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TROPICAL AMERICAN HUMMI\G-I5IRDS

YOUNG FOLKS' TREASURY

In I 2 Volumes

Hamilton Wright Mabie

Editor

Edward Everett Hale

Associate Editor

The Animal World

A Book of Natural History

By

THEODORE WOOD

Edited by

Ernest Ingersoll

New York

The University Society Inc.

Publishers

m

CoPYKICiUT, 190<I, BV

Thk Unitershv Sociktv Inc.

PARTIAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS,

ASSISTANT EDITORS AND

ADVISERS

HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE

Editor

EDWARD EVERETT HALE

Associate Editor

Nicholas Murray Butler, President Columbia University.
William R. Harper, Late President Chicago University.
Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, Ex-President of the United

States.
Hon. Grover Cleveland, Late President of the United States.
James Cardinal Gibbons, American Roman Cathohc prelate.
Robert C. Ogden, Partner of John Wanamaker.
Hon. George F. Hoar, Late Senator from Massachusetts.
Edward W. Bok, Editor "Ladies' Home Journal."
Henry Van Dyke, Author, Poet, and Professor of English

Literature, Princeton University.
Lyman Abbott, Author, Editor of "The Outlook."
Charles G. D. Roberts, Writer of Animal Stories.
Jacob A. Riis, Author and Journalist.
Edward Everett Hale, Jr., English Professor at Union

College. •

PARTIAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Joel Chandler Harris, Late Author and Creator of "Uncle
Remus. "

George Cary Eggleston, Novelist and Journalist.

Ray Stannard Baker, Author and Journalist.

William Blaikie, Author of "How to Get Strong and How
to Stay So."

William Davenport Hulbert, Writer of Animal Stories.

Joseph Jacobs, Folklore Writer and Editor of the "Jewish
Encyclopedia. "

Mrs. Virginia Terhune ("Marion Harland"), Author of
"Common Sense in the Household," etc.

Margaret E. Sangster, Author of " The Art of Home-Mak-
ing," etc.

Sarah K. Bolton, Biographical Writer.

Ellen Velvin, Writer of Animal Stories.

Rev. Theodore Wood, F. E. S., Writer on Natural History.

W. J. Baltzell, Editor of "The Musician."

Herbert T. Wade, Editor and Writer on Physics

John H. Clifford, Editor and Writer.

Ernest Ingersoll, Naturalist and Author.

Daniel E. Wheeler, Editor and Writer.

Ida Prentice \A'hitcomb, Author of "Young People's Story of
Music," "Heroes of History," etc.

Mark Hambourg, Pianist and Composer.

Mme. Blanche Marchesi, Opera Singer and Teacher.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction ........ xi

CHAPTER

I Apes and Gibbons ..... i

II Baboons ....... 7

III The American Monkeys and the Lemurs . 16

IV The Bats ..;.... 26
V The Insect-Eaters ..... 33

VI The Larger Cats ...... 47

VII The Smaller Cats ..... 60

VIII The Civets, the Aard-Wolf, and the Hyenas 68

IX The Dog Tribe 78

X The Weasel Tribe ..... 91

XI The Bear Tribe . . . . . . 102

XII The Seal Tribe . . . . . -113

XIII The Whale Tribe . . . . . .121

XIV The Rodent Animals ..... 136

XV The Wild Oxen . . . . . .157

XVI Giraffes, Deer, Camels, Zebras, Asses, and

Horses ....... 179

XVII The Elephants, Rhinoceroses, Hippopot-
amuses, and Wild Swine . . . 20T

XVIII Edentates, or Toothless Mammals . . 212

XIX The Marsupials 218

vn

viii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

PAGE

XX

Birds of Prey

232

XXI

Cuckoos, Nightjars, Humming-Birds, Wood

-

peckers, and Toucans

243

XXII

Crows, Birds of Paradise, and Finches

254

XXIII

Wagtails, Shrikes, Thrushes, etc.

263

XXIV

Parrots, Pigeons, Pea-Fowl, Pheasants,

etc

273

XXV

Ostriches, Herons, Cranes, Ibises, etc.

281

XXVI

Swimming Birds "...

291

XXVII

Tortoises, Turtles, and Lizards .

299

XXVIII

Snakes ......

311

XXIX

Amphibians

321

XXX

Fresh-water Fishes

326

XXXI

Salt-water Fishes

337

XXXII

Insects

354

XXXIII

Insects (continued)

369

XXXIV

Spiders and Scorpion

■> . . .

387

XXXV

Crustaceans

397

XXXVI

Sea-Urchins, Starfishes, and Sea-Cucumbers

409

XXXVII

Mollusks

414

XXXVIII

Annelids and Coelenterates

427

Walks with a Naturalist ,

437

Nature-study at the Seaside

457

Our Wicked Waste of Life.

487

Index

497

(Mitch of the material in this volume is published by permission of E. P.
Dutton CI" Company. New York City, owners of American rights.)

ILLUSTRATIONS

Tropical American Humming-Birds . . . Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

Types of Apes and Monkeys 6

Photographic Portraits of Monkeys . . . . i6

Four Great Cats 48

Some Fierce Cats 64

A Wolfish Group 80

Types of Fur-Bearers 96

Types of Bears , . . .128

Types of Rodents -..,,..., 144

Four Types of Cattle 156

Wild Sheep and Goats 164

Goats and Goat- Antelopes 166

Types of Antelopes . .176

The Antlered Deer 184

Children's Pets at the Zoo 189

Wild Relatives of the Horse 196

Pachyderms and Tapir 206

Types of Marsupials . - . . . - . .220

Typical Birds of Prey 232

ix

X ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

Four Handsome Birds 246

Finches and Weaver-Birds 260

American Insect-eating Song-Birds .... 264

Gaudy Tropical Birds 272

American Game-Birds 278

Four Great Game-Birds 280

American Wading Birds 296

Types of Water-Birds 300

Characteristic Forms and Markings of American

Birds' Eggs 312

North American Food and Game Fishes . . - 328

Insects Injurious to American Maple-Trees . . 360

Leaf-eating Insects of Shade-Trees . - . - 376

Life on the Sea-Bottom 4c8

North American Seed-eating Song-Birds . . . 436

Chickadee and White-breasted Nuthatch . . . 448

INTRODUCTION

THIS volume is a sketch of the animal life of the whole world.
More than a sketch it could not be in the space at the
author's command; but he has so skilfully selected his examples
to illustrate both the natural groups and the faunas which they
represent, that his work forms a most conamendable ground-
plan for the study of natural history.

Few writers have been so successful in handling this subject.
His style is singularly attractive to the young readers whom he
has in view; yet he does not depart from accuracy, nor ex-
aggerate with false emphasis some unusual phase of an animal's
character, which is the fault of many who try to "popularize"
zoology.

One may feel confident, therefore, that the boy or girl
who opens this volume will enjoy it and profit by it. The
sketch dwells on the animals most often to be seen in nature,
or in menageries, or read of in books of travel and adventure,
and will thus serve as a valuable reference aid in such reading.
But it will, and ought to, do more. It will arouse anew that
interest in the creatures about us which is as natural as breath
to every youngster, but is too rarely fostered by parents and
teachers.

Nothing is more valuable in the foundation of an educa-
tion than the faculty and habit of observation — the power of
noting understandingly, or at least inquiringly, what happens
within our sight and hearing. To go about with one's eyes half
shut, content to see the curtain and never curious to look at
the play on nature's stage behind it, is to miss a very large part
of the possible pleasure in life. That his child should not
suffer this loss ought to be the concern of every parent.

xi

xii INTRODUCTION

Little more than encouragement and some opportunity
is needed to preserve and cultivate this disposition and faculty.
Direct a youngster's attention to some common fact of wood-
land life new to him, and his interest and imagination will be
excited to learn more. Give him a hint of the relationship of
this fact to other facts, and you have started him on a scien-
tific search, and he has begun to train his eye and his mind
without knowing it. At this point such books as this are ex-
tremely helpful, and lead to a desire for the more special treatises
which happily are now everywhere accessible.

This suggestion is not made with the idea that every young-
ster is to become a full-fledged naturalist; but with the sense
that some knowledge of nature will be a source of delight
throughout life; and with the certainty that in no direction can
quickness of eye and accuracy of sight and reasoning be so well
and easily acquired. These are qualities which make for
success in all lines of human activity, and therefore are to be
regarded as among the most important to be acquired early
in life.

The physical benefit of an interest in animal life, which
leads to outdoor exercise, needs no argument. The mental
value has been touched upon. The moral importance is in
the sense of truth which nature inculcates, and the kindliness
sure to follow the affectionate interest with which the young
naturalist must regard all living things.

No matter what is to be their walk in life, the observing
study of nature should be regarded as the corner-stone of a
boy's or girl's education.

Ernest Ingersoll

MAMMALS

CHAPTER I
APES AND GIBBONS

FIRST among the mammals come the monkeys. First
among the monkeys come the apes. And first among
the apes come the chimpanzees, almost the largest of all
monkeys.

Chipmanzees

When it is fully grown a male chimpanzee stands nearly five
feet high. And it would be even taller still if only it could
stand upright.

But that is a thing which no monkey can ever do, because
instead of having feet as we have, which can be planted flat
upon the ground, these animals only have hind hands. There is
no real sole to them, no instep, and no heel; while the great toe
is ever so much more like a huge thumb. The consequence is
that when a monkey tries to stand upright he can only rest upon
the outside edges of these hand-like feet, while his knees have
to be bent awkwardly outward. So he looks at least three
inches shorter than he really is, and he can only hobble along
in a very clumsy and ungraceful manner.

But then, on the other hand, he is far better able to climb
about in the trees than we are, because while we are only able
to place our feet flat upon a branch, so as to stand upon it, he
can grasp the branches with all four hands, and obtain a very
much firmer hold.

1

2 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Chimpanzees are found in the great forests of Central and
Western Africa, where they feed upon the wild fruits which
grow there so abundantly. They spend almost the whole of
their lives among the trees, and have a curious way of making
nests for their families to live in, by twisting the smaller branches
of the trees together, so as to form a small platform. The
mother and her little ones occupy this nest, while the father
generally sleeps on a bough just underneath it. Sometime
quite a number of these nests may be seen close together, the
chimpanzees having built a kind of village for themselves in
the midst of the forest.

A Clever Specimen

If you visit the zoological gardens in New York, London, or
some other city, you may be quite sure of seeing one or more
chimpanzees. They are nearly always brought to the zoos
when they are quite young, and the keepers teach them to per-
form all kinds of clever tricks. One of them in the London
Zoo, who was called "Sally," and who lived there for several
years, actually learned to count! If she was asked for two,
three, four, or five straws, she would pick up just the right
number from the bottom of her cage and hand them to the
keeper, without ever making a mistake. Generally, too, she
would pick up six or seven straws if the keeper asked for them.
But if eight, nine, or ten were asked for she often became con-
fused, and could not be quite sure how many to give. She was
a very cunning animal, however, and when she became tired
of counting she would sometimes pick up two straws only
and double them over, so as to make them look like
four!

"Sally" could talk, too, after a fashion, and used to make
three different sounds. One of these evidently meant "Yes,"
another signified "No," and the third seemed to be intended for
"Thank you," as she always used it when the keeper gave her
a nut or a banana.

Two kinds of chimpanzees are known, namely the common
chimpanzee, which is by far the more plentiful of the two, and

APES AND GIBBONS 3

the bald chimpanzee, which has scarcely any hair on the upper
part of its head. One very intelligent bald chimpanzee was
kept in Barnum's menagerie, and was even more clever, in
some ways, than "Sally" herself.

The Gorilla

Larger even than the chimpanzee is the gorilla, the biggest
and strongest of all the apes, which sometimes grows to a
height of nearly six feet. It is only found in Western Africa,
close to the equator, and has hardly ever been seen by white
travelers, since it lives in the densest and darkest parts of the
great forests. But several gorillas — nearly all quite small ones
— have been caught alive and kept in captivity in zoos, where,
however, they soon died.

One of these, named " Gena," lived for about three weeks
in the Crystal Palace, near London. She was a most timid
little creature, and if anybody went to look at her she would
hide behind a chimpanzee, which inhabited the same cage, and
watched over her in the most motherly way. Another, who was
called "Pongo," lived for rather more than two months in the
London Zoo, and seemed more nervous still, for he used to
become terrified if even his keeper went into the cage. But
when the animal has grown up it is said to be a most savage
and formidable foe, and the natives of Central Africa are even
more afraid of it than they are of the lion.

Like most of the great apes, the gorilla has a most curious
way of sheltering itself during a hea\y shower of rain. If you
were to look at its arms, you would notice that the hair upon
them is very thick and long, and that while it grows downward
from the shoulder to the elbow, from the elbow to the wrist it
grows upward. So when it is caught in hea\y rain, the animal
covers its head and shoulders with its arms. Then the long
hair upon them acts just like thatch and carries off the water,
so that the gorilla hardly gets wet at all.

When the gorilla is upon the ground it generally walks upon
all fours, bending the fingers of the hands inward, so that it rests
upon the knuckles. But it is much more active in the trees,

4 THE ANIMAL WORLD

and is said to be able to leap to the ground from a branch twenty
or thirty feet high, without being hurt in the least by the
fall.

The Orang-Utan

Another very famous ape is the orang-utan, which is found
in Borneo and Sumatra. It is reddish brown in color, and is
clothed with much longer hair than either the gorilla or the
chimpanzee, while its face is surprisingly large and broad, with
a very high forehead. But the most curious feature of this
animal is the great length of its arms. When a man stands
upright, and allows his arms to hang down by his sides, the
tips of his fingers reach about half-way between his hips and
his knees. When a chimpanzee stands as upright as possible,
the tips of its fingers almost touch its knees. But when an
orang-utan does the same its fingers nearly touch the ground.
Of course, when the animal is walking, it finds that these long
arms are very much in its way. So it generally uses them as
crutches, resting the knuckles upon the ground, and swinging
its body between them.

But the orang seldom comes down to the ground, for it is far
more at its ease among the branches of the trees. And although
it never seems to be in a hurry, it will swing itself along from
bough to bough, and from tree to tree, quite as fast as a man
can run below. Like the gorilla and the chimpanzee, it makes
rough nests of twisted boughs, in which the female animal and
the little ones sleep. And if it is mortally wounded, it nearly
always makes a platform of branches in the same way, and sits
upon it waiting for death.

Orangs are often to be seen in zoological gardens, al-
though they are so delicate that they do not thrive well in cap-
tivity. One of these animals, which lived in the London Zoo
for some time, had learned a very clever trick. Leaning up
against his cage was a placard, on which were the words "The
animals in this cage must not be fed." The orang very soon
found out that when this notice was up nobody gave him any
nuts or biscuits. So he would wait until the keeper's back was

APES AND GIBBONS 5

turned, knock the placard down with the printed words under-
neath, and then hold out his paw for food!

As a general rule, orangs seem far too lazy to be at all savage.
Those in zoos nearly always lie about on the floor of their cage
all day, wrapped in their blankets, with a kind of good-humored
grin upon their great broad faces. But when they are roused into
passion they seem to be very formidable creatures, and Alfred
Russel Wallace tells us of an orang that turned upon a Dyak
who was trying to spear it, tore his arm so terribly with his teeth
that he never recovered the proper use of the limb, and would
almost certainly have killed him if some of his companions had
not come to his rescue.

Gibbons

Next we come to the gibbons, which are very wonderful
animals, for they are such astonishing gymnasts. Most mon-
keys are very active in the trees, but the gibbons almost seem
to be flying from bough to bough, dashing about with such
marvelous speed that the eye can scarcely follow their move-
ments. Travelers, on seeing them for the first time, have often
mistaken them for big blackbirds. They hardly seem to swing
themselves from one branch to another. They just dart and
dash about, upward, downward, sideways, backward, often
taking leaps of twenty or thirty feet through the air. And yet,
so far as one can see, they only just touch the boughs as they
pass with the tips of their fingers.

If you should happen to see a gibbon in the next zoo that you
visit, be sure to ask the keeper to offer the animal a grape, or a
piece of banana, and you will be more than surprised at its
marvelous activity.

The arms of the gibbons are very long — although not quite
so long as those of the orang-utan — so that when these animals
stand as upright as they can the tips of their fingers nearly
touch the ground. But they do not use these limbs as crutches,
as the orang does. Instead of that, they either clasp their
hands behind the neck while they are walking, or else stretch
out the arms on either side with the elbows bent downward, to

6 THE ANIMAL WORLD

help them in keeping their balance. So that when a gibbon
leaves the trees and takes a short stroll upon the ground below,
it looks rather like a big letter W suspended on a forked pole!

Gibbons generally live together in large companies, which
often consist of from fifty to a hundred animals, and they have
a very odd habit of sitting in the topmost branches of tall trees
at sunrise, and again at sunset, and joining in a kind of con-
cert. The leader always seems to be the animal with the
strongest voice, and after he has uttered a peculiar barking cry
perhaps half a dozen times, the others all begin to bark in chorus.
Often for two hours the outcry is kept up, so loud that it may be
heard on a still day two or three miles. Then by degrees it
dies away, and the animals are almost silent until the time for
their next performance comes round.

Several different kinds of gibbons are known, the largest of
which is the siamang This animal is found only in Sumatra.
It is a little over three feet high when fully grown. If you ever
see it at a zoo you may know it at once by its glassy black color,
and its odd whitish beard. Then there is the hoolock, which is
common in many parts of India, and has a white band across its
eyebrows, while the lar gibbon, of the Malay Peninsula, has a
broad ring of white all round its face. Besides these there are
one or two others, but they are all so much alike in their habits
that there is no need to mention them separately.

VOL. V. — I

TYPES OF APES AND MONKEYS

I. Diana Monkey.
4. Mandrill Baboon.

2. Orang-utan.

S. Capuchin Monkey.

3. Hanuman Monkey.
6. Spider Monkey.

CHAPTER II
BABOONS

HOW can we tell a baboon from an ape ?
That is quite easy. Just glance at his face. You will
notice at once that he has a long, broad muzzle, like that of a
dog, with the nostrils at the very tip. For this reason the
baboons are sometimes known as dog-faced monkeys. Then
look at his limbs. You will see directly that his arms are
no longer than his legs. That is because he does not live in the
trees, as the apes do. He lives in rough, rocky places on the
sides of mountains, where there are no trees at all, so that arms
like those of the gibbons or the orang-utan would be of no use
to him. He does not want to climb. He wants to be able to
scamj)er over the rocks, and to run swiftly up steep cliffs where
there is only just room enough to gain a footing. So his limbs
are made in such a way that he can go on all fours like a dog,
and gallop along so fast among the stones and boulders that it
is hard to overtake him.

The Chacma

Perhaps the best known of the baboons is the chacma, which
is found in South Africa. The animal is so big and strong, and
so very savage, that if he is put into a large cage in company
with other monkeys, he always has to be secured in a corner
by a stout chain. A chacma that lived for some years in the
Crystal Palace was fastened up in this way, and the smaller
monkeys, who knew exactly how far his chain would allow him
to go, would sit about two inches out of his reach and eat their
nuts in front of him. This used to make the chacma furious,
and after chattering and scolding away for some time, as if
telling his tormentors what dreadful things he would do to them

VOL. v. — 2 7

8 THE ANIMAL WORLD

if ever he got the chance, he would snatch up an armful of straw
from the bottom of his cage and fling it at them with both hands.
"If I fed the smaller monkeys with nuts, instead of giving
them to him," says a visitor, "he would fling the straw at
me."

Chacmas live in large bands among the South African moun-
tains, and are very diflficult to watch, as they always post two
or three of their number as sentinels. As soon as any sign of
danger appears one of the watchers gives a short, sharp bark.
All the rest of the band understand the signal, and scamper
away as fast as they can.

Sometimes, however, the animals will hold their ground.
A hunter was once riding over a mountain ridge when he came
upon a band of chacmas sitting upon a rock. Thinking that
they would at once run away, he rode at them, but they did not
move, and when he came a little closer they looked so threaten-
ing that he thought it wiser to turn back again.

An angry chacma is a very formidable foe, for it is nearly as
big as a mastiff, and ever so much stronger, while its great tusk-
like teeth cut like razors. When one of these animals is hunted
with dogs it will often gallop along until one of its pursuers has
outstripped the rest, and will then suddenly turn and spring
upon him, plunge its teeth into his neck, and, while its jaws are
still clenched, thrust the body of its victim away. The result is
that the throat of the poor dog is torn completely open, and a
moment later its body is lying bleeding on the ground, while the
chacma is galloping on as before.

These baboons are very mischievous creatures, for they come
down from their mountian retreats by night in order to plunder
the orchards. And so cautiously is the theft carried out, that
even the dogs on guard know nothing of what is going on, and
the animals nearly always succeed in getting away.

When it cannot obtain fruit, the chacma feeds chiefly upon
the bulb of a kind of iris, which it digs out of the ground with
its paw, and then carefully peels. But it is also fond of insects,
and may often be seen turning over stones, and catching the
beetles which were lying hidden beneath them. It \\\\\ even eat
scorpions, but is careful to pull off their stings before doing so.

BABOONS

The M.\ndrill

Another interesting baboon is the mandrill, which one does
not often see in captivity. It comes from Western Africa.
While it is young there is little that is remarkable about it.
But the full-grown male is a strange-looking animal, for on
each of its cheeks there is a swelling as big as a large sausage,
which runs upward from just above the nostrils to just below
the eyes. These swellings are light blue, and have a number of
grooves running down them, which are colored a rich purple,
while the line between them, as well as the tip of the nose, is
bright scarlet. The face is very large in proportion to the size
of the body, and the forehead is topped by a pointed crest of
upright black hair, while under the chin is a beard of orange
yellow. On the hind quarters are two large bare patches of
the same brilliant scarlet as the nose. So you see that alto-
gether a grown-up male mandrill is a very odd-looking creature.

The female mandrill has much smaller swellings on her face.
They are dull blue in color, without any lines of either purple or
scarlet.

Almost all monkeys are subject at times to terrible fits of
passion, but the mandrill seems to be the worst tempered of all.
Fancy an animal dying simply from rage ! It sounds impossible,
yet the mandrill has been known to do so. And the natives of
the countries in which it lives are quite as much afraid of it as they
are of a lion.

Yet it has once or twice been tamed. In the Natural History
Museum, at South Kensington, London, is the skin of a man-
drill which lived for some years in that city in the earlier part
of the nineteenth century. His name was "Jerry," and he was so
quiet and contented that he was generally known as "Happy
Jerry." He learned to smoke a pipe. He was very fond of a
glass of beer. He even used to sit at table for his meals, and to
eat from a plate by means of a knife and fork. And he became
so famous that he was actually taken do\ATi to Windsor to appear
before King George the Fourth!

There is another baboon called the drill, which is not unlike

10 THE ANIMAL WORLD

the mandrill in many respects, but the swellings on its face are
not nearly as large, and they remain black all through its life.
It is a much smaller animal, too, and looks, on the whole, very
much like a mandrill while it is quite young.

The Gelada

Almost as odd-looking as the mandrill, though in quite a
different way, is the gelada, which is found in Abyssinia. Per-
haps we may compare it to a black poodle with a very long and
thick mane upon its neck and shoulders. When the animal
sits upright this mane entirely covers the upper part of its
shoulders, so that a gelada looks very much as if it were wearing
a coachman's mantle of long fur.

In some parts of Abyssinia geladas are very numerous, living
among the mountains in bands of two or three hundred. Like
the chacmas in South Africa, they are very mischievous in the
orchards and plantations, always making their raids by night.
It is said that on one occasion they actually stopped no less a
personage than a Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and prevented
him from proceeding on his journey for several hours.

The story is, that as the Duke was traveling in Abyssinia
his road lay through a narrow pass, overhung with rocky cliffs;
that one of his attendants, catching sight of a number of geladas
upon the rocks above, fired at them; that the angry baboons
at once began to roll do^^^l great stones upon the path below,
and that before they could be driven off they succeeded in com-
pletely blocking the road, so that the Duke's carriage could not
be moved until the stones had been cleared away.

Whether this story is altogether true or not, we cannot say.
But there can be no doubt that geladas are very warlike animals.
Not only will they attack human beings who interfere with them,
they also attack other baboons. When they are raiding an
orchard, for instance, they sometimes meet with a band of
Arabian baboons, which have come there for the same purpose
as themselves. A fierce battle then takes place. First of all
the geladas try to roll do^^^l stones upon their rivals. Then
they rush down and attack them with the utmost fury, and very

BABOONS 11

soon the orchard is filled with maddened baboons, tumbling
and rolling over one another, biting and tearing and scratching
each other, and shrieking with furious rage.

The z\rabian baboon itself is a very interesting creature,
for it is one of the animals which were venerated by the ancient
Egyptians. They considered it as sacred to their god Thoth,
and treated it with the greatest possible honor; and when it
died they made its body into a mummy, and buried it in the
tombs of the kings. Sometimes, too, they made use of the
animal while it lived, for they would train it to climb a fig-tree,
pluck the ripe figs, and hand them down to the slaves waiting
below.

These baboons sometimes travel in great companies. The
old males always go first, and are closely followed by the fe-
males, those which have little ones carrying them upon their
backs. As they march along, perhaps one of the younger ani-
mals finds a bush with fruit upon it, and stops to eat a little.
As soon as they see what he is doing, a number of others rush
to the spot, and begin fighting for a share. But generally one
of the old males hears the noise, boxes all their ears and drives
them away, and then sits down and eats the fruit himself.

The Proboscis-Monkey

Next we come to a group of animals called dog-shaped
monkeys, and the most curious of them all is the proboscis-
monkey. This is the only monkey which really possesses a nose.
Some monkeys have nostrils only, and some have muzzles, but
the proboscis-monkey has not merely a nose, but a very long
nose, so long, in fact, that when one of these monkeys is leaping
about in the trees it is said always to keep its nose carefully
covered with one hand, so that it may not be injured by a knock
against a bough.

Strange to say, it is only the male animal that has this very
long nose, and even he does not get it until he is grown up.
Indeed, you can tell pretty well how old a male proboscis-mon-
key is just by glancing at his nose. When he is young it is
quite small. As he gets older it grows bigger. And by the

12 THE ANIMAL WORLD

time that he reaches his full size it is three or four inches long.
Naturally this long nose gives him a very strange appearance,
and his great bushy whiskers, which meet under his chin, make
him look more curious still.

We do not know much about the habits of the proboscis-
monkey. In Borneo, its native country, it lives in the thick
forests, and is said to be almost as active among the branches
of the trees as the gibbons themselves. The Dyaks do not
believe that it is a monkey at all, but say that it is really a very
hairy man, who insists on living in the forests in order to escape
paying taxes.

The Hanuman

The hanuman, another of the dog-shaped monkeys, lives
in India, where it is treated with almost as much reverence as
the Arabian baboon was in Egypt in days of old.

The natives do not exactly worship these monkeys, but they
think that they are sacred to the god Hanuman, from whom
they take their name. Besides that, they believe that these
animals are not really monkeys at all, but that their bodies are
inhabited by the souls of great and holy men, who lived and died
long ago, but have now come back to earth again in a different
form. So no Hindu will ever kill a hanuman monkey or injure
it in any way, no matter how much mischief it may do. The
consequence is that these animals are terrible thieves. They
know perfectly well that no one will try to kill them, or even to
trap them, so they come into the villages, visit the bazaars, and
help themselves to anything to which they may take a fancy.
Yet all that the fruit-sellers will do is to place thorn-bushes on the
roofs of their shops to prevent the monkeys from sitting there.

European sportsmen, however, often find the hanuman very
useful. For its greatest enemy is the tiger, and when one of
these animals is being hunted a number of hanumans will
follow it wherever it goes, and point it out to the beaters by their
excited chattering.

Next to the tiger, the hanuman dislikes snakes more than
any living creature, and when it finds one of these reptiles asleep

BABOONS 13

it will creep cautiously up to it, seize it by the neck, and then
rub its head backward and forward upon a branch till its jaws
have been completely ground away.

The hanuman belongs to a group of monkeys which are
called langurs. They may be known by their long and almost
lanky bodies, by the great length of their tails, and by the fact
that they do not possess the cheek-pouches which many other
monkeys find so useful. And it is very curious that while the
arms of the apes are longer than their legs, the legs of the
langurs — which are almost as active in the trees — are longer
than their arms.

If you ever happen to see a hanuman you may know it at
once by its black face and feet, and by its odd eyebrows, which
are very bushy, and project quite away in front of its face.

The Guenons

We now come to the guenons, of which there are a great
many kinds. Let us take two of these as examples of the rest.
The first is the green monkey, which comes from the great
forests of Western Africa. You may know it by sight, because
it is the commonest monkey in every menagerie. It is one of
the monkeys, too, which organ-grinders so often carry about
on their organs. But they do not care to have it except when it
is quite young, for although it is very gentle and playful until
it reaches its full size, it afterward becomes fierce and sullen,
and is apt at any moment to break out into furious passion.

Like most of the guenons, green monkeys go about in droves,
each under the leadership of an old male, who wins and keeps
his position by fighting all his rivals. Strange to say, each of
these droves seems to have its own district allotted to it; and
if by any chance it should cross its boundary, the band into
whose territory it has trespassed will at once come and fight it,
and do their utmost to drive it back.

Wouldn't it be interesting to know how the animals mark
out their own domains, and how they let one another know
just how far they will be permitted to go ?

Our second example of the guenons is the diana monkey,

14 THE ANIMAL WORLD

which you may at once recognize by its long, pointed, snow-
white beard. It seems to be very proud of this beard, and
while drinking holds it carefully back with one hand, in order
to prevent it from getting wet.

Why is it called the "diana" monkey ? Because of the curious
white mark upon its forehead, which is shaped like the crescent
which the ancients used to think was borne by the goddess
Diana. It is a very handsome animal, for its back is rich chest-
nut brown in color, and the lower part of its body is orange
yellow, while between the two is a band of pure white. Its
face and tail and hands and feet are black. It is a very gentle
animal, and is easily tamed.

The Mangabeys

These are very odd-looking monkeys, for they all have white
eyelids, which are very conspicuous in their sooty-black faces.
Indeed, they always give one a kind of idea that they must spend
their whole lives in sweeping chimneys.

They are among the most interesting of all monkeys to
watch, for they are not only so active and full of life that they
scarcely seem able to keep still, but they are always twisting
their bodies about into all sorts of strange attitudes. When
in captivity they soon find out that visitors are amused by their
antics, and are always ready to go through their performances
in order to obtain a nut or a piece of cake.

Then they have an odd way, when they are walking about
their cages, of lifting their upper lips and showing their teeth,
so that they look just as if they were grinning at you. And
instead of carrying their tails behind them, as monkeys generally
do, or holding them straight up in the air, they throw them
forward over the back, so that the tip comes just above the head.

Only four kinds of mangabey are known, and they are all
found in Western Africa.

Macaques

There is one more family of monkeys found in the Old
World which we must mention, and that consists of the animals

BABOONS 15

known as macaques. They are natives of Asia, with one ex-
ception, and that is the famous magot, the only monkey which
lives wild in any part of Europe. It inhabits the Rock of Gi-
braltar, and though it is not nearly as common as it used to be,
there is still a small band of these animals with which nobody is
allowed to interfere. They move about the Rock a good deal.
When the weather is warm and sunny, they prefer the side that
faces the Mediterranean, but as soon as a cold easterly wind springs
up they all travel round to the western side, which is much more
sheltered. They always keep to the steepest parts of the cliff,
and it is not easy to get near enough to watch them. Generally
the only way to see them at all is by means of a telescope.

The magot is sometimes known as the Barbary ape, although
of course it is not really an ape at all. But it is very common in
Barbary, and two or three times, when the little band of mon-
keys on the Rock seemed in danger of dying out, a few specimens
have been brought over from Africa just to make up the number.

The only other member of this family that we can mention
is the crab-eating macaque, which is found in Siam and Burma.
It owes its name to its fondness for crabs, spending most of its
time on the banks of salt-water creeks in order to search for
them. But perhaps the strangest thing about it is that it is a
splendid swimmer, and an equally good diver, for it has been
known to jump overboard and to swim more than fifty yards
under water, in its attempts to avoid recapture.

CHAPTER III
THE AMERICAN MONKEYS AND THE LEMURS

A GREAT many very curious monkeys live in America;
and in several ways they are very different from those of
Africa and Asia.

Most of the Old World monkeys, for example, possess large
cheek-pouches, in which, after eating a meal, they can carry
away nearly enough food for another. No doubt you have often
seen a monkey with its cheeks perfectly stuffed out with nuts.
But iia the American monkeys these pouches are never found.

Then no American monkey has those bare patches on its
hind quarters, which are present in all the monkeys of the Old
World, with the exception of the great apes, and which are often
so brightly colored. And, more curious still, no American
monkey has a proper thumb. The fingers are generally very
long and strong; but the thumb is either wanting altogether, or
else it is so small that it cannot be of the slightest use.

Spider-Monkeys

Perhaps the most curious of all the American monkeys are
the spider-monkeys, which look very much like big black
spiders when one sees them gamboling among the branches of
the trees. The reason is that their bodies are very slightly built,
and their arms and legs are very long and slender, while the
tail is often longer than the head and body together, and looks
just like an extra limb. And indeed it is used as an extra limb,
for it is prehensile; that is, it can be coiled round any small
object so tightly as to obtain a very firm hold. A spider-mon-
key never likes to take a single step without first twisting the
tip of its tail round a branch, so that this member really serves
as a sort of fifth hand. Sometimes, too, the animal will feed
itself with its tail instead of with its paws. And it can even

16

PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS OF MONKEYS.

Young Orang-uta« "Dohong." 2. Barbary Ape.

Japanese Red-faced Monkey. 4. White-faced Sapajou.

Siamang Gibbon. 6. Chimpanzee "Polly."

All lived in the New York Zoological Park.

AMERICAN MONKEYS AND LEMURS 17

hang from a bough for some little time by means of its tail
alone, in order to pluck fruit which would otherwise be out of
its reach.

Owing partly, no doubt, to constant use, the last few inches
of this wonderful tail are quite bare underneath — without any
hair at all. It is worth while to remember, just here, that
while in many American monkeys the tail has this prehensile
grasp, no monkey of the Old World is provided with this
convenience.

When a spider-monkey finds itself upon level ground, where
its .tail, of course, is of no use to it, it always seems very uncom-
fortable. But it manages to keep its balance as it walks along
by holding the tail over its back, and just turning it first to one
side and then to the other, as the need of the moment may re-
quire. It uses it, in fact, very much as an acrobat uses his
pole when walking upon the tight rope.

It is rather curious to find that while other monkeys are
very fond of nibbling the tips of their own tails, often making
them quite raw, spider-monkeys never do so. They evidently
know too well how useful those members are to injure them
by giving way to such a silly habit — which is even worse than
biting one's nails.

When a spider-monkey is shot as it sits in a tree, it always
coils its tail round a branch at once. And even after it dies, the
body will often hang for several days suspended by the tail
alone.

These monkeys spend almost the whole of their lives in
the trees, feeding upon fruit and leaves, and only coming down
to the ground when they want to drink. As a general rule they
are dreadfully lazy creatures, and will sit on a bough for hours
together without moving a limb. But when they are playful,
or excited, they swing themselves to and fro and dart from
branch to branch, almost as actively as the gibbons.

Howlers

Very much like the spider-monkeys are the howlers, which
are very common in the great forests of Central America.

18 THE ANIMAL WORLD

They owe their name to the horrible cries which they utter as
they move about in the trees by night. You remember how
the gibbons hold a kind of concert in the tree-tops every morn-
ing and every evening, as though to salute the rising and the
setting sun. Well, the howlers behave in just the same way,
except that their concert begins soon after dark and goes on all
through the night. They have very powerful voices, and
travelers who are not used to their noise say that it is quite
impossible to sleep in the forest if there is a troop of howlers
anywhere within two miles. And it is hard to believe that the
outcry comes from the throats of monkeys at all. " You would
suppose," says a famous traveler, "that half the wild beasts
of the forest were collecting for the work of carnage. Now it is
the tremendous roar of the jaguar, as he springs upon his prey;
now it changes to his terrible and deep-toned growlings, as he is
pressed on all sides by superior force; and now you hear his last
dying groan beneath a mortal wound. One of them alone is
capable of producing all these sounds; and if you advance
cautiously, and get under the high and tufted trees where he
is sitting, you may have a capital opportunity of witnessing his
wonderful powers of producing these dreadful and discordant
sounds."

If one monkey alone is capable of roaring as loudly as a
jaguar, think what the noise must be when fifty or sixty howlers
are all howling at the same time. No wonder travelers find it
difficult to sleep in the forest.

Perhaps the best known of these monkeys is the red howler.
Its color is reddish brown, with a broad band of golden yellow
running along the spine, while its face is surrounded by bushy
whiskers and beard.

The Ouakari

Another very curious American monkey is the red-faced
ouakari. If you were to see it from a little distance 3'ou would
most likely think that it was suffering from, a bad attack of
scarlet fever; for the face and upper part of the neck are bright
red in color, as though they had been smeared with vermilion

AMERICAN MONKEYS AND LEMURS 19

paint. And as its whiskers and beard are sandy yellow, it is a
very odd-looking animal.

If a ouakari is unwell, strange to say, the bright color of
its face begins to fade at once, and very soon after death it
disappears altogether.

Ouakaris are generally caught in a very singular way. They
are only found in a very small district on the southern bank
of the Amazon River, and spend their whole lives in the top-
most branches of the tallest trees, where it is quite impossible to
follow them. And if they were shot with a gun, of course they
would almost certainly be killed. So they are shot with a blow-
pipe instead. A slender arrow is dipped into a kind of poison
called wourali, which has been diluted to about half its usual
strength, and is then discharged at the animal from below.
Only a very slight wound is caused, but the poison is still so
strong that the ouakari soon faints, and falls from its perch in
the branches. But the hunter, who is carefully watching,
catches it in his arms as it falls, and puts a little salt into its
mouth. This overcomes the effect of the poison, and very soon
the little animal is as well as ever.

Ouakaris which are caught in thisway, however, are generally
very bad-tempered, and the gentle and playful little animals
sometimes seen in zoos have been taken when very young.
They are very delicate creatures and nearly always die after a
few weeks of confinement.

The Couxia

If you were to see a couxia, or black saki, as it is often called,
the first thing that you would say would most likely be, "What
an extraordinary beard!" And your next remark would be,
"Why, it looks as if it were wearing a wig!" For its projecting
black beard is as big as that of the most heavily bearded man
you ever saw, while on its head is a great mass of long black
hair, neatly parted in the middle, and hanging dowTi on either
side, so that it looks just like a wig which has been rather
clumsily made.

The couxia is extremely proud of its beard, and takes very

20 THE ANIMAL WORLD

great pains to prevent it from getting either dirty or wet. Do
you remember how the diana monkey holds its beard with one
hand while drinking, so as to keep it from touching the water ?
Well, the couxia is more careful still, for it will not put its lips
to the water at all, but carries it to its mouth, a very little at a
time, in the palm of its hand. But the odd thing is that it
seems rather ashamed of thinking so much about its "personal
appearance," and, if it knows that anybody is looking at it,
will drink just like any other monkey, and pretend not to care
at all about wetting its beard.

Like most of the sakis, the couxia is not at all a good-tempered
animal, and is apt to give way to sudden fits of fury. So savage-
ly will it bite when enraged, that it has been known to drive its
teeth deeply into a thick board.

The Douroucoulis

Sometimes these odd little animals are called night-monkeys,
because all day long they are fast asleep in a hollow tree, and
soon after sunset they wake up, and all night long are prowl-
ing about the branches of the trees, searching for roosting birds,
and for the other small creatures upon which they feed. They
are very active, and will often strike at a moth or a beetle as it
flies by, and catch it in their deft little paws. And their eyes
are very much like those of cats, so that they can see as well on
a dark night as other monkeys can during the day.

The eyes, too, are very large. If you were to look at the
skull of a douroucouli, you would notice that the eye-sockets
almost meet in the middle, only a very narrow strip of bone
dividing them. And the hair that surrounds them is set in a
circle, just like the feathers that surround the eyes of an owl.

But perhaps the most curious fact about these animals is
that sometimes they roar like jaguars, and sometimes they bark
like dogs, and sometimes they mew like cats.

There are several different kinds of these little monkeys, the
most numerous, perhaps, being the three-banded douroucouli,
which has three upright black stripes on its forehead. They
are all natives of Brazil and other parts of tropical America.

AMERICAN MONKEYS AND LEMURS 21

Marmosets

One of the prettiest — perhaps the very prettiest — of all mon-
keys is the marmoset, which is found in the same part of the
world. It is quite a small animal, being no bigger in body than
a common squirrel, with a tail about a foot long. This tail,
which is very thick and bushy, is white in color, encircled with
a number of black rings, while the body is blackish with gray
markings, and the face is black with a white nose. But what
one notices more than anything else is the long tufts of snow-
white hair upon the ears, which make the little animal look
something like a white-haired negro.

Marmosets are very easily tamed, and they are so gentle
in their ways, and so engaging in their habits, that if only they
were a little more hardy we should most likely see them in this
country as often as we see pet cats. But they are delicate little
creatures, and cannot bear cold. What they like to eat most of
all is the so-called black beetle of our kitchens. If only we
could keep pet marmosets, they would very soon clear our houses
of cockroaches, as these troublesome creatures are correctly
called. They will spend hours in hunting for the insects, and
whenever they catch one they pull off its legs and wings, and
then proceed to devour its body.

When a marmoset is. suddenly alarmed, it utters an odd little
whistling cry. Owing to this habit it is sometimes known as
the ouistiti, or tee-tee.

Lemurs

Relatives of the monkeys, and yet in many respects very
different from them, are those very strange animals, the
lemurs, which are sometimes called half-apes. The reason
why that name has been given to them is this: Lemurs by
the ancients were supposed to be ghosts which wandered about
by night. Now most of the lemurs are never seen abroad by
day. Their eyes cannot bear the bright sunlight; so all day
long they sleep in hollow trees. But when it is quite dark

22 THE ANIMAL WORLD

they come out, prowling about the branches so silently and
so stealthily that they really seem more like specters than living
animals.

When you see them close, they do not look very much like
monkeys. Their faces are much more like those of foxes, and
they have enormous staring eyes without any expression.

The true lemurs are only found in Madagascar, where they
are so numerous that two or three at least may be found in
every little copse throughout the island. More than thirty
different kinds are known, of which, however, we cannot men-
tion more than two.

The first of these is the ring-tailed lemur, which may be
recognized at once by the fact that its tail is marked just like
that of the marmoset. The head and body are shaped like
those of a very small fox, and the color of the fur is ashy gray,
rather darker on the back, and rather lighter underneath. It
lives in troops in Central Madagascar, and every morning and
every night each troop joins in a little concert, just like the
gibbons and the howlers.

But, oddly enough, this lemur is seldom seen in the trees.
It lives on the ground, in rough and rocky places, and its hands
and feet are made in such a way, as to enable it to cling firmly
to the wet and slippery boulders. In fact, they are not at all
unlike the feet of a house-fly. The body is clothed with long
fur, and when a mother lemur carries her little one about on
her back it burrows down so deep into her thick coat that one can
scarcely see it at all.

The ruffed lemur is the largest of these curious animals,
being about as big as a good-sized cat. The oddest thing about
it is that it varies so very much in color. Sometimes it is white
all over, som.etimes it is partly white and partly black, and
sometimes it is reddish brown. Generally, however, the shoul-
ders and front legs, the middle of the back, and the tail are
black, or very dark brown, while the rest of the body is white.
And there is a great thick ruff of white hairs all round the
face.

The eyes of this lemur are very singular. You know, of
course, how the pupil of a cat's eye becomes narrower and

AMERICAN MONKEYS AND LEMURS 23

narrower in a strong light, until at last it looks merely like an
upright slit in the eyeball. Well, that of the lemur is made in
very much the same way, except that the pupil closes up from
above and below instead of from the sides, so that the slit runs
across the eyeball, and not up and down.

The slender loris may be described as a lemur without a tail,
It is found in the forests of Southern India and Ceylon. It is
quite small, the head and body being only about eight inches
long, and in general appearance it gives one rather the idea of a
bat without any wings. In color it is dark gray, with a narrow
white stripe between the eyes.

This animal has a very queer way of going to sleep. It sits
on a bough and rolls itself up into a ball with its head tucked
away between its thighs, while its hands are tightly folded round
a branch springing up from the one on which it is seated. In
this attitude it spends the whole of the day. At night it hunts
for sleeping birds, moving so slowly and silently among the
branches as never to give the alarm, and always plucking off
their feathers before it proceeds to eat them. Strange to say,
while many monkeys have no thumbs, the slender loris has no
forefingers, while the great toes on its feet are very long, and
are directed backward instead of forward.

LEMURoros

There are two lemur-like animals which are so extraordinary
that each of them has been put into a family all by itself.

The first of these is the tarsier, which is found in several of
the larger islands in the Malay Archipelago. Imagine an
animal about as big as a small rat, with a long tail covered
thickly with hair at the root and the tip, the middle part being
smooth and bare. The eyes are perfectly round, and are so
big that they seem to occupy almost the whole of the face —
great staring eyes with very small pupils. The ears are very
long and pointed, and stand almost straight up from the head.
Then the hind legs are so long that they remind one of those of a
kangaroo, while all the fingers and all the toes have large round
pads under the tips, which seem to be used as suckers, and to

VOL. V. — 3

24 THE ANIMAL WORLD

have a wonderful power of grasp. Altogether, the tarsier
scarcely looks like an animal at all. It looks like a goblin.

This singular creature seldom seems to walk. It hops along
the branches instead, just as a kangaroo hops on the groimd.
And when it wants to feed it sits upright on its hind quarters,
and uses its fore paws just as a squirrel does.

Even more curious still is the aye-aye, of Madagascar, which
has puzzled naturalists very much. For its incisor teeth — the
sharp cutting teeth, that is, in the middle of each jaw — are formed
just like those of the rat and the rabbit. They are made not
for cutting but for gnawing; and as fast as they are worn away
from above they grow from beneath. All of its fingers are
long and slender; but the middle one is longer than all the rest,
and is so thin that it looks like nothing but skin and bone.
Most likely this finger, which has a sharp litde claw at the tip,
is used in hooking out insects from their burrows in the bark of
trees. But the aye-aye does not feed only upon insects, for it
often does some damage in the sugar plantations, ripping up the
canes with its sharp front teeth in order to get at the sweet
juices. It is said at times to catch small birds, either for the
purpose of eating them or else to drink their blood. And it
seems also to eat fruit, while in captivity it thrives on boiled
rice.

The aye-aye is about as big as a rather small cat, and its
great bushy tail is longer than its head and body put together.
It is not a common animal, even in Madagascar, and its name
of aye-aye is said to have been given to it on account of the ex-
clamations of surprise uttered by the natives when it was shown
to them for the first time by a European traveler. But it is
more likely that the name comes from the cry of the animal,
which is a sort of sharp little bark twice repeated.

Strange to say, the natives of Madagascar are much afraid
of the aye-aye. Of course it cannot do much mischief with its
teeth or claws; but they seem to think that it possesses some
magic power by means of which it can injure those who try to
catch it, or even cause them to die. So that they cannot be
bribed to capture it even by the offer of a large reward. Some-
times, however, they catch it by mistake, finding an aye-aye in a

AMERICAN MONKEYS AND LEMURS 25

trap which has been set for lemurs. In that case they smear it
all over with fat, which they think will please it very much, and
then allow it to go free.

The aye-aye is seldom seen in captivity, and when in that
state it sleeps all day lon^ ,

CHAPTER IV
THE BATS

NEXT in order to the monkeys come the bats, the only
mammals which are able to fly. It is quite true that
there are animals known as flying squirrels, which are sometimes
thought to have the power of flight. But all that these can do,
as we shall see by and by, is to take very long leaps through the
air, aided by the curious manner in which the loose skin of the
body is fastened to the inner surface of the legs.

How Bats Fly

Bats, however, really can fly, and the way in which their
wings are made is very curious. If you were to look at a bat's
skeleton, you would notice, first of all, that the front limbs
were very much larger than the hinder ones. The upper arm-
bone is very long indeed, the lower arm-bone is longer still, and
the bones of the fingers are longest of all. The middle finger
of a bat, indeed, is often longer than the whole of its body!
Now these bones form the framework of the wing. You
know how the silk or satin of a lady's fan is stretched upon
the ribs. Well, a very thin and delicate skin is stretched upon
the bones of a bat's arm and hand in just the same way. And
when the little animal wants to fly, it stretches its fingers apart,
and so spreads the wing. When it wants to rest it closes them,
and so folds it against its body.

Then you would notice that a high bony ridge runs do\Mi the
bat's breast-bone. Now such a ridge as this always signifies
great strength, because muscles must be fastened at each end
to bones; and when the muscles are very large and powerful,
the bones must be very strong in order to carry them. So,
when an animal needs very strong breast-muscles, so that it
may be able to fly well, we always find a high bony ridge running

26

THE BATS 27

down its breast-bone; and to this ridge the great muscles which
work the wings are fastened.

Something more is necessary, however, if the animal is to
fly properly. It must be able to steer itself in the air just as a
boat has to be steered in the water. Otherwise it would never
be able to fly in the right direction. So nature has given it a
kind of air-rudder; for the skin which is stretched upon the wings
is carried on round the end of the body, and is supported there,
partly by the hind legs, and partly by the bones of the tail. And
by turning this curious rudder to one side or the other, or tilting
it just a little up or a little down, the bat is able to alter its course
at will.

The Useful Claw

But you would notice something else on looking at a bat's
skeleton. You would notice that the bones of the thumb are
not long and slender, like those of the fingers, but that they are
quite short and stout, with a sharp hooked claw at the tip.
The bat uses this claw when it finds itself on the ground. It
cannot walk, of course, as it has no front feet; so it hitches itself
along by means of its thumbs, hooking first one claw into the
ground and then the other, and so managing to drag itself
slowly and awkwardly forward.

It is not at all fond of shuffling along in this way, however,
and always takes to flight as soon as it possibly can. But as it
cannot well rise from the ground it has to climb to a little
height and let itself drop, so that as it falls it may spread its
wings and fly away. And it always climbs in a very curious
manner, with its tail upward and its head toward the ground,
using first the claws of one little foot and then those of the other.

When a bat goes to sleep it always hangs itself up by the
claws of its hind feet. In an old church tower, or a stable loft,
you may often find bats suspended in this singular way. And
there is a reason for it. The bat wants to be able, at the first
sign of danger, to fly away. Now if it lay flat upon the ground
to sleep, as most animals do, it would not be able to fly quickly;
for it would have to clamber up a wall or a post to some little

28 THE ANIMAL WORLD

height before it could spread its wings. And this would take
time. But if it should be alarmed while it is hanging by its
hind feet, all that it has to do is to drop into the air and fly off
at once.

Bats in the Dark

There is something else, too, that we must tell you about
bats. They have the most wonderful power of flying about on
the darkest night, without ever knocking up against the branches
of trees, or any other obstacles which they may meet on their
way. It used to be thought that this was because they had very
keen eyes. But it has been found out that even a blind bat has
this power, which seems really to be due to very sensitive nerves
in the wings. You can feel a branch by touching it. But a
bat is able to feel a branch without touching it, while it is eight
or ten inches away, and so has time to swerve to one side with-
out striking against it.

The Winter Sleep

Bats, like hedgehogs and squirrels, pass through the winter
in a kind of deep sleep, which we call hibernation. It is more
than ordinary sleep, for they do not require any food for months
together, while they scarcely breathe once in twenty-four hours,
and their hearts almost cease to beat. If the winter is cold
throughout, they do not wake at all until the spring. But two
or three hours' warm sunshine arouses them from their slum-
ber. They wake up, feel hungry, go out to look for a little food,
and then return to their retreats and pass into the same
strange sleep again.

An Interesting Specimen

"I once kept a long-eared bat as a pet," says a writer, "and
a most interesting little creature he was. One of his wings had
been injured by the person who caught him, so that he could not
fly, and was obliged to live on the floor of his cage. Yet,

THE BATS 29

although he could take no exercise, he used to eat no less than
seventy large bluebottle flies every evening. As long as the
daylight lasted, he would take no notice of the flies at all. They
might crawl about all over him, but still he would never move.
But soon after sunset, when the flies began to get sleepy, the
bat would wake up. Fixing his eyes on the nearest fly, he would
begin to creep toward it so slowly that it was almost impossible
to see that he was moving. By degrees he would get within a
few inches. Then, quite suddenly, he would leap upon it, and
cover it with his wings, pressing them down on either side of his
body so as to form a kind of tent. Next he would tuck down
his head, catch the fly in his mouth, and crunch it up. And
finally he would creep on toward another victim, always leaving
the legs and the wings behind him, which in some strange way he
had managed to strip off, just as we strip the legs from shrimps.
"I often watched him, too, when he was drinking. As he
was so crippled, I used to pour a few drops of water on the
floor of his cage, and when he felt thirsty he would scoop up a
little in his lower jaw, and then throw his head back in order to
let it run down his throat. But in a state of freedom bats drink
by just dipping the lower jaw into the water as they skim along
close to the surface of a pond or a stream, and you may often
see them doing so on a warm summer's evening."

The Pipistrelle

Thepipistrelle, a common European bat, is said to feed chiefly
upon gnats, of which it must devour a very large number, and as
it much prefers to live near human habitations, there can be
no doubt that it helps to keep houses free from these disagree-
able insects. In captivity it will feed freely upon raw meat
chopped very small. It appears earlier in the spring than the
other bats, and remains later in the autumn.

Horseshoe Bats

These bats of the Old World have a most curious leaf-like
membrane upon the face, which gives them a very odd ap-

30 THE ANIMAL WORLD

pearance. In the great horseshoe bat this membrane is double,
like one leaf placed above another. The lower one springs from
just below the nostrils, and spreads outward and upward on
either side, so that it is shaped very much like a horseshoe, while
the upper one is pointed and stands upright, so as partly to
cover the forehead. The ears, too, are very large, and are
ribbed crosswise from the base to the tips; so that altogether
this bat is a strange-looking creature.

Perhaps none of the bats is more seldom seen than this, for
it cannot bear the light at all, and never comes out from its re-
treat until darkness has quite set in. And one very seldom
finds it asleep during the day, for it almost always hides in dark
and gloomy caverns, which are hardly ever entered by any
human being. In France, however, there are certain caves in
which great numbers of these bats congregate together for their
long winter sleep. As many as a hundred and eighty of them
have been counted in a single colony. And it is a very strange
fact that all the male bats seem to assemble in one colony, and
all the female bats in another.

Vampires

In Central and South America, and also in the West Indian
Islands, a number of bats are found which are known as vam-
pires. Some of these eat insects, just like the bats of other
countries, and one of them — known as the long-tongued vampire
— has a most singular tongue, both very long and very slender,
with a brush-like tip, so that it can be used for licking out in-
sects from the flowers in which they are hiding. Then there are
other vampires which eat fruit, like the flying foxes, about
which we shall have something to tell you soon. But the best
known of these bats, and certainly the strangest, are those which
feed upon the blood of living animals.

If you were to tether a horse in those parts of the forest where
these vampires live, and to pay it a visit just as the evening
twilight was fading into darkness, you would be likely to see a
shadowy form hovering over its shoulders, or perhaps even
clinging to its body. This would be a vampire bat; and when

THE BATS 31

you came to examine the horse, you would find that, just where
you had seen the bat, its skin would be stained with blood. For
this bat has the singular power of making a wound in the skin
of an animal, and sucking its blood, without either alarming it or
appearing to cause it any pain. And if a traveler in the forest
happens to lie asleep in his hammock with his feet uncovered,
he is very likely to find in the morning that his great toe has been
bitten by one of these bats, and that he has lost a considerable
quantity of blood. Yet the bat never wakes him as it scrapes
away the skin with its sharp-edged front teeth.

Strangely enough, however, there are many persons whom
vampires will never bite. They may sleep night after night in
the open, and leave their feet entirely uncovered, and yet the
bats will always pass them by. Charles Waterton, a famous
English traveler, was most anxious to be bitten by a vampire,
so that he might learn by his own experience whether the in-
fliction of the wound caused any pain. But though he slept
for eleven months in an open loft, through which the bats were
constantly passing, they never attempted to touch him, while an
Indian lad who slept in the same loft was bitten again and again.

But as these bats cannot always obtain blood, it is most likely
that they do not really live upon it, but only drink it when they
have the chance, and that as a rule their food consists of insects.

Flying Foxes

Of course these are not really foxes. They are just big bats
which feed on fruit, instead of on insects or on blood. They
are called also fruit-bats. But their long, narrow faces are so
curiously fox-like that we cannot feel surprised that the name
of flying foxes should have been given to them.

Flying foxes are found in many parts of Asia, as well as in
Madagascar and in Australia, and in some places they are very
common. In India, long strings of these bats may be seen
regularly every evening, as they fly off from their sleeping-
places to the orchards in search of fruit. In some parts of
India, early in the morning, and again in the evening, the sky
is often black with tliem as far as the eye can reach, and they

32 THE ANIMAL WORLD

continue to pass overhead in an unbroken stream for nearly
three-quarters of an hour. And as they roost in great numbers
on the branches of tall trees, every bat being suspended by its
hinder feet, with its wings wrapped round his body, they look
from a little distance just like bunches of fruit.

It is rather curious to find that when they are returning to
the trees in which they roost, early in the morning, these bats
quarrel and fight for the best places, just as birds do.

In districts where they are at all plentiful, flying foxes do a
great deal of mischief, for it is almost impossible to protect the
orchards from their attacks. Even if the trees are covered all
over with netting they will creep underneath it, and pick out all
the best and ripest of the fruit; while, as they only pay their visits
of destruction under cover of darkness, it is impossible to lie
in wait for them and shoot them as they come.

The flight of the fruit-bats is not at all like that of the bats
with which we are familiar, for as they do not feed upon insects
there is no need for them to be constantly changing their course,
and darting first to one side and then to the other in search of
victims. So they fly slowly and steadily on, following one an-
other just as crows do, and never turning from their course until
they reach their feeding-ground.

The largest of these fruit-bats is the kalong, which is found in
the islands of the Malay Archipelago. It measures over five
feet from tip to tip of the extended wings. The Malays often
use it for food, and its flesh is said to be delicate and well flavored.

CHAPTER V
THE INSECT-EATERS

NEXT to the bats comes the important tribe of the insect-
eaters, containing a number of animals which are so
called because most of them feed chiefly upon insects.

The Colugo

One of the strangest of these is the colugo, which lives in
Siam, Java, and the Islands of the Malay Archipelago. It is
remarkable for its wonderful power of leaping, for it will climb
a tall tree, spring through the air, and alight on the trunk of
another tree seventy or eighty yards away. For this reason it
has sometimes been called the "flying colugo"; but it does not
really fly. It merely skims from tree to tree. And if you could
examine its body you would be able to see at once how it does
so.

First of all, you would notice that the skin of the lower sur-
face is very loose. You know how loose the skin of a dog's
neck is, and how you can pull it up ever so far from the flesh.
Welljthe skin of the colugo is quite as loose as that on the sides
and lower parts of its body.

Then you would notice that this loose skin is fastened along
the inner side of each leg, so that the limbs are connected by
membrane just like the toes of a duck's foot. And you would
also see that when the legs are stretched out at right angles to
the body, this membrane must be stretched out with them.

Now when a colugo wishes to take a long leap, it springs
from the tree on which it is resting, spreads out its limbs, and
skims through the air just as an oyster-shell does if you throw
it sideways from the hand. The air buoys it up, you see, and
enables it to travel ten times as far as it could without this loose
skin. But of course this is not flight. The animal does not

33

34 THE ANIMAL WORLD

beat the air with the membrane between the legs, as bats and
birds do with their wings. It cannot alter its course in the air;
and it is always obliged to alight at a lower level than that from
which it sprang.

The colugo is about as big as a good-sized cat, and its fur
is olive or brown in color, mottled with whitish blotches and
spots. When it clings closely to the trunk of a tree, and re-
mains perfectly motionless, it may easily be overlooked, for
it looks just like a patch of bark covered with lichens and
mosses. It is said to sleep suspended from a branch with its
head downward, like the bats; and whether this is the case or
not, its tail is certainly prehensile, like that of a spider-monkey.
And strangest of all, perhaps, is the fact that, although it be-
longs to the group of the insect-eaters, it feeds upon leaves.

The Hedgehog

In European countries, where it is common, one can scarcely
walk through the meadows on a summer's evening without
seeing this curious animal as it moves clumsily about in search
of prey. There everybody is familiar with its spiky coat, which
affords such an excellent protection against almost all its
enemies.

But it is not everybody who knows how the animal raises and
lowers its spines. It has them perfectly under control; we all
know that. If you pick a hedgehog up it raises its spines at
once, even if it does not roll itself up into a ball and so cause
them to project straight out from its body in all directions. But
if you keep the creature as a pet, and treat it kindly, it will ver>'
soon allow you to handle it freely without raising its spines at
all.

The fact is this. The spines are shaped just like slightly
bent pins, each having a sort of rounded head at the base. And
they are pinned, as it were, through the skin, the heads lying
underneath it. Besides this, the whole body is wrapped up in a
kind of muscular cloak, and in this the heads of the spines are
buried. So if the muscle is pulled in one direction, the spines
must stand up, because the heads are carried along with it. If

THE INSECT-EATERS 35

it is pulled in the other direction they must lie down, for the
same reason. And it is just by pulling this muscle in one direc-
tion or the other that the animal raises and lowers its spines.

Hedgehog Habits

The hedgehog is not often seen wandering about by day,
because it is then fast asleep, snugly rolled up in a ball under
the spreading roots of a tree, or among the dead leaves at the
bottom of a hedge. But soon after sunset it comes out from
its retreat, and begins to hunt about for food. Sometimes it
will eat bird's eggs, being very fond of those of the partridge;
for which reason it is not at all a favorite with the gamekeeper.
It will devour small birds, too, if it can get them, also lizards,
snails, slugs, and insects. It has often been kno^vn to kill
snakes and to feed upon their bodies afterward. It is a canni-
bal, too, at times, and will kill and eat one of its own kind. But
best of all it likes earthworms.

The number of these which it will crunch up one after an-
other is astonishing. "I once kept a tame hedgehog," says a
naturalist, "and fed him almost entirely upon worms; and he
used to eat, on an average, something like an ordinary jampotful
every night of his life. He never took the slightest notice of the
worms as long as the daylight lasted; but when it began to grow
dark he would wake up, go sniffing about his cage till he came to
the jampot, and then stand up on his hind feet, put his fore paws
on the edge, and tip it over. And after about an hour and a
half of steady crunching, every worm had disappeared."

In many places farmers persecute the hedgehog, and kill it
whenever they have a chance of doing so. And if you ask the
reason the answer is generally to the effect that hedgehogs steal
milk from sleeping cows at night. Now it does not seem very
likely that a cow would allow such a spiky creature as a hedge-
hog to come and nestle up against her body. But, on the other
hand, it cannot be denied that hedgehogs are often to be seen
close by cows as they rest upon the ground. But they have not
gone there in search of milk. Don't you know what happens
if you lay a heavy weight, such as a big paving-stone, on the

36 THE ANIMAL WORLD

ground? The worms buried under it feel the pressure, and
come up to the surface in alarm. Now a cow is a very heavy
weight; so that when she lies down a number of worms are sure
to come up all round her. And the hedgehog visits the spot in
search, not of milk, but of worms!

The young of the hedgehog, whichareusually four in number,
do not look in the least like their parents, and you might easily
mistake them for young birds; for their spikes are very soft and
white, so that they look much more like growing feathers. The
little creatures are not only blind, but also deaf, for several days
after birth, and they cannot roll themselves up till they have
grown somewhat. The mother animal always makes a kind of
warm nest to serve as a nursery, and thatches it so carefully
that even a heavy shower of rain never seems to soak its way
through.

Strange to say, the hedgehog appears to be quite unaffected
by many kinds of poison. It will eat substances which would
cause speedy death to almost any other animal. And over and
over again it has been bitten by a viper without appearing to
suffer any ill results.

In England, about the middle of October,the hedgehog retires
to some snug and well-hidden retreat, and there makes a warm
nest of moss and dry leaves. In this it hibernates, just as bats
do in hollow trees, only waking up now and then for an hour or
two on very mild days, and often passing three or four months
without taking food.

Shrews

During the earlier part of the autumn, you may very often
find a curious mouse-like little animal lying dead upon the
ground. But if you look at it carefully, you will see at once that
in several respects it is quite different from the true mice.

In the first place you will notice that its mouth is produced
into a long snout, which projects far in front of the lower jaw.
Now no mouse ever has a snout like that. Then you will
find that all its teeth are sharply pointed, while the front teeth
of a mouse have broad, flat edges specially meant for nibbling

THE INSECT-EATERS 37

at hard substances. And, thirdly, you will see that its tail, in-
stead of gradually tapering to a pointed tip, is comparatively
short, and is squared in a very curious manner. The fact is
that the little animal is not a mouse at all, but a kind of
shrew, of which there are many American species. One is
large, and pushes through the top-soil like a mole. Another,
smaller, is blackish, and has a short tail. The commonest
one is mouse-gray and only two inches long plus a very long
tail. It is fond of water, but has no such interesting habits
as those of the European shrew next described.

These creatures are very common almost everywhere. But
we very seldom see them alive, because they are so timid that
the first sound of an approaching footstep sends them away into
hiding. Yet they are not at all timid among themselves. On
the contrary, they are most quarrelsome little creatures, and are
constantly fighting. If two shrews meet, they are almost sure
to have a battle, and if you were to try to keep two of them in
the same cage, one would be quite certain to kill and eat the
other before very long. They are not cannibals as a rule, how-
ever, for they feed upon worms and insects, and just now and
then upon snails and slugs. And no doubt they do a great
deal of good by devouring mischievous grubs.

Why these little animals die in such numbers just at the
beginning of the autumn, nobody quite seems to know. It
used to be thought that they were killed by cats, or hawks, or
owls, which refused to eat them because of some unpleasant
flavor in their flesh. But then one never finds any mark of
violence on their bodies. A much more absurd idea was
that they always die if they run across a path which has been
trodden by the foot of man! Perhaps the real reason may
be that just at that season of the year they perish from
starvation.

The Water- Shrew

The best way to see this pretty litde creature is to go and lie
do\Mi on the bank of a stream, and to keep perfectly still for
five or ten minutes. If you do this — not moving even a finger —

38 THE ANIMAL WORLD

you will very likely see half a dozen or more of the little animals
at play. They go rushing about in the wildest excitement, chas-
ing one another, tumbling over one another, and uttering curious
little sharp, short squeaks, just like a party of boys let out from
school after a long morning's work. Suddenly one will dash
into the water and dive, quickly followed by another and then
by a third. As they swim away beneath the surface they look
just like balls of quicksilver, because their soft, silky fur en-
tangles thousands of little air-bubbles, which reflect back the
light just as a looking-glass does. And you will notice that
they do not swim straight. First they turn to one side, and ^hen
to the other side, exactly like some one who has just learned to
ride a bicycle, but does not yet know how to keep the front
wheel straight. And the reason is this. The shrew swims by
means of its hind feet, which are fringed with long hairs, so as
to make them more useful as paddles; and it uses them by
striking out first with one and then with the other. The con-
sequence is that when it strikes with the right foot its head
turns to the left, while when it strikes with the left foot its head
turns to the right.

But it would not be able to swim even as straight as it does
if it were not for its tail, which is fringed with long hairs just
like the hind feet. And as the little animal paddles its way
through the water it keeps its tail stretched out behind it, and
uses it as a rudder, turning it a little bit to one side or the other,
so as to help it in keeping its course.

After chasing one another under water for a minute or two,
the little animals give up their game. And now, if you watch
them carefully, you can see them hunting for food. First
they go to one stone down at the bottom of the stream, and then
to another, poking their long snouts underneath in search of
fresh-water shrimps, or the grubs of water-insects. But a
minute or two later they are all back on the bank again, dashing
about and chasing one another and squeaking as merrily as
ever.

Sometimes you may see a water-shrew which is very much
darker in color than the others, the fur on the upper part of its
body being almost black. It used to be thought that such ani-

THE INSECT-EATERS 39

mals as this belonged to a different species, to which the name
of oared shrew was given. But we know now that they are
only dark varieties of the common water-shrew.

Jumping Shrews

These are all found in Africa. They are curious little crea-
tures with extremely long hind feet, by means of which they
leap along just as if they were tiny kangaroos. So swift are
they, that it is very difficult for the eye to follow their move-
ments. And as they disappear into their burrows at the slightest
alarm and do not come out again for some little time, few people
ever have a chance of w'atching their habits.

The snouts of these shrews are so very long that the little
animals are often known as elephant-shrews.

Tree-Shrews

This is a group so called because they spend almost the whole
of their li\'es in the trees. In some ways they are not unlike
tiny squirrels, being nearly as active in their movements, and
sitting up on their hind quarters to feed, while the food is held
in their fore paws. They are found in various parts of Southern
Asia. They soon become very tame, actually entering houses,
and climbing up on the table while the occupants are sitting at
meals. They will even drink tea and coffee out of the cups!
And if they are encouraged they make themselves quite at home,
and will drive away any other tree-shrews which may venture
into the house.

The largest animal of this group is the tupaia, which lives in
Borneo and Sumatra. But the most curious is the pen-tailed
tree-shrew, which has a double fringe of long hairs at the end of
its tail, arranged just like the barbs of a feather, so that its tail
looks very much like a quill pen. The rest of the tail, which is
very long, is covered with square scales; and while the tail itself
is black, the fringe of hairs is white, so that the appearance of
the animal is very odd. It is found in Sarawak, and also in
some of the smaller islands of the Malay Archipelago.

VOL. v. — 4

40 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Desman

This animal may be described as a kind of mixture of the
elephant-shrew and the water-shrew; for it has an extremely
long and flexible snout, and it spends almost its whole life in the
water. Its feet are very well adapted for swimming, the toes
being joined together by a web-like membrane like those of the
duck and the swan, so that they form most exquisite paddles.
And the animal is so fond of the water that, although it lives in
a burrow in the bank of a stream, it always makes the en-
trance below the surface.

This is a very good plan in one way, for if the little animal
is chased by one of its enemies, it can easily take refuge in its
long, winding tunnel, which twists about so curiously, and has
so many side passages, that the pursuer is almost sure to be
baffled. But in another way it is a bad plan, for as the burrow
has no entrance except the one under water, it never gets properly
ventilated, the only connection with the outer air being some
chance cranny in the ground. And in winter-time, when deep
snow has covered up this cranny, while the surface of the stream
is frozen to a depth of several inches^ the poor little desman can
get no fresh air at all, and often dies in its own burrow from
suffocation.

This animal has a curious musky odor, which is due to certain
glands near the root of the tail. So strong is this odor, that if a
pike happens to have swallowed a desman a few days before it
is caught, its flesh cannot be eaten, for its whole body both
smells and tastes strongly of musk. Two kinds of desman are
known. One is the Russian desman, which is found in the
steppes, and the other is the Pyrenean desman, which lives in
the range of mountains from which it takes its name.

The Common Mole

This is perhaps the most interesting of all the insect-eaters.
Have you ever noticed how wonderfully it is suited for a life
which is almost entirely spent under the ground?

THE INSECT-EATERS 41

Notice, first of all, the shape of its body. It is a pointed
cylinder. Now that is the very best shape for a burrowing
animal, because it offers so little resistance to the ground as the
creature forces its way along. And nowadays we make all our
boring tools and weapons of that shape. The gimlet, which
has to bore through wood; the bullet, which has to bore through
air; the torpedo and the submarine boat, which have to bore
through water — they are all made in the form of pointed cylin-
ders. And the mole is a pointed cylinder too. Its body is the
cylinder, and its head is the point; and so the animal is able
to work its way through the soil with as little difficulty as pos-
sible.

Then notice the character of its fur. It has no "set" in it.
You can stroke it backward or forward with equal ease. And
this is most important in an animal which lives in a burrow. If
a mole had fur like that of a cat, it would be able to travel head
foremost through its tunnel quite easily; but it could not move
backward. And this would never do, for sometimes the mole is
attacked by an enemy in front, while it has no room to turn
round in order to retreat. So nature has made its fur in such a
way that it "gives" in either direction, and enables the little
animal to move either forward or backward with equal ease.

A Wondrous Digger

See what wonderful front paws the mole has — so broad, so
very strong, and armed with such great, stout claws. They are
partly pickaxes, and partly spades, which can tear away the
earth and fling it up into molehills with the most wonderful
speed. The rapidity with which a mole can dig is really mar-
velous. "Three times," a wTiter tells us, "I have seen moles
walking about on the ground. Each time I was within ten
yards of the animal; each time I ran to the spot. And yet each
time the little creature had disappeared into the ground before
I could get there! It did not seem to be digging. It simply
seemed to sink into the soil, just as though it were sinking into
water.

Then just see how hard and horny the skin of the paws is.

42 THE ANIMAL WORLD

If it were not for this, the mole would be always cutting itself
with sharp flints as it dug its way through the ground. Notice,
too, how both the eyes and ears are hidden away under the
fur, so that fragments of earth may not fall into them. Nature
has been very careful to suit the mole to the strange life which
she calls upon it to lead.

Perhaps no animal is so strong for its size as the mole. Its
muscles and sinews are so hard that they will turn the edge of
a knife. If a mole could be magnified to the size of a lion or a
tiger, and its strength could be increased in corresponding
degree, it would be by far the more powerful animal of
the two.

The Mole and its Food

The reason why the mole is so strong, and so well suited
for a life underground, is that it is meant to feed partly upon
worms, and partly upon such grubs as wireworms, which live
on the roots of plants. And the appetite of the animal is astonish-
ing. It is ever eating, and yet never appears to be satisfied.
Don't think of keeping a mole as a pet; because if you do, you
will have to spend almost the whole of your time in digging up
worms for it to eat! Mole-catchers say, indeed, that if a mole
goes without eating for three hours it is in danger of starvation.
So that the animal must spend the greater part of the day, and
of the night too, in searching for food.

How does it find the worms and grubs ? Well, of course it
cannot see underground; so sometimes, we may think, it smells
them, for its scent is certainly very keen. But oftener, most
likely, it hears them moving about; for its ears are even keener
still. Haven't you noticed that, although you may often walk
through fields which are almost covered with molehills, you never
see the earth being thro\Mi up ? That is because the mole hears
you coming. It hears your footsteps when you are a hundred
yards distant, or even more, and immediately stops work until
you have gone away again. In "The Tempest," Caliban tells
his companions to "tread softly, that the blind mole may not
hear a footfall." Although Shakespeare was wrong in thinking

THE INSECT-EATERS 43

that moles are blind, he was quite right in reminding us that they
have very sharp ears.

Friend or Foe?

The gardener, of course, looks upon the mole as a foe; and so
it is when it drives its tunnels under our lawns, and throws up
great heaps of earth on the surface of the grass. And the farmer
regards it as a foe too, and kills it whenever he has an oppor-
tunity. But perhaps the farmer may not know what a busy
little animal the mole is, and what thousands and thousands of
mischievous grubs it devours. There are wireworms, which
nibble away at the roots of plants till they kill them, and then
move on to destroy other plants in the same way. There are
"leather-jackets," or daddy-long-legs grubs, which feed upon
the roots of grass, and sometimes ruin all the turf in a meadow.
There are also the great fat white grubs of beetles, which are
worse, perhaps, than either; and many others as well. Now the
mole is always preying upon these. It eats them in hundreds
every day of its life. And just think of all the mischief that
they would have done if they had been allowed to live! No
doubt it is annoying to the farmer to have molehills among his
hay, which blunt the knives of the reaping-machines, and pre-
vent them from cutting properly. But even that is better than
having no hay to cut; and there would be none if all these mis-
chevious grubs were allowed to live.

But there is another way as well in which the mole is useful;
for the earth which it digs up from down below, and throws up in
heaps on the surface of the ground, serves for what the farmer
calls a top-dressing. After a time, you see, the nourishment in
the soil at the surface is sucked out of it by the roots of the grass.
If it were in a garden, the farmer could dig it. If it were in a
corn-field, or a turnip-field, he could plow it. But in a meadow,
he can do neither, without destroying the pasture. So he applies
a top-dressing. He gets some good, rich earth from elsewhere,
and spreads it over the surface; and this earth works down to
the grass-roots, and gives them just the nourishment they
require.

44 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Now this is exactly what the mole is always doing. The
earth which it throws up is fresh, rich earth from down below,
which the roots have not reached. It is just what the failing
grass requires. And if the farmer rakes the molehills down,
so as to spread this earth evenly over the surface of the field, he
finds that it forms a top-dressing quite as good as any he could
apply himself. So instead of looking upon the mole as
one of his enemies, he ought to include it in the list of his
laborers.

The Little Well-Digger

Another thing that we must tell you about the mole is the
way in which it obtains water. It is a very thirsty animal, and
constantly requires to drink. At the same time, it cannot leave
its burrow half a dozen times a day, in order to visit a stream or
a pond, for it would almost certainly be killed by one of its
many enemies. So it actually digs little wells of its own, always
doing so in the dampest parts of its tunnels, where they fill up
almost immediately. And when it wants to drink it just goes off
to the nearest of these wells and satisfies its thirst.

The Mole's Fortress

But the most wonderful thing that the mole does is to make
what we call a fortress, surrounding the chamber in which it
sleeps. This fortress is situated either in a natural mound of
earth, or else beneath the spreading roots of a tree or a large
bush; and it is made in this way: First the mole digs a short
circular gallery. A little way under this it digs another, rather
larger in diameter, and connects the two by means of five short
passages. In the middle of the mound, and about half-way
between the two galleries, it scoops out a large round hole, from
which three passages run to the lower gallery. This is the mole's
bedroom, and it communicates with the main burrow by a tunnel
which dips under the lower gallery. Finally, a number of runs
branch out from the lower gallery in all directions.

So, you see, if a mole is chased by an enemy, it can nearly

THE INSECT-EATERS 45

always escape by passing through its fortress. It goes up one
passage, down another, up again by a third, down again by a
fourth, and then off by one of the side runs; so that its pursuer
is almost sure to be bewildered. And if the little animal
should be surprised while asleep, it can escape in any direction
without losing even a moment.

As the mole always likes to make itself comfortable, it collects
together a quantity of dry grass, moss, and leaves, and piles
them up in the central chamber, so as to make a warm and cosy
bed! And the female mole makes a nursery for her little ones
in much the same way.

Fierce Fighters

Sad to say, moles are very quarrelsome little animals, and
frequently fight when they meet. Here is an account of one of
their battles, written by a passer-by who happened to wit-
ness it.

" Walking along a quiet lane, I heard some very funny little
squeaks proceeding from the other side of the hedge. I am
perfectly used to all sorts of animal and bird sounds, but had
never heard the like of these before. On getting cautiously over
the hedge, I found two moles fighting in the ditch. I went to
within two yards of them, but they took not the slightest notice
of me, so intent were both on their business. I at once looked
at my watch. They kept on, up and down, scratch and bite,
for seven minutes, when one turned the other completely over
on his back, and seized him by the throat, which he cut as
cleanly as if done by a knife, thus finishing the fight. The
way in which they used their formidable front feet was sur-
prising."

The Star-nosed Mole

This mole is found in the United States and Canada. It is a
very odd-looking animal, for its muzzle is shaped into a long
snout, at the tip of which is a circle of fleshy rays of a rosy red
color, which look like the petals of a red daisy, or the spreading

46 THE ANIMAL WORLD

arms of a sea-anemone. These rays can be opened wide or
closed up at pleasure, and seem to serve as very delicate organs
of touch, helping the animal in finding and catching its prey. ^

This mole is also remarkable for having a very long tail,
which is more than half the length of the head and body. The
total length is about seven inches.

