1894.] MAMMALS OF UBTTeUAT. 299 



as a small cub and brought up at Santa Eleaa became perfectly- 

 tame. He was kept on chain, and upon being visited would 

 jump up like a dog, and also throw him-elf at full length on his 

 side upon the ground to have his back and sides tickled, closing 

 his eyes and making a whining noise. The difficulty was to get 

 away from him, and his mode of pressing his visitor to stay was 

 to take hold of the latter's breeches Viith. his little sharp teeth. 

 It has sometimes been doubted whether foxes wag their tails. This 

 animal certainly used to wave his tail gently from side to side 

 when he was pleased. He would follow the peon who attended to 

 him like a dog, and ultimately (with a companion) was brought by 

 me to England. 



Aguaba (Canis sp. inc.). 



AVe had also another species of Dog known to the peones as 

 the Aguara. This animal is said by them to live in the rocky 

 cerros and in the least frequented parts of the district, and to 

 put in an appearance chiefly at lambing time. They also say that 

 it is " muy brava," and that a dog which has no difficulty in 

 overcoming an ordinary " Zorro '' always has a hard fight with, and 

 is sometimes turned bj', an " Aguara." I procured some skins, 

 but unfortunately the only skull I got could not be brought home. 

 The points in which this animal differs from the ordinary grey fox 

 are these : — (i.) It has the head shorter and broader in proportion, 

 (ii.) The ears are short and rounded instead of long and pointed, 

 (iii.) The general colour of the body is warmer, there being a flush 

 of reddish yellow in the fur. (iv.) The brush is shorter in pro- 

 portion, (v.) There is a line of nearly black hairs beginning at 

 the scruff of the neck and passing down the line of the backbone ; 

 this hair is thickest at the scruff of the neck and above the shoulders, 

 and approaches in character the mane of the Canis juhatus. The 

 blackness is continued on to the brush, (vi.) The whole animal 

 is stronger and more robust, (vii.) The appearance of the animal 

 and the genei-al aspect of the head in life are (judging from a sup- 

 posed hybrid between the Aguara and Zorro) very different. This 

 is caused by the ears being farther apart and slanting outwards 

 more than those of the Zorro. 



One or two of these were trapped at Santa Elena about April 

 and May, when the Merinos were lambing, and I saM' skins of 

 others. The marks of difference are not so clear in all cases, and 

 it is probable that interbreeding takes place (if indeed this Aguara 

 is a distinct species). 



I hope to obtain a skull, and then perhaps the identity of the 

 Aguara of Uruguay may be setrled. 



It agrees with Dr. Burmeister's description of Canis cancrivorus, 

 Desmarest, better than with any other I have read (Desc. Phvs. 

 p. 148). 



One of these intermediate specimens, a half-grown example, was 

 trapped and brought up to the estancia alive. Its different 

 appearance, consequent upon the width of the skull and the distance 



