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Show 312 MR. O. Y. APLIN ON THE [Mar. 20, surface at once and sometimes merely swim away; they can when swimming along suddenly submerge themselves and disappear, and they can progress under water. I have watched them swimming in a laguna while I stood on the bank in full view. The upper half (or rather less), taking in the eyes, nose, and ears, of their oblong square heads is alone above water, the heads looking like logs of dead wood mysteriously propelled. They swim very slowly. W h e n uneasy the Carpincho gives vent to its alarm-note as it swims along, raising its muzzle out of water for the purpose. To produce this extraordinary noise considerable exertion is evidently necessary; the animal's sides are momentarily inflated (perhaps to take in air for the purpose), when the sudden jerky heave comes and the whole massive body of the beast is shaken. The sound produced is very peculiar. It is very explosive, something between a grunt and a bark, and not unlike the sound of a big dog clearing its throat for a good choke, but is fuller and has more volume. The Carpincho, with its heavy-looking head, apparently nearly all jaws, certainly presents a curious appearance. Senor Bollo says that it is so ugly that it has given rise to the saying in La Plata, " feo como tin Carpincho." I am inclined to think that the Carpincho takes more than a year to attain its full growth, as there were always a good many to be seen about half the size of the quite old ones, and that they breed before they are full-grown. I am unable to say at what season they have young, or whether they breed at any particular season. I shot a young one about two feet long at the end of spring (26th November), and saw two not more than 18 inches long on the 8th May. I am also puzzled to say how many young they have at a birth. On the 8th May I saw two females each with a young one, about 18 inches long, at her side. I have never seen more than one young one with a female, but this I have often seen ; the young one keeps close to its mother's side and they plunge into the water together. I am aware that the supposition that the Carpincho has only one young one at a birth is contrary to what has been written about this animal, but I merely give m y own observations for what they are worth. The Carpincho is a nuisance to the sportsman, as by plunging into the lagunas when he comes to close quarters they disturb any birds which may be there. They seem liable to scab, also to some fatal disease, to judge from the number one sees dead or in skeleton. After a long drought, with the rivers drying up and ceasing to flow for weeks, w e had a heavy dash of rain, which put the rivers in flood for a day or two, stirred up the rotten mud, and brought down a lot of half-decayed bodies of cattle and bones ; when, therefore, the rivers sank again they were not very pleasant to the olfactory organs. About that date I saw several Carpinchos only just dead, with no marks of violence, except an eye cleaned out after death, no doubt by a Carancho or Vulture. One cannot |