70 A JAGUAR-HUNT ON THE TAQUARY 



crimson heads and necks and thighs, fairly blazed ; often 

 a dozen sat together on a swajdng papyrus-stem, which 

 their weight bent over. There were all kinds of extra- 

 ordinary birds'-nests in the trees. There is still need 

 for the work of the collector in South America. But I 

 believe that already, so far as birds are concerned, there 

 is infinitely more need for the work of the careful 

 observer, who to the power of appreciation and obser- 

 vation adds the power of vivid, truthful, and interesting 

 narration — which means, as scientists no less than histo- 

 rians should note, that training in the writing of good 

 Enghsh is indispensable to any learned man who expects 

 to make his learning count for what it ought to count 

 in the effect on his feUow-men. The outdoor naturalist, 

 the faunal naturaUst, who devotes himself primarily to 

 a study of the habits and of the life-histories of birds, 

 beasts, fish, and reptUes, and who can portray, truth- 

 fully and vividly, what he has seen, could do work of 

 more usefulness than any mere collector, in this upper 

 Paraguay country. The work of the collector is indis- 

 pensable ; but it is only a small part of the work that 

 ought to be done ; and after collecting has reached a 

 certain point the work of the field observer with the 

 gift for recording what he has seen becomes of far more 

 importance. 



The long days spent riding through the swamp, 

 the pantanal, were pleasant and interesting. Several 

 times we saw the tamandua bandeira, the giant ant- 

 bear. Kermit shot one because the naturalists eagerly 

 wished for a second specimen ; afterward we were 

 reUeved of all necessity to molest the strange, out-of- 

 date creatures. It was a surprise to us to find them 

 habitually frequenting the open marsh. They were 

 always on muddy ground, and in the papyrus-swamp 