CHAPTER VI
THE LARGER CATS

NOW we come to the beasts of prey, foremost among which
stand the members of the great cat tribe. All these
animals have their bodies formed in a very wonderful way.

First of all, their eyes are intended for use chiefly by night.
If you look at a cat's eyes during broad daylight, when the sun
is shining, you will notice that the pupils, through which she
sees, are nothing more than mere narrow slits in the middle.
Look at them again toward evening, when the twilight is just
beginning to creep on, and you will see that the pupils are a
good deal bigger, occupying nearly half the eyeball. Look at
them once again, when it is almost dark, and you will find that
they are bigger still, having widened out over nearly the whole
of the eye.

Now the eyes of a lion and a tiger are made in just the same
way. The darker the night, the more the pupils expand, so
that they may be able to take in the few rays of light that there
are. We sometimes say that these animals can see in the dark.
That, of course, is a mistake, for in perfect darkness no animal
can see at all. But even on the darkest night there is always
some light, and no matter how little there is it is enough to allow
lions and tigers to see perfectly well, because of the wonderful
way in which their eyes are made.

The Stealthy Tread

But these creatures do not only want to be able to see their
victims on a dark night; they also want to be able to creep up
to them without making the slightest sound. It would be quite
useless, for instance, for a lion to chase a deer, because the deer
is by far the swifter animal of the two. If the lion is to catch
the deer at all he must spring upon it unawares, and strike it

47

48 THE ANIMAL WORLD

down before it Imows its danger. And this is not at all easy,
for the ears of a deer are very sharp, and if the lion were to
make the least noise while creeping up, it would take the alarm
directly. But under his great broad paws the lion has soft,
fleshy cushions, which enable him to walk along without making
any noise at all. Haven't you noticed how silent a cat's tread
is ? You simply cannot hear her place her foot upon the ground.
Well, lions and tigers walk in just the same noiseless manner,
so that the deer never hears them creeping up, and is struck
down and killed before it has time to realize its danger.

But suppose that there are bushes in the way. Suppose, for
example, that in order to approach the deer at all the lion must
creep through a thicket. Is he not quite sure to brush up
against a branch as he does so, causing the leaves to rustle?
And will not the deer hear the sound and take the alarm?

Well, no doubt this would happen if the lion had to depend
for his silent approach only on the soft cushions under his feet.
But then, you see, he has whiskers as well! Perhaps you thought
these were only meant for ornament. But they are meant for
use; and they are employed in a very curious manner. When
they are spread out on either side, they measure from tip to tip
exactly the width of the body. Besides this, there is a very
delicate sensitive nerve at the root of every whisker, which runs
straight to the brain. So, you see, if the tip of a whisker is
touched, the brain feels it directly; and if as the lion is creeping
through the bushes his outspread whiskers brush against the
branches, he knows at once that there is no room for him to
pass without making a noise and alarming his victim. So he
draws his head back, and creeps up by another way.

Killing and Eating

Then it is very important that his claws should be kept sharp;
for he depends upon them for tearing his victim do\vn. So
every claw fits into a sheath, which protects the point, and pre-
vents it from being worn down by rubbing against the ground.
You can easily see these sheaths by examining the paw of a cat;
and those of the lion and tiger are formed in just the same way.

I. Lion and Lioness.
3. Cheeta.

FOUR GREAT CATS

2. Canada Lynx-
4- Tiger.

THE LARGER CATS 49

And the muscles which work them are so arranged that they
keep the claws always drawn back, except just when the animal
uses its paw in striking.

And then, once more, these animals have very curious
tongues. Haven't you noticed when a cat has licked your
hand how very dry and rough her tongue feels? It is quite
diflferent from the smooth, wet tongue of a dog. Well, the
tongue of a lion or tiger is even rougher still; and if you v/ere to
look at it sideways, you would see why. It is covered all over
with sharp hook-like projections, the points of which are di-
rected toward the throat.

The reason is this : a lion or a tiger does not succeed in killing
prey every night. Sometimes it hunts for one night, sometimes
for two nights, sometimes even for three nights, without any
success at all. So that when it does catch a victim, it wants to
eat as much of its flesh as it possibly can. And if its tongue
were not made in this singular manner, it would have to waste
a great deal; for its sharp-pointed teeth cannot tear off nearly
all the flesh of the bones. By means of its rough tongue, how-
ever, it can lick off even the tiniest scraps; and not even the
smallest atom has to be wasted.

If you give a dog a bone which is too big for him to crunch up
and swallow, you will always find that he leaves a good deal of
meat upon it. But if you give a similar bone to a hungry cat,
you will find that she licks it perfectly clean. That is because
her tongue is made in just the same way as that of a lion.

Lions

About forty different kinds of cats are known, most of which
are found in the warmer parts of Africa and Asia. The most
famous of all, of course, is the lion, which is spread over the
greater part of the African continent, and is also found in Persia
and in India.

We need not describe the lion, for everybody knows perfectly
well what it is like. But perhaps you do not know that the
Indian lion hardly ever has a mane. For this reason it was
formerly thought that there were two different kinds of lions,

50 THE ANIMAL WORLD

the Indian animal being quite different from that found in
Africa. But we now know that this is not the case, and that
the Indian lion is only a kind oi variety, not a distinct species.

But there are very few lions left in India now, while even in
Persia they are not nearly so plentiful as they used to be. In
many parts of Africa, however, these animals abound, and it is
not at all an uncommon thing for six or eight to be seen together.

During the daytime the lion is generally fast asleep, lying
up in a thicket, or in a bed of reeds by the side of a pool or a
river. But as soon as night falls he leaves his retreat, and
begins to prowl about in search of prey, roaring loudly from
time to time. One would think that this would only alarm
other animals, and lead them to seek safety in flight. But when
a lion roars he generally puts his head close to the ground, and
this has the effect of making it almost impossible for them to
tell from which direction the sound is coming, so that they do
not know how best to try to escape him. And very often, in
their bewilderment, they rush to the very spot where he is lying
in wait.

When a lion springs upon his victim, he either kills it by a
stroke from his terrible paw, or else bites it in the throat or
across the back of the neck. He then drags it away to some
convenient retreat, eats his fill, and returns to his lair to sleep.
Next day, very likely, he will return to the carcass for another
meal. But when he gets there he often finds that the jackals
and hyenas have discovered it, and left very little for him.

Wherever a lion goes he is almost sure to be followed by a
number of jackals, all anxious to feast on the remains of the
animals he kills. But he never allows them to approach until
he has eaten as much as he can possibly swallow, and it is said
that if one of them attempts to do so he will catch it and bite off
all its paws as a warnmg to the others to be more respectful.

According to a great many hunters, the lion is not nearly so
courageous as it is generally supposed to be, and is really rather
a cowardly animal. They say, for example, that it will hardly
ever face a man unless it is brought to bay, but will always try
to slink away and escape. If they kill a deer, and want to pro-
tect its body from the lions, they can always do so by tying two

THE LARGER CATS 51

or three streamers of white cloth to sticks planted round the
carcass, so that they flutter in the wind. And though the ani-
mals may prowl round and round all through the night, roaring
loudly from time to time, they will never venture to approach
within fifteen or twenty yards. Neither will they attack a
tethered horse if the bridle is left hanging from its neck.

All hunters agree, however, that if a lion is wounded, or if it
sees no chance of escape, it is a most terrible foe, and cannot
be encountered without the utmost peril.

If a lion is captured while quite young, it is very easily tamed,
and can even be taught to perform all kinds of tricks at the word
of command. But lions born in captivity are not nearly so
easy to manage, and can never be depended upon for a moment.

Lions generally have three or four cubs at a birth, and the
little animals are just as playful at kittens. But although they
are always ready for a good romp it is not wise to play with them,
for a baby lion is as big as a good-sized cat, and is very much
stronger, so that a bite from its teeth or a blow from its paw is
rather a serious matter. For the first few months of their lives
the cubs are brindled, almost like tigers, the stripes disappearing
by degrees as the fur grows darker. They do not reach their
full size until they are about four years old.

TiGKRS

The tiger is found principally in the jungles of India, al-
though it is spread over the greater part of Central and Southern
Asia. In some respects it is a finer animal than even the lion.
It is certainly stronger; it is quite as courageous; and it is nearly
as large, though the shortness of its legs and the absence of a
mane cause it to appear a good deal smaller.

Probably any one, on seeing a tiger for the first time, would
imagine that it must be a very conspicuous animal in its native
jungle. But, as a matter of fact, this is not the case at all. As
long as a tiger keeps perfectly still it is most difficult to see him,
even if you happen to be looking straight at him; for his bright
orange ifur, marked with glossy black stripes, looks just like the
yellow leaves of the jungle-grass, with streaks of deep shadow

52 THE ANIMAL WORLD

between them. This coloring, of course, helps the tiger in two
ways. In the first place, when he is hunting, it enables him to
creep up to his victims without being seen; and in the second
place, when he is being hunted himself, it often helps him to
crawl away without being noticed.

In some parts of India tigers are still extremely common; and
of course they do a great deal of mischief. They are very fond
of preying upon domesticated cattle, and sometimes, every four
or five days for months together, the same tiger will kill and
carry away a bullock from the same herd. He generally kills
his victims by springing upon them suddenly, seizing their
throats with his jaws, and then wrenching their heads back-
ward and sideways, so as to break their necks. Then he will
either drag away the carcass into the jungle at once, or he will
hide close by, and come back in order to feast upon it when
night is beginning to fall.

Of course a tiger cannot devour the whole of a bullock's
body at one meal; but at the same time he does not care to leave
the remainder for the jackals. So when he has eaten his fill he
nearly always finds a sleeping place close by, so that if he should
wake up and hear a party of jackals quarreling over the carcass,
he can rush out at them and drive them away.

Man-Eaters

But worse by far than the cattle-destroying tigers are the
man-eaters. These are sometimes said to be the old and almost
toothless animals which can no longer kill a buffalo or a bullock,
and therefore take to preying upon human beings instead. But
very often quite a young animal becomes a man-eater; and it is
said that if a tiger should once taste human blood he will always
prefer it afterward to any other food.

A man-eating tiger will often throw a whole district into a
state of terror. Day after day he will conceal himself among
the thick bushes which border a native road, and lie in wait for
solitary passers-by. One day, perhaps, a man will be carried
off; the next day, a woman; the day after, a child. Xo one
knows where the animal is hiding; and sometimes he will sue-

THE LARGER CATS 53

ceed in killing fifty or sixty human beings before he is discovered
and destroyed.

TiGER-HuNTENG

When the natives kill a tiger, they generally do so by driving
him into a small clump of jungle, surrounding it with stout net-
ting, and then spearing him through the meshes. Or perhaps
they will climb a tree close to the carcass of a bullock which the
animal has killed, and shoot him when he comes at dusk to
feast upon its remains. But in Oudh the tiger is said to have
been formerly destroyed in a very curious way. A number of
leaves of the prauss tree, which are large and broad like those of
a sycamore, were smeared with a kind of bird-lime, and laid
upon the ground in the animal's path. When he came along
one of these leaves would stick to his paws, and he would find
that he could not shake it off. So he would try to remove it by
rubbing it against his face. The only result, of course, would be
that his nose and eyes became covered with bird-lime. Mean-
while he had trodden upon other leaves, which he tried to re-
move in the same way. Before very long his eyelids were stuck
down so that he could not open them. Then he would lie down
and rub his face upon the ground, covering it with earth, and so
making matters worse. By this time he would be thoroughly
frightened and begin to howl pitifully, so that when the hunters
came running up they found the poor beast an easy prey.

Europeans, however, hunt the tiger by means of elephants,
which have to be carefully trained before they can be depended
upon to face the furious animal. A number of elephants are
generally employed, the hunters riding in howdahs, seats fixed
upon their backs, while several hundred natives, perhaps, act
as beaters, shouting and yelling, beating drums, firing guns, and
making as much din as they possibly can to frighten the animal
from its retreat. Sometimes it is so terrified that it slinks out,
and falls an easy prey. But now and then it will charge the
nearest elephant with the utmost fury, sometimes springing
upon it and almost reaching the howdah before it is killed by a
well-directed bullet.

54 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The number of tiger cubs in a litter varies from two to five,
or even six, although families of more than three are not very
common. The little ones do not reach their full size until they
are three years old, and during the whole of that time they go
about with their parents.

Leopards

Much smaller than either the lion or the tiger, but still a
very large and powerful animal, is the leopard, which is some-
times known as the panther. It is spread over almost the whole
of Africa, and also over the greater part of Asia, and in many
districts is very common.

You can always recognize the leopard by its markings. The
ground color of the fur is bright yellow, with just a tinge of red
in it, becoming lighter on the flanks, and passing into white on
the lower surface of the body. The spots are black, and those
on the back and sides are always ring-shaped, enclosing a patch
of yellow. Sometimes, however, the whole of the fur is black.
But even then you can see the spots, which look something like
the markings in watered silk.

Somehow, these black leopards always seem far more savage
than the others, and those who have them under their care say
that it is quite impossible to tame them.

In spite of its smaller size, the leopard is nearly as powerful as
the tiger, and in some ways is an even more formidable foe. It
is much more active, for instance, and is more easily roused
into rage; while it can climb trees like a cat, and spring down
upon a passer-by from among the branches. It does not as a
rule attack man, and will always seek safety in flight if it can.
But if it is brought to bay it will fight furiously, and nothing will
check it but a bullet through the heart or the Drain.

When it can do so, the leopard always likes to live near the
habitations of man, because there are so many opportunities
of springing upon a pony, a sheep, or a goat. At night, too, it
will rob the hen-roosts, or make its way into the pens where the
calves are kept, and carry one of them off before its presence is
even suspected. Dogs, too, fall victims to it in great numbers,

THE LARGER CATS 55

and now and then it succeeds in pouncing upon an unwary
monkey. When it kills an animal it does not leave the carcass
lying on the ground as the tiger does, and visit it night after
night until it is consumed, but carries parts of its body up into
a tree, and hides them in a kind of larder which it has made
among the branches.

Those who have hunted it say that the leopard is a far more
difficult animal to kill than the tiger. The reason is that it is
so much more wary. A tiger, as it creeps through the jungle,
will look most carefully in front of it as it moves along, as well
as on either side, but it never seems to think of looking up into
the branches of a tree above, to see if an enemy is hiding there.
So very often the hunter is able to shoot it before it has the least
idea that it is in danger. But a leopard is much more cautious,
and never comes back to its lair, or to the remains of its kill,
without carefully examining the boughs above as well as the
bushes below; so that unless the hunter is well concealed the
animal is almost sure to discover him and to crawl silently away
before he has got the chance of a shot.

The Ounce

This animal looks rather like a leopard with very light-
colored fur. But the rosette-like spots are a good deal larger,
the fur is very much longer and thicker, and the tail is almost as
bushy as that of a Persian cat. The reason why the fur is so
thick is that the ounce lives in very cold countries. It is found
high up in the mountains of Central Asia, ascending during the
summer to a height of perhaps eighteen thousand feet — a good
deal higher than the summit of Mont Blanc — and coming
down to the lower levels in winter. In other words, it is hardly
ever seen below the snow-line, and is often known as the snow-
leopard. So it wants good thick, warm fur. We do not
know very much about its habits, for it is a very difficult animal
to watch in a state of nature. Very few people ever see it. But
it seems to prey chiefly upon wild goats, wild sheep, and those
odd little burrowing animals that we call marmots, and also
upon domesticated sheep and cattle which are sent up to graze on

VOL. V. — ::

56 THE ANIMAL WORLD

the higher slopes of the mountians. It is said never to venture
to attack man.

The Jaguar

Still more like a leopard is the jaguar, which lives in Central
and South America. But you can tell it at once by looking at
the rosette-like marks on its body, most of which have either one
or two small patches of dark brown fur in the middle. It also
has three or four bold black streaks across its breast, which are
never seen in the leopard. And its tail is ever so much shorter,
the tip scarcely reaching to the ground when the animal is
standing upright.

The jaguar is perhaps even a better climber than the leopard,
and seems far more at its ease among the branches than on the
ground. Indeed, there are some parts of the great swampy
forests of Brazil in which the animal is said never to descend to
the ground at all, but to spend its whole life in the trees which
stand so close side by side that it can easily spring from one to
another. You wonder, perhaps, what it feeds upon. Why,
upon monkeys, and very active indeed it has to be if it wishes to
catch them. But then, when a. band of monkeys discover a
jaguar, they are never able to resist the temptation of getting as
close to him as they dare, and chattering and screaming as
loudly as they can, just to annoy him. Isn't that exactly like
monkeys? But sometimes they venture a little too close, and
then with a sudden spring he seizes the nearest of his impudent
tormentors and carries it shrieking away.

Birds, too, are often caught by the jaguar, who pounces upon
them as they are roosting upon a branch. But he is not at all
particular as to what he eats, and sometimes he will leave the
trees altogether, and go hunting in the rced-bcds by the riverside
for capybaras, which we will describe farther on. He is very
fond of these animals, for they are so slow in their movements
that they cannot run away, so badly provided with natural
weapons that they cannot fight, and so fat and delicate that they
afford most excellent eating.

Then, just for a change, perhaps, he will stroll down to the

THE LARGER CATS 57

sea-shore, and look for a good big turtle. When he sees one —
which is generally a female on her way back to the water after
laying her eggs in the sand — he seizes it suddenly with his fore
paws, and turns it over on its back, so that it cannot possibly
escape. Then, perhaps, if he is not very hungry, he leaves it
for a little while. But soon he returns, and manages to scoop
out all the flesh of the animal from between the shells by means of
his long hooked talons, thrusting in his paw over and over again,
till scarcely the smallest particle is left remaining.

\'ery likely, too, he will find the spo.t where the turtle had laid
her eggs, dig them up, and devour them as well. Sometimes he
will crouch on the bank of a stream, quite close to the water, and
hook out the fish that pass by with his claws. And when he is
very hungry indeed he will eat lizards and even insects.

Like the ounce, however, the jaguar seldom or never ventures
to attack a human being, although he will fight savagely if he is
driven to bay. But he will often spring upon horses and cattle,
and in such cases he nearly always kills them by seizing their
heads between his front paws, and gi^'ing a sudden wrench side-
ways and upward so as to break their necks.

Like most of the cats, the jaguar has a fondness for scratch-
ing the trunks of trees, and sometimes a tree may be found with
gashes in its bark an inch deep and more than a yard long.

The Puma, or Cougar

Next to the jaguar, the puma is the largest of the American
cats, a full-grown male being sometimes as much as eight feet
in total length, of which about three feet is taken up by the tail.
In color it is tawny brown, becoming lighter on the lower surface,
and without any spots at all. But the odd thing is that its
young are marked all over with large blotches of blackish
brown, while their tails are ringed with black like that of the
tiger. And these markings do not disappear until they are
more than six months old.

The puma is found in almost all parts of the xA.merican conti-
nent, from British Columbia in the north to Patagonia in the
south, and it is even said to have been seen in Tierra del Fuego.

58 THE ANIMAL WORLD

It spends some part of its life in the trees, being almost as
good a climber as the jaguar. But it almost always hiints upon
the ground, trying to creep stealthily up to its victim, and to
spring upon it before its presence is even suspected.

It scarcely ever ventures to attack a man, but will often follow
liim for a long distance as though waiting an opportunity to
pounce upon him unawares. But if he suddenly turns and faces
the animal, it will always slink away, even if he is quite unarmed.
Sometimes, too, it will allow itself to be killed without attempting
to defend itself at all. So hunters have a rather poor opinion
of its courage. The farm.ers, however, have very good reason
for dreading the animal, for it is a terrible enemy to sheep, and
has been known to kill as many as fifty in a single night. And
it will also leap suddenly upon horses and cattle and break their
necks, just as the jaguar does.

Although in some ways it is such a cowardly creature, the
puma will often fight the jaguar itself. Of course it is the
weaker animal of the two, but it is so exceedingly quick in its
movements, and makes such excellent use of its teeth and talons,
that in many cases it gets the best of the battle. Sometimes,
when a jaguar is killed by a hunter, its back is found to be
deeply scored all over by the claws of a puma.

In many parts of North America the puma is known as the
panther, or "painter," also as the mountain lion, and it has
other names besides.

The Clouded Leopard

There is still one more of the larger cats which we must not
pass by without mention, and that is the clouded leopard, or
clouded tiger, which is found in the southeastern parts of Asia,
and in the larger islands of the Malay Archipelago. In size it
is about as big as a small leopard, and its yellow brown fur is
marked with stripes like those of the tiger, spots like those of
the leopard, rosettes like those of the jaguar, and blotches like
those of the ocelots, while its tail is adorned with rings of glossy
black. So, you see, it is a very handsome animal.

We do not know very much about its habits, but it seems to

THE LARGER CATS 59

live almost entirely in the trees, and to prey chiefly upon
birds, while those who have caught and tamed it say that it is
very gentle and playful. The Malays call it the rimau-dahan,
or "tree-tiger"; and there is a smaller variety, found in the
same localities, which is generally known as the marbled cat.

CHAPTER VII
THE SMALLER CATS

THE smaller members of the cat tribe include many in-
teresting animals of which our readers, if not already
informed concerning them, will be glad to learn something.

The Serval

Unfortunately, although this is quite a common animal in
many parts of Africa, we know very little about its habits. But
it appears to prey chiefly upon the smaller antelopes, creeping
silently up to them as they are grazing, and springing upon them
so suddenly that they never know that they are in danger until
they are struck down.

In South Africa, where it is a good deal more numerous than
it is in the northern parts of the continent, the Dutch call the
serval the bosch-katte, or "bush-cat," because it looks like a
rather big cat, and lives in the thick bushy parts of the veldt.
It is a pretty animal, and would be prettier still if its short,
stumpy tail were a little longer, for its fur is bright golden
yellow, marked with dark spots, some of which run into one
another, and so form stripes. Underneath the body the fur is
nearly white, while the ears are jet-black, with a broad white
band running across them. In length the animal measures
about three feet, ten inches of which are taken up by the tail;
and it stands about eighteen inches in height.

The Ocelot

This is one of the handsomest of all the cats. It is found in
almost all parts of tropical America. But it is not a very easy
animal to describe, because it varies so much in color that until
a few years ago naturalists thought there were several different

60

THE SMALLER CATS 61

kinds of ocelots, to all of which they gave separate names. As
a rule, however, the ground color of the fur is either brownish
yellow or reddish gray, while the back and sides are marked
with rows of streaks and spots and blotches, which sometimes
run into one another in such a way as to look almost like stripes.
The length of the animal is about four feet, of which about
fifteen inches is occupied by the tail, and it stands from sixteen
to eighteen inches in height.

The ocelot is found only in forest districts, and is an excellent
climber, spending most of its life in the trees. It feeds chiefly
upon birds, hiding among the thick foliage until they settle
within reach, and then knocking them over with its ready paw.
Or it will spring do\Mi upon them as they alight on the ground
below. It seems to like the head of a bird best of all, and
generally eats that first; and very often it will pluck its victim
most carefully before proceeding to devour it.

The animal called the margay is really a kind of small ocelot,
and it is sometimes known as the tiger-cat.

The Egyptian Cat

In this we have a most interesting animal, not only because
it seems certain that it is the ancestor of the cats we keep
now as pets, but also because in days of old the people of
Egypt used to venerate it, just as they also did the Arabian
baboon. In every way they treated it with the greatest possible
honor. Indeed, to kill a cat, in those days, was a far more
serious offence than to kill a man, and if the offender was dis-
covered he was certainly made to pay the penalty with his life.
And when the animal died its body was carefully embalmed
and wrapped in spices, and was then solemnly buried in the
tombs of the kings.

If you ever go to the IMetropolitan Museum of Art in New
York, or to the Boston Museum, you may see the mummied
remains of some of the very cats which were venerated by the
people of Eg}'pt five thousand years ago.

In the British Museum is an old painting which is as in-
teresting, although in a different way. For it shows us that.

62 THE ANIMAL WORLD

while the ancient Egyptians held the cat in such high honor,
they expected it to make itself useful in return. The picture
represents a hunter and his family going out on an expedition
in search of water-birds, and from it we learn that they would
embark in a boat with several decoy birds, together with a
carefully trained cat. They would then push off into the great
beds of tall reeds which fringed the sides of the river, and sit in
the boat while the cat went and caught birds for them, which
were attracted within reach by the decoys. In a picture we
have seen, the cat is represented with one bird in her mouth,
another in her fore paws, and a third between her hind paws;
so that if she got all three back to the boat, she must have been
a very clever cat.

This animal is sometimes known as the Caffre cat, and it is
found wild in almost all parts of Africa, and also in Syria and
Arabia. In size it is about as big as a rather large domestic
cat, and in color is generally yellowish gray, with a few faint
stripes across the back and several darker ones on the hind
quarters, while the tail is marked with black rings and always
has a black tip.

The Wildcat

The true wildcat is a European animal. In the United
States, what is commonly called a wildcat is really a species of
lynx — the bay lynx — often called bobcat. It is found in nearly
all the States east of the Mississippi River that have large forests.

If you were to see a real wildcat in captivity, you would most
likely think that it looked a very gentle creature. But in reality
it is one of the fiercest and most savage of all living animals,
and no matter how kindly it is treated it never seems to become
tame.

True wildcats arc nearly always found in thickets in mountain
districts which are hardly ever trodden by the foot of man. They
mostly live either in hollow trees, or in crevices among the rocks,
where they bring up their litters of little ones. They keep their
kittens in very good order. We have heard of a wildcat which
was kept in a large otter's cage, with a pool of water in the

THE SMALLER CATS 63

middle; and there she brought up three kittens. One day she
heard a strange footstep approaching. Now she could not
bear strangers, and would never allow them to look at her little
ones; so she jumped into the sleeping-compartment, and called
to her kittens to come in after her. Two of them obeyed; the
third preferred to stay outside. So out she jumped, soused it
three times in the water, just to teach it to be more obedient in
future, and then carried it off by the scruff of its neck.

A full-grown wildcat is about twenty-eight inches long
without the tail, which is much shorter and more stumpy than
that of the domestic cat. The thick soft fur is gray in color,
brindled with black.

Another kind of wildcat is found in the northern parts of
Africa, and also in Persia and India. Sometimes it is called
the jungle-cat, and sometimes the chaus. It is rather bigger
than an ordinary cat, and is sandy gray or grayish brown in
color, with just a few darker streaks across the legs. It lives,
as a rule, among long grass and reeds, and in corn-fields, coming
out to hunt only by night; so very few people ever see it in a
wild state, and we do not know very much about its habits. But
it must be rather a formidable animal to meet, for a writer tells
us that a jungle-cat which he kept for some years as a pet was
more than a match for two powerful English bull-terriers, which
used to attack her day after day, but always got the worst of the
batde.

The Caracal

You may see this animal at some zoo; and if you go to look
at it your first idea will most likely be that it is very bad-
tempered. For as soon as you come near its cage it is almost
sure to throw back its ears, show its teeth, and spit and hiss and
snarl at you, and to look as if it would fly at you in a moment if
only the bars were not in its way. And so no doubt it would,
for it is one of the most savage of all the cats, and cannot be
tamed without very great difficulty, unless it is caught while
very young.

The name caracal signifies black-eared, and has been given

64 THE ANIMAL WORLD

to the animal because its ears are jet-black in color. They also
have a long tuft of dark hairs at the tip. The head, body, and
legs are bright reddish brown. But some caracals are a good
deal lighter than others, and now and then the lower parts of
the body are marked with dull reddish spots. The height of
the animal is about eighteen inches at the shoulder, and the
length of the body and tail together is from three to four
feet.

Caracals are found in India and Arabia, and also in most
parts of Africa. They live among bushes and long grass, as a
rule, and prey upon the smaller deer and antelopes and also
upon birds, which they are said sometimes to capture even on
the wing, springing into the air and seizing them between their
fore paws as they fly past.

The Lynx

This odd-looking creature appears somewhat like a stoutly
built caracal. But the ears are gray instead of black, the tufts
of hair upon them are a good deal longer, and the fur of the body
is gray, generally marked with a number of darker spots. Its
curious appearance, however, is due to the fact that it has an
enormous pair of very bushy whiskers, which hang down far
below the chin.

Not so very long ago the lynx was found commonly in many
parts of Europe, and it is still tolerably plentiful in Norway,
Sweden, and the northern parts of Russia, as well as in Northern
Asia. But it is very much persecuted by the hunters, for two
reasons. In the first place, it is a very destructive creature. A
couple of lynxes have been known to kill six sheep between
them in a single night. In the second place, its fur is so thick,
so soft, and so warm that its skin sells for a good deal of money.
So a great many lynxes are shot or trapped every year, and
before very long the animal will most likely disappear from
Europe altogether.

No doubt you have sometimes heard the expression " lynx-
eyed" used of somebody whose sight is unusually good. And
certainly the lynx is very sharp-sighted. In days of old it was

SOME FIERCE CATS.
I. Mexican Ocelot.

s. Young LeoDard-r-.at
4. aafaaran Serval.

3. Himalayan Snow Leopard.
5. American Jaguar.

THE SMALLER CATS 65

actually thought that the animal could see right through a solid
wall as easily as we can through a pane of glass!

The lynx is a good climber, and spends a great part of its life
in the trees, often lurking among the branches in order to spring
down upon an unsuspecting victim as it passes below. But it
mostly makes its lair among rocks, just as the wildcat does.
There it brings up its two or three little ones, which are playful
little creatures, but very bad-tempered if any one interferes with
them. However, they are easily tamed if they are captured
while quite small, and will follow their master about just like a
dog.

Another kind of lynx, called the pardine lynx, inhabits the
south of Europe, from Spain as far as Turkey.

Lynxes are also found in Canada; but it is not quite certain
whether these belong- to a different species or not. At any rate,
they are rather smaller than those which live in Europe and Asia,
and their tails are hardly ever more than five inches long. They
live in the deepest parts of the forests, and in thick bushy dis-
tricts, so that they are not very often seen; and they prey upon
hares and other small animals, and also upon such birds as
grouse and partridges.

When one of these lynxes is running through long grass it
looks very odd; for it travels by means of a series of leaps, all
four of its feet coming to the ground together.

We have already mentioned the bay lynx of the United States,
which in size is equal to the Canada lynx.

The Chetah

Last among the cats comes the very curious chetah, or hunt-
ing-leopard, which is found both in Africa and in India.

In some ways, however, it is much more like a dog than a cat.
Its head is quite small and round, its body is very slender, and
its legs are much longer in proportion to its size than they are
in any other member of the family. But, more remarkable still,
the claws are not entirely drawn back into their sheaths while not
in use, as they are in all the true cats, but partly project, so that
the points are worn away by constantly rubbing against the

66 THE ANIMAL WORLD

ground. So we may consider the chetah as pardy a cat and
partly a dog — a connecting link joining the two families to-
gether.

If it were not for the length of its limbs, however, the chetah
might very well be mistaken for a leopard, for its head and body
are colored and marked in much the same way. But the spots
are solid, so to speak, and not ring-like as they are in the leopard.
The animal stands from thirty to thirty-three inches in height
at the shoulders and the body and tail together are about seven
feet long.

The chetah does not capture its prey as other cats do. Lions,
tigers, and leopards, for example, always try to creep up quite
close to their victims, so that they may be able to pounce upon
them at a single spring. But the chetah only creeps up to
within about two hundred yards, and then runs them down in
fair chase. It is exceedingly swift of foot, being able easily to
outrun a greyhound, so that when once it starts in pursuit its
victim has but little chance of escape. Indeed, a chetah has
actually been seen to put up a blackbuck two hundred yards
away, and to run it down within a quarter of a mile.

Just fancy being able to run nearly twice as fast as an
antelope !

In India the chetah is often caught and tamed, in order that
it may catch game for its master. It is always taken out to the
hunting-ground in a light cart, drawn by a pair of bullocks, and
its eyes are covered with a kind of hood. When a deer or an
antelope is sighted, this hood is taken off, and the chetah is
released from its chain. No sooner does it catch sight of its
quarry than it creeps quietly toward it until it is within distance,
and then starts off in pursuit like an arrow shot from a bow.
The hunters ride quietly after it, and before they have gone
very far they are sure to find the chetah with its victim pinned
upon the ground. Then the throat of the animal is cut, and
some of the blood is given to the chetah to drink, after which it
is again blindfolded and is led back to the cart.

When the natives want to catch a chetah or two, in order
to train them for hunting, they do so in rather a curious way.
Although these animals cannot climb trees, because of the

THE SMALLER CATS 67

manner in which their claws are made, there are certain trees to
which they are very fond of resorting, in order to sharpen their
talons upon the bark. So the natives make a number of nooses
of raw hide, and arrange them on the ground all round one of
these trees: and when they visit them next day they are almost
sure to find that two or three chetahs have been snared.

It is needless to say that this beautiful and interesting animal
is very easily tamed. If it is kindly treated it will rub its great
round head against one, put up its tail, and purr loudly just
like a big cat.

CHAPTER VIII
THE CIVETS, THE AARD-WOLF, AND THE HYENAS

BETWEEN the great tribes of the dogs and the cats come
three small but rather important families, one of which
contains the civets, while the aard-wolf belongs to the second,
and the hyenas to the third. We must tell you a little about
each.

Civets

First of all, then, come the civets; and first among the civets
is the fossa, which is found in Madagascar.

This is a very curious animal. It is about five feet long from
the end of its snout to the tip of its tail, and has a body shaped
much like that of a weasel. Its fur is pale reddish brown in
color, and reminds one of the coat of a dachshund dog. But
the oddest thing about the fossa is its way of walking. Some
animals walk on the tips of their toes, like the cats and the dogs.
We call these digitigrades. Others plant their feet flat upon
the ground, like the bears. We call these plantigrades. But
the fossa does neither, for its feet have half-soles only, the front
part being quite bare underneath, while the hind part is covered
with hair. And as it walks the animal places the bare part of
its feet upon the ground, while the hind part is lifted up; so that
it is half a digitigrade and half a plantigrade.

Then it has claws just like those of a cat, which are drawn
back into sheaths while not in use, so that their sharp points may
not be worn down by rubbing against the ground. No doubt
this is the reason why the animal is able to climb so well. If
you go to look at the fossa in a zoo you will be quite surprised
at its activity. In its double cage, with one compartment above
the other, and two or three stout branches on which it can take
exercise, it goes running up and down from one to the other,

68

CIVETS, AARD-WOLF, AND HYENAS 69

and backward and forward from the branches to the
walls, and from the walls to the branches, with such wonder-
ful swiftness that it is really not at all easy to follow its
movements.

But don't be tempted to stroke the animal, if it happens to
be lying quietly near the bars, for although it looks very gentle
it is in reality a most savage creature, and has hardly ever been
tamed. And partly for this reason, and partly because it only
comes out to hunt for prey by night, we know very little about
its habits.

The true civets have much stouter bodies than the fossa.
Their heads are long and narrow, with the muzzle drawn out
almost into a point, their legs are quite short, and along the
back runs a crest of stiff hairs, which can be raised and lowered
at will, just like the spines of the hedgehog.

Civet Perfume

Six different kinds of civets are known, five of them being
found in Asia, and one in Africa, and they arc chiefly remark-
able for producing a most powerful perfume. This perfume is
obtained in a very curious way. It is secreted in a kind of
double pouch under the body, close to the root of the tail, and
as it is continually being formed, the animal is much too valuable
to be killed in order that its pouch may be emptied. At the
same time, its teeth and claws are so sharp and strong, and
it knows so well how to use them, that it would be a most danger-
ous creature to handle. So when the perfume has to be taken,
the animal is forced into a long and very narrow cage, in which
it is held so close a prisoner that it can neither scratch nor bite.
Then the contents of the pouch are scraped out by means of a
long, slender spoon, which is passed through a hole under the
cage.

Each side of this pouch is about as big as an almond, and
the contents are thick and greasy in character, almost like
butter. When the animal is at liberty the perfume is dropped
from time to time, in lumps about as big as an ordinary
hazelnut.

70 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Indian Civet

The best known of these animals is the Indian civet, which is
about four feet in length, including the tail. The general
color of its fur is dark gray, sometimes with a yellowish tinge,
and on the chest, shoulders, and thighs are a number of dark
stripes. The crest of hairs along the back is glossy black, and
the tail is marked with six black rings and five white ones. It
is a solitary animal, and is hardly ever seen during the daytime,
which it spends in hiding among bushes, or in long, thick grass,
coming out after dark to search for the lizards, frogs, birds, and
other small creatures upon which it feeds.

Genets

The genets may be described as small civets, with narrower
bodies, shorter legs, and longer tails, and without the curious
pouch for producing perfume.

One of these animals, the common genet, is found in Spain
and the south of France, as well as in Southwest Asia, and the
northern parts of Africa. It is between three and four feet in
total length, and is yellowish gray in color, with blotches of
dark brown scattered all over the body. It is a very gentle
creature, and is easily tamed, being often kept in houses to
destroy rats and mice, just as we keep cats.

The palm-civets live in trees, chiefly in palm-trees, and they
are so fond of drinking the sweet juice, or toddy, which the
natives collect in small vessels suspended on the trunks, that
they are often known as toddy-cats.

One of these animals is very common in many parts of India,
where it is in the habit of taking up its abode in the thatched
roofs of the native huts. It is often tamed by Europeans, and
after roaming about the house all night in search of mice and
cockroaches will come up to its master's bedroom, jump up on
his bed, snuggle away under his pillow, and there sleep soundly
until late in the following day. But if it finds a chance it will
get into the poultry-houses and kill some of the fowls, in order

CIVETS, AARD-WOLF, AND HYENAS 71

to suck their blood; so that it has to be looked after very care-
fully.

There are ten or eleven different kinds of these animals, the
commonest of which is the Indian palm-civet. It is about as
big as a rather big cat, and is brownish gray in color, with very
coarse and rather ragged fur. It has an odd way of twisting up
its tail into a very tight coil, and for this reason is sometimes
known by the name of paradoxure, a word which signifies
queer-tailed.

The Binturong

The binturong, or bear-cat, as it is often called, may be recog-
nized at once by the long tufts of black hair upon its ears. Its
fur, too, is entirely black, without any gloss except upon the
head, which is gray, and its tail is very long and bushy, and is
prehensile at the tip, like that of a spider-monkey. When the
animal is climbing it makes a great deal of use of this organ,
seldom moving unless it is tightly coiled around a branch. But
it seems hardly ever to hang from a bough by its tail alone, as
the spider-monkeys so often do.

The binturong is a native of Assam, Siam, and some of the
larger islands in the Malay Archipelago. It is not at all an un-
common animal, but is seldom seen, for it not only lives in the
thickest and darkest parts of the forests, which are scarcely
ever trodden by the foot of man, but spends the whole of the
day fast asleep in some snug retreat, with its head completely
buried beneath its big bushy tail. And even if it is found and
disturbed it only gives an angry snarl and shows its teeth, and
then goes to sleep again.

Mongooses

Of course you have heard of the mongooses. They look
somewhat like weasels with very long tails, which are thickly
covered with hair. The head is pointed, with a rather sharp
nose, the ears are small and rounded, the legs are very short, and
the claws cannot be drawn back into sheaths, so that they are

VOL. V. — 6

72 THE ANIMAL WORLD

always projecting like those of a dog. The general color of the
body is either brownish or reddish gray. But the fur has a
peculiar speckled appearance, which is due to the fact that all
the longer hairs are marked with alternate rings of black and
white, like those upon a surveyor's measuring-pole.

At least sixteen kinds of mongooses are found in diflferent
parts of the world, but we shall only be able to tell you about
two.

The first of these is the Indian mongoose, which is common
in almost all parts of the great country from which it takes its
name. And it is one of the most useful of all animals, for
although it will feed upon mice, small birds and their eggs,
lizards, and even upon insects and fruit when it is really hungry,
there is nothing of which it is so fond as a snake.

Now snakes are more plentiful in India, perhaps, than in
any other country in the world. Many of them are terribly
poisonous, and kill at least twenty thousand people every year;
so that an animal which destroys them is very useful. Many
people keep tame mongooses in their houses just as we keep
cats, knowing that if a snake should find its way indoors they
are sure to find it and kill it.

When a mongoose attacks a snake it dances about in front of
the reptile, and pretends to be about to spring upon it, until the
snake strikes. Then, like lightning, it leaps over the snake's
head, or underneath its open jaws, or round to one side, and
gives it a sharp bite just at the back of its neck. This renders
the snake quite harmless, paralyzing it so that it cannot use its
fangs. Then the mongoose crunches up its head, eats a little
of the body also if it is ^•e^y hungry, and goes off to look for
another.

Rats, too, are killed in great numbers by the mongoose.
So in the year 187 1, when these animals swarmed in some of the
West Indian Islands to such an extent that it was feared that the
sugar-cane plantations would be wholly destroyed by them,
nine mongooses were set free in Jamaica. Very soon they began
to multiply, and the rats began to decrease, till in about two
years' time the mischievous little animals were almost entirely
destroyed. So mongooses were turned down in other islands.

CIVETS, AARD-WOLF, AND HYENAS 73

with equally satisfactory results. Unfortunately, however, the
mongooses soon found out that fowls and chickens were even
nicer than rats, and began to visit the hen-roosts at night. Then
they took to killing young lambs, and even small pigs, while
they also did a great deal of damage to mangoes and yams.

So now the planters had to turn their attention to destroying
mongooses, and on one estate alone more than fourteen hundred
were trapped in about two months.

The Egyptian mongoose is a rather larger animal, being
about three feet in length from the head to the tip of the tail.
Like its Indian relation, it preys upon snakes; but it also feeds
very largely upon crocodile's eggs, which it digs out of the sand
on the banks of the rivers. For this reason it was venerated
by the ancient Egyptians, who used to treat it with the greatest
reverence while it liv'ed, and to embalm its body and bury it in
the tombs of the kings when it died, just as they did with the
cat and the sacred baboon.

Meerkats

The last of the civet-like animals about which we can tell
you is the meerkat, sometimes known as the suricate. It is
found in South Africa, and is a small, slender-bodied animal
of a light grizzled gray color, with a number of black stripes
running across its back, while the ears are black, and the tail is
yellowish with a black tip.

Meerkats live in large colonies, almost like rabbits, each
animal scratching out for itself a deep hole in the ground. If
you were to drive across the South African veldt, you would very
likely come across one of these curious meerkat warrens, and
would see several hundred of the little animals sitting upright on
their hind legs with their front paws hanging down, just like so
many small dogs "begging." Until you came quite close they
would remain quietly watching you. But the moment that you
stopped and attempted to seize one of them there would be a
sudden whisk of hundreds of tails, and down they would all
pop into their burrows as if by magic.

As they are gentle creatures, and very clean in their

74 THE ANIMAL WORLD

habits, meerkats are often kept as pets, and in many parts of
Cape Colony there is scarcely a single house without them.
You would think that the dogs would be very jealous of them,
wouldn't you, and that they would be very much afraid of the
dogs? But, strange to say, the two are nearly always the best
of friends, and may often be seen trotting about after their
master together.

The Aard-Wolf

This is such a very odd animal that it has been placed in a
family all by itself, though there can be no doubt that it *s re-
lated to the civets on the one side and to the hyenas on the other.
In size it is about as big as a fox, but with very much longer legs;
and in general appearance it certainly resembles a half-grown
striped hyena. But then its skull and teeth are not at all like
those of a hyena; they are like those of a very big mongoose.
So the aard-wolf evidently forms a connecting link between
the two creatures.

The name aard-wolf means earth-wolf, and has been given
to this animal because the Dutch people in South Africa thought
that it really was a kind of wolf, and because it lives in deep
burrows which it digs in the ground. Strange to say, although
each aard-wolf digs its own burrow, several of these tunnels
often unite in one large central chamber — a common sitting-
room, as it were — which is used by all the animals alike. But
each always goes in and out by its own front door.

During the daytime the aard-wolf is nearly always fast asleep
underground, so that it is hardly ever seen except by those who
go out to hunt it. But it is not often hunted, being so timid and
cowardly that when it is turned out of its burrow its only idea
is to run away as fast as it possibly can, so that it affords very
poor sport.

This animal is not a creature of prey, but feeds chiefly on
carrion. But it is rather fond of insects, and will sometimes
break a hole in the side of a termites' nest and lick up the in-
mates by thousands as they come hurrying up to repair the
breach in the walls.

CIVETS, AARD-WOLF, AND HYENAS 75

Hyenas

These are not very pleasant-looking animals, for their sloping
hind quarters give them a very slinking and cowardly appear-
ance. In their habits, too, they are disgusting. Nevertheless
they are most useful creatures in the countries in which they
live; for they belong to that vast group of animals which we may
call "nature's dustmen," because their great work in life is to
clear away the rubbish from the world. There are millions
upon millions of these natural scavengers, and some of them
have to clear away carrion, some to clear away skins, and some
to clear away decaying vegetable matter. But the principal
duty of the hyenas is to clear away bones, and very thoroughly
they do it.

Their jaws and teeth are immensely strong. A hyena will
seize the thigh-bone of an ox, and crush it up into splinters as
easily as a dog will crush a chicken-bone. And when a lion or a
tiger kills a victim, he always leaves a great part of the carcass
lying on the ground. Some of it he has no time to eat because
the jackals come and steal it while he is fast asleep after the
big meal which he always takes as soon as he has killed his
victim. Some of it neither he nor the jackals can eat because
their teeth are not nearly strong enough to crush the larger bones.
So they have to leave these for the hyenas, which come up in
numbers to the kill, and quarrel and fight over it, until nothing
even of the skeleton remains.

Although the hyena is a much stronger animal than the aard-
wolf, it is quite as cowardly, and will hardly ever show fight,
even when it is driven to bay. The Arab hunters despise it
for its want of courage, and if they find it hiding in a burrow
will never condescend to kill it themselves. Neither will they
use any weapon against it. They just fling a handful of wet
mud into its face, drag it out by its hind feet, and hand it over
to be stoned to death by the women. But sometimes, after all,
it contrives to escape, for it is so cunning that it will pretend to
be dead when it is not really injured, allowing itself to be pulled
about, or even to be severely beaten, without moving a limb.

76 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Then suddenly, when the attention of its captors is taken off for
a moment, it will jump up and run away.

Perhaps you wonder why they should want to kill the hyena
if it is such a useful creature and never attacks human beings.
The reason is that it is fond of prowling about the outskirts of
villages in order to prey upon the cattle. It is much too cowardly
to attack them o])enly, and always tries to frighten them and
make them run away, so that it can leap upon them from
behind. It generally does this by creeping as close to them as it
can, and then springing up suddenly just under their eyes. But
if they stand and face it, instead of running away, it just looks
at them for a few moments and then slinks off without attempt-
ing to touch them.

The Striped Hyena

Three different kinds of these animals are known, the com-
monest being the striped hyena, which is found in India, Syria,
Persia, Arabia, and Northern Africa. It is about as big as a
colhe dog, and is brownish gray in color, with a number of black
stripes running across the body and round the legs. The ears are
long and pointed, the tail is big and bushy, and a kind of mane of
long hairs runs do\\Ti the neck and along the middle of
the back.

In some parts of Africa these animals roam about by night
in large packs, entering the native villages, and searching the
streets for the offal which has been thrown out from the huts.
And more than once, when very hungry, they have been known
to enter a house and carry off a sleeping man.

Sometimes they will set a kind of snare for a dog. One
hyena will lie in wait behind a bush, v.hile another will run
boldly up to within two or three hundred yards of the village and
utter a series of loud howls. A dog is almost sure to hear him
and to rush out in pursuit. Then the hyena, pretending to be
dreadfully frightened, runs away past the bush where his com-
panion is hiding, and the dog is pounced upon and killed almost
before he realizes that he has two enemies to deal with instead
of only one.

CIVETS, AARD-WOLF, AND HYENAS 77

The BRo^^^^ Hyena

This kind of hyena, found in South Africa, is not nearly so
numerous as that just described. It is about the same size as
the striped hyena, but may be recognized at once by the great
length of its mane, which hangs down on each side below the
body. In fact, the animal looks just as if it were wearing a
mantle of thick, shaggy fur. It lives chiefly in rocky ground,
on the lower slopes of the mountains, but is fond of visiting the
sea-shore by night, and prowling about in search of the dead
bodies of fishes and other creatures flung up by the waves.

The Spotted Hyena

The tiger-wolf, as the spotted hyena is also called, is much
more dangerous than the other hyenas. It is a larger and more
powerful animal than either of its relations, and is not near so
cowardly. It will enter a sheepfold, or cattle-pen, for instance,
under cover of darkness, and boldly attack and carry off one of
the animals. But even an unarmed man need not be afraid of
it, for though it will come quite close, and will follow him for a
long distance, it will never venture to spring upon him.

This animal is often known as the laughing hyena, because
of the extraordinary sounds it utters when very much excited.
These sounds are not in the least like a yell or a howl, but re-
semble a peal of strange, unearthly laughter, and while they are
being uttered the hyena dances about on its hind legs, nods its
head up and down, runs to and fro, and twists itself into all
sorts of singular positions, just as though it had suddenly gone
mad. Travelers tell us that sometimes for nights together
sleep is rendered impossible by the hideous outcry of these
creatures, which surround the camp as soon as darkness sets
in, and never cease from their horrible din till sunrise.

The spotted hyena is found throughout Southern Africa, and
may be known from the other two species by its larger size,
and also by the dark-brown spots with which the body and the
limbs are marked.

CHAPTER IX
THE DOG TRIBE

NEXT in order comes the great tribe of the dogs, which
includes altogether about forty different animals. We
arc not speaking of domestic dogs, for we have not space in
which to tell you about those. Indeed, if we were to say all
that might be said about them, they would want a very big book
all to themselves; and fortunately there are many good books
about domestic dogs that readers who desire them can easily
get. But besides the tame dogs there are two or three wild dogs
in the dog tribe, several wolves, several jackals, and several
foxes; and many of them are very interesting creatures.

The Dhole

First of all, there is a dog which is known by three different
names. Sometimes it is called the dhole, sometimes the kholsun,
and sometimes the buansuah. It lives in India, but it is not
very often seen, for it keeps to the thickest parts of the jungle,
and never ventures near the habitations of man. Yet it is by
no means a cowardly animal, like the hyenas and the aard-
wolf. On the contrary, it is extremely courageous, and does not
seem to know what fear is, for it will even attack the tiger itself,
and more than that, will kill it.

Of course the tiger is by far the stronger and more formidable
animal of the two, and if he only had one dhole to reckon with,
there would be no doubt as to the issue of the combat. But the
dhole always hunts in packs. Sometimes there are eight or ten
animals in one of these packs; sometimes there are hfteen;
sometimes there are as many as twenty, or even thirty. And
so fierce are they, and so determined, and so persevering, that
it is said that when they once put up an animal — that is, start it

78

THE DOG TRIBE 79

from cover — no matter whether it be large or small, they never
fail to kill it.

The deer, of course, are swifter than they are. But then
the deer become tired much sooner than the dholes; and while
they are resting their pursuers catch up with them. The tiger
is much more powerful, and has his talons and fangs to fight
with. But while he is killing one of his foes three or four more
are leaping upon him; and even if he should succeed in killing
half the pack the rest will still go on fighting as savagely as ever.
They do not dread the horns of the buffalo, or the tusks of the
wild boar. In fact, they dread nothing, and no animals are so
feared in the jungle.

When the pack are running, they never bark, or yelp or bay,
as almost all domesticated dogs do. For the most part they are
silent, the only sound which they utter being a low whimper.
In color the dhole is a rich bay, which becomes rather darker
upon the ears, the muzzle, and the tip of the tail.

The Dingo

This is the only member of the dog tribe found in Australia,
and many naturalists think that it is not really a native of that
continent, but was brought there a very long time ago from some
other country. But as the dingo is not now found in any other
part of the world, it is quite impossible to say whether this is
actually the case or not. It is a very fine-looking animal, about
as big as a large sheep-dog, with a reddish-brown coat, pointed,
upright ears, and a bushy tail. And if you were to see it you
would most likely think that it must be a very gentle animal.
W'c have already seen, however, that there are several creatures
which look very gentle, but are in reality most savage and
ferocious, and though the dingo is not quite so fierce as the fossa
or the wildcat, its appearance is not at all in keeping with its
character, for it is very bad-tempered and hard to tame, and
is always liable to fits of rage.

In many ways the dingo is not unlike the dhole. It lives in
packs, for instance, which scour the country in search of prey.
These packs are always led by one of the strongest and most

80 THE ANIMAL WORLD

experienced animals, which has won its position by fighting and
overcoming all the rest; and when the leader begins to grow old
and feeble, a younger and stronger animal takes his place by
overcoming him in the same way. In some strange manner,
these packs divide up the country among themselves. Each
pack has its o^^^l district allotted to it, over which it may roam
at will, while it is never permitted to hunt outside its own bor-
ders. Wouldn't it be interesting to know how these districts
are marked out, and how the animals arrange what part of the
country shall be allotted to each pack?

When the first white colonists settled down in Tasmania,
they found these packs of dingoes terribly troublesome, for they
would visit the folds night after night and carry off the sheep and
lambs in numbers. Watchers were employed to shoot them,
traps were set for them, huge bonfires were lighted to keep them
away; but all to no purpose. One colony lost twelve hundred
sheep from their ravages in less than three months; another lost
seven hundred. At last the settlers banded themselves together
in a war against the dingoes, and by hanging pieces of poisoned
meat to the branches of trees, about a foot from the ground,
they succeeded in greatly reducing their numbers, so that now
they are comparatively scarce.

A dingo which was kept at the London Zoo many years ago used
to sit outside his kennel and bay at the moon so loudly that
his dismal howling could be heard all over the Regent's Park.

The Crab-eating Dog

Two or three kinds of wild dog are also found in South
America; but of these we can only mention the crab-eating dog
which is chiefly found in the forests of Guiana, Demerara, and
Brazil.

This animal owes its name to its great fondness for crabs.
Even domestic dogs will often eat these creatures. "I once had
a black-and-tan terrier, called 'Jock,' says a writer, "whose
greatest delight was to be taken for a walk along the sea-shore,
so that he might hunt for crabs. Whenever he found one he
would fling it up into the air half a dozen times or so, until it

A WOLFISH GROUP.

I. Coyote. 2. Red Fox. 3. Hyena Do?, or Hunting Dog.

4. Tasmanian Pouched Wolf. 5. Tasmanian Devil. 6. Gray Wolf.

THE DOG TRIBE 81

was perfectly dazed. Then holding it down with one paw, he
would twist off the great claws so that it could not nip him; and
finally he would crunch up its body and lick out pieces of flesh
from the shell. Now and then, however, he would get a pinch
and I would see him dancing about on his hind legs with a crab
hanging to his lip, howling pitifully for me to come and set him
free."

Whether the crab-eating dog gets nipped in the same way,
sometimes, we cannot tell you. Most likely he does; at any
rate he spends a great deal of his time in hunting for crabs on
the shore. But he also feeds on small animals and birds, and
it is said that sometimes he hunts in packs, like the dingo and
the dhole, which even run down and kill the swift-footed deer.

Wolves

Of wolves — which are really only large and very savage wild
dogs — there are several different kinds.

First of all, of course, there is the common wolf of Europe.
We have all read accounts of its ferocity, and of the way in
which it sometimes pursues travelers through the Russian
forests during the depths of winter. In days of old it was
plentiful in England, while the last wild wolf in Scotland was not
killed until the middle of the eighteenth century.

During the spring, summer, and autumn the wolf is mostly
found singly, or at any rate only in pairs. But when the ground
is covered with snow, and food becomes scarce, the hungry
animals gather together in packs, which scour the forest in all
directions and kill every living creature which they meet. In
the year 1875 no less than 161 human beings fell victims to
them in Russia, while the mischief which they do in the farm-
yards and sheepfolds is very great. In Livonia alone, for in-
stance, during a single year, 15,182 sheep, 1,807 cattle, 1,841
horses, 3,270 goats, 4,190 pigs, 703 dogs, and 1,873 geese and
fowls were destroyed by wolves.

In some parts of France, too, these animals are still not
uncommon, although a reward of one hundred francs is paid for
every adult wolf that is killed, and thirty francs for each cub.

82 THE ANIMAL WORLD

And they are also found in almost every other country in Europe.

When they are not famished with hunger, wolves are by no
means courageous animals, and if we have many tales of their
savage ferocity we have quite as many more which bear witness
to their cowardice. In Norway, for example, a large tract of
country in which wolves had always been only too numerous was
suddenly deserted by them; and what do you think was the
reason ? Simply that a telegraph wire had been put up, which
frightened the wolves so much that they left the neighborhood
altogether, and never came near it again ! And if a hunter kills
a deer, and wishes to leave the carcass lying on the ground for
a while, and at the same time to protect it from the wolves, all
that he has to do is to plant three or four sticks beside it with
streamers of white cloth fastened to the tips; for not a wolf will
dare to approach the spot as long as these are fluttering in the
wind.

When wolves are running they generally utter a series of
dismal howls, which are so loud that they can be heard by any
one miles away. And even a single wolf can make such an
outcry that more than once a traveler, hearing one howl, has
imagined that a large pack were in pursuit of him, and has
climbed into a tree and spent the whole night among the branches
before discovering his mistake.

Wolves usually make their lairs among rocks, or in the trunk
of a hollow tree, or among thick bushes. But sometimes they
live in holes in the ground, which they seem to dig out for
themselves. There are generally from six to ten cubs in a
litter, which are born in the spring, and do not leave their
parents for at least eight or nine months. Strange to say, the
father often seems much fonder of them than the mother, for
he will take care of them, and hunt for them, and teach them
how to hunt for themselves for weeks after she has left them
pltogether.

Wolves in India

The common wolf is by no means confined to Europe, but
is also found in many parts of Asia, and throughout almost the

THE DOG TRIBE 83

whole of North America. In India, however, there is another
kind of wolf which is rather smaller, and has very much shorter
fur. It is seldom seen in large packs, and hardly ever howls as
the common wolf does. It is not in the habit, as a rule, of
attacking human beings. But now and then two or three of
these animals will band together to attack a man, while some-
times they will prowl round the outskirts of a native village, in
the hope of being able to carry off some of the smaller children.
These animals have a very clever way, too, of killing deer.
Three or four of them will creep quietly up and hide themselves
near the spot w^here the deer are feeding. Then another will
come dashing up from the opposite direction, the result, of
course, being that when the frightened animals run away they
pass close to the very place where their enemies are lying con-
cealed.

Coyotes

On the great plains of North America lives a very handsome
wolf called the coyote, or prairie-wolf. It is a good deal smaller
than the common wolf, but has much thicker and longer fur, so
that it looks bigger than it really is. And a very odd thing
about it is that it is differently colored at different seasons of the
year, being reddish yellowish brown in summer, and grayish,
or even quite gray, in winter. The back is generally darker
than the rest of the body, and the tail is rather long and very
bushy.

The coyote takes the place of the hyena as a scavenger, but
has some of the habits of the fox. It catches birds and jack-
rabbits, and feeds on insects, as well as small rodents like
prairie-dogs and mice. Its melancholy howls make night
hideous to prairie-dwellers. It is the steady foe of young
creatures, such as the fawns of deer. The skin of this animal
is thick and makes good fur wraps.

Coyotes assemble in packs like jackals. It is not an easy
matter to destroy them, for they are so wary that it is almost
impossible to approach within gunshot. Often a single coyote
will do a great deal of mischief before it can be killed. Poison

84 THE ANIMAL WORLD

kills a great many; but a good fence of wire netting has been
found to be the best remedy against these troublesome creatures.

Jackals

Jackals may be described as half wolves and half foxes.
One of these animals, the common jackal, is found in great
numbers in the south of Asia, and north of Africa, and the
southeastern corner of Europe. Sometimes it 'is seen singly,
sometimes in pairs; but generally it associates in great packs,
which go roaming about the country together. In India these
packs visit the native villages by night, to carry away any offal
which may have been thrown out of the houses. They are
"nature's dustmen," you see, like the hyenas. Then they will
follow a lion or a tiger about for weeks, in order to feast upon
the carcasses of the animals which he kills, after he has eaten
his fill. And when twenty or thirty of these ravenous creatures
are all struggling and fighting over the body of a deer or an
antelope, you can easily imagine that in a short time there is
not very much of it left.

The jackal is sometimes called "the lion's provider," but we
may say that the lion ought rather to be called "the jackal's
provider."

The natives of Africa say that the jackals stand very much
in awe of the lion, and seldom dare even to show themselves
until he has eaten his fill of his victim's body, and has gone
away to sleep. And they also declare that if a jackal comes
too near the carcass before the lion has finished his meal, the
lion catches him and bites off all his paws in order to teach the
rest of the pack better manners.

The howling cry of the jackal is very strange and weird,
and the animals call to one another, and answer one another, just
as if they were carrying on a conversation. First comes a long,
wailing yell; then another, rather higher, then another, a little
higher still, and then three short, sharp barks. And so on,
over and over again.

When a jackal is caught, it often pretends to be dead, and
will be perfectly still for a very long time in the hope of being

THE DOG TRIBE 85

able to make its escape when the attention of its captors is
taken oflf. On one occasion one of these animals lay without
moving for a whole hour although several times it was picked up
and worried by a dog. Then quite suddenly it jumped up and
rushed away apparently unhurt.

The common jackal is reddish brown in color, sometimes
lighter and sometimes darker, while the tip of the tail is black.
But there is another kind of jackal found in South Africa which
has the whole upper part of the back black, and the lower part
of the body and the inner sides of the limbs nearly white. This
animal is called the black-backed jackal, while a third, which
has a pale streak running across its flanks, is called the side-
striped jackal. In habits the three animals are almost exactly
alike.

Foxes

The best-kno\\Ti of the foxes, of course, is the common fox
of Great Britain and Western Europe, which is also found in
many other parts of the world.

This animal is famous for its cunning, and certainly, in
many ways, it is very clever. It has all sorts of tricks, for ex-
ample, to throw the hounds off its track when it is being hunted.
It seems to know perfectly well that it is followed by scent, and
sometimes it will suddenly leap to one side so as to break the
trail, and then make off in quite a different direction. Some-
times, when it has a sufficient start, it will return on its track
for sixty or seventy yards, and then leap aside. Or it will roll
in carrion in order to disguise its own peculiar odor. A hunter
tells us that he once found a fox's burrow which w^as very
cleverly made. The entrance to it was about twenty feet from
the edge of a sand-pit, in the middle of a thick clump of bushes,
and there was a "bolt-hole" about half way down the side of
the pit. So when the fox was chased he could run into his
burrow by the upper entrance, slip out by the lower one, and so
make his escape through the pit while the hounds were all
gathered round the hole up above.

Very often a fox will climb a tree, sometimes to a great height,

86 THE ANIMAL WORLD

and hide among the branches, and we have heard of a fox which
baffled the hounds over and over again in a most ingenious way.
He used to run to a certain fence, spring to the top, and then
walk along for several hundred yards before leaping down
again to the ground. By doing this, of course, he broke the
scent most thoroughly, and long before the hounds could fmd
it again he had reached a place of safety.

But although the fox is generally so clever he sometimes does
the most stupid things possible. Charles Waterton tells us of
a fox which visited a poultry-yard and carried off eight young
turkeys. He could not eat them all, of course, so he buried
five in the ground, meaning no doubt, to come and fetch them
away on the following evening. But apparently he thought
that if he buried them entirely he might not be able to find them
again. So he carefully left one wing of each bird sticking up
above the surface to serve as a guide, and never seemed to re-
flect that others would be able to see it as weU as himself! So
the farmer recovered his turkeys, and when Reynard came to
look for his supper next night he found that it had disap-
peared.

The burrow of a fox is sometimes an old rabbit-hole enlarged
to a suitable size. But generally the animal scrapes out a
burrow for himself, frequently choosing the roots of a large
tree as a situation, or a very rocky piece of ground from which
it will be very difflcult to dig him out. In this burrow four or
five little ones are brought up. They are odd-looking creatures,
with very snub noses, and if you did not know what they were
you would never take them for young foxes.

The Arctic Fox

This animal, more interesting still, perhaps, hves in the ice-
bound regions of the far north. There are often several of these
to be seen in a zoo, and the first thing that one notices on seeing
them is that no two of them are alike. One, perhaps, is reddish
brown above and yellowish white beneath. Another is gray all
over. A third, very likely, is mottled; while a fourth may be
of that curious bluish color which we see in Russian cats.

THE DOG TRIBE 87

In fact, in the snowy polar regions a great many of these foxes
turn perfectly white in winter. This enables them to creep
over the snow without being seen by their victims. Then, when
warmer weather comes, and the snow begins to melt, their fur
passes back again to its original color.

During the spring and summer the arctic fox feeds on sea-
birds and their eggs, and it is said to attract the birds to the
place where it is lying in wait by imitating their peculiar cries.
But we do not think that that is true. What it feeds upon
during the rest of the year is rather doubtful. It cannot catch
birds, for they have all ^o\\n away farther south. It cannot
catch fishes, for the water is covered in by ice several feet in
thickness. Most likely it catches numbers of those odd little
animals known as lemmings just as winter begins, and stores
them away in a kind of larder, where the cold prevents their
bodies from decaying.

The arctic fox is a good deal smaller than the common fox,
and has ears so short and rounded that they look just as if they
had been cropped.

In order to allow it to travel over the slippery ice, the arctic
fox has the soles of its feet covered with long stiff hairs, which
give it a perfectly firm foothold on the frozen surface.

The arctic fox is not nearly such a clever animal as the com-
mon fox, and is very easily trapped. If a hunter follows one,
it will certainly run into its hole; but a moment or two later it
is almost sure to poke out its head in order to yelp at him,
so that he is easily able to shoot it. The consequence is
that these animals are destroyed in very great numbers for
the sake of their skins, those with bluish fur being especially
valuable.

First-class skins of these foxes are, in truth, among the
most costly of furs. In view of this, men interested in the
fur-trade in Alaska have endeavored to raise them in captivity,
so as to obtain a constant supply of their pelts. This experi-
ment has succeeded best on a certain island in Bering Sea, where
a large colony of arctic foxes is kept, guarded and tended by
Eskimos, who feed them, and who once a year catch and kill
a certain number when their fur is in its best condition.

VOL. V. — 7

88 THE ANIMAL WORLD

American Foxes

Besides the arctic fox, which of course is found in American
as well as other arctic regions, this country has many species of
fox that belong peculiarly to itself. William T. Hornaday,
director of the New York Zoological Park, who has written
many instructive things about animals, tells us in his "Ameri-
can Natural History" that north of ISIexico this continent has
sixteen distinct species of foxes, some of which have several
subspecies.

The American fox most widely found is that which jNIr.
Hornaday calls "our wise old friend, the red fox," which is so
well known in many parts of the country. It is a very cunning
creature, "so well able to take care of itself that It refuses to be
exterminated." Still we are told that it was not hard f'^r the
early settlers in this country to outwit the red foxes, and to
shoot them and trap them when they came into the clearings
where the settlers made their homes. It is easier to get the better
of these animals in a wild region than where many people li\'e,
for the foxes are sharp observers and appear to learn many
things from seeing what their human neighbors do. Natural-
ists tell us that in this way the American foxes have come to be
almost as intelligent as those of the Old World. The red fox,
we are told, "now holds his own against man, as much by
boldness and audacity as by caution; few of our wild animals
look on man with so little awe."

You must have read many stories illustrating this boldness
of the fox, often shown in robbing hen-roosts and even catching
chickens in the yards or the fields. And quite as remarkable
are the accounts of foxes' cunning in avoiding hunters and
hounds. In fact, they have often been known to follow the
\cry hunter who was looking for them, as though they
wanted to learn all his ways so as to be better able to baffle
him.

The gray fox, which is somewhat smaller than the red fox,
belongs especially to the southern part of the country, "but it
ranges northward far into the home of the red fox." It is very

THE DOG TRIBE 89

wild, and can move swiftly. Sometimes, to escape from dogs,
it will climb a small tree and get far above the pursuer's reach.
It is at its best only in the forest, and cannot hold its own as the
red fox does, in a country much inhabited by men. With all
his slyness the gray fox " lacks that astonishing shrewdness and
faculty for working out deep-laid schemes which enables the
red fox to turn the tables on the hunter."

All the different varieties of American fox are more or less
closely related to the one or the other of these two — the red
fox and the gray fox — so that naturalists class them in two
groups, the red fox group and the gray fox group. If you learn
all that you can about them you will find that you have ob-
tained a great deal of interesting knowledge.

The Fennec

This is a very pretty fox-like little animal found in Nubia and
Egypt. It is only about twenty inches long, including its big
bushy tail, and its fur is sometimes pale fawn color, and some-
times creamy white. But what strikes one most about it is the
extraordinary size of its ears, which are always carried perfectly
upright, and look as if they were intended for an animal at least
five times as big as itself.

The fennec is a creature of the desert, and lives in burrows
which it scoops out in the sand. In order to make these bur-
rows more comfortable, it lines them with leaves, hair, and the
feathers of birds, while they are nearly always situated beneath
the roots of plants, where the sand is softer and more easy to
work. The animal digs with the most wonderful speed, and
those who have surprised it while at a distance from its burrow
say that it disappears in the sand just as though it were sinking
into water, and is lost to sight in a few seconds.

The fennec spends the heat of the day comfortably curled
up in its burrow, with its nose tucked away under its big bushy
tail. When the sun sets it wakes up and goes off to the nearest
water to drink, after which it hunts for jerboas, birds, lizards,
insects, and the various other small creatures upon which it
feeds.

90 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Hunting-Dog

Although a member of the great dog tribe, this animal is not
really a dog. It looks very much like a spotted hyena, and yet
it is not really a hyena. Sometimes it is known as the hyena-
dog, and perhaps that is the best name which can be given to it.
These animals are found throughout Southern Africa, and are
especially numerous in Cape Colony. They hunt in packs of
from ten to fifty or sixty, which run with such wonderful speed
that even the swiftest antelopes cannot escape them. When they
catch up with their quarry they all spring upon it together, snap-
ping at it over and over again until they bring it to the ground.
And in a few minutes there is nothing left of its carcass but just
a few of he larger bones.

In size the hyena-dog is about as big as a wolf. In color
it varies a good deal, but the head is always black, with a white
mark round the eyes, while the body is more or less mottled
with black, white, and yellow. The long bushy tail is yellow
at the root, black in the middle, and white at the tip.

CHAPTER X
THE WEASEL TRIBE

ALMOST all the animals which belong to this tribe have
very long, slender bodies and very short legs; and the
reason is a simple one. They feed on living prey, which they
often have to follow through a long and winding burrow. Now
if they had stout bodies or long legs they could not do this.
Most likely they could not enter the burrow at all; and even if
they did so they would be almost sure to find, before they had
gone very far, that they could neither move forward or back-
ward. But, having such snake-like bodies and such very short
limbs, they can wind their way through the tunnels without any
difficulty, and then spring upon their victim at the end.

They always try to seize their prey by the throat, in order
to tear open the great blood-vessels which pass through that
part of the body. One who had a personal experience of the
strength and sharpness of their teeth thus tells it: "I was walk-
ing through a park one day early in the autumn, when I noticed
that the dead leaves under a tree were tossing and tumbling
about in a very curious manner. On going a little closer I found
that a mother weasel and her little ones were playing together.
When I came up of course they all ran away. So I ran after
them, and caught one of the little animals by putting my foot on
it, just hard enough to hold it down on the ground without
hurting it. And immediately the little creature, which was
only about six inches long, twisted itself round, and drove its
sharp teeth into the edge of the sole of my shoe, both from
above and below. So that if I had done what I thought of
doing at first and had stooped to pick it up, its teeth would
certainly have met in my finger."

The weasel is common in many parts of the United States as
well as in Europe. In some regions you can scarcely take a
walk along the roads or through the fields without catching

91

92 THE ANIMAL WORLD

sight of it. Very likely it will poke its head out of a hole in the
bank at the side of the road, and watch you in the most in-
quisitive manner as you go past. Or you may notice it slipping
in and out of the herbage at the foot of a hedge, as it searches
for the small creatures on which it feeds. But very often it
will leave the hedge, and follow a mole along its burrow. Or
it will make its way to a wheatstack, and pursue the mice
through their "runs." And it is very fond of going out bird's-
nesting, and robbing the nests of the eggs or little ones which
they contain. But the weasel is not always successful when
he sets out on one of these expeditions. While coming down
Helvellyn, a mountain in England, a writer witnessed a strange
little scene. "Hearing a loud chattering," he says, "I looked
up, and saw just above me a pair of stonechats and a weasel.
Evidently the weasel had come too near the nest of the birds,
and they were trying to entice him away. And this is how they
managed it. First the cock bird sat douTi on a stone about a
yard in front of the weasel, and began to flap his wings, and to
chatter and scream. The weasel immediately darted at him,
and the bird flew away. Next the hen bird sat down on an-
other stone a yard farther on, and began to flap her wings and to
chatter and scream. Then the weasel darted at her, and sJie
flew away. As soon as she had gone the cock came back, sat
on a third stone, and played the same trick again. And so
the two birds went on over and over again, till they got the
weasel far up the mountain side, quite two hundred yards
from the nest, when they quietly left him and flew away
together.

" Wasn't it clever of them ? And the odd thing was that the
weasel never realized that he was being taken in, but evidently
thought he was going to catch one of the birds every time that
he darted at them."

When fully grou-n the European weasel is from eight to ten
inches long, about one-fourth of that length being occupied by
the tail. The fur of the upper parts of the body is brownish
red in color, while that of the throat and lower surface is
white.

In the United States are found various species of weasels, the

THE WEASEL TRIBE 93

largest of which is called the New York weasel. The length
of the male is sixteen inches, that of the female thirteen inches,
the tail being more than one-third of the total length. It is also
called the long-tailed weasel. The smallest species is the least
weasel, only six inches long. Both bear much resemblance to
stoats. "The various kinds of weasels in this country," say
Stone and Cram in their "American Animals," "are much
alike in their habits. . . . They hunt tirelessly, following
their prey by scent, and kill for the mere joy of killing, often
leaving their victims uneaten and hurrying on for more."

The Stoat, or Ermene

This is the commonest and most widely distributed of all the
weasel tribe. The name is British. The fur of the lower
parts of the stoat's body is pale yellow instead of white, while
the tip of the tail is black. In very cold countries the whole of
the fur becomes white in winter, like that of the arctic fox, the
tip of the tail alone excepted. Indeed, the famous ermine fur
which we value so highly, and which even kings wear when they
put on their robes of state, is nothing but the coat of the stoat
in its winter dress.

The stoat preys upon rather larger animals than do other
weasels, and many a hare and rabbit falls victim to its sharp
little fangs. Strange to say, when one of these creatures is
being followed by a stoat it seems almost paralyzed with fear,
and instead of making its escape by dashing away at its utmost
speed, drags itself slowly and painfully over the ground, utter
ing shrill cries of terror, although it has not been injured
at all.

In poultry-yards the stoat is sometimes terribly mischievous.
One stoat has been known to destroy as many as forty fowls in a
single night. So both the gamekeeper and the farmer have
very good reason for disliking it. But in some ways it is really
very useful. It kills large numbers of mice and rats and voles,
which often do such damage in the fields. And if we
could set the good which it does against the evil, we should find
that the former more than makes up for the latter.

94 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Polecat

This animal was formerly very common in Great Britain.
But owing to its mischievous habits it has been greatly perse-
cuted, and now it is very seldom met with. It is a good deal
larger than the stoat, being nearly two feet in length from the
nose to the tip of the tail, and you would think, on looking at it,
that its fur was brown, yet it scarcely has a brown hair on the
whole of its body. The fact is that the long outer hairs are so
dark as to be almost black, while the soft under-fur next the
skin is pale yellow; and as the inner coat shows through the
outer one, the effect is very much the same as if the whole of
the fur were brown.

The polecat is sometimes called the foumart. This name
is formed from the two words foul marten, and has been given
to the animal because it looks like a marten, and has a most
foul and disagreeable smell. In its habits it is very much like
the stoat. It comes out chiefly by night, and preys upon any
birds or small animals which it may meet with, following rab-
bits down their burrows, tracking hares to their "forms," and
sometimes killing nearly all the poultry, geese, and turkeys in a
farmyard. Early in April it makes a kind of nest in a deserted
rabbit-hole, or in a crevice among the rocks, and there brings up
its family of from three to eight little ones.

The animal called polecat in North America is the skunk,
of which we shall speak soon; the name is particularly applied
to the common skunk of the Northeastern States and Canada.

The Ferret

You know that the ferret is much used in hunting rabbits
and rats. It appears to be really a variety of the polecat, and is
usually of a yellowish white color with pink eyes. But there is
also a brown form, which is generally called the polecat-
ferret. It is known only in a domesticated form.

In some of the Western United States — Kansas, Colo-
rado, etc. — is found the black-footed ferret, "often called

THE WEASEL TRIBE 95

prairie-dog hunter because its specialty is the killing of
prairie-dogs." It has not become very well known to animal
students, for it dwells in burrows and hunts at night.

Martens

Old World martens may be described as large weasels that
live in the trees. One of them, the pine-marten, is still found
in the wilder parts of Great Britain, although it is even scarcer,
perhaps, than the polecat.

This animal is about as big as a cat. But it does not look
as large as it really is, because of the shortness of its legs. In
color it is rich brown above and yellowish white below, while
the tail is very long, and is almost as bushy as that of a
squirrel.

Martens are only found in the thickest parts of the forests,
and spend almost the whole of their lives in the trees, running
up and down the trunks, and leaping from bough to bough
with the most wonderful activity. They even make nests
among the branches, in which to bring up their little ones,
weaving a quantity of leaves and moss together in such a way
as to make a most cosy little nursery. But it is to be feared
that they are sometimes lazy animals, for just to save themselves
trouble they will turn squirrels or woodpeckers out of their
nests, and take possession of them for themselves.

Martens feed on any small animals which they can find,
and have more than once been known to kill lambs, and even
fawns. When they happen to live near the sea, it is said that
they will visit the shore by night in order to hunt for
mussels.

The American sable or pine-marten is about the size of a
common domestic cat, and looks much like a young red fox.
It is now rare south of Northern Canada.

The sable found in the mountainous forests of Northern
Asia seems to be nothing more than a variety of the pine-marten
with very long fur. This fur is so much in request that the
animal is greatly persecuted, more than two thousand skins
being sometimes taken in a single season.

96 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Glutton, or Wolverene

You would say that this animal hardly looks like a weasel at
all, for it is very heavily and clumsily built, and, including the
tail, is often as much as four feet long. If you did not know
what it was, you might almost take it for a bear cub with a tail.
It is blackish brown in color, with a lighter band which runs
from the shoulders along the sides and across the flanks, as far
as the root of the tail.

"Glutton" is rather an odd name for this creature, isn't it?
But certainly the animal deserves it, for it will go on eating and
eating, long after you would think that it could not possibly
swallow a morsel more. Indeed, a glutton has been known to
devour, at a single meal, a great joint of meat, which would
have been more than sufl[icient for a lion or a tiger for a whole
day! It lives in North America, and also in Northern Europe
and Northern Asia, and the hunters find it a terrible nuisance,
for night after night it will search along a line of traps and
devour all the animals caught in them. Then, too, if they
bury a quantity of provisions in the ground, meaning to
come back and fetch them later on, a glutton is very likely to
discover them and dig them up, while the animal is also fond of
visiting their huts while they are absent, and stealing everything
it can carry away.

