334 Naturalist in La Plata, 
poncho, and instantly she charged him furiously : 
with a quick movement to one side he escaped 
her horns, and after we had driven her back, re- 
sumed his former position and challenged her again 
in the same way. The experiment was repeated 
not less than half a dozen times, and always with 
the same result. The cattle were all in a savage 
temper, and would have instantly charged him on 
his placing himself before them on foot without the 
display of scarlet cloth, but their fear of the mounted 
men, standing with lassos in their hand on either 
side of him, kept them in check. But whenever 
the attention of any one individual among them was 
forcibly drawn to him by the display of vivid colour, 
and fixed on him alone, the presence of the horse- 
men was forgotten and fear was swallowed by rage. 
It is a fact, I think, that most animals that 
exhibit angry excitement when a scarlet rag is 
flourished aggressively at them, are easily excited to 
anger at all times. Domestic geese and turkeys may 
be mentioned among birds : they do not fly at a 
grown person, but they will often fly at a child that 
challenges them in this way ; and it is a fact that 
they do not at any time fear a child very much and 
will sometimes attack him without being challenged. 
I think that the probability of the view I have 
taken is increased by another fact — namely, that 
the sudden display of scarlet colour sometimes 
affects timid animals with an extreme fear, just as, 
on the other hand, it excites those that are bold 
and aggressive to anger. Domestic sheep, forinstance, 
that vary greatly in disposition in different races 
or breeds, and even in different individuals, may be 
