40 The Naturalist in La Plata. 
injured by any other animal. His opinion was that 
it had come down from the hills in a starving con- 
dition, 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 Felide 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 gaietiy 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 