Blankets, knives, axes, and even saucepans and frying-pans
have. been stolen in this way by gluttons, and once one of these
animals actually succeeded in dragging away and hiding a gun!
It is even a worse robber, in fact, than the arctic fox. And it
can hardly ever be trapped, because it is so crafty that it
almost always discovers the traps, and either passes them by
or pulls them to pieces, while it is so wary, and so swift
of foot, that the hunter very seldom has a chance of shoot-
ing it.

It was formerly supposed that this animal was even more
crafty still, and that it would collect a quantity of the moss
of which deer are so fond, lay it upon the ground as a bait, and
hide in the foliage of an overhanging bough, so as to spring

TYPES OF FUR HEARERS.
I. Weasel ; Ermine. 2. Otter.

3. Wolverine; Glutton. 4. Pine Marten ; Sable.

S. Skunk. 6. Bade:er.

THE WEASEL TRIBE 97

down upon the animals when they stopped to feed. But this
story seems to be quite untrue.

The Ratel

More curious still is the ratel, which belongs to the family of
badgers. You cannot possibly mistake it if you see it, for all
the upper part of its body is grayish white, and all the lower part
is black. So that it looks rather like a lady wearing a white
mantle and a black skirt.

But if the ratel is odd in appearance, it is odder still in habits.
If you go to look at them in a zoo you are sure to find them
trotting leisurely round and round their cage in a perfect circle,
one behind the other. And when they come to a certain spot
they always stop, turn head o\^er heels, pick themselves up, and
then run on again. Why they do so nobody knows, but for
hours ever}'' day they keep up this singular performance.

The ratel is very fond of honey, so fond that it is often called
the honey-ratel, or honey-weasel, and it spends a good deal of
time in prowling about in search of the nests of wild bees. You
would think that it would get badly stung by the bees, wouldn't
you, when it tore their nests open and robbed them of their
sweet stores? But its coat is so thick that the insects can
scarcely force their stings through it, while even if they do so
there is a thick loose skin under it, and a layer of fat under
that. So it seems quite certain that a ratel never gets stung,
no matter how many nests he may rob.

The animal does not live entirely on honey, however, but also
feeds upon rats, mice, small birds, lizards, and even insects.

Two kinds of ratels are known, one of which lives in Africa
and the other in India.

The Badger

The European badger was formerly very common in Great
Britain. It was generally known as the brock, and when we
hear of a place called by such a name as Brockley, or Brocken-
hurst, we may be quite sure that it was once inhabited by a

98 THE ANIMAL WORLD

great many badgers. Nowadays, however, these animals are
more scarce in Great Britain and only to be found as a general
thing, in the wildest parts of the country; and as they only come
out of their burrows by night, very few people even see them in
a state of freedom. But all over temperate Northern Europe
and Asia the European badger is found.

Their burrows are generally made either in the very thickest
part of a dense forest, or else on the side of a steep cliflf which is
well covered with trees. They run for some distance into the
ground, and generally open out into several chambers, while
at the end there is always a large hollow which the animals use
as a bedroom. They like to be comfortable, so they always
line this hollow with a good thick layer of dried fern and dead
leaves. You would be quite astonished to fmd how much of
this bedding is often packed away in the burrow of a single
badger.

These animals are most cleanly in their habits, and are very
careful not to take any dirt into their burrows with them. They
have been known, for example, to use a low branch near the
entrance as a scraper, and always to rub their feet upon it be-
fore going in. And every now and then they have a grand
house-cleaning, turning out all their bedding, and taking in a
fresh supply.

When the badger is digging, it uses its nose as well as its
paws, shoveling the earth aside with it from time to time. And
every now and then it walks backward to the entrance of the
burrow pushing out the loosened earth in a heap behind it.

The teeth of the European badger are made in a very curious
way, for they interlock with one another just like those of a
steel trap. The jaws, too, are exceedingly strong, so that the
animal is able to inflict a very severe bite. But it is a most peace-
able creature, and never attempts to attack unless it is driven to
bay.

As regards food, it will eat almost anything. It seems equally
fond of mice, frogs, lizards, birds' eggs, snails, worms, fruit,
beechnuts, and roots. If it finds a wasps' or a bumblebees'
nest, it will dig it up and devour all the grubs and the food
which has been stored up for them, caring nothing for the stings

THE WEASEL TRIBE 99

of the angry insects. And very often it gathers a quantity of
provisions together in a small chamber opening out of its bur-
row, which it uses as a larder.

The head of the badger is white, with a broad black streak
on either side, which encloses both the eye and the ear. The
body is reddish gray above, whitish gray on the sides, and
blackish brown below, and the flanks and tail are nearly white.
In length it is very nearly three feet from the muzzle to the tip of
the tail.

The American badger, living in the western parts of North
America, resembles its European cousin in nearly all respects,
differing from it chiefly in the form of the teeth, in the habit of
eating more flesh, and in liking open flat country better than
the dense forests preferred by its Old World relation. Another
difference is noted by Mr. Hornaday, who tells us that the
American badger " has a savage and sullen disposition, and as a
pet is one of the worst imaginable."

The Skunk

Many of the animals of the weasel tribe have a most dis-
agreeable odor; but there is none whose scent is so horribly
disgusting as that of the skunk.

This is a North American animal of about the size of a cat,
with a long, narrow head, a stoutly built body, and a big bushy
tail. In color it is black, with a white streak on the forehead,
a white patch on the neck, and a broad stripe of the same color
running along either side of the back.

The offensive odor of the skunk is due to a liquid which is
stored up in certain glands near the root of the tail. This
liquid can be squirted out at will to a distance of twelve or fifteen
feet, and if the animal is attacked, or thinks itself in danger, it
does not attempt to use its teeth, but just turns round, raises its
tail, and sends a perfect shower of the vile fluid over its enemy.
And it is almost impossible to wash the smell away. A drop
or two once fell on the coat of a dog. The animal was washed
over and over again, most thoroughly, with various kinds of
soap. Yet a week later, when he happened to rub himself

100 THE ANIMAL WORLD

against one of the legs of a table, no one could bear to sit by it
afterward.

The skunk seems to know perfectly well how offensive its
odor is, and never runs away if it meets a man, or even a large
dog. It just stands perfectly quiet, like a cat expecting to be
stroked, ready to make use of its evil-smelling fluid if necessary.

This singular animal lives in holes in the ground, making
a warm little nest at the end in which to bring up its young. It
feeds upon small animals, small birds and their eggs, frogs,
lizards, and, most of all, upon insects.

Otters

Last among the members of the weasel tribe come the otters.
These animals are specially formed for living in the water.
The paws, for example, are very large and broad, and the toes
are fastened together by means of a kind of web, like that on
the foot of a swan or a duck, so that they form very useful
paddles. Then the body is long, lithe, and almost snake-like,
and the tail is so broad and flat that it serves as a capital rudder,
and enables the animal to direct its course. The fur, too,
consists of two coats of hair instead of only one; the outer, which
is composed of long, stiff bristles, lying upon the inner like a
very close thatch, and quite preventing water from passing
through. So although an otter is dripping from head to foot
when it comes out of the water, it never gets really wet.

The animal is wonderfully active in the water, and can easily
overtake and capture the swiftest of fishes. Sometimes it is
very destructive, for when fishes are plentiful it becomes so
dainty that it never eats its victims, but just takes a bite or two
from the best part of the flesh at the back of the neck, and then
leaves the rest of the body lying upon the ground. So fishermen
are not at all fond of it, and kill it whenever they can. But
sometimes, when the rivers are very low, or when the surface
of the water is thickly covered with ice, the otters find it very
difficult to obtain a sufficient supply of food. So they leave
the streams and wander far inland, sometimes making their
way into the farmyards, and feasting upon poultry, or even upon

THE WEASEL TRIBE 101

young pigs and lambs. But they only do this when they are in
real danger of starvation, and always return to the river-banks
as soon as they can.

The home of the otter is generally situated beneath the
spreading roots of a large tree on the bank of a stream. The
animal does not dig a burrow if it can help it, but prefers to
take advantage of some natural cleft in the ground, at the end
of which it makes a nest of flags and rushes. In this nest
from three to five little ones are brought up, and if you w^ere to
lie very quietly on the bank for some little time early on a warm
spring morning, you would very likely see the mother otter
playing with her little ones, or teaching them how to swim and
to catch fish.

The bite of the otter is very severe, and it is almost impossible
to force the animal to loose its hold.

In India there is a kind of otter which is often trained to
catch fish for its master. It is taught, first of all, to pursue an
imitation fish as it is drawn through the water by a string, and
to bring it ashore and lay it down upon the ground. Then a
dead fish is substituted for the false one, and when the otter has
learned to bring this to its owner, and to give it up at the w^ord of
command, it is sent in pursuit of a live fish fastened to a line.
And before very long it learns its duties so thoroughly that it
will catch fish after fish, and bring them back without attempt-
ing to eat them, just as a well-trained retriever dog wiU bring
back the birds or the rabbits which its master has shot.

The otter of North America is still found, but not numer-
ously, in the Carolinas and Florida, in some Rocky Moun-
tain districts, in British Columbia and Alaska, and in the
Canadian provinces.

There is also a kind of otter which lives in the sea, and is
called the sea-otter. It is also known as the kalan. It is found
on the coasts of the Northern Pacific, and is much larger than
the common otter, often weighing as much as seventy or eighty
pounds, and being nearly four feet in total length. Its fur is
the most costly kno\Mi, a fine pelt being worth $600 or $800
before dressing. This high price is due partly to the beauty
of the fur, but mainly to its rarity.

CHAPTER XI
THE BEAR TRIBE

THE bears are very interesting animals. In no animals^
perhaps, are young folks more interested than in these,
for they have many traits that endear them to little human ad-
mirers, while with older persons they have often lived on terms
of intimate friendship. In our own coimtry this interest in
these fascinating animals was lately quickened, for children
especially, by the almost universal possession and popularity
among them of "Teddy bears," so named with playful refer-
ence to President Theodore Roosevelt, affectionately called
"Teddy," and himself well acquainted with bears and other
beasts, both wild and tame.

Polar Bears

One of the most interesting of all bears is the polar bear,
which is found in almost all parts of the arctic regions. Some-
times it is called the white bear, on account of the color of its
coat. But this is very seldom really white. Generally it is
creamy yellow. And sometimes, in an old male, it is dingy
yellow, and not even of the color of cream.

This is one of the largest of the bears, for it often grows to a
length of nine feet, and weighs eight hundred or even nine hun-
dred pounds. Yet it is wonderfully active, and it can run with
very great speed. Indeed, if it were to pursue a man, he would
have very little chance of escape. But it is not at all a quarrel-
some animal, and although it will fight most savagely if it is
wounded or driven to bay, using both teeth and claws with
terrible effect, it very seldom attacks if it is not molested.

One of the first things that we notice on looking at a polar
bear is the small size of its head and the length of its neck.
This, no doubt, is to help it in swimming; for if it had a head as

102

THE BEAR TRIBE 103

big as that of an ordinary bear it would find it very much harder
to force its way through the water. And of course it must be
able to swim well, for otherwise it could never catch the por-
poises and fishes upon which it feeds. We notice, too, the huge
size of its paws, which are nearly eighteen inches long, and very
broad as well. These form most excellent paddles, while the
thick fur is so oily that it quite prevents the icy water from
coming into contact with the skin.

The bear is very fond of feeding upon seals as well as upon
porpoises and fishes. But these are so active in the water that
it seldom attempts to chase them, preferring to creep quietly
up to them as they lie sleeping on the ice. Then it kills them
with one stroke of its terrible paw. Sometimes, too, it is said
to prey upon the walrus, crushing in its skull by a series of
tremendous blows before it can shuffle off the ice into the sea.

The feet of the polar bear are specially suited for traveling
over the ice, for the soles are covered with long, thick hairs, which
give it a firm foothold, and at the same time prevent it from
feeling the cold of the frozen surface.

The young of these bears are born and brought up in a kind
of nursery under the snow, which is so warm and snug that
they do not feel the cold at all. Here they live with their mother
until the snow melts at the return of warmer weather, and then for
some months father, mother, and cubs all wander about together.

Polar bears sometimes live for a very long time in captivity.
One of these animals lived in the London Zoo for thirty-four
years, and another for thirty-three. The former of these once
gave the keepers a terrible fright, for early one morning he
managed to climb out of his enclosure, and when they found
him he was just setting off on a journey of discovery into the
Regent's Park. After a good deal of trouble they got him back,
and altered his enclosure in such a way that he could never
make his escape again.

The Brown Bear of Europe and Asia

This bear is found in most parts of Europe, and also through-
out almost the whole of Asia north of the Himalayas. In for-

VOL. V. — 8

104 THE ANIMAL WORLD

mer days it was not uncommon even in England, and in the
time of Edward the Confessor the city of Norwich was obliged
to kill a bear every year and send its body to the king.

These bears are found in wooded, hilly districts, often as-
cending to considerable heights in the mountains. In some
parts of Asia they make regular tracks through the forest, in
the form of pathways about two feet wide; and it is said that
these tracks sometimes run for hundreds of miles. They are
solitary animals, and it is not often that even a pair are seen to-
gether. But for several months after they are born the cubs go
about with their mother.

This bear is generally supposed, when it fights, to try to hug
its enemies to death, throwing its fore limbs round them, and
crushing them in its embrace. But in reality it strikes a kind
of side blow, and forces its great claws into its victim's body thus
causing a terrible wound. Just before it strikes it rears its
body erect, and sits for a moment almost perfectly still; and it
is for this moment that an experienced hunter waits in order to
send a bullet through its heart.

The brown bear of Europe and Asia can scarcely be called
a beast of prey, though now and then, when it is very hungry,
it will kill a pony or a sheep and feast upon its flesh. It eats
roots, as a rule, digging them up with its great paws; and it is
also very fond of fruit. It will rob the nests of wild bees, too,
and feed greedily upon the honey, appearing to pay no atten-
tion to the stings of the angry insects. And sometimes it may
be seen turning over large stones, in order to catch and eat the
beetles, earwigs, centipedes, etc., which have been hiding be-
neath it.

Now and then, too, these bears have been known to catch
fish. Their usual plan seems to be to wade out into a stream, in
some place where the water is not more than about eighteen
inches deep, and there to stand motionless until a fish comes
swimming past. Then with one quick, sudden stroke the
victim is killed, and the bear seizes it in its mouth and carries
it to the bank to be devoured.

When bears catch fish in this way they are usually rather
dainty, and only eat the best part of the flesh upon the back.

THE BEAR TRIBE 105

In cold countries these bears often hibernate during the win-
ter, just as bats and hedgehogs do. They eat a great deal of
food toward the end of summer, and become exceedingly fat,
and then retire to hollow trees or caves and fall asleep for several
months, during which they live on their own fat. In the spring,
of course, when they wake up, they are very thin, but a few
weeks of good feeding will bring them back into proper condi-
tion.

These brown bears are very easily tamed, and many "per-
forming bears" belong to this species. It is not nearly such a
large animal as the polar bear, its average length being only
about six feet.

The American Brown Bear

The brown bear of America is closely allied to that of the Old
World. It was first described by Sir John Richardson, who
called it the Barrenlands bear. It has since been further de-
scribed by Dr. Clinton Hart Merriam, chief of the United States
Biological Survey. It differs from the grizzly in the smallness
of its claws. The difference in the profile also is very marked —
the brown bear having a profile like that of the European and
Asiatic bear, while that of the grizzly is flat.

The brown bear of North America lives largely on the fruits
and berries of the northern plants, on dead deer, and on putrid
fish, of which quantities are left on the banks of the northern
rivers. Whether the large brown bear of the Rocky Moun-
tains is always a grizzly, or often this less dangerous race, is
doubtful. The following is Sir Samuel Baker's account of
these bears. He says: "When I was in California, experienced
informants told me that no true grizzly bear was to be found
east of the Pacific slope. There are numerous bears of three
if not four kinds in the Rocky Mountains. These are frequent-
ly termed grizzlies; but it is a misnomer. The true grizzly is
far superior in size, but of similar habits. " There are cer-
tainly three Rocky Mountain bears — the grizzly, the brown,
and the small black bear. There is probably also another — a
cross between the black and the brown. It is a mistake to say

106 THE ANIMAL WORLD

that the brown bears which come to eat the refuse on the dust-
heaps of the hotels of the Yellowstone Park, and let ladies
photograph them, are savage grizzly bears.

The Grizzly Bear

The famous grizzly bear, which lives in North America, is
much bigger and stronger and more savage than the brown
bears, so that it is really a very formidable animal. When fully
grown, this huge creature is sometimes as much as nine feet
long from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail, while it
weighs at least 800 or 900 pounds.

The grizzly is a very distinct race of brown bear. It has a
flat profile, like the polar bear. This enormous creature is
barely able to climb trees, and has the largest claws of any —
they have been known to measure five inches along the curve.
The true grizzly, which used to be found as far north as 61°
latitude and south as far as Mexico, is a rare animal now. Its
turn for cattle-killing made the ranchmen poison it, and ren-
dered the task an easy one. It is now only found in the northern
Rocky Mountains and parts of northern California and Nevada.
Formerly encounters with "Old Ephraim," as the trappers
called this bear, were numerous and deadly. It attacked men
if attacked by them, and often without provocation. The horse,
perhaps more than its rider, was the object of the bear.

On a ranch near the upper waters of the Colorado River
several colts were taken by grizzly bears. One of them was
found buried according to the custom of this bear, and the
o\Mier sat up to shoot the animal. Having only the old-fash-
ioned small-bored rifle of the day, excellent for shooting deer
or Indians, but useless against so massive a beast as this bear,
unless hit in the head or heart, he only wounded it. The bear
rushed in, struck him a blow with its paw (the paw measures a
foot across), smashed the rifle which he held up as a protection,
and struck the barrel on to his head. The man fell insensible,
when the bear, having satisfied himself that he was dead, picked
him up, carried him off, and buried him in another hole which
it scratched near the dead colt. It then dug up the colt and

THE BEAR TRIBE 107

ate part of it, and went off. Some time later the man came to
his senses, and awoke to find himself "dead and buried." As
the earth was only roughly thrown over him, he scrambled out,
and saw close by the half-eaten remains of the colt. Thinking
that it might be about the bear's dinner-time, and remembering
that he was probably put by in the larder for the next meal, he
hurried home at once, and did not trouble the bear again.

Not so a Siberian peasant, who had much the same adventure.
He had been laughed at for wishing to shoot a bear, and went
out in the woods to do so. The bear had the best of it, knocked
him down, and so frightfully mangled his arm that he fainted.
Bruin then buried him in orthodox bear fashion; and the man,
when he came to, which he fortunately did before the bear came
back, got up, and made his way to the village. There he was
for a long time ill, and all through his sickness and delirium
talked of nothing but shooting the bear. When he got well, he
disappeared into the forest with his gun, and after a short ab-
sence returned with the bear's skin!

The Black Bear

The black bear is also an inhabitant of North America, but
is neither so common or so widely distributed as it used to be.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that this bear is an
extremely mischievous animal, and is very fond of visiting farm-
yards, and carrying off sheep, calves, pigs and poultry. So the
farmer loses no opportunity of shooting or trapping it. And
the other reason is, that its coat is very valuable, so that the
hunters follow it even into the wilder parts of the country, where
settlers, as yet, have not made their appearance.

This animal is only about half as big as the grizzly bear, for
it seldom exceeds five feet in total length. It never attacks
man unless it is provoked. When driven to bay, however, it
becomes a most formidable opponent, dealing terrific blows
with its fore paws, and fighting on with furious energy even after
it has received a mortal wound.

Early in the autumn the black bear generally goes into win-
ter quarters. Finding a hollow under a fallen tree, or a cave

108 THE ANIMAL WORLD

of suitable size, it gathers together about a cartload of dead leaves
and ferns, and makes a snug, cosy nest. Very often it lays a
number of branches on the top, to prevent the leaves from blow-
ing away. Before very long, of course, this nest is deeply
covered with snow, and the bear lies fast asleep inside it for
four or five months, living on the fat which it stored up inside
its body during the summer.

This bear is sometimes kno\\Ti as the musquaw, an Indian
name.

Sun-Bears

These animals are so called because they wander about by
day, and like to bask in the hottest sunshine, instead of hiding
away in some dark retreat, as most of the other bears do. They
live in India and the larger islands of the Malay Archipelago.
They are excellent climbers, spending a great part of their lives
among the branches of the trees.

These bears have most curious tongues, which are very long
and slender, and can be coiled and twisted about in the most
singular way. Apparently they are used for licking out honey
from the nests of wild bees.

Sun-bears are small, gentle creatures, and are easily tamed.
In the zoo they are extremely playful, and you may often see
them standing upon their hind legs and wrestling with one
another, and then tumbling over and rolling upon the floor,
evidently enjoying themselves very much. Their fur is smooth
and glossy, and is jet-black in color, the chin and a crescent-
shaped patch under the throat being white.

The Sloth-Bear

Another name for this bear is the aswail — its East-Indian
name. It is perhaps the oddest of all the bears, for it has very
long and shaggy hair, a flexible snout which it is always curling
and twisting, and a very awkwardly and clumsily built body.
It walks with a curious rolling gait, crossing its paws over one
another at every step it takes. And it has a queer way of eating

THE BEAR TRIBE 109

termites and ants by breaking open their nests with its great
fore paws, blowing away the dust and fine earth, and then suck-
ing up the insects by forcibly drawing in its breath through its
lips. It makes such a noise when doing this that it can be
heard from a distance of two or three hundred yards.

The sloth-bear is seldom seen abroad during the daytime,
for the odd reason that the skin of the soles of its feet is so deli-
cate that it cannot bear to walk upon ground which is heated
by the rays of the sun. Sometimes, when a hunter has driven
one of them from its lair and pursued it by day, he has found
its feet most terribly scorched and blistered when at last he
killed it, simply because it had been obliged to walk over rocks
on which the midday sun was beating down.

When a mother sloth-bear has little ones, she always carries
them about on her back. If she stops to feed they at once jump
down, but always spring up again as soon as she moves on.
Even when they are quite big they travel about in this way, and
a sloth-bear may often be seen with a cub as large as a retriever
dog perched upon her back, and another one trotting along by
her side. And from time to time she makes the little ones
change places.

If a mother is wounded while her cubs are with her, she al-
ways seems to think that one of them must have bitten her, and
immediately gives them both a good sound box on the ears. If
several of these animals are together, and one of them is struck
by a bullet, it begins to howl and cry at the top of its voice. The
other bears at once come running up to see what is the matter,
and begin to howl and cry too, out of pure sympathy for its
sufferings. Then the wounded animal thinks that they have
caused his injuries, and begins to cuff them with his paws.
They, of course, strike back, and very soon all the bears are
buffeting and biting and scratching one another. They must
be very stupid creatures, mustn't they?

The sloth-bear is a little more than five feet long when fully
grown, and stands from twenty-seven to thirty-three inches in
height at the shoulder. In color it is black, with a white cres-
cent-shaped mark on the upper part of its chest, like that of the
sun-bear.

110 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Panda

Besides the true bears, there are a number of smaller animals
which belong to the same tribe.

One of these is the panda, wah, or bear-cat, which is only
about as big as a rather large cat. It is rusty red in color, with
darker rings upon the tail, the tip of which is black. The
face is white, and the lower parts of the body are very
dark brown.

The panda is found in the forests of the Eastern Himalayas,
and also in Eastern Tibet. It is a very good climber and spends
much of its time in the trees, searching for the nuts, fruits, and
acorns on which it feeds. If it happens to find a bird's nest
with eggs in it, it will suck them all, one after the other. And
sometimes it will come down to the ground to make a meal
upon roots, or the young shoots of bamboo.

The panda has rather large claws — just like those of a bear —
and one would think that they would form very serviceable
weapons. But the animal seems to have very little idea of
fighting, and scarcely tries even to defend itself if it is attacked.

Racoons

Next come the racoons, which live in America. The best
known of them is the common racoon, found throughout the
United States, and also in Central America as far south as
Costa Rica.

This is a very pretty animal. In size it is about as big as a
rather large cat, and is brown or grayish brown in color, with
a tail that is very bushy and beautifully ringed with gray and
black. The head is rather like that of a fox, with a whitish
forehead, and a black patch just below it, enclosing the eyes.

Racoons may usually be seen in a zoo, and if you give one
of them a piece of bread or biscuit it will take it in its fore paws,
just as if the animal were a monkey, and then go and rinse it
carefully in the little pond in the middle of its cage. It never
eats a scrap of food without washing it in this curious manner,

THE BEAR TRIBE 111

and for this reason the Germans have given it the name of
"Waschbar" or "washing-bear."

The fur of the racoon is so soft and thick that it is very valu-
able, and the animal is very much hunted. It is generally
hunted by night, the hunters going out with a number of dogs,
which soon drive the animal into a tree. They then sit in a
circle round the trunk, while one of the hunters climbs the tree,
drives the racoon to the end of the branch, and then shakes it
violently till the poor creature falls to the ground, where it is
quickly seized and despatched.

Racoons will eat almost anything. Sometimes they will
visit a poultry-yard and kill a number of the fowls by biting off
their heads. Or they will go down to the sea-shore when the
tide is out to search for crabs and oysters, or to the creeks and
streams to hunt for crayfish. They are fond, too, of mice, and
young birds, and eggs, and lizards, and fresh-water tortoises,
and even insects. Occasionally they make a meal on nuts or
fruit; but although they are such capital climbers, and can run
about among the tree-branches as actively as squirrels, they
never appear to pluck fruits or nuts as they grow, but only to
pick up those which have fallen on the ground.

In Northern Mexico and adjoining parts of the United
States there is a small relative of the racoon called cacomistle,
or American civet-cat (though it is not a real civet). This
has a sharp, fox-like face, big erect ears, a cat-like body,
and long furry ringed tail; and it makes a gentle and most
amusing pet, of great service in keeping a house free from
vermin. Hence it is often tamed and kept by miners and
others who are glad of its lively company and need assistance
in housekeeping.

The Coati

Closely allied to the racoons is the coati, or coati-mondi,
which you may recognize at once by its very long snout. This
snout is turned up at the tip, and gives to the animal a most
curious appearance, while it is continually being curled and
twisted about like that of the sloth-bear. It is chiefly used

112 THE ANIMAL WORLD

for rooting about in the ground in search of worms and insects,
and when the animal is drinking it always turns up the tip of
its snout as far as possible, in order that it may not get wet.

The coati can climb quite as well as the racoons and spends
most of its life in the trees, seldom coming down to the ground
except to feed or to drink. It has a queer way of descending a
tree with its head downward, turning the hinder feet around in
such a way that it can hook its claws into the little crevices in the
bark. During the daytime it is generally fast asleep, using its
long bushy tail partly as a pillow and partly as a blanket. But
almost immediately after sunset it wakes up and begins to
scamper about among the branches with the most wonderful
activity, stopping every now and then to rob a bird's nest, or to
poke its snout into a hole in search of insects.

The coati is about a yard in length, nearly half of which be-
longs to the tail. In color it is chestnut brown, with black ears
and legs, while the tail has black and brownish yellow rings.

The Kinkajou

Only one more member of the bear tribe remains to be men-
tioned, and that is the very curious kinkajou, which is found in
the forests of South and Central America. It is about as big
as a cat, with very woolly fur of a light brown color, and a very
long tail. This tail is prehensile, like that of a spider-monkey,
and the animal never seems quite happy unless the tip is coiled
round a branch. And if you make a pet of it, and carry it
about in your arms, it will always try to coil its tail round one of
your wrists.

It has a very odd tongue, too, so round and long that it looks
almost like a worm. The animal can poke this tongue into the
cells of a honeycomb, in order to lick out the honey, or use it
in plucking fruit which would otherwise be out of its reach. And
it descends the trunks of trees head first, just as the coati does.

CHAPTER XII
THE SEAL TRIBE

WE now come to a group of carnivorous or flesh-eating
mammals which live in the water — the seals.
People sometimes think that these creatures are fishes; but
that is quite a mistake, for their blood is as hot as our own, and
they breathe by means of nostrils and lungs just as we do, and
not by means of gills, like the fishes. Then they have not fins
to keep their bodies upright in the water as fishes have, neither
do they swim by means of their tails; and their bodies are
covered with fur, not with scales.

How Seals Swim

So, you see, seals are very different from fishes, although they
spend almost the whole of their lives in the water. But nature
has formed them in such a way that they can swim and dive
quite as well as the fishes can. Yet it is difficult to see how they
do so. If you watch a tame seal swimming about in a large
tank of water, you will see that it glides smoothly and swiftly
and easily and gracefully along, rising and diving and turning
with the most perfect ease; but how it swims you will not be
able to tell at all.

You know, however, that you can row a boat by means of a
single oar, if you work it from side to side at the stern. You
will not travel very fast, partly because the oar is not very big,
and partly because you are not very strong. But still the boat
will move.

Now if you look at the hinder feet of a seal, you will see that
they are very broad, that they are set far back upon the body,
and that, if necessary, they can be placed side by side together.
Then think of the body of the seal as a live boat, and of these

113

114 THE ANIMAL WORLD

great broad feet as an oar worked from the stem, and you will
be able to understand how the animal swims. It just places
these feet side by side, and uses them in such a way that they
act upon the water exactly as an oar does, while their strength
is so great that they drive the body along very swiftly.

How They are Kept Warm

But if the seal is a hot-blooded animal, how can it remain
in the sea for days together without being chilled ? If we go to
the seaside, and wish to bathe, we are advised not to stay in
the water for more than ten or fifteen minutes; and if we were
to do so, we might be made seriously ill. Yet the seal
can live for days, or even weeks, in the icy seas of the
far north and yet never seem to suffer from the cold at all.
How is this?

Well, the fact is that, first of all, nature has supplied the seal
with a kind of mackintosh, to keep it dry. This mackintosh,
in most seals, is made of a double coat of fur. First there is an
outer layer of long, stout hairs, almost like bristles; and under-
neath there is generally another layer of soft, close hairs — those
which you see in a lady's sealskin jacket. And in order to keep
the water from passing through it, this double coat of fur is
kept constantly oiled. All over the surface of a seal's skin are
thousands upon thousands of little holes, each of which opens
into a tiny bag of oil, and this oil is constantly oozing out
on to the fur. So, you see, the iwrry coat really does act like
a mackintosh, for it quite prevents the seal from ever getting
wet.

When an animal lives in water which is often covered with
ice, however, something more than a mackintosh is necessary in
order to keep it warm; so under the mackintosh nature has
provided the seal with a thick greatcoat. And this greatcoat is
made of a substance much warmer than cloth, or even than fur.
It is made of fat. Just under the skin, covering the whole of
the body, is a layer of fat two or three inches thick. And this
keeps the seal so warm that even when it is lying upon ice it
never gets chilled in the least.

THE SEAL TRIBE 115

Fully Fitted for Its Home

The nostrils and the ears of the seal are made in such a way
that water cannot enter them when the animal is diving. They
are furnished with little valves, which are so arranged that they
close as soon as the water presses upon them. And the greater
the pressure the more tightly they shut up, so that not the
tiniest drop of water can ever enter them.

There is still one more way in which the animal is specially
fitted for its life in the water. It has to feed on fishes, and fishes
are very slippery creatures. If you have ever tried to hold a
live fish in your hand you will know that it is a difficult thing to
do, for the fish just gives a wriggle and a twist, and slips out of
your grasp as if it had been oiled. So that it would seem quite
impossible for the seal to hold its finny victims, even if it over-
took and seized them. But when we come to look at its teeth
we find that those which we call molars, or grinders, are set
with long, sharp points; so that when a fish is seized they
enter its body, and hold it in a grip from which there is no
escape.

The Common Seal

There are many different kinds of seals, but we shall only be
able to tell you about four or five of the best known.

The first of these is the common seal. It is found on both
sides of the Atlantic Ocean and in the North Pacific. On some
coasts it is much disliked by fishermen, owing to the great
number of fishes which it devours. It is so cunning that it will
even find its way in among the nets they have let down, feast
heartily upon the captive fish, and then quietly swim out again,
often doing the same thing day after day for weeks together.
And it is almost impossible to destroy it, for it seems to know
perfectly well when its enemies are on the watch, and will only
expose its nostrils above the water when it comes up to the
surface to breathe.

Very often fishermen consider it "unlucky" to kill a seal, so

116 THE ANIMAL WORLD

that the animal is able to carry on its robberies without being
interfered with.

The common seal, when fully grown, is about five feet long,
and is yellowish gray in color, with a number of darker spots
sprinkled over the body and sides. It is very active in the sea,
and fairly active on land, for although it cannot walk it will
shuffle along over the beach at a wonderful pace for such an
animal. As it does so, it throws up a perfect shower of stones
with its hinder flippers, and those who have chased it have often
thought that it was doing so on purpose, and was actually throw-
ing stones at them.

If this seal is caught when quite young and treated kindly,
it soon becomes exceedingly tame. It has even been known
to live indoors, like a dog or a cat, and to lie for hours together
basking in front of the fire. And in more than one case, when
its owner wished to get rid of it, and put it back into the sea, it
swam after him, crying so pitifully as he rowed away that he
could not bear to leave it, and took it home with him again
after all.

Sea-Lions

The sea-lions are so called because they are supposed to
look very much like lions. But it is not easy to see the resem-
blance. Sometimes they are called hair-seals, because there is
no soft woolly under-fur beneath the coating of thick bristles, as
there is in most of the animals belonging to this family.

There are nearly always sea-lions to be seen in zoos, and they
are so intelligent and clever that the keepers are able to teach
them to perform many tricks. A wooden platform is built for
them, with the upper end standing some feet above the surface
of the water, and they are very fond of shuffling up this, lying at
the end until a number of visitors have come close to the railings
to look at them, and then diving into the water with a great
splash, so as to send a shower of spray over the spectators.

There are several different kinds of these animals, of which
the Patagonian sea-lion is perhaps the most numerous. It is
found on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts of South

THE SEAL TRIBE 117

America, and is rather more lion-like than its relations, since
it has a crest of long hairs on the back of its neck, which really
looks something like a mane. But you carmot see this crest
when the animal is wet, as it then lies down flat upon the skin.
The color of the fur varies much, for the old males are bro^^^l, the
females are gray, and the young ones are a rich chocolate, which
begins to grow paler when they are almost twelve months old.

The California sea-lion is a distinct species of the Pacific
coast, and is found from there to Japan. On the rocks off San
Francisco is one of its ancient rookeries, and the animal is there
preserved by the government as one of the sights of the bay. In
traveling menageries and in zoos you may hear the California
sea-lions loudly and continually barking.

A sea-lion that lived for a good many years in the London
Zoo was exceedingly clever, for it would climb up and down
a ladder, with either its head or its tail first, fire off a gun, kiss
its keeper, and catch fishes in its mouth if they were thrown to
it, just as a dog will catch a piece of biscuit. Cleverer still,
however, were a party of sea-lions, established at the London
Hippodrome in 1902, for they would play a kind of football
with their heads, catching the ball and passing it from one to
another in a most wonderful way, and scarcely ever missing it
or making a mistake. They would take part, too, in a musical
performance, one playing the drum, another cymbals, a third
the horn, and a fourth the bells, while their trainer stood in the
middle and beat time. And one of them would actually balance
an upright pole, with a fish on the top, on the tip of its nose,
waddle across the stage, still holding the pole upright, and then
suddenly jerk the pole aside, and catch the fish in its mouth as
it fell.

But sea-lions are rather expensive pets to keep, for they
have such very large appetites. A single sea-lion will eat about
twenty-five pounds of fish in a single day! And when one re-
members that these seals are sometimes found in herds of
hundreds of thousands, one would almost think that they must
very soon devour all the fishes in the sea.

When fully grown the male of the largest species of sea-lion
is often ten feet long and weighs a thousand pounds.

118 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Fur-Seals

The fur-seals are sometimes known as sea-bears, although
they are not even as much like bears as the sea-lions are like
lions. They are destroyed in very great numbers for the sake of
their skins, which have a thick coating of soft fur under the stiff
outer bristles. These bristles, of course, have to be removed
before the fur can be used, and this is done by shaving the inner
surface of the skin away until their roots are cut off. They can
then be pulled out without any difficulty, while the roots of the
under-fur, which are not nearly so deeply buried, are not hurt
in the least. But the operation is not at all an easy one, and
can only be performed by a highly skilled workman, and that
is one reason why sealskin jackets are so expensive.

Another reason is that in almost every skin there are a number
of flaws, all of which have to be most carefully cut out, after
which the holes have to be filled up in such a way as to leave no
traces of the operation. Then the fur has to be cleaned, combed,
and prepared and dyed, so that the garments which are made
from it really cannot be sold except at a very high price.

These seals are not hunted in the sea, for they are such good
swimmers that it would be very difficult to kill them. So during
the greater part of the year they are allowed to live in peace.
But during the breeding-season they live on land, lying upon
certain parts of the coast in enormous herds; and the seal-
hunters visit these places, drive the young males to a distance
from the rest, and there kill them by striking them on the head
with a hea\7 club.

Such vast numbers of fur-seals were destroyed in this way that
at last it became necessary to protect them, for fear lest they
should be entirely killed off. So only a certain number may
now be killed in each year.

The best known of the fur-seals is the northern sea-bear,
which is found on both shores of the Northern Pacific. It
used to visit the Pribilof Islands in enormous numbers during
the breeding-season, but lately so many have been killed,
despite protective laws, that now the herds are quite small.

THE SEAL TRIBE 119

The Hooded Seal

Another seal whose fur is very valuable is called the hooded
seal, or crested seal, because the adult male has a singular
growth upon the front part of the head. This hood or crest
consists of a kind of bag of skin which lies just above the nose,
and can be inflated with air at will. What its use may be in a
state of nature is not knowTi. But when the seal is hunted it is
often of the greatest service, for the force of a blow which
would otherwise have caused instant death is so broken by the
crest that the animal is merely stunned for a few moments, and is
able to slip into the water before the hunter returns to take off
its skin.

This seal is rather a formidable animal when it is enraged,
for it is quite large when fully grown, and uses both its claws
and its teeth in fighting. The male animals are very quarrel-
some among themselves, and most desperate battles take place.

These and other hair-seals lie in summer upon floating
ice-fields where their young are born. Steamers filled with
men find them off the coast of Labrador, land on the ice,
and kill thousands for the sake of their skins and the oil
tried out of the blubber or underlying fat.

The Sea-Elephant

One of the biggest of all the seals is the great sea-elephant,
also called elephant-seal, which frequents the shores of many of
the islands in the Antarctic Ocean. It owes its name partly to
its enormous size, the old males sometimes reaching a length
of eighteen or even twenty feet, and partly to its very curious
trunk, which is sometimes as much as a foot long. In the fe-
males and the young animals this trunk is wanting, and even in
the male it is seldom seen unless the animal is excited, when it
can be blown out very much like the bag of the hooded seal.

The fur of the sea-elephant is much too coarse to be of any
great value. But its skin can be made into excellent leather,
while the thick coat of blubber which lies beneath it furnishes

VOL. V. — 9

120 THE ANIMAL WORLD

large quantities of useful oil. The consequence is that the
animal has been much hunted, and is now comparatively scarce
even in districts where it was once very common. It is not
nearly so fierce as the hooded seal, and almost always takes to
flight if it is attacked, its huge body quivering like a vast mass
of jelly as it shuffles awkwardly along over the beach. But the
males fight most fiercely with one another, inflicting really
terrible wounds by means of their tusk-like teeth.

The Walrus

The strangest of all the seals is the walrus, whose tusks, repre-
senting the canine teeth, are sometimes as much as two feet long.

This animal is found only in the northern parts of the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans, and is not often seen outside the arctic
circle. Formerly it was far more widely distributed, and in
the Atlantic was even seen frequently as far south as the Gulf
of St. Lawrence; but it has been so persecuted by hunters that
it has quite disappeared from many districts where once it was
in great numbers.

The walrus is not quite so large as the sea-elephant, never-
theless, it is a very big animal, for a full-grown male will often
measure twelve feet in length, and will weigh nearly a ton. It
uses its tusks for many different purposes. When it wants to
climb upon an ice-floe, for example, it will dig them deeply into
the ice, and so obtain purchase while it raises its huge body out
of the water. They are very formidable weapons, too, and the
animal can strike so quickly with them, both sideways and
downward, that it is not at all easy to avoid their stroke. Then
they are very useful in obtaining food. If a walrus finds the
body of a dead whale, it will cut off huge lumps of the flesh by
means of its tusks; and very often it will dig in the sandy mud
with them for mussels and cockles. The consequence is that
the tusks are frequently broken, while they are nearly always
very much worn at the tips.

The name w^alrus is a corruption of whale-horse. The
animal is sometimes known as the sea-horse, and also as the
morse.

CHAPTER XIII
THE WHALE TRIBE

THE whales are more thoroughly creatures of the water
than even the seals, for they never come upon dry land
at all, even during the breeding-season. Indeed, if a whale is
unfortunate enough to be thrown upon the shore by a great
wave, and left stranded, it cannot possibly make its way back
into the sea, but is obliged to lie there till it dies.

Yet we must not think that these giant creatures are fishes;
for they are as truly mammals as the seals are. Their blood is
hot, and is driven through the body by a heart made up of four
chambers, instead of only two. They breathe by means of nos-
trils and lungs, and not by means of gills. And besides that
they suckle their young, just as all other mammals do.

Then, once more, if you look at the body of a whale, you will
see that its tail is quite different from that of a fish. The tail
of a fish is upright, but that of a whale is set crosswise. So
that there is only one respect in which whales are really like
fishes, and that is the general shape of the body.

These huge animals fall naturally into two families, the
first consisting of those which have teeth, and the other of those
which have whalebone, or baleen, instead. But in many ways
the members of both these families are alike.

How Whales Breathe

All whales, for example, breathe in a very curious way.
No doubt you have heard of the "spouting" of these animals,
and perhaps you may have seen a picture of a whale lying on
the surface of the sea, and throwing up a great column of
water from its nostrils, or blow-holes. These pictures, how-
ever, are rather exaggerated, for what really happens is this:
A whale, as of course you know, often remains under water

121

122 THE ANIMAL WORLD

for a very long time, and when at last it rises to the surface,
the air in its lungs is heavily laden with moisture. When the
air is discharged through the blow-holes into the cold atmos-
phere the moisture condenses at once into a kind of misty spray,
just as that in our own breath does in very cold weather. This
is what one sees when a whale is spouting, although as the
animal sometimes begins to blow while its nostrils are still
beneath the surface, a small quantity of sea-water may, perhaps,
be thrown up too.

A whale, if it is not disturbed, will often blow fifty or sixty
times in succession. Let us try to explain why it does so.

If you try to hold your breath, you will find that it is very
difficult to do so for more than three-quarters of a minute. But
if, before you make the attempt, you get rid of as much of the
air in your lungs as you possibly can, draw in a very deep
breath and get rid of that, and then repeat the process
about half a dozen times, you will find that you can hold your
breath quite easily for at least a minute and a half. The reason
is that by breathing so often and so deeply you have purified
all the blood in your body, instead of having, as usual, a very
large quantity which has done its work, and requires to be re-
freshed in the lungs before it can be of any further use.

Now the whale spouts fifty or sixty times in succession for
just the same reason. It is taking a series of deep breaths so
that it may purify all the blood in its body, and be able to re-
main under water for as long a time as possible without having
to rise to the surface for air. And, besides this, there is a most
wonderful arrangement in its body which enables it to stay
below for very much longer than would otherwise be possible.
Inside its chest it has a sort of blood-cistern, so to speak, consist-
ing of a number of large vessels, which contain a great quantity
of extra blood, besides that which is circulating through the body.
This blood, also, is purified when the whale spouts. Then,
when the animal has remained under water for some little time,
and begins to feel the want of air, it does not rise to the surface at
once, in order to breathe, but just pumps some of the extra
blood from this curious cistern into its veins and arteries, to take
the place of that which is used up and requires to be purified.

THE WHALE TRIBE 123

This it can do over and over again until all the extra blood-
supply is used up too, when it is obliged to rise and spout.

As a general rule a whale spends from ten to twelve minutes
in spouting, and can then remain under water, if necessary,
for considerably more than an hour.

It is owing to this singular method of breathing that whales
can be so easily killed. The object of the hunters is simply to
drive them below before they have finished spouting. They do
this again and again, and the consequence is that the poor animal
soon becomes completely exhausted and falls an easy prey.

The Whale's Blubber

You remember, don't you, how the seals are protected from
cold, partly by their thick and oily fur, and partly by the layer
of fat which lies just under the skin? Well, the whales are
protected in much the same way. They have no fur, of course;
but the layer of fat, which we call blubber, is always several
inches in thickness, and is sometimes as much as two feet; so
that the whale is never chilled by living in the water, even
when it has to make its way through floating ice.

This blubber has another use as well. When the whale
dives to a great depth — and sometimes it sinks half a mile or
more beneath the surface of the sea — the pressure on its body
becomes enormously great because of the weight of the water
above it. If you were to dive to half that depth you would die.
But the blubber of the whale is so elastic that it resists the pres-
sure just as a great thick sheet of india-rubber would, so that
the animal does not suflfer from it in the least.

Mistakes of Artists

Sometimes you see pictures in which whales are drawn with
very big eyes, very long ears, and perhaps even with their tongues
hanging out of their mouths. Now such pictures are drawn
by artists who know nothing about whales, for the eyes of these
animals are quite small, their outward ears are merely little
holes in the skin, closing by means of self-acting valves like

124 THE ANIMAL WORLD

those of the seals, and the tongue cannot be poked out of the
mouth at all.

Now let us learn something about the different kinds of
whales.

Toothed Whales

First come the toothed whales, or denticetes. As an example
of these we will take the famous sperm or spermaceti whale,
which is also known as the cachalot.

This whale has nearly all its teeth in the lower jaw, the upper
one only having a very short row^ of small teeth on either side.
The lower teeth are five or six inches long, and fit into pits in
the upper jaw when the mouth is closed. These teeth are com-
posed of beautiful ivory, and were formerly valued so highly
by the natives of the South Sea Islands, that more than once
a tribe has actually gone to war with another tribe simply to
obtain possession of a single whale's tooth.

Now that it has been hunted so much, apparently the sperm-
whale does not grow to so great a size as it did in days gone by.
Yet it is a very big animal, for a full-grown male will attain to
a length of sixty or even seventy feet, while even a baby whale
is from eleven to fourteen feet long, or as big as a big walrus.
And, strange to say, the head is almost as large as the body and
tail put together. This is chiefly due to the fact that there is a
great cavity in the skull, which contains the valuable substance
we call spermaceti. When one of these whales is killed, the
head is cut off, and a kind of well is dug in the forehead, from
which the spermaceti is drawn to the surface in buckets, as
much as thirty barrels being sometimes taken from a single
animal.

Besides this, the blubber yields a large quantity of very
valuable oil, which burns with a much clearer and stronger
light than ordinary whale-oil. And sometimes a curious sub-
stance called ambergris is found in its body. It is used in mak-
ing certain kinds of scent, and is quite costly, although as much
as fifty pounds of it have sometimes been taken from a single
whale.

THE WHALE TRIBE 125

Sperm-whales are generally seen in companies, which are
known as schools. In olden days there were sometimes as many
as two hundred whales in one of these schools. But so many
of the great creatures have been killed by whalers that it is now
quite the exception to see more than four or five together.

These whales are very playful creatures, and may often be
seen gamboling on the surface of the sea, and now and then
breaching, or leaping completely out of the water and falling
back again with a tremendous splash. They feed chiefly upon
the great cuttles, or squids, which are so plentiful in some parts
of the ocean, but also devour large numbers of cod and other
fishes. But how they manage to catch these fishes nobody
quite seems to know.

These whales were formerly hunted by means of a small
boat, in the bow of which stood a man with a long spear, or
harpoon, in his hand, attached to an enormous coil of rope.
As soon as this was hurled at a whale the boat was backed, so
as to escape the stroke of its tail, and the whale would then
sound, or dive to the depth of perhaps three-quarters of a mile.
As soon as he rose he was driven do^^^l again, as already de-
scribed, before he had had time to finish spouting, and at last,
when quite exhausted, was killed by means of a very long and
sharp-edged lance. Nowadays, however, the harpoon is gen-
erally fired from a ship by means of a gun, and as a charge
of gun-cotton is placed in the harpoon's head, which explodes
as soon as the weapon enters the body of the whale, such a severe
wound is caused that the animal very soon dies.

Bottle-nosed Whales

These whales are so called because their muzzles arfe produced
into beaks shaped somewhat like bottles. Although they belong
to the toothed whales they only have two teeth in the lower jaw,
and even these are so small that they are completely buried in
the gum.

By the side of the cachalot the bottle-nosed whale seems quite
a small animal, for even the full-grown male seldom exceeds
thirty feet in length, while the female is quite six feet shorter.

126 THE ANIMAL WORLD

It yields, on an average, about two hundredweight of sperma-
ceti and two tons of oil. Its color, strange to say, is continually
changing all through its life, for the young animals are black
above and the older ones brown, which grows lighter and lighter
as time goes on, till at last it becomes almost yellow.

These whales seem to be very sympathetic creatures, for if
one of them is wounded, its companions generally swim round
and round it, and will even allow themselves to be killed one
after the other rather than take to flight. But they are also
rather stupid animals, for if they happen to find themselves
near the coast they seldom seem to realize that they can easily
escape by turning round and swimming out to sea, but leap and
tumble about in a state of great terror till at last a big wave
comes and throws them up on the beach.

Whalebone- Whales

The members of the other great group of these animals are
called whalebone- whales, because they have whalebone in their
mouths instead of teeth.

Of course this substance is not really bone at all. It consists
of a kind of horny material which grows all round the upper jaw
in a series of flattened plates, which are usually very long, and
hang downward from the edge of the palate. Each of these
plates, at the tip, is broken up into a sort of hair-like fringe; so
that when the jaws are partly closed there is a kind of sieve, or
strainer, between them, through which everything must pass
that goes in or out of the mouth.

This sieve is used in feeding. It seems strange that an animal
so huge as a whale should feed on some of the smallest creatures
which live in the sea. Yet such is the case, for the throats of
the whalebone-whales are so narrow that one of them would
almost certainly be choked if it tried to swallow a herring.
So these whales live upon very small jellyfishes, and the young
of shrimps, prawns, tiny crabs, etc., which often swim about in
such vast shoals that for miles and miles the sea is quite alive
with them. When the whale meets with one of these shoals
it opens its mouth wide and swims through it. Then it partly

THE WHALE TRIBE 127

closes its mouth, and squirts out the water which it has taken in
through the whalebone strainer, the little animals, of course,
remaining behind. These are then swallowed, a few thousand
at a gulp, and the whale opens its mouth and repeats the opera-
tion over and over again, until its enormous appetite is satisfied.

Most of the whalebone which we use is obtained from the
bowhead, or Greenland whale, which is found in the northern
seas. This animal is from forty to sixty feet long when fully
grown, and the baleen plates are often ten or even twelve feet
in length, while there are nearly four hundred of them on each
side of the upper jaw. In a large whale these plates weigh
more than a ton, and are worth at least $15,000. Then from
130 to 150 barrels of oil will be obtained from its blubber; so that
a big Greenland whale is a very valuable animal.

But whales of this size are now very rarely met with, and
there seems to be some danger that before many years have
passed away these giant creatures will be almost extinct.

Rorquals

The rorquals are sometimes known as fin-whales, or finbacks,
because they have an upright fin on the hinder part of the back.
They are not so valuable as the Greenland whale, because their
baleen is of inferior quality, and is very much shorter, while
their blubber does not yield nearly so much oil, and they can
swim with such speed that they are very much harder to catch.

The common rorqual grows to a length of about sixty or
sixty-five feet, and is found throughout all the northern seas, and
occasionally even in the Mediterranean. It is a solitary animal
as a rule, but schools of from ten to fifteen individuals are some-
times met with, and may be seen leaping into the air, and rolling
and tumbling about in the water, as though they were having
a game of play together.

The rorqual feeds partly upon the small creatures which it
captures by means of its whalebone strainer, and partly upon
fishes. How vast its appetite is you can judge from the fact that
as many as six hundred large codfish have been found in the
stomach of one of these animals, together with a number of

128 THE ANIMAL WORLD

pilchards. Sometimes a rorqual will come quite near the coast,
and remain in a fishing-ground for weeks together, and as it
swallows several boatloads of fish every day, it is scarcely
necessary to say that the fishermen are not at all pleased to see it.
There is another kind of whale, called the lesser rorqual,
which only grows to the length of about twenty-five or thirty
feet. It is common off the shores of Norway, and commoner
still in North American waters, where it is known as the sharp-
nosed finner. It is a very playful animal, and is said sometimes
to gambol round and round a ship for miles, now and then div-
ing underneath it on one side and coming up on the other.

The Dolphin Family

Next we come to the dolphin family, which includes the
narwhal, the grampuses, and the porpoises, as well as the true
dolphins.

The Narwhal

This is a curious animal, for the male has a very long straight
tusk projecting from one side of its upper jaw. This tusk is
often as much as seven or eight feet in length, and the ivory of
which it is made is twisted round and round in a spiral from base
to tip. In former days this tusk was thought to be the horn of the
unicorn, and the narwhal is often known as the sea-unicorn.

In reality, this tusk is the left-hand upper " eye ' ' tooth of the
animal, that on the right-hand side being very small and com-
pletely buried in the bone of the jaw. Now and then, however,
both teeth are developed, and a narwhal was once killed which
had one tusk seven feet fi\-e inches long and the other seven feet.
There are no other teeth in the mouth, and the female animal
has no tusks at all.

Now what is the use of this singular weapon ? Two or three
answers have been given to this question. Some people have
supposed, for example, that it is used in spearing fish, or in
digging up buried mollusks from the mud at the bottom of the
sea. But the female narwhals require food just as much as

< <

THE WHALE TRIBE 129

the males do; how is it that they are not provided with tusks
also?

Other people have thought that when the winter is very
severe, and the ice on the surface of the sea is very thick, the
animal could bore a hole through it with its tusk, and so be able
to breathe. But then again, female narwhals require air
just as they require food. So this suggestion will not do
either.

The only explanation we can really give is that the narwhal's
tusk is a weapon used in fighting, just like the antlers of the
male deer. At any rate, narwhals have several times been seen
as they were taking part in a kind of make-believe battle, and
striking and clashing their tusks together just as though they
were fencing with swords. And when they are fighting in
earnest they must be able to use their long spears with terrible
effect, for several times a narwhal has charged a ship, and driven
its tusk so deeply into her timbers that it was quite unable to
withdraw it.

The ivory of which this weapon is made is of very fine quality.
But as the tusk is hollow for the greater part of its length it is
not very valuable.

Narwhals are only found in the half -frozen seas of the far
north, where they are sometimes seen swimming side by side
together in large companies. They grow^ to a length of twelve
feet or over, and are dark gray in color on the upper part of
the body, and white underneath, the back and sides being
more or less mottled with gray.

The White Whale

The white whale, or beluga, is something like a large narwhal
without a tusk, and is also a dweller in the northern seas. But
it often ascends the larger rivers for hundreds of miles in search
of fish. Now and then it has been killed off the coasts of Scot-
land, and one example lived for quite a long time in the Firth of
Forth, going up the river day after day as the tide came in, and
always retreating as it began to fall. The fishermen were very
anxious to kill it, because of the quantities of fish which it de-

130 THE ANIMAL WORLD

voured. But it was so quick and active that it eluded them
o\'er and over again, and three whole months passed away
before at last they succeeded.

In one or two of the great rivers of North America white
whales are regularh^ hunted, the animals being first driven up
the stream, and then caught with nets as they return. They
yield a large quantity of very pure oil, and the "porpoise-hide,"
which is used so largely in making boots and shoes, is in reality
prepared from their skins.

The True Porpoise

The true porpoise, or sea-hog, is much more widely dis-
tributed. It likes to tumble and gambol on the surface of the sea
quite close to the shore. It will ascend tidal rivers too. Its
range is mainly along the Atlantic coast, and it is also found on
coasts of Europe and in the Pacific Ocean. Chasing porpoises
in canoes, and spearing them, is an exciting Canadian sport.

Porpoises have a curious way of swimming, for they travel
along by a series of bounds, first of all leaping almost out of the
water, and then diving under it. When a number of them are
moving along in this way one behind the other, as they very
often do, they look from a little distance just like an enormous
snake winding its way through the water, and no doubt have
given rise to some of the tales about the great sea-serpent.

A herd of porpoises will frequently follow a sailing ship for
days, sometimes, apparently, out of pure curiosity, and some-
times in the hope of picking up something eatable among the
rubbish that is thrown overboard. But they are very much
afraid of steamships, and always keep at a respectful distance
from them. They feed chiefly on fish, and are so quick and
active that even the salmon cannot escape from them, while they
will follow up shoals of mackerel and herrings and destroy
them in enormous numbers.

When fully grown the porpoise is rather more than five feet
long. The upper part of the body is almost black in color,
becoming paler on the sides, while the lower surface is almost
pure white.

THE WHALE TRIBE 131

The Grampus

The largest and fiercest of all the members of the dolphin
family is undoubtedly the grampus, which is also kno\vn as the
killer, or killer-whale. It often reaches a length of twenty feet,
or even more, and is so savage and voracious that it has some-
times been called the wolf of the sea. One of these animals
was once found floating on the surface of the sea, choked by
a seal which it had attempted to swallow; and when its body
was opened fourteen other seals and thirteen porpoises were
taken from its stomach.

Three or four killers will often combine in an attack upon
a large whale, leaping upon it again and again, and striking
terrific blows upon its body with their tails, hanging upon its lips
like so many bulldogs, biting and tearing its flesh, and often
actually killing it. The whale seems terrified by the onslaught
of the ferocious creatures, and sometimes scarcely attempts to
resist them, apparently knowing quite well that they are sure
to be victorious in the end.

The grampus is most plentiful in the northern seas, but is
found now and then in almost all parts of the ocean. It occa-
sionally visits the British shores. Once a living specimen was
exhibited in the Brighton Aquarium, and did very well
for some little time. But one day it got its snout jammed
in the rock-work at the bottom of its tank, so that it
could not rise to the surface to spout. And when the keeper
discovered what had happened to it the poor creature was
dead.

The Blackfish

Almost as large as the grampus, but not nearly so savage,
is the blackfish, which is so called on account of its color, for it
is not a fish, being a member of the dolphin family. It is found
in great shoals, generally consisting of two or three hundred
animals, and often of a great many more, which are always
under the guidance of a single leader. Wherever he goes they

132 THE ANIMAL WORLD

will always follow, and they are such stupid creatures that if he
swims into shallow water and casts himself ashore, they will
all swim after him and fling tnemselves on the beach also. In
Iceland, and also in the Faroe Islands, large numbers of them
arc often killed, the fishermen arranging their boats in a semi-
circle between the shoal and the deep sea, and then driving them
forward till they strand themseh'es upon the shore in their
efforts to escape. Large herds have also been driven ashore
in the Orkneys and the Shetlands.

On the east coast of North America the blackfish is one of
the most abundant cetaceans. Off Cape Cod more than a
hundred blackfish have been seen in one school, and they are
eagerly hunted for the sake of the soft oil yeilded by their fat.

Dolphins

There are two groups of dolphins, the first of which contains
three animals that live in rivers, and therefore are generally
called fresh-water dolphins.

The only one of these that we can mention is the Gangetic
dolphin, which inhabits the great rivers of India, and is named
from the Ganges. Its chief peculiarity is that it is almost
totally blind. Although the animal grows to a length of seven or
eight feet, and is bulky in proportion, yet its eyeballs
are no larger than peas, while the nerves of sight are so
imperfect that it is quite possible that it may not be
able to see at all. This is no deprivation to it however,
for the rivers in which it lives are always so thick with mud
that even if it had properly developed eyes it would be quite
unable to use them.

The Gangetic dolphin is very seldom seen, because when
it comes up to breathe it only raises just the blow-holes above
the surface of the water. For the same reason, we know very
little indeed about its habits. But it seems to feed on fresh-water
shrimps and mollusks, and also on certain fishes which lie half-
buried in the mud at the bottom of the water, rooting about for
them with its snout after the manner of a pig. This animal is
often known as the susu.

THE WHALE TRIBE 133

Sea-Dolphins

Of the sea-dolphins we can only notice two. The first of
these is the common dolphin, which is found in great numbers
in almost all parts of the temperate and tropical seas. Ap-
parently it is not often to be found on American coasts, but it
has been captured in eastern harbors. It generally lives in
herds, which will follow ships for hours together, leaping and
gamboling on the surface of the sea, and yet keeping pace with
the vessel without the least apparent effort. It feeds on fishes,
to capture which, and hold them firmly, it has one hundred and
ninety teeth, so arranged that when the mouth is closed the upper
and lower ones fit in between one another like those of a steel trap
and hold the prey in a grip from which there is no escape.

A full-grown dolphin is usually about seven feet long, but
much larger specimens are occasionally found. The color is
dark gray or glossy black above, and almost pure white on the
lower parts of the body.

The bottle-nosed dolphin is a rather smaller animal, with a
shorter and more pointed beak shaped rather like the neck of a
bottle, and is purple black above and grayish white below. Its
range is on the North Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, on
the Gulf coast, and also on some of the coasts of Europe.

Manatees and Dugongs

There is just one other family of water-mammals which it
will be convenient to mention here, although they do not really
belong to the whale tribe. These are the very curious creatures
known as sirenians, the best known of them being the manatee
and the dugong.

Of course you have heard of mermaids, those imaginary
creatures of the sea, which were supposed in days of old to
combine the head and body of a woman with the tail of a fish.
Well, very likely stories of them were told in the first place by
some traveler who had seen a manatee, for the animal has a
queer way of raising its head and the upper part of its body

134 THE ANIMAL WORLD

almost upright out of the water and cuddhng its little one in its
flippers, so that from a little distance it really looks something
like a human being with a child. But at close quarters the com-
parison would not be a very flattering one, for there is a kind of
disk-like swelling at the end of the snout, and the skin is black
and coarse and wrinkled like that of an elephant.

Manatees are found on the west coast of Africa, and also
on the shores of South America, living near the mouths of the
larger rivers. They never seem to leave the water of their own
accord, and if by any chance they find themselves upon dry
land, they are perfectly helpless, and can only roll over and
over. One specimen seen in a zoo was quite a small animal,
and had to be fed with milk out of a baby's bottle, while the
keeper nursed it upon his knees. When it grew a little bigger
it became very playful, and would tumble and roll about in
its tank almost like a dolphin or a porpoise. And more than
once it even succeeded in knocking its keeper into the water.

Another of these animals, caught at the mouth of the Esse-
quibo River, lived in an aquarium for sixteen months. It was
about eight feet long, and its tail was so powerful that every
one was afraid the sides of its tank would be broken in by its
tremendous blows. Its appetite was remarkably good, for it used
to eat as much as eighty-four pounds of lettuces every day.

There is a species of manatee, also called sea-cow, formerly
ranging the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States,
but now seen only in the rivers and lagoons of southeastern
Florida, where it has become so rare that the State prohibits its
wanton destruction under penalty of a hea\y fine.

The dugong is found on the east coast of Africa, and also on
the coasts of Alauritius, Ceylon, the islands of the Indian
Archipelago, and Western Australia. In many respects it is
very much like the manatee. But it has a forked tail instead of
a rounded one, and its body is bluish black above and whitish
below. It lives in shallow water near the mouths of rivers,
feeds on various water-plants, and is said to be so affectionate
that if one of a pair is killed the other cannot be induced to leave
the dead body, but will remain by it and allow itself to be slaugh-
tered also.

THE WHALE TRIBE 135

Not very many years ago dugongs were found in large herds,
sometimes consisting of two or three hundred individuals, and
were so tame that they would even permit themselves to be
touched without attempting to escape. But they have been
killed in great numbers for the sake of their hides and a valu-
able oil which is extracted from their bodies, so that nowadays
it seldom happens that more than two or three are seen to-
gether.

A full-grown dugong is generally from seven to eight feet
long, and measures about six feet round the body. The Aus-
tralian dugong is said to attain a length of fourteen feet.

CHAPTER XIV
THE RODENT ANIMALS

THE group of the rodents is the largest of all the tribes of
mammals, for it contains more than a thousand differ-
ent animals. Indeed, nearly one third of all the mammals in
the world belong to this very important division.

Teeth of the Gnawers

The vi'ord rodent signifies gnawing, and is given to these
creatures because their front teeth are specially formed for
the purpose of gnawing hard substances. You know, of
course, how long and sharp the front teeth of a rat or a mouse
are, and how easily these animals can nibble their way through
a stout piece of board. Well, all the rodent animals have these
teeth formed in just the same way. And when we come to
examine them we find that they are beautifully suited to their
purpose.

You would think that as they are so constantly in use, these
teeth would quickly be worn down to the gums, wouldn't you ?
Ours would, if we employed them in the same way. But then,
in the rodent animals, these teeth never stop growing, so that
as fast as they are worn from above they are pushed up again
from below.

Sometimes this fact leads to a very singular result. It hap-
pens now and then that a rodent animal meets with an accident
and breaks off one of its front teeth. Now these teeth, remem-
ber, cannot be used unless they have one another to work
against, just as the blades of a pair of scissors cannot be used
unless they have one another to cut against. So, you see,
when one tooth is broken short off, the opposite tooth in the
other jaw becomes useless. It has nothing to work against. So
it is no longer worn away from above. But of course it still

136

THE RODENT ANIMALS 137

goes on growing. So before very long it projects in front of
the other teeth. Still it continues to grow, and in course of
time its natural curve brings it round in a semicircle, with the
point toward the face. And at last, if it is a lower tooth, it
pierces first the flesh of the forehead and then the skull beneath
it, and enters the brain and kills the animal; while, if it happens
to be an upper tooth, the point curls round under the chin and
at length prevents the poor creature from opening its mouth, so
that it dies miserably of starvation! It seems impossible,
doesn't it? Yet in museums there are skeletons of hares and
rabbits which have been killed in this singular way by one of
their own front teeth.

How THE Teeth are Kept Sharp

One would think that the edges of the teeth, at any rate,
must soon be worn away. Nature has guarded against this
danger by making these teeth of two different substances. The
face of the tooth is made of a very thin plate of hard enamel, the
rest of the tooth of much softer bone. During use, of course,
the soft bone is worn away very much faster than the hard
enamel, and so the sharp, cutting edge is preserved.

It is interesting to find that we make our chisels in a very
similar way. The blade is not a solid piece of steel, of the same
quality throughout; it consists of steel of two different qualities.
The face of the tool is a very thin plate of extremely hard steel,
but the rest is of much softer metal. And as it is with the ro-
dent's tooth, so it is with the chisel. The soft metal is worn
away during use much faster than the hard, so that the edge is
not destroyed.

Only two pairs of front teeth are developed in the rodent
animals, and as the "eye" teeth are wanting there is always a
gap in each jaw between these and the grinders.

The Common Squirrel

First on our list of rodent animals comes the common red
squirrel, which of course you know by sight very well. There

138 THE ANIMAL WORLD

are very few parts of the country where we may not see it frisk-
ing and gamboling among the branches of the trees, or sitting
upright on its hind quarters and nibbhng away at a nut, which
is delicately held between its front paws.

It skips up the trunk of a tree quite as easily as it runs along
the ground. That is because its sharp little claws enter the
bark, and give it a firm foothold. And it scarcely ever falls
from a branch because its big bushy tail acts as a kind of balan-
cing-pole, like that of a man walking upon a tight rope; and by
stretching it straight out behind its body, and turning it a little
bit to one side or a little bit to the other, the animal can nearly
always manage to save itself from a tumble.

Even if it does fall, however, it does not hurt itself, for the
skin of the lower part of the body is very loose, and it is fastened
for a little distance along the inner surface of each leg. So,
when the animal falls from a height, it merely stretches out its
limbs at right angles to its body — stretching out the loose skin,
of course, with them— and so turns itself into a kind of open
umbrella, just like the parachutes which are often sent down
from balloons. And instead of tumbling headlong to the ground
and being killed by the fall, it is buoyed up by the air and floats
down comparatively slowly, so that it is not hurt in the least.

The squirrel feeds on nuts, acorns, beechnuts, bark, buds,
and the young shoots of certain trees. But it is also very fond
of fir-cones, which it nibbles right down to the core; and some-
times it will eat bird's eggs. In fact, this squirrel is, in the
United States, one of the most dreaded foes of nesting birds,
and they often attack it and chase it away from their homes.
Early in the autumn it always lays up a store of provisions,
hiding them away in a hole in a tree, or more often in several
holes. Then, when a warmer day than usual rouses it from
its long winter sleep, it goes off to its hoard and enjoys a hearty
meal.

These pretty little animals generally go about in pairs, and
the little ones are brought up in a warm cosy nest made of leaves
and moss. It is placed either in the fork of a lofty branch or
in a hole high up in a tree-trunk, and it is so perfectly made that
rain never soaks through it, and the wind never blows it away.

THE RODENT ANIMALS 139

The Gray Squirrel

"This," says Mr. Hornaday, " is the most prominent squirrel
of Southern Canada, New England, and the Eastern and South-
ern States southward to Florida. It ranges westward to Alinne-
sota, Kansas, and Texas. Above, its color is clean iron-gray,
which in southern specimens is mixed with dull yellow. The
lower surface is white, varying to yellowish brown. Usually it
nests in hollow trees, but when crowded for room builds an open
nest of green leaves, or strippings of cedar bark made into a
round ball. The young are usually five in number. The gray
squirrel frequently consents to live in city parks, and becomes
quite tame. It spends much of its time upon the ground,
searching for nuts, roots, or anything which can be eaten."

Here is a good place to repeat some other words of Mr.
Hornaday's. "There is no other animal of equal size," he
says, " that can add so much of life and cheerfulness to a hard-
wood forest or a meadow as a good healthy squirrel. Why is
it that American men and boys kill them so eagerly? . . .
Surely no true sportsman or right-minded boy can find any
real 'sport' in 'potting' squirrels out of the tree-tops." And
we might add that too often the desire to kill leads men and
boys to destroy other kinds of innocent animals, instead of
treating them as friends to be enjoyed, and whose right to live
is just as good as that of human beings. Kindness toward
harmless animals helps to make us kinder to each other.

Flying Squirrels

So-called flying squirrels are found in some parts of the world;
but like the colugo, of which we have told already, they do not
really fly. They merely skim from one tree to another by
spreading out the very loose skin of the sides of the body and
then leaping into the air. In this way they can travel for per-
haps two or three hundred feet. But as a rule they merely
spring from branch to branch, just like the common squirrel.

The largest and perhaps best known of these squirrels is the

140 THE ANIMAL WORLD

taguan, which is found in India and Siam, and is about two feet
in length, not including the tail. It is fairly abundant, but is
not very often seen, for all day long it is fast asleep in a hole in
some tree, only coming out of its retreat after sunset.

Several species of flying squirrels are found in North America,
and often make their homes in garrets.

Ground-Squirrels

There are several squirrels that live upon the ground, and
do not climb trees at all. The most famous of these is the
chipmunk, or chipping squirrel, which is very common ui many
parts of North America. It is called chipmunk because, when
it is excited or alarmed, it utters a sharp little cry like the word
" chip-r-r-r, " over and over again.

This is an extremely pretty little animal, its fur being brownish
gray on the back and orange brown on the forehead and hind
quarters, while a broad black stripe runs along the back, and a
yellowish-white stripe edged with black along each side. The
throat and lower part of the body are white.

The chipmunk lives in burrows which it digs in the ground,
and very wonderful little burrows they arc, seldom less than eight
or nine feet long, with a large sleeping-chamber at the end,
filled with moss and grass and dry leaves. Then on either side
of the main burrow are several shorter ones which are used as
larders, and in which large stores of provisions are packed away.
From one chipmunk's nest have been taken nearly a peck of
acorns, together with about a quart of beechnuts, two quarts of
buckwheat, a few grains of corn, and a quantity of grass-seeds!
Only three squirrels were found in this burrow; so that they were
in no danger of starving during the winter, were they ?

The beechnuts have very sharp points, and the chipmunk bites
these carefully off before it attempts to pack the nuts away in its
mouth. It carries four nuts to its burrow at a time, putting one
into each of its odd cheek-pouches, which are very much like
those of certain monkeys, and one into the mouth itself, while
the fourth is held between the teeth.

The chipmunk is a very active little creature, and its quick..

THE RODENT ANIMALS 141

jerky movements as it darts in and out among the herbage have
often been compared to those of the wren.

Prairie-Dogs

The prairie-dog, which is so called because it lives on the
prairies of North America, and utters an odd little yelping cry
which is something like the bark of a very small dog, has several
other names as well, for sometimes it is known as the prairie-
marmot, and sometimes as the wishtonwish. It is quite a small
animal, being seldom more than twelve inches in length without
counting the tail, and is reddish brown or brownish gray above;
and yellowish or brownish white beneath. The tail is about
four inches long.

In the great prairie-lands which lie to the east of the Rocky
Mountains, this quaint little animal is exceedingly plentiful. It
lives in underground burrows, and the earth which it digs out in
making them is always piled up just outside the entrance in the
form of a mound about two feet high, on the top of which it likes
to sit upright, squatting on its hind quarters as a dog does when
''begging." At the slightest alarm it utters its queer little
yelping cry, throws a sort of half-somersault, and dives into its
burrow, to reappear a few minutes later when it thinks the danger
has passed away.

A large number of prairie-dogs always live together, like
rabbits in a warren, and sometimes the prairie, as far as one
can see, is dotted all over with their mounds. Usually the
animals are steadily moving eastward. They increase as
ranching and farming spread over the plains; for the cultivation
of hay and grain and the destruction of their natural enemies
favor them. In parts of Texas and northward they are so
destructive that united means of destroying them by poison
have been adopted.

It was formerly thought that prairie-dogs took in lodgers,
so to speak, for small owls, known as burrowing owls, are often
found in their tunnels, together with rattlesnakes; and it was
supposed that all three lived peaceably together. But now we
know that this is not the case, for the owls are nearly always

142 THE ANIMAL WORLD

found in deserted burrows, while the rattlesnakes undoubtedly
enter the homes of the prairie-dogs for the purpose of feeding
upon their young.

Marmots

Not unlike a rather big prairie-dog is the common marmot,
which is found in considerable numbers in the mountainous
parts of Northern Europe and America. Here it is named
whistler or siffleur. More familiarly known is the American
woodchuck, or groundhog, which burrows deeply in the fields
of almost every farm in the country. These marmots are
famous for their winter sleep. During the summer months
they are very active and busy. From about the middle of
autumn till the beginning of spring, however, they are fast
asleep in their burrows, not waking up at all for at least six
months! Before entering upon this long slumber they pack their
sleeping-chamber full of dry grass, and in these warm beds
survive the winter by the slow absorption of their fat, so that
when they come out they are very lean.

Another kind of marmot, called the bobac. is found both in
Northern Europe and in Asia. It is sometimes eaten as food,
but is most difficult to kill, for unless it is actually shot dead as
it sits it will nearly always contrive to get back into its burrow.
And if the animals are startled by the report of a gun they all dis-
appear underground, and will not be seen again for several hours.

Beavers

One of the most interesting of all the rodent ajiimals is the
beaver, which is found in the northern parts of Europe, Asia,
and America. It spends a great part of its life in the water, and
no doubt you have heard of the wonderful dams which it makes
in order to prevent the rivers from drying up during the summer
months.

When the animals want to construct one of these dams, the
first thing they do is to fell a number of trees which stand near
the banks of the river. They do this by gnawing through the

THE RODENT ANIMALS 143

stems quite close to the ground, and they are able easily to cut
through trunks ten or even twelve inches in diameter. Most
likely one of the trees falls across the stream. In that case
they leave it as it is. Then they strip off the bark from the
others, and cut up both the trunks and the larger branches into
logs about four or five feet long. These logs they arrange most
carefully in position, piling them upon one another, and keeping
them in their places by heaping stones and mud upon them.
They also fill up all the gaps between them with mud, and so
hard do they work that by the time the dam is finished it is often
two hundred yards long, fifteen or even twenty feet thick at the
bottom, and six or eight feet high. And when the river runs
swiftly, they are clever enough to make their dam in the form of
a curve, so that it may be better able to resist the force of the
current.

This dam causes the river to swell out into a broad shallow
pool, and in districts where beavers are plentiful the whole
course of a stream is sometimes converted into a series of pools,
made in this curious manner. After a time peat is formed round
the edges, and gradually spreads, and then the marshy ground
round the pool is called a beaver-meadow.

But beavers do not only make dams. They construct what
are called lodges as well, to serve as dwelling-places. These are
made by piling up a number of logs, mingled with clods of earth,
stones, and clay, and digging out the soil from underneath so as to
form a sort of hut. These lodges are oven-shaped, and are
from twelve to twenty feet in diameter, the inside chamber
being about seven feet wide. So, you see, they have very thick
walls. And they are generally entered by at least two under-
ground passages, all of which open in the river-bank below the
surface of the water, so that the animals can go straight from
their lodge into the river without showing themselves above
ground at all.

Inside each lodge is a bed of soft warm grasses and wood-
chips, on which the animals sleep; and it is even said by some
hunters that each beaver has his own bed! At any rate, several
animals of various ages live together in each lodge. Then near
the lodge these wonderful creatures make a ditch or hole, which

144 THE ANIMAL WORLD

is so deep that even in the hardest winter the water in it never
freezes quite to the bottom; and in this deep place they pile up a
great quantity of logs and branches, so that in winter they
may have as much bark as they require to eat.

Beavers are capital swimmers, for the toes of their hinder
feet are joined together with webbing, and make excellent oars,
while the broad, flat tail is very useful as a rudder. They are
very much hunted, for their fur is valuable, while they also
secrete a curious substance known as castor, or castoreum,
which is used in medicine. So in some parts of North America
these animals are strictly preserved, and only a certain number
may be killed every third year.

The Dormouse

Everybody knows what a sleepy little creature the dormouse
is. Very often it may actually be picked up and handled with-
out waking! It sleeps all day long, and hibernates from the
middle of October till the beginning of April as well, so that it
fully deserves its name of dormouse, or sleep-mouse. It is
found in Europe and Asia, and sometimes in Africa.

In Germany it js called the Haselmaus, or hazel-mouse,
because it is so fond of hazelnuts. It eats these just as the
squirrel does, holding them in its fore paws as it sits upright on
its hind quarters. But it also feeds upon acorns, beechnuts,
hips and haws, and corn when it can get it.

Dormice always make two nests during the year, one being
used during the summer, and the other during the winter. They
are very warm and cosy little retreats, about six inches in
diameter, and are made of grass, leaves, and moss. Sometimes
numbers of the summer's nests are found in thick bushes, or
among the low herbage at the bottom of a hedge, perhaps with
the dormice fast asleep in them. But the winter nests are
generally more carefully hidden, so that it is not very easy to
j&nd them even when the leaves are off the bushes.

Before it goes into hibernation in the autumn, the dormouse
becomes very fat. But it does not sleep right through the
winter without taking any food, for on very mild days it wakes

1 . European Hgmster.
South American Capybara.

TYPES OF RODENTS

2. East Indian Striped Squirrel.
5. South American Vizcacha.

Woodchuck; Marmot.
. Beaver.

THE RODENT ANIMALS 145

up for an hour or two, and eats one of the nuts or acorns which
it has carefully stored away in its nest.

