(8/10. These insects were not uncommon beneath stones. I found one
cannibal scorpion quietly devouring another.) At one time of the
year these birds go in flocks, at another in pairs, their cry is
very loud and singular, like the neighing of the guanaco.
The guanaco, or wild llama, is the characteristic quadruped of the
plains of Patagonia; it is the South American representative of the
camel of the East. It is an elegant animal in a state of nature,
with a long slender neck and fine legs. It is very common over the
whole of the temperate parts of the continent, as far south as the
islands near Cape Horn. It generally lives in small herds of from
half a dozen to thirty in each; but on the banks of the St. Cruz we
saw one herd which must have contained at least five hundred.
They are generally wild and extremely wary. Mr. Stokes told me that
he one day saw through a glass a herd of these animals which
evidently had been frightened, and were running away at full speed,
although their distance was so great that he could not distinguish
them with his naked eye. The sportsman frequently receives the
first notice of their presence, by hearing from a long distance
their peculiar shrill neighing note of alarm.
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