FAUNA OF ARGENTINA. 403 



to the gate of its owner's house, to die, although iu the healthy state it avoids its 

 master as an enemj^, and has to be captured with a lasso. " In this case also the 

 explanation would appear to be that the animal remembers how relief is always 

 sure to come at his master's door, after he has been ridden for twelve or fifteen 

 hours on the pampas, burdened with the ponderous native saddle, with its huge sur- 

 cingle of raw hide drawn up so tightly as to hinder free respiration." * 



The Argentina avifauna is represented by a great diversity of forms, from the 

 huge vulture to the tiny hummiug-bird. It includes many species of parrokeets, 

 as well as the Condor, still common in the Sierras de Sans Luis and de Cordoba, 

 and the nandu ostrich, which is now a familiar sight in many farm-yards. Of 

 the aquatic birds the largest is the " race-horse duck," better known as the 

 " steamer duck," from the close resemblance which the action of its wings bears to 

 the beat of the paddles as it moves with surprising rajjidity, half swimming, half 

 flying, over the surface of the water, and leaving a long streak in its wake. They 

 live chiefly on mussels, and some of the drakes are nearly four feet long from the 

 bill to the extremity of the tail. 



In the Pampas flamingoes abound. They are considerably smaller than the 

 African species, but of richer colour. The slender legs, about sixteen inches long, 

 are of a bright red hue, like that of the tail feathers, while the general plumage . 

 is of a delicate rosy tint, contrasting with the black colour of the pen feathers. 

 These aquatic birds may often be seen wading in the shallow saline lagoons of the 

 pampas in such numbers as to impart a lovely roseate colour to the scene viewed 

 from a little distance. The effect is much heightened by the constant flash of 

 the various tints in the sunlight, as they flip iheir wings or take flight when 

 startled by any sudden noise. 



Like the other divisions of the Argentine fauna, the reptile world attests a 

 general falling off of vital energy south of the torrid zone. The various species 

 of turtles are smaller than their Brazilian congeners ; the jacare alligators, 

 which swarm in the lagoons and lakes of Corrientes, average scarcely more 

 than six or seven feet in length, and rarely reach ten. South of Santa Fé they 

 have disappeared altogether. The boas are not met beyond the region of 

 Santiago del Estero, and the rattle- snake ranges no farther south than the 

 Cordoba uplands. 



Amongst the blood-sucking insect pests mention is made of the Ixodes, a species 

 of tick of the jigger type, which swarms throughout Argentina, and ranges as 

 far north as Central America. They are a fearful niiisance, and seem to 

 pervade the very atmosphere. Clustering in myriads about the tips of twigs and 

 branches, they attach themselves to every passing animal by means of the hooks 

 with which their feet are armed. Lean and flat when vegetating on the plants, 

 they swell to the shape and size of a Barcelona nut after feasting on their victims. 

 " The white globe is leathery, and nothing can injure it ; the poor beast cannot 

 rub, bite, or scratch it off, as it is anchored to his flesh by eight sets of hooks and 

 a triangle of teeth. 



* Hudson, The Naturalist in La Plata, p. 324. 