Jerboas

The jerboa is an extremely curious animal, and if you were
to see it in the sandy deserts of the Old World, where it is found,
you would be very likely to mistake it for a small bird. For it
has very short fore legs, which it tucks up against its breast in
such a way that they can hardly be seen, and very long hind
ones, on which it hops about in a very bird-like manner. But
you would soon notice that it has a long tail, rather like that of a
mouse, but which has a tuft of hairs at the tip. When it is
leaping about it stretches this tail out behind it, and seems to
find it of very great use in keeping its balance.

Jerboas are very common in Egypt and other parts of North
Africa, and live in burrows which they dig in the sandy soil.
In order to enable them to obtain a firm foothold on the shppery
sand, the soles of their feet are covered with long hairs, which
also prevent them from being scorched by contact with the
heated ground. But as a rule they do not come out of their
burrows until the evening, when the sun is not so powerful as it
is during the middle of the day. They feed upon grasses and
dry shrubs; but how they find enough to eat in the desert places
in which they live is rather hard to understand.

Many different kinds of jerboas are known. The best known,
the common jerboa, is about as big as a small rat, and has a
tail about eight inches long. In color it is so much like the sand
that from a few yards away it is almost impossible to see it,
even when it is skipping about.

The Hamster

This is a queer little rodent which is found very plentifully
in Germany, and also in many districts between that country
and Siberia. It is a rather stoutly built animal, and measures
nearly a foot in length including the tail, which is about two
inches long. In color it is generally light brownish yellow

146 THE ANIMAL WORLD

above and black beneath, with a black stripe on the forehead,
a yellow patch on the back, and white feet. But hamsters are by
no means all alike, and some are entirely black, some pied, and
some entirely white.

You remember how dormice make summer and winter nests.
In the same way, European hamsters make summer and winter
burrows. The summer burrow is quite a small one, not more
than a foot or two deep, with a small sleeping-chamber at the
bottom. But the winter one is very much larger, for it is not
only six feet long at least, with quite a big sleeping-chamber,
but there are from one to five side chambers as well, which are
used as granaries. In these the animal stores up vast quantities
of grain, peas, and beans, as many as sixty pounds of corn
having been taken from the burrow of a single hamster, and a
hundredweight of beans from that of another. About the middle
of October it stops up the entrances to its home, and passes into
a state of hibernation, in which it remains till the beginning of
March. For about a month longer it still remains in its burrow,
feeding on its stores and provisions, till early in April it resumes
its active life, and returns to its summer habitation.

Of course hamsters are terribly destructive in cultivated land,
and large numbers are destroyed every year. In one district
alone nearly a hundred thousand have been killed in a single
season, while an enormous quantity of grain was recovered from
their tunnels.

Water-Voles

If you walk along the bank of a stream in some European
country, you may often hear a splash, and see a brownish animal
about eight inches long swimming away through the water.
This is a water-vole, often called water-rat, although it belongs
to quite a different family from that of the true rats. And if
one looks down the side of the bank he will see its burrow,
which generally runs into the ground for some little distance.

Water-voles are usually supposed to be mischievous; but
during the greater part of the year they feed only on water-
plants, being specially fond of the sweet pith of the wild flags.
In wmter, however, when food of this kind is scarce, they will

THE RODENT ANIMALS 147

nibble away the bark of small trees and shrubs, and sometimes
do a good deal of damage in osier-beds, while they will also
visit cultivated fields in order to feed on vegetables.

The water-vole is a very good swimmer, although its toes
are not webbed, and its fur is so close and so glossy that it throws
off the water just like the feathers on a duck's back.

A near relation of the water-vole is the field-vole, or field-
mouse, also called meadow-mouse, which is found very common-
ly in most parts of Europe, and also in North and South America.
It is about as big as an ordinary mouse, and is grayish brown in
color, which becomes rather paler on the lower parts of the body.

This animal is found chiefly in meadows, where it makes long
runs beneath the grass, and also burrows into the ground. It
is always plentiful, and sometimes appears in such vast numbers
that it can only be described as a plague.

The muskrat, which is one of the most widely distributed
and important of American fur-bearing animals, is really a
a sort of big aquatic vole.

Lemmings

Still more mischievous, in Norway and Sweden, are the odd
little rodents known as lemmings, which make their appearance
from time to time literally in millions. They always seem to
come down from the mountains, and when once they have
begun their journey nothing will stop them. If they come to a
river they swim across it; if to a house, they climb over it; if to a
stack of corn or hay, they eat their way through it. Large
numbers of wolves, foxes, weasels, stoats, hawks, and owls soon
discover the swarm, and kill off the animals in thousands; but
still the great army moves steadily on, leaving the country per-
fectly bare behind it, until it reaches the sea. And then those
behind push on those in front, till almost the whole vast host
perish in the waves.

These great migrations take place, as a rule, about once in
seven years, and no one seems to know quite where the lemmings
come from, or why they travel in this singular manner.

These strange little animals do not seem to know what fear is,

148 THE ANIMAL WORLD

for if a passer-by happens to meet one of them it will never turn
aside, but will sit up and yelp defiantly at him, while if a dog
goes up and examines it, the chances are that it will try to bite
his nose!

In color the European lemming is blackish bro\vn above and
yellowish white below, while its length is about six inches.

Various kinds of rodents known as lemmings are found in
North America. The Hudson Bay lemming has a thick, warm
fur. Eskimo children use lemming-skins to make clothes for
their dolls.

Rats

The brown rat and the black rat, of course, are only too
common everywhere. They seem to have come in the first
place from Asia, and have spread to almost all parts of the
world. For almost every ship that sails the sea is infested with
rats, some of which are nearly certain to make their way ashore
at every port at which she touches.

Rats are rather formidable animals, for besides being very
savage, a number of them will often combine together in order
to attack a common foe. We have known a large cat, for ex-
ample, to be so severely wounded by rats, that after lying in
great pain for two or three days it actually died of its injuries.
Rats are very bloodthirsty creatures, for if one of their own
number is caught in a trap, they will tear it in pieces and devour
it. They will enter fowl-houses at night, and kill the birds as
they roost upon their perches, while if they can find their way
into a rabbit-hutch they will even destroy the rabbits.

In barns and farmyards rats are very mischievous, and corn-
stacks are often infested by them. How often they get into
houses you know too well! But on the other hand, they often
do a great deal of good, by devouring substances which would
otherwise decay and poison the air; so that they are not alto-
gether without their uses, as people annoyed by them are too
apt to suppose.

Rats generally have three broods of little ones in the course
of the year, and as there are from eight to fourteen in each brood»

THE RODENT ANIMALS 149

you can easily understand how it is that these animals multiply
so rapidly.

Mice

Still more plentiful, and almost as mischievous, is the common
mouse, which is found both in town and country. And this,
too, seems to have been in the first place a native of Asia, and to
have since spread to almost all parts of the world.

There is no need, of course, to describe its appearance, and
most of us are familiar with its habits. So we will pass on at
once to one of its near relations which is not quite so well known,
namely, the long-tailed field-mouse.

In some respects this animal is very much like the field-vole.
But you can tell it at once by its more pointed muzzle, by its
much larger ears, and, above all, by its very much longer tail. It
lives in gardens, fields, and hedgerows, but often takes shelter
in houses and barns during the winter. But all through the
spring, summer, and autumn it occupies burrows in the ground,
and very often it lays up quite large quantities of provisions in
its tunnels for winter use, just as the hamster does in Germany.
It does not always dig these burrows for itself, however, for
very often it will take possession of the deserted run of a mole,
or even of a natural hollow beneath the spreading roots of a tree.

As a general rule, this little animal is a vegetable-eater only.
But when food is scarce it will kill and devour small animals,
and has even been known to prey upon its own kind.

The pretty little harvest-mouse is the smallest of the European
rodents. A full-grown harvest-mouse is seldom more than
four and a half inches long, of which almost one half is occupied
by the tail. And it would take six of the little creatures to
weigh an ounce.

The harvest-mouse is not found, as a rule, near human habi-
tations, but lives in corn-fields and pastures. But sometimes
it is carried home in sheaves of corn at harvest-time, and in that
case it lives in the ricks during the winter. Generally, however,
it spends the winter months fast asleep in a burrow in the ground.
Then, when the warm months of spring come round, it wakes
up, and sets about building a most beautiful little nest of grasses

150 THE ANIMAL WORLD

and leaves, which it always suspends among corn-stalks or
grass-stems at some little height from the ground. This nest
is about as large as a baseball, and the odd thing about it is that
you can never find any entrance! Apparently, when the little
builder wishes to go in and out, it pushes its way between the
strips of grass of which the nest is composed, and then carefully
arranges them again in position. And it is so cleverly built
that when eight or nine little mice which are brought up inside
it begin to grow, it stretches to suit their increasing size, so that
their nursery is always just big enough to contain them.

The harvest-mouse is a capital climber, and runs up and down
the corn-stalks with great activity, even though they bend nearly
to the ground under its weight. The tip of its tail, strange to
say, is prehensile, just like that of a spider-monkey.

Porcupines

Of course you know what a porcupine is like, with its coat of
long, bristling spines. Indeed, the word porcupine means spiny
pig, and refers partly to the quill-like spikes, and partly to the
odd grunting noise which the animal utters from time to time.

There are several different kinds of porcupine in the Old
World and in America. The common porcupine is found in
the south of Europe, and also in the northern and western parts
of Africa, and grows to a length of about two feet four inches,
not including the tail. The quills are of two kinds. First of
all, there are a number of long, slender spines, which bend quite
easily, and are not of very much use as weapons. But under
these is a close array of very much stiffer ones from five to ten
inches long; and these are very formidable indeed. For they are
so loosely fastened to the skin that when the animal backs upon
a foe a good many of them are sure to be left sticking in its flesh;
while, further, they are made in such a manner that they keep
on boring their way farther and farther in, and in course of time
may penetrate a vital organ, and cause death. Even tigers have
sometimes lost their lives through the quills of a porcupine which
they had been trying to kill and devour. The animal is not at all
fond of fighting, however, and never attacks unless it is provoked.

THE RODENT ANIMALS 151

During the daytime the porcupine is seldom seen, being fast
asleep in its burrow. But soon after sunset it leaves its retreat,
and wanders to long distances in search of the roots, bark, etc.,
upon which it feeds. " In the woods, it loves to prowl around
camps and eat every scrap of leather or greasy board it can find. "

In North America is found the Canada porcupine, ranging
from New England westward to Ohio and northward to Hudson
Bay. Another species in the West and Northwest is the yellow-
haired porcupine. In Mexico, Central America, and South
America are other species known as tree-porcupines.

It has been widely supposed that porcupines shoot their
quills, but this belief has no foundation. When attacked, Mr.
Hornaday tells us, its defence consists in erecting its quills and
striking quickly a strong sidewise blow with the tail, which often
drives many quills into its enemy.

The Chinchilla

This pretty little rodent is famous for its beautiful silky fur,
which is in much request for women's garments. In appearance
it is rather like a large dormouse, with very big rounded ears,
and a short, hairy tail. It is found in Bolivia, Chile, and Peru,
and lives high up among the mountains ''n burrows in the ground.
A large number of the animals always dwell together, so that
their burrows form a kind of large warren, and they dart up and
down the steep rocks with such wonderful speed that it is almost
impossible to follow their movements.

When it is feeding the chinchilla sits upright, like a squirrel,
and conveys the food to its mouth with its fore paws. It lives
chiefly upon roots, and as the districts in which it lives are so wild
and barren it often has to travel for long distances in order to
obtain them.

The Viscacha

Closely related to the chinchilla is the viscacha, which is found
very abundantly in the great pampas districts of South America.
It generally lives in little colonies of from twenty to thirty ani-

152 THE ANIMAL WORLD

mals, which dig their burrows close together, and heap up the
earth which they scrape out into one common mound. These
burrows are generally dug in the form of the letter Y, and often
a number of them communicate with one another by means of
short passages, so that if the little animals feel in want of society
they can easily go and see their friends.

These colonies are called viscacheras, and in some parts of
the Argentine Republic the plains are closely studded with them
as far as the eye can reach.

Viscachas have a curious way of clearing off all the vegeta-
tion that grows near their burrows, and piling up the refuse in a
mound near the entrance. They will also collect together any
hard objects which they may happen to find, and we are told by
Darwin that sometimes quite a barrow-load of bones, stones,
thistle-stalks, and lumps of earth may be found outside the en-
trance to a single burrow, and that a traveler who dropped his
watch one evening found it next day by searching the viscacha-
mounds in the neighborhood.

In appearance the viscacha is not unlike a rather small
marmot; but the fur is gray above, with dusky markings, and
white below, while the face is crossed by two black bands, with
a broad white stripe between them.

The Agouti

This animal, found in South America and the West Indies,
was formerly very plentiful — in some parts literally swarming.
But it did so much mischief in cultivated ground that it was
trapped and shot in immense numbers, and it has now almost
entirely disappeared from many districts in which it once
abounded.

The first point that strikes one on looking at the agouti is
the great length of its hind legs. So long are these limbs,
that the animal fmds a good deal of difficulty in running down-
hill, and often tumbles head over heels and rolls for several yards
before it can recover its footing. And for the same reason,
when it is running at any pace on level ground, it travels along
by a kind of gallop, which is really made up of a series of leaps.

THE RODENT ANIMALS 153

As the agouti comes out only by night it is a difficult animal
to watch, and it is so wary that it cannot be approached without
great caution. All the time while it is feeding, it keeps on
turning its head first to one side and then to the other, so that
it can scarcely ever be taken by surprise.

If it should be captured, however, it never seems to fight,
and has no idea of using either its sharp teeth or its claws to
defend itself. So sometimes it has been thought that an agouti
would make a very nice pet. Those who have allowed it to run
loose in the house, however, have seldom repeated the experiment,
for it will ruin any article of furniture in a very short time, and
will cut its way through the stoutest door in a few minutes!

When fully grown, the agouti is rather more than eighteen
inches long, and in general color it is olive brown. But the
hair of the hinder quarters, which is very much longer than
that of the rest of the body, is golden brown, while the middle
line of the lower part of the body is almost white.

The Capybara

Few people, on seeing a capybara for the first time, would
take it to be a rodent. It looks much more like a wild pig,
for it has a very heavily built body, which almost touches the
ground as it waddles along, short, stiff, bristly hair, and great
hoof-like feet. Indeed, it is sometimes called the water-hog.
Yet we only have to look at its front teeth to see that it really is
a rodent after all.

The capybara is a native of South America, and is generally
found in the damp, marshy ground near the banks of the larger
rivers. It is a good swimmer, and always makes for the water
when alarmed. It is a good diver, too, and can easily remain
below the surface for seven or eight minutes without requiring
to breathe, so that if it can once plunge into the river it is safe
from almost any foe. When fully grown, the capybara is
about four feet long, and weighs nearly one hundred pounds.
In fact, it is the largest of all the rodent animals. In color it
is reddish brown above, and brownish yellow beneath, and it
is further remarkable for having no tail at all.

154 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Hares and Rabbits

The hares and rabbits, of which our account is taken from
"The Life of Mammals," by Ernest Ingersoll, form a compact
family of some sixty species, scattered in all divisions of the
globe except Australasia and Madagascar; but only one species
occurs in South America, and the family is most numerous in
northerly regions, where these animals form an important food
resource for man and beast. All are much alike in the long,
high-haunched hind legs, which give great leaping and dodging
power; tall, erectile ears; divided upper lip; short scut; and
grizzled gray-brown coat, with various specific markings of
white and black. The only exceptional one is the "hispid"
hare of Northeastern India, which has small eyes, bristly short
ears, short hind legs, and much the manner of a rabbit.

The term rabbit has wholly replaced "hare" in America,
because the common small hare of the eastern United States,
quickly seen by the first English setders, looked to them more
like the rabbit they had known at home than like their bigger
hare; and they ignored the difference in habits as they did so
many other facts in their careless naming of the animals of
the New World after those of Europe. It must always be
remembered that the first Pilgrims, Puritans, and southern
"adventurers" were mainly from cities, and knew little of
rural things, to which ignorance, by the way, they owed most
of their early misfortunes in the colonics.

The true rabbit, or cony, differs from its relatives by its
small size (average weight two and a half to three pounds),
short ears and hind legs; but more in its habits, for its young
are born naked, blind, and helpless, and it is comparatively
slow-footed. Hence it has been compelled to become a bur-
rower for the safety of both itself and its babies, and, as is
usual with animals become burrowers, has acquired the habit
of gathering in communities, whose crowded diggings, or war-
rens, are labyrinths of subterranean runways. Even this,
however, would hardly suffice to preserve this timid and nearly
defenceless race were not several litters of five to eight young

THE RODENT ANIMALS 155

(leverets) produced by each pair annually to make good the
loss from enemies and disease. The original European wild
rabbit is grayish brown, becoming foxy on the neck, but this
rabbit has been domesticated since ancient times, and altera-
tions of coloring as well as of form have been produced. Ten
or more distinct breeds are recognized by fanciers, some of
which, as the lop-eared, the great Belgian, and the Angora,
are far away from the original type.

Their amazing fecundity has caused rabbits to multiply
into an almost uncontrollable pest since they were unwisely
introduced into Australia and New Zealand, where the scarcity
of beasts of prey allowed them to increase without bounds.
In a few years, therefore, the whole country was overrun by
millions, which threatened to devour not only all the crops but
every bit of wild herbage; even in Europe, when for any reason
their subjection is neglected, they do great damage to gardens,
orchards, and plantations of young trees.

At present further use is being made of the rabbits by " pack-
ing" their edible flesh in various forms as an article of pre-
served food, which is finding a wide market; and probably
the pest will be abated in course of time by natural processes.

Returning to the hares, not much need be said as to partic-
ular species. All dwell either in open grassy country or else
among rocks and bushes. They do not flock, nor make any
sort of shelter, but each inhabits a certain small district, where
it makes a smooth resting-place called its form. To this it
will return day after day for a long time unless frightened; and
in such a form the young arc born and are left concealed, when
still in the suckling age, under a cover of leaves and vines, or
even fur plucked by the mother from her own loose coat and
felted into a sort of blanket. They seek no better shelter than
this in winter, except that some, as our common little cottontail,
will creep into the mouth of an old skunk's or woodchuck's
hole or within a hollow stump, to seek protection from the
"cauld blast." The "jacks" of the Plains are so well furred
that even the soles of their feet are warm mats of hair; and they
are the only small animals able to survive outside of burrows
the intense winter cold and gales of those bleak uplands. This

156 THE ANIMAL WORLD

hardihood is due primarily, of course, to the fact that hares
are able to find nutritious forage all through the winter, and so
keep up their bodily heat.

All species have great speed — their principal means of safety
— and the swiftest hounds are hardly able to run them down;
while they also have astonishing skill in suddenly halting and
turning, or doubling, by which they gain a fresh start before
their more clumsy pursuers can perceive what has happened,
and change their course. Chasing them with greyhounds is
a regular sport called coursing. Along with this goes extreme
timidity and watchfulness, in which their big ears serve a most
useful purpose, rising to the slightest sound, but dropping
out of the way as the animal makes off in a series of tremendous
leaps; and the hare can make faster time uphill than down,
owing to the greater length of the hind legs — a decided advan-
tage. Knowing these tricks, most of its enemies resort to
counter-strategy — a stealthy approach and quick rush — and an
excellent picture of these wiles, and poor Bunny's efforts to
meet them, may be read in Seton's tale of "Raggylug," and in
such delightful writings as those of Audubon and Bachman,
Godman, Kennicott, Lockwood, Abbott, Robinson, Sharp,
Cram, and some others. Even the least of the tribe, however,
is able to make a defense which often completely disconcerts
the foe, and the means are found in its strong hind feet.

In addition to this familiar eastern cottontail we have in the
United States several other species, as the little marsh-hare
and the big water-hare of the Southern States; the large northern
varying hare; the arctic hares; the various long-eared, long-
legged "jack rabbits" of the Plains and Rocky Mountains;
and several lesser species, more or less common on the Pacific
coast. The varying hare is so called because, as is the case
with several foreign northern hares, its bro\vn summer coat
when shed as usual on the approach of winter is replaced by
one which is white.

FOUR TYPES OF CATTLE.

1. American Bison.
3. Thibetan Yak.

a. Hindu Humped Ox.
4. Asiatic Water Buffalo.

CHAPTER XV
THE WILD OXEN

WE now come to a very important group of mammals called
ungulates, or hoofed animals, because of the way in
which their feet are formed. The oxen, sheep, goats, antelopes,
deer, horses, swine, elephants, and rhinoceroses all belong to
this order. First let us notice some of the wild oxen.

The Gaur

The largest of these is the Gaur, which is found in India.
It is a very big animal, sometimes standing more than six feet
in height at the shoulder, and as it has long and very powerful
horns, it is much dreaded by the natives. As a rule, however,
it is a very gentle and peaceable animal, scarcely ever venturing
to attack man, and only dwelling in those remote parts of the
jungle to which even hunters seldom find their way.

The gaur lives in small herds, generally of from ten to twenty
in number. Each of these is led by an old bull, and there are
generally two or three younger ones, the rest being cows and
calves. When the younger bulls grow up they usually fight
the old one in order to take his place. For some time he con-
trives to hold his own; but when at last he is beaten he goes off
and lives in the thickets by himself.

These solitaries, as they are called, are generally very savage,
and will often rush out and attack a passer-by, even when
he has not provoked them at all.

The gaur is a very wary animal, and sentries are always
posted near the herd, in order to give warning of the approach
of a foe. When feeding, they are said to stand in a circle with
their heads outward, so that they can see in every direction.

The old male gaurs are nearly black in color, and the younger
ones and the cows reddish brown, while they all have white
''stockings" from the knee downward.

157

158 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Yak

The yak, which hves in Tibet, is something like an ox with
great masses of hair on its flanks, hmbs, and tail. In color
it is blackish brown, with a little white upon the muzzle, and in
height is about five feet six inches at the shoulder. The thick
fringes of hair do not begin to grow till it is about three months
old, and the young calf is covered all over with curly black hair,
like a Newfoundland dog.

The yak lives among the mountains, sometimes climbing
to a height of fully twenty thousand feet, and scrambles about
among the boulders with wonderful activity. Large herds of
these animals, however, have been domesticated, and are used
as beasts of burden, while their flesh is said to be almost as
tender and well-flavored as beef. The big, tufted tail, too,
is highly valued, for it is dyed in various colors, and is then
employed in making the fly-flappers which are used so much
in Eastern countries for driving away flies.

The Bison

The famous bison, commonly called buff'alo, of North Amer-
ica, sad to say is now almost extinct, for there are only a few small
herds living under special protection. Yet, not so very many
years ago, these magnificent animals wandered over the prairies
in miflions. Even a single herd, sometimes, would extend
farther than the eye could reach, and we read of one herd which
covered a tract of country fifty miles long and twenty-five miles
broad! But these herds were recklessly destroyed for the sake
of their hides and tongues, and now there are only a few wild
buffaloes left alive altogether.

Generally, however, buffaloes are to be seen in zoos, and
if you go to look at them you will most likely think that the
male looks rather like a very big lion. For it has an enormous
mane of long, shaggy hair, which covers the head and shoulders.
There is also a sort of long beard under the chin, and the hair
of the sides and hind quarters is very thick. The consequence

THE WILD OXEN 159

is that the animal looks a great deal bigger than it really is,
although it stands well over five feet high at the shoulders.

In spite of its great mass of hair, this is a very active animal,
and it can both trot and gallop with considerable speed. When
galloping it always holds its head close to the ground, and its
tail high up in the air. It is not by any means a courageous
animal, notwithstanding its size and strength. But the bulls
fight most savagely with one another, roaring so loudly that
in the days of the great herds the noise was compared to thunder,
and could be heard for miles.

Another kind of bison, called the aurochs, lives in the great
forests of Northern Europe. Its mane is not so long and
thick as that of the American animal, but its horns are longer
and not so strongly curved.

The Cape Buffalo

Smaller than the bison, but very much more formidable, is
the cape buffalo, which is spread over almost the whole of
Africa south of the equator. It is about as big as an ordinary
bullock, and has a pair of massive and sharply pointed curved
horns, which are sometimes as much as three feet in length.

This animal hves in reedy swamps, and is generally found
in herds, which often number from 250 to 300 individuals.
They are very wary, and difficult to approach, while they are
so swift of foot that only a very fast horse can escape from
them when carrying a rider on its back. In charging they
throw their heads back, with the horns upon the shoulders,
and then suddenly bend down and strike upward when they
come within reach.

The buffalo does not usually attack unless it is wounded,
however, though solitaries will often lie in concealment and rush
out upon the hunter as he passes by.

The Indian Buffalo

There is another kind of buffalo found in India, which is a
very different animal in every way. It is different in appear-

160 THE ANIMAL WORLD

ance, for it has its head drawn out into a kind of muzzle, while
its horns are very long indeed, and taper gradually from base to
tip, at the same time curving outward and upward and backward.
And it is different in disposition, because it is easily tamed, and
is employed in many parts of India as a beast of draught and
burden. You might sec buffaloes drawing a plow, for exam-
ple, or dragging a cart, and for these and similar purposes they
have been introduced into Egypt, and even into Southern
Europe. The wild bulls, however, are apt to be very savage
when they live alone. But a herd of buffaloes, strange to say,
though they will gallop up close, and toss their heads, and be-
have in a most threatening manner, seem never to actually
attack a man so long as he has the courage to stand perfectly still.

The Musk-Ox

Though it is called an ox, and looks like an ox, this animal is
in reality much more closely related to the sheep. It is of about
the size of a rather large ram, but looks much bigger than it
really is, owing to the great masses of long hair, which cover the
whole of its body, and hang down so far that one can scarcely
see its legs at all. It is even more hairy than the yak.

The horns of the male animal are very curiously formed, for
they are so broad and flat at the base that they form a kind of
helmet, which covers almost the whole of the forehead. They
then droop downward on either side of the face, but curve up-
ward and outward at the tips. Those of the cow, however, are
very much smaller.

The musk-ox lives in the most northerly parts of North
America. It is perfectly at home amid the snow and ice, and
lives in the wildest and dreariest regions, in which the ground
scarcely thaws during the whole of the year; so that the life of
those who himt it is a very hard one. But, as a rule, its only
enemies are the arctic wolves, which drive it to bay on some
rocky mountain slope, and tear it to the ground by the mere force
of numbers.

The name of this animal is due to the musky flavor of its
flesh, which is said to be very tender and delicate.

THE WILD OXEN 161

Sheep

The sheep are represented at the present time by several wild
species, one of which is found in Northern India east of the In-
dus, in the Punjab, and in Sind; one in North America; and
another in North Africa. The rest inhabit the high ground of
Europe and Asia as far south as the Himalayas. These moun-
tains, with the adjacent plateaus of the Pamirs and the great
ranges of Central Asia, form the main home of the group. Wild
sheep are of various types, some so much like the goats that it
is difficult to draw a hard and fast line between them; while
others, especially the curly-horned argalis, bighorns, urial, and
Kamchatka wild sheep, are unmistakably of the sheep type.

The wild original of the domesticated breeds of sheep is un-
known. Domesticated sheep which live on hills and mountains
are still inclined to seek the highest ground at night. The rams
fight as the wild rams do, and many of them display activity and
powers of climbing and of finding a living on barren ground
scarcely less remarkable than in the wild races.

The domesticated sheep have been bred by artificial selection
for unnumbered ages in order to produce wool. It is said that
in some of the wild breeds there is an under-fur which will felt
like wool. Most of the species are short-tailed animals, but this
is not the case with the Barbary wild sheep. Wild sheep are
mainly mountain-living animals or frequenters of high ground.
They generally, though not always, frequent less rugged country
than that of the wild goats, and some are found at quite low
levels. The altitude at which other wild sheep are found is,
however, very great; on the Pamirs it reaches twenty thousand
feet. Here the country is quite open.

The European Mouflon

The only wild sheep of Europe is the mouflon, found in the
mountains of Corsica and Sardinia. Its height at the shoulder
is about twenty-seven inches. In the rams the horns are strong,
and curved into a spiral, forming almost a complete circle. The
hair is close, and in winter has a woolly under-fur. In summer

162 THE ANIMAL WORLD

and autumn the coat is a bright red brown on the neck, shoulders,
and legs; the rump and under parts are whitish, and the back
and flanks marked with a white saddle. In winter the brown
becomes darker and the white saddle broader. A rather larger
mouflon is found on the Elburz mountain range in Persia, in
Armenia, and in the Taurus Mountains. A smaller variety
exists in Cyprus, where it has been preserved since the British
occupation. The mouflon is a typical wild sheep. In Sardinia
and Corsica are dense scrubby forests of tall heather, some Ave
feet high, practically impenetrable to hunters. When alarmed,
the mouflon dash into this cover and are safe. These forests
have preserved two very interesting survivals of antiquity — the
mouflon, and the Corsican or Sardinian bandit. The Corsican
bandit, like the mouflon of the same island, is nearly extinct.
In Sardinia both still flourish.

The Argali

This animal is found in Siberia and Mongolia, and also in
Tibet. It is the largest of all living wild sheep, and is about as
big as a large donkey, and has enormous twisted and wrinkled
horns, which are sometimes as much as four feet long, and nine-
teen inches round at the base. The male Tibetan argali has a
ruff on the throat. The usual color is a stony gray, mingled
with white in summer in the case of the old males.

The argali rams are very fond of fighting one another, and
such fierce conflicts take place that sometimes their horns are
broken short off, and left lying upon the ground. And it will
give you some idea of the size of these horns when we tell you
that more than once a fox has been found lying fast asleep in
one of them!

The argali is a mountain-loving animal, seldom seen at a
lower level than twelve or thirteen thousand feet even in winter,
while in summer it ascends much higher. It is a most difficult
creature to approach, for it lives in small flocks, which always
post a sentry to keep careful watch while they are feeding.
At the slightest sign of danger the alert sentinel gives the alarm
and a moment later the animals are dispersing in all directions,

THE WILD OXEN 163

scrambling so actively over rocks and up and down precipices
that is it quite impossible to follow them.

It has sometimes been said that when the argali leaps from
a height it alights on its horns, which break the force of its fall.
But this statement seems to be quite untrue.

Writing of the argali of Southern Siberia, the naturalist
Brehm says that when the Tartars want mutton an argali-
hunt is organized. The Tartar hunters advance on their
horses at intervals of 200 or 300 yards, and when the sheep
are started generally manage, by riding, shooting, coursing
them with dogs, and shouting, to bewilder, shoot, or capture
several.

The Guljar, or Marco Polo's Sheep

On the high plateau of the Pamirs and the adjacent districts
Marco Polo's sheep is found. The rams are only slightly
less in size than the Siberian argali; the hair is longer than
in that species, and the horns are thinner and more slender
and extend farther in an outward direction. An adult ram
may weigh three hundred pounds. The first description of
this sheep was given by the old traveler whose name it now
bears. He said that on the Pamir plateau wild animals were
met with in large numbers, particularly a sheep of great size,
having horns three, four, and even six palms in length; and
that the shepherds (hunters?) formed ladles and vessels from
them. In the Pamirs Marco Polo's sheep is seldom found at
less than 11,000 or 12,000 feet above the sea. In the Tian-
Shan Mountains it is said to descend to 2,000 or 3,000 feet.
They prefer the hilly, grassy plains, and only seek the hills
for safety. On the Pamirs they are said to be very numerous
in places, one hunter stating that he saw in one day not less
than six hundred head.

The Bighorn Sheep of America and Kamchatka

North America has its parallel to the argalis in the famous
bighorn. It is now very rare even in Northern Canada, and

164 THE ANIMAL WORLD

becoming scarce in the United States, though a few are found
here and there at various points on the Rocky Mountains
as far south as Mexico. In habits it is much the same as other
wild sheep — that is to say, it haunts the rock-hills and "bad
lands" near the mountains, feeding on the scanty herbage of
the high ground, and not descending unless driven down by
snow.

The bighorn sheep are very partial to salt. Mr. Turner,
who hunted them in British Columbia, says: "Wild sheep
make periodical excursions to the mountain-tops to gorge
themselves with salty clay. They may remain from an hour
to two days, and when killed their stomachs will be found full
of nothing but the clay formed from denuded limestone, which
they lick and gnaw until sometimes deep tunnels are formed
in the cliffs, large enough to hide six or seven sheep. The
hunter, standing over one of these warrens, may bolt them
within two yards of him. In the dead of winter sheep often
come to the woods to feed on fir-trees. At such times they
may be seen mixed with black-and-white-tailed deer, low on
a river-bank. I have known them come within forty yards
of an inhabited hut."

Mr. H. C. Nelson tells us that once he was sleeping with
two other friends in a hut in the mountains where some miners
had lived for a time. These men, when they washed up their
pots and pans, threw the slops away at a certain place close
by the hut. As all water used for cooking meat has salt put
into it, a little salt remained on the surface. This the wild
sheep had found out, and were in the habit of coming to lick
it at night.

The bighorn sheep stands from three feet two inches to
three feet six inches at the shoulder. The horns are of the
general type of the argalis, but smoother. Another bighorn
is found in Kamchatka. There is also a beautiful white race
of bighorn inhabiting Alaska. The typical Rocky Mountain
race is browner than the Asiatic argalis, and in winter is dark
even beneath the front parts of the body. It is not found on
the high peaks of the great ranges, but on difficult though
lower ground on the minor hills.

1. Chamois.

2. Moufflon.

WILD SPIEEP AND GOATS

3. Argali.

4. Markhor.

THE WILD OXEN 165

The Urial

The vast range of the Himalayas affords feeding-ground to
other species of wild sheep and wild goat, so different in the
shape of the horns that the variations of the sheep race under
domestication need not be matter for wonder when so much
variety is seen in nature.

The urial, or sha, is found in Northwest India, on the Trans-
Indus Mountains, and in Ladak, Northern Tibet, Afghanistan,
Baluchistan, Turkestan, and Southern Persia. The horns
make a half-curve backward, and are flattened. The angle
with the horizontal line across the ears is about half a right angle.
The coat is of a reddish-gray color, with white on the belly, legs,
and throat. This species has a very wide geographical distribu-
tion, and is the only wild sheep found in India proper.

The Aoudad, or Arui

This is a large wild type of the North African highlands. It
stands intermediate between sheep and goats. The old rams
have a very fine appearance, with a long flowing beard or mane,
and large horns. These wild animals, though somewhat goat-
like in appearance, are typical of the sheep race in general
habits. They live in the Atlas Range, and in the splendid
heights of the Aures Mountains, which lie at the back of Algeria
and fringe the great Sahara Desert. In the isolated and burn-
ing rocks which jut up in the desert itself into single mountains
they are also found, living on ground which seems absolutely
destitute of water, grass, or vegetation. They live singly or in
small families; but the rams keep mainly alone. Sometimes
they lie in shallow caves during the heat of the day. These
caves smell like a sheepfold. More generally the aoudad re-
poses on some shelf of rock, where it matches the color of the
stone, and is almost invisible. The ground is one of the most
difficult in which any hunting is attempted, except perhaps in
chamois-stalking; but the pursuit seems to fascinate sportsmen.

Mr. A, E. Pease gives some charming descriptions of the

166 THE ANIMAL WORLD

silence, the rugged rocks, and the astonishing views over the
great orange Sahara Desert seen from the tops of these haunts
of the aoudad — mountains on the summits of which his Arab
guides would prostrate themselves in evening prayer as the sun
sank over the desert, and then, rising, once more resume the
chase. The young of the aoudad are charming little creatures,
much like reddish kids. They can follow the mother over the
steepest ground at a great pace. When caught, as they some-
times are by the Arabs, they soon become tame.

The Goats

Though the dividing-line between the sheep and goats is very
indistinct, some differences are of general application. The
goats are distinguished by the unpleasant odor of the males, and
by beards on the chins of the same sex, by the absence of glands
in the hind feet, which sheep possess, and by certain variations
in the formation of the skull. The difference between the tem-
perament of the sheep and goats is very curious and persistent,
showing itself in a marked way, which affects their use in domes-
tication to such a degree that the keeping of one or the other
often marks the owners as possessors of different degrees of
civilization. Goats are restless, curious, adventurous, and so
active that they cannot be kept in enclosed fields. For this
reason they are not bred in any numbers in lands where agricul-
ture is practised on modern principles; they are too enterprising
and too destructive. Consequently the goat is usually only
seen in large flocks on mountain pastures and rocky, unculti-
vated ground, where the flocks are taken out to feed by the chil-
dren.

On tne high alps, in Greece, on the Apennines, and in Pales-
tine the goat is a valuable domestic animal. The milk, butter,
and cheese, and also the flesh of the kids, are in great esteem.
But wherever the land is enclosed, and high cultivation attempt-
ed, the goat is banished, and the more docile and controllable
sheep takes its place. In Syria the goat is perhaps more docile
and better understood as a dairy animal than elsewhere in the
East. The flocks are driven into Damascus in the morning;

GOATS AND GOAT-ANTELOPES.

1. Asiatic Tahr. 3. Rocky Mountain White Goat.

2. Alpine Ibex. 4. African Aoudad.

5. Arctic Musk-<^K.

THE WILD OXEN 167

and instead of a milk-cart calling, the flock itself goes round the
city, and particular goats are milked before the doors of regular
customers.

The European goat is a very useful animal for providing milk
to poor families in large towns. The sheep, while preserving
its hardy habits in some districts, adapts itself to richer food,
and acquires the habits as well as the digestion of domestication.
The goat remains, as in old days, the enemy of trees, inquisitive,
omnivorous, pugnacious. It is unsuited for the settled life of
the farm. Rich pasture makes it ill, and a good clay soil, on
which cattle grow fat, kills it. But it is far from being dis-
qualified for the service of some forms of modern civilization by
the survival of primitive habits. Though it cannot live com-
fortably in the smiling pastures of the low country, it is perfectly
willing to exchange the rocks of the mountain for a stable-yard
in town. Its love for stony places is amply satisfied by a granite
pavement, and it has been ascertained that goats fed in stalls
and allowed to wander in paved courts and yards live longer
and enjoy better health than those tethered even on light pas-
tures. In parts of New York the city goats are said to flourish
on the paste-daubed paper of the advertisements which they
nibble from the bill-boards!

It is beyond doubt that these hardy creatures are exactly
suited for living in large towns; an environment of bricks and
mortar and paving-stones suits them. Their spirits rise in
proportion to what we should deem the depressing nature of
their surroundings. They love to be tethered in places where
they find bushes to nibble. A deserted brick-field, with plenty
of broken drain-tiles, rubbish-heaps, and weeds, pleases them
still better. Almost any kind of food seems to suit them. Not
even the pig has so varied a diet as the goat; it consumes and
converts into milk not only great quantities of garden stuff which
would otherwise be wasted, but also, thanks to its love for eating
twigs and shoots, it enjoys the prunings and loppings of bushes
and trees. In the j\Iont Dore district of France the goats are
fed on oatmeal porridge. With this diet, and plenty of salt, the
animals are scarcely ever ill, and never suft'er from tuberculosis;
they will often give ten times their own weight of milk in a year.

VOL. v. 12

168 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Kashmir shawls are made of the finest goats' hair. Most
of this very soft hair is obtained from the under-fur of goats kept
in Tibet, and by the Kirghiz in Central Asia. Only a small
quantity, averaging three ounces, is produced yearly by each
animal. The wool is purchased by middlemen, and taken to
Kashmir for manufacture.

In India the goat reaches perhaps the highest point of domesti-
cation. The flocks are in charge of herd-boys, but the animals
are so docile that they are regarded with no hostility by the cul-
tivators of corn and cereals. Tame goats are also kept through-
out Africa. The valuable Angora breed, from which mohair is
obtained, is now domesticated in South Africa and in Australia.
In the former country it is a great commercial success. The
animals were obtained with great difficulty, as the Turkish
owners did not wish to sell their best-bred goats ; but when once
established at the Cape, it was found that they proved better
producers of mohair than when in their native province of
Angora. The clip from their descendants steadily improves.

We now pass to consider various species of wild goats, all of
which present very interesting features for our study.

The Turs

In the Caucasus, both east and west, in the Pyrenees, and on
the South Spanish sierras three fine wild goats, with some fea-
tures not unlike the burhal sheep, are found. They are called
turs by the Caucasian mountaineers. The species found in the
East Caucasus differs from that of the west of the range, and
both from that of Spain. The East Caucasian tur is a massive,
hea\7^ animal, all brown in color, except on the fronts of the
legs, which are blackish, and with horns springing from each
side of the skull like half-circles. The males are thirty-eight
inches high at the shoulder. The short beard and tail are black-
ish, and there is no white on the coat. The West Caucasian tur
is much lighter in color than that of the East Caucasus, and the
horns point backward, more like those of the ibex, though set
on the skull at a different angle. The Spanish tur has the belly
and inner sides of the legs white, and a blackish line along the

THE WILD OXEN 169

flank, dividing the white from the brown; also a blackish chest,
and some gray on the flank.

In the Caucasus turs are found on the high crags above the
snow-line in summer, whence they descend at night to feed on
patches of upland grass; but the main home of the tur by day is
above the snow-line. The Spanish species modifies its habits
according to the ground on which it lives. Mr. E. N. Buxtdn
found it in dense scrub, while on the Andalusian sierras it fre-
quents bare peaks 10,000 feet high. In Spain tur are sometimes
seen in flocks of from 100 lo 150 each.

The Persian Wild Goat

The original of our domesticated goat is thought by some to
be the pasang, or Persian wild goat. It is a fine animal, with
large simitar-shaped horns, curving backward, flattened lateral-
ly, and with knobs on the front edge at irregular intervals. It
is more slender in build than the tur, light brown in general color,
marked with a black line along the nape and back, black tail,
white belly, blackish shoulder-stripe, and a black line dividing
the hinder part of the flank from the white belly. Formerly
found in the islands of Southeastern Europe, it now inhabits
parts of the Caucasus, the Armenian Highlands, Mount Ararat,
and the Persian mountains as far east as Baluchistan. A
smaller race is found in Sind. It lives in herds, sometimes of
considerable size, and frequents not only the high ground, but
the mountain forests and scrub, where such cover exists. The
domesticated goat of Sweden is said to be certainly a descendant
of this species.

The Ibex

Of the ibex, perhaps the best known of all the wild goats,
several species, differing somewhat in size and in the form of their
horns, are found in various parts of the Old World. Of these,
the Arabian ibex inhabits the mountains of Southern Arabia,
Palestine, and Sinai, Upper Egypt, and perhaps Morocco.
The Abyssinian ibex is found in the high mountains of the

170 THE ANIMAL WORLD

country from which it takes its name. The Alpine ibex is now
extinct in the Swiss Alps and Tyrol, but survives on the Pied-
montese side of Monte Rosa. The Asiatic ibex is the finest
of the group; its horns have been found to measure nearly
fifty-five inches along the curve. This ibex inhabits the moun-
tain ranges of Central Asia, from the Altai to the Himalayas,
and the Himalayas as far as the source of the Ganges.

The King of Italy is the great preserver of the Alpine ibex,
and has succeeded where the nobles of the Tyrol have failed.
The animals are shot by driving them, the drivers being expert
mountaineers. The way in which the ibex come down the
passes and over the precipices is simply astonishing. One
writer lately saw them springing down perpendicular heights
of forty feet, or descending "chimneys" in the mountain-face
by simply cannoning off with their feet from side to side. Young
ibexes can be tamed with ease, the only drawback to their main-
tenance being the impossibility of confining them. They will
spring on to the roof of a house, and spend the day there by
preference, though allowed the run of all the premises. The
kids are generally two in number; they are born in June.

The ibex w^as long one of the chief objects of the Alpine
hunter. The Emperor Maximilian had a preserve of them
in the Tyrol mountains, and he shot them with a crossbow
when they were driven down. He tells us in his private hunting-
book that he once shot an ibex at a distance of two hundred
yards with a crossbow, after one of his companions had missed
it with a gun, or "fire-tube." When away on an expedition in
Holland, he wrote a letter to the wife of one of the most noted ibex-
poachers on his domain, promising her a silk dress if she could
induce her husband to let the animals alone. In the Himalayas
the chief foes of the ibex are the snow-leopard and wild dog.

The Markhor

The very fine Himalayan goat of this name differs from all
other wild species. The horns are spiral, like those of the
kudu antelope and Wallachian sheep. It may well be called
the king of the wild goats. A buck stands as much as forty-one

THE WILD OXEN 171

inches at the shoulder, and the maximum measurement of the
horns is sixty-three inches! It has a long beard and mane,
and stands very upright on its feet. Besides the Himalayas,
it haunts the mountains on the Afghan frontier. These goats
keep along the line between the forest and snow, some of the
most difficult ground in the hills. The horns are a much-
prized trophy.

The Tahr

The tahr of the Himalayas is a very different-looking animal
from the true goats, from which, among other characters, it is
distinguished by the form and small size of the horns. The
horns, which are black, spring in a high backward arch, but
the creature has no beard. A buck stands sometimes as much
as thirty-eight inches high at the shoulder. It has a long,
rough coat, mainly dark stone-color in tint.

These animals live in the forest districts of the Middle Him-
alayas, where they are found on very high and difficult ground.
General Donald Macintyre shot one standing on the brink of
an almost sheer precipice. Down this it fell, and the distance
in sheer depth was such that it was difficult to see the body
even with glasses. The tahr is fairly common all along the
higher Himalayan Range. Its bones are believed to be a sover-
eign cure for rheumatism, and are exported to India for that
object. A smaller kind is found in the mountains of Eastern
Arabia, where very few, even sportsmen, have yet attempted to
shoot them.

The NiLGHii Tahr, or Nilgiri Ibex

Though not an ibex, the sportsmen of India early gave this
name to the tahr of the Nilgiri and Anamalai hills. The
Himalayan species is covered with long, shaggy hair; the South
Indian, has short smooth brown hair.

"The ibex," says Hawkeye, the Indian sportsman, of this
animal, "is massively formed, with short legs, remarkably
strong fetlocks, and a heavy carcass, short and well ribbed up,

172 THE ANIMAL WORLD

combining strength and agility wonderful to behold. Its habits
are gregarious, and the does arc seldom met with separate from
the flock or herd, though males often are. The latter assume,
as they grow old, a distinctive appearance. The hair on the
back becomes lighter, almost white in some cases, causing a
kind of saddle to appear; and from that time they become
known to the hunters as the saddlebacks of the herd, an object
of ambition to the eyes of the true sportsman. It is a pleasant
sight to watch a herd of ibex feeding undisturbed, the kids
frisking here and there on pinnacles or ledges of rock and
beetling cliffs where there seems scarcely safe hold for anything
much larger than a grasshopper, the old mother looking calmly
on. Then again, see the caution observed in taking up their
resting or abiding places for the day, where they may be warmed
by the sun, listening to the war of many waters, chewing the cud
of contentment, and giving themselves up to the full enjoyment
of their nomadic life and its romantic haunts. Usually, before
reposing, one of their number, generally an old doe, may be
observed gazing intently below, apparently scanning every
spot in the range of her vision, sometimes for half an hour or
more, before she is satisfied that all is well, but, strange to say,
seldom or never looking up to the rocks above. Then, being
satisfied on the one side, she follows the same process on the
other, and eventually lies down calmly, contented with the
precautions she has taken. Should the sentinel be joined by
another, or her kid come and lie by her, they always he back
to back, in such a manner as to keep a good lookout to either
side. A solitary male goes through all this by himself, and
wonderfully careful he is; but when with the herd he reposes
in security, leaving it to the female to take precautions for
their joint safety." Is it not pleasanter to think of watching
such innocent creatures, looking out for their own safety,
than to think of hunting and killing them?

The Rocky Mountain Goat

America possesses only one species of wild goat, the place
of this genus being taken in the southern part of the continent

THE WILD OXEN 173

by the camel-like guanacos. The Rocky Mountain goat, the
North American representative of the group, has very few of
the characteristics of the European and Asiatic species.
In place of being active in body and lively in temperament,
it is a quiet, rather drowsy creature, able, it is true, to scale
the high mountains of the Northwest and to live among the
snows, but with none of the energetic habits of the ibex or the
tahr. In form it is hesivy and badly built. It is hea\'y in front
and weak behind, like a bison. The eye is small, the head
large, and the shoulders humped. It feeds usually on very
high ground; but hunters who take the trouble to ascend to
these altitudes find little difficulty in killing as many wild goats
as they wish. These goats are most numerous in the ranges
of British Columbia, where they are found in small flocks of
from three or four to twenty. Several may be killed before the
herd is thoroughly alarmed, possibly because at the high alti-
tudes at which they are found man has seldom disturbed them.
None of the domesticated sheep or goats of the New World
are native to the continent of America. It is a curious fact,
well worth studying from the point of view of the history of
man, that, with the exception of the llama, the dog, and perhaps
the guinea-pig, every domesticated animal in use from Cape
Horn to the Arctic Ocean has been imported. The last of these
importations is the reindeer, which, though the native species
abounds in the Canadian woods, was obtained from Lapland
and Eastern Asia.

When the first rush to Klondike was made, the miners were
imprisoned and inaccessible during the late winter. The coming
of spring was the earliest period at which communication could
be expected to be restored, and even then the problem, of feeding
the transport animals was a difl&cult one. The United States
government decided to try to open up a road from Alaska by
means of sledges drawn by reindeer, and the Canadian govern-
ment devised a similar scheme. Agents were sent to Lapland
and to the tribes on the western side of Bering Sea, and deer,
drivers, and harness obtained from both. The deer were not
used for the Klondike relief expeditions by the Americans;
but the animals and their drivers were kept in Alaska, native

174 THE ANIMAL WORLD

reindeer were caught, and were found very useful for carrying
the mails in winter.

The Chamois

The goats are linked with the antelopes by the famous
chamois, which is especially interesting because it makes its home
among the snow-clad mountains of Europe. It is a pretty little
creature about two feet in height, with a pair of short black horns
which spring upright from the forehead, and are then sharply
hooked, with the points directed backward. And its coat, strange
to say, instead of becoming paler in winter grows darker, so
that from brownish yellow it deepens into rich chestnut.

The chamois is one of the most active of all living animals,
leaping from rock to rock, and skipping up and do\\'n steep
cliffs, where it would seem quite impossible for it to obtain
any foothold at all. It will often spring do^vn, too, from a
very great height, never seeming to injure itself and always
alighting upon its feet. And as it is very sharp-sighted and ex-
ceedingly wary, a hunter finds the utmost difficulty in approach-
ing, and very often for days together he never has the chance
of obtaining a shot.

When a chamois notices any sign of danger, it utters a shrill
whistling cry, on hearing which all the members of the herd
instantly take to flight. There are generally from fifteen to
twenty animals in each herd, consisting partly of does and partly
of young bucks. The old bucks spend most of the year quite
by themselves. But early in the autumn they rejoin the herds,
drive away their younger rivals, and then fight fierce battles
with one another for the mastery.

The young of the chamois are born in jMay or June, and are
so strong and active that when they are only a day old they can
follow their mother almost anywhere.

The Eland

This is the finest of the antelopes, and is a really magnificent
animal, for it stands from five to six feet high at the shoulder,

THE WILD OXEN 175

and sometimes an eland weighs nearly fifteen hundred poimds!
Both the buck and the doe have spirally twisted horns, which
are generally about two feet long, and there is a hea\7 dewlap
under the throat. In color the animal is pale fawn, but some-
times the old males are bluish gray.

In former days the eland was spread all over Southern and
Eastern Africa. But it has been so much hunted on account
of its hide that it has quite disappeared from South Africa, and
is fast disappearing elsewhere. There seems reason to fear
that soon this splendid antelope will be altogether extinct. It
lives for the most part in wooded plains, and is generally found
in large herds, which spend the daytime hiding in the forests,
and come out into the open country by night to graze and drink.
In the desert districts, however, where water is scarce, they
quench their thirst by feeding upon melons.

The eland is a difficult animal to hunt, for besides being very
wary and very timid, it is often accompanied by a rhinoceros-
bird, which gives it early warning of the approach of a foe. And,
further, it is very swift of foot, so that it can only be ridden
down by a good horse. As a rule it will never fight. But when
a doe has calves with her, she will withstand the onset of dogs,
and has even been kno\\Ti to impale them upon her horns.

The Kudu

This is another very fine antelope. It can easily be distin-
guished from the eland by the shape of the horns of the male,
which are twisted like a corkscrew, while the female has none
at all. Besides this, it has a white mark across its face, shaped
something like the letter V, several white spots on its cheeks
and throat, a white streak along its back, and several others
running down its sides and hinder quarters. It stands rather
more than four feet in height at the shoulder, and the horns are
often more than three feet long.

The kudu is found all over Africa, from the Cape to Abyssinia,
though it is now very rare in the extreme south. It does not
live in herds, as a rule, but is generally found in pairs, which
pass the day in dense thickets, and come out to graze in the

176 THE ANIMAL WORLD

evening. It is not very swift of foot, and can easily be run down
by a man on horseback. But as it is chiefly found in the country
infested by the terrible tsetse-fly, whose bite kills horses hi a
few days, it is generally hunted only with dogs.

The Gemsbok

Another very fine antelope is the gemsbok, which is found in
the more desert regions of Southwestern Africa. It is remark-
able for its very long straight horns, which sometimes measure
nearly four feet from base to tip, and are such formidable
weapons that the animal has been known to dri\e off even the
lion. More than once, indeed, a lion and a gemsbok have been
found lying dead together, the antelope having thrust his horns
deep into the lion's body, and been quite unable to withdraw
them.

What the gemsbok feeds upon is rather a mystery, for it is
often found in districts where there is no vegetation except a
little dry scrub. Yet it nearly always seems to be in good con-
dition. And it is odder still to fmd that for months together
sometimes it must go without drinking! Some hunters, indeed,
have declared that they are quite positi^•e that the animal never
drinks at all, obtaining all the moisture it needs from small
watermelons and certain bulbous roots.

The gemsbok is of about the same size as the kudu, and is
gray in color above and white below. But there is a black
streak across the face, while another streak, which is much
broader, runs along the sides, dividing the gray of the upper
parts from the white of the lower. This antelope is hunted on
horseback, and is so swift and so enduring, that there is said to
be no animal in Africa which is harder to overtake.

The Springbok

The most graceful and elegant of all the antelopes are the
gazelles, of which we may take the springbok as an example.

In former days this was by far the most abundant of all the
African game animals, and would sometimes be seen traveling

TYPES OF ANTELOPES

r. Waterbuck. 2. Dorcas Gazelle. 3. Indian Blackbuck. 4. Springboks.

S. Oryx. 6. Eland. 7. Sable Antelope.

THE WILD OXEN 177

from one district to another in enormous herds, covering the
country as far as the eye could reach. So vast were these herds,
indeed, and so closely did the animals march side by side together
that sometimes a lion would be seen in their ranks marching
along with them, quite unable to stop, or to make his escape,
because of the pressure all round him!

The springbok, or "springbuck," owes its name to its mar-
velous activity, and to its curious habit of suddenly leaping
straight up into the air. In this way it can easily spring to a
height of eight or ten feet.

The springbok is easily tamed, and soon comes to know
who are its friends. One of these animals was kept as a pet by
a lady living at Klerksdorp, in South Africa, and w^ould wander
about the to^vn by itself, not seeming to be in the least afraid of
the passers-by, or even of the dogs. Every morning, too, it
would cross the river, and go out upon the veldt to feed; and
although it would mix freely with its wild companions during the
day, it always left them in the evening and came home to sleep.

In height the springbok stands about two feet six inches,
and it can easily be distinguished from all the other gazelles by
the white streak which runs along the middle of the back. The
horns are black, with a number of ridge-like rings running
round them, and the color of the coat is dark cinnamon-yellow
above and white beneath, with a blackish stripe on the flanks
between the two.

Gnus

If the gazelles are the most graceful of all the antelopes,
the gnus, also known as wildebeests, are certainly the most
ungainly, their great broad heads, and very high shoulders
giving them an extremely awkward appearance. Then the
curved horns are very broad at the base, and are set so closely
together on the forehead that they form a sort of helmet, like
those of the Cape buffalo, while the muzzle is fringed with long
bristles, and there is an upright mane of stiff hairs upon the
neck. So that altogether the gnu cannot be considered as a
handsome animal!

178 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Two kinds of gnus are known, both of which are found in
Southern and Eastern Africa. The commoner of the two is
called the white-tailed gnu, because it has a long white tail,
while the other, the brindled gnu, has a black one. Both
animals stand about four feet six inches in height at the shoulder.

Gnus are very suspicious, very inquisitive, and very timid,
and when they catch sight of a human being, they often behave
in a most extraordinary way, prancing about, pawing the
ground, capering on their hind legs, leaping into the air, and
whisking their long tails about in the most absurd manner.
Then some will chase the others round and round in circles.
Next they will come charging on in a long line like cavalry, as
though they meant to attack. And then, quite suddenly,
the whole herd will wheel round, and dash off together, enveloped
in a cloud of dust!

They are so inquisitive that a hunter has often attracted a
gnu to within a very few yards just by tying a red handkerchief
to the muzzle of his gun, and allowing it to flutter in the breeze
like a flag!

Other antelopes that we should like to tell about have been
described by travelers and hunters. The sable antelope of
South Africa, for example, is regarded by Air. Ernest Ingersoll
as perhaps "the most admirable of all antelopes," the object
of "an admiring enthusiasm among sportsmen" as well as
naturalists. But as we cannot find space to describe all these
interesting creatures, we must leave you to learn about some of
them in books wholly designed to make them known.

CHAPTER XVI

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ZEBRAS, ASSES, AND HORSES

Here we reach a number of animals with which you have
more or less acquaintance, and about which you cannot fail
to be interested in hearing any particulars that we may be able
to set down for you.

Giraffes

THESE are the tallest of all living animals, for a full-
grown male may stand eighteen or even nineteen feet
in height. Just think of it ! If one elephant were to stand
upon another elephant's back a giraffe could look over them
both.

This wonderful height is chiefly due to the great length of
the neck. Yet there are only seven vertehrce, or joints of the
spine, in that part of the body, just as there are in our own necks.
But then each of these joints may be as much as a foot long!
When the animal is hungry, its height is of very great use to
it, enabling it to feed upon the leaves of trees which do not
throw out branches near the ground. And in captivity, of
course, its manger has to be put quite close to the roof of its
stable.

Strange to say, the giraflfe plucks each leaf separately by
means of its tongue, which is very long indeed and very slender,
and is prehensile at the tip, like the tail of a spider-monkey.
So it can be coiled round the stem of a leaf in order to pull it
from the branch. And sometimes at the zoo you may see a
giraffe snatch flowers out of ladies' hats and bonnets by means
of this curious tongue.

If a giraffe wants to feed upon grass instead of leaves, it
straddles its front legs very widely apart, and then bends its

179

180 THE ANIMAL WORLD

long neck down between them. And it does just the same
when it drinks.

The giraffe is a fast runner, and a horse must be very swift
to overtake it. It runs in a most singular manner, with "a
queer camel-like gallop," and throwing out the hind legs with
a semicircular movement, while its long neck goes rocking
backward and forward like that of a toy donkey, and the long
tail switches up and down as regularly as if it were moved by
clockwork. So a long line of giraffes all running away together
must look very odd indeed.

You would think that giraffes would be very easily seen,
even in the forest, wouldn't you? Yet every hunter tells us
that as long as they are standing still it is almost impossible to
detect them, since they look just like the stems and foliage of
the trees, with the sunlight shining in patches between the
leaves!

Giraffes are found in various parts of Africa, south of the
Sahara, and two different varieties are known, that from South
Africa being much the darker of the two, and having the spots
much larger and closer together. A third kind, with five of the
so-called horns on the head, has been recorded by Sir Harry
Johnston.

The Okapi

A still more remarkable discovery, made in the same forest
district by the same famous explorer, was that of the okapi,
which is a very singular animal. Perhaps we can best describe
it to you by saying that it is something like a giraffe, and some-
thing like an antelope, and something like a zebra, and some-
thing like an ox! The color of its coat is like that of a very
red cow, there are zebra-like stripes on the fore and hind quarters,
and the legs are cream-colored, while on the skull are faint
traces of horns like those of the giraffe.

We do not as yet know much about the habits of this wonder-
ful animal, except that it lives in the thickest parts of the forest,
seems to go about in pairs, and to feed wholly on leaves and
twigs.

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 181

The Deer

In some ways these animals are not unlike antelopes. But
one great difference between the two is this. In the antelopes
the horns are hollow, growing upon bony cores which spring
from the skull, and remain all through the life of the animal.
But in the deer they are solid, and are thrown off every year,
fresh ones growing in their places in the course of four or five
months. Then the material of which they are made is altogether
different, for whereas the horns of the antelopes really consist
of highly compressed hair, those of the deer are composed of
lime, and are very much more like bone. On account of these
differences horns of deer are better called antlers.

The way in which these antlers grow is very curious. For
some little time after they are shed the animal is extremely
timid, for he knows perfectly well that he has lost his natural
weapons. So he hides away in the thickest parts of the forest,
where none of his enemies are likely to find him. After a while,
two little knobs make their appearance on the head, just where
the horns used to be. These knobs are covered with a close
furry skin, which is known as the velvet, and if you were to take
hold of them you would find that they were quite hot to the
touch. That is because the blood is coursing rapidly through
them, and leaving particles of lime behind it as it goes. Day
by day they increase in size, throwing out branches as they do
so, until they are rather larger than the pair which were cast
off. Then the blood-vessels close up, and the velvet becomes
dry and begins to fall off, sometimes hanging down in long
strips, which are at last rubbed off against the trees and bushes.

Reestdeer and Caribou

A great many kinds of deer are found in different parts of
the world, perhaps the most famous of all being the reindeer.

This is the only deer in which the does possess horns as
well as the stags. It is found in the northern parts of Europe
and Asia and also of North America, where it is called the

182 THE ANIMAL WORLD

caribou and generally lives in large herds. During the winter
and spring these herds remain in the forests. But in summer
they are so annoyed by flies that they make their way to the
hills, ascending to such a height that their insect enemies cannot
follow them, and there they remain until the autumn. A number
of herds usually join together when they are migrating in this
way, and the appearance of thousands upon thousands of the
animals traveling slowly along, each with its antlers upliited,
has been compared to that of a moving forest of leafless trees.

In Siberia, Lapland, and Norway, large herds of reindeer
are kept as we keep cattle, and are used as beasts both of draught
and burden. A single reindeer can carry a weight of about 130
pounds upon its back, or draw a load of 190 pounds upon a
sledge, and it so enduring that it will travel at the rate of from
eight to ten miles an hour for twelve hours together.

"The caribou," says Mr. Ingersoll, "has never been utilized
by any of the people of arctic America, although just across
Bering Strait the same animal was kept in large herds by the
Chuckchis of Siberia. The United States government has
attempted to repair this deficiency by introducing large numbers
of Lapp reindeer among the Alaskans, and the experiment is
proving successful." (See also page 173.)

During the summer reindeer can obtain plenty of food, but
in the winter they have to live upon a kind of white lichen, which
grows in waste, dry places. Very often, of course, this is covered
with snow, which the animals have to scrape away with their
hoofs. But when a slight thaw is followed by a frost they find
it very difficult to do this, and sometimes they actually perish
from starvation.

The color of the reindeer varies slightly at different seasons of
the year, the coat usually being sooty brown in summer and
brownish gray in winter. The nose, neck, hind quarters, and
lower parts of the body are always white or whitish gray.

The people of Lapland, Finland, and Siberia have for a
long time domesticated reindeer, finding their flesh good to eat,
and their hides, horns, and sinews valuable for making clothing
and implements of various kinds. Their milk makes excellent
cheese, which in those regions is an important article of food.

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 183

The Elk, or Moose

The elk, which is found in the same parts of the world as
the reindeer, is a much larger animal. Indeed, it is the biggest
of all living deer, a full-grown stag standing well over six feet
in height at the withers, and sometimes weighing as much as
twelve hundred pounds. It is not at all a graceful creature,
for the neck is very short, and the head is held below the level
of the shoulders, while the antlers are so enormously large that
it hardly seems possible that the animal should be able to carry
them.

One would think that when the elk was traveling through
the forest these huge antlers would be constantly getting en-
tangled among the branches of the trees. But the animal is
able to throw them well back upon its shoulders, so that they
do not really interfere with its progress in the least.

In x\merica this animal is known as the moose, and is generally
found in small parties, consisting of a buck, a doe, and their
fawns of two seasons. During the summer they live near
swamps or rivers, where there is plenty of rich, long grass. But
a 3 soon as winter comes on they retire to higher ground and spend
the next few months in a small clearing in the midst of the thick-
est forest. These clearings are generally called moose-yards,
and you might think, perhaps, that when a hunter had discovered
one he would have no difficulty in shooting the animals. But
they are so wary that it is almost impossible to approach them,
either by day or by night, and many a hunter has followed them
for weeks without obtaining a shot.

The Indians attract the moose within range by imitating the
cry of the doe, which they do so cleverly that if a buck is within
hearing he is sure to come up to the spot. Or they will rattle a
moose's shoulder-bone against the bark of a tree so as to make
a sound like the call of the buck, which any buck in the neigh-
borhood is sure to take as a challenge to fight. For these ani-
mals are very quarrelsome creatures, and wage fierce battles
with one another, sometimes using their antlers with such effect
that both combatants die from their wounds.

VOL. v. — 13

184 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The deer family is so large that we must content ourselves
with briefly mentioning a few of its members. First we will
speak of three of the Old World deer, and of these as they are
seen in Great Britain, whose literature has so much to say of
them.

The Red Deer

This is the noblest object of the chase in Europe. The only
part of England in which it is now really wild is Exmoor, where
it is still quite plentiful. But in many parts of the Scottish
Highlands it is carefully preserv-ed, large moorland districts
being given up to it under the title of deer forests.

When the female deer has a little fawn to take care of, she
generally hides it among very tall heather, pressing it gently
with her nose to make it lie dowTi. There it will remain all day
long without moving, till she returns to it in the evening. But
she is never very far away, and is always ready to come at once
to its aid if it should be attacked by a fox or a wildcat.

The stag of this animal is a good deal larger than the doe, and
may stand as much as four feet high at the shoulder, while its
antlers may be more than three feet long. In color it is a bright
reddish brown, which often becomes a good deal paler during
the winter.

The Fallow Deer

This deer is not nearly so big as the red deer. It is never
more than three feet in height, while you can also distinguish it
by the fact that the antlers are flattened out at the tip into a
broad plate, and that the coat is spotted with white.

This is the deer which is kept in so many English parks,
where one may often see a herd of a hundred or more of the
pretty, graceful animals moving about together.

There is always a "master" deer in each of these herds, who
has won his post by fighting and overcoming all his rivals. He
does not always remain with the herd, but often lives apart for
weeks together, accompanied, perhaps, by three or four favorite

THE ANTLERED DEER

I. Virginian, or Wtite-tailed Deer. 2. East Indian Sambar. 3. Moose; European
Elk. 4. East Indian Jungle Deer. 5. Roe Deer. 6. Wapiti; American Elk. 7, Cari-
bou; Reindeer. (.\11 are stags.)

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 185

does; and in his absence the herd is led by some of the younger
bucks. But whenever he makes his appearance these make
way for him, and no one disputes his sway until he becomes too
old and infirm to hold his position any longer.

The male fallow deer is kno\\Ti by different names at different
times of his life. In the first year he is called a "fawn, " in the
second year a "pricket," in the third a "sorrel," and in the
fourth a "soare," while when he is five years old he is described
as a " buck of the first lead, " and when he is six as a " buck com-
plete."

The Roebuck

This is quite a small animal, seldom exceeding twenty-six
inches in height at the shoulder. In color it is reddish or gray-
ish brown above and grayish white underneath, with a white
patch on the chin and another round the root of the tail. The
antlers stand nearly upright, and throw off one "tine," or spur,
in front, and two more behind.

"There is only one part of England where the roebuck is found
wild, and that is Blackmoor Vale, in Dorsetshire. But it is
common in many of the Scottish moors and forests. It is never
seen in herds, like the fallow deer, but goes about in pairs, al-
though when there are fawns they accompany their parents.

The roebuck sheds its antlers in December, and the new ones
are fully developed by about the end of February. Although
they are seldom more than eight or nine inches long they are
really formidable weapons, more especially as the deer is very
powerful in proportion to its size. The bucks are very quarrel-
some creatures and fight most savagely with one another, while
more than once they have been known to attack human beings
and to inflict severe wounds before they could be driven away.

American Deer

Excepting the moose, caribou, and wapiti, often wrongly
called an elk, found in the western United States and some parts
of Canada, the deer of North and South America stand quite

186 THE ANIMAL WORLD

apart from those of the Old World, and are placed in a genus
of their own. Usually the tail is long, and the brow-antler is
always wanting. The most familiar species is the common Ameri-
can deer, of which the Virginia or white-tailed deer is the type.
This deer is found in varying forms in both continents, and was
regularly hunted by the ancient Mexicans with trained pumas.
The wTll-known Virginia deer found in Eastern North Ameri-
ca, and believed to range as far south as Louisiana, stands a
trifle over three feet in height, and weighs, clean, about one
hundred and seventy-five pounds. The coloration is chestnut
in summer, bluish gray in winter. The antlers are of good size,
and usually measure from twenty to twenty-four inches in length.
As a sporting animal the white-tailed deer is not popular. It
has been described as "an exasperating little beast," possessing
every quality which a deer ought not to, from the sportsman's
point of view. "His haunts are river-bottoms, in choking,
blinding bush, and his habits are beastly. No one could ever
expect to stalk a white-tail; if you want to get one, you must
crawl. " Mr. Selous bagged one of these deer somewhat curious-
ly. "He was coming," he writes, "through the scrubby,
rather open bush straight toward me in a series of great leaps,
rising, I think, quite four feet from the ground at every bound.
I stood absolutely still, thinking to fire at him just as he jumped
the stream and passed me. However, he came so straight to
me that, had he held his course, he must have jumped on to or
over me. But when little more than the width of the stream
separated us — when he was certainly not more than ten yards
from me — he either saw or winded me, and, without a moment's
halt, made a prodigious leap sideways. I fired at him when he
was in the air, and I believe quite six feet above the ground."
The deer, an old buck with a good head, was afterward picked
up dead. In different parts of America, as far south as Peru
and Bolivia, various local races of this deer are to be found.

The Mule- Deer

The mule-deer is found in most parts of North America west
of the Missouri, as far south as Southern California, stands

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 187

about three feet four inches at the shoulder, and weighs over two
hundred and forty pounds. It carries good antlers, measuring
as much as thirty inches, and in color is tawny red in summer,
brownish gray in winter. It is a far better sporting animal than
the sneaking white-tailed deer, and affords excellent stalking.
This deer is still abundant in many localities. It is commonly
called "blacktail, " but the true blacktail is a similar but smaller
species confined to the Northern Pacific coast.

The Wapiti

This is the largest and finest of American deer, originally
numerous everywhere west of the Appalachian Mountains,
but now to be found only in the mountains of the Northwest.
It is much like the European red deer, but very much larger,
and is connected with it by a series of stags, known as the
maral, shou, etc., inhabiting Central Asia from Persia to Kam-
chatka. It grazes like cattle, rather than browses; and in the
fall gathers into herds, which formerly contained many thousands
and spent the winter among sheltering hills.

Marsh-Deer

In South America are to be found several kinds of marsh-deer,
of which the best known has its range from Brazil to the forest
country of the Argentine Republic. The marsh-deer is almost
equal in size to the red deer of Europe, but somewhat
less stout of build; the coloring is bright chestnut in sum-
mer, brown in winter; the coat is long and coarse, as befits
a swamp-loving creature; the antlers usually display ten
points, and measure more than twenty inches.

The Pampas-Deer

This species, closely allied to the marsh-deer, is of small size,
standing about two feet six inches at the shoulder. The antlers,
usually three-pointed, measure no more than from twelve to
fourteen inches in fine specimens. The pampas-deer is found
from Brazil to Northern Patagonia.

188 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Peruvian and Chilean Guemals

These are small deer, found on the high Andes, and are some-
what inferior in size to the Virginia deer. The males carry simple
antlers forming a single fork, and measuring about nine inches.
The coat, yellowish brown in hue, is coarse, thick, and brittle.
The Chilean guemal is found also in most parts of Patagonia;
unlike the guemal of Peru, which delights in altitudes of from
14,000 to 16,000 feet, it lives chiefly in deep valleys, thick forest,
and even the adjacent plains, to which it resorts in winter.

Brockets

Of these, several species are found in South and Central
America and Trinidad. They are small deer, having spike-like
antlers and tufted crowns. The largest is the red brocket, found
in Guiana, Brazil, and Paraguay, which stands twenty-seven
inches at the shoulder. The body coloring is brownish red.
Like most of the group, this brocket is extremely shy; but al-
though fond of dense covert, it is found also in open patches.
The pygmy brocket, a tiny dark-brown deerlet, less than nine-
teen inches in height, found in Central Brazil, is the smallest
of these very small deer.

PUDUS

Two other diminutive deer, known as pudus, closely allied to
the brockets, are found in South America. These are the
Chilean and Ecuador pudus, of which the former is only about
thirteen inches in height, the latter about fourteen or fifteen
inches. Little is known of the history and life habits of these
charming little creatures, one of which, the Chilean species, has
occasionally been seen in zoological gardens.

Camels

We now come to a remarkably interesting animal. First let us
tell you how wonderfully the camel is suited to a life in the desert.

CHILDREN'S PETS AT THE ZOO.

I. Guanaco and Young. 2. Dorcas Gazelle.

3. Bactrian Riding Camel.

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 189

In the first place, it has great spreading feet. Now this is
very important, for if the animal had small, hard hoofs, like those
of the horse or the donkey, it would sink deeply into the loose
sand at every step, and would soon be so tired out that it would
be quite unable to travel any farther. But its broad, splay,
cushion-like toes do not sink into the sand at all, and it can march
easily along, hour after hour, where a horse could scarcely travel
a mile.

Then it can go for several weeks with hardly any food. All
that it finds as it journeys through the desert is a mouthful
or two of dry thorns, and even at the end of the day its m?.ster
has nothing to give it but a few dates. And on this meager diet
it has to travel forty or fifty miles a day with a heavy load on
its back.

But then, you must remember, the camel has a hump. Now
this hump consists almost entirely of fat, and as the animal
marches on day after day with scarcely any food, this fat passes
back by degrees into its system, and actually serves as nourish-
ment. So, you see, while the, camel is traveling through the
desert it really lives chiefly on its own hump ! By the time that
it reaches its journey's end, the hump has almost entirely
disappeared. Little more is left in its place than a loose
bag of empty skin. The animal is then unfit for work
and has to be allowed to graze for two or three weeks in a
rich pasture. Then, day by day, the hump fills out again, and
when it is firm and solid once more the camel is fit for another
journey.

More wonderful still, perhaps, is its way of carrying enough
water about with it to last for several days.

Except the camel, typical ruminating animals, or those which
chew the cud, have the stomach divided into four separate
compartments, through which the food passes in turn. These
are called the paunch, the honeycomb stomach or bag, the
manyplies and the abomasum. In the camel the third of these
is wanting, and the first and second are provided with a number
of deep cells, which can be opened or closed at the will of the
animal.

In these cells the animal is able to store up water. When

190 THE ANIMAL WORLD

it has the opportunity of drinking, it not only quenches its
thirst, but fills up all these cells as well. In this way it can store
up quite a gallon and a half of liquid. Then, when it grows
thirsty, and cannot find a pool or a stream, all that it has to
do is to open one or two of the cells and allow the contents to
flow out, and so on from time to time until the whole supply
is exhausted.

In this way a camel can easily go for five or six days without
requiring to drink, even when marching under the burning sun
of the desert.

Two kinds of camels are kno\Mi, neither of which is now
found in a wild state.

Arabian Camel

The first of these is the Arabian camel, which only has one
hump on its back, and is so well known that there is no need to
describe it. It is very largely used in many parts of Africa and
Asia as a beast of both draught and burden. Camels for
riding upon, however, are generally called dromedaries, and
may be regarded as a separate breed, just as hunters are
a separate breed from cart-horses. And while they will
travel with a rider upon their backs at a pace of eight or
nine miles an hour, an ordinary camel with a load upon its
back will scarcely cover a third of that distance in the same
time.

This camel is a bad-tempered animal. It gets very cross
when it is made to kneel down to be loaded, and crosscr still
when it has to kneel again in the evening for its burden to be
removed, and all day it goes grunting and snarling and groaning
along, ready to bite any one who may come near it. And it is
so stupid that if it wanders off the path for a yard or two, in
order to nibble at a tempting patch of herbage, it goes straight
on in the new direction, without ever thinking of turning back
in order to regain the road.

Besides being used for riding and for carr}'ing loads, the
camel is valuable on account of its flesh and also of its milk,
while its hair is woven into a kind of coarse cloth.

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 191

Bactrian Camel

This camel, which comes from Central Asia, has two humps
on its back instead of one. It is not quite so tall as the Arabian
animal, and is more stoutly and strongly built, while its hair
is much longer and more shaggy. For these reasons it is very
useful in rocky and hilly country, for it can scramble about
for hours on steep and stony ground without getting tired,
while its thick coat protects it from the cold.

Llamas

Llamas may be described as South American camels. But
they are much smaller than the true camels, and have no humps
on their backs, and their feet are not nearly so broad and
cushion-like, while their thick woolly coat grows in dense masses,
which sometimes reach almost to the ground.

There are four kinds of llamas, but we can only tell you about
one of them, the guanaco.

This animal lives both among the mountains and in the
plains. It is generally found in flocks, consisting of a single
male and from twelve to fifteen females. But sometimes the
flocks are much larger, and more than once several hundred
animals have been seen together. The male always keeps
behind the flock, and if he notices any sign of danger he utters
a curious whistling cry. The does know exactly what this
means and at once take to flight, while the male follows, stop-
ping every now and then to look back and see if they are being
pursued.

Usually, when two male guanacos meet, they fight, biting
one another most savagely, and squealing loudly with rage.
When one of these animals is killed, its skin is likely to be
found deeply scored by the wounds it has received from its
numerous antagonists.

If you go to look at the llamas in a zoo, we would advise you
not to stand too near the bars of their enclosure, for they have a
habit of spitting straight into one's face! When they are used

192 THE ANIMAL WORLD

for riding they will often turn their heads round and spit at
their rider, just to show that they are getting tired. And if
once they lie down no amount of persuasion or even of beating
will make them get up again, until they consider that they
have had a proper rest!

Zebras

There are three different kinds of these beautiful animals.
The largest and finest is known as Grevy's zebra, which is
found in the -mountains of Somaliland. It has many more
stripes than the other two, while the ground color is quite white.
The smallest is the mountain zebra, which is only about as big
as a good-sized pony, and has its legs striped right down to
the hoofs. This is now a very scarce animal, being only found
in one or two mountainous districts in South Africa, where
no one is allowed to interfere with it. .And between the two is
the Burchell's zebra, which is about as large as a small horse,
and has its legs white, with only a very few markings. This
animal is quite common in many parts of the South African
plains, and has often been domesticated, and taught to draw
carriages and carts. Indeed, in some districts of Southern
Africa, a coach drawn by a team of zebras instead of horses
is not a very uncommon sight.

You would think that an animal, colored like the zebra
would be very easily seen, even by night, wouldn't you? But
strange to say, these creatures are almost invisible from a dis-
tance of even a few yards. Indeed, hunters say that they have
often been so close to a zebra at night that they could hear him
breathing, yet have been quite unable to see him!

This seems to be due to his stripes, for it has been found that
while a pony can be easily seen from forty or fifty yards away on a
moonlight night, it at once becomes invisible if it is clothed with
ribbons in such a way as to resemble the stripes of the zebra!

