770 THE PICHICIAGO. 



Tatu. It is found in the open country, and is a good burrower. The natives seek it 

 on account of the flesh, which is tender and well flavored. In Messrs. Audubon and 

 Buchanan's well-known work, is the following account of the Peba : "The Armadillo 

 is not a fighting character, but, on the contrary, is more peaceable than even the 

 opossum, which will at times bite in a sly and treacherous manner quite severely. 



A friend of ours, who formerly resided in South America, had a pet Armadillo in 

 his bed-chamber, where it generally remained quiet during the day, but in the dark 

 hours was active and playful. One night after he had gone to bed, the Armadillo 

 began dragging about the chairs and some Coxes that were placed round the room, and 

 continued so busily engaged at this occupation that our friend could not sleep. He at 

 length arose and struck a light, when, to his surprise, he found that boxes which he 

 had supposed too heavy for such an animal to stir, had been moved and placed to- 

 gether, so as to form a sort of den or hiding-place in a corner, into which the animal 

 retreated with great apparent satisfaction, and from whence it could only be drawn 

 out after a hard struggle, and the receipt of some severe strokes from its claws. 



But, in general, the Armadillo does not evince any disposition lo resent an attack, 

 and, in fact one of them, when teased by a pet parrot, struck out with its claws only 

 till pressed by the bird, when it drew in its head and feet, and, secure in its tough shell, 

 yielded, without seeming to care much about it, to its noisy and mischievous tormentor, 

 until the parrot left it to seek some less apathetic and more vulnerable object." 



THE little PICHEY ARMADILLO (Tattisia minuta) is only fourteen inches in length, the 

 tail being four inches long. Like many of the African antelopes, it appears to be 

 almost independent of water, and can live for months together without needing to 

 drink. The food consists of various insects, small reptiles, and several kinds of roots, 

 from the latter of which articles it hardly obtains the needful supply of moisture. It 

 is a very active and rapid burrower, sinking below the ground with such celerity, that 

 if a man on horseback sees a Pichey scrambling over the ground, and wishes to secure 

 it, he can hardly leap from his steed and stoop to take it up, before it has burrowed 

 out of his reach. It also endeavors to escape observation by crouching closely to 

 the ground, as if it were a stony pebble or lump of earth. Another example of the 

 Armadillos is the TATOUAY (Xenurus unicinctus). This animal is mostly remarkable 

 for the undefended state of its tail, which is devoid of the bony rings that encircle 

 the same member in the other Armadillos, and is only supplied with a coating of 

 brown hair. For about three inches of the extremity the under side of the tail is 

 not even furnished with hair but is quite naked, with the exception of a few rounded 

 scales. 



The last and largest of these animals is the TATOU, or GIANT ARMADILLO (Priodonta 

 gigas.) 



This creature measures more than four feet six inches in length, the head and body 

 being rather more than three feet long. It is as good a burrower as its relatives, and 

 is so keen in its scent after the food which it loves, that the inhabitants of the same 

 country are forced to line the graves of their departed friends with boards, in order to 

 prevent the Tatou from exhuming and devouring them. The teeth are very remarkable, 

 there being from sixteen to eighteen small molars on each side of the jaws. The tail 

 is about seventeen inches long, and tapers gradually to a point from the base, at which 

 spot it is nearly ten inches in circumference. This member is covered with regularly 

 graduating horny rings, and when dried and hollowed, is used as a trumpet by the 

 Botocudos. The Tatou is found in Brazil and Surinam. 



NEARLY related to the armadillos is the remarkable little animal called the PICHICIAGO 

 (Chlamydbphorus truncatus), a native of Chili, which looks like a mixture of the mole 

 and the armadillo. 



The top of the head, the back, and the hind quarters of the Pichiciago are covered with 

 a shelly plate, which runs unbroken to the haunches, over which it dips suddenly, looking 

 as if the creature had been chopped short by the blow of a hatchet, and a piece of shell 



