Produced by Eric Eldred THE NATURALIST IN LA PLATA BY W. H. HUDSON, C.M.Z.S. JOINT AUTHOR OF "ARGENTINE ORNITHOLOGY" WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. SMIT THIRD EDITION. NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1895 PREFACE. The plan I have followed in this work has been to sift and arrange the facts I have gathered concerning the habits of the animals best known to me, preserving those only, which, in my judgment, appeared worth recording. In some instances a variety of subjects have linked themselves together in my mind, and have been grouped under one heading; consequently the scope of the book is not indicated by the list of contents: this want is, however, made good by an index at the end. It is seldom an easy matter to give a suitable name to a book of this description. I am conscious that the one I have made choice of displays a lack of originality; also, that this kind of title has been used hitherto for works constructed more or less on the plan of the famous _Naturalist on the Amazons._ After I have made this apology the reader, on his part, will readily admit that, in treating of the Natural History of a district so well known, and often described as the southern portion of La Plata, which has a temperate climate, and where nature is neither exuberant nor grand, a personal narrative would have seemed superfluous. The greater portion of the matter contained in this volume has already seen the light in the form of papers contributed to the _Field,_ with other journals that treat of Natural History; and to the monthly magazines:--_Longmans', The Nineteenth Century, The Gentleman's Magazine,_ and others: I am indebted to the Editors and Proprietors of these periodicals for kindly allowing me to make use of this material. Of all animals, birds have perhaps afforded me most pleasure; but most of the fresh knowledge I have collected in this department is contained in a larger work _(Argentine Ornithology),_ of which Dr. P. L. Sclater is part author. As I have not gone over any of the subjects dealt with in that work, bird-life has not received more than a fair share of attention in the present volume. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE DESERT PAMPAS CHAPTER II. CUB PUMA, OR LION OF AMERICA CHAPTER III. WAVE OF LIFE CHAPTER IV. SOME CURIOUS ANIMAL WEAPONS CHAPTER V. FEAR IN BIRDS CHAPTER VI. PARENTAL AND EARLY INSTINCTS CHAPTER VII. THE MEPHITIC SKUNK CHAPTER VIII. MIMICRY AND WARNING COLOURS IN GRASSHOPPERS CHAPTER IX. DRAGON-FLY STORMS CHAPTER X. MOSQUITOES AND PARASITE PROBLEMS CHAPTER XI. HUMBLE-BEES AND OTHER MATTERS CHAPTER XII. A NOBLE WASP CHAPTER XIII. NATURE'S NIGHT-LIGHTS CHAPTER XIV. FACTS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT SPIDERS CHAPTER XV. THE DEATH-FEIGNING INSTINCT CHAPTER XVI. HUMMING-BIRDS CHAPTER XVII. THE CRESTED SCREAMER CHAPTER XVIII. THE WOODHEWER FAMILY CHAPTER XIX. MUSIC AND DANCING IN NATURE CHAPTER XX. BIOGRAPHY OF THE VIZCACHA CHAPTER XXI. THE DYING HUANACO