Zebras are generally found in herds, and they have a curious
habit of traveling about in company with a number of brindled
gnus and ostriches, which all seem to be as friendly as possible
together.

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 193

The Quagga

The quagga, which became extinct some time ago, never had
a very extended range, but once it existed in great numbers on
all the upland plains of Cape Colony to the west of the Kei River,
and in the open treeless country lying between the Orange and
Vaal rivers. North of the Vaal it appears to have been unknown.

The quagga seems to have been nearly allied to Burchell's'
zebra — especially to the most southerly form of that species —
but was much darker in general color. Instead of being
striped over the whole body, it was only strongly banded on
the head and neck, the dark brown stripes becoming fainter
on the shoulders and dying away in spots and blotches. On
the other hand, in size and build, in the appearance of its
mane, ears, and tail, and in general habits, it seems to have
nearly resembled its handsomer relative. The barking neigh
**qua-ha-ha, qua-ha-ha" seems, too, to have been the same
in both species. The Dutch word quagga is pronounced in
South Africa "qua-ha," and is of Hottentot origin, an imitation
of the animal's neighing call. To-day Burchell's zebras are in-
variably called qua-has by both Boers and British colonists.

Wild Asses

The true asses are without stripes on the head, neck, and
body, with the exception of a dark streak down the back from
the mane to the tail, which is present in all members of the group,
and in some cases a dark band across the shoulders and irregular
markings on the legs.

In Africa the wild ass is only found in the desert regions of
the northeastern portion of that continent. It is a fine animal,
standing between thirteen and fourteen hands at the shoulder.
It lives in small herds or families of four or five individuals,
and is not found in mountainous districts, but frequents low
stony hills and arid desert wastes. It is as a general rule an
alert animal and difficult to approach, and so fleet and enduring
that excepting in the case of foals and mares heavy in young,
it cannot be overtaken even by a well-mounted horseman.

194 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Notwithstanding the scanty nature of the herbage in the dis-
tricts they frequent, these desert-bred asses are always in good
condition. They travel long distances to water at night, but
appear to require to drink regularly. Their flesh is eaten by
the natives of the Soudan. The bray of the African wild ass,
it is said, cannot easily be distinguished from that of the
domesticated animal, which is undoubtedly descended from
this breed.

In Asia three varieties of the wild ass are found, which were
formerly believed to represent three distinct species; but all
the local races of the Asiatic wild ass are now considered to
belong to one species, and it is to them that reference is made
in the description on pages 196 and 197.

These wild asses have a wide range, and are met with from
Syria to Persia and Western India, and northward throughout
the more arid portions of Central Asia. Like their African
relatives, the wild asses of Asia are inhabitants of waste places,
frequenting desert plains and wind-swept steppes. They are
said to be as fleet and enduring as the others.

The wild asses of the desert plains of India and Persia are
said to be very wary and difficult to approach, but the kiang of
Tibet is always spoken of as a much more confiding animal, its
curiosity being so great that it will frequently approach to within
a short distance of any unfamiliar object, such as a sportsman,
engaged in stalking other game.

Asiatic wild asses usually live in small families of four or five,
but sometimes congregate in herds. Their food consists of
various grasses in the low-lying portions of their range, but of
woody plants on the high plateaus, where little else is to be ob-
tained. Of wild asses in general the late Sir Samuel Baker once
said: "Those who have seen donkeys only in their civilized
state can have no conception of the wild or original animal; it is
the perfection of activity and courage. "

The Horse

Like the wild camels, genuine wild horses are very generally
believed to be extinct. The vast herds which occur to-day in a

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 195

wild state in Europe, America, and Australia are to be regarded,
say those who believe in the extinction theory, as descended
from domesticated animals which have run wild. So far as the
American and Australian horses are concerned, this is no doubt
true; but of the European stocks it is by no means so certain.
However, without giving you any theory of our own, we will
quote at some length from an interesting and instructive chapter
on the horse by A. B. Buckley.

" There rose before my mind the level grass-covered pampas
of South America, where wild horses share the boundless plains
with troops of the rhea, or American ostrich, and wander, each
horse with as many mares as he can collect, in companies of
hundreds or even thousands in a troop. These horses are now
truly wild, and live freely from youth to age, unless they are
unfortunate enough to be caught in the more inhabited regions
by the lasso of the hunter. In the broad pampas, the home of
herds of wild cattle, they dread nothing. There, as they roam
with one bold stallion as their leader, even beasts of prey hesitate
to approach them, for, when they form into a dense mass with
the mothers and young in their center, their heels deal blows
which even the fierce jaguar does not care to encounter, and
they trample their enemy to death in a very short time. Yet
these are not the original wild horses; they are the descendants
of tame animals, brought from Europe by the Spaniards to
Buenos Aires in 1535, whose descendants have regained their
freedom on the boundless pampas and prairies.

"As I was picturing them careering over the plains, another
scene presented itself and took their place. Now I no longer
saw around me tall pampas-grass with the long necks of the
rheas appearing above it, for I was on the edge of a dreary,
scantily covered plain between the Aral Sea and the Balkash
Lake in Tartary. To the south lies a barren sandy desert, to
the north the fertile plains of the Kirghiz steppes, where the
Tartar feeds his flocks, and herds of antelopes gallop over the
fresh green pasture; and between these is a kind of no-man's
land, where low scanty shrubs and stunted grass seem to promise
but a poor feeding-ground.

"Yet here the small long-legged but powerful tarpans, the wild

WILD RELATIVES OF THE HORSE.

I Northern or Grevy's Zebra.
3. So.itliern (or Bvcheli's) Zebra.

2. Abyssinian Ass.

4. Przwalsky's Central-Asian Horse.

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 197

or an ass, probably because he represents an animal truly be-
tween the two. His head is graceful, his body light, his legs
slender and fleet, yet his ears are long and ass-like; he has
narrow hoofs, and a tail with a tuft at the end like all the ass
tribe; his color is a yellow brown, and he has a short dark mane
and a long dark stripe down his back as a donkey has. Living
often on the high plateaus, sometimes as much as fifteen hundred
feet above the sea, this 'child of the steppes' travels in large
companies even as far as the rich meadows of Central Asia;
in summer wandering in green pastures, and in winter seeking
the hunger-steppes where sturdy plants grow. And when
Autumn comes the young steeds go off alone to the mountain
heights to survey the country around and call wildly for mates,
whom, when found, they will keep close to them through all
the next year, e\'en though they mingle with thousands of
others.

"Till recent years the Equus hemionus was the only truly
wild horse known, but in the winter of 1879-80 the Russian
traveler Przhevalsky brought back from Central Asia a much
more horse-like animal, called by the Tartars kertag, and by
the Mongols statur. It is a clumsy, thick-set, whitish-gray
creature with strong legs and a large, hea\y, reddish-colored
head; its legs have a red tint down to the knees, beyond which
they are blackish down to the hoofs. But the ears are small,
and it has the broad hoofs of the true horse, and warts on the
hind legs, which no animal of the ass tribe has. This horse,
like the kiang, travels in small troops of from five to fifteen,
led through the wildest parts of the Dsungarian desert, between
the Altai and Tian-Shan Mountains, by an old stallion. They
are extremely shy, and see, hear, and smell very quickly, so that
they are otT like lightning whenever anything approaches them.

" So having traveled over America, Europe, and Asia, was my
quest ended? No; for from the dreary Asiatic deserts my
thoughts wandered to a far warmer and more fertile land, where
between the Blue Nile and the Red Sea rise the lofty highlands
of Abyssinia, among which the African wild ass, the probable
ancestor of our donkeys, feeds in troops on the rich grasses of
the slopes, and then onward to the bank of a river in Central

198 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Africa where on the edge of a forest, with rich pastures beyond,
elephants and rhinoceroses, antelopes and buffaloes, lions and
hyenas, creep down in the cool of the evening to slake their
thirst in the flowing stream. There I saw the herds of zebras
in all their striped beauty coming down from the mountain
regions to the north, and mingling with the darker-colored but
graceful quaggas from the southern plains, and I half grieved
at the thought how these untamed and free rovers are being
slowly but surely surrounded by man closing in upon them on
every side.

" I might now have traveled still farther in search of the ona-
ger, or wild ass of the Asiatic and Indian deserts, but at this
point a more interesting and far wider question presented itself,
as I flung myself down on the moor to ponder over the early
history of all these tribes.

" Where have they all come from ? Where shall we look for
the first ancestors of these wild and graceful animals ? For the
answer to this question I had to travel back to America, to those
Western United States where Professor Marsh has made such
grand discoveries in horse history. For there, in the very coun-
trv where horses were supposed never to have been before the
Spaniards brought them a few centuries ago, we have now found
the true birthplace of the equine race.

"Come back with me to a time so remote that we cannot
measure it even by hundred of thousands of years, and let us
visit the territories of Utah and Wyoming. Those highlands
were very different then from what they are now. Just risen
out of the seas of the Cretaceous Period, they were then clothed
with dense forests of palms, tree-ferns, and screw-pines, mag-
nohas and laurels, interspersed with wide-spreading lakes, on
the margins of which strange and curious animals fed and
flourished. There were large beasts with teeth like the tapir
and the bear, and feet like the elephant; and others far more
dangerous, half bear, half hyena, prowling around to attack the
clumsy paleotherium or the anoplotherium, something between
a rhinoceros and a horse, which grazed by the waterside, while
graceful antelopes fed on the rich grass. And among these
were some little animals no bigger than foxes, with four toes and

GIRAFFES, DEER, CAMELS, ETC. 199

a splint for the fifth, on their front feet, and three toes on the
hind ones.

"These clumsy little animals, whose bones have been found
in the rocks of Utah and Wyoming, have been called Eohippus,
or horse of the dawn, by naturalists. They were animals with
real toes, yet their bones and teeth show that they belonged to
the horse tribe, and already the fifth toe common to most other
toed animals was beginning to disappear.

"This was in the Eocene Period, and before it passed away
with its screw-pines and tree-ferns, another rather larger animal,
called Orohippiis, had taken the place of the small one, and he
had only four toes on his front feet. The splint had disappeared,
and as time went on still other animals followed, always with
fewer toes, while they gained slender fleet legs, together with an
increase in size and in gracefulness. First one as large as a
sheep (Mesohippus) had only three toes and a splint. Then
the splint again disappeared, and one large and two dwindling
toes only remained, till finally these two became mere splints,
leaving one large toe or hoof with almost imperceptible splints,
which may be seen on the fetlock of a horse's skeleton.

"You must notice that a horse's foot really begins at the
point which we call his knee in the front legs, and at his hock in
his hind legs. His true knee and elbow are close up to the body.
What we call his foot or hoof is really the end of the strong,
broad, middle toe covered with a hoof, and farther up his foot we
can feel two small splints, which are remains of two other toes.

" Meanwhile, during these long succeeding ages while the foot
was lengthening out into a slender limb, the animals became
larger, more powerful, and more swift, the neck and head be-
came longer and more graceful, the brain-case larger in front,
and the teeth decreased in number, so that there is now a large
gap between the biting teeth and the grinding teeth of a horse.
Their slender limbs too became more flexible and fit for running
and galloping, till we find the whole skeleton the same in shape,
though not in size, as in our own horses and asses now.

" They did not, however, during all this time remain confined
to America, for, from the time when they arrived at an animal
called Miohippiis, or lesser horse, which came after Mesohippus

VOL. V. — 14

200 THE ANIMAL WORLD

and had only three toes on each foot, we find their remains in
Europe, where they hved in company with the giraffes, opos-
sums, and monkeys which roamed over these parts in those
ancient times. Then a little later we find them in Africa and
India; so that the horse tribe, represented by creatures about as
large as donkeys, had spread far and wide over the world.

" And now, curiously enough, they began to forsake, or to die
out in, the land of their birth. Why they did so we do not know;
but while in the old world as asses, quaggas, and zebras, and
probably horses, they flourished in Asia, Europe, and Africa,
they certainly died out in America, so that ages afterward, when
that land was discovered, no animal of the horse tribe was found
in it.

"And the true horse, where did he arise? Born and bred
probably in Central Asia from some animal like the kulan, or the
kertag, he proved too useful to savage tribes to be allowed his
freedom, and it is doubtful whether in any part of the world he
escaped subjection. In England he probably roamed as a wild
animal till the savages, who fed upon him, learned in time to put
him to work; and when the Romans came they found the Britons
with fine and well-trained horses.

" Yet though tamed and made to know his master, he has, as
we have seen, broken loose again in almost all parts of the world
— in America on the prairies and pampas, in Europe and Asia
on the steppes, and in .Australia in the bush. And even in
Great Britain, where so few patches of uncultivated land still
remain, the young colts of Dartmoor, Exmoor, and Shetland,
though born of domesticated mothers, seem to assert their de-
scent from wild and free ancestors as they throw out their heels
and toss up their heads with a shrill neigh, and fly against the
wind with streaming manes and outstretched tails as the kulan,
the tarpan, and the zebra do in the wild desert or grassy plain. "

CHAPTER XVII

THE ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES. HIPPOPOTAMUSES,
AND WILD SWINE

THERE are three reasons, perhaps, why elephants interest
us so greatly.

The first is their enormous size. They are by far the largest
of all the animals which live upon land. "Jumbo," for in-
stance, the famous African elephant that we in the United
States saw in the last century, was nearly twelve feet in height,
and weighed more than six tons. A height of ten feet is quite
common.

Next, there is their wonderful docility. When wild, no
doubt, they are often very fierce and savage. Yet they are
easily tamed; and it is a strange sight to see one of these giant
creatures walking about with a load of children upon its back,
and meekly obeying the lightest word of a man whom it could
crush to death in a moment by simply placing its foot upon
him.

And then, once more, there is that marvelous trunk, so
strong that it can tear down great branches from the trees, and
yet so delicate that it can pick up the smallest scrap of food
from the ground. When the elephant wishes to feed, it seizes
the food with its trunk and pokes it into its mouth. When it
wishes to drink, it fills the same organ with water, and then
squirts the contents down its throat. If it should be hot, it
can take a shower-bath by squirting water over its body instead.
And it breathes through its trunk and smells with it as well.
So this wonderful member is used for a great many different
purposes.

As it is so valuable, the elephant takes very great care of
its trunk, always curling it up out of harm's way, for example,
if it should find itself in any danger.

Two different kinds of elephants are known, one of which
is found in Africa and the other in Asia.

201

202 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The African Elephant

You can easily tell the African elephant by the great size
of his ears, which are so large that a man might almost hide
himself behind one of them. " Jumbo's" ear, indeed, measured
no less than five feet five inches from side to side. When the
animal is excited these enormous ears stand out at right angles
to the head. Then the legs are much longer than those of the
Indian elephant, while the trunk, instead of having one finger-
like projection at the tip, has two, one in front and one behind.
Both the male and female animal, as a rule, possess tusks,
while in Indian elephants these weapons are only occasionally
present in the male, and hardly ever in the female.

The tusks of the male elephant, however, are always much
larger than those of his mate, and sometimes they grow to
a very great size. A length of nine feet is not very uncommon,
while tusks ten feet long, or even more, have sometimes been
recorded. Generally one tusk is several inches shorter than
the other, having been worn down in digging for the roots on
which the animal is fond of feeding; for elephants seem to
dig with one of the tusks only, and never with both.

The ivory of which these tusks are composed is so valuable
that the African elephant has been most terribly persecuted,
and in many districts where it was formerly plentiful it has dis-
appeared altogether. It lives as a rule in herds, which seek the
thickest parts of the forest during the day, and come out at
night to search for food and water. And even a small herd of
elephants will sometimes do a great deal of damage, for they
will uproot trees eighteen or even twenty feet high, in order
to feed upon the foliage of the upper branches, or snap off the
stems quite close to the ground. When the tree is a large
one, it is said that two elephants will unite in breaking it
down.

You would think that a herd of elephants would be very
conspicuous even in the thick forest, wouldn't you? Yet
all hunters unite in saying that as long as they remain still it
is almost impossible to see them, while they make their way

ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES, ETC. 203

through the bushes so silently that even when they are moving
it is not at all easy to hear them.

The Indian Elephant

This elephant seldom exceeds nine feet in height at the shoul-
der, although larger examples are sometimes found. It lives
in the thick jungle in herds of forty or fifty, which sometimes
wander by night into cultivated ground, and do terrible damage
to the crops. Now and then, however, a male elephant will
live entirely alone. These solitary animals are always very
fierce, and will rush out and attack any one who may pass by.
For this reason they are known as "rogues."

The Indian elephant is very often tamed, and is taught to
perform all kinds of hea^7 work, such as dragging timber or
piling logs. It is also used for riding, a howdah with several
seats being placed upon its back, while it is guided by a native
driver, called a mahout, who sits upon its neck and directs its
movements by means of a spiked hook. It is largely employed,
too, in hunting the tiger. But for this purpose it has to be most
carefully trained, for elephants are naturally very much afraid
of tigers, and even after a long course of instruction will some-
times take to flight when the furious animal springs at them
with open jaws and eyes flaming with rage.

Elephants in India are mostly captured by being driven
into a large keddah, or enclosure of stout posts, from which
they are unable to make their escape. In this way a large herd
of the huge animals are often taken prisoners together.

Next in size to the elephants are the great creatures known
as rhinoceroses, which are found both in Africa and in Asia.
Five different kinds are known altogether, but we shall only
be able to tell you about two.

The Indian Rhinoceros

In this animal the hide falls into great folds upon the shoulders
and in front of the thighs, while there are smaller folds upon the
neck and the hind quarters. The sides of the body are marked

204 THE ANIMAL WORLD

with a large number of round projections, sometimes as much
as an inch in diameter, which look very much like the rivets
in the iron plates of a boiler. When fully grown this animal
stands rather over five feet in height at the shoulder.

The Indian rhinoceros has only one horn, which is generally
about a foot long. This horn, strange to say, is not connected
in any w^ay with the bones of the skull, but is really a growth
from the skin, although there is a bony prominence under it
on which it is set. By means of a sharp knife, it could be cut
away without difficulty. But it is a very formidable weapon,
and some of the rhinoceroses with longer horns have been
known to rush at a mounted hunter with lowered head, and then
to strike upward with such terrible force that the horn has actu-
ally pierced the horse's body, and entered the thigh of the rider.
Sometimes a rhinoceros will rush along with its head bent
downward so far that the horn cuts a deep furrow in the ground.

This animal is chiefly found in the swampy parts of the
great grass-jungles of India. It is very fond of taking a mud-
bath, from which it comes out with its whole body thickly caked
with clay. This serves as a great protection from flies and other
insects, which persecute it terribly, forcing their way under the
thick folds of hide at the shoulders and thighs, where the skin
is thinner, and driving it nearly mad by the irritation of their bites.

In spite of its great size this rhinoceros is a rather timid animal,
and nearly always runs away when it is attacked. But if it
is wounded or brought to bay it becomes a terrible foe, charging
with fury again and again, and striking savagely with its horn,
and sometimes with its tusks as well.

The African rhinoceroses are without the folds of skin which
are found in the Indian species, and have two horns on the
head instead of one. Sometimes these horns are of very great
length. We have seen a walking-stick that might serve a very
tall man, which was cut from the core of such a horn.

The Common Rhinoceros

This is the better known of the two African species, and is
found in almost all the wilder districts from Abyssinia to Cape

ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES, ETC. 205

Colony. It lives in the thickest parts of the forest, breaking
away the bushes and the lower branches of the trees so as to
leave a clear space perhaps fifteen or twenty feet in diameter.
These retreats are called rhinoceros-houses, and the animals
remain in them during the heat of the day.

The common rhinoceros is wonderfully quick and active for
so large and heavy an animal, and is said to be able to overtake
a man riding a "fast horse. But it does not seem, as a rule,
to be savage in disposition, and very seldom attacks a human
foe. One great hunter tells us that although many rhinoceroses
have advanced toward him to within twenty or thirty yards,
they always ran away if he threw stones at them, or even if
he waved his arms and shouted. When wounded, however,
they will sometimes attack furiously. But they never think
of looking for their enemy in a tree, and if he can climb on to a
bough even three or four feet from the ground he is perfectly
safe.

The Hyrax

Oddly enough, one of the animals most closely related to
the rhinoceroses is much more like a rabbit, and actually lives
in burrows in the ground. This is the hyrax, or coney, as it is
called in the Bible, which almost anybody would mistake at
first sight for a rodent. Yet when one comes to look at its
front teeth he sees at once that instead of having flat, sharp
edges, like a chisel, they are pointed; and these teeth do not
continue to grow all through life, like those of the rodent animals.
And besides this there are several other points in its bodily
structure which show us that it really is a relation of the rhinoc-
eroses.

About fourteen different kinds of hyrax are known, some of
which are found in Africa, and the others in Arabia, Syria, and
Palestine. They all live in rocky districts high up on the sides
of mountains, a great number making their burrows close to one
another, just as rabbits do in a warren. They are very active
and sure of foot, and scamper up and down the sides of the rocks
with the greatest ease. It is difficult to watch them, however,

206 THE ANIMAL WORLD

for they are so shy that they will not leave their holes if they
think that any one can see them, while they only come out to
feed at night and very early in the morning. Sometimes, it is
true, they will lie out on the rocks during the day, enjoying the
hot sunshine. But one of them is always appointed to act as a
sentinel, and as soon as he notices the slightest sign of danger he
gives the alarm, and then they all disappear into their holes.

Tapirs

Very odd-looking animals are the tapirs, which are found
both in Central and South America, and also in some of the
islands of the Malay Archipelago. They are about as large as
donkeys, but look more like very big pigs. On the neck is a
short, stiff, upright mane of black hairs, and the upper lip is
lengthened out into a kind of trunk, something like that of an
elephant, but on a very much smaller scale, and without the odd
finger-like organ at the tip.

These curious animals live in thick forests near the banks of
great rivers, and come out from their retreats chiefly by night.
By constantly traveling backward and forward they make regu-
lar pathways through the thickets. They swim very well, and
are fond of gamboling in the water, and also of rolling about on
the muddy banks. But they are so timid that it is very difficult
to watch them; and it is said that they will run away in terror
from even a tiny dog.

But if a mother tapir thinks that her little one is in danger
she seems to lose all sense of fear, and will even dash at a man
and try to knock him down. And if she succeeds she will
trample upon him and even bite him, just like the wild
swine.

In America the great enemy of the tapirs is the jaguar, which
springs upon them unexpectedly, and generally succeeds in
tearing them to the ground. But sometimes they manage to es-
cape either by rushing at once into the very thickest bushes,
which sweep away their terrible enemy from his hold, or else by
plunging into the water, when he is obliged to loose his grip for
fear of beinsr drowned.

ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES, ETC. 207

The American tapirs are sooty brown in color, but that which
is found in the Malayan Islands is white on the sides and the
hinder parts of the body, while the young animal is spotted and
streaked with white all over.

The Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus, or river-horse, is perhaps the most awk-
ward and ungainly animal in the world. His huge body almost
touches the ground as he waddles clumsily along, while his short
stout legs are set so far apart that they actually make a double
track through the herbage. So you can easily understand that
when a herd of twenty or thirty of these enormous creat-
ures find their way into a plantation they do terrible
damage, eating a good deal, and trampling doun far more than
they eat.

Then what tremendous mouths they have ! When they open
their jaws wide, their heads really look as if they were splitting
in two right dowTi into their necks. And they have a most for-
midable array of tusks and teeth, arranged in such a manner
that they mow down the herbage almost like the blade of a
scythe.

The hippopotamus is a native of Africa, and is found in great
numbers in many of the rivers and lakes. It spends a great deal
of its time in the water, often sinking its body so low that only its
nostrils appear above the surface. And it can dive for eight or
even ten minutes at a time, without requiring to breathe. When
it rises again it generally begins to blow out the exhausted air
from its lungs just before reaching the surface, whereby a column
of spray is forced up into the air, just as it is by a whale when
spouting.

When a mother hippopotamus has a little one, she generally
carries it about on her back.

A writer tells us that the first hippopotamus that was ever
brought to the London Zoo was caught when it was quite young,
on one of the islands in the White Nile. As its mother had gone
away to feed, the hunter who found it picked it up in his arms
and ran off with it toward the boat. The skin of these animals,

208 THE ANIMAL WORLD

however, is thickly covered with a kind of natural oil, and the
result was that the little creature was so slippery that it wriggled
out of his arms just as he reached the water's edge, and plunged
into the river. But luckily the boat-hook was lying close by,
and with this he struck at the escaping animal, gaffed it as one
does a fish, and succeeded in capturing it again with
nothing more than a wound in its thick skin, which very
soon healed. After a great deal of trouble it was safely
brought to England, and lived in the Zoo for twenty-nine
years.

Another kind of hippopotamus, called the pygmy hippo-
potamus, is found in Western Africa. It is a very much smaller
animal, being only about as big as a good-sized pig.

Swine

Next on our list come the swine, among the most famous of
which is the wild boar.

Until about the middle of the sixteenth century this animal
was plentiful in the British Isles, and it is still found commonly
in the great forests of Europe. It is one of the fiercest and most
savage of animals, for it does not seem to know what fear is, and
will attack over and over again, even after receiving the most
severe wounds. And its tusks are so sharp and powerful that
they have been known to rip up the body of a horse at a single
stroke. When removed from the jaw these tusks are generally
about eight or nine inches long.

In India, where wild boars are very plentiful, they generally
make their lair among thick bushes in some marshy district, and
often do a great deal of mischief to cultivated crops in the neigh-
borhood. They are fond of roots, too, which they grub out of
the ground with their snouts, and in hot summers, when the
ponds dry up, they are said to dig in the mud at the bottom in
search of the fish which have buried themselves until the rainy
season. The old boars generally live by themselves, like " rogue "
elephants, but the younger ones and the sows go about together
in droves of fifteen or twenty, all of which, most likely, are
members of the same family.

ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES, ETC. 209

The Babirusa

This is one of the most curious of the swine. It is found in
the islands of Celebes and Borneo. In the boar of this animal
the tusks in both jaws spring upward, and then curve toward
the eyes, so that there is a sort of fringe, as it were, of tusks all
round the face. Sometimes the upper pairs are thirteen or
fourteen inches long, without counting the part that is buried in
the jaw. These, however, are not very useful as weapons. But
very severe wounds can be inflicted by the lower tusks, although
they are a good deal smaller, and an enraged babirusa is a most
formidable foe.

When fully grown, the babirusa stands about three feet six
inches in height in the middle of the back, which is always very
much arched. The color of the skin is dark ashy gray.

The Wart-Hog

The wart-hog, or vlack-vark, which is found in Eastern
Africa, is certainly the ugliest of all the swine. Its head is
enormously large in comparison with its body, the muzzle is very
long and broad, under each eye is a great wart-like lump, with
two others a little distance below it, and on each side of the
mouth two great stout tusks spring upward. Altogether, it
would be very hard to imagine a more sullen and ferocious-
looking animal.

It is not nearly so savage as the babirusa, however, and if it is
attacked it nearly always runs away, and tries to take refuge in
some hole in the ground, such as the deserted burrow of an ant-
bear. When it takes to ground in this way, it always turns
round just before entering, and backs in tail foremost. Some-
times, if two or three men stand just over the burrow and jump
heavily up and down in time together, it can be induced to bolt.
But it is advisable to do so with a good deal of caution, for the
animal has a singular way of turning a kind of back somersault
just as it leaves its burrow, which lands it upon the top, just
where the hunters would most likely be standing. And if they

210 THE ANIMAL WORLD

are not very careful one of them at least is almost sure to
receive a slashing cut from the terrible tusks, which will cer-
tainly cause a severe wound, and may even render him a cripple
for life.

When it is running away from a pursuer, and wishes to see
whether it is gaining upon him, the wart-hog presents a most
ridiculous appearance, for its neck is so short that it cannot turn
its head round to look behind it. So it lifts its snout straight up
into the air instead and looks over its shoulders. Besides this,
it always carries its tail perfectly stiff and upright.

Peccaries

In South America, and in Alexico and western Texas, the
wild swine are represented by the peccaries, of w^hich there are
two different kinds, the collared peccary and the less common
white-lipped peccary. They are not very large animals, being
only about three feet in length, and weighing not more than fifty
or sixty pounds; but they are nevertheless very dangerous crea-
tures, for three different reasons.

In the first place, they travel about in packs, sometimes con-
sisting of thirty or forty animals, which all attack a foe together.
In the second place, although their tusks are not nearly so long
as those of the preceding animals, they are almost as sharp as
razors, and can inflict most terrible wounds. Thirdly, the
animals know no fear, and will go on savagely attacking any
enemy, over and over again, until the last of them is killed. So
if a hunter should meet with a herd of peccaries in the forest,
c\-en if he be armed with a gun, his only chance of escape is to
climb into a tree and to stay there till they go away.

When a herd of peccaries is not very large — consisting, per-
haps, of only ten or twelve individuals — they are very fond of
taking up their abode in the hollow trunk- of some fallen tree.
In this case they can be very easily destroyed, for one animal is
always placed at the entrance to act as a sentinel; and if a hunter
conceals himself in some convenient place close by, takes careful
aim, and shoots the watching pecarry dead upon the spot, the
animal behind him will just push out his carcass and take his

ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROSES, ETC. 211

place, to be himself shot in like manner. In this way the whole
herd may be killed one after another.

Peccaries will eat almost any kind of food, and though they
live as a rule in the thickest parts of the forests, they will often
wander to long distances in order to feed upon tl;e crops in culti-
vated ground. There they sometimes do an immense amount
of damage, and as they generally come during the night, and
leave again before daybreak, it is very difficult to trap or shoot
them.

CHAPTER XVIII
EDENTATES, OR TOOTHLESS MAMMALS

THE animals which belong to this order are distinguished
by having no front teeth, while some of them have no
teeth at all. And in many other ways they are very curious
and interesting creatures.

Sloths

The sloths live almost entirely in the trees, scarcely ever
descending to the ground. Not only that, they walk along
underneath the branches instead of upon them, suspending
themselves by means of their great hooked claws. So they
actually spend almost the whole of their lives upside down,
with their backs toward the ground!

Yet they manage to travel along from bough to bough and
from tree to tree with some little speed, and when there is a
high wind, so that the branches are blown together, they will
often wander for long distances. And they never seem to get
tired, although even during the night they still hang suspended,
just as they do during the day.

Sloths are very odd-looking creatures, and if you were to
see one of them hanging from a bough in its native forests you
would find it rather hard to believe that it was really an animal
at all. For it looks much more like a bundle of twigs over-
grown ^vith lichens. And the strange thing is that it really
is covered with lichens, which grow upon its long, coarse hairs
just as they do on the twigs of the trees. These give the fur
of the sloth a curious green appearance, which disappears
soon after death, so that one never sees it in a stuffed specimen
in a museum.

When a sloth is hungry, there is always plenty of food close

212

EDENTATES, OR TOOTHLESS MAMMALS 213

by, for it feeds only upon the leaves and fruits and the tender
young shoots of trees. And as there is plenty of moisture in
these, it never requires to drink at all.

There are two different groups of these singular animals,
the first consisting of those which have three toes on the front
feet, and the other of those which have only two. They are
only found in the great forests of Central and South America.

Ant-Eaters

Equally curious, although in quite a different way, are the
ant-eaters, or ant-bears, as they are sometimes called, the
largest of which is the great ant-eater of tropical America.

When fully grown this animal is about four feet long, with-
out counting the tail, while it is about two feet high at the
shoulder. And it has two strange peculiarities.

In the first place, its head is drawn out into a kind of long,
narrow beak, with the little round nostrils at the very tip.
Then its tongue is very long and worm-like, and is exceedingly
sticky, so that when it is swept to and fro among a number of
ants, or other small insects, hundreds of them adhere to it and
are carried into the mouth. This is the way in which the
animal feeds, and if you go to look as the ant-eater in a zoo you
may often see it poke its long tongue down between the boards
at the bottom of its cage and bring up a cockroach which had
vainly been seeking a place of refuge.

The other peculiarity is the enormous size of the tail, the
hair of which is so long that when it is carried over the back it
completely covers the whole of the body, and makes the animal
look just like a haycock.

On its front feet the great ant-eater has very strong curved
claws, with which it tears open the nests of the insects on which
it feeds. When it is walking, of course, these claws are rather
in its way, and it is obliged to tread on the sides of its feet in-
stead of on the soles. But it manages, nevertheless, to shuffie
along with some little speed, although its movements are very
far from being graceful. And sometimes it uses them as
weapons, for while it always tries to hug an enemy with its power-

214 THE ANIMAL WORLD

ful forearms and squeeze him to death, the claws often enter
his body and inflict a serious or even a fatal wound.

When a mother ant-eater has a little one to take care of,
she always carries it about on her back, and only allows it to
get down just now and then in order to feed.

There is another kind of ant-eater called the tamandua,
which hves in the trees and has a prehensile tail, just like that
of a spider-monkey. It is much smaller than the great ant-
eater, and has a shorter and stouter head, while its tail is scarcely
as bushy as that of a Persian cat. In color it is yellowish white,
with a broad black patch which runs from the neck to the hind
quarters, and then widens out so as to cover the whole of the
flanks. The tip of the snout is also black. The animal, like
the preceding, is a native of tropical America.

The Armla-dillos

These are remarkable for having their bodies almost entirely
covered by a kind of natural armor, which consists of several
bony plates growing in the skin. There are three of these
plates altogether, one covering the head and shoulders, another
protecting the back, while the third clothes the hind quarters.
And they are fastened together by means of bony rings, so that
when the animal rolls itself into a ball no gap is left between
them. You know what a milleped or thousand-legs looks like
when it rolls itself up, don't you ? Well, imagine a thousand-
legs as big as a football, and you will have a very good idea of
an armadillo.

These animals do not appear to be in the least inconvenienced
by their singular armor, and are able to run with considerable
speed. They are able to dig very well, too, by means of the
large and powerful claws with which their front feet are furnished,
and it is said that if a man on horseback sees an armadillo
running by his side, and leaps to the ground to secure it, he will
nearly always find that it has succeeded in burying itself before
he is able to seize it.

The six-banded armadillo is so called because the horny
plate upon its back is broken up into six separate bands, all of

EDENTATES, OR TOOTHLESS MAMMALS 215

which, however, are closely linked together by bony rings.
Sometimes it is called the weasel-headed armadillo, because
its head is thought to be rather like that of a weasel. It is about
sixteen inches in length, without including the tail, and is
found in Brazil and Paraguay.

The giant armadillo is very m.uch larger, growing to the
length of nearly a yard from the tip of the snout to the root of
the tail. It lives in Brazil and Surinam, and feeds chiefly on
ants and termites.

One of the most interesting of these creatures is the odd
little pichiciago, which is only about five inches long, and has
a pink shield upon its back, and fur of sno^^7 white. It is
found in the western parts of the Argentine Republic, in open
sandy places, but nowhere seems to be very plentiful. It digs
in a most curious manner. First of all, it scratches away for a
minute or two with its front feet, just to loosen the soil. Then,
supporting itself partly on its front feet and partly on its tail, it
uses the hind feet with the most astonishing rapidity, so that
it sinks down into the ground as if by magic. And, strange to
say, it does not leave its burrow open behind it when it has gone
in, but carefully closes the entrance, ramming the earth hard by
means of the bony shield at the end of its body.

Pangolins

Among other animals called ant-eaters are the pangolins,
which are more remarkable still. They are called scaly ant-
eaters, because their heads, bodies, and tails are covered with
large, pointed oval scales, which overlap one another very much
like the tiles on the roof of a house. When they are alarmed
they coil themselves up into balls, just as most of the armadillos
do, and their muscles are so wonderfully strong that it is quite
impossible to unroll them.

Seven different kinds of pangolins are kno\^^l, four of which
live in Africa, and three in Asia. They all feed chiefly upon
ants and termites, which they catch by breaking down the walls
of their nests, and licking up the insects with their long, worm-
like tongues as they run about in confusion. They live either

VOL. V. — 15

216 THE ANIMAL WORLD

in crevices among rocks, or else in burrows which they dig for
themselves in the ground. Sometimes these burrows are of
very great size, that of the Indian pangolin often running for
ten or twelve feet downward into the ground, and having at
the end a sleeping-chamber at least five or six feet in diam-
eter.

When a pangolin comes to the edge of an overhanging rock,
and wishes to descend to the ground below, it coils itself up into
a ball and then rolls over, alighting on the edges of its scales
just as a hedgehog does upon its spines. In this way it can
drop ten or fifteen feet without receiving any injury.

The different species of pangolin vary a good deal in size,
but the largest of them, the giant pangolin, is between four and
fi\'e feet long when fully grown, including the tail.

The Aard-Vark

This name means earth-pig, and has been given to the
animal by the Boers of South Africa, because in general appear-
ance it is rather like a pig. But then it has ears hke those of
a hare, and a muzzle and tongue like those of an ant-eater,
while all its feet are furnished with long and stout claws. So
that altogether it is a very odd-looking creature.

The aard-vark feeds entirely upon termites and ants, and
is nearly always to be found where the nests of those insects
are plentiful. It digs with great rapidity, and is said to be
able to burrow into the ground faster than a man armed with
a spade can dig it out. So it has no difficulty in tearing a hole
through the walls of the termites' and ants' nests, and then it
licks out the insects in thousands.

During the daytime the aard-vark is hardly ever to be seen,
for it lies fast asleep in its burrow, which it seldom leaves till
after sunset. Before digging this burrow, it mostly scoops out
quite a number of half-finished ones, scraping a hole two or
three feet in depth, and then leaving it and beginning on another.
Why it does this nobody seems to know.

In former days it was thought that the lion and the elephant
were in the habit of hunting the aard-vark together, the elephant

EDENTATES, OR TOOTHLESS MAMMALS 217

flooding its burrow, by means of a stream of water from his
trunk, and the Hon pouncing upon the animal as it ran out.

When fully grown the aard-vark is rather over six feet in
total length, about one third of which is occupied by the tail.
The body is very heavily and clumsily built, and the back is a
good deal arched in the middle. In color it is yellowish brown,
with a tinge of red on the back and sides, while the lower sur-
face is rather paler.

CHAPTER XIX
THE MARSUPIALS

THE last order of mammals is a very curious one, for in most
of the animals which belong to it there is a large pouch
on the lower part of the body of the female, in which she carries
her little ones about for several weeks, or even several months,
after they are bom. That is why these creatures are called
marsupials, for marsupial means pouched. Even after the
little animals are quite able to take care of themselves they will
hurry back to their mother and jump into her pouch in moments
of danger.

It is quite true that in a good many marsupials this pouch is
wanting. But traces of it are almost always to be found, al-
though sometimes they are so slight that only a very careful
observer would be likely to notice them.

In earlier days marsupial animals lived in almost all parts of
the world, for there are very few countries in which their fossil
remains have not been discovered. But now they are almost
entirely restricted to Australia, the only exceptions being the
opossums, which are found in America.

Kangaroos

The largest, and in some respects the most interesting, of the
marsupials are the kangaroos. In some ways they are rather
like gigantic hares. But their front legs are so much smaller
than the hinder ones that they cannot run on all fours, but travel
by means of a series of leaps, skipping about, in fact, instead of
running. And besides this they have very long and stout tails,
which serve to support them when they are sitting upright, and
also help them to balance their bodies when they are leaping.

The male kangaroo, which is often kno\Mi as the "boomer,"
or as the "old man, " is very much larger than the female, some-
times attaining to a total length of eight feet six inches, or even

218

THE MARSUPIALS 219

nine feet, nearly half of which is occupied by the tail. But when
he is sitting upright he is nearly as tall as a tall man. The fe-
male is about two feet shorter.

Although it is obliged to hop along instead of running, the
kangaroo is a very swift animal, and can only be run down by
fast and powerful dogs. At every leap it covers about fifteen
feet of ground, the distances between the holes which its great
claws make in the ground being as regular as if they had been
marked out with a measuring-tape.

These huge claws are very formidable weapons, and the
kangaroo well knows how to use them. As a rule it is a very
timid animal, and when it is attacked its first idea is always to
seek safety in flight. But if it is driven to bay it takes up its
post with its back against a tree, so that it cannot be approached
from behind, and quietly awaits the onslaught of its enemies.
Then, as soon as one of them comes within reach, it kicks sudden-
ly out with one of its hind feet, delivering its stroke with such
force that the great sharp claw has been known to rip up the
body of a large dog from end to end, and to stretch the poor
beast dying upon the ground. For this reason hounds which are
used in kangaroo-hunting are made to wear collars of twisted
steel chain, to protect them from the stroke of their quarry.

Sometimes, too, when a hunted kangaroo finds that it cannot
escape simply by speed, it will wade into a pool or river, wait till
the dogs swim up to it, and then seize them with its fore limbs
one after another, and hold them under water till they are
drowned. Although they are not large, these front limbs are
wonderfully strong, and if even a powerful man were to be em-
braced by them he would find it very diflScult to make his escape.

The female kangaroo, however, is not nearly so well able to
defend herself, and sometimes she has been known, when
chased by hounds, to lie down and die simply from fear. But
sometimes she escapes by taking a sudden leap sideways into
thick bushes, lying perfectly still until her pursuers have rushed
past her, and then making off in the opposite direction.

As the mother kangaroo hops about, the head of her little one,
or "joey," as it is called, may often be seen poking out of her
pouch. And she is so clever that if an enemy should appear

220 THE ANIMAL WORLD

when the "joey" is playing on the ground or feeding, she will
snatch it up and put it into her pouch even while she is hopping
away, without pausing for a moment in her retreat.

A Joyous Meeting

Kangaroos are very affectionate animals, and a touching story
is told of a couple which lived together in captivity. They be-
came the very best of friends, but when they were sent from
Australia to Philadelphia, they had to travel by different ships.
As soon as they were separated, they became miserable, moping
in their cages, refusing to take food, and calling for each other
all day long. " Jack, " as the male was called, reached Philadel-
phia first, and for a whole week seemed to be constantly on the
watch to see if "Flora," his mate, was coming. At last she ar-
rived, and both animals at once became madly excited, leaping
in their cages so wildly that at last they were put together, to
prevent them from injuring themselves against the bars. Then
they cuddled up against one another, licked each other with
their tongues, and seemed so overjoyed to meet that the keeper
promised that they should never be parted again.

Vamous Species of Kangaroos

Kangaroos generally live in droves, sometimes consisting of
only a few animals, sometimes of as many as a hundred and fifty,
or even more. But a "boomer" often lives during the greater
part of the year quite alone, like a "rogue" elephant.

There are at least twenty-three different kinds of kangaroos,
the smaller ones being generally known as wallabies. And
these are again divided into large wallabies and small wallabies.

The large wallabies are also called brush-kangaroos because
they live in the thick brushy jungle, called the bush, which occu-
pies so large a part of the Australian continent. The biggest of
them is really quite a large animal, for when fully grown it is six
feet long, from the tip of the muzzle to the end of the tail. Some
of the small wallabies, however, are very small, several of them
being no bigger than rabbits.

TYPES OF MARSUPIALS

I. Australian Sugar Squirrel. 2. American Opossum. 3. Australian Echidna.

4. Australian Great Kangaroo. 5. Tasmanian Devil.

THE MARSUPIALS 221

Then there are some of these animals which spend most of
their hfe in the trees and are called tree-kangaroos. Four of
these creatures that lived for some time in the London Zoo looked
very odd as they sat on the branches with their long tails hanging
down behind them. But even when they were on the floor of
their cage one could not possibly mistake them for ground-
kangaroos, for their front limbs were almost as long as their hind
ones.

The best knowTi of these animals is found in Queensland. It
spends the day in sleep, only coming out from its retreat among
the foliage when darkness has set in, and it lives in the very
thickest part of the bush, which is hardly ever visited even by the
natives. It does not seem to be a very good climber, for it is
rather slow in its movements, and appears to be a little afraid of
falling; for it clings so tightly to the branch on which it is resting
that it is difficult to force it to loose its hold.

The natives generally catch this curious kangaroo by climbing
the tree in which it is sleeping, jerking it from its perch by a
violent pull at its tail, and throw^ing it to the ground to be killed
by the dogs below. But if it reaches the ground unhurt it makes
off with great speed, hopping along with flying leaps like all the
other members of the family.

Kangaroo-Rats

These animals, often called potoroos, are quite small, even
the largest of them being scarcely as big as a rabbit. They do
not jump so well as the true kangaroos, and generally run on all
fours in a kind of gallop. But when they are at rest they sit up-
right on their hind quarters.

One of these animals, known as the brush-tailed bettong, puts
its tail to a most curious use. It makes its nest of grasses and
leaves in a hollow in the ground, and when it is collecting materi-
als for building, it gathers them up into a bundle, twists the tip
of its tail round them, and then hops swiftly away, holding its
little sheaf well away from its body. It is a most clever little
builder, for when it has chosen a suitable hollow in the ground
for its nest, it first of all enlarges it until it is big enough for its

222 THE ANIMAL WORLD

requirements, and then weaves its materials carefully together
until the top of its little home is just on a level with the herbage
growing all round it. And whenever it goes in or out, it pulls a
tuft of grass over the entrance in order to prevent it from being
noticed. So well is the nest concealed, that you might pass
within a few feet and look straight at it without seeing it.

This animal is also sometimes known as the jerboa-kangaroo.

The Sugar-Squirrel

Among the Australian mammals we find a good many which
are really very much like those found in other parts of the world,
and might easily be mistaken for them if it were not for the
presence of the marsupial pouch. One of these is the curious
sugar-squirrel, or squirrel-petaurist, which is really very much
like the flying squirrels of Asia and North America. It has the
skin of the sides and flanks developed in just the same manner,
and uses it in exactly the same way, leaping from a lofty bough,
spreading its limbs at right angles to its body so that the skin is
stretched out between them, and thus contriving to skim for long
distances through the air. And the big, bushy tail serves partly
to help it in keeping its balance, and partly to enable it to keep a
straight course.

During the daytime sugar-squirrels are nearly always asleep
in a hollow tree, or in some other convenient retreat. But as
soon as it grows dark they all come out from their hiding-places
and begin to frisk about, and to leap from tree to tree, with the
utmost activity. After a time they will stop, in order to search
for insects, or to feast upon the honey which they find in the
blossoms of the trees. But very shortly they recommence their
gambols, and so they go on, alternately playing and feeding, till
the dawn.

The sugar-squirrel is a very pretty little creature, the fur being
brownish gray above, with a black stripe along the back, and a
rich brown edging to the umbrella-like skin of the sides. The
lower parts of the body are nearly white, and the tail is brown
above and white beneath. In length it is about nineteen or twenty
inches, rather more than half of which is occupied by the tail.

THE MARSUPIALS 223

Australian Bear

There is an animal, much like a small bear, that is often known
as the Australian bear, although its proper name is the koala.
When fully grown it is about as big as a poodle. It has a stoutly
built body, very short legs, large and almost square ears, with a
fringe of stiff hairs round the edges, and no visible tail, while the
fur is very thick and woolly. In color it is ashy gray above and
yellowish white under the body.

The koala spends most of its life in the trees. Yet it is not a
very good climber, for its movements are curiously slow, and it
always seems to feel in danger of falling. On the ground it is
slower and more awkward still, for its feet are much more suited
for grasping a branch than for use upon a level surface. But it
does not often come down from the trees unless it wishes to
drink, or to vary its diet of leaves and buds by digging for roots.

When a mother koala has a little one to take care of, she
always carries it about on her back, and even when it is nearly
half as big as she is it may sometimes be seen riding pickaback.

The koala is a very gentle animal, and even when it is captured
it seldom attempts to scratch or bite. But sometimes it gets
in a great passion over nothing at all, and shows its teeth and
yells and screams in such a threatening manner that any one
who did not know how harmless it really is would most likely
be afraid of it.

Owing to the fact that it spends so much of its life in the
trees, this animal is sometimes called the Australian monkey;
and it is curious to find that it has pouches in its cheek in which
it can store away food, just as many of the true monkeys have.

The Wombat

The wombat might easily be mistaken for a rodent, for its
front teeth are formed almost exactly like those of the rabbit and
the rat. But as it possesses a marsupial pouch, there can be no
doubt of the order it really belongs to. It is not at all a hand-
some animal. In fact, it is fat, awkward, clumsy, and heavy —

224 THE ANIMAL WORLD

something like a much overgrown guinea-pig — and it seems to
spend its whole life in eating and sleeping. It can dig very
well, however, and makes deep burrows in the ground, with a
large sleeping-chamber at the end. If in captivity, it will often
make its escape by digging its way out under the walls.

When fully grown the wombat is about three feet in length,
and its legs are so short that its body almost touches the ground
as it waddles awkwardly along. Like the koala, it is very
gentle in disposition, and hardly even struggles when it is cap-
tured, although it is subject to sudden fits of passion. If it is
kept as a pet, it soon becomes very affectionate, and likes to
go to sleep on its owner's knees, like a cat.

In color this animal is dark grayish brown. It is found in
New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

The Bandicoots

There are about a dozen different kinds of these very odd-
looking animals. Perhaps we can best describe them by
saying that if you can imagine a rat with a snout drawn out
like that of a shrew, very large ears, three very long toes with
still longer claws on each foot, together with two toes with no
claws at all, and a rather short, hairy tail — then that is what a
bandicoot looks like.

Owing to the very odd way in which their feet are formed,
bandicoots cannot run like other animals, but travel along by
means of a curious mixture of running and jumping. They
are common in most parts of Australia — so common, in fact,
that they are generally regarded as a great nuisance. For
they do a terrible amount of mischief both in gardens and in
cultivated fields, feeding both upon grain and fruits, as well as
upon the roots and bulbs which they scratch up out of the
ground. During the daytime they are hardly ever seen, for
they hide away in holes in the ground, or in hollow trees, and
remain fast asleep till after sunset. Some of them, however,
make nests of dry leaves and grasses which are so cleverly
concealed among the herbage that it is very difficult to find
them.

THE MARSUPIALS 225

The Tasmanian Wolf

There are certain marsupial animals which look as though
they belonged to the dog and cat tribes. They are called
dasyures, and are beasts of prey. One of these is the Tasmanian
wolf, or thylacine, as it is often called, which is so woK-like both
in appearance and habits that it fully deserves its name. But
you can tell it from the true wolves at a glance by the dark,
zebra-like stripes upon its back, and also by its long slender
tail, which tapers down almost to a point. It is also known
as the zebra-wolf and the tiger- wolf.

The Tasmanian wolf used to be very common indeed, for
it was the most powerful of all the Tasmanian animals, so that
it had no natural foes, while it was very seldom killed by the
natives. But when white settlers came to live in the country
they found that it killed so many of their sheep that it was
necessary for them to do all that they could to destroy it. So
numbers of Tasmanian wolves were shot, and numbers more
were caught in traps, and by degrees the animal was driven
back, until now it is only found in wild and rocky districts
among the mountains, which are scarcely ever trodden by the
foot of man.

There are very few of the Australian animals which do not
fall victims to this fierce and savage creature. Even kangaroos
are killed by it at times. And it has been known to destroy and
devour the echidna, which is something like a small porcupine.
But besides feeding upon living prey, it will feed heartily upon
any carrion that it may find, and will also prowl about on the
sea-shore in search of the various dead animals which are
flung up by the waves.

The Tasmanian wolf is a nocturnal animal, remaining hidden
all day long in some deep recess among the rocks, into which no
ray of sunshine can ever penetrate. It does not like the day-
light at all, and seems most uneasy if it is brought out from its
retreat. And, strange to say, it has a kind of inner eyelid,
which it draws across its eyes every moment or two in order to
keep out the light as much as possible.

226 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Tasmanian Devil

Just as the Tasmanian wolf is like a dog, so the Tasmanian
devil is like a small bear — and a very wild, fierce, savage bear,
too. Its name has been given to it on account of its disposition,
and there is perhaps no animal which it is so difficult to tame.
No matter how kindly it is treated, it is always sullen and
always ferocious. It will fly at the very hand that gives it food.
If you merely look at it as it lies in its cage, it will dash furiously
at the bars with its teeth bared, uttering yells and screams of
passion. You cannot help feeling that it would tear you to
pieces if only it had the chance. And its teeth are so sharp
and its jaws are so powerful, that there are very few dogs which
could overcome it in fair fight.

The Tasmanian devil has its eyes protected just as the Tas-
manian wolf has, and like that animal it is seldom seen abroad
by day. It is extremely mischievous, for night after night it
will visit the hen-roosts and the sheepfolds, not only preying
upon the poultry and the young lambs, but seeming to kill for
the very sake of killing. So it has been almost as greatly
persecuted as the Tasmanian wolf, and has altogether dis-
appeared from many districts where it used to be plentiful,
while in many others it is very seldom found.

In size the Tasmanian devil is about as big as a badger,
and in color it is dull sooty black, with a white collar-like streak
on the lower part of the throat.

Then the larger dasyures may be compared to cats, to which
they are just about equal in size. In Tasmania, indeed, they
are called wild cats. They live in trees, sleeping in hollows
in the trunks during the day, and prowling about in search of
prey by night. And they are almost as mischievous in poultry
yards as the Tasmanian devil. But then, on the other hand.
They will learn to catch rats and mice if they are tamed and
trained, just as a cat will.

There are several different kinds of these animals, but they
all agree in having grayish or grayish-brown fur, with a number
of white spots on the sides of the body.

THE MARSUPIALS 227

Pouched Mice

Very pretty and graceful little creatures are these. There
are a good many different kinds of them. They are all small,
the largest of them being no bigger than a half-grown rat, while
some of them are not equal in size even to an ordinary mouse.
And as they breed very freely, and have quite a number of little
ones at every birth, they are among the most plentiful of all
the Australian mammals.

Pouched mice always spend much of their time in the trees,
where they seem quite as contented as they do on the ground.
They run up and do\\Ti the trunk with the greatest activity,
scamper along the branches, leap from one bough to another,
and never seem to miss their footing. And they are continually
poking their sharp little muzzles into the cracks and crevices
of the bark in order to search for tiny insects and spiders.
Their habits are not very much like those of mice, and one
cannot help thinking that they ought to be called pouched
shrews.

The Myrmecobius, or Banded Ant-eater

This marsupial ant-eater is found in Southern and Western
Australia. It is a prettily marked little animal of about the
same size as a squirrel, with a pointed snout, a long slender
body, and a rather long and bushy tail. In color it is dark
chestnut bro^^^l above and white below, while a number of
white stripes run across the hinder part of the back and loins,
beginning just behind the shoulders, and ending a little above
the root of the tail.

The myrmecobius lives principally on the ground. But it
is a very good climber nevertheless, and can ascend trees and
run about on the branches with considerable activity. It
feeds on ants and termites, catching them by means of its long
and worm-like tongue, which is so sticky that the insects adhere
to it as soon as they are touched. The marsupial pouch is
almost entirely wanting, so that one might almost be led to

228 THE ANIMAL WORLD

suppose that the animal must be a true ant-eater. But then
the ant-eaters have no teeth at all, while the myrmecobius has
no less than fifty-two, or more than any other mammal with
the exception of one or two members of the whale tribe and the
armadillo.

This curious and pretty little animal is very gentle in dis-
position,'and never seems to bite or scratch even if it is taken
prisoner. It makes its home either in the decaying trunk of a
fallen tree, or else in a hole in the ground.

The Pouched Mole

This, one of the most curious of all the marsupial animals,
was quite unknown until a recent time. In size and shape it
is very much like the common mole, and it has its fore paws
armed with enormous cla^^'s for digging in just the same manner.
In color it is pale yellow. It has no outward ears, and its eyes
are so tiny, and so deeply buried in the skin, that it must be
almost, if not quite, unable to see with them. And in front
of its snout is an odd kind of shield made of thick, horny skin,
which is evidently intended to protect the face as the animal
forces its way through the ground.

This singular creature lives in sandy districts in the deserts of
South Australia. It appears to burrow through the soil for a
few feet, then to come to the surface and crawl for a little dis-
tance, and then to burrow again. And as it creeps over the sand
it leaves three tracks behind it, one being made by the feet on
either side, and the third by the stiff and stumpy little tail, which
appears to be pressed down upon the ground. These tracks, of
course, can only be seen after rain, for in dry weather the sand
very soon falls in upon them, and fills them up.

Opossums

The next group of the marsupial animals is found, not in
Australia, but in America.

There are several different kinds of opossums, most of which
live in the trees. They are excellent climbers, for they not only

THE MARSUPIALS 229

have their hind feet made more Hke hands, with a thumb-hke
great toe which enables them to grasp the branches, but are
also the possessors of long prehensile tails, like those of the spi-
der-monkeys. So powerful is the tail of an opossum that it can
bear the entire weight of the body as the animal swings from a
branch to pluck fruit which would otherwise be out of its reach.

But opossums do not feed upon fruit alone. Indeed, there
are very few things which they will not eat. They are very fond
of maize, or Indian corn, for example, obtaining it sometimes by
chmbing up the stems of the plants, and sometimes by cutting
them down close to the ground. Nuts, too, they devour in
great quantities, together with acorns and berries. Sometimes
they dig up roots out of the ground. Then they will search for
birds' nests, and carry off the eggs or the unfledged little ones.
They will pounce upon a rabbit, too, or a young squirrel, and do
not disdain mice, or lizards, or frogs, or even insects. And the
farmer has very good cause for disliking them, for they not only
get into his fields and steal his grain, but find their way into his
hen-roosts and carry off the eggs and the young chickens.

But then they are very easily caught, for they are attracted by
any kind of bait, and will walk into the simplest of traps. Yet
in some ways they are exceedingly cunning. If they are caught,
for example, and are injured in even the slightest degree, they
will pretend to be dead, and will allow themselves to be pulled
about, or kicked, or beaten, without showing any sign of life.
Then the moment they think that no one is looking at them they
will rise to their feet and quietly slink away. From this we get
the proverb "playing possum."

During the daytime the opossum is usually fast asleep in its
nest, which is sometimes made by itself, and sometimes is the
deserted home of a squirrel. So it has to be hunted by night.

A moonlight night is always chosen for this purpose, and the
animal is first of all driven into a tree by dogs. One of the hunt-
ers then climbs the tree and shakes it down from the branch to
w^hich it is clinging, and the moment it reaches the ground it is
pounced upon and destroyed by the dogs.

The opossum runs in a very curious manner, moving both
limbs of the same^side together.

230 THE ANIMAL WORLD

When the httle opossums are born, they are not only bhnd.
like puppies and kittens, but are quite deaf as well, and do not
get their sight and hearing for some little time. They remain
hidden all of their infancy in the mother's pouch, staying there
five or six weeks, and afterward riding about on her back.

The common opossum is about as big as a cat. But it looks
much more like a very big rat, for its tail is long and scaly. It is
found in North America. In South America there is a different
species, called the crab-eating opossum, because it is so fond of
the crabs and crayfishes which abound in the salt creeks and the
great swamps of Brazil. Then Merian's opossum, in which the
marsupial pouch is not developed, has a most curious way of
carrying its young about, for the little ones stand in a row on
their mother's back, with their tiny tails coiled tightly round hers,
to prevent them from falling off. And the yapock opossum
spends most of its life in the water, and lives upon fish, being
such an excellent swimmer that it is able easily to overtake them.

Last of all, we come to two most extraordinary animals, which
differ from all other mammals in the fact that they lay eggs, while
in some parts of their skeletons they closely resemble the reptiles.

The Echidna

The first of these creatures is called the echidna, and is also
known as the spiny ant-eater. It is from fifteen to nineteen
inches in length, and has the whole upper surface of the head
and body covered with a mixture of stiff hairs and short sharp
spines, something like those of a hedgehog. The head is drawn
out into a very long, slender, beak-like snout, at the tip of which
the nostrils are placed, and the tongue is long and worm-like and
very sticky, just as it is in the true ant-eaters. The feet are
furnished with enormous claws, which are used in tearing open
the nests of the insects upon which the animal feeds, and those
of the hind feet, strange to say, are turned backward in walking,
so that they point toward the tail instead of the head.

These claws are also used in digging, and can be used with
such effect that if the animal is surprised when on sandy soil it
sinks into the groimd as if by magic. But if the ground is so

THE MARSUPIALS 231

hard that it cannot use its claws, it rolls itself up like a hedgehog,
and trusts to its spiny coat for protection.

The common echidna is found in Austraha, Tasmania,
and New Guinea. Besides this there is another species, called
the three-toed echidna, which is found in New Guinea only.

The Duckbill

Even more curious still is the duckbill, or duck-billed platypus,
which not only lays eggs hke a bird, but resembles a bird in
several other ways as well.

It has a bill, for example, just like that of a duck — broad and
flat, with a number of grooves round the edges. And it feeds by
takingabeakfulof mud from the bottom of a pond or ditch, squirt-
ing out the mud itself through the grooves, and then swallowing
the grubs and other small creatures which are left behind.

Then its feet are like those of a duck, the toes being joined to-
gether by webbing, so that they can be used as paddles. And even
the tail is rather like that of a duck, for it is very broad and flat, so
that it can serve as a rudder when the animal is swimming.

This remarkable creature is found in Southern and Eastern
Australia, and also in Tasmania. It is not at all uncommon,
but is seldom seen, for it spends most of its time in the water,
or else in its burrow, which is always made in the bank of a
pool or stream. This burrow is generally a long one, running
to a distance of forty or even flfty feet, and terminates in a large
chamber, which is used as a nursery. And it always has two
entrances, one below the surface of the water and one above,
so that if the animal is alarmed in any way it can run in by one
door and out again by the other.

Two eggs are laid by this most curious creature. They
measure about three-quarters of an inch in length, and are
enclosed in a tough white shell. How they are hatched no-
body seems quite to know; but when the little ones first make
their appearance they are quite blind and quite naked, and
have hardly any beaks at all.

When fully grown the duckbill is about eighteen inches long
from the end of the snout to the tip of the tail.

VOL. V. — 10

BIRDS

CHAPTER XX
BIRDS OF PREY

WE have now first to think of the great class of the birds,
which are distinguished from all other living creatures
by having their bodies covered with feathers.

These feathers serve a double purpose.

In the first place, they help to preserve the warmth of the
body. Birds are hot-blooded animals — indeed, their blood
is a good deal warmer than ours — and they often have to fly
very fast through very cold air. So, you see, it is most im-
portant that they should be clothed with some sort of covering
which is very warm and at the same time light. And nothing
is warmer, and at the same time lighter, than a coat of feathers.

And then, in the second place, many of these feathers are
most useful in flight. Without them, indeed, a bird could not
fly at all. If we want to keep a tame bird from escaping, we
have only to clip its wings, and then it can no longer raise itself
into the air. But it is not only the feathers of the wings that
are used in flight; those of the tail are employed as well, for
they assist in flight, especially in checking speed, and serve as
a rudder, enabling the bird to steer its way through the air.

Now birds are divided into orders and tribes and families,
just as the mammals are. But scientific men are not quite
sure which of the orders ought to be placed first. Among the
birds of prey, however, we find some of the largest and finest
and most powerful of all the feathered race; so that we cannot
do better than place these at the head of our list.

You can always tell a bird of prey by two points in its structure.
The first we find in its beak, which is always very large and

232

TYPICAL BIRDS OF PREY.

I. Red-tailed Buzzard.
3. Golden Eagle.

2. Sparrow-hawk.

4. Great Horned Owl.

BIRDS OF PREY 233

strong, and very sharply hooked. And the second we find in
its talons, which are specially made for seizing and killing
the animals upon which it feeds. Some persons think that an
eagle or a hawk kills its victims with its beak, but that is a
great mistake, for the beak is only used for tearing the flesh
from off its bones after it is dead. The real weapons are the
talons, which are so sharp and so strong that they can be pressed
deeply into the vitals of a captured animal and kill it at once.
All the birds of prey, therefore, have very powerful legs and
large feet and claws.

Vultures — Symbols of Rapacity

First among the birds of prey come the vultures. Yet very
often, strange to say, they never kill any prey at all, and the
best naturalists suspect that they should be placed in a class
by themselves. They much prefer to feed on carrion, so that
if they can find the dead body of an animal they will never take
the trouble to seek and kill victims for themselves. When an ani-
mal dies in a country in which vultures live, several of these birds
are sure to find its carcass almost immediately. And in a very
short time nothing will be left of it but just the bare skeleton.

So, you see, these birds are really very useful. They belong
to the great army of nature's dustmen, just like the jackals
and the hyenas. For by destroying these carcasses before
they can putrefy, they help to keep the air pure. In the cities
of the Southern United States and of the tropics our small
American vulture, the turkey-buzzard, is really depended upon
as a scavenger.

How vultures find the dead body of an animal is just a little
doubtful. Some naturalists have thought that they find it
by means of sight, and others that they do so by means of
smell. It seems almost certain, however, that when they are
hovering high in the air they are really watching one another;
so that when one of them sees a carcass and swoops down upon
it, all the other vultures within sight notice what he is doing,
and come hurrying up for a share in the banquet. This ex-
plains how it is that if an animal is killed when not a vulture is

234 THE ANIMAL WORLD

to be seen, quite a number of these great, strong, ravenous birds
will make their appearance in a very short time.

The Lammergeier

This is the finest of all the vultures. It is found in Southern
Europe, in Northern Africa, and in Western Asia, and is some-
times as much as four feet in length from the tip of the beak
to the end of the tail, while its wings may measure more than
ten feet across when fully spread. It is one of the very few
vultures which have the head and neck clothed with feathers.
Besides this, a curious tuft of bristle-like hairs covers the nos-
trils, while a similar tuft grows just under the base of the bill.
For this reason the bird is sometimes known as the bearded
vulture.

Lammergeiers are generally found among high mountains,
where they prey upon hares and marmots, and even upon rats
and mice. They will visit the flocks, too, which are feeding
upon the grassy slopes, and carry off kids and lambs. Cha-
mois, when formerly they were more plentiful than now, used
to be attacked by them, and their favorite plan was to swoop
down upon them when they were standing on the brink of a
precipice, strike them over into the depths below by a stroke
of their powerful wings, and then descend to feed upon their
mangled bodies.

The plumage of the lammergeier is grayish brown above and
nearly white below. The feathers of the neck are white, and
there is also a pale streak running down the middle of those upon
the back.

The lammergeier makes a great clumsy nest of sticks, which
is sometimes placed on a ledge of a lofty cliff, and sometimes in
the topmost branches of a very tall tree. Two eggs are laid,
which are dirty white in color, with brownish blotches.

The Condor

The condor is another very large vulture, inhabiting the great
mountain chain of the Andes. There it may be seen soaring

BIRDS OF PREY 235

high in air, its keen eyes intently scanning the ground beneath
it; and it may fly to and fro for hours, rising and falling and
sweeping round in great circles, and yet never once flap its wings!

Condors live for the most part on llamas which have died a
natural death, or which have been killed by pumas and only part-
ly devoured; but two or three of them will unite together, when
they are hungry, in order to kill sheep or cattle.

In color the condor is grayish black, with a ruff of white
feathers round the lower part of the neck. On the head of the
male is a large fleshy wattle. It makes no nest at all, but simply
lays its two white eggs on a rocky ledge high up on the mountain-
side.

A variety of the condor inhabited Mexico and southern Cali-
fornia until recent years, but has now become almost or quite
extinct. It differed little from that of the Andes in either ap-
pearance or habits.

The Secretary- Vulture

The African secretary- vulture was rormerly regarded as a kind
of crane, on account of its long stilt-like legs, and owes its name
to the curious tuft of very long feathers at the back of its head,
which cause it to look rather as though it were carrying a number
of quill pens behind its ears. The two middle feathers of the
tail, also, are exceedingly long, so that when the bird is standing
upright their tips almost rest upon the ground.

The secretary-bird spends its time on the ground, where it
wanders over the plains in pairs, and feeds upon small mammals,
lizards, tortoises, frogs, and locusts. It is also said to kill and
devour even large snakes, but whether it really does so is not
quite certain.

Eagles — Symbols of Power

Next to the vultures come the eagles, of which two examples
may be mentioned — the white-headed, or bald eagle and the
golden eagle, or war-eagle as the Indians called it. Both are
known in various local varieties in all parts of the world, and

236 THE ANIMAL WORLD

both have been regarded with admiration by brave men in all
ages. The bald eagle is the symbol of the United States; and
its cousin, the white-tailed, is to be seen along all the coasts of
the Old World except the arctic. The American eagle fre-
quents the shores of both oceans, and of our great lakes and
rivers, because its favorite food is fish, which it obtains mainly
by robbing the industrious fish-hawks.

Of a nobler character, according to our human ideas, is the
golden eagle, and it is also larger, the female — which, in birds of
prey, usually exceeds her mate in size — sometimes measuring
nearly three feet in length and eight or nine feet across her out-
spread wings. This magnificent bird may still frequently be
seen in the remoter and more mountainous parts of both conti-
nents, but in America is extremely rare east of the Rocky Moun-
tains and Lake Superior, and in Europe west of the Swiss and
German Alps. This was the eagle which by its bold mien so
impressed the early conquerors of Italy that they chose it to
represent them on their coins and standards, so that it came to
be known throughout a subject world as the Roman Eagle; and
its image has descended to the arms of Italy, Austria, Germany,
Russia, and other nations.

The aerie, or nesting-place, of these grand birds is much the
same in both kinds — a rude heap of sticks sufl5ciently hollowed
on the summit to hold the brown-blotched eggs, and placed upon
a ledge of rocks, or perhaps in the top of some huge tree. It
may serve the purpose of a home for many years in succession.
Eagles have been recorded on both sides of the Atlantic as using
the same aerie for nearly a century without interruption; and in
such cases the structure often becomes of prodigious size. A
nest found in Scotland was nine feet high, five feet across at the
top, and twenty feet in width at the bottom ; so that it was really
as big as a good-sized haystack!

Round this nest were the bones of between forty and fifty
grouse, besides those of a number of lambs, rabbits, and hares,
which had been brought there by the parent birds for the use of
the young.

Very often a ledge close to the aerie is used as a larder, where
the old birds put their victims as soon as they are caught, and

BIRDS OF PREY 237

leave them until they are wanted. When they are hunting the
two birds generally work together, one dashing in among bushes
and low herbage, among which hares, partridges, or other
animals are likely to be hiding, and the other lying in wait to
pounce upon them as they rush out in alarm.

The Osprey and Other Hawks

Not quite as big as the eagles, tne fish-hawk, or osprey, is
nevertheless a large bird, for it measures nearly two feet in length
and between five and six feet in spread of wing. It is found in
nearly all parts of the world where civilization is not too de-
structive of its privileges, and is numerous on all our great lakes
and rivers as well as by the coast.

The osprey feeds almost entirely upon fish, and may be seen
sweeping to and fro over the water, keenly watching for its vic-
tims as they rise to the surface. When it catches sight of a fish
it swoops down upon it, plunges into the water with a great
splashing, and nearly always rises again a moment or two later
with the fish struggling in its talons. But it does not always
succeed in reaching the shore with it, for the white-headed eagle
is also very fond of fish, though it does not like the trouble of
catching them. So it lies in wait for the fish-hawk as it returns
from a fishing expedition, and beats it about the head with its
great wings until it is glad to drop its victim in order to escape,
when the eagle swoops down and catches the morsel before it
reaches the ground.

These great birds may still be seen all along our coasts and
beside our lakes, where they live usually unmolested, although
most other hawks are likely to be shot at by every wandering
man and boy with a gun. This safety is due not only to the belief
that they do no particular harm, but to a feeling, especially along
the eastern sea-coast, that it is a lucky thing to have a pair build
their nest near the home of a fisherman, to whom they are
thought to bring good fortune. This nest is a big structure of
sticks which is placed among the branches of a tree near the
water — preferably a tall tree, but sometimes, when these are not
handy, in a low one. Thus at the eastern end of Long Island,

238 THE ANIMAL WORLD

New York, where the ospreys have been protected for many
years, their nests often rest on a small cedar or other tree close to
the ground; and in some places on the coast of New England
men have erected little platforms on the top of poles where the
ospreys have made their homes. All these nests are repaired
and occupied year after year, and thus sometimes grow to be of
immense size.

Familiar Falcons and Hawks

If one were to try to describe even half of the great number of
different kinds of falcons and hawks in the world, or even in
America, this book would not be large enough for the purpose.
Among those most often seen in this country are two large,
softly plumaged, brown hawks, with square, barred tails, of the
group called buzzards. One is the red-tailed, another the red-
shouldered, and a third the broad-winged, the several names
denoting the specially noticeable features in each case. All
make their homes in the woods, constructing big nests in trees,
and early in the spring laying brown-blotched eggs. These
hawks fly heavily over the fields in search of frogs, small snakes,
field-mice (of which they catch great numbers), and once in a
while seize a young bird which cannot yet fly very well; but
mostly they live on mice and insects. The country people call
all of them hen-hawks, and are likely to shoot them when they
can; but in truth they harm the poultry-yard very little.

The really dangerous "hen-hawks" are two or three much
smaller and more active falcons, such as the Cooper's and
sharp-shinned hawks. They are swift and fierce, and will dart
down and snatch a bird from its perch or pick up a small chicken
with amazing suddenness and speed. These hawks are some-
times called kestrels, after a well-kno\Mi European falcon which
they resemble.

Kestrels and other Chicken-Hawks

You may often see one or the other of these hovering high in
the air, as do the English kestrels, about three or four hundred

BIRDS OF PREY 239

feet from the ground, and carefully watching for the mice upon
which after all they mainly feed. It has eyes like telescopes,
so that as soon as a mouse pokes its head out of its burrow it
catches sight of it, swoops down upon it, seizes it in its talons,
and carries it off to be devoured. The number of mice which
it catches in this way is very large, and it has been estimated
that at least ten thousand of these destructive little creatures
are killed by every kestrel in the course of every year. So we
must look upon the bird as one of the best friends of the farmer,
in spite of the occasional loss of a chicken.

When it cannot find any mice the kestrel will sometimes
eat small birds, and now and then it will feed upon cockchafers
and other large insects, catching them in its claws as they fly,
and then passing them up to its beak.

Kestrels sometimes build in trees and sometimes in towers
and old buildings. But very often they make use of the de-
serted nest of a magpie or a crow. From four to six eggs are
laid, which are blotched with reddish brown on a bluish-white
ground.

Two near relatives, inhabiting both the old and the new
worlds, are the pigeon-hawk and sparrow-hawk. They are
much alike, and their plumage is more varied in color and
pattern than that of other falcons. Both are rather shy, and
not often seen in the open; but are so courageous that they will
sometimes attack large birds, like ducks or grouse. The hand-
some sparrow-hawk is best known. It will often dash into
a flock of sparrows and carry one of them off in its talons. It
will sometimes swoop down into a farmyard, too, and snatch
up a chicken or a duckling, while numbers of young pheasants
and partridges fall victims to its ravages. In days of old it
was sometimes captured and trained for hawking, like the
merhn and the falcon, and it is said that a single tame sparrow-
hawk would sometimes kill as many as seventy or eighty quail
in a single day.

In Europe sparrow-hawks seldom take the trouble to build
a nest of their own, but nearly always make use of the deserted
abode of a crow or magpie, in which they lay three or four
grayish-white eggs marked with a number of dark-brown

240 THE ANIMAL WORLD

spots and blotches; but the American hawks of this group
make their homes in crannies in hollow trees, stuffing the hole
with a warm bed of grass and feathers.

Owls, the Terror of the Night

Next in order come those very singular birds which we call
owls, and which are really hawks that fly by night.

The eyes of these birds are very much like those of cats,
being formed in such a way as to take in even the faintest rays
of light. Owing to this fact owls can see on very dark nights,
and can fly with as much certainty and catch their prey with
as much ease as other birds can in the daylight. Moreover
the prominence of their eyes, in the middle of the great feathery
disks, enables them to see in almost every direction without turn-
ing the head.

This is very important, for wild animals are always alarmed
by motion, while they hardly ever notice creatures which keep
perfectly still. If you sit or stand for a while without moving
even a finger, rabbits and squirrels will often come quite close
to you, and never seem to see you at all. But at your very
first movement they will take fright and scamper away. So
if an owl had to be constantly turning its head from side to
side in order to look for prey, its victims would certainly see it,
and would make good their escape. But as its eyes are set in
the middle of those great feathery circles, and turn easily in
their sockets, there is no need for it to do so, for it can look out
in almost every direction without moving its head in the least.

There are a good many different kinds of owls, several of
which are found in both continents. There is the long-eared
owl, for instance, which has two rather long feathery tufts upon
its head; and there is the short-eared owl, which has short ones.
As a rule, these tufts lie flat upon the head. But when the bird
is excited they stand upright, and give it a very odd appearance.
Then there is the brown owl, which utters that mournful hoot-
ing sound which one so often hears by night in wooded districts.

Very often as one is walking along a country lane in the
evening one of these birds sweeps suddenly by and disappears

BIRDS OF PREY 241

into the darkness. It is busy searching for mice, and the num-
ber which it catches must be very great. For it has been found
that when a pair of these birds have Httle ones, they bring a
mouse to them about once in every quarter of an hour all through
the night! And, besides that, their own appetites have to be
satisfied; and owls seem always to be hungry.

One day the late Lord Lilford, one of the foremost British
ornithologists of his time, tried to see how many mice a barn-
owl really could swallow. So he caught one of these birds and
put it in a cage, and gave it seven mice one after the other.
Six of these it gulped down without any hesitation; but though
it tried hard to swallow the seventh it could not quite manage
to do so, and for about twenty minutes the tail of the mouse was
dangling from a corner of its beak. At last, however, the tail
disappeared; and three hours later the owl was actually hungry
again, and ate four more mice!

None of the owls e\er digest the bones and feathers or hair
of their prey; but these materials get packed into balls in the
stomach, and after a time arc coughed up and thrown away.
Very often large quantities of these "pellets" arc found in
hollow trees in which owls have been roosting, more than a
bushel having been taken from a single tree, and by examining
them one may learn the character of the bird's daily fare.
The birds do not make a nest, but lay their eggs on a heap of
these pellets instead; and they have an odd way of laying them
at intervals, so that sometimes half-fiedged little ones, newly
hatched little ones, and freshly laid eggs may all be found to-
gether.

When the young owls are waiting for their parents to return
with a mouse, they always get very much excited and make
most odd noises, something like loud hisses followed by loud
snores. And when at last one of the old birds returns with a
mouse in its talons the outcry grows louder than ever.

One of the oddest members of the family is the burrowing
owl, or coquimbo, as the South American form is known.
This inhabits only the open plains of Western North America
and Southern South America, and as it can find no trees or
rocky niches in which to nest, it scratches out shallow burrows

242 THE ANIMAL WORLD

in little banks of earth, or takes possession of the deserted
burrows of some digging animal. It is therefore a constant
citizen of the "towns" of the prairie-dogs of the North and
viscachas of the South, where numbers of burrowing owls may
sometimes be seen, some hunting about for beetles and grass-
hoppers, on which they chiefly feed, and others sitting at the
entrances of the burrows and surveying the surrounding coun-
try. They are not at all timid, and if a man approaches them
they will remain w^here they are until he is quite close, bobbing
up and down from time to time as though they were politely
bowing to him. If he continues to walk toward them they
will rise into the air, fly two or three times round his head,
screaming loudly as they do so, and then settle down on another
mound a few yards away and bow to him again. But if he
walks round them instead they will turn their heads to look after
him, without moving their bodies, until one would almost think
that they would twist them off altogether.

When neither prairie-dogs nor viscachas live in the neigh-
borhood, these queer little owls will sometimes take up their
quarters in the burrow of a wolf, a fox, or a badger. , They
make a very rough nest of grass and feathers, in which they
lay from six to eleven white eggs.

