196 CENTRAL CHILE fcHAP. xii, 



and cold latitudes (53 to 54) of Tierra del Fuego. I have seen its 

 footsteps in the Cordillera of Central Chile, at an elevation of at least 

 10,000 teet. In La Plata the puma preys chiefly on deer, ostriches, 

 bizcacha, and other small quadrupeds ; it there seldom attacks cattle or 

 horses, and most rarely man. In Chile, however, it destroys many 

 young horses and cattle, owing probably to the scarcity of other quad- 

 rupeds ; I heard, likewise, of two men and a woman who had been 

 thus killed. It is asserted that the puma always kills its prey by 

 springing on the shoulders, and then drawing back the head with one 

 of its paws, until the vertebrae break ; I have seen in Patagonia, the 

 skeletons of guanacos, with their necks thus dislocated. 



The puma, after eating its fill, covers the carcass with many large 

 bushes, and lies down to watch it. This habit is often the cause of its 

 being discovered ; for the condors wheeling in the air, every now and 

 then descend to partake of the feast, and being angrily driven away, rise 

 all together on the wing. The Chileno Guaso then knows there is a 

 lion watching his prey the word is given and men and dogs hurry to 

 the chase. Sir F. Head says that a Gaucho in the Pampas, upon 

 merely seeing some condors wheeling in the air, cried, " A lion ! " I 

 could never myself meet with any one who pretended to such powers of 

 discrimination. It is asserted, that if a puma has once been betrayed 

 by thus watching the carcass, and has then been hunted, it never resumes 

 this habit : but that having gorged itself, it wanders far away. The puma 

 is easily killed. In an open country, it is first entangled with the bolas, 

 then lazoed, and dragged along the ground till rendered insensible. 

 At Tandeel (south of the Plata) I was told that within three months one 

 hundred were thus destroyed. In Chile they are generally driven up 

 bushes or trees, and are then either shot, or baited to death by dogs. 

 The dogs employed in this chase belong to a particular breed, called 

 Leoneros ; they are weak, slight animals, like long-legged terriers, but 

 are born with a particular instinct for this sport. The puma is described 

 as being very crafty ; when pursued, it often returns on its former track, 

 and then suddenly making a spring on one side, waits there till the dogs 

 have passed by. It is a very silent animal, uttering no cry even when 

 wounded, and only rarely during the breeding season. 



Of birds, two species of the genus Pteroptochos (megapodius and 

 albicollis of Kittlitz) are perhaps the most conspicuous. The former, 

 called by the Chillenos " el Turco," is as large as a fieldfare, to which 

 bird it has some alliance ; but its legs are much longer, tail shorter, and 

 beak stronger ; its colour is a reddish-brown. The Turco is not uncom- 

 mon. It lives on the ground, sheltered among the thickets which are 

 scattered over the dry and sterile hills. With its tail erect, and stilt- 

 like legs, it may be seen every now and then popping from one bush to 

 another with uncommon quickness. It really requires little imagination 

 to believe that the bird is ashamed of itself, and is aware of its most 

 ridiculous figure. On first seeing it, one is tempted to exclaim, " A 

 vilely stuffed specimen has escaped from some museum, and has come 

 to life again 1 " It cannot be made to take flight without the greatest 

 trouble, nor does it run, but only hops. The various loud cries which 



