90 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 



'^This animal is found only where the country has rather a desert character. 

 It is a common feature in the landscape of Patagonia, to see in the distance 

 two or three of these Cavies hopping one after another in a straight line over the 

 gravelly plains, thinly clothed by a few thorny bushes and a withered herbage. 

 Near the coast of the Atlantic, the northern limit of this species is formed by the 

 Sierra Tapalguen, in latitude 37° 30', where the plains rather suddenly become 

 greener and more humid. The limit certainly depends on this change, since near 

 Mendoza, (33° 30'.) four degrees further northward, where the country is very sterile, 

 this animal again occurs. Azara erroneously supposed that its northern range 

 was only 35°. * It is not clear on what circumstances its limit southward between 

 Ports Desire and St. Julian (about 48° 30'.) depends ; for there is in that part no 

 change in the features of the country. It is, moreover, a singular circumstance, 

 that although the Cavy was not seen at Port St. Julian during our voyage, yet 



Wood 



What 



have altered, in a wide, uninhabited, and rarely visited country, the range of an 



animal like this ? 



t 



that of the Bizcacha. Wherever this animal is present, without doubt this is 

 true ; but on the sandy plains of Bahia Blanca, where the Bizcacha is not found, 

 the Spaniards maintain that the Cavy is its own workman. The same thing 

 occurs with the little owls of the Pampas (Noctna cunicularia) , which have been 

 described by travellers as standing like sentinels at the mouths of almost every 

 burrow ; for in Banda Oriental, owing to the absence of the Bizcacha, these birds 

 are obliged to hollow out their own habitations. Azara says, also, that this Cavy, 

 except when pressed by danger, does not enter its burrow ; on this point I must 

 again differ from that high authority. At Bahia Blanca I have repeatedly seen 

 two or three of these animals sitting on their haunches by the mouths of their 

 holes, which they quietly entered as I passed by at a distance. Daily, in the 

 neighbourhood of these spots, the Cavies were abundant : but differently from 

 most burrowing animals, they wander, commonly two or three together, to miles 

 or leagues from their home ; nor do I know whether they return at night. The 

 Cavy feeds and roams about by day ; is shy and watchful ; seldom squats after 

 the manner of a hare ; cannot run very fast, and, therefore, is frequently caught 

 by a couple of dogs, even of mixed breed. Its manner of running more resembles 

 that of a rabbit than of a hare. The Cavy generally produces two young ones 

 at a birth, which are brought forth within the burrow. The flesh, when cooked, is 



* Azara, Voyage dans 1' Amerique Meridionale, vol. i. p. 318 

 t Azara, Quadrupeds of Paraguay. 



