346 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



ostrich feathers. Though rather tender till dried, they strip off 

 very quickly and easily ; their colour is a dark blue-black. 



To the fragile formation of the cranium I have already 

 alluded — a mere tap being sufficient to fracture it. But the 

 muscles of the jaws resemble those of the Biscacho (Littra 

 trichodadylus) in respect of power, while the teeth are even 

 sharper. At bay, the Nutria adopts the same posture as the 

 Kangeroo, upright, and with the forepaws dangling on the breast, 

 while it faces round and snaps on all sides. If it gets a fair bite at 

 its antagonist, it generally manages to take the piece out, and many 

 a plucky young terrier comes to an untimely end by closing with 

 one as it would do with other "vermin." It possesses the senses 

 of scent and hearing to an acute degree, examining everything 

 by scent rather than sight, and attentive to the slightest strange 

 sound. The cry of the adult resembles a child's wailing, but 

 when young it possesses great variety and power of expression. 



Its food, as I have already mentioned, consists of the blanched 

 ends of certain water-plants, and various field- grasses, which 

 latter it leaves the swamps at night to obtain. I have also seen 

 lucerne used as a bait to entice them to prove the retentive power 

 of fox-traps, and so keen was their appreciation of the one and 

 disregard of the other, that half-a-dozen would be found in the 

 morning, all trapped within a few feet of each other. I have 

 heard, on good authority, that Nutrias had multiplied so much 

 after the flood of 1845, as greatly to injure certain low-lying 

 lands, digging up even the very roots of the grasses. It remains 

 to be seen whether last year's flood — 1 877 — will increase them 

 greatly, but as yet the bulk of the fens are too full to enable 

 one to judge. 



On certain arroyos that have a pretension to banks, and 

 occasionally among the sandhills of the coast, I have found them 

 in burrows, but these are never of any great depth, and are 

 apparently exceptional cases. 



When taken young, the Nutria forms, without exception, 

 the tamest, most amusing, harmless, and cleanly pet I have ever 

 seen, and accordingly I cannot do better than conclude these 

 remarks with some notes upon the one or two I have had in my 

 own possession. The first one brought me was so young that I 

 had to feed it on milk alone, using for that purpose an oological 

 blow-pipe, and on the second day it was intelligent enough to grasp 



