114 ABMADILLOS AND AAED-VARKS. 



absence of tiie large external ears whicb. form such a 

 characteristic feature in the physiognomy of the latter. 



Reverting to the true armadillos, "we find that the 

 majority of the species protect themselves from attack by 

 squatting on the ground, and tucking their Mmbs within 

 the shelter of the edges of the armour of the body, while 

 the plated head is drawn as close as possible to the front 

 shield. On the other hand, the species represented in 

 Fig. 34 has the power of rolling itself up into a complete 

 ball, like the pill-millipedes of our own country, the wedge- 

 shaped head and tail fitting most perfectly side by side 

 into the deej> notches of the front and hind shields. 

 Thus coiled up, the three-banded armadillo is safe from 

 most animals except man. Trusting in this immunity from 

 attack, this armadillo, together with two other species 

 inhabiting the Argentine, has become almost exclusively 

 diurnal in its habits. These diurnal habits, as Mr. W. H. 

 Hudson, in his charming work, " The Naturalist in La 

 Plata," suggests, may also have had the advantage of 

 avoiding any encounters with the largex animals of prey, 

 which are mostly nocturnal, and some of which may have 

 been able to l)reak through the protecting armour, more 

 especially in the species which lack the power of rolling 

 themselves up. Whatever advantage may have formerlv 

 accrued from these nocturnal habits before the appearance 

 of man on the scene, is, however, now completely lost in 

 cultivated districts, wliere these species stand a good 

 chance of being completely exterminated by the hand of 

 man. 



On the other hand, the six-banded peludo, or hairy 

 armadillo (Fig. 36), of the Argentine, which differs from 

 its cousins in preferring an omnivorous diet to one of 

 insects, is a far wiser beast in its generation. This creature, 

 according to Mr. Hudson, adapts itself to the conditions 

 under which it exists, and thus stands a good chance of 

 surviving when its fully- armoured relatives perish. "Where 

 nocturnal carnivores are its enemies," writes the observer 

 mentioned, " it is diurnal ; but where man appears as a 

 chief persecutor, it becomes nocturnal. It is much hunted 

 for its flesh, dogs being trained for the piu-pose ; yet it 



