the first sight of mounted men on the horizon he would fly to +his master, and, seizing his cloak between his teeth, rouse him with a +vigorous shake. The hunted man would start up, and in a moment man and +horse would vanish into one of the dense reed-beds abounding in the +place, and where no man could follow. I have not space to tell more +about this horse; but at last, in the fulness of time, when the figs +were ripe--literally as well as figuratively, for it happened in the +autumn of the year--the long tyrannous rule ended, and Santa Anna came +out of the reed-beds, where he had lived his wild-animal life, to mix +with his fellows. I knew him some years later. He was a rather +heavy-looking man, with little to say, and his reputation for honesty +was not good in the place; but I dare say there was something good in +him. + +Students of nature are familiar with the modifying effects of new +conditions on man and brute. Take, for example, the gaucho: he must +every day traverse vast distances, see quickly, judge rapidly, be ready +at all times to encounter hunger and fatigue, violent changes of +temperature, great and sudden perils. These conditions have made him +differ widely from the peasant of the Peninsula; he has the endurance +and keen sight of a wolf, is fertile in expedients, quick in action, +values human life not at all, and is in pain or defeat a Stoic. +Unquestionably the horse he rides has also suffered a great change. He +differs as much from the English hunter, for instance, as one animal can +well differ from another of the same species. He never pounds the earth +and wastes his energies in vain parade. He has not the dauntless courage +that performs such brilliant feats in the field, and that often as not +attempts the impossible. In the chase he husbands all his strength, +carrying his head low, and almost grazing the ground with his hoofs, so +that he is not a showy animal. Constant use, or the slow cumulative +process of natural selection, has served to develop a keenness of sense +almost preternatural. The vulture's eye, with all the advantage derived +from the vulture's vast elevation above the scene surveyed, is not so +far-reaching as the sense of smell in the pampa horse. A common +phenomenon on the pampas is a sudden migration of the horses of a +district to some distant place. This occurs in seasons of drought, when +grass or water fails. The horses migrate to some district where, from +showers having fallen or other circumstances, there is a better supply +of food and drink. A slight breeze blowing from the more favoured +region, which may be forty or fifty miles away, or even much further, is +enough to start them off. Yet, during the scorching days of midsummer, +very little moisture or smell of grass can possibly reach them from such +a distance. + +Another phenomenon, even more striking, is familiar to every +frontiersman. For some reason, the gaucho horse manifests the greatest +terror at an Indian invasion. No doubt his fear is, in part at any rate, +an associate feeling, the coming of the Indians being always a time of +excitement and com-motion, sweeping like a great wave over the country; +houses are in flames, families flying, cattle being driven at frantic +speed to places of greater safety. Be this as it may, long before the +marauders reach the settlement (often when they are still a whole day's +journey from it) the horses take the alarm and come wildly flying in: +the contagion quickly spreads to the horned cattle, and a general +stampede ensues. The gauchos maintain that the horses _smell_ the +Indians. I believe they are right, for when passing a distant Indian +camp, from which the wind blew, the horses driven before me have +suddenly taken fright and run away, leading me a chase of many miles. +The explanation that ostriches, deer, and other fleet animals driven in +before the invaders might be the cause of the stampede cannot be +accepted, since the horses are familiar with the sight of these animals +flying from their gaucho hunters. + +There is a pretty fable of a cat and dog lying in a dark room, aptly +illustrating the fine senses of these two species. "Listen! I heard a +feather drop!" said the dog. "Oh, no!" said the cat, "it was a, needle; +I saw it." The horse is not commonly believed to have senses keen as +that, and a dog tracing his master's steps over the city pavement is +supposed to be a feat no other animal can equal. No doubt the artificial +life a horse lives in England, giving so little play to many of his most +important faculties, has served to blunt them. He is a splendid +creature; but the noble bearing, the dash and reckless courage that +distinguish him from the modest horse of the desert, have not been +acquired without a corresponding loss in other things. When ridden by +night the Indian horse--and sometimes the same habit is found in the +gaucho's animal--drops his head lower and lower as the darkness +increases, with the danger arising from the presence of innumerable +kennels concealed in the grass, until his nose sweeps the surface like a +foxhound's. That this action is dictated by a powerful instinct of +self-preservation is plain; for, when I have attempted to forcibly drag +the animal's head up, he has answered such an experiment by taking the +bit in his teeth, and violently pulling the reins out of my hand. His +miraculous sense of smell measures the exact position of every hidden +kennel, every treacherous spot, and enables him to pass swiftly and +securely over it. + +On the desert pampa the gaucho, for a reason that he knows, calls the +puma the "friend of man." The Arab gives this designation to his horse; +but in Europe, where we do not associate closely with the horse, the dog +naturally takes the foremost place in our affections. The very highest +praise yet given to this animal is probably to be found in Bacon's essay +on Atheism. "For take an example of a dog," he says, "and mark what a +generosity and courage he will put on when he finds himself maintained +by a man, who is to him in place of a god, or _melior natura,_ which +courage is manifestly such as that creature, without the confidence of a +better nature than its own, could never attain!" Can we not say as much +of the horse? The very horses that fly terror-stricken from the smell of +an Indian will, when "maintained by a man," readily charge into a whole +host of yelling savages. + +I once had a horse at home, born and bred on the place, so docile that +whenever I required him I could go to him where the horses were at +pasture, and, though they all galloped off at my approach, he would +calmly wait to be caught. Springing on to his back, I would go after the +other horses, or gallop home with only my hand on his neck to guide him. +I did not often ride him, as he was slow and lazy, but with timid women +and children he was a favourite; he was also frequently used for farm +work, in or out of harness, and I could shoot from his back. In the +peach season he would roam about the plantation, getting the fruit, of +which he was very fond, by tugging at the lower branches of the trees +and shaking it down in showers. One intensely dark night I was riding +home on this horse. I