348 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



attitude. But on no occasion, thougli often much provoked, did 

 it ever endeavour to bite me, nor show any active hostilities to 

 strangers. " Cobbie " was the name it answered to, giving a 

 little grunt of acknowledgment each time I called it, just as in a 

 similar case a dog wags its tail. If I walked up and down my 

 room, it followed my boots, getting always in their way when I 

 turned, and being awfully put out if I quietly stepped on to a 

 chair and it could not find them. When neglected, it passed 

 through three stages of resentment; first endeavouring to ascertain 

 my whereabouts by a loud guttural call, then whimpering 

 plaintively, and finally losing its temper and dashing frantically 

 about, giving vent to violent screams, with a droll nasal intonation, 

 like an enraged Yankee baby. After a heavy fall it would gather 

 itself slowly together, indulge in a moment's reflection, and then 

 utter a long and most portentous groan. But indeed I have never 

 yet met with any quadruped whose power of expressing its 

 emotions so closely resembled that of a human being, articulation 

 excepted. 



In conclusion, I may mention that about the years 1845, 1846, 

 and 1847, the Nutria was the indirect cause of great loss to the 

 stock-breeders, in this district at least. Peons could not be got 

 to attend to the cattle as long as they could find Nutrias, and the 

 former consequently turned wild and unmanageable, which "meant 

 ruination," as the owner of 10,000 head emphatically said to me. 

 Then all these men kept packs of eight and ten dogs, which, 

 when the Nutria hunting was prohibited by Rosas (the governor), 

 or their owners taken for army service by that tyrant, were driven 

 away, strayed, and caused the wild-dog plague. Sheep and young 

 calves were killed by thousands, and only vigorous persecution 

 gradually reduced the evil. It is many years since this establish- 

 ment dropped paying head-money for the dogs, but the account 

 then registered over 2,200. We have a few still existing, but 

 they only kill a few sheep, comparatively speaking, perhaps fifty 

 per annum. 



V. — On the Cajjercaillie in Scotland {Tetrao urogallus, L.), with 

 special reference to damage done to Pine forests. By Mr John 

 A. Harvie-Brown, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 



The writer stated that the present paper was preliminary to 

 an extended one, for which he was collecting information, which 



