Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-30

acted upon 1t with deplorable results.
One of the most interesting mammals of the
region described is the ''vizcacha." which is a
rodent very common on tine pampas. 1t is
nearly Two feet long, exclusive of the tail,
when full grown and weighs about fourteen
pounds. This species lives in a small commu-
nifty of twenty or thirty members. in a village
of deep chambered burrows, ali with their pit
like entrances closely grouped together. The
animals make u smooth clearing all around
their village, on which turf is formed, and
here they feed and enjoy their amusements in
comparative security. Any enemy that APP
proaches is easily seen and at the first note of
alar m the whole company scuttles into the bur-
rows. They fetch sticks and all sorts of
refuse from every hand and pile il up about
the village. forming IN the course of years n
mound thirty or forty feet in diameter, which
protects the habita:ion from Hoods Each
burrow Of the vizcacha ordinarily opens into q
large circular chamber at from four to six feet
from the entrance and from this chamber
other burrows diverge in all directions. The
new 'vizcachera" or village is invariably be-
gun by male, which. after establishing him
self as solitary with a single burrow is SUISSE
quently Joined by other individuals and these
are the parents of innumerable generations,
for they construct no temporary lodging places
but their posterity continues i'll the quiet pos
session of the habitations bequeathed to it for
centuries.
OTHERS 1NHABIT HIS BURROWS.
The vizcacha does not benefit himself alone
by the construction Of his burrows, which
prove useful to other species, both of beasts
ana birds. Certain little swallows use the
excavations TO breed in, and the fox and the
weasel OF the pampas dwell almost altogether
IN them. Several kinds OF insects FREQUENT the
holes that are seldom found anywhere else
Among the most remarkable of these are a
genus of diniDntive wingiess wasps and large
predacious bug that flies by night These and
of nr a. I
dozens of them can there be collected on any
summers day. though if sought for elsewhere
they are exceedingly rare. Very commonly
each burrow is further inhabited by a pair
OF narrowing owls. The most deadly and
voracious enemy of the vizcacha is the puma.
70 whose bloody appetite nothing comes amiss.
He Stays that wariest of wild things. the
ostrich, taking the male bird by sur-
prise on the nest little birds he captures with
the deAterIty OF q cat and hunts for the arma-
diilos that 30 abroad IN the day time. To him
the vizcacha falls easy prey. Through fear
or this and other foes the yizcachas in wild
regions are tllnid and comparatively rare, but
on the great ranches where they find prOtec-
ton they increase enormously and are fearless
OF man. Recently, however, they have been
destroyed IN great numbers by farmers, incl
dentally to bringing land under cultivation
newly. The most effective method FOR dlspos-
Ing OF them Is to simply cover them up an
their burrows. when they die, being unable to
dig their way out. But, unless dogs or other
means are employed to keep other vizcachas
away. they viii come from IA distance ana dig
the buried ones out In time 10 save their lives
Another remarkable rodent of the pampas !,
the "cOypu'-a rat in shape and as big as an
otter. 1t Is aquatic, and lives In holes in the
ground. in the evening these animals are al
out swimming and playing in the water con-
versins together IN strange tones, which sound
like the means and cries of wounded and suf-
ferlng men. Among them the mother coypu
is seen with her progeny, numbering eight or
nine, with as many of them on her back AS she
can accommodate. while the others swim after
her, crying for a ride. The coypu was much
more abundant fifty years ago than now and
Its skin. which has u fine fur, was largely ex-
ported to Europe. About that time the die
tatOr. RosGs, issued decree which mad1 the
killing OF cOypu criminal offense. The re-
suit was that the creatures increased and null
tiplied exceedingly, and, abandoning their
aquatic HABITS. they became terrestrial and
migratory, swarmins everywhere in search Of
FOOD. Suddenly mysterious malady fell
upon them, from which they persisted in
enormous numbers, becoming almost extinct
STORMS OF DRAGON FLIES.
Among tho extraordinary phenomena OBJ
served on the pampas are storms Of dragon
flies. They come before the southwest wind,
which blows from the interior It is a cold
wind. exceedingly violent, bursting on the
plains very suddenly and lasting only short
time. Moving ahead of such gale the dragon
flies, apparently flying in dread before it and
moving in clouds at the rate of seventy or
eighty miles an hour. fairly darken the air
with their swarms. Most of them are blue in
color. with here and there an individual SO
brilliantly scarlet as to be conspicuous among
the others. like poppy or red geranium grow
Ing along In an otherwise fiowerless field. They
come without warning. the air to a height of
ten or twelve feet above the ground being all
at once seen to be full of them, rushing past
With astonishing velocity i'll q northeastern
direction. Men and horses in their path are
quickly covered with clipging masses of them.
They are about twice the size Of the dragon
flies that are known elsewhere, being three or
four inches in length
The guanacos-animals of the camel tribe
which have been largely dOmesticated in
South America-have dying place" at the
southern extremity of Patagonia 1t is a 500,
to which all CT these beasts inhabiting the
nei6hborinS plains repair at the approach of
death to deposit their bones. Darwin first re-
corded this strange instinct OF theirs, and his
observations have since been fully confirmed
by others. Accurately speaking there are sew
eral of these dying places the best known be.
Ing Oh the banks of the Santa Cruz and Gale
eos rivers, where the valleys are covered with
dense thickets of bushes and trees of stunted
growth. There the ground is scattered thckly
with the bones of countless dead generations
the animals in most cases having crawled, be.
fore dying, beneath and among the bushes,