came through a road with a wire fence on each +side, two miles in length, and when I had got nearly to the end of this +road my horse suddenly stopped short, uttering a succession of loud +terrified snorts. I could see nothing but the intense blackness of the +night before me and tried to encourage him to go on. Touching him on +the neck, I found his hair wet with the sudden profuse sweat of extreme +fear. The whip made no impression on him. He continued to back away, his +eyes apparently fixed on some object of horror just before him, while he +trembled to such a degree that I was shaken in the saddle. He attempted +several times to wheel round and run away, but I was determined not to +yield to him, and continued the contest. Suddenly, when I was beginning +to despair of getting home by that road, he sprang forward, and +regularly charged the (to me) invisible object before him, and in +another moment, when he had apparently passed it, taking the bit between +his teeth he almost flew over the ground, never pausing till he brought +me to my own door. When I dismounted his terror seemed gone, but he hung +his head in a dejected manner, like a horse that has been under the +saddle all day. I have never witnessed another such instance of almost +maddening fear. His terror and apprehension were like what we can +imagine a man experiencing at sight of a ghost in some dark solitary +place. + +Yet he did not forcibly carry me away from it, as he might so easily +have done; but, finding himself maintained by a "nature superior to his +own," he preferred to face it. I have never met in the dog a more +striking example of this noblest kind of brute courage. The incident did +not impress me very much at the moment, but when I came to reflect that +my sight was mere blindness compared with that of my horse, and that it +was not likely his imagination clothed any familiar natural object with +fantastic terrors, it certainly did impress me very deeply. + +I am loth to finish with, my subject, in which, to express myself in the +manner of the gauchos, I have passed over many matters, like good grass +and fragrant herbs the galloping horse sniffs at but cannot stay to +taste; and especially loth to conclude with this last incident, which +has in it an element of gloom. I would rather first go back for a few +moments to my original theme--the pleasures of riding, for the sake of +mentioning a species of pleasure my English reader has probably never +tasted or even heard of. When riding by night on the pampas, I used to +enjoy lying back on my horse till my head and shoulders rested well on +his back, my feet also being raised till they pressed against his neck; +and in this position, which practice can make both safe and comfortable, +gaze up into the starry sky. To enjoy this method of riding thoroughly, +a sure-footed unshod horse with perfect confidence in his rider is +necessary; and he must be made to go at a swift and smooth pace over +level grassy ground. With these conditions the sensation is positively +delightful. Nothing of earth is visible, only the vast circle of the +heavens glittering with innumerable stars; the muffled sound of the +hoofs on the soft sward becomes in fancy only the rushing of the wings +of our Pegasus, while the enchanting illusion that we are soaring +through space possesses the mind. Unfortunately, however, this method of +riding is impracticable in England. And, even if people with enthusiasm +enough could be found to put it in practice by importing swift +light-footed Arabian or pampa horses, and careering about level parks on +dark starry nights, probably a shout of derision would be raised against +so undignified a pastime. + +_Apropos_ of dignity, I will relate, in conclusion, an incident in my +London life which may possibly interest psychologists. Some time ago in +Oxford Street I got on top of an omnibus travelling west. My mind was +preoccupied, I was anxious to get home, and, in an absent kind of way, I +became irritated at the painfully slow rate of progress. It was all an +old familiar experience, the deep thought, lessening pace, and +consequent irritation. The indolent brute I imagined myself riding was, +as usual, taking advantage of his rider's abstraction; but I would soon +"feelingly persuade" him that I was not so far gone as to lose sight of +the difference between a swinging gallop and a walk. So, elevating my +umbrella, I dealt the side of the omnibus a sounding blow, very much to +the astonishment of my fellow-passengers. So overgrown are we with +usages, habits, tricks of thought and action springing from the soil we +inhabit; and when we have broken away and removed ourselves far from it, +so long do the dead tendrils still cling to us! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV, + +SEEN AND LOST, + + +We can imagine what the feelings of a lapidary would be--an enthusiast +whose life is given to the study of precious stones, and whose sole +delight is in the contemplation of their manifold beauty--if a stranger +should come in to him, and, opening his hand, exhibit a new unknown gem, +splendid as ruby or as sapphire, yet manifestly no mere variety of any +familiar stone, but differing as widely from all others as diamond from +opal or cat's-eye; and then, just when he is beginning to rejoice in +that strange exquisite loveliness, the hand should close and the +stranger, with a mocking smile on his lips, go forth and disappear from +sight in the crowd. A feeling such as that would be is not unfrequently +experienced by the field naturalist whose favoured lot it is to live in +a country not yet "thoroughly worked out," with its every wild +inhabitant scientifically named, accurately described, and skilfully +figured in some colossal monograph. One swift glance of the practised +eye, ever eagerly searching for some new-thing, and he knows that here +at length is a form never previously seen by him; but his joy is perhaps +only for a few moments, and the prize is snatched from sight for ever. +The lapidary might have some doubts; he might think that the stranger +had, after all, only mocked him with the sight of a wonderful artificial +gem, and that a close examination would have proved its worthlessness; +but the naturalist can have no doubts: if he is an enthusiast, well +acquainted with the fauna of his district, and has good eyesight, he +knows that there is no mistake; for there it is, the new strange form, +photographed by instantaneous process on his mind, and there it will +remain, a tantalizing image, its sharp lines and fresh colouring +unblurred by time. + +Walking in some open forest glade, he may look up just in time to see a +great strange butterfly--a blue Morpho, let us say, wandering in some +far country where this angel insect is unknown--passing athwart his +vision with careless, buoyant flight, the most sylph-like thing in +nature, and all blue and pure like its aerial home, but with a more +delicate and wonderful brilliance in its cerulean colour, giving such +unimaginable glory to its broad airy wings; and then, almost before his +soul has had time to feel its joy, it may soar away unloitering over the +tall trees, to be seen no more. + +But the admiration, the