168 BULLETIN 56, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Peccaries abound in the Pajarito Mountains and at La Osa, Pima 

 County, Arizona. At the La Osa ranch Mrs. W. S. Sturges had 

 several as pets that had been presented when very young by Papago 

 Indians whom she had befriended. Tliey become gentle and affec- 

 tionate, if not maltreated, but exceedingly vicious if teased and hurt. 

 One that I bought from a Mexican lad was fondled and kissed by 

 its owner, who parted from it with tears. It followed us about in the 

 camps, where, from its habit of rubbing against one, it received sev- 

 eral hard kicks from frightened teamsters at night, which wrought 

 such a change in its previously friendly disposition that no one could 

 safely approach it, on whiclx account I was obliged to send it to the 

 National Zoological Pai-k, where it became tractable. 



On the whole, peccaries were not abundant on the boundary strip. 

 A\Tienever any were killed they were eaten as a novelty and usually 

 considered good meat. They are cleanly animals, but, on account 

 of their musk glands, require careful dressing for the table. 



They were abundant at Pozo de Luis, Sonora, where they usually 

 frequented rocky hills. Their tracks and wallows Avere seen every- 

 where about the base of the mountains. When hunting with Lieut. 

 William H. Bean in December, 1893, we surprised a small herd of 

 peccaries that was wallowing among some j^rickly-pear cacti in a 

 ravine at the foot of the Sierra del Cobota, Sonora. All but one ran 

 rapidly over a ridge and disappeared ; but that one stood still, behind 

 a bush, and was shot. I then ran to the summit of the ridge in the 

 expectation of obtaining a view of the retreating herd, and in doing 

 so almost ran over the wounded peccary, which I saw had its foreleg 

 shot through close to the bodj'. With a grunt the wounded animal 

 dashed down a hillside through cacti and shubbery so thick that I 

 was unable to get another glimpse of it. Following up the herd, Lieu- 

 tenant Bean and I obtained several more shots at the fleeing peccaries, 

 all of which escaped by hiding in caves and among piles of rocks com- 

 posing the talus at the base of a cliff. A little later I returned alone to 

 the spot where the peccary had been wounded, and my attention was 

 attracted to a crying suckling, which I at length descried among the 

 large joints of a prickly pear, looking very much distressed over its 

 sudden abandonment. It was a wee thing of a reddish color, quite 

 different from its parents. Supposing I might be able to catch it 

 alive, I stooped and made the attempt, whereupon the tiny pig 

 squealed and vanished so swiftly that I could not attempt to shoot it. 

 Later Lieutenant Bean joined in a search, and we were rewarded by 

 finding the little beast, which was espied running along an open space 

 on a neighboring ridge. Seeing where it tried to hide, I chased it up 

 and fired at it several times with my rifle; but it darted so nimbly 

 through the dense growth that it was unhurt, although it collided 