CHAPTER XXI

CUCKOOS, NIGHTJARS, HUMMING-BIRDS, WOODPECKERS,
AND TOUCANS

IN Europe the cuckoo is one of the most familiar and well-
known birds, and every one recognizes its note, and re-
gards it as a sure sign that summer is near. The bird usually
reaches England about the second week in April, and very soon
after that time the cock bird may be heard uttering his cry,
which is one of the most familiar sounds of the country, until
two months later. Then the bird's voice breaks, and after
crying " cuck-cuck-cuck-oo " for a few days, instead of the simple
"cuckoo," he becomes quite dumb, and is quite unable to utter
his note again until the following spring.

This cuckoo is famous for its singular habit of placing its
egg in the nest of some other bird, instead of making a nest of
its own. The hen bird seems, first of all, to lay her egg on the
ground; then, picking it up in her beak, she flies off to look for
a suitable nest in which to put it. Having found one, she waits
her opportunity, when the occupant is absent, and then slips
in the egg and flies away. The owner of the nest, strange
to say, hardly ever seems to notice when she comes back that
there is a strange egg among her own, although very often it is
not in the least like them in color and markings. So before
very long a young cuckoo is hatched out, together with her
own little ones. Then on the very day of its birth the cuckoo
seems to make up its mind that before long there will be no
room in the nest for any one but itself, and actually pushes all
its little foster brothers and sisters over the side, one after the
other! And, strange to say, the mother bird does not seem to
mind, but just gives all the food which her own young would
have eaten to the cuckoo, and takes the greatest care of it in
every way until it is able to fly.

243

244 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The cuckoo family is a large and varied one, with representa-
tives in all parts of the world, and few of them show this extraor-
dinary disposition to impose upon their neighbors, though all
are careless home-makers. In the United States we have two
kinds of cuckoos, the black-billed and the yellow-billed, which
have much the same slim form and plain yet elegant dress as
their European cousin, but a different note, uttering a loud
rattling cry instead of the soft cuck-oo; and both of these make
nests, lay eggs in them, and rear their young as faithfully as
other birds. The nests, however, are merely loose platforms of
twigs set among the branches of some small tree, through which,
often, the greenish-blue eggs are distinctly visible.

Nightjars

The nightjars are another world-wide family, with great
similarity in both appearance and habit among its members.
All are nocturnal, have big heads, large eyes, and very small
beaks, although the mouth opens very wide. They hunt their
food by night, resting during the day in shady forests or caves;
and like owls they have plumage so plainly brown and gray, and
so soft, that their flight is noiseless and almost invisible. The
name — which refers to its jarring cry, which is more or less
characteristic of the whole family — was given first to the British
species, which is often called fern-owl in England. Late in the
evening you may often hear it uttering its curious note — " chur-
r-r-r-r-r" — which sometimes goes on without any break for three
or four minutes.

This continuous calling is one of the most characteristic things
about our American nightjar, the whippoorwill, whose loud,
musical cry is heard in summer from almost every hillside in the
land, during the dusk of evening or morning or when the woods
are whitened with moonlight; and sometimes two or three birds
will sing against one another, as if in jealous rivalry, repeating
the call several hundred times without a pause. In the Western
United States, and in tropical America, are several kinds of
whippoorwills; and in the Southern States a bigger cousin which
calls its name loudly through the dsuknes^—chuck-wiWs-

CUCKOOS, NIGHTJARS, ETC. 245

widow. More nearly deserving the name nightjar, however, is
our night-hawk, or bullbat, which is often seen flying swiftly
about, high in the air, even before sunset, uttering a hoarse
scream, or a queer-booming note, as it rushes, open-mouth,
after unlucky insects.

All the birds of this group are insect catchers and eaters, and
their mouths, which have only a tiny pretence of a beak, open
exceedingly wide, so that they may scoop in a dozen little flies
at once, or seize and swallow a great moth. Then the tongue is
exceedingly sticky, like that of an ant-eater; besides this, the
sides of the beak are fringed with long, stiff bristles. So, when
the bird catches an insect, its victim nearly always sticks firmly
to its tongue, while, if it should break away from that, the bristles
act just like a cage, and prevent it from escaping.

The nightjars make no nest at all, but lay their eggs in a
small hollow in the ground, generally under the shelter of a fern,
or a tuft of bramble or heather. These eggs are never more
than two in number, and are grayish white in color, mottled and
marbled with gray and buff.

Swifts

In these arrangements and habits the nightjars show how
nearly they are related to the very differently appearing chimney-
swifts, which look so much like swallows that we often call them
chimney-swallows, but this is wrong. Before this country was
inhabited by white men, the swifts dwelt in companies in hollow
trees, but as fast as the settlers built houses and chimneys the
swifts left the trees and made their homes in the chimneys, where
they fasten to the bricks little shelf-shaped nests composed of
their glue-like saliva and bits of twigs. In the East Indies a
kind of swift makes such a nest wholly out of its saliva, which
hardens into a whitish material like isinglass. This is fastened
against the wall or roof of some cave by the sea, and the Malays
and Chinese gather these nests at the peril of their lives, where
they are built in hundreds in dark caverns, and sell them as
delicacies to be made into bird's-nest soup.

The swift feeds upon flies and small beetles, which it catches

246 THE ANIMAL WORLD

in the air, and on any fine summer's day you may see it hawking
for prey. It well deserves its name, for it dashes through the
air with most wonderful speed, and is said to be able to fly at
the rate of two hundred miles an hour! And as it flies it keeps
twisting and turning after the fashion of a bat, and is evidently
snapping up insect after insect as it goes.

Yet, strange to say, the bird never seems to be tired. It is
often on the wing before three o'clock in the morning, and is
still darting about as actively as ever after sunset.

HUMMENG-BlRDS

Although they are not very much like swifts, the humming-
birds are closely related to them, and have powers of flight
which are really almost as wonderful. Indeed, if you alarm one
of these birds when it is hovering over a flower, it will dart away
with such astonishing speed that it is almost impossible for the
eye to follow its course. And even while it is hovering the wings
vibrate so rapidly that you cannot see them, all that is visible
being a faint blur on either side of the body.

These exquisite little birds are found in Central and South
America, in the West Indies, and in the warmer parts of the
United States. Several very beautiful species are known west
of the Rocky Mountains, but only one, the ruby-throat, visits
the Eastern States. As a rule they are most beautifully colored,
their plumage shining with metallic gold, and copper, and bronze,
and purple, and crimson, and blue, and green.

Sometimes, too — for there are a great many different species
— there is a ruff round the neck, or long tufts upon the head; or
perhaps two of the tail-feathers may be produced until they are
longer than the head and body and the rest of the tail put to-
gether.

As a rule, the beaks of humming-birds are very long, in order
that they may be poked into flowers in search of any insects
which may be lying hidden within them. And the bird will
hover over a bush, and move on from one blossom to another,
until every one has been thoroughly explored.

The nests of humming-birds are nearly always very small and

FOUR HANDSO:\IE BIRDS.

I. American Pileated Woodpecker, or Loji^cock. 2. European Roller.
J. European Kinyfislier. 4. European Jay.

CUCKOOS, NIGHTJARS, ETC. 247

cup-shaped, and are made of little bits of lichen and moss neatly
fastened together with the silken threads of certain spiders.
Only two eggs are laid, which are quite white, and so tiny that
it seems impossible that a bird could be hatched out of them. At
least five hundred kinds of these beautiful little birds have al-
ready been discovered.

Woodpeckers

North America has a large population of woodpeckers, includ-
ing the biggest and finest one in the world. This is the great
ivory-bill — twenty inches in length, and jet-black, with white
wing-tips, a grand scarlet topknot, and a beak like an ivory
pickax. It used to be abundant all over the Southern States,
but now is nearly extinct. Almost as fine, and still frequently
seen all over the eastern parts of the United States and Canada,
is the similar but smaller logcock, or pileated woodpecker, as it is
named in the books, whose shrill scream may be heard half a mile.

Most of our familiar woodpeckers, however, are much smaller,
and their plumage is a checker of black and white. Everywhere
common in town, as well as among the farmlands, are three or
four species, of which the most often seen, and the smallest, is
the downy woodpecker, which gets its name from the broad
stripe of soft white feathers up and down the middle of its back.
It is not so large as a sparrow, and haunts the woods, the farmer's
orchards, the shade-trees along the rural roads or beside the
streets of our villages, and often makes itself a welcome visitor
to the city parks and gardens. From morning till night, and all the
year round, it scrambles up and down the trunks of the trees
and round and round their branches, cleverly finding and drag-
ging out insects or their young concealed under the scales of the
bark; and though it digs many pits none is deep enough to injure
the tree, as the only woodpecker which digs deep enough to do
harm is the yellow-bellied one, which appears only in the spring,
going far north to breed, and which country people call the sap-
sucker. The downy and its relatives, on the other hand, are
doing good every day. Especially welcome is this active little
visitor in winter, often with such small companions as the chicka-

VOL. v. — 17

248 THE ANIMAL WORLD

dee and nuthatch, when birds, or any other sort of living things
are scarce, and we are longing for their return.

If you sit down for awhile at the foot of a tree, and keep very
still indeed, without moving even so much as a finger, it will very
likely come and sit on the trunk of another tree close by and be-
gin to peck away with its long, sharp beak in search of insects.

How it makes the chips fly ! Its beak is just like a chisel, and
when the bird finds that a beetle or a grub has burrowed into the
trunk, it does not take very long to dig it out. And it also has
an extremely odd tongue, which is \cry long and slender, and
very sticky, and has a curious tip. By means of this tongue the
bird can often drag an insect out of its burrow without being
obliged to dig right down to it.

Sometimes woodpeckers make a most amusing mistake.
They hear the humming of a telegraph wire, and think that it
must be caused by insects living in the posts. So they set to
work with the utmost energy to dig them out, and are so diligent
and so persevering that they have often been known to cut a
big hole right through a telegraph post before finding out that
there were no insects there after all!

There is another thing that we wish you especially to notice
about the woodpecker, and that is the way in which it is enabled
to sit on an upright tree-trunk for a long time without getting
tired. The fact is that it really sits on its own tail, which serves
as a kind of camp-stool ! If you look at a woodpecker's tail you
will find that the feathers are very short and \-ery stiff, and that
they are bent downward. When the bird perches on the trunk
of a tree the tips of these feathers rest upon the bark and prop it
up, so that there is very little strain upon the muscles of the feet
and legs.

Downy, after the manner of its kind, uses its chisel-beak to
form a deep and safe home in some old tree or stump, and often
has enough confidence in its friends of the village or farm to
choose a tall fence-post; and therein it deposits its pure white
eggs and shelters its babies. Moreover, Papa Downy often digs
near by a more shallow tunnel for himself, where he spends the
night in safety and comfort as his mate is doing in her own snug
chamber.

CUCKOOS, NIGHTJARS, ETC. 249

The hairy woodpecker is very similar to the downy in dress,
but one-half larger, and by no means so numerous or familiar.
There are several northern and far-western kinds of checkered
woodpecker such as the three-toed, the arctic and others, but
their habits are very similar, and we may pass them by to speak
of two species more notable in every way.

The Redhead and the Flicker

The redhead is most strikingly colored, for its whole head and
neck are scarlet, its shoulders and back black, its wing-quills
and rump white, and the tail black. It is a fairly large bird
and a bold one, though like all woodpeckers it will slip around
to the other side of the tree when it hears your step, and then
peep out with comical caution to see whether you are dangerous.
If you keep quiet it is likely soon to scuttle back and go on
hammering, making the chips fly and the forest ring with its
busy search after some buried grub. The Indians made a
good deal of use of the scarlet feathers of this bird; and it is
always a tempting mark for the wandering gunner, so that it
is no wonder it is becoming rare in thickly settled regions.

A much less handsome but more numerous woodpecker in all
parts of the country is the golden-winged, or flicker, or high-
hole, for it goes by many names among the boys who love to
trace it to its nesting-hole in some tall stub, and take, if they
can, the pearly eggs that lie on a bed of chips in the bottom of
the cavity. This nesting-hole, with its accurately round door-
way and hall, goes straight into the tree-trunk for two inches
or so, and then turns downward sometimes to the. depth of a
foot. This large v.oodpecker is not black and white, like most
of the others, but wears a dress of greenish brown with wing-
quills that look just as though they were gilded, and a small
bonnet of red on the back of its head where there is no crest.
In fact, the flicker is a queer sort of woodpecker generally, for
it spends quite as much time in fields and gardens as in the
woods, and much of this on the ground in search of insects—
mostly ants.

Woodpeckers are noisy birds, both in their hammering and

250 THE ANIMAL WORLD

in their rough cries, and this one is perhaps the noisest of all;
but its call is so joyous that one cannot hear it without a sense
of cheer.

Toucans

We now come to a group of really extraordinary birds. They
are found in the forests of Central and South America, and are
chiefly remarkable for their beaks, which in the first place are
so enormous that they look as if they had been intended for
birds at least six times as big, and in the second place are most
gaudily colored. It is not very easy to describe them, because
there are a good many kinds of toucans, and each has its bill
differently colored. In one the beak is partly orange and
partly black, with a lilac base. In another it is light green, with
the tip and edges of the most brilliant scarlet. In a third it
is half scarlet and half bright yellow; while in a fourth it is
creamy white with a broad streak of crimson running along the
middle; and in a fifth is a most singular mixture of orange and
blue and chocolate bro^vn and white.

Owing to the great size of their bills these birds are most
ungainly in appearance, and one cannot help wondering how
they manage to hold up their heads. But in reality these huge
beaks are not at all heavy, for instead of being made of solid
horn, the whole of the interior is broken up into cells, the
divisions between which are no thicker than paper — a structure
which gives them not only great lightness but great strength.

Toucans five chiefly in the trees, and spend most of their
time in the topmost branches, where they are fond of gathering
together in large flocks. They are very noisy birds, for they
not only utter hoarse cries and loud yells in chorus, but have a
way of clattering their beaks together as well. Owing to this
habit the natives of South America sometimes call them " preach-
er-birds."

When they go to sleep toucans double their tails over upon
their backs, just as though they had hinges at the base, and
bury their great beaks among the feathers of their shoulders.
The consequence is that they do not look like toucans at

CUCKOOS, NIGHTJARS, ETC. 251

all, or even like birds, and seem to be mere bundles of loose
feathers.

HORNBILLS

These are more extraordinary still, some of them having
beaks so enormous that they look as if they had been meant for
birds twelve times instead of only six times as big as themselves.
And the strangest thing of all is that upon the upper part is a
great horny helmet, which in some cases is quite as large as
the beak itself. In the rhinoceros-hornbill, indeed, the beak
and helmet together are pretty nearly as big as the body.

Both beak and helmet, however, except in one species, are
made just like the bills of the toucans, so that in spite of their
enormous size they are not at all hea\y. But why they should
be so big is more than we can tell you.

Hornbills are found in many parts of both Africa and Asia,
and most of them live in the trees. They nearly always hop
from one branch to another until they reach the very topmost
boughs, where they will sit' for hours together, occasionally
uttering a series of loud, roaring cries, which can be heard for
a very long distance. And when they fly they keep opening
and closing their beaks, and so making an odd clattering
noise which generally puzzles travelers very much when they
hear it for the first time.

There are two kinds of hornbills which live on the ground.
One of these is found in South Africa, and the Kafirs have a
curious idea about it, due to the fact that after death its body
smells very nasty. They think that if one of these birds is
killed and thrown into a river it will make the stream feel ill,
and that a hea\y fall of rain will take place in order that the
carcass may be washed into the sea! So in times of drought
they always try to kill a ground-hombill and fling it into the
nearest river.

When one of these birds discovers a snake, its cries bring
others to the place, and then, it is said, three or four attack the
snake and kill it. Their plan is to advance upon it sideways
with their wings spread out, and to irritate it with the tips of

252 THE ANIMAL WORLD

the feathers until it strikes. Then they all peck it together
before it can recover itself, and nearly always succeed in killing
it in a very short time.

The Hoopoe

This is another odd-looking bird; but instead of having a
horny helmet like the hornbills, it has a crest of very long feathers.
These feathers, which can be raised or lowered at will, are
tawny brown in color, with black tips, just before which is a
streak of white. The body is grayish brown above and nearly white
below, and the wings and tail are black, barred with white.

The real home of the bird is in the sandy deserts of Northern
Africa and Southern Asia. There its plumage harmonizes so
well with the color of the soil that it is very difficult to see it,
and it is said that when a hawk appears the hoopoe only has to
flatten its body against the sand and remain perfectly still,
when it is quite sure to be overlooked by its enemy.

The hoopoe utters its cry in a very curious manner. First
it puffs out the sides of its neck, and then it hammers its beak
three times upon the ground. Each time that it does so some
of the air in its throat escapes, and the result is a noise like the
syllable "hoo" three times repeated.

An Arab Legend

The Arabs have an odd legend about the hoopoe. One
day, so the quaint old story runs, King Solomon was traveling
through the desert, and was much oppressed by the heat of
the sun, till a large flock of hoopoes came and flew just above
his head, so as to protect him from its rays. At the close of the
day the grateful monarch wished to know how he could reward
them for their kindness, and the foolish birds asked that crowns
of gold might grow upon their heads. Their request was grant-
ed, and for a few days they admired themselves immensely,
and spent most of their time in gazing at their reflections in
pools of water. Very soon, however, great numbers of them
were snared by the fowlers for the sake of their valuable orna-

CUCKOOS, NIGHTJARS, ETC. 253

ments, and it seemed as though in a short time not one would
be left alive. So at last the survivors went back to King Sol-
omon, and begged that their golden cro\\'ns might be taken
away. Once more the king listened to their petition, and gave
them crowns of feathers instead, and that is how hoopoes come
to have crests upon their heads.

Kingfishers

One of the most beautiful birds of our country is the king-
fisher, which is deep blue with white markings, and a chestnut
band across the breast. Upon its head is borne a high crest,
like a crown. As you walk along the banks of a stream, you
may often see them darting through the air, and looking almost
like streaks of colored light. And if you sit down and keep
perfectly still for a little while you may, perhaps, see one of
them fishing. It perches on a branch overhanging the water,
and waits patiently till a fish passes underneath. Then sudden-
ly it drops into the water like a stone, splashes about for a mo-
ment or two, and then returns to its perch with its victim
struggling in its beak.

The kingfisher digs a deep hole into the face of some earthen
bank or cliff, and at the inner end hollows out a little cave
where it lays several pure white eggs, with almost nothing but
a few fishbones for a nest.

A good many different kinds of kingfishers are found in
various parts of the world, one of them, which lives in Australia,
being known as the laughing jackass, on account of its singular
cry. Everywhere there are birds of brilliant plumage, and in
some places they have been almost wholly destroyed for the
wicked purpose of getting feathers to use as ornaments on
ladies' hats.

CHAPTER XXII
CROWS, BIRDS OF PARADISE, AND FINCHES

THE crow tribe contains several most interesting birds, first
among which stands the raven, a bird once known in all
the northern parts of the world, but now exceedingly rare in the
United States except in the far West. Even in the mountainous
districts of Scotland it is not nearly so common as it was, for it
is so fond of killing weak and sickly lambs that the shepherds
trap or shoot it whenever they have an opportunity, and the
gamekeepers dislike it quite as much, because of the numbers of
hares, rabbits, partridges, and grouse that fall victims to its
terrible beak.

Ravens have often been tamed, and have even learned to talk
almost as well as parrots. But they are exceedingly mischievous
birds, and, in addition, are only too ready to peck any one who
comes near them with the full force of their sharp and powerful
bills; so that they cannot be at all recommended as pets.

The nest of the raven is a rather clumsy structure of sticks,
and is nearly always placed in the upper branches of a very tall
tree. When the young birds are nearly fledged, they often tum-
ble out of the nest, and are found by the shepherds fluttering
helplessly about on the ground. Most of the ravens which are
kept in captivity have been caught in this way.

The American Crow

The various crows of the world are like small ravens — jet-
black, sometimes marked with white; but our familiar American
crow is wholly black. These birds are fond of gathering into
flocks, which sometimes are very large; and they are sociable,
liking to spend the night roosting in some favorite grove in great
companies. When near the sea, or some large river or lake, the
crows go down to the shore every morning, and spend most of

254

CROWS, BIRDS OF PARADISE, ETC. 255

the day on or near the beach, where they pick up most of their
food. Crows, however, will eat almost anything edible except
grain; and the great European carrion-crow is almost a bird of
prey, for like the raven it feeds chiefly on the flesh of dead ani-
mals. But it also preys upon such creatures as rabbits, hares,
mice, frogs, and lizards, while it will also search for the nests
of game birds and poultry, and carry off the eggs and the young.
Sometimes, too, it will visit the sea-shore, and feast upon the
crabs, limpets, and mussels which it finds among the rocks at low
water. In order to crack the shells of these creatures, it is said some-
times to carry them up into the air and drop them upon a rock.

Rooks

Except that it places its rude, stick-built nest in scattered
trees, each pair by itself, instead of in a company, our American
crow is closely similar to the English rooks about which so much
is said in books about Great Britain. Everybody in England
knows the rook by sight, and everybody is familiar with the
rookeries in which a number of these birds nest together year after
year. Indeed, they use the same nests over and over again, just
putting them into proper order shortly before the eggs are laid.

The scene when building operations begin is always a. lively
one, and all day long the birds are very busy. But oddly
enough, they never seem to know when the winter is really over,
and when a thaw comes after two or three frosty days in Decem-
ber, or even earlier, they get as excited as possible, setting to
work and gathering sticks, and evidently thinking that spring is
beginning!

Rooks have very strict rules when they are building. For
one rook to steal a stick from another rook's nest, for example,
is a very serious crime, and sometimes is punished even with
death. And young birds are not allowed to build in a tree out-
side the rookery, their nest being at once pulled to pieces by the
older ones if they attempt to do so.

Crows of all kinds are extremely useful birds, for they devour
enormous quantities of mischievous grubs, more especially those
which live at the roots of cultivated plants, where other birds

256 THE ANIMAL WORLD

cannot get at them. And you may often see them following
the plow, and picking up their victims in scores. Thus they
more than pay the farmer for the stalks of young corn or grain
which they sometimes pull up in the spring.

The Jackdaw

Another famous European bird, taking a part in many fa-
miliar stories and poems, is the jackdaw. It is a smaller bird than
the rook, and is generally found near houses, being very fond of
nesting in church towers, or in old ruins. But very often a
colony of jackdaws will settle in a lofty cliff, and build on rocky
ledges far beyond the reach of even the boldest climber.

The jackdaw is easily tamed, and is a very interesting bird
when kept as a pet, soon learning to talk almost as well as a
parrot. But it is dreadfully mischievous, and if it finds any
small glittering object is almost sure to carry it off and hide it.
Sometimes, too, it w^ill play very amusing tricks. We knew a
tame jackdaw once which lived in a very large garden. One
day the butcher's cart drove up, and the butcher went round
to the kitchen entrance to take the orders. No sooner had he
disappeared than the jackdaw flew up on the box, and called
out, "Gee up!" Off started the horse at once, and if the
gardener had not happened to meet the cart as it was passing
out of the gate, with only the jackdaw inside, the butcher would
certainly have been obliged to walk all the way home.

The nest of the jackdaw, like that of the rook, is built of sticks,
and is lined with hay, wool, and feathers. It generally contains
live eggs, which are bluish green, spotted with gray and brown.

The Jay

What a beautiful bird the jay is! And how very seldom
one gets a really good view of it! For it is one of the shyest
of all birds, and never allows itself to be seen if it can possibly
help it. And the very moment that it catches sight of one it
flies off with a terrified squall which can often be heard from
nearly half a mile away.

CROWS, BIRDS OF PARADISE, ETC. 257

Other birds do not at all like the jay, for it is very fond of
visiting their nests and stealing the eggs. It will carry off
young birds, too, and devour them, and many a young par-
tridge and pheasant falls victim to its appetite. But it also
eats caterpillars, moths, beetles, and other insects, as well as
fruit and berries; while sometimes it will visit a kitchen garden
early in the morning, and feast heartily on the young peas.

Our common Eastern American jay is light blue, with pretty
white markings; while in the far West and in the tropics are
many kinds which are rich dark blue or green; the European
jay, however, is more varied. In general color it is light reddish
brown. On either wing is a patch of azure blue banded with
black, while the head is decorated with a crest of gray feathers,
with black spots, which can be raised and lowered at will.
Nearly all jays have tall crests. The quill-feathers of the wings
and tail are black.

The Magpie

Another famous member of this family is the magpie, which
occurs in both Europe and America, and may be recognized
by its glossy black and white plumage, its long tail, and its
curious dipping flight. It is found in most parts of the British
Isles, but never wanders far away from the shelter of large woods,
where it knows that it is much safer from the attacks of hawks
than in the open country.

The magpie is as mischievous out of doors as the jay, and as
mischievous indoors as the jackdaw; so that it cannot be said
to bear a very good character. But at any rate it makes a
very amusing little pet, even if it does steal any small object
that it can carry away, and hide it in some hoard of its own.
But with a little careful instruction it soon learns to talk quite
well. In Europe, consequently, many tame magpies are to
be seen; but not so often in the United States.

The nest of the magpie cannot be mistaken for that of any
other bird, for although it is made of sticks, like that of the
jackdaw and the jay, it is always domed above, and has the
entrance at the side. It is generally situated in a thorn or a

258 THE ANIMAL WORLD

pine tree, although now and then the birds will build in a low
bush quite close to the ground. There are generally from
five to seven eggs, which are bluish white in color, blotched and
dotted with brown.

Birds of Paradise

Next in order to the crows, jays, and magpies come these.
They include some of the most beautiful of all the feathered
race. They are nearly all found in New Guinea and the
Papuan islands, and there are altogether about fifty different
kinds.

One of the most beautiful is the king bird of paradise, which
it is very difficult to describe in words. The upper part of
the body is rich chestnut, with a bloom of purple, the lower
part pure white, and across the breast runs a band of golden
green, which deepens into blackish brown, while the upper
part of the head and neck is pale straw-color. Most exquisite
of all, however, are the great masses of long, slender, drooping
plumes, which spring from either side of the body under the
wings. These plumes are nearly two feet long, and are golden
yellow, darkening toward the tips into pale brown. This
exquisite plumage is only found in the cock bird, the hen
being of a dull brown color all over, without any plumes at all;
and the birds have now become extremely scarce because killed
so incessantly for the cruel purpose of getting their feathers to
put on hats!

Very little is known about the habits of birds of paradise,
for few people ever have the opportunity of seeing them in their
native forests, and they are almost unknown in zoological
gardens because they usually die almost immediately when
placed in captivity in a strange country,

Bower-Birds

The bower-birds of Australia owe their name to their singular
habit of making bowers in which to play! These bowers are
built of sticks and long pieces of grass, arranged in such a way

CROWS, BIRDS OF PARADISE, ETC. 259

that they meet at the top so as to form a kind of avenue, and are
often three feet long. Stranger still, they are ornamented with
stones, brightly colored shells, and the blue tail-feathers of par-
rakeets, which the birds carefully fasten up among the sticks,
evidently in order to make the bower look pretty. Then, when
it is finished, they run through it, round and round, over and
over again, chasing one another, and seeming to enjoy their game
immensely.

There is one of these birds, found in Papua, which builds a
hut about two feet high instead of a bower, and then makes a
sort of garden in front of it. This garden is decorated with
bright-colored flowers and berries, and as soon as they fade the
bird throws them away and puts fresh ones in their place! It is
called the gardener-bird.

The Starling

This bird is almost as well known as the sparrow in Europe.
You may see it on the lawn, every now and then plunging its
beak into the ground, and pulling out a grub or a worm; and it is
fond of building a great untidy-lookir.g nest in water-pipes and
other places where it is not wanted. It is beginning to be well
known also in America, for colonies are established near New
York City.

Starlings in Europe often travel about the country in great
flocks, which frequently consist of several thousand birds.
Sometimes, too, several of these flocks join together at night,
and then separate again next morning. We have seen a little
copse so full of roosting starlings that every branch of every tree
was occupied from end to end, while thousands more kept flying
in, and trying to turn the first comers off their perches! And
they made so much noise that we could hear them chattering
and quarreling when we were more than a mile away.

Each flight of starlings seems to have its leader whose orders
are instantly obeyed, for every bird in the whole flock swerves,
and wheels, and turns at the same moment — a maneuver seen
equally in the vast migratory flocks of red-winged blackbirds
which gather in autumn on every American marsh and are

260 THE ANIMAL WORLD

gradually spreading inland. A few years hence the bird may
be seen all over the United States.

Starlings are useful birds, although they certainly steal a great
deal of fruit; for if it were not for their labors — together with
those of certain other birds— our corn and vegetable crops would
certainly be destroyed by the mischievous grubs which live at
the roots. So we ought to look on the fruit which starlings take
as wages paid them for their work.

Finches

We now come to the great group of the finches, which can
easily be recognized by their short, stout, strong beaks.

This is one of the most extensive families of birds, for it in-
cludes, besides the finches properly so called, all the sparrows,
grosbeaks, buntings, and seed-eaters of the world, together with
many other similar birds known by various names. The small
robust size, and especially the cone-shaped beak, suitable for
cracking seeds, or tearing the husks of fruit to pieces, are the
badges of the family. Sometimes this beak is big and strong,
as in our northern rose-breasted, or the southern cardinal gros-
beak, or the British bullfinch; sometimes small and slender, as
in the sparrows, such as our pretty visitor to the garden lilacs
and rose-bushes, the chipping-bird; sometimes queerly out of
shape, as in the crossbills, where the lower half, or mandible, of
the bill does not meet the upper one squarely at the tip, but the
points cross past one another. These birds dwell in the northern
evergreen forests, and subsist almost wholly on the seeds of the
pine and spruce, which they twist out from beneath the tough
scales of the cones with remarkable skill, apparently using the
crossed bill like a pair of pliers.

These birds come south in winter, when their bright reddish
coats and fearless ways are enjoyed by everybody. The farm
children in Germany hear pretty stories about them, one of
which is that the twist in the bill was caused by one of these birds
injuring it in kindly trying to pull out the nails by which Jesus
was fastened to the cross; so their name "cross-bill" may be
thought of in two ways.

FINCHES AND WEAVER-BIRDS.

European Yellowhanimer. -^. African Weaver-Bird (Female).

African Weaver-Bird (Male). 4. European Goldfinch.

5. Stonechat.

CROWS, BIRDS OF PARADISE, ETC. 261

Sparrows

Every roadside and field has its sparrows — brown, streaked
birds which usually keep near the ground and feed upon the
seeds of grasses and weeds, yet pick up innumerable insects,
as do all the others of their busy tribe. These sparrows make
their nests mostly on the ground; but most of the finches, rightly
so called, nest in bushes and trees. All the sparrows have
pleasant voices, and most of them are fair singers, while some
excel in that accomplishment. Our song-sparrow, fox-sparrow,
the whitethroat and others are among the best of American
singing birds.

It has been said that these plain brown birds have been
granted the gift of voice to make up for lack of ornament;
but this explanation doesn't seem to amount to much, for if
it were true we ought to find the richly dressed birds songless.
That this is not the case in this family, at least, is plain when
we remember that our finches — and it is equally true of foreign
ones — include some of the most brilliantly colored birds we
have, such as the goldfinch, the purple finch, the indigo-bird,
the exquisite blue and red nonpareil of Louisiana, and many
others, all of which are capital musicians.

Some of these finches are among our most highly prized cage-
birds, such as the European bullfinch, which not only sings
prettily when wild, but if caught young can be trained to learn
several tunes, and between whiles pipes and chirrups gaily.
The goldfinch, linnet, waxbill, and several others belong to
this interesting tribe.

Canaries

Canaries, too, are finches, and are plentiful in the islands
from which they take their name. But if you were to see them
in their own home you would hardly recognize them; for a wild
canary that is yellow all over is hardly ever seen. Our cage-
canaries, in fact, are an artificial breed, the natural color of the
plumage being olive green, marked with black and yellow.

262 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Neither would you recognize the song of the wild birds, which
is not nearly so powerful nor so varied as that of the feathered
pets which we all know so well.

Now and then talking canaries have been known, which
had learned to utter a number of different words quite dis-
tinctly.

The Skylark

No bird is more celebrated than the skylark, which has
inspired countless poems. It is a plain brown little bird, like
one of our field-sparrows; and would attract little attention
were it not for the sweetly clear and varied music of its joyous
song as it mounts higher and higher in the air, till at last it
looks a mere speck in the sky. For nearly eight months in
the year it sings, and one can scarcely take a ramble in the
country without seeing and hearing it. A small colony of skylarks
dwells on Long Island, in the edge of Brooklyn, N.Y., where
the song may be heard by many a person who cannot go to
Europe to listen to it.

The skylark builds upon the ground, in some little hollow,
and its nest is so well hidden that one scarcely ever finds it.
It is made of dry grass, leaves, and hair, and contains four or
five yellowish-gray eggs speckled with brown.

CHAPTER XXIII
WAGTAILS, SHRIKES, THRUSHES, Etc.

ONE can scarcely walk along the banks of a British stream
in spring or summer without noticing a pretty and grace-
ful bird, sometimes running along near the edge of the water,
and stopping every now and then to pick off an insect from the
herbage, and sometimes rising into the air to catch a fly or gnat.
And one can easily understand why the name wagtail has been
given to it, for no matter whether it is flying or running, its tail
is never still. Sometimes, too, it may be seen in a damp mead-
ow, or even on a lawn in a garden; and where one wagtail is,
others are sure to be not very far off.

The nest of this bird is usually placed in a hole in a river-
bank, or else among the spreading roots of a tree. It is made of
dry grass, withered leaves, and moss, and is lined with hair,
wool, or feathers.

This description applies excellently to a little American
bird, known as the water-thrush, although it is not a true
thrush, but one of the warblers, of which a great many sorts,
some very beautiful, are seen in our woods in the spring, on their
way north; but just a few appear to remain with us all the year
round.

Tjse Creeper

Running about on the trunks and branches of trees, and
looking very much like a feathered mouse, you may often see
the creeper. It is about as big as a wren, and has a long,
slender, and slightly curved beak, which it is constantly poking
into the cracks and crevices of the bark in search of insects.
It always begins its quest low down on the trunk, and works
its way gradually upward, peering into every little cranny, and

VOL. v. — i8 263

264 THE ANIMAL WORLD

seldom remaining still for a single moment. The larger boughs
are examined in just the same way, and when the bird has
reached the top of the tree it flies down to another and begins
again, and so on all through the day. And in order to prevent
it from getting tired, it has a short, stiff tail like that of the wood-
pecker, which serves as a kind of camp-stool, and supports the
weight of the body.

The nest of this quaint little bird is nearly always placed in a
hole in a tree-trunk. It is made of roots, twigs, fragments of
bark, and grass, and is lined with wool and feathers. From six
to nine eggs are laid, which are white in color, prettily spotted
with yellowish red.

The Nuthatch

This is another bird that one may often see rimning about on
the trunk of a tree. It is shaped rather like a wren, but is a
little bigger than a sparrow, and has a bluish-gray head
and back, a white throat and breast. It has the curious
habit of keeping head do^^^lward almost continuously as it
works.

The European nuthatch is very fond of nuts, which it cracks
in a most curious way. First of all, it wedges a nut firmly in
some crevice in the bark of a tree. Then, taking up its stand on
the trunk just above, it deals blow after blow on the nut with its
stout little beak, swinging itself up into the air every time that
it does so and giving a flap with its wings, so as to add force to
its stroke. It turns itself into a kind of live pickax, and after a
very few blows the nutshell is split open, and the clever little
bird is able to get at the kernel; but our American nuthatch
seems to have forgotten this habit, if it ever had it, and lives al-
most wholly on insects.

The nuthatch makes its nest in a hole in a tree, and it is
generally composed of small pieces of soft bark, lined with dry
leaves. When the mother bird is sitting on her eggs, which are
white in color, spotted with pink, she will peck most savagely at
any enemy which may try to enter, hissing as she does so, just
like a snake.

AMERICAN INSECT-EATING SONG-BIRDS

T Chimney Swift. 2. Barn Swallow. 3. Wood Thrush. 4. Red-eyed Wo. 5. Chestnut-
sided Wwbler 6. Maryland Yellow-throat. 7. Redstart. 8. Phoebe Pewee. 9. Black-
throated Green Warbler. 10^ II. Cedar Waxwing. 12. Oven-bird. 13. Blueb.rd
All adult males.

WAGTAILS, SHRIKES, THRUSHES, ETC. 265

Titmice

These birds can be seen almost everywhere, and very pretty
and attractive little birds they are as they run about on the trunks
and branches of trees, not seeming to mind in the least whether
they are perching on a bough, or hanging upside down under-
neath it. And all the while they are searching every little chink
and cranny in order to see whether any small insects are hiding
within it.

It is a very good plan in winter to take a marrow-bone, or a
little network bag with a lump of suet in it, and hang it from
the branch of a tree for the titmice. Day after day the
little birds will visit it, clinging to it in all sorts of posi-
tions, and pecking vigorously away at the suspended dainty.
And they will like a cocoanut which has been cut in half almost
as well.

Several other kinds of titmice are also found in the British
Isles, of which the great tit, the cole-tit, and the blue tit are
plentiful almost everywhere. They are all very much alike in
habits, and they all build in holes in trees, making their nests of
moss, hair, wool, and feathers, and laying six or eight white eggs,
prettily speckled with light red.

Titmice abound in all northern countries and, we have several
American species, one of which, the merry, courageous little
black-capped chickadee, is known by both eye and ear to every
one who takes any notice of birds. In the Southern States an-
other famihar one is the peto, or crested chickadee, who, when
he lifts his pointed gray cap, reminds one of a tiny jay. The
Rocky Alountain region and Pacific coast have several other
kinds — all delightful. Our titmice all make their nests in holes
in trees and stumps, usually taking possession of the last year's
home of a woodpecker.

In Europe there is a famous titmouse having a very different
method. This is the long-tailed tit, or bottle-tit, as it is some-
times called, because its nest is shaped just hke a bottle without
a neck. It is sometimes placed in the fork of a branch, but more
generally in the middle of a thick bush, and is made of wool,

266 THE ANIMAL WORLD

moss, and spider-silk, and is lined with quantities of soft downy
feathers. And although it is by no means small it is very easily
overlooked, for the clever little birds cover all the outside with
bits of gray lichen, so as to make it look as much like the sur-
rounding branches as possible.

In this beautiful and cosy nest from ten to twelve eggs are
laid, which are white in color, with just a few very small reddish
spots. When the young birds are nearly fledged they quite fill
up their nursery, and you can actually see the walls swelling out
and contracting again as the little creatures breathe. And how
they all manage to keep their long tails unruffled in those narrow
quarters nobody knows at all.

In winter you may often see a whole family of these
pretty birds — father, mother, and ten or a dozen little ones
— all flying about together, for they never separate until the
spring.

The Shrike

A notable bird is the shrike, which is also known as the
butcher-bird, owing to a most curious habit. It is a bird of prey,
feeding upon all sorts of small creatures, and it seems to know
that though it can catch plenty of these on warm, sunny days,
they will all be hiding away in their retreats when the weather is
cold and rainy. So on- a fine, bright morning it will catch many
more victims than it wants at the time, and put them away in its
larder! Sometimes you may find a thorn-bush with four or five
mice, half a dozen unfledged birds, two or three fat caterpillars,
a big beetle or two, and perhaps a bumblebee, all stuck upon the
thorns, like the joints of meat hung up in a butcher's shop.
Then you may be quite sure that you have discovered a butcher-
bird's larder. And by and by, when a cold and wet day comes,
and the bird can catch no prey, it just comes and takes some of
these creatures from the thorns, and so obtains plenty of provi-
sions!

There are two species of shrike in the United States — one
which visits us from the south in summer and the other from
the north in winter.

WAGTAILS, SHRIKES, THRUSHES, ETC. 267

Thrushes

The thrush family is spread all over the world, and contains
some of the most noted of singing birds. No one can read
English poetry, or much of the classic prose of our language,
without meeting with the names of such birds as the mavis, the
blackbird, the blackcap, and especially the nightingale, all
European thrushes; even the English robin, after which our
larger American redbreast is named, is a sort of thrush, closely
related to our dear little bluebird.

The RoBEsr

The robin is a great favorite with the people of Europe, be-
cause it is so very trustful. We have actually seen one of these
birds perching.on a man's knee for quite a minute, while it looked
about for worms in a plot of ground which he had just been dig-
ging. But it is by no means so gentle a bird as many people
think. In fact, it is a very quarrelsome bird, for if two cock
robins meet they are almost sure to fight, and very often the
battle goes on until one of the two is killed!

A robin once took up his abode in Hereford Cathedral, and
seemed to think that it was his own private property. For one
day, when another robin came in, he was seen chasing it all over
the building, and was at last found sitting triumphantly on its
dead body!

You may find the nest of the robin in a hole in a bank or a
wall, or perhaps in the stump of a tree. It is made of dry leaves,
roots, grass, and moss, lined with hair, or wool, and contains
either five or six yellowish-white eggs, spotted with light brown.

The Nightingale

Perhaps no bird in the world is so famous as a songster as the
nightingale, largely because of its habit of singing in the night,
for its music is not preeminent above that of several other
thrushes. The nightingale spends the winter in Africa, return-

268 THE ANIMAL WORLD

ing to Central Europe in April, and after that in the warmer
parts of Great Britain and the continent it may be heard every
night for weeks, especially when the moon shines; and sometimes
nearly all day as well.

If one passes near a bush in which a nightingale is singing,
it is worth while to stop and to whistle a few low notes. The
bird imagines that it is being challenged by another nightingale,
and begins to sing louder than before. Then it stops and listens;
and if one whistles a few notes more.it becomes very much
excited, and comes closer and closer, singing all the time, till at
last it finds out how it has been taken in. And then it begins
to scold, chattering away in the greatest indignation at having
been deceived!

Only the cock nightingale sings, and even he is only able to
do so for a few weeks. For very soon after the eggs are hatched
his voice breaks, just as that of the cuckoo does, and the only
note which he is able to utter until spring comes round again is
a harsh whistle, followed by a hoarse croak.

The nest of the nightingale is placed on the ground under a
low bush, and is made almost entirely of dead leaves. It con-
tains either four or five eggs, which are dark olive brown all over.

North American Thrushes

There is a long list of thrushes among our North American
birds, and some of them will compare well as songsters with
any of the woodland choristers of the world. The voice of our
red-breasted robin carols sweetly enough in the spring; but
he is far excelled a little later in the season by the wood-thrush,
the hermit-thrush, the veery and certain others which come
from the south when the weather becomes warm. Some of
these species, as the hermit and its relatives, pass on into Northern
Canada to make their nests and rear their young; but fortunate-
ly others — and among them queens of song — remain with us
in the United States all summer.

Of these the most commonly seen and heard is that richest
of woodland musicians, the wood-thrush, whose serenely
beautiful song, in four parts, separated by brief pauses, floats

WAGTAILS, SHRIKES, THRUSHES, ETC. 269

to our ears from orchard and grove and shady roadside as the
quiet of the summer evening draws on, and we begin to enjoy
the coolness and peace of the twih'ght.

This eloquent thrush is reddish brown or bright cinnamon
above, brightest on the head; and white below, thickly orna-
mented with rounded black spots in lines from throat to thighs.
It is the least shy of all the thrushes except the robin, yet grace-
fully modest in its demeanor. It constructs its nest on the low
horizontal limb of some tree, always with the peculiarity that
its foundation is a layer of old sear leaves and that black, thread-
like rootlets are a favorite material for the walls. The eggs are
unspotted blue, smaller and lighter than the greenish treasures
in the mud-built cabin of the robin.

Next in point of numbers, though not so often recognized,
as the wood-thrush is the oliveback, which is distinctly olive
in color on the back and flanks, and whose buffy underparts
are unspotted, save across the breast. This species is highly
variable, so that those of the Pacific coast differ considerably
from those of the Atlantic side of the continent.

The same is true of the hermit-thrush, which is heard only
in the more northern half of the continent in spring, when its
rich, indescribable fluting perhaps deserves the prize of supe-
riority over all other American bird-musicians.

The veery, or Wilson's tawny thrush, is also noted for its
song, which has an extraordinary bell-like quality which ex-
cites first curiosity and then admiration.

The group of birds to which the thrushes belong is a very
large one, and includes many smaller and variously colored
birds, among which are such familiar American friends as the
brown thrasher and its many cousins of the Southwest; the
saucy, mewing, catbird — a frequenter of every garden and
blackberry thicket in the land; those busybodies the wrens,
and many others.

Wrens

One would not at first glance connect the great long-tailed
brown thrasher with the tiny garden-wren which stuffs a hole

270 THE ANIMAL WORLD

in one of the barn timbers or a crevice in a broken tree with a
mass of twigs surrounding a soft little bed for the red-sprinkled
eggs; but when you closely compare the shape of bill and feet,
and their general form and manners, the resemblance becomes
more plain. Then you are not surprised to find the rough
nest and speckled eggs of the big thrasher and the tiny wren
much alike, and to find a resemblance in their songs, much as
they differ in loudness.

Wrens have a curious way of beginning to build nests, and
leaving them half finished. These are sometimes supposed to
be the work of the male bird alone, and are called cocks' nests;
and certainly the cock does not seem to take any part in building
the true nest, for he simply sits on a branch close by and sings,
while the hen does all the work. Perhaps he is lazy; or perhaps
she thinks that she can build much better than he can, and so
will not let him help her. And therefore it may be that he makes
these cocks' nests just to show her what he can do. But as
wrens are very timid birds, and will often desert their nest if
one even puts one's finger inside, it seems rather more likely
that they are nests which the birds have left unfinished because
they thought that some enemy had discovered them.

The Dipper

Not unlike a very big wren with a white throat and breast
is the curious and interesting dipper, well known to dwellers in
the Rocky Mountains and the ranges west of them. It is never
found far from water, and you may often see it perched upon a
stone in the shallows of a river, bobbing up and down every
now and then just as though it were making a courtesy. And
every time that it does so it gives a quick little jerk to its tail, just
as the wren does. It also makes a nest of moss, somewhat
like that of the wren, which is placed in a hole in the bank of a
stream, or often in a crevice of the rocks behind a cascade. It
feeds on insects and water-shrimps, etc., and you may often
see it busily hunting for the little beetles which are hiding
among the moss on the large stones in the bed of a stream,
where it actually walks on the bottom. It can swim and dive

WAGTAILS, SHRIKES, THRUSHES, ETC. 271

perfectly well, and keeps itself beneath the surface by flapping
with its wings, while it searches for grubs in the mud at the
bottom of the water. The dipper has a very bright and gay
little song, and always seems happy, and busy, and active.

Swallows and Martins

Swallows and martins form a very distinct group of small
birds well known to everybody, for no one can help noticing
them as they sail through the air in swift graceful circles or
skim low over the water in constant pursuit of the tiny flies
which form their fare, and are so small that vast numbers
must be caught. Familiar, too, is their coming in the spring,
when they are welcomed as the special sign of returning pleasant
weather after the season of cold storms; and in autumn we can-
not but notice them gathering in large flocks along the telegraph
lines or over ^ the marshes, preparatory to departing to their
winter retreat in the tropics.

These characteristics, as well as their appearance — slender,
long-winged, dark-colored — belong to the swallow^s and mar-
tins all over the world; and they are alike in all countries in
their fearless fondness for making close acquaintance with
mankind when he dwells in settled homes.

Common Swallows

Naturally, these birds are inhabitants of caves and rocky
cliffs, or of hollow trees; but, like the swifts, the moment a man
builds a house or barn in Europe, or Asia, or South America,
there certain swallows are sure to come to live with him, just
as they do around our village and farm houses in North America.
Hence the English people call their common species house-
swallow, and we give the name barn-swallow to our similar
one. This is the very common species with the long, deeply
forked tail, which sets its nest of mud and straw on the beams
of our barns or plasters it against the walls or roof, always
inside the building. Almost equally widespread and numerous
is another barn-loving kind, distinguished by its short square

272 THE ANIMAL WORLD

tail and its habit of forming bulb-shaped nests wholly of mud,
and of placing them in rows outside the building, close up under
the eaves. These last are better known as eaves-swallows.

Well-known Martens

Martin is a name applied to various swallows, but with us
it denotes the big purple one which in the warmer parts of the
country gladly takes possession of the pretty bird-houses which
many persons set on poles in their gardens.

Another smaller, sooty-brown martin, is the sand-martin,
or bank-swallow, which differs from all the rest in placing its
eggs on a little bed of straw and feathers at the end of a long
burrow which it bores into the face of a cliff of earth beside
some r'wer, where usually a large company live as happy
neighbors. This species is one of the few birds known almost
all over the world.

GAUDY TROPICAL BIRDS

t. Ara; Macaw. , 2. Rose-Crested CcKikatoo. 3. Senegal Parrot.

4. Mexican Toucan. 5. African Hornbill.

CHAPTER XXIV
PARROTS, PIGEONS, PEA-FOWL, PHEASANTS, Etc.

THE members of the parrot family are very interesting
birds; in the first place because they are generally so
gaily colored, in the second place because they are so easily
tamed, and in the third place because many of them are such
capital talkers. They nearly all spend the greater part of
their lives in the trees, and if you look at their feet you will
see that the first and fourth toes are turned backward while
the second and third are directed forward. This gives the
birds a great power of grasp, and helps them in climbing.

At least five hundred different kinds of these birds have been
discovered in different- parts of the world, but we shall only
be able to tell you about a few of them. Let us take first a
parrot, then a parrakeet, then a cockatoo, then a macaw, and
then a love-bird, as representing the various groups.

The Gray Parrot

We take this parrot because it is the one which we see most
often in cages. It comes from Central Africa, and, like most
parrots, is generally seen in large flocks, which fly about to-
gether. During the daytime these birds often travel long
distances in search of food, which consists chiefly of fruits and
nuts, but in the evening they always return to their regular
roosting-places.

This parrot makes no nest at all, but just lays its eggs in a
hole in the trunk of a tree. Both birds sit in turns, and if dan-
ger threatens they will defend their eggs or their little ones with
the greatest courage. And if they seem to be getting the worst
of the fight, it is said that the rest of the flock will come to their
rescue, and will nearly always succeed in driving the enemy away.

When they are kept as pets gray parrots nearly always learn

273

274 THE ANIMAL WORLD

to talk well, and sometimes make such suitable remarks that
it really almost seems as if they must understand what they
say. That they live to a very great age appears certain from
the fact that they have sometimes been kept in captivity for
seventy or eighty years.

Parrakeets

These birds are found in the hotter parts of Africa, Asia, and
Australia, being very plentiful, for instance, in the forests of
India. Perhaps the best known of them is the East Indian
ring-necked parrakeet, which is green in color, the male having
a red ring round his neck, with a black ring underneath it.
The length of the bird is about seventeen inches, of which al-
most exactly half is taken up by the tail.

These parrakeets are dreadfully mischievous birds, for they
visit both fields and gardens, and devour enormous quantities
of grain and fruit. You can easily understand how much harm
four or five hundred of them can do in a short time, and flocks of
this size are often seen, while sometimes they are even larger
still. They have regular roosting-places, to which they always
return at night; and they lay their three or four white eggs in
holes in trees.

Cockatoos

Cockatoos may easily be recognized by their feathery crests,
which they can raise and lower at will. We will take the
sulphur-crested cockatoo as our example.

This favorite cage-bird comes from Australia, where it is
found in enormous flocks. Fancy seeing a thousand cockatoos
flying about together! And fancy what it must be to listen to
their screams! Yet a flock of this size is not at all uncommon.
The birds are not as plentiful as they used to be, however, for
they did so much mischief in the grain-fields that the planters
shot them in large numbers; often, indeed, a field would be so
full of cockatoos that from a little distance it looked as though
it were deeply covered with snow.

PARROTS, PIGEONS, PEA-FOWL, ETC. 275

As talkers cockatoos are not nearly so clever as parrots, but
they soon learn to imitate all kinds of sounds, such as the
barking of dogs, the mewing, of cats, the cackling of fowls, and
the gobbling of turkeys. Unfortunately, however, they are
very fond of screaming, and make a terrible outcry if they are
annoyed in any way, so that they are apt to be rather a nuisance
if they are kept as pets.

Macaws

The macaws are large and handsome birds, their plumage
being nearly always very brightly and even gaudily colored.
In the red and blue macaw, for instance, which is one of the
best kno\Mi, the general color is bright vermilion red, with a
patch of yellow feathers on the upper part of each wing. Then
the lower part of the back, together with the quills of the wings
and the outside feathers of the tail, is blue, while the central
tail-feathers are scarlet with blue tips. But even this is not all,
for underneath the wings and tail are golden red, varied by
patches of yellow feathers tipped with green. This magnificent
bird is nearly three feet long, two-thirds of that length being
occupied by the tail.

Macaws are found in large flocks in the great forests of trop-
ical America, where they may be seen sometimes flying high
in air, and sometimes sitting on the topmost branches of the
tallest trees. Their cries can be heard from a very long dis-
tance away.

Macaws are just as mischievous in the cornfields as parrots
and cockatoos are in other parts of the world, and are much
more difficult to kill; for some, before settling down to feed,
post sentinels in the tops of tall trees near by, and steadily
watchful, they give the alarm as soon as they see the slightest
sign of danger.

Macaws lay their eggs in holes in tree-trunks, as parrots
do, and are said to enlarge the holes to suit their requirements
by means of their powerful beaks. They are not very wise birds,
however, for when they are sitting they often leave their long tails
projecting out of the hole, to be seen by every passer-by!

276 THE ANIMAL WORLD

LOVE-BIRDS

Of all the birds which belong to the parrot family the love-
birds are the smallest, being little bigger than finches. Seven
different kinds are known, all found in Africa south of ths
Desert of Sahara.

These pretty little creatures are called love-birds because
they seem so very fond of one another. If two or three are kept
in a cage together, they always snuggle up as closely as possible,
and will sit side by side for hours, perfectly happy in each other's
company. And often, if one of a couple dies, the other will pine
away in a short time and die too, apparently from sorrow.

In a wild state love-birds are generally seen in small flocks
which fly very rapidly, and constantly utter their sharp scream-
ing cry. They do not seem to make any nests for themselves,
but make use of those of other birds instead. Whether they
turn out the rightful owners, howe\'er, or merely take possession
of nests which have been deserted, nobody seems to know.

Pigeons

We shall only be able to tell you about two members of the
great pigeon family, the first of which shall be the wood-pigeon,
or ring-dove, which is interesting as the wild original that has
given us our domestic pigeons, so many varieties of which have
been produced by fanciers.

This is a very common bird in almost all parts of the British
Isles, and one can scarcely walk through a wood without
startling it from its retreat in the thick foliage of some tall tree,
or ramble through the fields without seeing at least one flock on
its way to its feeding-grounds. Unfortunately, it does a good
deal of mischief, for it has a most enormous appetite, and carries
off immense quantities of grain from the cornfields. Just to
give you some idea of the amount of food that it will eat, we may
mention that no less than eight hundred grains of wheat have
been taken from the crop of a single wood-pigeon, six hundred
peas from that of another, and one hundred and eighty beech-
nuts from that of a third; while one naturalist tells us that the

PARROTS, PIGEONS, PEA-FOWL, ETC. 277

bird will sometimes pack away enough turnip- tops to fill a pint
measure when they are well shaken up!

Our American turtle-dove, or mourning-dove, is much like
this but nobody minds the few bits of grain it picks up. On the
other hand, the wood-pigeon devours great quantities of the
seeds of weeds; so although it is mischievous in one way, it is
useful in another.

The nest of the wood-pigeon, which is mostly placed in the
upper branches of a tall tree, is very clumsily made. Indeed, it
is very little more than a platform of sticks, which are often so
loosely put together, that as you look up from below you can see
the eggs through the gaps between them ! There are never more
than two eggs, which are perfectly white.

The Passenger-Pigeon

The passenger-pigeon, or wild pigeon of North America, is
remarkable for two reasons.

In the first place, it is '(or rather, used to be) found in the most
astonishing numbers. Flocks of these birds many miles in length
have often been seen, while large tracts of forest were once so
thronged with their nests that all the smaller branches and many
of the larger ones were broken down. Fancy what that means
when a nesting-place is thirty miles long and several miles broad,
while as many as a hundred nests may be found in a single tree !

In the second place, the bird is renowned as a traveler. That
is why it is called the passenger-pigeon. All over the length and
breadth of the country a few years ago these vast flocks would
fly, coming no man knows whence, going no man knows whither,
roosting just for one night in one place, and passing on again
early next morning. The flocks are not so large as they were,
however, for many millions of the birds have been destroyed;
and as these pigeons never lay more than two eggs, they do not
multiply very fast. In fact, this pigeon is already a rare bird.

Peacocks

What a magnificent bird the peacock is, with his great train
raised and spread, so as to show off all the beautiful eye-like

278 THE ANIMAL WORLD

markings! And how very proud of it he seems as he struts
about to be admired, as though knowing quite well that every-
body is looking at him!

People sometimes speak of this train as the "tail." But it
really consists of those feathers which are called the tail-coverts,
the true tail lying underneath it, and serving to support it when
it is spread.

Peacocks are natives of Asia, and are found most commonly,
perhaps, in India, where flocks of thirty or forty may often be
seen, and one traveler tells us that he once saw quite fifteen
hundred of these splendid birds all together! They are some-
times caught in a very curious way. The hunter rides up quietly
to within a short distance of them as they are feeding on the
ground, and then suddenly dashes at them at full speed. Of
course they at once rise into the air, and just as they are passing
out of reach he strikes at one of them with a very long whip,
which coils round its neck like a lasso. Then all that he has to
do is to pull it down to the ground.

In some parts of India, however, these birds are regarded by
the natives as sacred, and no one is allowed to kill them, or even
to take them alive.

Turkeys

Everybody takes an interest in the turkey — more especially at
Thanksgiving and Christmas time!— and many people think that
it comes from the country of Turkey, but this is quite a mistake,
for it is a native of North America, in many parts of which it is
still found in great abundance. The domesticated turkey
probably arose from the Mexican variety rather than from the
more familiar wild turkey of the Northern States.

Some of the flocks seem to consist of cock birds only, and
others of hens and young, the reason being that the cocks are
very fierce and quarrelsome birds, and will attack and even kill
the young ones if they have an opportunity. Until long after
her little ones are fledged, indeed, the mother turkey has to take
the greatest care of them; for not only are they in constant
danger from their unnatural father, but all kinds of other ene-

PARROTS, PIGEONS, PEA-FOWL, ETC. 279

mies, such as foxes, lynxes, and horned owls, have to be guarded
against as well. So she keeps them nearly always under cover,
and when at last they are big enough to be taken for a little ram-
ble, she never brings them back to the nest by the path by which
they left it.

Turkeys often travel for very long distances. When they
come to a broad river they perch in the upper branches of the
tallest trees they can find, and then fly across together at a given
signal. They are not very strong on the wing, and usually some
of them fall into the water. But by spreading out their tails
and paddling hard they generally manage to make their way to
shore.

Pheasants

The pheasant is a native of Southeastern Europe and Asia
Minor; but it has lived in Western Europe for so long that it is
fully entitled to rank among British birds. It has so many ene-
mies, however, that if it were not carefully preserved it would
very soon disappear.

Pheasants nearly always live in woods, though they often
venture out into the open fields to search for food, which con-
sists of acorns, grain, beechnuts, seeds, and small insects. Dur-
ing the winter, however, they have to be fed, or they would be
very likely to die from starvation.

These birds do not make a regular nest, the hen merely
scratching a slight hollow in the ground, and there laying her ten
to fourteen olive-brown eggs. When she is sitting it is difl&cult
to see her, for her light-brown mottled plumage looks just hke
the dead leaves among which she is resting, and even the sharp-
est eye might often pass her by.

The Red Grouse

This bird is remarkable for two reasons. The first is, that it
is found only in the British Isles, and not in any other part of
the world; and the second is, that it varies so very greatly in
color. Sometimes it is almost entirely black, sometimes it is

VOL. V. — 19

280 THE ANIMAL WORLD

reddish chestnut, and sometimes nearly all the feathers are
broadly tipped with white.

The red grouse is found on moors and mountainsides wherever
there is plenty of heath or heather, and where it can obtain the
whortleberries, cranberries, and tender shoots of cotton-grass
and sedge upon which it feeds. And though it has many natural
enemies, such as hawks and crows, foxes and stoats, and while
it is shot in thousands by sportsmen, it never seems to decrease
in abundance.

As a general rule the grouse does not fly much, but runs with
great swiftness among the heather. It makes a very rough nest
of straws and twigs in a hollow in the ground, and often sits so
closely on its eggs that it may almost be trodden on before it
will move. When the little ones are hatched they seem to know
without being taught how to conceal themselves in moments of
danger, and if they cannot find cover will flatten themselves
against the ground, where they look so much like stones that
even the sharp eye of a hawk will pass them by.

Partridges

Partridges, of which our quail is an example, are found almost
everywhere, being carefully protected in most countries for pur-
poses of sport; and they lay so many eggs that they are scarcely
likely to become less plentiful. Few nests contain less than ten
eggs, while fifteen or even more are frequently laid; and instances
have been recorded in which as many as thirty-three eggs have
been found in a single nest, but in these cases two birds have
most likely laid together. The mother bird sits very closely —
so closely, indeed, that when she has nested in a meadow and
the grass is being mown, she often fails to move out of the way
of the scythe in time, and is found lying on the ground with her
head cut off after the reapers have passed by.

When the little ones are hatched, both parents go about with
them, and the covey, as it is called, keeps together all through
the autumn and winter.

FOUR GREAT GAME-BIRDS.

1. American Wild Turkey.
3. European Blackcock.

2. European Great Bustard.
4. South American Chaha.

CHAPTER XXV

OSTRICHES, HERONS, CRANES, IBISES, Etc.

THE ostrich is a very remarkable bird indeed.
In the first place, it is by far the largest of all living
birds, for a full-grown male ostrich is taller than a very tall
man. Then its head is somewhat like that of a camel, and its
neck like that of a giraffe — very long and slender, with scarcely
any feathers on it. Next, its wings are so small that they can-
not be used for flight. All that an ostrich does with its wings,
indeed, is to spread them out when it is running, so that they
may help it in keeping its balance. And, finally, its legs are
as stout and as strong as those of a horse, while it has only two
toes on each foot.

Ostriches live in the great desert plains of Africa, where
they are mostly found in small flocks. Although they cannot
fly, they can run with very great speed, and in fair chase will
distance even a swift horse. But for some strange reason they
always run in circles, so that all that a hunter has to do is to
notice whether they are swerving to the right or to the left, and
then to gallop across and cut them off.

When an ostrich is running at full speed it takes most wonder-
ful strides, its toes scarcely touching the ground as it dashes
along. By careful measurement, indeed, it has been found
that there is sometimes a distance of no less than twenty-eight
feet between its footmarks!

The ostrich is rather a formidable bird, for it can kick for-
ward with terrific force. But if a man lies down when attacked
by one he is fairly safe, for the kick cannot be properly delivered
at a height of less than three feet. Or if he has a forked stick
he can hold the bird back by pressing the fork against its neck.

Ostriches' eggs are so large that one of them will make a
good meal for eight men. The bird does not make a nest, but
scoops out a hollow in the sand about three feet across and a

281

282 THE ANIMAL WORLD

foot deep, and then arranges its eggs in it, each egg standing
upright, and being lightly covered with sand. Twenty eggs
or more are often hatched together, and in addition to these
the bird generally lays a number round the edges of the hole,
which appear to serve as food for the young. During the day
the hen sits, the cock taking her place by night.

The appetite of the ostrich is proverbial, and it would really
be difficult to say what an ostrich will not swallow. Stones,
coins, bunches of keys, tobacco-pipes, newspapers done up for
post, brickbats, old shoes, and tenpenny nails have all been
taken from its crop; and it seems to be very seldom indeed that
any of these things disagree with it! Its natural food, however,
consists chiefly of wild melons, which also supply it with all the
moisture that it needs.

Ostriches are very valuable to man, on account of the beauti-
ful plumes which are obtained from the male. These birds are
therefore kept in great numbers in ostrich-farms so that the
plumes may be regularly cut once in every year. As this
does not destroy the bird, it is proper to make use of these
beautiful feathers as ornaments.

The Emu

In Australia the place of the ostrich is taken by the emu.
It is a smaller bird, however, though a full-grown hen — which
is bigger than the cock — is often six feet in height. And it
has three toes upon each foot instead of two.

The emu was formerly very common in many parts of Aus-
tralia, but it has been so terribly persecuted that it is fast be-
coming exceedingly scarce. It is generally hunted with dogs,
which are trained to spring at the neck, so as to be out of reach
of the terrible feet. For the emu does not kick forward, as
ostriches do, but strikes sidevv'ays and backward, like a cow.

The emu only lays six or seven eggs, which are of a beautiful
dark-green color, without any markings at all. They are laid
in a hollow scooped in the ground. During the nesting-season
the female bird utters a loud booming sound, which is due to
a very curious pouch in the throat.

OSTRICHES, HERONS, CRANES, ETC. 283

Rheas

There are also several ostrich-like birds in South America
which are known as rheas. They inhabit the Argentine plains,
and are not nearly so large as the ostrich and the emu, but
are quite as swift of foot, so that it is not at all easy for a man
mounted on even a fast horse to overtake them. They are
generally hunted with the bolas which is a long cord with a
heavy ball as each end, and is flung at the bird in such a manner
as to wind round its neck and hold it prisoner.

Rheas always lay their eggs in hollows in the ground, and
the number of eggs in a nest seems to vary from twenty to
twenty-four. The male bird, apparently, sits upon them, the
hen taking no part in the task of hatching them out. Neither
does she seem to take any care of the little birds when at last
they make their appearance, for they always travel about with
the cock.

Cassowaries

Of these there are a good many kinds. They are formed
like the ostrich and the emu, but have shorter necks, which
are sometimes wattled and are marked with patches of brilliant
red and blue and green. The legs are stout and the feet are
perfectly enormous. But their most striking feature is an odd
bony crest upon the top of the head, which is covered with
naked skin.

Cassowaries are found only in Australia, New Guinea,
Ceram, and some of the neighboring islands, and, unlike all
the preceding birds, are dwellers in the forest. They are so
shy that they are very seldom seen, so that we do not know
very much about their habits. The Australian natives, how-
ever, often keep them in captivity, and treat them almost as we
treat poultry. But they are rather dangerous creatures, for
they can kick very hard with their great, strong feet, and are
very ready to attack any one who is a stranger to them.

Cassowaries only lay from three to five eggs, and it seems

284 THE ANIMAL WORLD

that the cock bird alone sits on them, and that he also takes
care of the little ones after they are hatched.

Kiwis

More curious still are the kiwis of New Zealand, whose
wings are so very small, and so completely concealed under the
feathers of the body, that practically they may be said to have
none at all. Besides this, the beak is so long and slender that
it reminds one of that of a woodcock or a snipe. The nostrils
are placed at the very tip of this beak, which the bird appears
to use by plunging it deeply into soft ground, and then smelling
for worms.

When it finds a worm it seems to coax rather than to pull
it out of the ground, and then throws up its head and swallows
it whole.

Kiwis have several times been brought to the London Zoo,
but hardly any one ever saw them, for all day long they were
fast asleep among their straw. If the keeper took them out
and woke them they would just yawn once or twice, opening
their beaks to the widest possible extent, and then fall fast
asleep again.

After dark, however, these birds become very lively, and
will run with such speed that even a dog can scarcely over-
take them. This shows that their natural habit is to go abroad
and seek their food during the night.

The egg of the kiwi is enormously large. Indeed, it is al-
most a quarter of the size of the bird itself, and when two eggs
have been laid and the bird is sitting on them, the ends project
beyond the feathers on either side of its body.

Bustards

The bustards also are able to run very well, and unlike the
birds belonging to the ostrich family, they are also able to fly.

The finest of these birds is the great bustard, which until
about the year 1840 was found wild in Great Britain. The
cock is between three and four feet in height, and the head and

OSTRICHES, HERONS, CRANES, ETC. 285

body together are nearly four feet long, while when the wings
are fully spread they measure quite eight feet from tip to tip.
The hen is a good deal smaller.

The great bustard lives in wild, open plains, and is so ex-
tremely wary that it is almost impossible to approach within
gunshot. Except during the nesting season it is found in small
flocks, and both by day and by night two of the party act as
sentinels and stand always on the watch, ready to give the
alarm at the first sign of danger. They have wonderfully
sharp sight, and will detect a man long before they can be seen
by him. Almost the only way to shoot them, indeed, is to dig
a pit in the ground and hide inside it, covered over with branches,
until they pass by.

These magnificent birds are now found chiefly in the steppes
of Eastern Europe and Asia, where they feed upon seeds and
grain, and also upon insects and even upon small animals.
They lay two or three eggs in a hollow in the ground, in which
sometimes, but not always, they place a few grass-stems by
way of a nest.

Cranes

Another tall and stately bird is the crane. It is found in
one or another species in all quarters of the world, living on
plains and marshes, coming north to breed, and retiring south-
ward again during the winter.

Cranes generally travel about in flocks, which nearly always
fly in the form of a wedge, each bird having its long legs stretched
stiffly out behind it. Each flock is under the guidance of a
leader, and the birds are most careful when they alight to do
so in some open place where they can see for a long distance in
every direction, so as to guard against the danger of being
surprised by an enemy.

Cranes are generally to be seen in marshy districts, where
they can find plenty of frogs, newts, and worms. But some-
times they will make their way to a newly sown field and dig
up all the grain. Their nests are generally placed on the
ground, among osiers or in reed-beds, though now and then

286 THE ANIMAL WORLD

they will build on the very top of an old ruin. The little brown
crane of the western plains is the most familiar American
species.

The crowned crane, which is found in Northern and Western
Africa, is a very odd-looking bird, for it has a large bunch of
upright golden feathers on the top of its head, and a scarlet wattle
on the throat. From a little distance it really looks as if it were
wearing a bright yellow bonnet, tied with a bow of scarlet
ribbon under its chin!

Lapwings

The European lapwing, known to every one by the familiar
reference in Tennyson's "Locksley Hall," represents the world-
wide family of plovers. They are beautiful birds with their
black and white plumage and the tuft of long feathers at the
back of the head, and very often one may see hundreds or even
thousands of them together. Early in the spring one may find
their four long, pointed eggs, which are olive brown in color,
spotted and blotched with brownish black, and are always laid
in a little hollow in the bare ground with their small ends in-
ward in the form of a cross. But somehow or other, although
they are quite large eggs, it is very difficult to see them, and you
might pass close by a dozen nests, and even look straight at them,
and yet never notice the eggs at all.

Often, when some one happens to find a hen lapwing sitting
on her eggs, she will pretend to be wounded, and will flap and
tumble along the ground in the hope of making the intruder
chase her, and so of leading him away from her nest.

Sportsmen know of many other plovers, such as the golden,
the ringneck, the killdee, or killdeer, and several more, both
American and foreign.

The Curlew

This is another plains-bird common to both continents, which
may often be noticed on moors or in marshes during the summer,
or on the sea-coast in the winter. But generally one only sees it

OSTRICHES, HERONS, CRANES, ETC. 2S7

in the distance, for it is extremely wary, and takes to flight at
the very slightest alarm.

All through the winter months curlews live in flocks, and one
may hear them uttering their mournful cries in chorus together.
But early in the spring they separate, and each pair selects some
little hollow in the ground which may serve as a nest. In this they
lay four pear-shaped eggs, which are olive green in color, spotted
with gray and brown. When the eggs are hatched the parents take
the greatest care of their little ones, and often if any one comes
too near the nest they will fly round and round his head in the most
excited manner, and do their very best to drive him away.

In color the curlew is pale brown above, with darker spots
and streaks, and grayish white beneath. Its total length is
about twenty-four inches, and the beak is long and slender, with
a downward curve.

Ruffs

The ruff, a relative of the curlew, is remarkable for three
reasons. In the first place, during the breeding-season, the
male bird has a great frill or ruff of long feathers round his neck,
which he can raise and lower at will. In the next place, two
male ruffs are never colored alike, while sometimes they look so
wholly different that it is quite hard to believe that they can
really belong to the same species. And, in the third place, they
are so dreadfully quarrelsome when the nesting-season begins,
that two male ruffs can never meet without fighting. More
than that, they actually have regular fighting-places, to which
numbers of the birds resort when they want to settle their quar-
rels! But although they fight very savagely, they never seem to
do each other much harm.

Ruffs are hardly known in America, except in Alaska, but at
one time they were very common in the marshy parts of England.

The Woodcock

The woodcock is a bird of wooded swamps. It is valued by
sportsmen, because difficult to shoot and delicate to eat. They

288 THE ANIMAL WORLD

lay their eggs in a hollow in the ground, which they line with dry
grass and leaves. When the mother bird is sitting it is almost
impossible to see her, for she nearly always nests among dead
ferns, which are of exactly the same hues as her own plumage.
Generally, indeed, it is her eyes that are noticed, and if she only
had the sense to keep them shut she would probably never be
detected at all.

Woodcocks are hardly ever seen unless they are disturbed,
for they hide during the daytime in thick bushes in woods, and
only come out to feed in the evening. Their food consists chief-
ly of worms, which they pull out of soft, muddy ground by means
of their long, slender beaks.

If two male woodcocks meet during the nesting-season they
almost always quarrel, and will fight nearly as savagely as ruflfs.

The Snipe

In appearance and habits the snipe is something like the wood-
cock, but it is considerably smaller, and is found in damp,
marshy ground instead of in woods. When it is flushed it flies
away for a few yards quite straight, and then begins to twist and
turn about in a most extraordinary way, changing the direction
of its flight at almost every yard. In consequence of this habit
it is not at all an easy bird to shoot.

The male snipe is very fond of rising to a great height in the
air, and there uttering his curious cry of "chick! chick! chick-
a!" over and over again. At the same time he also makes a
strange drumming sound, which seems to be caused in some
way by the motion of the wings, as it is only produced while he
is "stooping" down toward the ground.

The snipe generally nests in the middle of a tussock of coarse
grass or rushes, where it lays four buff or olive-green eggs marked
with dark-brown blotches.

The Heron

One of our finest American birds is the heron, which you may
often sec flying high in the air, with its long legs stretched stiflf

OSTRICHES, HERONS, CRANES, ETC. 289

ly out behind it. And sometimes you may see it standing quite
motionless in the shallower parts of a stream, watching for the
fishes on which it feeds. After a time it will slowly stoop, plunge
its long beak into the water, and draw it out again with a min-
now, or a perch, or a frog struggling in its grip. Then it holds
its beak almost upright, gives a gobble and a gulp — and the fish
or the frog disappears!

The heron feeds largely on frogs, mice, insects, and worms, as
well as upon fishes. And more than once it has been known to
capture and swallow a small snake.

Herons build their nests in the upper branches of tall trees,
making them of sticks an'd twigs, lined with grass and roots. A
number of these birds generally nest together in the same clump
of trees, just as rooks do, and in each nest are laid either three or
four bluish-green eggs, without any markings at all.

If a heron is attacked, it uses its long, dagger-like beak with
great readiness, and always tries to strike at the eyes of its enemy.
Herons are of many kinds, the great blue one being the finest of
the tribe.

Storks

The stork is found in most parts of Europe, and also in Asia
and Northern Africa, but no stork lives in America.

When storks are migrating, they fly in great flocks, which
sometimes consist of many thousand birds. As soon as they
arrive, they spread themselves over the country, being especially
fond of marshy districts, where they can find plenty of frogs,
toads, lizards, and the other small creatures upon which they
feed. But they also devour large quantities of the offal which
they find in the streets of the villages and towns.

In Holland and Germany storks breed in great numbers.
Their nests, which are usually placed on the tops of chimneys,
are little more than clumsy piles of sticks, and as fresh sticks are
added every year, they gradually get bigger and bigger until at
last they reach a very great size. From three to five pure white
eggs are laid, and the young birds remain in the nest until they
are well able to fly.

290 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Ibis

Very much like storks in some ways are the ibises, which are
found in many parts of Asia, Africa, and America. They are
generally found in flocks, which live in marshes or on the banks
of rivers and lakes, where they spend most of their time dabbling
in the water with their long beaks in search of food.

One of these birds was worshiped by the Egyptians of old,
who treated it with the greatest reverence during life, and care-
fully embalmed its body when it died. For this reason it is
kno^\^l as the sacred ibis, and in every large art museum you
may see ibis mummies, which were taken from the tombs of the
kings. In color this bird is snowy white, with a black head and
neck, and long black plumes on the hinder part of the back.
You may generally see it in a zoo, together with the beautiful
scarlet ibis, whose plumage is bright red in color, with black tips
to the wings.

CHAPTER XXVI
SWIMMING BIRDS

IN the birds belonging to this group the feet are webbed, so
that they may be used as paddles. And some of them are
very curious indeed.

Flamingo

First of all, there is the well-known red and white flamingo,
which is quite an extraordinary bird, for it has extremely long,
stilt-like legs, and an extremely long, snake-like neck, which it
can twist and coil about as easily as if it were just a piece of
rope. There is no part of its body which a flamingo cannot
reach with its beak, so that it can preen its feathers quite easily.
And when it wants to feed it wades into the water, bends down
its long neck, turns its head upside down, so that its forehead
rests upon the bottom, and scoops up great mouthfuls of mud.
Then, by means of the grooves at the sides of the bill, it gets
rid of the mud, while all the grubs, etc., which were lying buried
in it, are left behind to be swallowed.

The nest of the flamingo is a cone-shaped heap of mud,
sometimes as much as two feet high, with a little hollow at the
top to contain eggs. Thousands of these birds nest together,
and when they are sitting they look just like a great rosy-white
cloud resting upon the ground. And if they are startled and
fly away, their nests look as though hundreds of children had
been making big sand-pies on the beach and neatly arranging
them in rows. But such a sight as this can now be seen only
in some almost inaccessible tropical islands, for these birds
have been greatly persecuted by feather-hunters and others,
and are rare everywhere near civilization. They used to be
common in Florida and all about the Gulf of Mexico, where
now only a few exist.

291

292 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Flamingoes are found in the warmer parts of all the great
continents except Australia. Nine different kinds are known,
some of which stand well over six feet in height.

Geese, Swans, and Ducks

Of wild geese there are at least forty species, which are
found in almost all parts of the world.

The graying goose which breeds in the British Isles, seems
to be the ancestor of the domestic geese that we see in every
farmyard. It lives in flocks, which frequent marshes, lakes, and
boggy moors during the greater part of the year, but often visit
the sea-coast in winter. Sometimes, too, they may be seen near
the mouth of a great river. They are very shy birds, and when
sportsmen wish to shoot them they have to resort to all kinds
of tricks in order to approach them without being seen.

When wild geese fly, they generally do so in the form of
a half-opened pair of compasses,' with the angle in front. But
now and then they may be seen in the air in an irregular wavy
line. As they fly they make a curious "gaggling" cry, which
can be heard from a very long distance.

The nest of this goose is made of grass and flags, and is
generally placed at the base of a tussock of coarse grass. It
usually contains six plain white eggs.

Swans, too, are found wild in many parts of the world, and
used to be almost as numerous as ducks or geese both on the
inland lakes and along the coasts of the United States, but now
have become rare and shy. All the species breed in the arctic
regions, and appear among us only on their migrations in spring
and fall.

Swans are most graceful birds in the water, and as their
limbs are set very far back they can swim with great ease.
But for the same reason they are very clumsy upon dry ground,
and waddle along in the most awkward way, seeming to find
it very dil^cult to keep their balance. All those in our parks
are tame; but during the nesting-season the male swan generally
becomes ^^ery savage, and will attack any one who ventures too

SWIMMING BIRDS 293

near to his nest. And as a single stroke from his wing is sufficient
to break a man's arm, he is apt to be dangerous when unfriendly.