delight, and the desire are equally great, and +the loss just as keenly felt, whether the strange species seen happens +to be one surpassingly beautiful or not. Its newness is to the +naturalist its greatest attraction. How beautiful beyond all others +seems a certain small unnamed brown bird to my mind! So many years have +passed and its image has not yet grown dim; yet I saw it only for a few +moments, when it hopped out from, the thick foliage and perched within +two or three yards of me, not afraid, but only curious; and after +peering at me first with one eye and then the other, and wiping its +small dagger on a twig, it flew away and was seen no more. For many days +I sought for it, and for years waited its reappearance, and it was more +to me than ninety and nine birds which I had always known; yet it was +very modest, dressed in a brown suit, very pale on the breast and white +on the throat, and for distinction a straw-coloured stripe over the +eye--that ribbon which Queen Nature bestows on so many of her feathered +subjects, in recognition, I suppose, of some small and common kind of +merit. If I should meet with it in a collection I should know it again; +only, in that case it would look plain and homely to me--this little +bird that for a time made all others seem unbeautiful. + +Even a richer prize may come in sight for a brief period--one of the +nobler mammalians, which are fewer in number, and bound to earth like +ourselves, and therefore so much better known than the wandering +children of air. In. some secluded spot, resting amidst luxuriant +herbage or forest undergrowth, a slight rustling makes us start, and, +lo! looking at us from the clustering leaves, a strange face; the +leaf-like ears erect, the dark eyes round with astonishment, and the +sharp black nose twitching and sniffing audibly, to take in the +unfamiliar flavour of a human presence from the air, like the pursed-up +and smacking lips of a wine-drinker tasting a new vintage. No sooner +seen than gone, like a dream, a phantom, the quaint furry face to be +thereafter only an image in memory. + +Sometimes the prize may be a very rich one, and actually within reach of +the hand--challenging the hand, as it were, to grasp it, and yet +presently slip away to be seen no more, although it maybe sought for day +after day, with a hungry longing comparable to that of some poor tramp +who finds a gold doubloon in the forest, and just when he is beginning +to realize all that it means to him drops it in the grass and cannot +find it again. There is not the faintest motion in the foliage, no +rustle of any dry leaf, and yet we know that something has +moved--something has come or has gone; and, gazing fixedly at one spot, +we suddenly see that it is still there, close to us, the pointed +ophidian head and long neck, not drawn back and threatening, but sloping +forward, dark and polished as the green and purple weed-stems springing +from marshy soil, and with an irregular chain of spots extending down +the side. Motionless, too, as the stems it is; but presently the tongue, +crimson and glistening, darts out and flickers, like a small jet of +smoke and flame, and is withdrawn; then the smooth serpent head drops +down, and the thing is gone. + +How I saw and lost the noble wrestling frog has been recounted in +Chapter IV.: other tantalizing experiences of the same kind remain to be +told in the present chapter, which is not intended for the severe +naturalist, but rather for such readers as may like to hear something +about the pains and pleasures of the seeker as well as the result of the +seeking. + +One of my earliest experiences of seeing and losing relates to a +humming-bird--a veritable "jewel of ornithology." I was only a boy at +the time, but already pretty well acquainted with the birds of the +district I lived in, near La Plata River, and among them were three +species of the hummingbird. One spring day I saw a fourth--a wonderful +little thing, only half as big as the smallest of the other three--the +well-known Phaithornis splendens--and scarcely larger than a bumble-bee. +I was within three feet of it as it sucked at the flowers, suspended +motionless in the air, the wings appearing formless and mist-like from +their rapid vibratory motion, but the rest of the upper plumage was seen +distinctly as anything can be seen. The head and neck and upper part of +the back were emerald green, with the metallic glitter usually seen in +the burnished scale-like feathers of these small birds; the lower half +of the back was velvet-black; the tail and tail-coverts white as snow. +On two other occasions, at intervals of a few days, I saw this brilliant +little stranger, always very near, and tried without success to capture +it, after which, it disappeared from the plantation. Four years later I +saw it once again not far from the same place. It was late in summer, +and I was out walking on the level plain where the ground was carpeted +with short grass, and nothing else grew there except a solitary stunted +cardoou thistle-bush with one flower on its central stem above the +grey-green artichoke-like leaves. The disc of the great thorny blossom +was as broad as that of a sunflower, purple in colour, delicately +frosted with white; on this flat disc several insects were +feeding--flies, fireflies, and small wasps--and I paused for a few +minutes in my walk to watch them. Suddenly a small misty object flew +swiftly downwards past my face, and paused motionless in the air an inch +or two above the rim of the flower. Once more my lost humming-bird, +which I remembered so well! The exquisitely graceful form, half circled +by the misty moth-like wings, the glittering green and velvet-black +mantle, and snow-white tail spread open like a fan--there it hung like a +beautiful bird-shaped gem suspended by an invisible gossamer thread. +One--two--three moments passed, while I gazed, trembling with rapturous +excitement, and then, before I had time to collect my faculties and make +a forlorn attempt to capture it with my hat, away it flew, gliding so +swiftly on the air that form and colour were instantly lost, and in +appearance it was only an obscure grey line traced rapidly along the, +low sky and fading quickly out ol sight. And that was the last I ever +saw of it. + +The case of this small "winged gem," still wandering nameless in the +wilds, reminds me of yet another bird seen and lost, also remarkable for +its diminutive size. For years I looked for it, and when the wished-for +opportunity came, and it was in my power to secure it, I refrained; and +Fate punished me by never permitting me to see it again. On several +occasions while riding on the pampas I had caught glimpses of this +minute bird flitting up mothlike, with uncertain tremulous flight, and +again dipping into the weeds, tall grass, or thistles. Its plumage was +yellowish in hue, like sere dead herbage, and its extremely slender body +looked longer and slimmer than it was, owing to the great length of its +tail, or of the two middle tail-feathers. I knew that it was a +Synallaxis--a genus of small birds of the Woodhewer family. Now, as I +have said in a former chapter, these are wise little birds, more +interesting--I had almost said more beautiful--in their wisdom, or +wisdom-simulating instincts, than the quatzel in its resplendent green, +or the cock-of-the-rock in its vivid scarlet and orange mantle. Wrens +and mocking-birds have melody for their chief attraction, and the name +of each kind is, to our minds, also the name of a certain kind of sweet +music; we think of swifts and swallows in connection with the mysterious +migratory instinct; and humming-birds have a glittering mantle, and the +miraculous motions necessary to display its ever-changing iridescent +beauty. In like manner, the homely Dendrocolaptidae possess the genius +for building, and an account of one of these small birds without its +nest would be like a biography of Sir Christopher Wren that made no +mention of his works. It was not strange then that when I saw this small +bird the question rose to my mind, what kind of nest does it build? + +One morning in the month of October, the great breeding-time for birds +in the Southern Hemisphere, while cautiously picking my way through a +bed of eardoon bushes, the mysterious little creature flitted up and +perched among the clustering leaves quite near to me. It uttered a +feeble grasshopper-like chirp; and then a second individual, smaller, +paler-coloured, and if possible shyer than the first, showed itself for +two or three seconds, after which both birds dived once more into +concealment. How glad I was to see them! for here they were, male and +female, in a suitable spot in my own fields, where they evidently meant +to breed. Every day after that I paid them one cautious visit, and by +waiting from five to fifteen minutes, standing motionless among the +thistles, I always succeeded in getting them to show themselves for a +few moments. I could easily have secured them then, but my wish was to +discover their nesting habits; and after watching for some days, I was +rewarded by finding their nest; then for three days more I watched it +slowly progressing towards completion, and each time I approached it one +of the small birds would flit out to vanish into the herbage. The +structure was about six inches long, and not more than two inches in +diameter, and was placed horizontally on a broad stiff eardoon leaf, +sheltered by other leaves above. It was made of the finest dry grass +loosely woven, and formed a simple perfectly straight tube, open at both +ends. The aperture was so small that I could only insert my little +finger, and the bird could not, of course, have turned round in so +narrow a passage, and so always went in at one end and left by the +other. On visiting the spot on the fourth day I found, to my intense +chagrin, that the delicate fabric had been broken and thrown down by +some animal; also, that the birds had utterly vanished--for I sought +them in vain, both there and in every weedy and thistly spot in the +neighbourhood. The bird without the nest had seemed a useless thing to +possess; now, for all my pains, I had only a wisp of fine dry grass in +my hand, and no bird. The shy, modest little creature, dwelling +violet-like amidst clustering leaves, and even when showing itself still +"half-hidden from the eye," was thereafter to be only a tantalizing +image in memory. Still, my case was not so hopeless as that of the +imagined lapidary; for however rare a species may be, and near to its +final extinction, there must always be many individuals existing, and I +was cheered by the thought that I might yet meet with one at some future +time. And, even if this particular species was not to gladden my sight +again, there were others, scores and hundreds more, and at any moment I +might expect to see one shining, a living gem, on Nature's open extended +palm. + +Sometimes it has happened that an animal would have been overlooked or +passed by with scant notice, to be forgotten, perhaps, but for some +singular action or habit which has instantly given it a strange +importance, and made its possession desirable. + +I was once engaged in the arduous and monotonous task of driving a large +number of sheep a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, in +excessively hot weather, when sheep prefer standing still to travelling. +Five or six gauchos were with me, and we were on the southern pampas of +Buenos Ayres, near to a long precipitous stony sierra which rose to a +height of five or six hundred feet above the plain. Who that has +travelled for eighteen days on a dead level in a broiling sun can resist +a hill? That sierra was more sublime to us than Conon-dagua, than +Illimani. + +Leaving the sheep, I rode to it with three of the men; aad after +securing our horses on the lower slope, we began our laborious ascent. +Now the gaucho when taken from his horse, on which he lives like a kind +of parasite, is a very slow-moving creature, and I soon left my friends +far behind. Coming to a place where ferns and flowering herbage grew +thick, I began to hear all about me sounds of a character utterly unlike +any natural sound I was acquainted with--innumerable low clear voices +tinkling or pealing like minute sweet-toned, resonant bells--for the +sounds were purely metallic and perfectly bell-like. I was completely +ringed round with the mysterious music, and as I walked it rose and sank +rhythmically, keeping time to my steps. I stood still, and immediately +the sounds ceased. I took a step forwards, and again the fairy-bells +were set ringing, as if at each step my foot touched a central meeting +point of a thousand radiating threads, each thread attached to a peal of +little bells hanging concealed among the herbage. I waited for my +companions, and called their attention to the phenomenon, and to them +also it was a thing strange and perplexing. "It is the bell-snake!" +cried one excitedly. This is the rattle-snake; but although at that time +I had no experience of this reptile, I knew that he was wrong. Yet how +natural the mistake! The Spanish name of "bell-snake" had made him +imagine that the whirring sound of the vibrating rattles, resembling +muffled cicada music, is really bell-like in character. Eventually we +discovered that the sound was made by grasshoppers; but they were seen +only to be lost, for I could not capture one, so excessively shy and +cunning had the perpetual ringing of their own little tocsins made them. +And presently I had to return to my muttons; and afterwards there was no +opportunity of revisiting the spot to observe so singular a habit again +and collect specimens. It was a very slender grasshopper, about an inch +and a half long, of a uniform, tawny, protective colour--the colour of +an old dead leaf. It also possessed a protective habit common to most +grasshoppers, of embracing a slender vertical stem with its four fine +front legs, and moving cunningly round so as to keep the stem always in +front of it to screen itself from sight. Only other grasshoppers are +silent when alarmed, and the silence and masking action are related, and +together prevent the insect from being detected. But this particular +species, or race, or colony, living on the sides of the isolated sierra, +had acquired a contrary habit, resembling a habit of gregarious birds +and mammals. For