342 THE Z00LOGIST. 
NOTES ON THE HAIRY ARMADILLO (DASYPUS 
VILLOSUS). 
By Lionet E. Apams, B.A. 
Ramsuine lately in the wild country up the River Parana, I 
made the acquaintance of this interesting creature in the follow- 
ing manner. 
On the cactus-covered plain I frequently came upon congre- 
gations of mounds of sand about the size of large moles’ 
fortresses, and evidently formed in a similar manner, viz. by 
ejection from subterranean workings. The entrances to the 
burrows from which the material had been ejected were at the 
bases of the mounds, and were almost invariably blocked up, 
quite unlike the large open-mouthed burrows of the Vizcacha 
with which I was acquainted. I failed to find any footprints on 
the hard ground, but often found excreta resembling that of 
rabbits but larger. I made inquiries of the country people, and 
was told that the animal which made the mounds was called 
‘Touc-Touc.”” I was, of course, no wiser than before, nor was 
I more enlightened when a comparatively educated man told me 
that the ‘‘ Touc-Touc”’ was the same as the ‘‘ Peludo.” ‘This 
word I found in my Spanish dictionary to mean “ an oval hairy 
mat,’ not a bad descriptive name for the species in question, 
though at the time I did not recognize it as such. Some of the 
Guachos called it the ‘‘Quirquincho,”’ a term borrowed from the 
Indians of the Chaco. 
However, one day, while walking among some fresh heaps, I 
heard a mysterious sound—“ Touc-a-touc, Touc-a-touc, Touc-a- 
touc, Touc, Touc, Touc”—very difficult to locate. Listening 
carefully I approached the direction of the sound, when suddenly 
it ceased. I sat down on a heap to watch and listen, and 
presently the sound began again about ten yards away in a 
different direction. As I listened I perceived that it came from 
underground, and I recognized the appropriateness of the 
