1392 THE EDENTATES 



pygmy armadillo (D. minutus} of Argentine, are much smaller forms, of which the 

 second is distinguished by the absence of any teeth in the premaxillary bones. 



The different species of the genus vary somewhat in habits; the 

 pichi being mainly diurnal, while in the cultivated districts of Argen- 

 tine the peludo has become nocturnal. The pichi, according to Mr. Darwin, prefers 

 a very dry soil, and the sand dunes near the coast, where for many months it can 

 never taste water, are its favorite resort; it often tries to escape notice by squatting 

 close to the ground. All of these species live in burrows, where in winter or spring 

 the young are born; the number in a litter varying from two to four, although the 

 female has but a single pair of teats with which to afford them nourishment. The 

 young are born blind, but with their armor fully formed, although soft and flexible. 

 They grow with great rapidity, and remain for several weeks in the burrows; it is 

 believed, however, that they are not suckled for any very lengthened period, and that 

 they soon learn to shift for themselves. The armadillos of this genus are usually 

 found alone, and most of them feed chiefly on ants and other insects, although they 

 will also attack and devour small snakes. On the other hand, the peludo is omniv- 

 orous. Dr. E. Peard writes that this species ' ' comes forth for a short time only by 

 day; on a moonlight night he may be met with at any hour. I have very often 

 made a peludo post-mortem examination, and several times found his last meal con- 

 sisted of putrid flesh, as well as insects and vegetable fibre. I do not mean to assert 

 that he cannot live on vegetables alone; but he evidently does not prefer them, and 

 looks on a dead lamb or other animal as a bonne bouche by no means to be despised. 

 A fresh peludo burrow may almost invariably be found by or underneath a stinking 

 carcass. This is not merely that the occupant may avail himself of the maggots 

 bred in the carrion, for pieces of the flesh may frequently be seen drawn partly into 

 the burrow, and the softer parts chewed and eaten." These flesh-eating propensi- 

 ties of the peludo frequently lead to its destruction, since these animals often devour 

 the poisoned meat spread for wandering dogs and foxes. It is also stated that in 

 some districts, where peludoes are so numerous as to render riding dangerous, on 

 account of their burrows, flesh poisoned with strychnine is exposed for their de- 

 struction. The foregoing observations are confirmed by Mr. W. H. Hudson, who 

 writes that the peludo, like its fast-disappearing congeners, "is an insect-eater still, 

 but does not like them seek its food on the surface and on 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 below the surface. Its method of taking worms and larvae re- 

 sembles 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 fledgelings; 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 carcass of a 

 horse or cow as long as the flesh lasts. ' ' Mr. Hudson adds that this armadillo re- 

 sorts to a vegetable diet only when animal food fails, and states that on such occa- 

 sions it will eat not only clover, but likewise grains of maize, which are swallowed 



