THE COLLARED PECCARY. 59 
of the nose, which projects considerably beyond the 
mouth, is very moveable, and terminates abruptly in 
a broad and flat expansion, in which the large open 
nostrils are placed far apart from each other. The ears 
are small, upright, nearly naked, and of a grayish 
colour. On the legs and muzzle the hairs are extremely 
short. The colour of the young ones is for the first 
year of a uniform reddish brown. 
The Collared Peccary is not a migratory animal. It 
generally passes its life in the forest in which it first 
saw the light, where it is usually met with in pairs or 
in small families. They subsist for the most part on 
vegetable food, chiefly roots, which they procure by 
burrowing in the earth. They will, however, sometimes 
feed upon fish and reptiles, and are said to be dexterous 
in destroying serpents. Their peculiar grunt is heard 
at a considerable distance ; but they are more easily 
traced by the nose than by the ear. The places which 
they inhabit, or even those through which they merely 
pass, are absolutely infected with the pungent odour of 
the liquid which is secreted by their dorsal gland : it is 
a certain direction to those who are in quest of them, 
and affords the greatest facility in their pursuit. D' Azara 
seems to have had an unaccountable partiality for this 
smell, which he first describes as " a musky scent ; 
and afterwards, as if this were not sufficient, rates 
Buffbn severely for calling it an unsavoury odour, 
and quotes the authority of Ray (which should have 
been Tyson) and others for its being "musky, sweet, 
and agreeable." He admits, however, that the animal 
,may exhale different odours according to the quality 
of its nutriment, its state of irritation, or a variety of 
other circumstances. Sonnini and every other recent 
author who has mentioned it concur in regarding it as 
most disgusting ; and there are few, we apprehend, 
among our readers who would enjoy being placed for 
