172 IDLE DAYS IN PATAGONIA 



or vines seen everywhere on the ground, and mo- 

 tionless like the vine, does not more closely as- 

 similate to its surroundings than birds in trees 

 often do the birds which the Indian must also 

 see. A stranger in these regions, even the natural- 

 ist with a sight quickened by enthusiasm, finds it 

 hard to detect a parrot in a lofty tree, even when 

 he knows that parrots are there ; for their green- 

 ness in the green foliage, and the correlated habit 

 they possess of remaining silent and motionless 

 in the presence of an intruder, make them invisible 

 to him, and he is astonished that the Indian should 

 be able to detect them. The Indian knows how to 

 look for them; it is his trade, which is long to 

 learn ; but he is obliged to learn it, for his success 

 in life, and even life itself, depends on it, since 

 in the savage state Nature kills those who fail in 

 her competitive examinations. 



The reader has doubtless often seen those little 

 picture-puzzles, variously labeled "Where's the 

 Cat!" or "Mad Bull," or "Burglar," or "Police- 

 man," or "Snake in the Grass," etc., in which the 

 thing named and to be discovered is formed by 

 branches and foliage, and by running water, and 

 drapery, and lights and shadows in the sketch. 

 At first one finds it extremely difficult to detect 

 this picture within a picture; and at last with 

 the suddenness with which one invariably detects 

 a dull-colored snake, seen previously but not dis- 

 tinguished the object sought for appears, and 

 is thereafter so plain to the eye that one cannot 