this informing sound (unless it mimicked some +_warning-sound,_ as of a rattlesnake, which it didn't) could not +possibly be beneficial to individuals living alone, as grasshoppers +generally do, but, on the contrary, only detrimental; and such a habit +was therefore purely for the public good, and could only have arisen in +a species that always lived in communities. + +On another occasion, in the middle of the hot season, I was travelling +alone across-country in a locality which was new to me, a few leagues +east of La Plata River, in its widest part. About eleven o'clock in the +morning I came to a low-lying level plain where the close-cropped grass +was vivid green, although elsewhere all over the country the vegetation +was scorched and dead, and dry as ashes. The ground being so favourable, +I crossed this low plain at a swinging gallop, and in about thirty +minutes' time. In that half-hour I saw a vast number of snakes, all of +one kind, and a species new to me; but my anxiety to reach my +destination before the oppressive heat of the afternoon made me hurry +on. So numerous were the snakes in that green place that frequently I +had as many as a dozen in sight at one time. It looked to me like a +coronelia--harmless colubrine snakes--but was more than twice as large +as either of the two species of that genus I was already familiar with. +In size they varied greatly, ranging from two to fully five feet in +length, and the colour was dull yellow or tan, slightly lined and +mottled with shades of brown. Among dead or partially withered grass and +herbage they would have been undistinguishable at even a very short +distance, but on the vivid green turf they were strangely conspicuous, +some being plainly visible forty or fifty yards away; and not one was +seen coiled up. They were all lying motionless, stretched out full +length, and looking like dark yellow or tan-coloured ribbons, thrown on +to the grass. It was most unusual to see so many snakes together, +although not surprising in the circumstances. The December heats had +dried up all the watercourses and killed the vegetation, and made the +earth hard and harsh as burnt bricks; and at such times snakes, +especially the more active non-venomous kinds, will travel long +distances, in their slow way, in search of water. Those I saw during my +ride had probably been attracted by the moisture from a large area of +country; and although there was no water, the soft fresh grass must have +been grateful to them. Snakes are seen coiled up when they are at home; +when travelling and far afield, they lie as a rule extended full length, +even when resting--and they are generally resting. Pausing at length, +before quitting this green plain, to give my horse a minute's rest, I +got off and approached a large snake; but when I was quite twelve yards +from it, it lifted its head, and, turning deliberately round, came +rather swiftly at me. I retreated, and it followed, until, springing on +to my horse, I left it, greatly surprised at its action, and beginning +to think that it must be venomous. As I rode on the feeling of surprise +increased, conquering haste; and in the end, seeing more snakes, I +dismounted and approached the largest, when exactly the same thing +occurred again, the snake rousing itself and coming angrily at me when I +was still (considering the dull lethargic character of the deadliest +kinds) at an absurd distance from it. Again and again I repeated the +experiment, with the same result. And at length I stunned one with a +blow of my whip to examine its mouth, but found no poison-fangs in it. + +I then resumed my journey, expecting to meet with more snakes of the +same kind at my destination; but there were none, and very soon business +called me to a distant place, and I never met with this species +afterwards. But when I rode away from that green spot, and was once more +on the higher, desolate, wind-swept plain surrounding it--a rustling sea +of giant thistles, still erect, although dead, and red as rust, and +filling the hot blue sky with silvery down--it was with a very strange +feeling. The change from the green and living to the dead and dry and +dusty was so great! There seemed to be something mysterious, +extra-natural, in that low level plain, so green and fresh and snaky, +where my horse's hoofs had made no sound--a place where no man dwelt, +and no cattle pastured, and no wild bird folded its wing. And the +serpents there were not like others--the mechanical coiled-up thing we +know, a mere bone-and-muscle man-trap, set by the elements, to spring +and strike when trodden on: but these had a high intelligence, a lofty +spirit, and were filled with a noble rage and astonishment that any +other kind of creature, even a man, should venture there to disturb +their sacred peace. It was a fancy, born of that sense of mystery which +the unknown and the unusual in nature wakes in us--an obsolescent +feeling that still links us to the savage. But the simple fact was +wonderful enough, and that has been set down simply and apart from all +fancies. If the reader happens not to be a naturalist, it is right to +tell him that a naturalist cannot exaggerate consciously; and if he be +capable of unconscious exaggeration, then ho is no naturalist. He +should hasten "to join the innumerable caravan that moves" to the +fantastic realms of romance. Looking at the simple fact scientifically, +it was a case of mimicry--the harmless snake mimicking the fierce +threatening gestures and actions proper to some deadly kind. Only with +this difference: the venomous snake, of all deadly things in nature, is +the slowest to resentment, the most reluctant to enter into a quarrel; +whereas in this species angry demonstrations were made when the intruder +was yet far off, and before he had shown any hostile intentions. + +My last case--the last, that is, of the few I have selected--relates to +a singular variation in the human species. On this occasion I was again +travelling alone in a strange district on the southern frontier of +Buenos Ayres. On a bitterly cold midwinter day, shortly before noon, I +arrived, stiff and tired, at one of those pilgrims' rests on the pampas +--a wayside _pulperia,_ or public house, where the traveller can procure +anything he may require or desire, from a tumbler of Brazilian rum to +make glad his heart, to a poncho, or cloak of blue cloth with fluffy +scarlet lining, to keep him warm o' nights; and, to speed him on his +way, a pair of cast-iron spurs weighing six pounds avoirdupois, with +rowels eight inches in diameter, manufactured in this island for the use +of barbarous men beyond the sea. The wretched mud-and-grass building was +surrounded by a foss crossed by a plank drawbridge; outside of the +enclosure twelve or fourteen saddled horses were standing, and from the +loud noise of talk and laughter in the bar I conjectured that a goodly +company of rough frontiersmen were already making merry at that early +hour. It was necessary for me to go in among them to see the proprietor +of the place and ask permission to visit his kitchen in order to make +myself a "tin of coffee," that being the refreshment I felt inclined +for. When I went in and made