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Show 1832-3. MALDONADO. 58 . th ly . . sudden expulsion of arr : e on but rather ansmg from the . h fi t hoarse bark of a large noise I lmow at al l l1'k e it' 1s t e f rs almost with.m arm' s dog. Having wa t ch e d the four rom d . t 1 . tes they rushe m o ) for severa mmu ' . d length (and they me 'th the greatest impetuosity, a~ the water at full gallop, Wl . b l After diving a short disemitted at the same time, their arf{. but only just sho~ved ' · to the sur ace, . · tance they came agal~ ds When the female is sWimmmg the upper part of their hea . thev are said to sit on in the water an d has young onesil, k'lJl ed in numbers ; b u t Th ·mals are eas Y 1 . . her back. ese am. . 1 d the meat 1s very m- . . f tnflino- va ue, an . f d thelr skms are o o d f the carpincho bemg oun different. I have never hear! o . a map that there is a h Pl t but as see m south of t e a. a ; . h u the Rio Salado, I suppose Laguna del Carpmcho hlg ph . l is in the Rio Parana ed On t e 1s am such must have occurr . d fford the ordinary prey they are exceedingly abundant, an a to the Jaguar. B Tensis) is a curious small rfhe Tucutuco ( Ctenomys raz~bz d a Rodent with the h' h be briefly descn e as ' f animal, w lC may . l abundant in some parts o habits of a mole. .It 1~ ex~~=~oe ~e rocured, and still more the country,* but IS diffic lib pt It lives almost en~ b when at er Y· difficult to e seen, c dy soil with a gentle d nd and pre1ers a san f tirely un er grou ' "d ot to be deep, but o . . . The burrows are sal n . mclmatwn. ld open . the earth bemg great length. They ahre. ste ho~ocks n~t quite so large as h at the mout m o 1 ' t rown up C 'd ble tracts of country are h d by the mole. onsl era . t ose rna e . b these animals that horses, m so completely undermmed yh . f tl ks ' 'rhe tucutucos passing over, sink above t elf e oc. . an who appear, to a certain degree, to be greganous.. ;hee;er and Procured the specimens for me had caught SlX og t' rnal he said this was a common occurrenc e . They are noc u • The wide plains north of the Rio Colora d o ar;und er m. inbelde nbdys twheisthe animals . and near the Strait of Magellan, where atagoma cor the Tierra d' el Fuego, the who 1e san dy coun t ry forms a great warren 1' tucutuco. 1832-3. BURROWING RODEN'r. 59 in their habits ; and their principal food is afforded by the roots of plants, which is the object of their extensive and superficial burrows. Azara says they are so difficult to be obtained, that he never saw more than one. He states that they lay up magazines of food within their burrows. This animal is universally known by a very peculiar noise, which it makes when beneath the ground. A person, the first time he hears it, is much. surprised; for it is not easy to tell whence it comes, nor is it possible to guess what kind of creature utters it. The noise consists in a short, but not rough, nasal grunt, which is repeated about four times in quick succession ; the first grunt is not so loud, but a little longer, and more distinct than the three following: the musical time of the whole is constant, as often as it is uttered.* The name Tucutuco is given in imitation of the sound. In all times of the day, where this animal is abundant, the noise may be heard, and sometimes directly beneath one's feet. When kept in a room, the tucutucos move both slowly and clumsily, which appears owing to the outward action of their hind legs ; and they are likewise quite incapable of jumping even the smallest vertical height. Mr. Reid, who dissected a specimen which I brought home in spirits, informs me that the socket of the thigh-bone is not attached by a ligamentum teres ; and this explains, in a satisfactory manner, the awkward movements of their hinder extremities. When eating, they rest on their hind legs and hold the piece in their fore paws ; they appeared also to wish to. drag it into some corner. They are very stupid in making any attempt to escape ; when angry or • At the R. Negro, in Northern Patagonia, there is an animal of the same habits, and probably a closely allied species, but which I never saw. Its noise is different from the Maldonado kind; it is repeated only twice instead of three or four times, and is more distinct and sonorous : when heard from a distance, it so closely resembles the sound made in cutting down a small tree with an axe, that I have sometimes remained in doubt concerning it. |