THE AGOUTI. Oy 



Agouti (Cavia Patagomca) is the commonest quacl- 

 rupetl. This animal here represents our hares. 

 It differs, however, from that genus in many essen- 

 tial respects ; for instance, it has only three toes 

 behind. It is also nearly twice the size, weighing 

 from twenty to twenty-five pounds. The Agouti 

 is a true friend of the desert ; it is a common feature 

 in the landscape to sec two or three hopping quickly 

 one after the other in a straight lino across these 

 wild plains. They are found as far north as the 

 SieiTa Tapalguen (lat. 37° 30') where the plain 

 rather suddenly becomes greener and more humid; 

 and their southern limit is between Port Desire 

 and St. Julian, where there is no change in the 

 nature of the country. It is a singular fact, that 

 although the Agouti is not now found as far south as 

 Port St. Julian, yet that Captain Wood, in his voy- 

 age in 1670, talks of them as being numerous there. 

 What cause can have altered, in a wide, uninhab- 

 ited, and rarely- visited countiy, the range of an 

 animal like this 1 It appears also fi-om the number 

 shot by Captain Wood in one day at Port Desire, 

 that they must have been considerably more abun- 

 dant there formerly than at present. Where the 

 Bizcacha lives and makes its buiTows, the Agouti 

 uses them ; but where, as at Bahia Blanca, the 

 Bizcacha is not found, the Agouti buiTows for itself. 

 The same thing occurs with the little owl of the 

 Pampas (Athene cunicularia), which has so often 

 been described as standing like a sentinel at the 

 mouth of the buiTows ; for in Banda Oriental, owing 

 to the absence of the Bizcacha, it is obliged to hol- 

 low out its own habitation. 



The next morning, as we approached the Rio 

 Colorado, the appearance of the country changed ; 

 we soon came on a plain covered with turf, which, 

 from its flowers, tall clover, and little owls, resem- 