The nest of the swan is a very large structure of reeds, rushes,
and grass, and is generally placed quite close to the water's
edge. It contains six or seven large greenish-white eggs.

A great many kinds of duck are known, but we can only
mention the common wild duck, which still visits rivers and
lakes every winter in c6nsiderable numbers, a few of which
remain to breed.

The male duck is called the mallard, and from October
till May he is a very handsome bird, with a dark-green head
and neck, a white collar round the lower part of his throat,
brownish-gray wungs, chestnut-brown breast, and white hinder
parts. But when he moults he puts off this beautiful plumage,
and for the next five months is mottled all over with brown and
gray, just like his mate.

Wild ducks are found chiefly in marshes and fens, and on
the borders of rivers and lakes. But when they come over in
the autumn they often spend the daytime out at sea resting on
the water. They make their nests of grass, lined with down
from the mother bird's own breast; and the little ones are able
to swim as soon as they leave the egg-shell. When they are
about half grown they sometimes use their wings in diving, and
you may see them flapping their way along beneath the surface,
and really flying under water.

Cormorants

In Great Britain, due to its northern latitude, cormorants
are commonly seen where the coast is high and rocky; but in
America they are less often visible because they dwell mainly
in the far north. They are very odd birds. Sitting on rocks
which overhang the water, every now and then one will drop
into the sea, splash about for a moment or two, and then re-
turn to his perch. Then you may be quite sure that he has
caught and swallowed a fish. Sometimes you may see them
swimming along with their heads under water, watching for
victims in the depths below.

294 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Cormorants are famous for their big appetites — perhaps it
would be more correct to say for their horrible greediness, for
they will go on eating till they simply cannot swallow another
morsel, and yet will try hard to catch every fish that comes
near them. The little ones feed in a most extraordinary way,
for they actually poke their heads down their mother's throat,
and take as much food as they want from her crop!

When these birds really feel that they have had enough to
eat, they sit upon a rock for an hour or two while they digest
their dinners. They also take this opportunity to dry their
wings, and spread them out to the fullest extent on either side,
so that they look very much like rows of black clothes hung
out to dry!

In China cormorants are often trained to catch fish for their
masters, a strap being fastened round the lower part of the neck
to prevent them from swallowing their victims. They were
formerly used in England in just the same way.

Pelicans

More curious still are their cousins the pelicans, which have
a pouch of naked parchment-like skin under their long bills,
capable of holding quite two gallons of water. This pouch,
as a rule, is folded closely up under the beak, but when the
bird is fishing, it packs \-ictim after victim into it until it is quite
full, when it really looks almost half as big as the body.

In this way pelicans carry back food for their hungry little
ones. But on their way they are sometimes robbed, for there
is a kind of large hawk which is very fond of eating fishes,
but is not at all fond of the trouble of catching them. So he
waits till he sees a pelican returning home from a fishing ex-
pedition, and then dashes at it, and begins to beat it about the
head with his wings. The poor frightened pelican, thinking
that it is about to be killed, opens its beak to scream. This,
of course, is just what the hawk wants, and snatching a fish
out of the pelican's pouch, he flies off with it in triumph.

Pelicans are very plentiful in many parts of the world, and
are often seen in vast flocks. We have two kinds in the United

SWIMMING BIRDS 295

States and Canada — the white and the brown. Both are
more numerous on the marshes and around the shallow lakes
of the northwestern plains than anywhere else, because they
have been driven from their former coast-resorts. All the birds
in a flock will sometimes go out fishing together. Arranging
themselves in a great semicircle, about a yard apart, they all
paddle slowly forward, and in this way will drive a great shoal
of fish into shallow water, where they may be snapped up with-
out difficulty.

Sea-Gulls

These you know very well by sight, for they are common
on all parts of our coasts, and on many of our lakes, while
numbers of them may be seen even on the ornamental waters
in the parks of New York and other seaboard cities. In
stormy weather, too, they often fly inland, and sometimes
great numbers of them may be seen in newly plowed fields,
hunting for worms and insects. Most of them go north for
the breeding-season, some visiting certain islands and rocky
cliffs in immense numbers, and making their nests of seaweed;
■while others, like the black-headed gull, and the ringbill nest in
marshes, merely trampling down the broken tops of sedges and
reeds, and so forming a slight hollow in which to lay the eggs.

At least fifty different kinds of gulls are known. But many
of them are very difficult to distinguish, for their summer
plumage may be quite unlike that with which they are clothed
during the winter, while the young birds are not marked like
their parents till they are two or even three years old. Those
which are most common on the Atlantic coast are two or three
kinds of herring-gulls, which formerly bred in great numbers
on all our sandy shores and islets, but now have been driven to
quieter regions in the far north. On the western plains, around
certain shallow lakes, live great colonies of ring-billed and
other small gulls, breeding in the extensive marshes.

Flying to and fro over the sea, or over a large inland lake,
you may sometimes see a number of birds which look like
gulls, but are much smaller, and have long, forked tails like

VOL. V. — 20

296 THE ANIMAL WORLD

swallows. These are terns, or sea-swallows, as they are often
called, and are most elegant and graceful in their movements,
gliding and sweeping through the air, and twisting and turn-
ing with the most wonderful swiftness and ease. They are
summer visitors only, coming to us in May and flying south again
in September, and they breed on flat shores, generally laying their
two or three eggs in a small hollow in the shingle. They feed on
small fishes and shrimps, and also on the sandhoppers and the
various insects which are so plentiful upon the beach.

Guillemots

Very common are guillemots on some coasts where there are
sea-fronting cliffs, and freedom from disturbance. Thus they
abound along the shores of Labrador and Greenland, and many
varieties arc to be found along the northern coasts of Alaska,
and about the borders of the Arctic sea, often thronging in great
numbers together with pufTms, kittiwakes, petrels, and gannets,
each kind occupying separate parts of the cliffs and living on
friendly terms with their neighbors.

Guillemots feed entirely upon fishes, which they chase under
water, using both their wings and feet, just as dabchicks do.
They do not make any nest, but lay a single egg on a bare ledge
of rock which is often only a very few inches wide. One would
think that this egg would be in great danger of being knocked
over the edge. But it is very large at one end and very much
pointed at the other, so that if it is struck it only rolls round and
round. In color it is green or blue, blotched and streaked with
black.

The Albatross

One of the largest of all the sea-birds is the albatross, which is
found chiefly in the tropical seas. When the wings are fully
spread, they sometimes measure nearly twelve feet from tip to
tip. Yet the entire weight of the bird is not more than sixteen
or seventeen pounds. It often remains at sea for weeks or
months together, sometimes remaining in the air all through the

AMERICAN WADING BIRDS.

I. Great White Egret.
3. Great Blue Heron.
5. White Pelican (Male).

2. Sandhill Crane.
4. Whooping Crane.
6. Snow Goose.

SWIMMING BIRDS 297

night as well as all through the day, and following ships for
hundreds of miles in order to feed upon the refuse which is
thrown overboard. Its appetite is enormous, for it has been
known to gulp down a great piece of whale's blubber, weighing
between three and four pounds, and then to return almost im-
mediately for more!

Great numbers of albatrosses nest together on uninhabited
islands, each pair scooping together a quantity of clay, grass, and
sedge, which they arrange in a conical heap about ten or twelve
inches high, with a little hollow at the top. Only a single egg is
laid, which is quite white, and is rather larger than that of a
goose.

The Puffin and the Penguin

Two most curious birds must be mentioned in conclusion.
The first of these is the puffin, which is found plentifully in one
or another species on all northern coasts where there are bold
cliffs. An odder and more quaint-looking bird it would be
difficult to imagine, for it has a beak quite large enough for a
bird six times its si2e, while that beak, which is banded with
bright crimson, gray, and brilliant yellow, looks just as if it had
been stuck on with glue! More than that, it does not appear to
fit very well; so that altogether, with its short, squat body and
stout little legs, the puffin is by no means a graceful bird. It is
often known as the sea-parrot.

On dry land, the pufiin is very awkward, and can only waddle
along slowly and clumsily. But it is a good swimmer and diver,
and can chase and overtake small fishes with the greatest of
ease. It is also able to fly very well, and takes long journeys
over the sea when it comes to us in the spring, and again when it
goes southward in the autumn. It makes no nest, but finds a
cranny, digs out a hole in the face of a cliff to the depth of about
three feet, and lays a single grayish-white egg at the end of the hole.

Odder still is the penguin, whose wings are but little more
than flippers, with scales on their upper edges instead of feathers!
It cannot fly, of course; but it uses its wings for two purposes.
For if it is frightened upon land it throws itself down on its

298 THE ANIMAL WORLD

breast and scuttles along on all fours, just as though its wings
were legs, and if it wants to chase a fish in the sea it swims with
them, just as though they were paddles.

There are a good many different kinds of penguins, all of
which are found in the southern hemisphere. On some of the
islands in the Pacific and Antarctic oceans they are found in im-
mense numbers, and have a curious way of standing side by side
upon the shore in long rows, with their flippers hanging down on
either side of their bodies. From a distance, indeed, they
might almost be mistaken for lines of soldiers standing at atten-
tion. When the breeding-season begins they become very busy,
picking up stones, carrying them about with a great deal of fuss,
and then carefully arranging them in position, every now and
then turning their beaks up to the sky, wa\ing their flippers,
and making a curious gobbling noise. If a sitting hen leaves
her nest for a little, all the other hens become greatly excited, and
peck at her as she passes by in order to drive her back again,
croaking loudly in chorus, and evidently feeling extremely in-
dignant with her for neglecting her duties.

When these odd birds are sitting on a ledge of ice, and want
to get down into the sea, they often throw themselves upon
their breasts, and "toboggan" down the slope into the water!

REPTILES

CHAPTER XXVII
TORTOISES, TURTLES, AND LIZARDS

WE now come to the cold-blooded animals, which are di-
vided into three classes. First we have the reptiles,
whose hearts are formed of three chambers, and which breathe
air by means of lungs. Next come the amphibians, which are
like the reptiles in many ways, but which have to pass through
a tadpole stage before they reach the perfect form. And,
thirdly, there are the fishes, whose hearts are divided into two
chambers only, and which breathe water by means of gills.

Tortoises and Turtles

At the head of the reptiles stand the tortoises and turtles,
whose bodies are shut up in a kind of horny box, which we
generally call the shell. In reality, however, it is not a shell at
all; for the upper part, which we call the carapace, is a develop-
ment of the spine and the ribs, while the lower part, which is
known as the plastron, is a development of the breast-bone.
These animals, in fact, have part of their skeletons inside their
bodies and part outside; so that they are really shut up in their
own bones!

The so-called shell of a tortoise or a turtle is always very hard
and strong, so that you can stand upon quite a small tortoise
without hurting it in the least and in most cases the head and
legs can be tucked away inside it, so that the animal is safely
protected from almost every foe.

None of the turtles and tortoises have any teeth. But the
edges of their jaws are so sharp and horny that they can often

299

300 THE ANIMAL WORLD

inflict a very severe bite. Some of the larger turtles, indeed,
could snap off the fingers of a man's hand as easily as you could
bite through a carrot!

Land-Tortoises

The most famous of all the tortoises is the common land-
tortoise, or Greek tortoise, which is found in many parts of the
south of Europe, and also in Asia Minor. This is the animal
which is so often kept as a pet, and about which so much
pleasant literary interest has gathered. It does not grow to
any great size, but will live in a garden for many years, crawling
about by night as well as by day. Early in the autumn it
buries itself underground, and falls into a deep sleep, from
which it does not awake until the spring.

This tortoise is a vegetable-feeder, and is very fond of lettuce
leaves, more especially when they are quite crisp and fresh,
so that it can easily nip them to pieces with its sharp jaws. If
they are rather old and stringy, it will hold them down with
its front feet while it tears them asunder. And if you keep
one of these animals as a pet, and want to give it a great treat,
there is nothing that it likes better than a little milk. It is
amusing to see how it drinks, for it first scoops up a little milk
in its lower jaw, just as if it were using a spoon, and then holds
up its head in order that the liquid may trickle down its throat.

There are a good many other kinds of land-tortoises, some
of which grow to a very great size. The largest of all comes
from the Galapagos Islands, and is quite a giant; for some of
them are more than four feet long, and weigh between eight and
nine hundred pounds! These huge creatures, however, are
now nearly extinct.

Turtles

The turtles are distinguished from the tortoises by the struc-
ture of their feet, which are flattened out in such a way as to
serve as paddles in the water. For this reason these reptiles
hardly ever come upon land except when they want to lay their

TYPES OF WATER-BIRDS

I. Mandarin Duck. ?.. Penguin. 3. Heron. 4. Pelicaa

5. Cittern. 6. Flamingo. 7. Crane.

TORTOISES, TURTLES, AND LIZARDS 301

eggs; and they can swim so well that they are often met with
many hundreds of miles out at sea.

One of the best known of these creatures is the hawksbill
turtle, which is so called because its mouth is shaped just like
the beak of a hawk. The carapace is made up of thirteen
large scales, which overlap one another for about a third of
their length, just like the slates on the roof of a house.

These scales are very valuable, for the best tortoise-shell is
obtained from them. When they are first taken from the
animal they do not look like tortoise-shell at all, for they are
dull and crumpled and brittle. But after they have been
boiled, and steamed, and pressed for some hours they quite
change their character, and become so soft that they can easily
be molded into any required shape.

The eggs of this turtle are laid in a hole which the mother
scrapes in the sand, and are hatched by the heat of the sun.
As soon as the little turtles make their appearance they hurry
off as fast as they can toward the water. But they are very
good to eat, and a number of hungry animals and birds are
always on the lookout for them, so that a very great many are
snapped up and devoured before they can plunge into the waves.

The famous turtle soup, which is considered so great a
dainty, is made from the flesh of the green turtle, which is
found most plentifully off the island of Ascension and in the
West Indies. It grows to a great size, for it is often four feet
six inches in length and three feet in breadth, while it may
weigh nearly three-quarters of a ton. Of course it is not at
all easy to capture such big creatures. But they are generally
pursued when they come on shore to lay their eggs, and are
turned over on their backs by means of a lever. They are then
perfectly helpless, and can be left lying where they are until
a number of others have been overturned in the same way, when
they are lifted into a boat one by one, and are taken on board
ship. There they thrive quite well if a pail of water is thrown
over them two or three times a day, and are generally in very
good condition when they reach this country.

It is said that if one of these turtles has once begun to lay
her eggs in the sand, nothing will induce her to pause in her

302 THE ANIMAL WORLD

task until she has finished it, and that even if the eggs are taken
away from her as fast as she lays them, she will still go steadily
on just as if she were undisturbed.

Crocodiles and Alligators

Of course you know what these huge creatures are like. They
are just enormous lizards, fifteen, or twenty, or even thirty feet
long, with very short legs, and very clumsy bodies, and very long
tails. And their great jaws are armed with rows of most terrible
teeth.

But what is the difference between crocodiles and alligators ?
Well, in some ways they are certainly very much alike; but you
can always tell them by the shape of their heads, for the muzzle
of a crocodile is always narrowed just behind the nostrils, while
that of an alligator is not. And in the crocodiles the fourth
lower tooth fits into a notch in the edge of the upper jaw, so that
you can distinctly see it even when the mouth is closed.

All these creatures live in the water, and spend a great deal of
their time lying motionless on the surface, when they look like
floating logs. One would think that they were fast asleep.
But woe betide any animal which comes to drink from the bank
close by, for one of the great reptiles instantly dives, swims
swiftly along under water, and knocks it into the stream by a
blow from its mighty tail.

There is scarcely any animal which does not fall a victim at
times to these giant lizards. And as soon as the unfortunate
creature is knocked into the water it is dragged beneath the sur-
face, and held there until it is drowned. You would think that
the reptiles themselves would be drowned, wouldn't you, as they
have to remain submerged for many minutes with their jaws
widely opened ? But they have a very curious valve at the back
of the throat, and as soon as the mouth is opened this closes so
tightly that not even the tiniest drop of water can find its way
down the throat.

Both crocodiles and alligators swim with very great speed by
waving their powerful tails from side to side in the water. They
can run, too, with some little pace upon land. But it is very

TORTOISES, TURTLES, AND LIZARDS 303

easy to avoid them, for the bones of their necks are made in
such a way that they cannot turn their heads, and all that one
has to do if pursued is to spring suddenly to one side. But of
course it is necessary to avoid the stroke of the tail.

The crocodiles always lay their eggs in the sand on the bank
of a river. The eggs are about as big as those of a goose, and
are generally buried at a depth of a couple of feet. The mother
reptile always sleeps on the top of the nest, and it is said that
when the little ones are ready to hatch out they utter a curious
little cry. The mother hears this, and scoops away the sand
under which they are buried, in order that they may have no
difficulty in making their escape.

Crocodiles are found in the warmer parts of Africa, Asia,
America, and Australia, and in some of the larger rivers are
very plentiful. Just now and then they venture down into the sea.
Alligators, which also are known as caymans and jacares, are only
found in America and place their eggs in holes dug in the mud or
earth beside the water. In the colder parts of the range they bur-
row under the mud of the banks and spend the winter in sleep.

The Lizards

Lizards look at first glance like diminutive alligators, because
most of them have long-jawed heads, short legs wide apart, and
long tails; but really they are near relatives of the snakes, for
not only their internal structure but the coat of scales is snake-
like; but an important difference is that the jaws of the lizard
are firmly hinged to a solid skull, while the bones of the skull of
the snake, including those of the jaws, are connected by elastic
cartilages which enable them to spread apart and permit the
swallowing of a mouthful astonishingly large. But the lizards
have no need of such a convenience, for they subsist almost
wholly on insects, or else are vegetable-eaters. Lizards are almost
entirely denizens of the tropics, and seem to rejoice in the fiercest
heat. They will lie contentedly in the desert at noonday on rocks so
hot that they would blister your hand if you touched them.
Therefore few are to be found in Europe or North America, ex-
cept in the extreme .south.

304 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Blindworm

Two or three small kinds are to be found in the south of
England, one of which is curious as representing a tribe, largely
represented in other parts of the world, of legless burrowing
lizards, which look much like little snakes, for none of them are
more than ten or twelve inches long, while they are of the thick-
ness of a lead-pencil. They look so shiny and serpent-like that
many people are afraid of them.

But the blindworm, or slowworm, as this creature is called,
is perfectly harmless. It cannot bite you, for its teeth are far
too tiny to pierce the skin; and it cannot sting you, because it
has no sting. There is its odd little forked tongue, of course,
which is always darting in and out of its mouth, just like that of
a snake. But this tongue is only a feeler. Whenever a blind-
worm comes to an object it does not quite understand, it touches
it gently all over with the tip of its tongue, just as we might touch
it with the tips of our fingers.

Notwithstanding its name, the blindworm has a pair of very
good, though rather small, beady black eyes; and, of course, it is
not a worm.

During the daytime the blindworm mostly lies hidden under a
large stone; and on turning such a stone over, one may some-
times find two or three of these lizards all coiled up together.
But in the evening they leave their hiding-places, and go out to
search for the tiny white slugs on which they feed.

When it is suddenly startled the blindworm sometimes be-
haves in a very odd way. It stiffens its body, gives a kind of
shudder and a twist, and actually snaps off its own tail! Then
the tail begins to writhe about on the ground, wriggling and
curling and even leaping up into the air in the most curious
manner; and while you are watching its antics, the bhndworm
creeps away into some place of safety. You would think that
it must suffer a great deal of pain from this extraordinary in-
jury, wouldn't you, and that the blindworm would feel it quite
as much as a man would feel if his leg were cut off? But it
does not seem to suffer at all; and stranger still, a new tail very

TORTOISES, TURTLES, AND LIZARDS 305

soon begins to grow in the place of the old one, so that in the
course of a very few weeks the lizard is just as perfect as it was
before!

Skinks

These are queer little lizards with four short legs and very
stumpy tails, which are found in many parts of Africa and Asia.
They live in sandy deserts, and are rather slow in their move-
ments as a rule. But if a fly should settle anywhere near them
they will dart upon it with the most surprising quickness, and
will hardly ever fail to capture it. And if they are alarmed
they will burrow into the sand so rapidly that they really seem
to sink into it just as if it were water. In a very few seconds,
indeed, they will bury themselves to a depth of at least two or
three feet.

In olden days skinks were very much used in medicine,
and the powder obtained from their dried bodies was thought
to be a certain cure for many diseases! It does not seem a
very nice idea, yet even to this day skinks are used for the same
purpose in Eastern countries.

There are several different kinds of these curious lizards,
of which the common skink, found in Northern Africa, is the
best known. It is about three inches and a half in length, and
is yellowish brown in color, with a number of darker bands on
the sides of the body.

Geckos

Odder still are the geckos, which have their toes swollen
out at the tips into round sucker-like pads, by means of which
they can climb a wall or a pane of glass with the greatest ease,
or even walk about like flies on the ceiling. They are very
fond of getting into houses, generally remaining hidden in some
dark corner during the day, but coming out toward evening
to search for insects, and continually uttering their curious little
cry of "geck-geck-geck-o."

People used to be very much afraid of geckos, some thinking

306 THE ANIMAL WORLD

that they could squirt out poison from the pads of their toes
which would act like the sting of a nettle, and others declaring
that their teeth were so sharp and strong that they could pierce
even a sheet of steel! But the real fact is that these lizards are
perfectly harmless, and cannot injure any living creature ex-
cept the insects upon which they feed. When they take
up their quarters in a house they soon become extremely
tame, and will even climb up on the dinner-table to be
fed.

Geckos are found in almost all hot countries of the Old World,
and nearly three hundred different kinds have been found al-
together.

Iguanas

American lizards are almost wholly members of the numerous
iguana family, which takes its name from the big examples
found from Mexico down into Brazil. The commonly known
one when fully grown \\\\\ measure four feet from the tip of
its blunt, top-shaped head to the end of its long tapering tail.
It looks rather forbidding, for a row of sharp spikes runs right
along its back, while under its chin is a great dewlap. Yet
it is not quite so terrible as it seems, for though it will bite
fiercely if it is driven to bay, and use its long tail like the lash
of a whip, it will always run away if it can, and will either
climb into the topmost boughs of a tree, or plunge into a stream
and swim away.

This reptile is a very good swimmer, driving itself rapidly
through the water by waving its long tail from side to side,
just like a crocodile or an alligator. And it can dive beneath
the surface and remain at the bottom for a very long time
without coming up to breathe.

Iguanas live chiefly among the branches of trees which over-
hang the water. Their flesh is very good to eat, for it is as
tender as the breast of a young chicken. Their eggs, too, which
they bury in the sand on the river-bank, are often used as food,
and it is said that, no matter how long they may be boiled, they
never become hard.

TORTOISES, TURTLES, AND LIZARDS 307

Various American Lizards

The hot open plains which stretch from central Texas west-
ward to the Pacific Ocean, and northward in Utah and Nevada,
abound in a great variety of small lizards, none more than
eighteen inches or so in length. Some are fat and short-tailed,
some slender and swift, with tails like whiplashes. Some
have gay colors and the power of changing them more or less,
while others are dull of hue and uninteresting or repulsive to
look at. Mostly they are insect-eaters, but some subsist upon
plants ; and one of the latter is the big fat one known in southern
Cahfornia as the "alderman."

Another strange one is the broad, flat creature so frequently
seen all over the Southwest, and called horned toad, on account
of its shape and habit of sitting on its squat legs, with its tail
tucked sideways out of sight. It is covered almost all over with
long and sharp spikes. Those on its head, which are directed
backward, are the longest; and from these it gets its name of
horned toad. But those on the back are very nearly as long,
while there are several rows upon the tail as well. Yet it is
perfectly harmless, for even when it is caught for the first time
it never seems to use either its spikes or its teeth.

But it has another peculiarity which it sometimes uses as
a means of defence, and that is a very strange one indeed. It
actually squirts out little jets of blood from its eyes! That
seems impossible, doesn't it? Yet there is no doubt at all
about it, for when these lizards have been kept in captivity,
and have been rather roughly handled, they have been known
to squirt several drops of blood at a time to a distance of twelve
or fifteen inches! Yet nobody seems to know how they do it.

The Gila Monster

This same region, however, contains a poisonous lizard —
the only kind of lizard in the world known to have sacs of
venom in the mouth. This venom enters any wound made by
the animal's biting with certain teeth, and acts upon the animal

308 THE ANIMAL WORLD

bitten like snake-poison. This is a sluggish, round-headed,
short-tailed creature which dwells in the sandy plains along the
Mexican boundary, and is called the Gila monster, or, scientific-
ally, the Heloderma. Its scales are rounded, so that this
lizard looks as if dressed in pebbled goatskin; and its colors arc
black and yellow, in irregular blotches. The hunters and
sheep-herders are more afraid of it than need be, for it is sleepy
and will never use its poisonous teeth without great provoca-
tion, so that it is only necessary to leave it alone in order to
escape any harm.

The Frilled Lizard

This lizard is a native of Australia, and has round its neck
a kind of frill, or ruff, from six to eight inches in diameter!
As a rule this frill is folded round the throat, so that from a
little distance one would scarcely notice it. But as soon as
the reptile is excited or alarmed it spreads it out, sits on its
hinder legs and its tail, raises its head and body, and shows its
teeth, just as if it were going to fly at its enemy. This is only
pretence, however, for though the lizard grows to a length of
nearly three feet, it is quite harmless.

Another very curious habit which this lizard has is that of
walking upright on its hind legs, in the attitude of a dog when
"begging." Tt will even run in this position, and most odd it
then looks. It is a capital climber, and spends most of its life
in the trees, to which it always tries to escape when it thinks
itself in danger. In color the frilled lizard is yellowish brown
mottled with black.

The Chameleon

Strangest of all strange lizards, however, is the chameleon.
In the first place, this lizard has a very long tongue, which
it can dart out to a really wonderful distance from its mouth.
This tongue looks very much like a worm, and is exceedingly
sticky, so that all that a chameleon has to do when it sees a fly
settling near it is to dart out its tongue and touch it with the

TORTOISES, TURTLES, AND LIZARDS 309

tip. Then the fly adheres to it, and is carried back into the
mouth so quickly that it is almost impossible to see what be-
comes of it. In this way it can catch a fly at a distance of
fully six inches.

Then the chameleon has most extraordinary eyes. They
are about as big as peas; but instead of having lids which move
up and down, as ours do, they are entirely covered by the lids
with, the exception of just a tiny round space in the middle.
The lizard sees, in fact, through a hole in the middle of its eye-
lid. That is strange enough; but what is stranger still is that
the animal can move its eyes in different directions at the same
time. They are hardly ever still for a single moment. But
instead of moving together, like those of all other animals, one
may be looking upward toward the sky and the other down-
ward toward the ground; or the right eye may be peering forward
in front of the nose while the left one is glancing backward toward
the tail! Indeed, it would be very difficult to find an odder
sight than that of a chameleon when it is moving its eyes about.
They really look j ust as if they belonged to two different animals.

But the most wonderful fact of all about the chameleon
is that it can change its color whenever it chooses.

How it does so no one quite knows. But the very same
animal which is brown all over as it sits upon a branch will
become green all over if you put it among leaves. The last
thing at night, probably, you will find that it is gray. Next
day, perhaps, brown spots will appear upon its body, and
pinkish stripes upon its sides. And occasionally it may be
violet, and sometimes yellow, and sometimes nearly black. So
that if you were to go and look at a chameleon, and then go
and look at it again half an hour afterward, you might very
likely take it for a wholly different animal!

Then the chameleon has very odd habits. If it is annoyed,
for example, it puffs out its body in the most extraordinary
way till it is nearly double its ordinary size and its skin is stretched
almost as tight as the parchment of a drum. When it is caught
it hisses like a snake. And really it must be the very laziest
creature on earth. If it lifts a foot into the air it will often
wait for quite a minute before it puts it down again, and for

310 THE ANIMAL WORLD

two or even three minutes more before it takes a second step.
Then it always has to rest for some little time after uncoihng
its tail from a branch, while when it coils it round another it
stops and rests again. It will hardly travel two yards, m fact,

in a day. . j a •

Chameleons are found in many parts of Africa and Asia,

and also in Southeastern Europe.

CHAPTER XXVIII
SNAKES

THERE are a great many different kinds of snakes; but be-
fore we read about some of them, we must tell you some-
thing about the wonderful way in which their bodies are made.

In the first place, then, remember that snakes have a very
large number of those sections or pieces forming the spine which
we call vertebra}. We ourselves have only thirty-three of these
little parts when we begin life, and twenty-six afterward; this
difference in number being caused by the fact that five of the
joints very soon unite into a bony mass at the lower end, which
we call sacrum, while four more unite into another, which we
call the coccyx. But some snakes have hundreds of these verte-
bras. The boas, for example, have no less than three hundred
and four!

In the next place, remember that all these vertebra are
fastened together by what we call ball-and-socket joints. That
is, there is a round knob at the back of each vertebra which fits
into a socket in front of the vertebra behind it. This gives to
the spine of a snake great strength, for a vertebra cannot be
forced out of its place without breaking the vertebra behind it.
And it also allows the spine to be curled and twisted about in
almost any direction; so that a snake can easily coil up its body
like a spring, or even tie it into a knot.

Then, remember that a snake has a great many ribs. We
have twelve pairs of these important bones, most of which are
jointed to the breast-bone in front. But a snake may have as
many as two hundred and fifty-two pairs of ribs, while it has no
breast-bone at all; so that the tips of all the ribs are free. And
every rib is fastened to a vertebra of the spine by a ball-and- ,
socket joint, just like those which fasten the vertebra them-
selves together. Besides this, there are no less than five separate
sets of muscles connected with the ribs, so that the snake can
move those bones about quite easily.

VOL. V. — -21 oil

312 THE ANIMAL WORLD

It is really by means of its ribs that a snake is able to glide
over the ground. If you were to look at the under side of a
snake's body, you would see that the scales are quite different
from those on the upper part. On the back and sides the scales
are quite small, and are almost oval, or oblong; but on the ab-
domen they are very long and ver}' narrow, and are set crosswise
like the laths of a Venetian blind.

Now the tips of every pair of ribs in a snake's body are fastened
to one of these long abdominal scales in such a manner that when
the snake moves the ribs forward the edge of the scale is raised —
very much as you can raise the laths of the Venetian blind by
pulling the cord at the side; and the snake travels by moving
forward its ribs in turn, and catching hold of the ground with
the edges of the scales, using first the ribs of one side and then of
the other.

When a snake is crawling, however, it does not curve its body
into upright loops as inaccurate pictures sometimes represent,
but keeps it pressed flat upon the ground, so that the scales may
be able easily to take hold of any little roughness upon the sur-
face. And when it climbs a tree it does not twine its body round
and round the trunk, but crawls straight up it, just as it crawls
along the ground.

The mouth of a snake is very curiously made. We are not
speaking now of the fangs of the poisonous serpents; we will tell
you about these by and by. But remember that the mouth
must be made in a very strange way, in order to allow these
creatures to swallow their victims, which are often a good deal
larger round than their ovm. throats.

It sounds impossible, yet the snake can swallow an animal
larger in diameter than its own throat, because the bones of its
jaws, instead of being firmly fastened together as ours are, can
be forced a long way apart, so as to make room for the carcass to
pass.

Besides this, it has no less than six separate jaw-bones, four
in the upper part of the mouth and two in the lower, every one
of which is set with sharp, hooked teeth ; and the points of these
teeth are directed toward the throat. Xow every one of these
jaw-bones can be moved backward and forward at will. So

2

'%

CHARACTERISTIC FORMS AND MARKINGS OF AMERICAN BIRDS' EGGS
Sea-fowl: — 13. Guillemot. 14. Tern. 21. Skimmer. Water-fowl: — g, 16. Ducks,
Waders. 7. Heron. 11. Gallinule. 12. Snowy Plover. 23. Stilt Sandpiper. 24. Ring
Plover. Game-birds:-»-6. Partridge. 19. Ptarmigan. Birds of Prey: — 3. Owl. 17.
Buzzard-hawk. 20. Falcon. Cuckoos: — 8. Cuckoo. 10. Roadrunner. Song-birds: —
I. Mockingbird. 2. Towhee Finch. 4. Sparrow. 5. Oriole. 15. Blackbird (grakle),
iS. Flycatcher. 22. Robin (Thrush). 25. Woodhoiise's Jay.

SNAKES 313

when a snake wishes to swallow the body of a victim, it first of
all seizes it in its mouth, and then pushes one of the jaw-bones
forward and takes a firm hold with the teeth. Then it pushes
another forward, and then a third, and then a fourth; and so it
goes on, each time taking a fresh hold with the hooked teeth, till
at last the carcass is forced into the mouth. Then the bones
separate, so as to make plenty of room for it to pass, and the
alternate action of the jaws goes on as before till the carcass is
forced into the throat. And then the flesh of the throat, which
is very elastic, stretches out too, till before very long the carcass
disappears altogether.

Then the eyes of snakes are made in a very curious way, for
the eyelids, which are quite transparent, do not open and shut
as ours do, but cover the eyes altogether. So a snake cannot
blink; and it looks at you through its own eyelids, which are
very much like little spectacle-glasses fastened into the skin'

When a snake throw^s off its skin, which it always does once
in a year, and sometimes oftener, the eyelids are thrown off with
it, and a pair of new ones are found lying below all ready to take
their place. Just while this is happening (and it may take a day
or two) the creature is trying to look through a double layer of
eye-coverings, and can see very poorly until the outer one slips
off. This is the explanation of the popular saying that snakes
are blind in August (the usual skin-changing time).

Harmless Snakes

All serpents may properly enough be divided into two sec-
tions—the non-poisonous ones, which are "harmless," so far as
their bite is concerned; and the poisonous ones, which inject a
more or less deadly venom into wounds made by certain long
weapon-teeth called fangs.

Let us consider first, for a moment, the harmless ones. The
great majority of them — of the common snakes of the whole
world — belong to a single family called colubers; and this family
far outnumbers all other serpents. Most of its members are
of small size; few exceed two yards in length, one of the excep-
tions being our handsome king-snake of Texas and westward,

314 THE ANIMAL WORLD

which is a variety of the northern milk-snake. All are slender,
agile, sometimes remarkably swift, with small heads, tapering
and unarmed tails, and little or no means of defence, although
some of them make such a show of fighting that they terrify
many an enemy into leaving them alone.

To this great family belong our various blacksnakes, or
blue racers, which occasionally are more than six feet long, and
are among the worst robbers of birds' nests, eating both eggs
and young, and the mother bird as well if it is small, and is not
quick enough in seeking to escape. This is the snake about
which stories of so-called fascination are told; we do not think
there is much truth in them, but that the bird is simply reckless
in her efforts to drive away the robber, and flies too near its
darting jaws. The blacksnakes are exceedingly swift runners
and agile climbers. Another excellent climber is the slender
greensnake, which is so near the color of the leaves that it will
not be noticed easily as it hangs in loops upon the branches of a
bush, waiting quietly for some insect to come within reach.
Most of our snakes, however, spend their time mainly on the
ground, searching about the grass, among the tussocks of a
swamp, or amid dense thickets, after frogs, toads, tadpoles,
ground-nesting birds, mice, and especially insects, which last
form the principal food of the smaller kinds. Among these
probably the most often seen are the striped garter-snakes which
abound in meadows and about haystacks and old barns, where
they search holes and corners for mice and beetles. The warm,
soft soil of old barnyards is a favorite place for the laying of
their eggs by snakes, most of which bury them in such places
and leave them to be hatched by the warmth of the sunshine.
Nearly every pond, marsh, and slow stream abounds also in
water-snakes, which are ugly in disposition as well as in color,
and feed mainly on fishes, both dead and alive. Of this kind is
the only snake to be found in England except the viper.

Perhaps the most curious of the colubrine snakes is the egg-
eating snake of South Africa. It is quite a small snake, not
more than two feet long, and scarcely thicker in body than a
man's little finger; yet it will swallow pigeons' eggs quite easily,
and, if it is very hungry indeed, will dispoce of a hen's egg ! This,

SNAKES 315

of course, is owing to the way in which the bones of the mouth
are made. But if you were to watch one of these snakes as it
was eating an egg, you would see a very strange thing happen.
The egg would pass down the throat, and for a few inches you
would be able to watch its outline as it moved along toward the
stomach. Then, quite suddenly, the swelling would disappear !
The fact is this. About thirty of the vertebrse have each a long,
slender spine springing from the lower surface, and the tips of
these spines pass through the upper part of the throat and pro-
ject inside it, just like a row of little teeth in the wrong place.
Just as the egg, while it is being swallowed, comes against these
teeth, the snake contracts the muscles of its throat. The result
is that the teeth pierce the egg from end to end and cut it in two.
Then the contents flow onward down the throat, while the two
halves of the shell, nearly always packed one inside the other,
are shortly afterward spit out of the mouth.

Pythons

The pythons are very formidable snakes, not because they
are venomous — for they have no poison-fangs — but owing to
their immense size and strength. When fully grown they may
measure as much as thirty feet in length, while their bodies are
as big round as a man's thigh; and even when they are only half
as long they are still most dangerous creatures, for they could
crush a man to death in two or three minutes.

When a python attacks, it seizes its victim with its jaws,
flings its coils one over another around it, and then squeezes so
hard that in a very few minutes the bones fly into splinters, and
the body is reduced to pulp. And a large python can swallow a
half -grown sheep or a good-sized dog without any difficulty at all.

After the snake has swallowed its victim it becomes very
drowsy, and often sleeps heavily for several days.

Another very curious fact with regard to the python is that
it actually hatches its eggs by the warmth of its own body.
It first collects the eggs into a little pile, and then coils itself
round them, after which it remains perfectly still for nearly
two months. During the whole of that time its bodily heat is

316 THE ANIMAL WORLD

much greater than usual, and at last the egg-shells split, and
out from each comes a baby python. A fortnight or so later
they change their skins, and then are quite large and strong
enough to kill and swallow small birds.

Pythons inhabit nearly all the hotter parts of Africa, Asia,
and Australia, and are sometimes known as rock-snakes, on
account of their living much in rocky places.

Boas

The boas, one kind of which, the boa-constrictor, has long
been famous among monsters, are much like the pythons,
but are found only in tropical America and in Madagascar,
and spend the greater part of their lives in the trees. They
are quite as large as the pythons, and quite as formidable. It
is said, indeed, that the anaconda, which is the largest of all,
sometimes reaches a length of forty feet; and there is a stuffed
skin, twenty-nine feet long, in the Natural History Museum
at South Kensington, London. One can easily imagine what
a terrible enemy such a snake as this would be, and how help-
less even a strong man would find himself when wrapped in its
mighty coils!

The anaconda is very fond of lying in the water with only
just its head raised above the surface, and there waiting for
some animal to swim within reach. But most of the boas lie
in wait for their prey on one of the lower branches of a tree,
in readiness to strike at any small creature that may pass
beneath.

Some years ago a most singular accident happened in the
reptile house at the London Zoo. Two boas, one eleven feet
long and the other nine feet, were living in the same cage, and
always seemed on the very best of terms. One night a couple
of pigeons — one for each snake — were put into the cage, and
the house was shut up as usual. Next morning, however,
when the keeper opened it, the smaller snake had disappeared,
and there was no hole in the cage through which it could possibly
have escaped. At first the keeper was puzzled; but soon he
noticed that the larger serpent was not coiled up as usual, but

SNAKES 317

was lying stretched out straight upon the ground. Then he
understood what had happened. The big snake had swallowed
the smaller one during the night, although it was only two
feet shorter than itself!

Most likely both snakes had seized the same pigeon at the
same moment. Before very long, of course, their jaws would
have met in the middle. Now when one of these big snakes
has once seized its victim it cannot let go, because of the way
in which its jaws and teeth are made, but must go on trying to
swallow it. So, you see, when the jaws of the two snakes met
in the middle of the pigeon neither could give the bird up to
the other, because neither could withdraw its teeth, and the
larger one, in fact, could not help swallowing the smaller!
And since that time two or three other accidents of the same
character have been prevented only by the constant watchful-
ness of the keeper.

Poisonous Snakes

In all these reptiles the poison-fangs are two in number,
and are situated in the upper jaw. They are very sharp in-
deed, and are almost as brittle as glass. So while they are not
in use they are folded back out of harm's way upon the roof
of the mouth. But if by chance they should be broken, there
are three or four other pairs lying ready for use behind them
which will quickly grow forward to take their place.

Generally there is a tiny hole just under the tip of the fang,
which opens into a narrow passage running right through
the center. But in some snakes there is only a groove outside
the fang. In either case, however, the muscles which surround
the poison-bag are arranged in such a way that as soon as the
snake strikes its victim a drop of poison is squirted down each
of the fangs, and so into the wound.

Vipers

The only poisonous snake found in Europe is the viper, or
adder. It is not by any means a large snake, for it is seldom

318 THE ANIMAL WORLD

more than twelve or fourteen inches long. It has a zigzag
chain of black, lozenge-shaped markings all the way along its
back.

Vipers are generally found on heathy commons and moors,
and are very fond of lying on a patch of bare, sandy ground,
and enjoying the warmth of the sun. They never attempt to
bite unless they are interfered with, but always try to crawl
away, if alarmed, into a place of safety. Their poison is not
strong enough to kill a man, unless he happens to be in a very
bad state of health at the time when he is bitten; but it would
be quite sufficient to cause the bitten limb to swell up to double
its size, and to lead to a great deal of suffering and sick-
ness.

Cobras

Far more deadly is the bite of the cobra, which is found
plentifully in India. Any one who is bitten by this formidable
snake is almost sure to die within two or three hours.

The upper part of a cobra's neck is widened out into what
is called the hood, which can be spread out or folded up at
will by the action of the ribs. On the upper part of this hood
is a dark mark, which looks almost exactly like a pair of spec-
tacles. When a cobra is about to strike it always raises its
head and neck and spreads this hood before darting at its
foe.

In many parts of India cobras are caught and tamed by men
who are called snake-charmers, and who sometimes capture
them by playing an odd tune upon a sort of wooden pipe. This
music seems to fascinate the snake, which comes out of its hole,
rears up its head and neck, and begins to sway slowly from side
to side. Then, still playing, the charmer moves his right hand
very slowly indeed until it is just behind the snake's head,when
he suddenly grasps the reptile round the neck. It is now, of
course, quite helpless, and is quickly transferred to his bag.

Many charmers carry cobras about with them, which they
handle quite freely. But in these cases the poison fangs have
been carefully extracted, so as to render the reptiles harmless.

SNAKES 319

Cobras are very fond of eggs, and if they can find a rat-hole
which opens into a hen-house they will often take advantage of
it in order to rob the nests. But sometimes, when they have
swallowed several eggs, and the hole happens to be a small one,
they cannot crawl out again, and are found and killed when the
house is opened in the morning.

The Puff-Adder

Quite as deadly is the puff-adder, of Africa, which has a way
of lying almost buried in the sand, so that it is not easily seen;
and if it is disturbed it does not crawl away, as most poisonous
snakes will do, but remains quite still, merely drawing back its
head in order to strike. When fully grown it is about six feet
long, and its poison is so deadly that even a horse has been
known to die within two or three hours of being bitten.

This snake is called the puff-adder because it draws in a very
deep breath when it is annoyed or irritated, and puffs out its
whole body to nearly double its proper size. It then allows the
air to escape gradually, with a kind of sighing noise, draws in
another deep breath, and so on over and over again.

Pit-Vipers

Australia, also, has some snakes whose bite is very deadly; and
in general the tropics abound in these dangerous reptiles. This
is as true of America as elsewhere, but all the American venom-
ous serpents are of a kind peculiar to this continent, called pit-
vipers. Some of them have rattles at the end of the tail and
some lack this appendage, but all are much alike. Certain of
the most dreaded, such as the fer-de-lance and the bushmaster,
belong to the West Indies and Northern South America; but
really the worst of the whole bad lot, because of its great size
and sullen ferocity, is the huge diamondback rattlesnake of the
Southern States. It is in some cases longer and heavier than
any other known venomous snake; and its bite, if the wound
is well poisoned, means almost immediate paralysis and
death.

320 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Rattlesnakes

Several different species of rattlesnakes are scattered over the
United States, and in some places, as on the hot dry plains of
the Southwest, and in the arid mountains of Utah and California,
are numerous enough to be troublesome. The cutting away of
forests, draining of swamps, and cultivation of prairies, soon
destroy these pests in thickly settled regions; but where rocky
hills occur they linger for a long time, because the breaks and
little caves among the ledges offer them secure retreats, winter
homes where they sleep in safety, and proper nurseries for the
young, which are not produced from eggs, as in the coluber
family, but are born alive.

The rattles from which these serpents take their name, are a
number of hollow, horny, button-like structures at the tip of the
tail, which rattle together, with a peculiar humming sound,
when the creature shakes its tail, as it is sure to do when dis-
turbed or angry. It thus gives a warning to the man who might
not have noticed the sluggish creature in his path in time to
jump aside. Not all of the tribe have a rattle, however; and
one of the reasons why our water-moccasin and copperhead are
so much dreaded is that they possess no rattle, and therefore
sound no "keep-off" warning.

All our American venomous snakes are too heavy and slow to
climb trees. They get their prey — mice, gophers, snakes, etc.—
by going to a place where it is likely to be running about, and
then patiently waiting until something comes within striking
distance.

CHAPTER XXIX
AMPHIBIANS

YOU will remember that the amphibians are distinguished
from the true reptiles by having to pass through a tad-
pole stage before they obtain their perfect form. A good
example is the frog, which in one kind or another exists in all
parts of the earth except the very coldest. No doubt, you have
often seen great masses of its jelly-like spawn floating on the
surface of ponds early in the spring; and you must have wondered
how such small creatures as frogs could possibly lay such
enormous batches of eggs.

But the fact is that when these eggs are first laid they are
very tiny. Each egg is only about as big as a small pin's head.
Instead of having shells, however, they are covered with a very
elastic skin, while at the same time they soak up water. So, as
soon as they pass into the pond they begin to swell, and very
soon each egg is as big as a good-sized pea.

Tadpole and Frog

In the middle of each egg is a round black spot, which in-
creases in size every day. This is the future tadpole, and after
a time the egg-skin splits, and out it tumbles into the water.

It is an odd-looking creature — just a big round head with a
tiny pair of gills and a little wavy tail, and nothing else at all.
But it manages to swim by wagging its tail, and it feeds on the
tiny scraps of decaying matter which are always floating about
in the water of the pond. Before long a little pair of legs begin
to show themselves just at the base of the tail. A few days
later another pair begin to grow in front of them. Then, by
slow degrees, the tail passes back into the substance of the
body, and so do the gills, while lungs are developed and nostrils are
opened. And by the time that all these changes have taken place
the tadpole has ceased to be a tadpole and has turned into a frog.

321

322 THE ANIMAL WORLD

It leaves the water now and lives upon land, feeding upon
small insects, which it catches in a most curious way. Its
tongue is turned, as it were, the wrong way round; for the
root is just inside the lips, while the tip is down the throat.
Besides this, the tongue is very elastic and very sticky. So
the animal catches its victims just as the chameleon does,
flicking out its tongue at them and just touching them with the
tip, to which they adhere. And as the tongue is drawn back
into the mouth it pokes them down the throat; so that frogs
do not even have to take the trouble of swallowing their dinner.

If you look at a frog's hind feet, you will notice that the
toes are joined together by webbing. This allows them to be
used in the water as well as upon dry land. It is generally
said that frogs swim. But if you watch them in the water you
will see at once that they do not really swim at all, but leap
along, just as they leap along the ground. And each leap
carries them through the water for some little distance.

Toads

In some ways toads are like frogs; but you can tell them
at once by their rough, dry skins, which are covered with warts
like glands. And they crawl over the ground, instead of leap-
ing as frogs do. They are very common almost everywhere,
and you may often find them hiding under logs or large stones
during the daytime.

Toads do not lay their eggs in great masses, as frogs do,
but arrange them in strings about four feet long and an eighth
of an inch wide. Each of these strings consists of two rows
of eggs fastened side by side together. The tadpoles are very
much like those of the frog, the chief difference being that they
are rather smaller and blacker.

Newts

All through their lives newts keep their tails, instead of
losing them when they cease to be tadpoles.

You can find newts in plenty all through spring and summer

AMPHIBIANS 323

by fishing with a small net in any weedy pond; but you will
find that they are not all alike. Some have wavy crests running
all along their backs; others have none; and some are brightly
colored while others are plain olive green all over. Often in
the woods in certain parts of the United States you will meet
with little newts traveling about on the damp old leaves; and
they are very conspicuous because of their brilliant vermilion
color. These are young green newts which come out of the
water, live ashore for a year or so in the red suit, and then go
back to the water and a green coat.

Newts lay their eggs in a very curious manner. They do
not fasten them together in great batches, like the frog, or in
long, narrow strings, like the toad. They lay them one by one.
And the mother newt takes each egg as she lays it, places it
in the middle of the narrow leaf of some water-plant, and then
twists the leaf neatly round it with her little fore feet, so as
to wrap it up in a kind of parcel! The tadpole which
hatches out of this egg is very much like that of a toad or a
frog; but the front legs are the first to appear, instead of the
hind legs, while the tail, of course, does not pass back into the
substance of the body.

Newts swim with their tails, and very pretty and graceful
they look as they move through the water. When they cease
to be tadpoles, of course, they breathe air, just as toads and
frogs do, and have to come up to the surface every two or three
minutes to obtain it. And as long as they live in the pond they
feed upon grubs and worms and tiny water-insects.

Salamanders

The curious creatures knowTi as salamanders are related
to the newts, and begin their lives in just the same way. But
after they have ceased to be tadpoles they only visit the water
for two or three weeks in the spring.

The most celebrated member of this group is the spotted
salamander, which is found in Central and Southern Europe,
and also in Algeria and Syria. When fully grown it is about
eight inches long, and may be known at once by the two rows

324 THE ANIMAL WORLD

of large yellow blotches which run down from the back of its
head, right along its body, to the very tip of its tail.

In days of old it was thought that the salamander had the
power of walking through fire without being burnt! And it
was also supposed, if it were attacked, to spring upon its enemy,
bite out a piece of his flesh, and then spit fire into the wound!
As a matter of fact it is almost harmless, and may be picked up
and handled without the slightest danger. But the glands on
its skin, like those on the toad's head and back, contain a
rather poisonous fluid, which is squirted out if they are squeezed.
So that if a dog were to pick up a salamander he would be quite
sure to drop it again very quickly, and would most likely foam
at the mouth for some little time.

Salamanders are very slow and timid creatures, and generally
spend the whole of the day concealed in some crevice, or in the
hollow trunk of a tree, or perhaps under a large stone. They
feed upon slugs and small insects.

There are several kinds in North America, some of which,
as the hellbender, are a foot or more in length.

The giant salamander, which is sometimes nearly a yard
long, is found in the rivers of China and Japan, and spends the
whole of its life in the water. It feeds chiefly upon fishes.

The Axolotl

This is one of the most singular of all the amphibians. It
is found in North America. Sometimes it develops into its
perfect form, and sometimes it remains a tadpole all its life,
and yet lays eggs just as though it were adult!

In the lakes of the southern Rocky Mountains the life of this
creature is just like that of any other batrachian. That is,
it is hatched out of the egg as a tadpole, grows first one pair of
legs and then another, loses its gills by degrees, and at last
appears in a lizard-like form, leaving the water and living upon
dry land. But in the lake which surrounds the city of Mexico
it never becomes anything more than a big tadpole, keeps
its gills throughout its life, and does not leave the water
at all.

AMPHIBIANS 325

The Olm

The olm, or proteus, is found only in the underground lakes
of Carniola and one or two other parts of Central Europe. It
is about a foot long when fully gro^^^l, and has a slender, snake-
like body, with a pair of tiny legs just behind the head, and
another pair at the base of the tail. It is perfectly blind, the
eyes being hidden under the skin, and yet cannot bear light.
For if it is kept in captivity it will always hide in the darkest
corner that it can find. And it has been known to live in con-
finement for five years without once taking any food.

What the habits of this extraordinary animal are in nature
no one knows, as it has never been found except in these under-
ground lakes.

In color the olm is pinkish gray, with bright-red gills, and
there are from twenty-four to twenty-seven grooves upon either
side of its body.

FISHES

CHAPTER XXX
FRESH- WATER FISHES

THE lowest class of the vertebrate animals consists of the
fishes. These are easily distinguished. Some of the
reptiles, it is true, are very fish-like. But then they have three
chambers in their hearts, while the true fishes only have two.
Then fishes never have limbs, the place of which is taken
by fins; and further, they breathe water by means of gills.
There are other differences as well; but these are quite sufficient
to show us that reptiles and fishes cannot possibly be mistaken
for one another.

Between the two, however, come several very curious crea-
tures, which seem to be partly reptiles and partly fishes; for
they have four slender members which hardly seem to be legs,
though they cannot possibly be described as fins, while they
possess not only gills but lungs as well.

The Mud-Fish

One of these is the odd mud-fish of the African rivers. In
general appearance this animal looks something like an eel,
and it grows to a length of about three feet. Its four long
ray-like limbs seem to be quite useless to it, and it swims by
means of its tail, along the upper part of which runs a narrow
fin. It is a creature of prey, feeding upon other fishes, and when
food is plentiful, it just takes one bite out of the lower part
of their bodies and no more.

In summer the rivers in which it lives often dry up altogether,
and the mud at the bottom is baked as hard as a brick by the
rays of the sun. So, as soon as the water begins to get shallow,

326

FRESH -WATER FISHES 327

the animal burrows deep down into the mud, curls itself up like
a fried whiting, and falls fast asleep for several months, just as
hedgehogs and dormice do during the winter in cold countries.
Then, when the rainy season comes and the rivers fill up again,
it comes out from its retreat and swims about as before. It is
from this habit that it gets its name of mud-fish.

Now we come to the true fishes; and perhaps our best plan
will be to read about some of the fresh-water fishes first, and
afterward about some of those which live in the sea.

Sticklebacks

Let us begin with a little fish which is very common in almost
every pond, but is nevertheless very curious and very interesting.
When fully grown, the stickleback is about three inches long, and
you can tell it at once by the sharp spines on its back, which it
can raise and lower at will. It uses these spines in fighting.
For the male sticklebacks, at any rate, are most quarrelsome
little creatures, and for several weeks during the early part of the
summer they are constantly engaged in battle.

At this season of the year they are really beautiful little fishes,
for the upper parts of their bodies are bright blue and the lower
part rich crimson, while their heads become pale drab, and their
eyes bright green! And apparently they are very jealous of one
another, for two male sticklebacks in their summer dress never
seem able to meet without fighting. Raising their spines, they
dash at one another over and over again with the utmost fury,
each doing his best to swim underneath the other and cut his
body open. When one of them is beaten he evidently feels quite
ashamed of himself, for he goes and hides in some dark corner
where nobody can see him. And, strange to say, as soon as he
loses the battle his beautiful colors begin to fade, and in a very
few hours they disappear altogether.

About the beginning of June, all the male sticklebacks which
have not been beaten set to work to build nests. These nests
arc shaped like little tubs with no tops or bottoms, and they are
made of tiny scraps of grass and cut reed and dead leaf, neatly
woven together. As soon as they are finished the female stickle-

VOL. V. — 22

328 THE ANIMAL WORLD

backs lay their eggs in them. Then the males get inside, and
watch over the eggs until they hatch.

Perches

Another very handsome fresh-water fish is the perch, which is
plentiful in almost every river and lake in the warmer parts of
the whole world. In color it is rich greenish brown above and
yellowish white below, with from five to seven upright dark
bands on either side of its body, while the upper fins are brown
and the lower ones and the tail bright red.

The front fin on the back of the perch, which can be raised or
lowered at will, is really a very formidable weapon, for it con-
sists of a row of very sharp spines projecting for some little
distance beyond the membrane which joins them together.
Even the pike is afraid of these spines, and it is said that although
he will seize any other fresh-water fish without a moment's
hesitation, he will never venture to attack a perch.

Early in the month of I\Iay the mother perch lays her eggs,
which she fastens in long bands to the leaves of water-plants.
Their number is very great, over 280,000 having been taken from
quite a small perch of only about half a pound in weight!

The climbing perch of India, notwithstanding its name, is not
a true perch, but belongs to quite a different family. It is
famous for its power of leaving the water and traveling for a
considerable distance over dry land. It does this in the hot
season if the stream in which it is living dries up; and if you were
to live in certain parts of India you might perhaps meet quite a
number of these fishes shuffling across the road by means of their
lower fins, and making their way as fast as possible toward the
nearest river !

But how do they manage to remain out of the water for so
long?

Well, the fact is that fishes can live for a long time out of the
water if their gills are kept moist. In some fishes, such as the
herring, this is not possible, because their gills are made in such
a way that they become dry almost immediately. But the
climbing perch has a kind of cistern in its head, just above the

Mud-fish.

Yellow Perch.

NORTH AMERICAN FOOD AND GAME FISHES

FRESH-WATER FISHES 329

gill-chambers, which contains quite a quantity of water. And
while the fish is traveling over land this water passes down,
drop by drop, to the gills, and keeps them constantly damp.

When this fish has been kept in an earthenware vessel, with-
out any water at all, it has been known to live for nearly a week !

The Carp

Another fish which will live for quite a long time out of the
water is the carp, which has often been conveyed for long dis-
tances packed in wet moss.

This fine fish is a native of the Old World, where it is found
both in rivers and lakes, but prefers still waters with a soft muddy
bottom, in which it can grovel with its snout in search of food.
During the winter, too, it often buries itself completely in the
mud, and there hibernates, remaining perfectly torpid until the
return of warmer weather. It is not at all an easy fish to catch,
for it is so wary that it will refuse to touch any bait in which it
thinks that a hook may be concealed. And if the stream in
which it is living is dragged with a net, it just burrows down into
the mud at the bottom and allows the net to pass over it.

Owing to this crafty and cunning nature, the carp has often
been called the fresh-water fox.

The carp is a very handsome fish, being olive brown above,
with a tinge of gold, while the lower parts are yellowish white.
It sometimes weighs as much as twenty-five pounds, and has
been known to lay more than 700,000 eggs! It is domesticated
in many parts of North America and other countries.

The Barbel

Found in many Old World rivers, the barbel may be known at
once by the four long fleshy organs which hang down from the
nose and the corners of the mouth. These organs are called
barbules, and may possibly be of some help to the fish when it
is grubbing in the soft mud in search of the small creatures upon
which it feeds. It spends hours in doing this, and a hungry
barbel is sometimes so much occupied in its task that a swimmer

330 THE ANIMAL WORLD

has dived down to the bottom of the river and caught it with his
hands. From this curious way of feeding, and its great greedi-
ness, the barbel has sometimes been called the fresh-water pig.

In color this fish is greenish brown above, yellowish green on
the sides of the body, and white underneath. When fully grown
it weighs from ten to twelve pounds.

The Roach

This is one of the prettiest of the European fresh-water fishes,
which is found in many lakes and streams. The upper part of
the head and back are grayish green, with a kind of blue gloss,
which gradually becomes paler on the sides till it passes into
the silvery white of the lower surface. The fins and the tail are
bright red.

The roach does not grow to a very great size, for it seldom
weighs more than two pounds. It lives in large shoals, and in
clear water several hundred may often be seen swimming about
together.

The Pike

One of the largest and quite the fiercest of the British fresh-
water fishes is the pike, which is found both in lakes and rivers.
In America we have no pike proper, but in some of the great
western lakes a very large relative of similar habits known as
the maskinonge; and our pickerels are only small pikes. Won-
derful tales are told of the ferocity of the pike. He does not
seem to know what fear is, and his muscular power is so great,
and the rows of teeth with which his jaws are furnished are so
sharp and strong, that he is really a most formidable foe. All
other fresh-water fishes are afraid of him, while he gobbles up
water-birds of all kinds, and water-mice, and frogs, and even
worms and insects. And no matter how much food he eats, he
never seems to be satisfied.

When the pike is hungry, he generally hides under an over-
hanging bank, or among weeds, and there waits for his victims
to pass by.

FRESH-WATER FISHES 331

The young pike is generally known as the jack, and when
only five inches long has been known to catch and devour a
gudgeon almost as big as itself. With such a voracious appetite,
it is not surprising that the fish grows very fast, and for a long
time it increases in weight at the rate of about four pounds in
every year. How long it continues to grow nobody quite knows;
but pike of thirty-five or forty pounds have often been taken,
and there have been records of examples even larger still.

In color the pike is olive brown, marked with green and
yellow.

Trout

Perhaps the greatest favorite of all anglers is the trout, which,
in one or more of its various species, is to be caught in almost
every swift stream and highland lake throughout the temperate
zone, except where the race has been destroyed by too persistent
fishing. This happens everywhere near civilization, unless
protective laws regulate the times and places where fishing may
be done. Similar laws are required to save many other kinds
of fishes from quick destruction at the hands of the thoughtless
and selfish, and they should be honestly obeyed and supported
in spite of their occasionally interfering with amusement.

Trout are graceful in form and richly colored, most of them
having arrangements of bright spots and gaily tinted fins. The
common trouts of Europe and the eastern half of the United
States and Canada are much alike; but in the Rocky and other
mountains of the western shore of our continent others quite
diff^erent are scattered from the Plains to the Pacific. One of
the most interesting and beautiful of these, the rainbow-trout,
has been brought into the East, and has made itself at home in
many lakes and rivers of the Northern States and Canada.

The trout is an extremely active fish, and when it is hooked it
tries its very hardest to break away, dashing to and fro, leaping,
twisting, and fighting, and often giving the angler a great deal
of trouble before he can bring it in. In small streams it seldom
grows to any great size, but in some of the Scottish lochs and
lakes of Alaine trout weighing fifteen or even twenty pounds are

332 THE ANIMAL WORLD

often taken. It is sometimes considered, however, that these
belong to a different species.

The Salmon

More famous even than the trout is the salmon, the largest
and finest of all our fresh-water fishes, which often reaches a
weight of forty-five or fifty pounds, and sometimes grows to
still greater size.

It is hardly correct, however, to speak of it as a fresh-water
fish, for although salmon are nearly always caught in rivers,
they spend a considerable part of their lives in the sea.

Salmon are of two kinds — the Atlantic and the Pacific species;
and the life-history of each is a very curious one.

During the winter the parent fishes of the Atlantic salmon,
which used to be exceedingly numerous in all our northern
rivers emptying into the Atlantic, and still haunt the rivers of
Northeastern Canada, and of Scotland, make their way as far
up a clear and gravelly river as they possibly can, till they find
a suitable place in which to lay their eggs. The mother then
scoops a hole at the bottom of the stream, in which she deposits
her eggs in batches, carefully covering up each batch as she
does so. At this time both parents are in very poor condition,
and the males are kno\\Ti to anglers as "kelts." For a time
they remain in the river, feeding ravenously. Then in March
or April they travel down the river and pass into the sea, where
they stay for three or four months, after which they ascend
the river again, as before.

Meanwhile the eggs remain buried in the gravel for about
four months. At the end of that time the little fishes hatch out,
and immediately hide themselves for about a fortnight under a
rock or a large stone. You would ne^■er know what they were
if you were to see them, for they look much more like tadpoles
than fishes; and each has a little bag of nourishment under-
neath its body on which it lives. When this is exhausted they
leave their retreat and feed upon small insects, growing very
rapidly, until in about a month's time they arc four inches long.
They are now called parr and have a row of dark stripes upon

FRESH-WATER FISHES 333

their sides, and in this condition they remain for at least a year.
Their color then changes, the stripes disappearing, and the
whole body becoming covered with bright silvery scales.

The little fishes are now known as smolts, and, like their
parents, they make their way down the river and pass into the
sea. There they remain until the autumn, when they ascend
the river again. By this time they have grown considerably,
weighing perhaps five or six pounds, and are called grilse.
And it is not until they have visited the sea again in the follow-
ing year that they are termed salmon.

When salmon are ascending a river and come to a water-
fall, they climb it by leaping into the air and so springing into
the stream above the fall, trying over and over again until they
succeed. When the fall is too high to be climbed in this way,
the o^\^lers of the river often make a kind of water staircase by
the side of it, so that the fishes can leap up one stair at a time.
This is called a salmon-ladder.

North Pacific Salmon

Now this description would not at all fit the case of the sal-
mon which live in the North Pacific and ascend the rivers of
California, British Columbia, and Alaska, and of Siberia and
Japan on the other side of the ocean. These are the salmon
which supply the whole country, and many other countries,
with their pink flesh, boiled, and sealed in cans, so that it may
be sent long distances and kept many months without spoil-
ing. Every spring and summer, at different times according
to the locality and the species — there are five kinds of impor-
tance, caught for the trade — vast numbers of them enter the
mouths of the rivers and begin to make their way up-stream in
their effort to reach the shallow head waters of each river,
and of every one of its tributaries. It is at this time that they
are caught by spearing, netting, and various contrivances;
but laws prevent any general obstruction which would altogether
stop the advance of the host, so that while tens of thousands are
taken great numbers escape and pass on, as it is necessary they
should do in order to lay eggs and so keep up the race.

334 THE ANIMAL WORLD

This takes place far up at the heads of the streams in the
foothills of the mountains; and having deposited the spawn,
late in summer, the spent fish begin to drift down stream again.
But all this time they have been eating nothing, they are worn
with the long struggle against the rapids, often wounded by
sharp rocks, and are good for nothing to catch or eat. In fact,
so fagged out and weak are they that all of them die before any
reach the mouth of the river. It is a strange fact that of all
the vast host of salmon which each summer climb the rivers
not a single one gets back to the sea.

A year later, however, the young hatched from the eggs
which were left behind them at the heads of the streams swim
down the rivers and enter the ocean. There they remain,
probably not very far from land, for two or three years, feeding
and growing until they are of full size and strength; and each
season a class of them, having reached the right age and con-
dition to spawn, force their way up to the spawning-grounds,
to leave their eggs and then die, as did their parents before
them.

Eels

The only other fresh-water fishes which we can notice are
the eels, which look more like snakes than fishes, for they have
long slender bodies, with a pair of tiny fins just behind the head,
a long one running along the back and tail, like a crest, and
another, equally long, under the body. And they are clothed
with a smooth, slimy skin instead of with scales.

These curious creatures live in ponds and even in ditches as
well as in rivers, and are very plentiful in all parts of the northern
hemisphere. During the daytime, although they will sometimes
bask at the surface in the warm sunshine, they generally lie
buried in the mud at the bottom of the water, coming out soon
after sunset to feed. And Avhen the weather is damp, so that
their gills are kept moist as they wriggle through the herbage,
they will often leave the water and travel for some little distance
overland.

They frequently do this when they are traveling toward the

FRESH-WATER FISHES 335

sea. For it is a strange fact that, although they are fresh-water
fishes, eels both begin and end their lives in the sea.

In the first place, the eggs are laid in the sea — generally quite
close to the mouth of a river. When the little elvers, as the
young eels are called, hatch out, they make their way up the
river in immense shoals. In the English river Severn, for
instance, several tons of elvers are often caught in a single day;
and about thirty million elvers go to the ton! After being
pressed into cakes and fried, these little creatures are used for
food; but they are so rich that one cannot eat very many
at once.

When they have traveled far enough up the river, most of the
elvers which have escaped capture make their way to different
streams and pools and ditches, and there remain until their
growth is completed. They then begin to journey back to the
sea, and when they reach it they lay eggs in their turn. After
this, apparently, they die.

In the rivers of South America a most wonderful eel is found
which has the power of killing its victims by means of an electric
shock, wherefore it is called the electric eel. The electricity is
produced and stored up in two large organs inside the body, but
how it is discharged nobody knows. If the fish is touched it
merely gives a slight shudder. But the shock is so severe that
quite a large fish can be killed by it, while a man's arm would be
numbed for a moment right up to the shoulder.

Lampreys

The lamprey, which is found plentifully in many northern
rivers, is very much like an eel in appearance. But it has no
side fins, and instead of possessing jaws, it has a round mouth
used for sucking, and resembling that of a leech; and on either
side of its neck it has a row of seven round holes, through which
water passes to the breathing-organs.

Lampreys seem to spend the greater part of their lives in the
sea, but always come up the rivers to spawn. They lay their
eggs in a hollow in the bed of the stream, which they make by
dragging away stone after stone till the hole is sufficiently deep.

336 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Very often a large number of lampreys combine for this purpose,
and make quite a big hole, in which they all lay their eggs to-
gether.

The length of the lamprey is generally from fifteen to eighteen

inches, and its color is olive brown.

CHAPTER XXXI
SALT-WATER FISHES

WE now come to the fishes of the sea; and at the head of
these we may place the sharks.

These savage and voracious creatures are found in all oceans,
the larger ones wandering very widely, while the smaller ones
are restricted to limited parts of the sea. Among the latter are
the various small sharks called dogfish, from eighteen inches to
six feet long, found on both sides of the North Atlantic. Though
small, and harmless to man, the dogfish really is a shark, and for
its size is very formidable, being able easily to fight and kill fishes
quite as large as itself.

It is called the dogfish because it follows shoals of fish in the
water, just as a wild dog will follow the animals on which it preys
upon dry land.

When you are staying at the seaside you may sometimes find
the dead body of a dogfish lying on the beach, where it has been
flung by a very high wave. And you will notice how coarse and
rough its skin is. This skin is often used for covering the handles
of swords, as it gives such an excellent grip; and also for
putting on the sides of match-boxes instead of sandpaper.

But even if you do not find the dogfish itself lying on the
beach, you may often find its eggs, which are very curious little
objects. They are something like oblong horny purses, of a
yellowish-brown color, with a long twisted appendage at each
corner, very much like the tendrils of a vine. By means of these
the egg is anchored down to the weeds at the bottom of the sea,
and they hold so firmly that they are hardly ever torn away, ex-
cept during a violent storm.

At each end of this singular egg is a narrow slit, through which
water can pass to the gills of the little fish which is lying inside it.
And one end of the egg is made in such a manner that when the
fish is ready to hatch it can easily push its way out.

337

338 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Blue Shark

A much larger and more dangerous fish, which often visits
northern seas, is the blue shark, which sometimes grows to a
length of fifteen or sixteen feet. It does not often attack human
beings, however, but is very destructive in our fisheries, snatch-
ing away fishes which have been hooked, and even swimming
along the outside of the nets as they are being drawn in, and
biting great holes through them, in order to get at the pilchards
or herrings within. So the fishermen always kill a blue shark if
they have the chance of doing so, and sometimes destroy eight
or ten in a single day.

But it is not very easily caught, for if it is hooked it will often
bite the line asunder, and if it cannot do this will roll round and
round in the water coiling the line round its body, when it will
snap with a sudden jerk. Even when it is caught, the blue shark
is not killed without much difficulty, for it thrashes its great pow-
erful tail about in such a manner that it cannot be approached
without danger. So the first thing that the fishermen always
try to do when it is captured is to chop off its tail with an ax.

The color of this shark is slaty blue above and white beneath.

The White Shark

Even larger and more dangerous still, the great white shark, or
Rondeleti's shark, is one of the most formidable creatures that
roam the seas. It often grows to a length of thirty-five or even
forty feet, and weighs ten or twelve tons, while one snap of its
huge jaws will shear off a man's legs or cut his body in two.

This enormous fish is found in all the warmer parts of the sea;
and in general sharks, and especially the large ones, belong to the
tropical rather than to the colder seas.

The Hammerhead

A huge and much-to-be-dreaded creature, of curious appear-
ance, this fish has its head formed just like that of a hammer, the

SALT-WATER FISHES 339

eyes being placed at each end of the projecting lobes. It grows
to a length of fifteen or sixteen feet, and is very fierce and savage,
attacking human beings without the least hesitation. It is nearly
always found in the tropical seas, but has been several times
captured off the coasts of New England.

The Thresher

Growing to a length of ten or twelve feet, the thresher is a
remarkable shark. It is common in the Mediterranean Sea and
the Atlantic Ocean. It feeds chiefly upon herrings, darting into
the midst of a shoal and snapping them up in hundreds.

What it is specially famous for, however, is its habit of attack-
ing whales. For this purpose several threshers will unite
together, leap up into the air, and strike tremendous blows with
their long tails upon the whale's body as they fall back into the
sea. This naturally terrifies the whale, and he dives under water
in order to escape from his tormentors. Knowing that he must
very soon rise again, however, they wait for his reappearance, and
then attack him again in the same way. This happens again
and again, until he is quite worn out by his exertions, and by
the impossibility of remaining long enough at the surface to
breathe properly. Then if any swordfishes happen to be in the
neighborhood, they come and attack him too, driving their long
swords deep into his body. Before long the whale is dead, and
both threshers and swordfishes are tearing great strips of flesh
from the carcass and greedily devouring them.

Saw-fishes

Next to the sharks come the saw-fishes, which have the upper
jaw drawn out into the form of a long, narrow beak, set on either
side with a row of large, pointed teeth. So it really looks very
much indeed like a saw. The fish uses this curious weapon by
dashing into the midst of a shoal of smaller fishes and striking
them right and left with its saw. In this way it is sure to disable
a good many, which it then swallows leisurely one after the
other.

340 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Saw-fishes are found in all the warmer seas, and sometimes
grow to a length of fifteen or twenty feet.

Rays

The rays have broad flattened bodies, and very long and
slender tails. In consequence of this structure they cannot
swim by means of their tails, as nearly all other fishes do, but
travel slowly through the water by waving their side fins, after
the manner of soles and flounders.

One of the best known of these fishes is the skate, which when
fully grown sometimes measures as much as six feet in length
from the snout to the tip of the tail, and five feet in width of
body. As it cannot swim fast enough to overtake other fishes,
it preys chiefly upon crabs, lobsters, and shell-bearing mollusks,
which it finds on the bottom and is able easily to crunch up,
shells and all.

The eggs of this fish may be found in great numbers on the
sea-shore. They are very much like those of the dogfish, but
are nearly black in color, and instead of a long twisted tendril
at each corner, they only have a blunt projection about an inch
long. They remind one, in fact, of a hand-barrow, and con-
sequently the fishermen often call them "skate-barrows."

In color, the skate is grayish brown above and grayish white
beneath.

i\.nother very curious ray is the torpedo, which is an electric
fish, having a kind of electric battery inside its body, from which
a very powerful shock can be discharged at will. This battery,
in appearance, is something like a honeycomb, consisting of a
number of six-sided columns, which run from the skin of the
back to that of the lower surface of the body. Each of these
columns is divided into a number of cells, or chambers, by thin
walls of membrane; and each cell contains a liquid which seems
to consist chiefly of salt and water.

The electricity produced and stored up in these organs seems
to be discharged along four great nerves, which run from the
battery up to the brain. The shock is sufficiently strong to kill
a duck; and not only has an electric bell been rung by it, but an

SALT-WATER FISHES 341

electric spark has been actually obtained. And when five
persons held one another's hands, and the person at each end
laid his finger upon the torpedo, every one of the five persons
felt the shock.

Even more formidable, though in quite a different way, is
the sting-ray. At the base of its long whip-like tail this fish
has a bony spine set with sharp teeth, like a saw; and its favorite
mode of attack is to coil this tail round the body of its victim
and then to drive the spine into his flesh, working it backward
and forward in such a manner as to cause a very serious wound
always followed by severe inflammation.

Some of the rays in the warmer seas grow to a very great size;
indeed, a ray measuring over eighteen feet in length has more
than once been captured. They are dangerous creatures to
meddle with, for a fish of this size is quite strong enough to
overturn a boat, while if a man were once seized by one of them,
he would have very little chance of escape.

These huge creatures are generally known as devil-fish.

The Sturgeon

This fish belongs to quite a different group, which may be
distinguished by two points. In the first place, its skeleton is
made not of bone, but of gristle; and in the second place, five
rows of shield-like bony plates run along the back and sides
of the body, forming a kind of natural armor.

The sturgeon is often eight or nine feet long, and weighs
three or four hundred pounds. It spends most of its life in
the sea, but ascends the rivers in order to spawn, like the salmon.
It is not so common as formerly in American waters, although
sturgeon are taken in nearly all our larger rivers from time
to time; but in some parts of Europe, and especially in Russia,
it is very plentiful.

Caviare is made from the sturgeon's roe. The membranes
which separate the eggs' from one another are all removed,
and the eggs are then salted and pressed into small barrels,
being afterward eaten as a kind of preserve.

The best isinglass is made from the sturgeon's swimming-

342 THE ANIMAL WORLD

bladder, which has so much gelatine in it that, if a small quantity
is dissolved in a hundred times as much boiling water, it will
form a stiff jelly when it is cold.

The sturgeon's flesh is very good to eat, for it is not only
well-flavored, but is so firm and solid that it is almost like beef.

In England the sturgeon is known as a "royal" fish, because,
in days of old, when one of these fish was caught in an English
river, it was always kept for the table of the king; and even now,
if a sturgeon is captured in that part of the Thames which is
under the control of the Lord Mayor of London, it belongs by
right to the Crown.

The Beaked Ch/etodon

A great many fishes are very odd to look at, and this is one
of the oddest. Imagine a fish with an almost circular flattened
body, with five brown bands edged with white running round it,
huge round eyes, enormous triangular fins both above and
below the body, a broad tail, which looks as if it were tied in
by a piece of ribbon at the base, and a mouth drawn out into a
long slender beak! And this fish has a habit which is even
odder still, for when it sees an insect sitting on a leaf which
overhangs the margin of the sea, it takes careful aim, squirts
a drop of water at it from out of its long beak, and nearly al-
ways succeeds in knocking it into the water below!

This fish lives in the Indian and Polynesian seas, and is
sometimes kept as a pet by the Japanese, who amuse them-
selves by fastening a fly to the end of a piece of stick and hold-
ing it over the bowl in which the fish is living, in order to see
it knocked off its perch by a pellet of water.

The Cod

Throughout the northern seas the cod is found, and in some
parts it is taken in immense numbers. The largest and finest
of all, which sometimes weigh more than one hundred pounds,
come from the banks, or shallows in the sea, off the shores of
Newfoundland, but very fine ones have been taken elsewhere;

SALT-WATER FISHES 343

and extensive cod-j5sheries are maintained in the North Pacific,
near Alaska.

Cod are mostly captured by means of long lines, each about
forty fathoms in length, to which a number of smaller lines are
fastened at intervals. The hooks are placed on the side lines,
and are generally baited with whelks, and then the long lines,
or trawls, as the fishermen call them, are anchored in shallow
parts of the sea where codfishes, halibut, and the like abound.
Each boat carries about eight miles of these lines, with nearly
five thousand hooks, so that the work of baiting, lowering, and
raising them is very hea\7 indeed. The fishing takes place in
the winter, and the boats are generally out in all weathers for
several months at a time.

One would think that with so many boats engaged in cod-
fishing, each with so many miles of line, nearly all the cod in
the sea would soon be caught. But to offset this, a single cod
in a single year will often lay eight or nine million eggs, so
that notwithstanding the immense number of these fishes which
are taken, they still seem as plentiful as ever.

Flatfish

The so-called flatfishes, such as the sole, the plaice, the
flounder, and the dab, form an interesting group. Although
we call them "flat," we ought really to call them "thin," be-
cause what we always consider as the back of a sole is really
one of its sides, and what seems to be the lower surface is the
other side.

The explanation is this: when these fishes are quite small,
they swim upright in the water, just as other fishes do, and drive
themselves along by means of their tails. But when they are
about a month old a strong desire comes over them to go and
lie down on the mud at the bottom of the sea, and then three
remarkable things happen.

