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at plunges down so as almost to touch the sportsman, and 
then mounts to an immoderate height. It is a bold line to 
take, but surely a safe one. It is not the act of a fool. 
The purpose of it is to elude the sportsman’s shot by 
taking him by surprise and by flying up in such a way 
that it is very difficult for him to fire, however prepared by 
previous experience. 
The guanacoes have the habit of returning, like flies, to 
the same spot to drop their excrement. This is pronounced 
to be a senseless and a useless act. And yet it has a 
certain resemblance to the act of civilised man, who, per 
haps, if put upon his defence, would call the custom decent, 
respectable, and not altogether unintelligent. The rationale 
of such a proceeding may be seen from the fact that 
large poultry farms are not a success ; because, 
“ in all cases where a large number of fowls are congregated together, 
the ground becomes contaminated by the excrement of the birds; the 
food is eaten off the soiled surface; disease breaks out among the 
adults, and rearing chickens successfully is out of the question.”— 
(.Encyclopaedia Britannica. vol. xix., p. 646.) 
If the biscache almost invariably collects all sorts of 
rubbish about its burrow, we ought to be quite sure that it 
has no purpose to gain by that custom before we condemn 
the action as a “ foolish and useless habit.” Those who 
will take the trouble to read Mr. Hudson’s chapter on 
The Biography of the Vizcacha will not remain in doubt 
on this subject. The biscaches or vizcachas on the pam 
pas of Buenos Ayres live in societies, usually numbering 
twenty or thirty members. The village, which is called 
a vizcachera, is composed of a dozen or fifteen burrows 
or mouths ; for one entrance often serves for two or more 
distinct holes. A vast amount of loose earth is brought 
up and forms a very irregular mound, fifteen or thirty 
inches from the surrounding level. These entrances are