178 Wild Beasts 



over is rarely found except in herds. An attack upon one 

 member of the band is instantly and fiercely resented by 

 all, so that strategy upon the jaguar's part is essential to 

 success. 



It is not at all unusual to find people congratulating 

 themselves upon the assumed fact that formidable brutes 

 are unacquainted with their own strength and skill. This 

 is one of the many mistakes made concerning lower 

 animals. 



Returning to the jaguar's general description, one of his 

 most eccentric propensities is the pursuit of alligators. 

 The jaguar kills and eats these reptiles from choice ; or in 

 many instances, simply bites their tails off and lets them 

 go. H. W. Bates found a recently-killed alligator partly 

 eaten. Orton refers to this habit as well known, and both 

 Smith and Wallace speak of it as a matter of common 

 notoriety. 



Like all species among the Felidce, this one is nocturnal. 

 Their "dull, deadly-looking eyes," as Barton Premium 

 describes them, are not adapted to excess of light. In 

 remote and secluded places, however, and in the dark 

 recesses of a tropical forest they prowl at all hours, and 

 the author has met with these beasts in the full glare of 

 a vertical sun. 



When a jaguar sets out on a foraging expedition at 

 night, he begins to roar like the lion as he leaves his 

 lair; and again like his majesty, he keeps this up at 

 more or less regular intervals until he actually begins to 

 hunt. Jaguars are noisy animals at all times, says Dar- 

 win, but they are especially so upon stormy nights, when 



