Studies at Maldonado. 43 



Among the birds of this locality the South Ameri- 

 can quail (Nothura major] attracted his notice by 

 its numbers. He found that the natives were in the 

 habit of catching them by walking around them in a 

 circle, gradually drawing nearer and nearer, the birds 

 becoming confused and huddling together, until 

 finally they could be knocked over with the hand. 



Another method was employed by the children, 

 and consisted in walking around them on a slow 

 horse and throwing a small lasso over them. In this 

 simple manner, says Darwin, a child would take 

 thirty or forty birds a day. 



Darwin's studies at Maldonado were carefully 

 made, and as a result he had a large collection 

 representing the fauna of the place. He took eighty 

 species of birds here, nine species of snakes, and 

 many of the large mammals. In hunting the deer 

 he found that it was easily approached on foot, but 

 fled like the wind before a horse. This was due to 

 the fact that every one rode here, and the animals 

 did not recognise an enemy in the unmounted hun- 

 ter. Darwin took advantage of this, and assuming 

 strange positions so aroused the curiosity of the deer 

 that he could pick them off with ease. 



His collection included eight kinds of gnawers, 

 but, best of all, the king of the tribe, the great capy- 

 bara or Hydrochcerus, This singular animal he found 

 in the Maldonado streams in large numbers, which 

 offered him ample opportunities to observe its ways 

 and habits. One, which he shot at Monte Video, 

 weighed nearly one hundred pounds. They were 

 extremely tame, allowing him to approach within 



