464 
THE STORY OF THE CAVY. 
alarmed, this changes to a squeak; while a series of short grunts (from which 
they probably derive their name) appear to be their mode of expressing their 
wants and desires. 
A few hours after they are born, young guinea-pigs are able to run by the 
side of their mother, and on the second day they are able to' nibble not only soft 
plants, but even corn. 
Although guinea-pigs lack the courage to defend themselves even from a 
mouse they fight fiercely among themselves, usually to see which shall have 
the warmest corner or the best chance at the food. Their mode of fighting is 
peculiar. One of them seizes the neck of its antagonist with its teeth and 
attempts to tear off the hair. The one attacked will turn and kick up behind 
like a horse, scratching the other’s flanks, and sometimes drawing blood. 
The Bolivian cavy is smaller than the restless cavy and makes his home 
in the Andes mountains, twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
The Patagonian cavy greatly resembles a hare, and lives in a burrow. Al¬ 
though its limbs are long it is not a fast runner like the animal it resembles. 
Its flesh is white, when cooked, but rather dry and tasteless. 
F 
