Some curiotts Animal Weapons, 71 
but does not like them seek its food on the surface 
and in the ant-hill only ; all kinds of insects are 
preyed on, and by means of its keen scent it dis- 
covers worms and larvm several inches beneath 
the surface. Its method of takino: worms and. 
grubs resembles that of probing birds, for it throws 
up no earth, but forces its sharp snout and wedge- 
shaped head down to the required depth ; and pro- 
bably while working it moves round in a circle, for 
the hole is conical, though the head of the animal 
is flat. Where it has found a rich hunting-ground, 
the earth is seen pitted with hundreds of these neat 
symmetrical bores. It is also an enemy to ground- 
nesting birds, being fond of eggs and fledglings ; and 
when unable to capture prey it will feed on carrion 
as readily as a wild dog or vulture, retarning night 
after night to the carcase of a horse or cow as long 
as the flesh lasts. Failing animal food, it subsists 
on vegetable diet ; and I have frequently found 
their stomachs stuffed with clover, and, stranger 
still, with the large, hard grains of the maize, 
swallowed entire. 
It is not, therefore, strange that at all seasons, 
and even when other animals are starving, the hairy 
armadillo is always fat and vigorous. In the 
desert it is diurnal; but where man appears it 
becomes more and more nocturnal, and in populous 
districts does not go abroad until long after dark. 
Yet when a district becomes thickly settled it in- 
creases in numbers ; so readily does it adapt itself 
to new conditions. It is not to be wondered at 
that the gauchos, keen observers of nature as they 
are, should make this species the hero of many of 