my salutation, one man wheeled round square +before me, stared straight into my oyes, and in an exceedingly +high-pitched reedy or screechy voice and a sing-song tone returned my +"good morning," and bade me call for the liquid I loved best at his +expense. I declined with thanks, and in accordance with gaucho etiquette +added that I was prepared to pay for his liquor. It was then for him to +say that he had already been served and so let the matter drop, but he +did not do so: he screamed out in his wild animal voice that he would +take gin. I paid for his drink, and would, I think, have felt greatly +surprised at his strange insolent behaviour, so unlike that of the +usually courteous gaucho, but this thing affected me not at all, so +profoundly had his singular appearance and voice impressed me; and for +the rest of the time I remained in the place I continued to watch him +narrowly. Professor Huxley has somewhere said, "A variation frequently +occurs, but those who notice it take no care about noting down the +particulars." That is not a failing of mine, and this is what I noted +down while the man's appearance was still fresh in memory. He was about +five feet eleven inches in height--very tall for a gaucho--straight and +athletic, with exceedingly broad shoulders, which made his round head +look small; long arms and huge hands. The round flat face, coarse black +hair, swarthy reddish colour, and smooth hairless cheeks seemed to show +that he had more Indian than Spanish blood in him, while his round black +eyes were even more like those of a rapacious animal in expression than +in the pure-blooded Indian. He also had the Indian or half-breed's +moustache, when that natural ornament is permitted to grow, and which is +composed of thick bristles standing out like a cat's whiskers. The mouth +was the marvellous feature, for it was twice the size of an average +mouth, and the two lips were alike in thickness. This mouth did not +smile, but snarled, both when he spoke and when he should have smiled; +and when he snarled the wliolo of his teeth and a part of the gums were +displayed. The teeth were not as in other human beings--incisors, +canines, and molars: they were all exactly alike, above and below, each +tooth a gleaming white triangle, broad at the gum where it touched its +companion teeth, and with a point sharp as the sharpest-pointed dagger. +They were like the teeth of a shark or crocodile. I noticed that when he +showed them, which was very often, they were not set together as in +dogs, weasels, and other savage snarling animals, but apart, showing the +whole terrible serration in the huge red mouth. + +After getting his gin he joined in the boisterous conversation with the +others, and this gave me an opportunity of studying his face for several +minutes, all the time with a curious feeling that I had put myself into +a cage with a savage animal of horrible aspect, whose instincts were +utterly unknown to me, and were probably not very pleasant. It was +interesting to note that whenever one of the others addressed him +directly, or turned to him when speaking, it was with a curious +expression, not of fear, but partly amusement and partly something else +which I could not fathom. Now, one might think that this was natural +enough purely on account of the man's extraordinary appearance. I do not +think that a sufficient explanation; for however strange a man's +appearance may be, his intimate friends and associates soon lose all +sense of wonder at his strangeness, and even forget that he is unlike +others. My belief is that this curiosity, or whatever it was they showed +in their faces, was due to something in his character--a mental +strangeness, showing itself at unexpected times, and which might flash, +out at any moment to amuse or astonish them. There was certainly a +correspondence between the snarling action of the mouth and the +dangerous form of the teeth, perfect as that in any snarling animal; and +such animals, it should be remembered, snarl not only when angry and +threatening, but in their playful moods as well. Other and more +important correspondences or correlations might have existed; and the +voice was certainly unlike any human voice I have ever heard, whether in +white, red, or black man. But the time I had for observation was short, +the conversation revealed nothing further, and by-and-by I went away in +search of the odorous kitchen, where there would be hot water for +coffee, or at all events cold water and a kettle, and materials for +making a fire--to wit, bones of dead cattle, "buffalo chips," and rancid +fat. + +I have never been worried with the wish, or ambition to be a head-hunter +in the Dyak sense, but on this one occasion I did wish that it had been +possible, without violating any law, or doing anything to a +fellow-creature which I should not like done to myself, to have obtained +possession of this man's head, with its set of unique and terrible +teeth. For how, in the name of Evolution, did he come by them, and by +other physical peculiarities--the snarling habit and that high-pitched +animal voice, for instance--which made him a being different from +others--one separate and far apart? Was he, so admirably formed, so +complete and well-balanced, merely a freak of nature, to use an +old-fashioned phrase--a sport, or spontaneous individual variation--an +experiment for a new human type, imagined by Nature in some past period, +inconceivably long ago, but which she had only now, too late, found time +to carry out? Or rather was he like that little hairy maiden exhibited +not long ago in London, a reproduction of the past, the mystery called +reversion--a something in the life of a species like memory in the life +of an individual, the memory which suddenly brings back to the old man's +mind the image of his childhood? For no dream-monster in human form ever +appeared to me with so strange and terrible a face; and this was no +dream but sober fact, for I saw and spoke with this man; and unless cold +steel has given him his quietus, or his own horse has crushed him, or a +mad bull sored him--all natural forms of death in that wild land--he is +probably still living and in the prime of life, and perhaps at this very +moment drinking gin at some astonished traveller's expense at that very +bar where I met him. The old Palaeolithic man, judging from the few +remains we have of him, must have had an unspeakably savage and, to our +way of thinking, repulsive and horrible aspect, with his villainous low +receding forehead, broad nose, great projecting upper jaw, and +retreating chin; to meet such a man face to face in Piccadilly would +frighten a nervous person of the present time. But his teeth were not +unlike our own, only very much larger and more powerful, and well +adapted to their work of masticating the flesh, underdone and possibly +raw, of mammoth and rhinoceros. If, then, this living man recalls a type +of the past, it is of a remoter past, a more primitive man, the volume +of whose history is missing from the geological record. To speculate on +such a subject seems idle and useless; and when I coveted possession of +that head it was not because I thought that it might lead to any fresh +discovery. A lower motive inspired the feeling. I wished for it only +that I might bring it over the sea, to drop it like a new apple of +discord, suited to the spirit of the times, among the anthropologists +and evolutionists generally of this old and learned world. Inscribed, of +course, "To the most learned," but giving no locality and no +particulars. I wished to do that for the pleasure--not a very noble kind +of pleasure, I allow--of witnessing from some safe hiding-place the +stupendous strife that would have ensued--a battle more furious, lasting +and fatal to many a brave knight of biology, than was ever yet fought +over any bone or bony fragment or fabric ever picked up, including the +celebrated cranium of the Neanderthal. