190 Idle Days in Patagonia. 



of a puma or wild cat, blazing with wrath, are 

 wonderful to see ; sometimes the sight of them 

 affects one like an electric shock ; but for intense 

 brilliance and quick changes, the dark orbs kindling 

 with the startling suddenness of a cloud illumined 

 by flashes of lightning, the yellow globes of the owl 

 are unparalleled. Some readers might think my 

 language exaggerated. Descriptions of bright sun- 

 sets and of storms with thunder and lightning 

 would, no doubt, sound extravagant to one who had 

 never witnessed these phenomena. Those only who 

 spend years " conversing with wild animals in 

 desert places," to quote Azara's words, know that, 

 as with the atmosphere, so with animal life, there 

 are special moments ; and that a creature present- 

 ing a very sorry appearance dead in a museum, or 

 living in captivity, may, when hard pressed and 

 fighting for life in its own fastness, he sublimed by 

 its fury into a weird and terrible object. 



Nature has many surprises for those who wait on 

 her ; one of the greatest she ever favoured me with 

 was the sight of a wounded Magellanic eagle-owl 

 I shot in Patagonia. The haunt of this bird was an 

 island in the river, overgrown with giant grasses 

 and tall willows, leafless now, for it was in the 

 middle of winter. Here I sought for and found 

 him waiting on his perch for the sun to set. He 

 eyed me so calmly when I aimed my gun, I scarcely 

 had the heart to pull the trigger. He had reigned 

 there so long, the feudal tyrant of that remote 

 wilderness ! Many a water-rat, stealing like a 



