s as wild as
his fellow-depredator of the Cordillera. He often enters the maize
fields of the Indians, breaks the stalks of the plants and drags the
green tops away to his hole. When this bear cannot obtain his customary
vegetable food, consisting chiefly of the fruits of a pandanea
(_Phytelephas_), he watches for the deer and wild boars, or attacks the
oxen employed to turn the machinery in the sugar-mills: he has even
been known to assail solitary travellers. The lively coatis traverse the
forests in flocks. They collect round the roots of trees and search for
the larvae of insects; light-footed, they climb up bush and tree to find
birds' nests, and feast on the eggs and the young. With a monotonous
howl, not unlike that made by some dogs on a clear moonlight night, the
yellow-breasted glutton (_Galictis barbara_, Wieg.), the omeyro of the
Indians, announces his presence. But the most fierce of all these wild
forest animals are those of the feline class. The spotless dark-grey
yaguarundi, not much larger than the wild cat of Europe, pursues all
kinds of birds, particularly the pigeon, the partridge, and the
penelope. The oscollo (_F. celidogaster_, Tem.), the uturunca (_F.
pardalis_, L.), and the long-tailed, yellowish-grey tiger-cat (_F.
macrourura_, Pr. M.), all lie in wait, not only for the weaker mammalia,
but sometimes they even venture into the plantations and kill dogs and
poultry. The maneless Mexican Lion (the puma) roams through the upper
regions of the forest, where he has almost undisputed hunting-ground. He
fearlessly assails victims who cannot effectually defend themselves,
such as the horse, the mule, and the ass, and he tears large pieces of
flesh from their ribs; but he does not venture to meddle with oxen. He
shuns men, and in the forest he even flies from the unarmed Indian. I
fired at a very large puma, which immediately fled, roaring loudly.
When severely wounded and driven into a corner, this animal frequently
commences a combat of despair, and sometimes kills the hunter. The
puma measures in length about four feet, and in height more than two
feet. More direful than any of the felines mentioned above is the
sanguinary ounce,[81] which possesses vast strength, and is of a most
savage disposition. Though the favorite haunts of this animal are the
expansive Pajonales, yet he frequently takes up his abode in the
vicinity of villages and plantations, spreading terror among the
inhabitants. Far from be