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +THE PUMA, OR LION OF AMERICA. + + +The following passage occurs in an article on "The Naturalist in La +Plata," by the late Professor Piomanes, which appeared in the +_Nineteenth Century,_ May, 1893. After quoting the account of the puma's +habits and character given in the book, the writer says:--"I have +received corroboration touching all these points from a gentleman who, +when walking alone and unarmed on the skirts of a forest, was greatly +alarmed by a large puma coming out to meet him. Deeming it best not to +stand, he advanced to meet the animal, which thereupon began to gambol +around his feet and rub against his legs, after the manner of an +affectionate cat. At first he thought these movements must have been +preliminary to some peculiar mode of attack, and therefore he did not +respond, but walked quietly on, until the puma suddenly desisted and +re-entered the forest. This gentleman says that, until the publication +of Mr. Hudson's book, he had always remained under the impression that +that particular puma must have been insane." + +MUSIC AND DANCING IN NATURE. + +I have found among my papers the following mislaid note on the subject +of sportive displays of mammalians, which should have been used on page +281, where the subject is briefly treated:--Most mammalians are +comparatively silent and live on the ground, and not having the power to +escape easily, which birds have, and being more persecuted by man, they +do not often disport themselves unrestrainedly in his presence; it is +difficult to watch any wild animal without the watcher's presence being +known or suspected. Nevertheless, their displays are not so rare as we +might imagine. I have more than once detected species, with which I was, +or imagined myself to be, well acquainted, disporting themselves in a +manner that took me completely by surprise. While out tinamou shooting +one day in autumn, near my own home in La Plata, I spied a troop of +about a dozen weasels racing madly about over a vizcacha village--the +mound and group of pit-like burrows inhabited by a community of +vizcachas. These weasels were of the large common species, Galictis +barbara, about the size of a cat; and were engaged in a pastime +resembling a complicated dance, and so absorbed were they on that +occasion that they took no notice of me when I walked up to within nine +or ten yards of them, and stood still to watch the performance. They +were all swiftly racing about and leaping over the pits, always doubling +quickly back when the limit of the mound was reached, and although +apparently carried away with excitement, and crossing each other's +tracks at all angles, and this so rapidly and with so many changes of +direction that I became confused when trying to keep any one animal in +view, they never collided nor even came near enough to touch one +another. The whole performance resembled, on a greatly magnified scale +and without its beautiful smoothness and lightning swiftness, the +fantastic dance of small black water-beetles, frequently seen on the +surface of a pool or stream, during which the insects glide about in a +limited area with such celerity as to appear like black curving lines +traced by flying invisible pens; and as the lines everywhere cross and +intersect, they form an intricate pattern on the surface, After watching +the weasel dance for some minutes, I stepped up to the mound, whereupon +the animals became alarmed and rushed pell-mell into the burrows, but +only to reappear in a few seconds, thrusting up their long ebony-black +necks and flat grey-capped heads, snarling chattering at me, glaring +with fierce, beady eyes. + + + + +THE STRANGE INSTINCTS OF CATTLE. + + +In November and December, 1893, a short correspondence appeared in the +_Field_ on the curious subject of "Dogs burying their dead." It arose +through a letter from a Mr. Gould, of Albany, Western Australia, +relating the following incident:-- + +A settler shot a bitch from a neighbouring estate that had formed the +habit of coming on to his land to visit and play with his dog. The dog, +finding his companion dead, was observed to dig a large hole in the +ground, into which he dragged the carcase; but he did not cover it with +earth. The writer wished to know if any reader of the _Field_ had met +with a similar case. Some notes, which I contributed in reply to this +letter, bear on one of the subjects treated in the chapter on "strange +instincts," namely, the instinct of social animals to protect and shield +their fellows; and for this reason I have thought it best to reproduce +them in this place. + +I remember on one occasion watching at intervals, for an entire day, a +large and very savage dog keeping watch over the body of a dead bitch +that had been shot. He made no attempt to bury the dead animal, but he +never left it. He was observed more than once trying to drag the body +away, doubtless with the intention of hiding it; not succeeding in these +attempts, he settled down by its side again, although it was evident +that he was suffering greatly from thirst and heat. It was at last only +with the greatest trouble that the people of the house succeeded in +getting the body away and burying it out of his sight. + +Another instance, more to the point, occurred at my own house on the +pampas, and I was one of several persons who witnessed it. A small, red, +long-haired bitch--a variety of the common native cur--gave birth to +four or five pups. A peon was told to destroy them, and, waiting until +the bitch was out of sight, he carried them off to the end of the +orchard, some 400 or 500 yards from the house, and threw them into a +pool of water which was only two to three feet deep. The bitch passed +the rest of the day in rushing frantically about, searching for her +young, and in the evening, a little after dark, actually succeeded in +finding them, although they were lying at the bottom of the pool. She +got them all out, and carried them, one by one, to another part of the +grounds, where she passed the night with them, uttering at intervals the +most piercing cries. In the morning she carried them to still another +spot, where there was a soft mould, and then dug a hole large and deep +enough to bury them all, covering them over with the loose earth. Her +task done, she returned to the house to sleep all day, but when night +came again the whole piteous performance was repeated: the pups were dug +up, and she passed the long, piercingly cold night--for it was in the +depth of winter--trying to keep them warm, and uttering, as before, +distressing cries. Yet a third time the whole thing was repeated; but +after the third night, when the dog came home to sleep, the dead pups +were taken out of the ground and buried at a distance. + +Such an action as this strikes one with astonishment only because we +have the custom of burying our dead, and are too ready at all times to +regard the dog as human-like. But the explanation of the action in this +case is to be found in the familiar fact that very many animals, +including the dog, have the habit or instinct of burying or concealing +the thing they wish to leave in safety. Thus, the dog buries the bone it +does not want to eat, and when hungry digs it up again. When a dog +buries or hides the dead body of the she dog it was attached to, or the +she dog buries her dead young, it is with the same motive--namely, to +conceal the animal that cannot be roused, and that it would not be safe +to leave exposed, + +It is plain to all who observe their actions that the lower animals have +no comprehension of death. In the case of two animals that are +accustomed to play or to be much together, if one dies, or is killed, +and its body left, the other will come to sniff at, touch, and at last +try to rouse it; but finding all attempts vain, it will at length go +away to seek companionship elsewhere. In cases where the attachment is +much stronger, the dead body may he watched over for an indefinite +period. A brother of mine once related to me a very pathetic incident +which occurred at an estancia on the pampas where he was staying. A +large portion of the land was a low, level, marshy plain, partly +overgrown with reeds and rushes; and one day, in this wilderness, a +little boy of eight or nine, from the estancia, lost himself. A small +dog, his invariable attendant, had gone out with him, but did not +return. Seven days later the poor boy was found, at a great distance +from the house, lying on the grass, where he had died of exhaustion. The +dog was lying coiled up at his side, and appeared to be sleeping; but, +when spoken to, he did not stir, and was presently found to be dead too. +The dog could have gone back at any moment to the estancia, but his +instinct of attachment overcame all others; he kept guard over his +little master, who slept so soundly and so long, until he, too, slept in +the same way. + +A still more remarkable case of this kind was given in one of my books, +of a gaucho, accompanied by his dog, who was chased and overtaken by a +troop of soldiers during one of the civil wars in Uruguay. Suspecting +him of being a spy, or, at all events, an enemy, his captors cut his +throat, then rode away, calling to the dog to follow them; but the +animal refused to leave his dead master's side. Returning to the spot a +few days later, they saw the body of the man they had killed surrounded +by a large number of vultures, which the dog, in a frenzy of excitement, +was occupied in keeping at a respectable distance. It was observed that +the dog, after making one of his sallies, driving the birds away with +furious barkings, would set out at a run to a small stream not far from +the spot; but when half way to it he would look back, and, seeing the +vultures advancing once more to the corpse, would rush back to protect +it. The soldiers watched him for some time with great interest, and once +more they tried in vain to get him to follow them. Two days afterwards +they revisited the spot, to find the dog lying dead by the side of his +dead master. I had this story from the lips of one of the witnesses. + +In all such cases, whether the dog watches over, conceals, or buries a +dead body, he is doubtless moved by the same instinct which leads him to +safeguard the animal he is attached to--another dog or his human master. +But, as the dead animal is past help, it is, of course, a blunder of the +instinct; and the blunder must be of very much less frequent occurrence +among wild than among domestic animals. In a state of nature, when a +gregarious animal dies, he dies, as a rule, alone; his body is not seen +by his former companions, and he is not missed. When he dies by +violence--which is the common fate--the body is carried off or devoured +by the killer. This being the usual order, there is no instinct, except +in a very few species, relating to the disposal of the dead among +mammals and other vertebrates, such as is found in ants and other social +insects. There are a few mammalians that live together in small +communities, in a habitation made to last for many generations, in which +such an instinct would appear necessary, and it accordingly exists, but +is very imperfect. This is the case with the vizcacha, the large rodent +of the pampas, which lives with its fellows, to the number of twenty or +thirty, in a cluster of huge burrows. When a vizcacha dies in a burrow, +the body is dragged out and thrown on to the mound among the mass of +rubbish collected on it--but not until he has been dead a long time, and +there is nothing left of him but the dry bones held together by the +skin. In that condition the other members of the community probably +cease to look on him as one of their companions who has fallen into a +long sleep; he is no more than so much rubbish, which must be cleared +out of an old disused burrow. Probably the beaver possesses some rude +instinct similar to that of the vizcacha. + +_Apropos_ of animals burying their treasures (or connections) for +safety, it is worth mentioning that the skunk of the pampas occasionally +buries her young in the kennel, when hunger compels her to go out +foraging. I had often heard of this habit of the female skunk from the +gauchos, and one day had the rare good fortune to witness an animal +engaged in obliterating her own kennel. The senses of the skunk are so +defective that one is able at times to approach very near to without +alarming them. In this instance I sat on my horse at a distance of +twenty yards, and watched the animal at work, drawing in the loose earth +with her fore feet until the entrance to the kennel was filled up to +within three inches of the surface; then, dropping into the shallow +cavity, she pressed the loose mould down with her nose. Her task +finished, she trotted away, and the hollow in the soil, when I examined +it closely, looked only like the mouth of an ancient choked-up burrow. +The young inhabit a circular chamber, lined with fine dry grass, at the +end of a narrow passage from 3 ft. to 5 ft. long, and no doubt have air +enough to serve them until their parent returns; but I believe the skunk +only buries her young when they are very small. + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Naturalist in La Plata, by W. H. Hudson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA *** + +This file should be named 8plat10.txt or 8plat10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8plat11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8plat10a.txt + +Produced by Eric Eldred + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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