312 me. o. v. aplin on the [Mar. 20, 



surface at once and sometimes merely swim away ; they can when 

 swimming along suddenly submerge themselves and disappear, and 

 they can progress under water. I have watched them swimming 

 in a laguna while I stood on the bank in full view. The upper 

 half (or rather less), taking in the eyes, nose, and ears, of their 

 oblong square heads is alone above water, the heads looking like 

 logs of dead wood mysteriously propelled. They swim very slowly. 

 When uneasy the Carpincho gives vent to its alarm-note as it 

 swims along, raising its muzzle out of water for the purpose. 



To produce this extraordinary noise considerable exertion is 

 evidently necessary ; the animal's sides are momentarily inflated 

 (perhaps to take in air for the purpose), when the sudden jerky 

 heave comes and the whole massive body of the beast is shaken. 

 The sound produced is very peculiar. It is very explosive, some- 

 thing between a grunt and a bark, and not unlike the sound of a 

 big dog clearing its throat for a good choke, but is fuller and has 

 more volume. 



The Carpincho, with its heavy-looking head, apparently nearly 

 all jaws, cei'taiuly presents a curious appearance. Senor Bollo 

 says that it is so ugly that it has given rise to the saying in La Plata, 

 " feo como un Carpincho." 



I am inclined to think that the Carpincho takes more than a 

 year to attain its full growth, as there were always a good many 

 to be seen about half the size of the quite old ones, and that they 

 breed before they are full-grown. 



I am unable to say at what season they have young, or whether 

 they breed at any particular season. I shot a young one about two 

 feet long at the end of spring (26th November), and saw two not 

 more than 18 inches long on the 8th May. 



I am also puzzled to say how many young they have at a birth. 

 On the 8th May I saw two females each with a young one, about 

 18 inches long, at her side. I have never seen more than one 

 young one with a female, but this I have often seen ; the young 

 one keeps close to its mother's side and they plunge into the water 

 together. I am aware that the supposition that the Carpincho 

 has only one young one at a birth is contrary to what has been 

 written about this animal, but I merely give my own observations 

 for what they are worth. 



The Carpincho is a nuisance to the sportsman, as by plunging 

 into the lagunas when he comes to close quarters they disturb 

 any birds which may be there. They seem liable to scab, also to 

 some fatal disease, to judge from the number one sees dead or in 

 skeleton. After a long drought, with the rivers drying up and 

 ceasing to flow for weeks, we had a heavy dash of rain, which put 

 the rivers in flood for a day or two, stirred up the rotten mud, 

 and brought down a lot of half-decayed bodies of cattle and bones ; 

 when, therefore, the rivers sank again they were not very pleasant 

 to the olfactory organs. About that date I saw several Carpinchos 

 only just dead, with no marks of violence, except an eye cleaned 

 out after death, no doubt by a Carancho or Vulture. One cannot 



