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 Felida3 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 gaiety 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 



