THE ARMADILLOS 1393 



whole. The peludo also displays marked intelligence in capturing some of the ani- 

 mals on which it preys. Mr. Hudson had a tame one which was an adept at catch- 

 ing mice in a most ingenious manner. After stating that the creature had a most 

 keen sense of smell, and was in the habit of trotting along with its nose to the 

 ground like a beagle, Mr. Hudson writes that ' ' when near his prey he became agi- 

 tated, and quickened his motions, pausing frequently to sniff the earth, till discov- 

 ering 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 forward, 

 throwing his body like a trap over the mouse or nest of mice concealed in the 

 grass." Still more remarkable is the manner in which a peludo has been observed 

 to kill a snake, by rushing upon it and proceeding to saw the unfortunate reptile in 

 pieces by pressing upon it closely with the jagged edges of its armor, and at the 

 same time moving its body backward and forward. The struggles of the snake 

 were all in vain, as its fangs could make no impression upon the panoply of its 

 assailant; and eventually the reptile slowly dropped and died, to be soon after de- 

 voured by the armadillo, which commenced the meal by seizing the snake's tail in 

 its mouth,and gradually eating forward. 



Both the peludo and the weasel-headed armadillo are hunted for the 

 sake of their flesh, with dogs especially trained for the purpose. A 

 moonlight night is generally selected for the pursuit, and the hunter arms himself 

 with a stout cudgel, pointed at one end. As soon as the armadillo perceives the 

 dog, it either makes straight for its burrow, or endeavors to bury itself by digging 

 a hole where it stands. If the dog come up with the creature before it gain its re- 

 treat, its fate is sealed. As the carapace affords no hold, the dog generally seizes 

 the armadillo by the head, or a paw, and holds it till the arrival of his master, by 

 whom it is dispatched with a blow on the head from his stick. A specially clever 

 dog will, however, endeavor to overthrow the armadillo as it runs by thrusting his 

 nose under the edge of the carapace. The creature is then promptly seized by the 

 soft under parts, and soon killed; the teeth of the dog crunching up the edges of the 

 carapace as readily as an eggshell is crushed in the hand. 



The tatouay, or broad-banded armadillo (Lysiurus unicinctus], of 

 . ' ... Surinam, Brazil, and Paraguay, is the best-known representative of a 

 small genus distinguished from the last by the presence of twelve or 

 thirteen movable bands in the carapace, and likewise by the teeth. The latter are 

 either eight or nine in number on each side of both the upper and lower jaws, and 

 are of moderate size; while in the upper jaw the last of the series is placed consider- 

 ably in advance of the hinder extremity of the bony palate, instead of close to it, as 

 in the preceding group. The head has the same general form as in the six-banded 

 armadillos, with rather widely-separated, large, and rounded ears, and by the pres- 

 ence of from twenty to twenty-five teeth on each side of the jaws. The slender tail, 

 which is considerably shorter than the body, is nearly naked, except for a few bony 

 plates on its under surface and near the tip. In the fore-foot the third toe has a 

 huge curved claw, much larger than that on either of the others; the claws of the 

 first and second toes being slender. The hind-feet have short triangular nails, of 

 which the first is the shortest and the third the longest. The bones of the armor 

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