First their color changes. Up till now, both sides of their
bodies have been nearly white. But if a white fish were to lie
down on dark-brown mud, of course it would very easily be seen,
and most likely would very soon be devoured by one of its many

VOL. v. — 23

344 THE ANIMAL WORLD

enemies. So as soon as the little fish lies down at the bottom
of the water its upper surface begins to grow darker, and before
very long it exactly resembles the hue of the surrounding mud.
Or if the fish should lie upon sand, as the plaice does, then its
upper surface becomes colored like the sand. So as long as
it keeps still its enemies may pass quite close to it without
noticing it.

The next thing that happens is that the little fish changes
its way of swimming. Hitherto it has driven itself through the
water by means of its tail; now it uses what were formerly its
upper and lower fins, but have now been turned into side fins.
And by a very graceful waving movement of these fins it winds
its way, as it were, through the water.

But the third change is the strangest of the three. One
of the eyes would now seem to be useless, since it is on the lower
surface of the head as the fish lies on the sea-bottom, and
would be completely buried in the mud. But as soon as the
fish goes and lies down at the bottom of the sea, this eye actually
begins to travel along the lower surface of the head, till at last
it works its way round and settles down by the side of the other!

If you look at the flounders the next time you pass by a
fish-market, you will observe that both eyes are placed quite
close together above the same corner of the mouth. That is
because the lower eye traveled round the head till it found a
resting-place by the side of the other.

In habits, all these fishes are very much alike. They are
found in almost all seas, except those of the polar regions, and
in most parts of the world are exceedingly plentiful, and every-
where form a cheap and excellent food.

The Swordfish

A very odd-looking creature is this. It abounds in the
Atlantic and also in the Mediterranean. Its chase affords one of
the finest summer sports to be enjoyed along the south coast of
New England, where it is taken by spearing from swift sailboats.

In this fish the upper jaw, which has hardly any teeth in it, is
drawn out into a long, slender, pointed beak. With this "sword"

SALT-WATER FISHES 345

the fish impales its victims, which are often of considerable size;
but how it gets them off its beak again in order to eat them no-
body seems to know.

This fish sometimes drives its way through the water with
such tremendous force that it has been known to pierce the
planking of a boat with its sword, which it had to snap short
off in order to release itself.

In the Natural History Museum at South Kensington, Lon-
don, there is part of a beam taken from the hull of a ship, into
which one of these fishes had driven its sword to a depth of
twenty-two inches.

Mackerel

One of the best known of all the salt-water fishes is the
mackerel. This fish lives in enormous shoals, which are
always traveling from place to place, and visit the same parts of
our coasts at about the same season in every year. Sometimes
they are caught in most extraordinary numbers, so that they
can be purchased at very small prices. In some cases, indeed,
the catch has been so heavy that it has been found quite impos-
sible to draw in the nets, which had to be allowed to sink to the
bottom with the fishes still in them.

These nets are generally made with rather large meshes, not
quite wide enough to allow the fishes to swim through. When
the mackerel are caught they try to force their way through the
meshes, but find that they cannot do so. They then attempt to
back out. In doing this, however, the thin twine of which the
net is made is almost sure to become entangled with their gill-
covers, so that they are held prisoners until the net is lifted from
the water.

When fully grown the mackerel is about sixteen inches long,
and weighs perhaps two pounds.

SUCKING-FISHES

Of the sucking-fishes, or remoras, there are about a dozen
different kinds, distinguished by the odd sucker-like disk on the

346 THE ANIMAL WORLD

upper part of the head, by means of which they can attach them-
selves firmly to any object to which they wish to cling. They
often fasten themselves in this manner to the hulls of ships, and
also to the bodies of sharks and the shells of turtles, and so are
carried for long distances without any exertion of their own.

So firmly do these odd little fishes cling, that it is most difficult
to remove them without injuring them, and the sharks and
turtles have no means of forcing them to loose their hold.

It is a very odd fact that the coloring of the sucking-fishes is
just the opposite of that which we find in almost all other fishes.
Instead of the upper surface being dark it is light, and instead
of the lower surface being light it is dark. But when one of
these fishes is clinging to a shark it is the lower surface which is
seen, not the upper one; for that is pressed against the body of
the shark; and in order to prevent its enemies from seeing and
eating it, the lower parts of its body are colored just like the skin
of the shark.

Weevers

Strange little fishes are the weevers, two kinds of which are
found on the coast of Europe.

Both are highly poisonous, a prick from the spines of the upper
fin or the gill-cover being almost as serious as the sting of a
scorpion. The poison lies in a deep double groove on each spine,
and as the fishes have a habit of burying themselves in the sand
at the bottom of shallow water, with only just the sharp spines
projecting, they are rather apt to be trodden upon by bathers.

Accordingly, v/hen a fisherman catches a weever-fish he always
cuts off its back fin and the spines of its gill-covers at once; while
in France and Spain he is compelled to do so by law.

The Angler

The angler, or all-mouth, is the name of a hideous creature —
about five feet long when fully grown — with a huge mouth, a
great broad body shaped very much like that of a seal, two big
round eyes which look almost straight up into the water above,

SALT-WATER FISHES 347

and a row of long, slender spines on the back instead of the usual
fins. The first of these spines has a broad, tufted, glittering tip,
used for a most singular purpose.

It is a creature of prey, feeding entirely upon other fishes; and
it has a most enormous appetite, which is hardly ever satisfied.
But, at the same time, it is so slow in its movements that if it
were to try to chase its victims it would never get anything to eat.
It seems to know perfectly well, however, that fishes are very
inquisitive creatures, and that they are always greatly attracted
by any object that glitters. So when it feels hungry it lies down
at the bottom of the sea, stirs the mud gently up with its side
fins, so as to conceal itself from view, and dangles the glittering
spine up and down in front of its open mouth. Before very long
some passing fish is sure to come swimming up to see what this
strange object can possibly be; and then the angler just gives
one snap with its great jaws, and that fish is seen no more.

Just to show you how successful it is in its fishing, we may tell
you that from the body of a single angler no less than seventy-
five herrings have been taken, while another had swallowed
twenty-five flounders and a John-dory!

There is another kind of angler which lives down at the bottom
of the deep sea, where it is always perfectly dark. There, of
course, a glittering spine would be useless, for the other fishes
would not be able to see it. So this angler has a spine which
shines at the tip like a firefly, so that it can be seen from a con-
siderable distance as the fish dangles it up and down!

Gurnards

These, too, are remarkable fishes, having square heads, which
look ever so much too big for their bodies, and the first three
rays of their pectoral or breast fins made like fingers. These
breast-fins are used like fingers, too, for they serve as organs of
touch, while the fish also walks with them along the sand at the
bottom of the sea.

At least forty different kinds of gurnards have been discovered,
but nearly all dwell along foreign coasts. The handsomest of
these, perhaps, is the red gurnard, which grows to a length of

348 THE ANIMAL WORLD

twelve or fourteen inches, and is bright red above and silvery
white below.

Flying Fishes

Though objects of never-ending interest to every one who
journeys through the warmer seas, flying fishes do not really fly.
They merely skim for long distances through the air, just as the
flying squirrel and the flying dragon do; but instead of having a
broad parachute-like membrane to buoy them up, they are sup-
ported in the air by the pectoral or breast fins, which are very
large. These fins do not beat the air, like the wings of a bird.
They merely support the body. And the power of the so-called
flight is due to a stroke of the tail just as the fish leaves the water.

The reason why these fishes take their long leaps through the
air appears to be that they are much persecuted by other fishes,
bigger and stronger than themselves, and that they know quite
well that they will be overtaken if they remain in the water.
They do not usually rise to a height of more than a few feet
above the surface, and the greatest distance to which they can
travel without falling back into the water seems to be about two
hundred yards. Whether they can alter the direction of their
course while they are in the air is uncertain. Some observers
say that they can, while others declare that they cannot. But it
is possible that they may sometimes do so by just touching the
crest of a wave with their tails.

Flying fishes are found in all the warmer parts of the sea,
and are very common in the Mediterranean and the West
Indies.

The Herring

Like the mackerel, the herring is one of those fishes which
live in vast shoals and are of great value as a cheap and nutri-
tious food. These shoals consist of millions upon millions of
fishes, and when they are swimming near the surface of the sea
their presence can generally be detected by the numbers of
sea-birds which follow them and devour them in countless

SALT-WATER FISHES 349

thousands. Whales, too, often follow the shoal for days to-
gether, and sharks and many other big fishes do the same.
Yet nothing seems to lessen their numbers.

These shoals generally appear in the same parts of the sea,
year after year, at the same season. But sometimes the herring
will desert their favorite haunts without any apparent cause.
During spring and early summer they remain in deep water;
but in June and July they come in nearer the coast in order
to spawn.

Gobies

There are still several very curious and interesting fishes
about which we should like to tell you; and among these are the
gobies. Many different kinds of these odd little creatures
are found in different parts of the world other than North Ameri-
ca; but perhaps the best known of all is the black goby, which
is very common off British coasts. You can often catch it
by fishing with a small net in the pools which are left among
the rocks as the tide goes out. And if you look into these pools
from above, you may often see it clinging to the rocks round
the margin. It does this by means of the fins on the lower
part of its body, which are made in such a manner that when
they are placed side by side together they form a kind of sucker.
And if you keep the fish in an aquarium, it has an odd way of
suddenly darting at the side of the tank, clinging to it with its
fins, and staring at you through the glass.

Some of the gobies make nests in which to bring up their
httle ones, just as the sticklebacks do. One of them, the
spotted goby, which is found rather commonly in the lower
reaches of the Thames, nearly always takes one of the shells
of a cockle for this purpose. First it turns the shell upside down;
then it scoops out the sand from beneath it, and smears the
surface of the hollow with slime from its own body; and then it
piles loose sand over the shell, so as to keep it in position.
Lastly, it makes a little tunnel by which to enter the nest from
outside. This work is always performed by the male. When
the nest is quite finished the female comes and lays her eggs in

350 THE ANIMAL WORLD

it, after which the male keeps guard over them until they hatch,
about eight or nine days later.

Mud-Skippers

More curious still are these fishes, which are found on the
coasts of the tropical seas, and often make their way for some
little distance up the estuaries of rivers. They have singular
eyes, which are set on the upper surface of the head, and can
be poked out to some little distance and drawn back again
in the oddest way. And besides that, these eyes have eyelids.
Then the lower fins are made just like those of the gobies, but
with an even greater power of clinging, so that the fish can climb
by means of them. Often these queer little creatures leave the
sea altogether and skip about on the muddy shore, or even
climb up the trunks of the trees which overhang the water.
Sometimes they will rest for quite a long time on the spreading
roots, snapping at the flies and other small insects which come
within reach. They do not look like fishes at all as they do so.
They look much more like rather big tadpoles. And if they
are suddenly startled they go hopping and skipping back into
the water, not diving at once, but leaping along over the surface,
very much as a fiat stone does when thrown sideways from the
hand.

Some of these fishes were kept for some time at the London
Zoo, and when they were out of the water they had an odd way
of lying at full length and raising their heads and the front part
of their bodies by means of their lower fins, so that they reminded
one very much of a man with his elbows resting upon the table.

PiPE-FlSHES

The pipe-fish has its mouth drawn out into a very long snout,
so that it forms a kind of tube; the body is sixteen or eighteen
inches long, yet scarcely stouter than an ordinary drawing-
pencil; and the only fin, besides a small one on the back, is a
tiny one at the very tip of the tail. Besides this, the whole
head and body are covered with bony plates, which form a

SALT-WATER FISHES 351

kind of coat of mail. And the fish is even odder in habits than
in appearance, for when the eggs are laid they are put into a
pouch in the lower part of the body of the male, and are kept
there until they hatch! It is even said that after the httle ones
are hatched and are able to swim about in the water, they will
return into the pouch of the parent in moments of danger,
just as young kangaroos will into that of their mother. But
this does not seem to have been proved.

Pipe-fishes are not uncommon on our coasts, and you may
often find them in the pools among the rocks when the tide is
out. They swim half erect in the water, and if you watch
them carefully you may see them poking their long snout-like
mouths in among the seaweeds in search of food, standing on
their heads among the eel-grass, in which position they are hard
to see, or blowing furrows in the sand at the bottom of the pool
in order to turn out any small creatures which may be lying
hidden in it.

The Sea-Horse

Closely related to the pipe-fish is the sea-horse, which reminds
one of the knight in a set of chessmen. It has a long and
slender tail, which is prehensile, like that of a spider-monkey;
and by means of this organ the fish anchors itself firmly down
to the stems of seaweeds, or to any small object which may be
floating on the surface of the water.

The eyes of this fish can be moved independently of each
other, like those of a chameleon; and if you keep one of these
creatures in a bowl of sea-water and watch it for a few minutes,
you will find it hard to believe that it is not purposely " making
faces" at you!

The male sea-horse, like the male pipe-fish, has a pouch
underneath his body, in which the eggs are placed as soon as
they are laid, and are kept until they hatch.

The sea-horse swims by means of a single fin on its back,
which acts on the water very much like the screw of a steam-
boat. Just at the back of its head are two more fins, and when
these are thrown forward they look like the ears of a horse.

352 THE ANIMAL WORLD

increasing the queer resemblance of its long head to that of a
pony.

Sea-horses are found in most of the warmer seas, and in
summer float north with the Gulf Stream, so that they are
frequently seen near New England.

Congers

Just as there are eels which live in the fresh water, so there
are eels which live in the sea. These are known as congers,
and very often they grow to a great size. A conger eight
feet long is by no means uncommon; and a fish of this length
will weigh at least one hundred pounds.

Congers generally live in rather shallow water off a rocky
coast, where there are plenty of nooks and crevices in which
they can hide during the daytime. It is rather curious to find
that those which live in muddy places are nearly always dark
brown or black in color, while those which lie upon sand are
light-colored, and sometimes almost white.

These eels are generally caught by means of long lines,
which are set at intervals with short "snoods" just like those
which are used in catching cod. The hooks are generally
baited with pilchards, or else with pieces of the long arms of
cuttles. When the congers are lifted on board the scene is
usually an exciting one, for they are very powerful and active,
and go twisting and writhing about in the most extraordinary
manner, slapping vigorously on all sides with their long tails.
These tails, too, to some extent, are prehensile, and sometimes
the fishes will seize the gunwale of the boat, and then, with
a sudden effort, pull themselves over the side and drop back
into the water. As soon as they are lifted on board, the fisher-
men always try to stun them by a heavy blow on the lower side
of the body, after which, of course, they can be easily killed.

Congers feed, as a rule, upon mollusks, which we wrongly call
shell-fish, devouring them shells and all. They will also eat
small fishes, however, and sometimes they are cannibals; for
inside the body of one of these fishes a young conger was found
that was three feet in length!

SALT-WATER FISHES 353

Amphioxus, or Lancelet

In this we see a creature so curiously formed that a good many
naturalists have doubted whether it ought to be ranked among
the fishes at all. For in appearance it is much more like a
slug; and it has no skull, and no brain, and no bones, and no
eyes, and no gills, and no heart! It has a fin running along its
back, however, and although it has no spine, it possesses a
spinal cord. So it is considered as the very lowest of all the
fishes, and as a kind of link between the animals with bones
and those without them.

This strange little creature is about two inches and a half
long when fully grown, and is so transparent that one can almost
see through its body. It is very active, and can wriggle and
twist about in the water, or on the mud, with considerable speed.
It spends most of its life concealed under large stones, or lying
almost buried in the muddy sand at the bottom of the sea.
And it seems to feed upon those minute atoms of decaying
animal and vegetable matter which are always floating about
in countless millions in the waters of the sea.

INVERTEBRATES

CHAPTER XXXII
INSECTS

WE now come to the second of the two great divisions of the
animal kingdom, namely, the invertebrates, which in-
cludes all those creatures which have no bones. This di-
vision in its turn consists of a good many classes, just as that
of the vertebrates does; and among these is that of the insects,
the peculiarity of which is that they must pass through three
stages of development before they reach their perfect form,
namely: first the egg; then the grub, or caterpillar; and then
the chrysalis, or pupa.

You can easily tell an insect when you see it by remembering
one or two simple rules.

In the first place, its body is always divided into three princi-
pal parts, which are known as the head; the thorax, or chest;
and the hind body.

In the second place, it always has six legs. Spiders have eight
legs. Centipedes and millepedes have many legs. But an
insect never has more nor less than six. And each of these limbs
is made up of a thigh, a lower leg, and a foot; while the foot it-
self has from two to five little joints, the last of which usually
has a pair of tiny claws at the tip.

Besides these, there are several other ways in which insects
differ from the rest of the vertebrates. We need only tell you
about one of them, however, and that is that in some form or
other they always have four wings. Sometimes, it is true, you
cannot see these wings. That is because they are not developed
and cannot be used for flying. But still they are there, and by
means of the microscope it is almost always easy to detect them.

354

INSECTS 355

These wings, however, take all sorts of forms. The wings of
a butterfly, for example, are very different from those of a beetle
or a bee; and because of these differences in the wings, insects
are divisible into several smaller groups, which we call
orders.

Beetles

First comes the order of the beetles. These are called Coleop-
tera, or sheath-winged insects, because their front wings, instead
of being formed for flight, are turned into horny or leathery
sheaths, or elytra, which cover up and protect the lower pair
while not in use.

At least 150,000 different kinds of beetles have already been
discovered in various parts of the world, of which America
possesses tens of thousands; and probably quite as many more
remain to be distinguished. Of these we can only mention a
few of the most interesting.

The tiger-beetles are so called because they are such fierce and
voracious insects, spending most of their time in chasing and
devouring other insects. The commonest of them is about half
an inch long, and is bright green above and coppery below.
You may often see it darting about in the hot sunshine, and if
you try to catch it you will generally find that it flies away as
quickly as a bluebottle.

Ground-beetles are common in gardens. One often seen is
about an inch long, and is deep black in color, with a narrow
band of violet running round the outer edge of its wing-cases.
This, too, is a creature of prey. It cannot hurt you; but if you
pick it up it will make your fingers smell very nasty. For it can
pour out from its mouth a drop or two of a dark-brown liquid
which has a horrible odor.

Then there are a good many beetles which live in streams and
ponds, and are called water-beetles in consequence. They can
swim and dive very well, and are also able to fly. Almost every
night they go for long journeys through the air. And when they
want to go back into the pond they hover above it for a moment,
fold their wings, and drop into the water with a splash. Only

356 THE ANIMAL WORLD

sometimes they fly over the roof of a greenhouse, and mistake
that for a pond; and then you can imagine the result!

The cocktails are beetles with short wing-cases and very long,
slender bodies, which they carry turned up at the rear end.
Some of them are quite large, like the ugly black "coach-horse, "
but many are very small. Indeed, most of the "flies" which
get into one's eyes on warm sunny days irv England are really
tiny cocktail beetles, and the reason why they make one's eyes
smart so dreadfully is that they pour out a little drop of an evil-
smelling liquid from their mouths, just like the purple ground-
beetle.

Scavengers

The burying-beetles are so called because they bury dead
animals. Have you ever wondered why we so seldom find a
dead mouse or a dead bird, although these creatures must die in
thousands every day ? One reason is that as soon as they are dead
a couple of " scavengers " are almost sure to come and bury them.
They are big black beetles, sometimes with two broad yellow stripes
across their wing-cases, and they dig by means of their heads,
scooping out the earth from under the carcass till it has sunk
well below the surface of the ground. Then they lay their eggs
in it, come up to the surface, shovel back the earth till the dead
body is quite covered over, and then fly away. And when the
eggs hatch, the little grubs which come out from them feed upon
the carcass.

Among the largest beetles are those called stag-beetles be-
cause the jaws of the male look very much like the horns of a
stag. Those of the female are much smaller, but are so sharp
and strong that they can really give a rather severe bite. These
occur in various parts of the world, and are fond of flying slowly
about on a warm summer evening, generally about twenty or
thirty feet from the ground.

The cockchafer is common everywhere in spring, and if you
shake a young birch-tree, or a hazel-bush, three or four of the
great clumsy insects will very likely come tumbling down. They
are rather more than an inch long, very stoutly and heavily

INSECTS 357

built, and are chestnut brown in color, while their bodies are
drawn out into a kind of point behind. The grubs of these
beetles live underground, and do a great deal of mischief in
fields and gardens, for they feed upon the roots of the plants, and
very soon kill them.

Dor-beetles, too, are very common everywhere. You may
often see them flying round and round in great circles on warm
summer evenings, making a loud humming noise as they do so.
They often blunder in at open windows, attracted by the lamp-
light, and children are afraid of them, but they can do no harm.
If you catch one you will find that it is nearly black. You will
also see that its front legs are broad and strong, and that they are
set with a row of stout horny teeth. With these legs the beetle
digs, using them with such address that in the course of an hour
or two it will sink a hole in the ground ten or twelve inches deep,
in order to lay its eggs at the bottom.

The famous Scarabasus of Egypt, which in days of old some
of the people of that country used to revere, because they
thought it a symbol of immortality, is really a kind of dor-
beetle.

Skipjacks and Glowworms

Skipjacks, too, are beedes. You may know them by their
long, narrow, glossy bodies, and by the fact that the head is
hidden under the thorax, so that you can hardly see it from above.
One very odd thing about them is that they are constantly losing
their footing and rolling over on their backs; and their bodies
are so shiny, and their legs are so short, that when they do so
they cannot get up again in the ordinary manner. But after
lying still for a moment they arch themselves into the form of a
bow, resting only upon their heads and the very tips of their
tails, and suddenly spring into the air, making an odd clicking
noise as they do so. And as they fall they turn half round, and
so alight upon their feet. For this reason they are often known
as click-beetles.

These insects are the parents of the well-known wireworms,
which often do such mischief in our fields and gardens, living

358 THE ANIMAL WORLD

underground for three or even four years, and feeding upon the
roots of the crops, and of such bushes as the currant.

Then the glowworm is a beetle. Perhaps you may have seen
its little pale green lamp shining in the grass on a summer even-
ing. The light comes from a liquid inside the hind part of the
body, the skin of which is transparent, and forms a kind of
window, so that it can shine through; and the insect has the
power of turning on its light and shutting it off at will. The
lamp of the female beetle is very much brighter than that of the
male, and while the male has both wing-cases and wings, and
can fly very well indeed, those of the female are so small that one
can hardly see them. Indeed, she looks much more like a grub
than a beetle.

Deathwatches and Oil-Beetles

Deathwatches are small brown beetles which burrow into
dead wood and call to one another by tapping with their horny
heads. You may often hear them if you happen to be lying
awake at night in a room in which there is old woodwork; and
in former days people were silly enough to think that when this
sound was heard it was a sign that somebody in the house was
going to die! That is why these beetles are called deathwatches.
They are quite small, and are brown in color, with rather long
feelers and legs.

Crawling on grassy banks in the warm sunshine on bright
spring days, you may often see a number of oil-beetles. These
are large bluish-black insects which have an odd habit, if you
pick them up, of squeezing out little drops of a yellow oily liquid
from the joints of their legs! This oil has a pungent smell, and
no doubt prevents birds, etc., from eating them. You will
notice that the female beetles have enormous hind bodies, which
they can hardly drag along over the ground. This is because
they contain such a very large number of eggs, thirty thousand
often being laid by a single beetle. She places them in batches
in holes in the ground, and very soon afterward they hatch, and
odd-looking little grubs with six long legs come out of them. No
sooner have they left the egg-shells than these tiny creatures

INSECTS 359

hunt about for a flower with sweet juices, which is likely to be
visited by a wild bee. When they find one, they climb up the
stem and hide among the petals. Then, when the bee comes,
they spring upon it and cling to its hairy body, and so are carried
back to its nest, where they feed upon the food which the bee
had stored up for its little ones.

Weevils and Other Beetles

A great many beetles have a long beak in front of the head,
with the jaws at the very tip. These are called weevils, and
many of them are very mischievous. Grain of various kinds,
for example, is destroyed in enormous quantities by the wheat-
weevil and the rice-weevil, while the nut-weevil is the cause of
those "bad" nuts w^hich no doubt most of you know only too
well. The mother beetle bores a hole through the shell of the
nut while it is small, and the little grub which hatches out
from the egg she leaves inside it feeds upon the kernel,
leaving nothing behind but a quantity of evil-tasting black
dust.

One of the handsomest of European insects is the musk-
beetle, which you may often find sunning itself on the trunks and
leaves of willow-trees in England in July. Often you can smell
it long before you find it, for it gives out a strong odor much like
that of musk. This beetle is sometimes nearly an inch and a
half long, with long legs and still longer waving black feelers.
In color it is rich golden green with a tinge of copper. But if
you put one of its wing-cases under the microscope, it looks like
a piece of green velvet studded all over with diamonds, and rubies,
and sapphires, and emeralds, and topazes, which seem to turn
into one another with every change of light.

The grub of this beetle lives inside the trunks of dying willow-
trees, and feeds upon the solid wood.

Then there are the turnip-fleas, little black beetles with a
yellow stripe on each wing-case, which skip about just as fleas do,
by means of their hind legs. They are only too common in
turnip-fields, and often do most serious mischief, nibbling off the
seed-leaves of the young plants as soon as they push their way

VOL. V. — 24

360 THE ANIMAL WORLD

above the surface of the ground, and so destroying the greater
part or even the whole of the crop.

And, lastly, there are the ladybirds, common everywhere.
But perhaps you did not know that they are among the most
useful of insects. The fact is that both as grubs and as perfect
insects they live upon the green blight, or greenfly, an aphis
which is terribly mischievous in fields and gardens, and destroy
it in thousands of thousands. Indeed, if it were not for lady-
birds, and for one or two other insects which help them in their
task, we should find it quite impossible to grow certain crops at
all.

EUPLEXOPTERA

Next after the beetles comes the order of the Euplexoptera,
which means beautifully folded wings. This order contains the
earwigs. We do not know much about these insects in the
United States; but they are so constantly spoken of in books
about England, where they are numerous, that it will be well
to describe them.

Perhaps you did not know that earwigs have wings; and
certainly one does not often see these beetles flying. But
nevertheless they have very large and powerful wings, only,
during the daytime, while they are not being used, these organs
are folded away in the most beautiful manner under the tiny
wing-cases. By night, however, earwigs often fly; and when
they settle, they fold up their wings most cleverly by means
of the horny pincers at the tail-end of their bodies, and then
pull the wing-cases down over them!

That is the real use of the pincers, although the earwig is
able to give quite a smart pinch with them if it is interfered
with.

Another very curious fact about the earwig is that the mother
insect heaps her eggs together into a little pile, and sits over
them until they are hatched. If you turn over large stones
early in the spring you may often find a mother earwig watch-
ing over her eggs in this odd manner, and she will allow herself
to be torn in pieces rather than desert her charge.

INSECTS 361

Orthoptera

Next comes this order, the name of which means straight-
u'inged insects, so-called from the way in which the wings are
folded. This order contains many very well-known insects.

There is the cockroach, for example, which is so common
and so mischievous in our houses. It is often called the black
beetle, although it is not a beetle at all, and is not black, but
dark reddish brown. It is remarkable for several reasons.
One is that while the male has large wing-cases and broad,
powerful wings, those of the female are very small indeed, so
that she cannot possibly fly. And another is that the eggs are
laid in a kind of horny purse, about a quarter of an inch long,
with a sort of clasp on one side. These little purses are hidden
away in all sorts of dark corners, and if you open one you will
find two rows of little eggs inside it, arranged rather like the
peas in a pod.

The crickets, too, belong to this order.

Of course you have often heard the big black cricket chirp-
ing merrily away in the fields; and in Europe they ha\'e a kind
called the house-cricket, which comes into the house, and is
often spoken of as "the cricket on the hearth" in the kitchen.
It is not correct, however, to speak of the "note" or "song"
of this insect, for it is not produced in the throat at all, but is
caused by rubbing one of the wing-cases upon the other. You
will notice, on looking at a cricket, that in each wing-case there
is a kind of stout horny rib, which starts from a thickened spot
in the middle. Now in the right wing-case this rib is notched,
like a file, and when it is rubbed sharply upon the other the
loud chirping noise is produced.

The feelers of the cricket are very long and slender, and at
the end of the body of the male are two long hairy bristles,
which seem almost like a second pair of feelers, warning the
insect of danger approaching from behind. At the end of the
body of the female is a long spear-like organ, with a spoon-
like tip. This is called the ovipositor, and by means of it the
eggs are laid in holes punched in the soil.

362 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Crickets have large wings, and fly rather Hke the wood-
peckers, rising and falling in the air at every stroke.

Another kind of cricket lives in holes in the ground, v/hich
it digs by means of its front legs. These limbs are formed
almost exactly like the fore feet of the mole, and for this reason
the insect is known as the mole-cricket. It is generally found
in sandy fields, and scoops out a chamber almost as big as a
hen's egg at the end of its burrow, in which to lay its eggs and
where it lies, showing only its jaws and great front legs until
some small creature comes near upon which it may pounce
for food.

Grasshoppers

Right here has come a mixing up of names between the
English, as spoken and written in Great Britain, and that
used in the United States. When an Englishman speaks of
a grasshopper he means the related insect which we call a
cicada, or katydid, and this we call a locust; but when he says
"locust" he refers to what we call "grasshopper." We suspect
he is nearer right than we are, who have unfortunately fallen in
with the mistake of some ignorant early settler. At any rate
the locusts of which we read in the Bible, and in books of
travel in desert regions, are all of the same race as our grass-
hoppers. None of the cicada tribe could ever do so much
damage.

Grasshoppers (to stick to our own name) abound in all warm
countries, especially in those which in summer, at least, are hot
and dry, such as Egypt, or Syria, or parts of India. They
feed exclusively on leaves, blades of grass, and the like, and are
strong fliers; and in countries that are favorable to them, where
they are always very plentiful, certain species sometimes be-
come excessively abundant, and then spread over the land,
and swarm away to neighboring countries, in such immense
numbers that they devour every green leaf and every blade of
grass, or spear of grain, until they leave the ground as bare as
if it had been swept by fire.

Nor is this the worst, for wherever they go the females push

INSECTS 363

quantities of eggs down into the ground. The following
summer these eggs hatch, and the devastation of the previous
year is repeated, for where before dense clouds of flying grass-
hoppers descended from the sky, now enormous armies of
grubs march over the ground, climb all the plants and bushes,
and devour all that has newly sprung up.

Millions may be killed by fire or other means, but it has
little effect, and the farmers and grazers of a region so visited
are all but ruined — perhaps wholly so.

When, in the last century, men began to settle on the prairies
of the far West, they met this plague; and between 1870 and
1880 the gardens and farms and young orchards of Kansas,
Nebraska, and other western districts, were ruined again and
again. The government sent out several of the wisest ento-
mologists it could employ to study the insects, and they found
that these destructive red-legged grasshoppers had their home
in the dry foothills of the Rocky Mountains, especially toward
the north. They learned a great deal about the habits of the
insects, and reported that there seemed no remedy just at
hand; but that the more the West was settled and cultivated,
the more grass and other food would be provided for the grass-
hoppers, so that they would not have to make those wide
flights, and the more the plowing of the land and burning of
rubbish would destroy their eggs, so that gradually the pest
would become less and less, until finally it would cease to be
troublesome. This has turned out to be true, and already
the fear of grasshoppers has departed. The same thing is tak-
ing place in Egypt and some other improving countries, which
no longer suffer from the plague of locusts as they used to do.

The wonderful walking-stick and the leaf-insects also belong
to this order. They are so marvelously like the objects after
which they are named that as long as they keep still it is almost
impossible to see them. They seem to know this perfectly
well, and will remain for hours together without moving, wait-
ing for some unwary insect to come within reach, for they are
among the insects of prey. They are found in all the warmer
parts of the world.

Equally curious, too, is the praying-mantis, which also is

364 THE ANIMAL WORLD

very much like a leaf. It has very long front legs, with a row
of sharp teeth running along their inner margin, and when it
is hungry it holds these limbs over its head, in very much the
attitude of prayer. That is why it is called the praying-mantis.
Then when an insect comes within reach it strikes at it, and
seizes it between the upper and lower parts of these limbs, so
that the long spike-like teeth enter its body and hold it in a grip
from which there is no escape. These occur in various parts
of the world, including the warmer parts of America.

Dragon-flies and May-flies

The dragon-flies belong to another division of the Orthoptera.
You must know these insects very well by sight, with their
long slender bodies and their broad gauzy wings ; for they are com-
mon in almost all parts of the country, and you can hardly go for a
ramble on a sunny day in summer or autumn without seeing
them in numbers. There are a good many different kinds.
Some have yellow bodies, some blue ones, and some red ones,
and the loveliest of all perhaps are the graceful demoiselles,
whose wings are rich metallic purple. You may sometimes
see these beautiful insects flitting to and fro over streams and
ditches.

All the dragon-flies spend the earlier part of their lives in
the water. The grubs are very curious creatures and catch
their prey in a curious way. Underneath the head is an organ
called the mask. This consists of two horny joints, which
fold upon one another while not in use. At the end of the second
joint is a pair of great sickle-shaped jaws, and when the grub
sees a victim it swims quietly underneath it, unfolds the mask,
reaches up, and seizes it with the jaws. Then it folds the
mask again, and by so doing drags the prisoner down against
the true jaws, by means of which it is leisurely devoured.

This grub swims, too, in a singular manner. At the end
of its body you will notice a short sharp spike. Now this spike
really consists of five points, which can be opened out into the
form of a star; and in the center of this star is a small round
hole, which is really the entrance to a tube running right through

INSECTS 365

the middle of the body. And the grub swims by filling this
tube with water, and then squirting it out again with all its
force, so that the escaping jet pushes, as it were, against the
surrounding water, and drives the insect swiftly forward by
the recoil.

Dragon-flies are voracious, and always seem to be hungry.
They feed entirely upon other insects, and spend almost all
their time in chasing and devouring them.

The May-fly, or June-fly, also belongs to this order. One
sometimes sees it in thousands, dancing, as it were, up and down
in the air toward evening on warm spring days, in the neighbor-
hood of water. You can always tell this insect by the three
long thread-like bristles at the end of its body.

, Most people think that this insect only lives for a single day.
This, however, is not strictly true, for in damp weather many
May-flies live for three or four days. Before they become per-
fect flies, however, they have lived for nearly two years in the
muddy banks of rivers and ponds, in the form of long slender-
bodied grubs. These grubs always make their burrows with
two entrances, in the form of the letter U turned sideways,
so that they can easily leave them without having to turn
round.

Termites

The most wonderful of all the insects which belong to this
order, however, are the termites. Often these creatures are
known as white ants, and although they are not really ants, they
are certainly very much like them. In Africa they make mar-
velous nests of clay, which are often twelve or fourteen feet high,
and are so very large that a church, a parsonage, and a school-
room have been built of clay slabs cut from the walls of a single
termites' nest! These nests are made up of a wonderful series
of chambers and galleries, and in the middle is the royal cell, in
which the "king" and "queen" live. For in every termites'
nest there is one perfect male and one perfect female, which are
treated with very great respect, and have a kind of palace, as it
were, all to themselves. And the rest of the insects in the nest

366 THE ANIMAL WORLD

are either imperfect males, which are called soldiers, or imper-
fect females, which are called workers.

The "king" is quite a handsome and graceful insect, with
broad and powerful wings; and the "queen," at first, is very
much like him. But they never take more than one flight in the
air, and as soon as that is over they actually break off their own
wings close to their bodies! Then they burrow into the ground
and begin to form a nest. Before long, the workers build the
palace for the royal couple; and as soon as they have been shut
up inside it the body of the queen swells to a most enormous
size, so that she can no longer walk at all. This is because of the
vast number of eggs, developing within her body, which she at
once begins to lay at the rate of many thousands in a single day.
As fast as she lays them they are carried off by the workers,
which also take care of the little grubs that hatch out from them,
just as bees do.

The duty of the soldiers, as their name implies, is simply to
fight, and if a hole is broken in the side of the nest they hurry to
the spot at once, and begin to snap with their jaws at the foe.
And these jaws are so sharp and so powerful that they can really
give a very smart bite. The workers are a good deal smaller,
and they have to build the nest and keep it in repair, to find food
for the grubs, and take care of them, and w^ash them, and feed
them, and do everything else that is necessary for the welfare of
the colony.

The grubs of these insects are fed upon dead wood, which is
generally obtained from the trunks and branches of trees. But
termites are sometimes very troublesome in houses, for they will
devour the woodwork and the furniture and the books, leaving
nothing but a thin shell of wood or paper behind them.

There are a good many different kinds of these wonderful
insects, and they are found in warm countries in all parts of the
world.

The North American termites do not build great clay hills or
houses above ground, but some species make extensive galleries
beneath the surface, while others hollow out a dead stump, or
the dying branch of a tree, or even an old fence-post or telegraph
pole, until it becomes a mere sponge, with a thin outside shell.

INSECTS 367

Neuroptera

The Neuroptera, or nerve-winged insects, form an order
whose wings are divided up by horny nerves, or nervures, into
such numbers of tiny cells, that they look as if they were made
of the most delicate lace.

The caddis-flies belong to this order — brownish insects with
long thread-like feelers and broad wings, which are folded tent-
wise over the body when they are not being used. They are
very common near ponds and streams, in which they pass the
earlier part of their lives, living down at the bottom in most
curious cases, which cover them entirely up with the exception
of their heads.

These cases are made of all sorts of materials. Some caddis-
grubs merely fasten two dead leaves together, face to face, and
live between them. Others make a kind of tube out of grains of
sand, or tiny stones, or little bits of cut reed, all neatly stuck
together with a kind of glue which resists the action of water.
But the oddest case of all is made of tiny living water-snails, and
you may sometimes see fifteen or twenty little snails all trying
to crawl in different directions, while the grub is unconcernedly
pulling them along in another!

The grubs never leave these cases, but drag them about with
them wherever they go. And when they find that their odd little
homes are becoming too small, they just cut off a little piece at
the end and add a little piece on in front, rather larger in diam-
eter. And so they always manage to keep their homes of exactly
the proper size.

Most likely, too, you have heard of the ant-lion fly, which is a
rather large fly with a slender body and four long narrow wings,
and is found in many parts of the south of Europe, as well as in
America. But the interest lies in the grub, or " ant-lion " proper,
which has a most singular way of catching its insect victims. It
digs a funnel-shaped pit in the sand, about three inches in
diameter and two inches deep, by means of its front legs and its
head. Then it almost buries itself at the bottom, and lies in
wait to snap up any ants or other small insects which' may be

368 THE ANIMAL WORLD

unfortunate enough to fall in. And if by any chance they should
escape its terrible jaws and try to clamber up the sides, it jerks
up a quantity of sand at them, and brings them rolling down
again to the bottom, so that they may be seized a second time.

A relation of the ant-lion is called the lacewing fly, and is a
pretty pale-green insect with most delicate gauzy wings, over
which, if you look at them in a good light, all the colors of the
rainbow seem to be playing; and its eyes glow so brightly with
ruby light that one can scarcely help wondering if a little red
lamp is burning inside its head. You may often see it sitting
on a fence on a warm summer day, or flitting slowly to and fro
in the evening.

This fly lays its eggs in clusters on a twig, or the surface of a
leaf, each egg being fastened to the tip of a slender thread-like
stalk. The result is that they do not look like eggs at all; they
look much more like a little tuft of moss. When they hatch, a
number of queer little grubs come out, which at once begin to
wander about in search of the little greenfly insects upon which
they feed. And when they have sucked their victims dry, they
always fasten the empty skins upon their o\\n backs, till at last
they are covered over so completely that you cannot see them at
all!

CHAPTER XXXIII

INSECTS (Continued)

WE now come to a very large and important order of insects
indeed — that of the Hymenoptera. This name means
membrane-winged, and has been given to them because their
wings are made of a transparent membrane stretched upon a
hght horny framework. It is not a very good name, however,
for many insects which do not belong to this order at all have
their wings made in just the same way. All the Hymenoptera,
however, have the upper and lower wings fastened together
during flight by a row of tiny hooks, which are set on the front
margin of the lower pair, and fit into a fold on the lower margin
of the upper ones.

Bees

The bees belong to this order, and most wonderful insects
they are — so wonderful, indeed, that a big book might easily be
written about them. They are divided into two groups,
namely, social bees and solitary bees.

The social bees are those which live together in nests; and our
first example, of course, must be the hive-bee.

In every beehive there are three kinds of bees. First, there
are the drones, which you can easily tell by their stoutly built
bodies and their very large eyes. They are the idlers of the
hive, doing no work at all, and sleeping for about twenty hours
out of every twenty-four. For six or eight weeks they live only
to enjoy themselves. But at last the other bees become tired of
providing food for them. So they drive them all down to the
bottom of the hive and sting them to death one after another.
And that is the end of the drones.

Next comes the queen, the mistress of the hive. You can easily
recognize her, too, for her body is much longer and more slender

369

370 THE ANIMAL WORLD

than that of the other bees, and her folded wings are always
crossed at the tips. The other bees treat her with the greatest
respect, never, for example, turning their backs toward her.
And wherever she goes a number of them bear her company,
forming a circle round her, in readiness to feed her, or lick her
with their tongues, or do anything else for her that she may
happen to want. Her chief business is to lay eggs; and she
often lays two or three hundred in the course of a single day.

Lastly, there are the workers. There are many thousands of
these, and they have to do all the work of the hive, making wax
and honey, building the combs, and feeding and tending the
young.

The comb is made of six-sided cells, and is double, two sets of
cells being placed back to back. Some of these cells are used
for storing up honey. But a great many of them are nurseries,
so to speak, in which the grubs are brought up. These grubs
are quite helpless, and the nurse-bees have to come and put food
into their mouths several times a day.

Fastened to the outside of the combs, there are always several
cells of quite a different shape. They are almost like pears in
form, with the smaller ends downward. These are the royal
nurseries in which the queen grubs are brought up.

Bees feed their little ones with a curious kind of jelly, made
partly of honey and partly of the pollen of flowers. This is
called bee-bread; and it is rather strange to find that one kind of
bee-bread is given to the grubs of the drones and the workers,
while quite a different kind is given to those of the queens.

You will want, of course, to know something about the sting
of the bee — though perhaps you already know enough of the
pain it can give! This is a soft organ, enclosed in a horny
sheath, with a number of little barbs at the tip. When a bee
stings us, it is often unable to draw the sting out again, because
of these barbs. So it is left behind in the wound, and its loss in-
jures the body of the insect so severely that the bee very soon dies.
The poison is stored up in a little bag at the base of the sting
which is arranged in such a way that when the sting is used a
tiny drop of poison is forced through it, and so enters the wound.

Then, no doubt, you would like to know how bees make honey;

INSECTS 371

but that neither we nor any one can tell you. All we know is,
that the bee sweeps out the sweet juices of flowers with its odd
brush-like tongue and swallows them; that they pass into a little
bag just inside the hind part of its body, which we call the honey-
bag; and that by the time the bee reaches the hive they have been
turned into honey. But how or why the change takes place no
one knows at all.

Bumblebees, or bumblebees, are also social bees; but their
nests are not quite as wonderful as those of the hive-bee, and
their combs are not so cleverly made.

One of these bees is called the carder, and you may sometimes
find its nest in a hollow in a bank. But it is not at all easy to
see, for the bee covers over the hollow with a kind of roof,
which is made of moss and lined with wax. And this looks
so like the surrounding earth that even the sharpest eye may
often pass it by. When this roof is finished, the bee makes a
kind of tunnel, eight or ten inches long and about half an inch
in diameter, to serve as an entrance; and this is built of moss
and lined with wax in just the same way.

On a warm sunny day in spring you may often see one of
these bees flying up and down a grassy bank searching for a
suitable burrow in which to build. Then you may be quite
sure that she is a queen. For among bumblebees the drones
and workers die early in the autumn, and only the queens live
through the winter.

Solitary bees are very common almost everywhere, and you
may find their nests in all sorts of odd places. One kind of
solitary bee, for example, builds in empty snail-shells, and
another in small hollows like keyholes. A third gnaws out a
burrow in the decaying trunk of an old tree, or in the timbers
of a barn or house-porch and makes a number of thimble-shaped
cells out of little semicircular bits of rose-leaf, which it cuts out
with its scissor-like jaws. Haven't you noticed how often
the leaves of rose-bushes are chipped round the edges, quite
large pieces being frequently cut away ? Well, that is the work
of the leaf-cutter bee, as this insect is called, and very often
not a single leaf on a bush is left untouched.

But the commonest of all the solitary bees burrows into

372 THE ANIMAL WORLD

the ground. As you walk along the pathway through a meadow
in spring, you may often see a round hole in the ground, just
about large enough to admit an ordinary drawing-pencil. That is
the entrance to the burrow of a solitary bee; and if you could
follow the tunnel down into the ground you would find that
it was about eight or ten inches deep, and that at the bottom
were four round cells. In each of these cells the bee lays an
egg. Then it fills the cells with flies, or spiders, and cater-
pillars, or beetles, for the little grubs to feed upon when they
hatch out. For solitary bees do not nurse their little ones,
as social bees do, and feed them several times a day. But at
the same time the grubs are quite helpless, and cannot possibly
go to look for food for themselves. So the mother bee has to
store up sufficient to last them until the time comes for them to
spin their cocoons and pass into the chrysalis state These are
only a few examples of a large number of interesting ways in
which the solitary bees in various parts of the world provide
for their young.

Wasps

Wasps make nests which are almost as wonderful as those of
the hive-bee. That of the common yellow- jacket wasp is
generally placed in a hole in the ground, or in a cavity under
a stone, and is made of a substance very much like coarse paper,
which the wasps manufacture by chewing wood into a kind of
pulp. You may often see them sitting on a fence, or on the
trunk of a dead tree, busily engaged in scraping off shreds of
wood for this purpose. When the nest is finished it is often
as big as a football, and of very much the same shape; and in-
side it are several stories, as it were, of cells placed one above
another, and supported by little pillars of the same paper-like
material. These cells are six-sided, like those of the hive-bee,
but they are squared off at the ends, instead of being produced
into pointed caps, and they always have their mouths down-
ward. In a large nest there may be several thousands of these
cells, and very often three generations of grubs are brought up
in them, one after the other.

INSECTS 373

The hornet, which is really a kind of big wasp, makes its
nest in just the same way, but places it on a beam in an out-
house, or in a hole which the sparrows have made in the thatched
roof of a house, or in a hollow tree, or perhaps hangs it in the
open air to the bough of a tree.

Ants

Even more wonderful than bees and wasps are the ants,
which sometimes do such extraordinary things that we are
almost afraid to tell you about them, for fear that you might
not believe us. There are ants, for example, which actually
take other ants prisoners and make them act as slaves, forcing
them to do all the work of the nest, which they are too lazy to
do themselves; and there are ants which keep large armies,
sometimes more than one hundred thousand strong; and there
are many ants which harvest grain and store it away in under-
ground barns! Many ants, too, keep little beetles in their
nests as pets, and fondle and caress them just as one might
pat a dog, or stroke a favorite cat. They even allow them to
ride on their backs; while, if the nest is opened, the first thing
they think of is the safety of their pets which they pick up at
once and hide away in some place of safety, even before they
carry off their own eggs and young. They also pet tiny crickets
and small white wood-lice in just the same way.

Then ants have little "cows" of their own, which they " milk"
regularly every day. These are the greenfly or aphis insects
which do so much harm in our gardens and fields, plunging
their beaks into the tender shoots and fresh green leaves of the
plants, and sucking up their sap unceasingly. And as fast
as they do so they pour the sap out again through two little
tubes in their backs, in the form of a thin, sticky, very sweet
liquid which we call honeydew. Now the ants are very fond
of this liquid, and if you watch the greenfly insects which
are almost always so plentiful on rose-bushes, you may see the
ants come and tap them with their feelers. Then the little
creatures will pour out a small quantity of honeydew from the
tubes on their backs, which the ants will lick up. That is the

374 THE ANIMAL WORLD

way In which ants milk their little cows, and they are so fond
of the honeydew that they will carry large numbers of these
aphides into their nests and keep them, like a herd of cattle, all
through the winter, so that they may never be without a supply
of their favorite beverage!

Ants, like bees and wasps, almost always consist of drones,
queens, and workers. Only the drones and queens have wings,
and these are seldom seen until the end of August. But then
they make their appearance in vast swarms, which are some-
times so dense that from a little distance the insects really look
like a column of smoke. They only take one short flight,
however, and when this is over they come down to the ground
and snap off their wings close to their bodies, just as termites do.

One of the most curious of all these insects is the parasol-
ant, of South America, which makes enormous dome-shaped
nests of clay. But as the clay will not bind properly by itself,
the insects work little pieces of green leaf up with it. These
pieces of leaf are generally obtained from an orange plantation,
perhaps half a mile distant. And when the ants are returning
from their expedition, each holds its little piece of leaf over its
head as it marches along, just as if it were carrying a tiny green
parasol !

Another very famous ant is the African driver, which owes
its name to the way its vast armies drive every living creature
before them. Insects, reptiles, antelopes, monkeys, even man
himself, must give way before the advancing hosts of the drivers;
for it is certain death to stand in their path.

Saw-Flees

The saw-flies also belong to the order of the Hymenoptera.
These flies are so called because the female insects have two
little saws at the end of the body, which work in turns, one
being pushed forward as the other is drawn back. With these
they cut little grooves in the bark of twigs, or in the midribs of
leaves, in which they place their eggs by means of the ovipositor
between the saws.

Some of these insects are extremely mischievous. The grub

INSECTS 375

of the turnip saw-fly, for instance, often destroys whole fields
of turnips, while the currant saw-fly is equally destructive to
currants and gooseberries. One often sees bushes which it
has entirely stripped of their leaves.

You may always know a saw-fly grub by the fact that it
has no less than twenty-two legs — three pairs of true legs on
the front part of the body, and eight pairs of false legs, or pro-
legs, as they are often called, on the hinder part.

There is one little family of saw-flies, however, which are quite
unlike all the rest, for instead of having saws at the ends of
their bodies, they have long boring instruments, very much
like brad-awls. With these they bore deep holes in the trunks
of fir-trees, in order to place their eggs at the bottom; and the
grubs feed, when they hatch out, on the solid wood.

These insects are known as horn-tailed saw-flies, and one,
which is very common in pine woods, is very large, sometimes
measuring an inch and a half from the head to the tip of the
tail, and very nearly three inches across the wings, while the
boring tool is fully an inch long. It is a very handsome insect,
and looks rather like a hornet, the head and thorax being deep
glossy black and the hind body bright yellow, with a broad
black belt round the middle. The feelers are also yellow, and
the legs are partly yellow and partly black.

Gall-Flies

Another group of the Hymenoptera consists of the gall-flies.
These are all small insects, which lay their eggs in little holes
which they bore in roots, twigs, and the ribs and nervures
of leaves. In each hole, together with the egg, they place a
tiny drop of an irritating liquid, which causes a swelling to
take place, on the substance of which the little grub feeds.
Sometimes these galls, as they are called, take most curious
forms. The pretty red and white oak-apples of course you
know; and no doubt, too, you have often found the hard, woody,
marble-shaped galls which are so common on the twigs of the
same tree. Then some galls look like bunches of currants,
and some look like scales, and some look like pieces of sponge.

VOL. v. — 2 5

376 THE ANIMAL WORLD

And if you cut one of them open you will find perhaps one little
grub, or perhaps several, curled up inside them.

Ichneumon-Flies

This is the last group of Hymenopfera that we can mention.
These insects lay their eggs in the bodies of caterpillars or
chrysalids, and sometimes in those of spiders, boring holes to
receive them by means of their little sting-like ovipositors.
Before long the eggs hatch, and the little grubs at once begin to
feed upon the flesh of their victims. For some little time,
strange to say, the unfortunate creature seems to suffer no
pain, or even discomfort, but goes on feeding and growing just
as before, although hundreds of hungry little grubs may be nib-
bling away inside it. Sooner or later, however, it dies; and then
the little grubs spin cocoons and turn to chrysalids, out of which
other little flies appear in due course, just like the parents.

Millions of caterpillars are destroyed by these little flies
every year. Out of every hundred of those which do so much
damage to our cabbages and cauliflowers, for example, at least
ninety are sure to be "stung." Indeed, if it w^re not for
ichneumon-flies we should find it quite impossible to grow any
crops at all, for they would all be eaten up by caterpillars.

Lepidoptera

Next we come to the butterflies and moths, which are called
Lepidoptera, or scale-winged insects, because their wings are
covered with thousands upon thousands of tiny scales. If
you catch a butterfly, a kind of mealy dust comes off upon
your fingers, and if you look at a little of this dust through a
microscope, you find that it consists simply of little scales, of
all sorts of shapes. Some are like battledores, and some like
masons' trowels, and they are nearly always most beautifully
sculptured and chiseled. These scales lie upon the wing in
rows, which overlap one another like the slates on the roof of
a house. And sometimes there are several millions on the wings
of a single insect.

w

CO "X""*^ ^

o ^s

o

INSECTS 377

Butterflies

It is possible here, of course, to mention only a few of the
most striking forms of butterflies, out of the many hundreds
of species counted as North American. It may be said that
these insects are much ahke in general features all round the
northern half of the globe, the same families being represented,
so that, at first glance, European or Asiatic examples of such
butterflies as the great yellow, black-striped swallowtail seem
the same as American examples.

Among the handsomest of all northern butterflies is the
purple emperor, which you may sometimes see flying round
the tops of the tallest trees in large woods in the south of Eng-
land. Far commoner, however, are the large, small, and green-
veined whites, whose caterpillars are so destructive to cabbages;
the scarlet admiral, with broad streaks of vermilion across its
glossy black wings; the peacock, with its four eye-hke blue
spots on a russet ground; the tortoise-shells, mottled with
yellow and brown and black; and the pretty little blues, which
one may see in almost every meadow from the middle of May
till the end of September, Then there are the brimstone,
with its pale yellow wings, which with the blues dance along
the roadways in little whirling companies all summer; the
meadow-brown and the large heath, to be seen in thousands
in every hayfield; the small heath and the small copper, even
more plentiful still; the fritillaries, some of which Hve in woods,
and some on downs, and some in marshy meadows; the pretty
orange-tip, with pure white wings tipped with yellow; and the
odd little skippers, which flit merrily about grassy banks in the
warm sunshine in May and again in August — besides several
others, which are so scarce or so local that hardly anybody
ever sees them.

Moths

You can easily tell moths from butterflies by looking at
their antenna, or feelers, which ha\'e no knobs at the tips, as

378 THE ANIMAL WORLD

those of butterflies have. Their number also is very great, and
we can mention only a few of the most remarkable.

First among these is the splendid death's-head sphinx, or
hawk, the largest of all the insects, which sometimes measures
five inches from tip to tip of its wings when they are fully spread.
It owes its name to the curious patch of light-brown hairs on
its thorax, which looks just like a skull. The caterpillar is a
huge yellowish creature, often nearly six inches long, with a
blue horn at the end of its body, and seven blue stripes, edged
with white, on either side. It lives in potato-fields, hiding
underground by day and coming out at night to feed upon the
leaves. And it is an odd fact that both the caterpillar and the
perfect insect have the power of squeaking rather loudly. The
moth appears in October.

The humming-bird hawk-moth flies by day, and you may often
see it hovering over flowers in the garden, with its long trunk
poked do\\Ti into a blossom in order to suck up the sweet juices.
As it does so it makes quite a loud humming noise with its
wings, like the little bird from which it takes its name. And
sometimes you may see a bee-hawk, which has transparent
wings, hovering in front of rhododendron blossoms in just the
same way.

The swifts fly between sunset and dark, and the largest
of them is very curious indeed. For although it has glossy
white wings, so that one can see it quite clearly in the dusk,
it will suddenly disappear. The fact is that although its wings
are white above they are yellowish brown below; so that when
it suddenly settles, and folds them over its back, it at once
becomes invisible.

The goat-moths are large, heavily built insects, with brownish-
gray wings marked with a number of very short upright dark
streaks. The caterpillar is a great reddish-brown creature
with a broad chocolate band running down its back. It lives
for three years in the trunks of various trees, and then spins a
silken cocoon in which to turn to a chrysalis.

Tiger-moths have brown fore wings streaked with white,
scarlet hind wings with bluish-black spots, and bright scarlet
body. The caterpillar, which is very common in gardens, is

INSECTS 379

generally called the woolly bear, because of the long brown hairs
which cover its body.

Very beautiful indeed are the burnets, which have dark-green
front wings, with either five or six large red spots, and crimson
hind wings, edged with black. You may often see them resting
on flowers and grass-stems by the roadside in the hot sunshine.
And in some parts of the country the cinnabar-moth is almost
equally plentiful. You can recognize it at once by the crimson
hind wings, and by the streak and the two spots of the same
color on the front ones. The caterpillar, which is bright orange
in color, with black rings round its body, feeds upon ragwort.

The Curious Vaporer

The vaporer-moth is very common toward the end of summer,
and even in London one may often see it dashing about in
the hot sunshine with a strange jerky flight. But one only sees
the male, which is a bright brownish-yellow insect measuring
about an inch across the wings; for the female is much more
like a grub than a perfect insect, and has wings so small that they
are hardly visible. Of course she cannot fly; and her body is so
big and clumsy that she cannot even walk. So she spends her
life clinging to the outside of the cocoon in which she passed the
chrysalis state, and covers it all over with her little round white
eggs. And when she has laid the last of these she falls to the
ground and dies.

Very handsome indeed is the emperor-moth, which has a big
eye-like spot in the middle of each wing, something like those of
the peacock-butterfly. But its caterpillar is even more beauti-
ful still, for its body is of the loveliest grass-green color, sprinkled
all over with little pink tubercles, each of which is enclosed in a
ring of black, and has a tuft of glossy black hairs sprouting from
it. This caterpillar feeds on bramble and heather, and when it
reaches its full size it spins a light-brown cocoon among the
leaves of its food-plant, and then turns to a chrysalis, from which
the perfect moth hatches out in the following April.

Very often one finds caterpillars which look just like little
bits of stick, and which walk in a most curious fashion by hunch-

380 THE ANIMAL WORLD

ing up their backs into loops, and then stretching them out again,
just as if they were measuring the ground. These caterpillars
are called loopers, and they turn into moths with large broad
wings and very slender bodies.

There are a great many kinds of these moths. One, called
the swallowtail, may often be found hiding among i\'y in July.
It has large wings of a pale-yellow color, with little tails upon the
hinder pair. Then there are the sulphur, a smaller insect with
wings of a brighter yellow; the emeralds, of the most delicate
green; the magpie, which has wings of the purest white, marked
with streaks of orange and numbers of almost square black
spots and blotches; and many others far too numerous to men-
tion. If you ever shake a bush in summer-time you may
see quite a dozen of them flying away to seek for some
fresh hiding-place.

Then there is a large moth known as the puss, because it
is colored rather like a brindled gray cat. The caterpillar is
bright green, with a big hump in the middle of its body, and two
long thread-like organs at the end of its tail, with which it will
sometimes pretend to be able to sting you. But in reality it is
perfectly harmless. You may often find it feeding on the leaves
of willow-trees in August, and when it is fully fed it spins a hard,
oval cocoon in a crack in the bark. And there are three smaller
moths belonging to the same family, which are known as kittens!

Another very large group of moths is that of the Noctuoe, or
night-fliers. But we so seldom see these unless we go out special-
ly to look for them that we shall pass them by without further
mention.

HOMOPTERA

The next order is that of the Homoptera, or same-winged
insects, which are so called because their upper and lower wings
are just alike.

The froghoppers all belong to this order. Do you know
them ? They are little brown or gray insects, sometimes marked
or marbled with white, which carry their wings folded tentwise
over their backs, and hop about with really wonderful activity.

INSECTS 381

It has been calculated that if a man of ordinary height could
leap as well as a froghopper, in proportion to his greater size, he
would be able to cover nearly a quarter of a mile at a single
jump!

But if you do not know the froghoppers by sight you must at
any rate know something of their grubs; for these are the crea-
tures which cause the cuckoo-spit of which one sees so much
during the early summer. Very often the weeds and long grass
in a meadow, or by the roadside, are almost covered with the odd
little masses of froth, so that one's feet get quite wet as one walks
through the herbage. And in the middle of each mass is a fat
little grub, which is sucking up the sap of the plant upon which
it is resting, and pouring it out again in frothy bubbles.

The mischievous little aphides, or greenfly insects, also be-
long to this order. There are many different kinds, some of
which do terrible damage to hops and corn and all sorts of cul-
tivated plants. We have already mentioned these when de-
scribing the habits of ants, and you will recollect that they have
sharp little beaks, which they thrust into young shoots and tender
leaves in order to suck up the sap; and that as fast as they do so
they pour it out again through two little tubes upon their backs
in the form of the thin, sweet, and very sticky liquid which we
call honeydew. You will remember, too, how fond ants are of
this liquid, and how they "milk" the tiny insects just as if they
were little cows.

So, you see, the aphides injure plants in two ways. First,
they draw off all their sap, which, is really their life-blood; and
then they drop this sticky honeydew on to the leaves below, and
choke up the little holes by means of which they breathe. And
the worst of it is that these insects multiply so rapidly. Where
there is one to-day there will be five and twenty to-morrow; and
two days later there will be five and twenty times five and twenty;
and two days later still there will be five and twenty times five
and twenty times five and twenty! Indeed, if it were not for
ladybirds and lacewing flies and one or two other insects which
feed upon aphides, every green leaf would be destroyed by
them in a few months' time.

A very curious fact about these insects is that as long as they

382 THE ANIMAL WORLD

can find plenty of food they do not grow any wings. But as
soon as the sap becomes scanty or thin, wings make their ap-
pearance, so that they can fly away and seek for better food
elsewhere.

Heteroptera

The order of the Homoptera, or same-winged insects, is
followed by that of the Heteroptera, or different-winged insects,
in which that part of the wings nearest to the body is hard and
leathery, while the rest is softer and thinner, and is generally
almost transparent. Some of these live upon land, while others
spend most of their lives in the water.

The curious bishop's-miters belong to the former group.
There are a good many kinds, and some of them are very com-
mon. You may see them sitting upon flowers, or resting upon
raspberries and blackberries in the sunshine. But although they
are sometimes very pretty, we do not advise you to handle them,
for they have the power of pouring out a liquid which will make
your fingers smell very nasty indeed. And you should be most
careful not to eat any fruit on which they have been resting, for
they leave a horrible flavor behind them, which is even worse
than the smell.

Among those which live in the water there are several most
interesting insects. There are the water-striders, for example,
which you can see running about on the surface of any pond,
and which look like narrow-bodied long-legged spiders. But
you will notice that they only have six legs, whereas true spiders
always have eight. They skim about on the water by means of
the middle and hinder limbs, the front pair being used in catch-
ing prey. And when they have caught a victim they suck its
juices through their sharp little beaks.

Then there is the water-boatman, which always swims on its
back. The reason why it does so is that when its body is in
that position it is shaped just like a boat, while its long hind
legs serve as a pair of oars. So the little insect really rows itself
through the water. On a bright sunny day you may often see it
resting on the surface of a pond, with its hind legs thrown for-

INSECTS 383

ward in readiness for a stroke. And if even your shadow falls
upon it, or it feels the vibration of a heavy footstep, it will dive
down in a moment to some hiding-place among the weeds.

If you ever catch a water-boatman, be careful howyou handle it,
or it will give your finger a very painful prick with its sharp beak.

The w^ater-scorpion, too, is very curious. It is a flat, oval
insect, of a dirty-brown color, w^hich looks very much like a piece
of dead leaf. It seems to know this quite well, for when it is
hungry it always hides among dead leaves down at the bottom
of the water, and keeps perfectly still. Then the other insects
do not notice it, and as soon as one of them comes within reach it
seizes it with its great jaw-like front legs, and plunges its beak
into its body.

This insect is called the water-scorpion because it has a long
spike at the end of its body, which looks something like a scor-
pion's sting. It is really a breathing-tube, however, the top of
which is poked just above the surface of the water while the insect
is lying at the bottom, so as to enable it to breathe quite easily.

Aphaniptera

The order of the Aphaniptera, or unseen-winged insects, is a
very small one, consisting only of the fleas. The name has been
given to them because their wings are so tiny that, even with the
microscope, they can hardly be seen at all.

There are a good many different kinds of fleas, all of which
suck the blood of animals through their sharp little beaks.
Some of them are able to leap to a really wonderful distance, by
means of their powerful hind legs. And they are so wonderfully
strong that if a man were equally powerful, in proportion to his
greater size, he would easily be able to drag a wagon which a
pair of cart-horses could scarcely move!

DlPTERA

The last order of insects is that of the Diptera, or two-winged
flies, which seem to have two wings only instead of four. But
if you look at them closely, you will see a pair of little knob-like

384 THE ANIMAL WORLD

organs just where the hind wings ought to be. And these Httle
organs, which we call balancers, are really the hind wings in a
very much altered form.

Although they are so tiny, and look so useless, these balancers
are used in some way during flight; for if they are damaged or lost
the insect can no longer balance itself or direct its course in the air.

The Mosquito

The mosquito is a troublesome insect which most of us know
only too well; for there are very few of us who have not suffered
from the wounds caused by its beak. Its life-history is very
interesting. The eggs, which are shaped just like tiny skittles,
arc laid in the water, and the mother gnat fastens them clever-
ly together in such a way that they form a little boat, which
floats on the surface. After a time a little door opens at the
bottom of each egg, and a tiny grub tumbles out into the water.
It is a very odd-looking little creature, with a very small head,
a very big thorax, and a very long tail; and it mostly floats in
the water with its head downward, and the tip of its tail resting
just above the surface.

These grubs feed on the little scraps of decaying matter
which are always floating in the water of the pond, and they
wriggle their way about in the strangest manner, by first doubling
up their bodies and then stretching them out, over and over
again. After a time they throw off their skins and change to
chrysalids, and out of this, a few days later, the perfect gnats
make their appearance.

The mosquito is a gnat that has many relatives, some very
troublesome, like the black fly. Some gnats have very big
bushy feelers, just like big plumes. These are the males,
and you need not be afraid of them, for they have no beaks
and cannot bite.

Crane-Fly and Drone-Fly

Then there is the crane-fly, whose balancers you can see
quite easily. This insect lays it eggs in the ground, and the

INSECTS 385

grubs which hatch out from them are called leather- jackets,
because their skins are so very tough. They feed upon the
roots of grass, and sometimes do a great deal of mischief in
pastures. Indeed, if it were not for such birds as the crow
and meadow-lark, which destroy them in enormous numbers,
we should find it almost impossible to grow any grass at all.

The drone-fly really does look rather like a bee; but it only
has two wings instead of four, while its body is much more stoutly
built, and it has no sting, so that you need not be in the least
afraid of it. You may often see it sitting on flowers on sunny
days in autumn, and it is especially fond of those of the ragwort.

The grub of this fly spends its whole life buried head down-
ward in the mud at the bottom of some shallow pool — thick,
black mud, which is largely made up of decaying leaves — and
never comes out of it even to breathe. But at the end of its
body it has a long tube, the tip of which rests just above the
surface of the water, so that it can draw down as much air as
it requires. And this tube is made something like a telescope,
so that if a heavy fall of rain should raise the level of the water,
all that the grub has to do is to push out another joint, when it
can breathe just as easily as before. This grub is often known
as the rat-tailed maggot.

Hawk-Flees, Etc.

As you walk through a wood in summer, you may often
see a black and yellow fly hovering in mid-air. If you move,
it darts away so swiftly that the eye cannot follow its flight.
But if you stop, and remain perfectly still, it will come back
again in a moment or two, and hover just as before.

This is a hawk-fly, and it is very useful, for the mother insect
always lays her eggs on twigs and leaves which are swarming
with aphides. On these insects the grubs feed, so that as soon
as they hatch out they find themselves surrounded with prey,
and destroy the little insects in great numbers.

The house-fly and the bluebottle fly also belong to the order
of the Diptera. They are not very pleasant insects, but while
they are grubs they are really most useful, for they feed upon

386 THE ANIMAL WORLD

all sorts of decaying substances. And another insect, called
the flesh-fly, is even more useful still, for it is the parent of from
sixteen to twenty thousand grubs: so that if even a single fly
finds the carcass of a small animal and leaves her eggs upon it,
the little ones that soon hatch out will devour it in a very short
time. In a few days all these grubs turn into perfect flies,
and in their turn become the parents of thousands of grubs:
so that it has been said that three of these flies could devour a
dead ox as fast as a lion could!

The last insect that we can mention is a brown and gray fly
known as the warble. It is ^•ery troublesome indeed to cattle,
for the mother fly lays her eggs upon their backs. Then as soon
as the grubs hatch, they burrow underneath the skin of the
poor animals, and form large swellings there, in which they
spend the whole of their lives. When they are fully fed they
wriggle out through a hole in the hide, drop to the ground,
burrow into it, and turn to chrysalids, from which the perfect
flies appear a few months later.

CHAPTER XXXIV
SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS

MOST people think that spiders are insects. But this is
a very great mistake, for they are just about as unhke
insects as they can possibly be.

Insects, for example, always have distinct heads. But spiders
never do, for their heads are so simk and lost in their chests
that you cannot possibly tell where the one leaves off and
the other begins. So that spiders have their bodies divided
into two parts only instead of into three, as is always the case
in the insects.

Then insects always have six legs; spiders always have eight.
Insects have wings; spiders have none. Insects have feelers;
spiders have none. Insects nearly always have a great many
eyes, which are six-sided; spiders never have more than eight
eyes, which are round. And while insects may have biting
jaws, or sucking jaws, or a trunk, or a beak, spiders always have
poison-fangs, which no insect ever possesses.

So you see that as far as the outside of their bodies is con-
cerned, spiders are very different indeed from insects. And
the differences inside the body are just as great. Insects have
no hearts, the only blood-vessel in their bodies being one long
tube which runs along the back; but spiders have quite a big
heart, and a good many arteries as well. Insects have no lungs,
but breathe by means of slender tubes which run to every part
of the body; but spiders have quite big lungs, in which the blood
is purified just as it is in our own. Insects have no brains, but
only bunches of nerves in different parts of their bodies; but
spiders have quite big brains. And besides this, while all insects
which spin silk produce it through their mouths, spiders always
do so by means of organs at the very end of the body. So that
inside, as well as outside, there is hardly any respect in which
spiders and insects really resemble one another.

387

388 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The silk-organs of a spider are very wonderful indeed.
Remember, in the first place, that the silk, as long as it remains
in the body of the spider, is a liquid — a kind of thick gum,
which is produced and stored up in six long narrow bags, or
glands. Then if you look at the end of a spider's body through
a good strong magnifying-gJass — or, better still, through a
microscope — you will see several little projections, which we
call spinnerets. Now each of these spinnerets is covered with
hundreds of tinier projections still, every one of which has an
extremely small hole in the middle. And all these holes com-
municate, by means of very slender tubes, with one of the silk-
glands.

So what a spider does when it wants to spin its line is to
squeeze a little drop of silk into one of the spinnerets. It then
just touches the object to which the line is to be fastened, and
draws its body away. And as it does so a delicate thread comes
out from every one of the projections on the spinneret; and all
these threads unite together into one stout cord. That is why
a spider's thread is so strong. It really consists of several
hundred separate threads all firmly fastened together. .And
if the spider wants to spin a stronger line still, it can unite all
the threads coming from several spinnerets into one, so as to
make a very stout cord indeed.

Spiders use this silk for all sorts of different purposes. In
the first place, they use it for snaring insects.

The Garden-Spider

Let us take for an example, the web of the common garden-
spider. It is to be seen in every garden, resting in the middle
of its web; and you may always recognize it by the white cross
upon its back. But I don't suppose that you have ever seen it
spinning its net. For it always does so very early in the morn-
ing, generally beginning before sunrise, so that it may be quite
ready for use as soon as the insects begin to fly.

First of all, the spider makes a kind of outer framework
of very strong silken cords, and fastens it firmly in position by
stout guy-ropes of the same material. Next, she carries a

SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS 389

thread right across the middle and fixes it down on either side.
Then, starting from the center, she carries thread after thread
to the margin, carefully testing the strength of each by giving
it two or three smart pulls, and fastening it firmly down. When
she has finished this part of her task, the web looks like a badly
shaped wheel.

The next thing that the spider does is to spin a litde silken
platform in the middle of her web to sit upon. And as soon as
she has done this she begins to spin the spiral thread. Be-
ginning from the center, she goes round and round and round,
fastening the thread down every time that it crosses one of the
straight cords — the spokes, as it were, of the wheel — until at
last the web is finished. Then she goes to the little platform
in the middle, and there remains, upside down, waiting for an
insect to blunder into her net.

By and by, perhaps, a bluebottle fly does so. Then she
shakes the web violently for a few moments, so as to entangle
it more thoroughly, rushes down upon it, seizes it, and plunges
her fangs into its body. But if she catches a wasp or a bee she
nearly always cuts it carefully out, drops it to the ground, and
then patches up the hole in her web. For she knows perfectly
well that wasps and bees can sting!

Would you like to know why it is that flies stick to the web
as soon as they touch it? The microscope shows us. All
the way along, the spiral thread is set with very tiny drops
of liquid gum. So tiny are these drops indeed, that there are
between eighty and ninety thousand of them in a large web !
And would you like to know why it is that the spider does not
stick to the web as the flies do ? Well, the fact is that only the
spiral thread is set with these little gummy drops, and that as the
spider runs about over her web she is most careful to place her feet
only on the straight threads, and never on the spiral line. Other
spiders, however, snare their prey in quite a different way.

The Marmignatto

This small spider, found on our western plains, is remark-
able for feeding on large insects, such as grasshoppers and

390 THE ANIMAL WORLD

field-crickets, which it catches in an ingenious manner. It
stretches a few silken threads across a narrow pathway, quite close
to the ground, along which these insects are likely to pass,
and lies in wait just opposite until a grasshopper or a cricket
approaches. When it comes to the threads the insect is sure
to get at least one of its feet entangled. Then it stops, and tries
to shake itself free. The only result of its struggles, of course, is
that its other feet become entangled too; and while it is strug-
gling the marmignatto springs upon its back, fastens a silken
thread to it, springs down again, and fastens the other end to
a grass-stem close by. Over and over again it does this, and
before very long the unfortunate insect is firmly fastened down
by hundreds of threads, and is quite unable to break free,
or even to move one of its legs. Then the spider leaps upon
its back once more, plunges its fangs into its body, and
proceeds to suck its blood.

Hunting-Spiders

Perhaps you may have seen little hairy black spiders, with
white markings upon the upper part of their bodies, running
about in an odd jerky way on sunny fences and walls. These
are called hunting-spiders, because they hunt their prey instead
of snaring it. You may see them gradually creeping up to a
fly, so slowly that they hardly seem to move, and then suddenly
leaping upon it when they are about two inches away. Then
spider and fly, locked in one another's embrace, go falling to-
ward the ground together. But they never reach it, for wherever
a hunting-spider goes it always trails a rope of silk behind it,
and fastens it down at intervals. So when it springs from the
fence it is brought up at once by its own thread, and swings
in the air till its victim is dead. Then it just climbs up its thread,
and so gets back to the fence.

Bird- Spiders

These great spiders of the tropics hunt for prey in much the
same way. Only instead of catching flies on walls they prowl

SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS 391

about the branches of trees in search of small birds, springing
upon them when they are roosting at night, and killing them al-
most immediately by a smart bite from their venomous fangs.
These spiders, of course, are very large. Indeed, the body of a
full-grown bird-spider is as big as a man's fist, while its great
hairy legs cover nearly a square foot of ground when they are
fully spread out.

Teap-door Spiders

These famous spiders are found more or less commonly in all
warm countries. They all live in tunnels in the ground, which
they dig by means of their fangs; and as they do not want the
situation of their nest to be discovered, they carry the earth away
to a little distance as fast as they dig it up, and carefully hide it.
Very often the hole which they dig in this way is eighteen inches
or two feet deep. And ^t the bottom it always turns sideways
for an inch or two, so that the general shape of the burrow is
very much like that of a stocking.

This hole is always dug in the side of a bank, so that when
there is a hea\7 ^^^^ of rain the water may run away without
flooding it.

When the burrow is finished, the spider lines it throughout
with two sheets of silk. The outer sheet, which comes next to
the earth, is rather coarse in texture, and is quite waterproof, in
order to keep the tunnel dry. The inner one is very much finer
and softer, so that the little home may be as comfortable as
possible.

As soon as the lining process is completed, the spider sets to
work on the trap-door. This she makes in the cleverest manner
possible. First she measures the doorway most carefully by the
aid of her feelers. Then she spins a thin silken pad of exactly
the same size and shape. This is sticky on the top, like the
spiral thread of the web of the garden-spider: and she sprinkles
it all over with very small scraps of earth. Upon this she fastens
another silken pad, which she sprinkles with earth in the same
way. And then comes another and then another, and so on till
the door is sufficiently thick. Finally, she fastens it in position

VOL. V. — 26

392 THE ANIMAL WORLD

by means of a hinge, which is also made of silk; and she always
places this hinge on the upper side of the doorway, so that the
door may fall down behind her by its own weight whenever she
leaves the burrow. She is rather a lazy creature, you see, and
does not want to have the trouble of shutting the door for her-
self! And if she left it open, every passer-by would find out
where she had made her home.

The door always fits most wonderfully into its place, and the
spider carefully covers the top with little bits of moss and small
scraps of earth and stone, so as to make it exactly like the surface
of the ground all round it. Indeed, unless one happens to see
the spider push it open, it is almost impossible to find it.

When one of these spiders is in her burrow, she always fastens
about half a dozen silken threads to the inner side of the door,
carries them down to the bottom, and sits with one of her feet
resting upon each. No one can then try to force her door open
without her knowledge, and as soon as she feels the least pull
upon the threads she rushes up the burrow, clings to the walls
with her hind feet, seizes the door with her front ones, and pulls
it downward with all her might. And if the door is forced open
in spite of her efforts, she slips into a sort of side tunnel which
she always makes near the top of her burrow, and stays there
until the danger is past.

The Raft-Spider

There are several spiders which live on or in the water. One
of these is the raft-spider, which is found in the fen districts of
England. If you should happen to meet with it you can recog-
nize it at once, for all round the upper part of its body is a narrow
band of yellow, and inside this is a row of small white spots.

This spider is about an inch long, and owes its name to the
fact that it actually makes a little raft on which to go out search-
ing for water-insects. Collecting together a quantity of little
bits of leaf and cut grass and reeds, it fastens them firmly to
gether with silken threads, just as shipwrecked sailors might
lash planks together with ropes in order to escape from a sinking
vessel. In this way it makes a small floating platform, perhaps

SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS 393

a couple of inches in diameter. When the raft is finished, the
spider gets upon it, pushes off from the shore, and allows the
current to carry it along. By and by, perhaps, it catches sight
of some water-insect floating at the surface, or of a drowning
fly which has fallen into the stream. Then it leaves its raft,
runs along over the surface of the water, seizes its victim, and
carries it back to the raft to be devoured. And if it should be
alarmed, or think itself in danger, it gets under the raft and
clings to the lower surface, so that it cannot be seen from above.

The Water-Spider

More curious still is the water-spider, which actually makes
its nest under water. This spider, which is almost black in
color, and has a very hairy body and legs, is common in ponds
and canals, and spends almost the whole of its life beneath the
water. Its little silken nest is shaped like a thimble, with the
mouth downward, and is placed among weeds, to which it is
firmly fastened down by guy-ropes, also of silk. And when it is
finished the spider fills it with air. She does this in a most
curious manner. Rising to the surface, she turns upside down,
pokes her long hind legs out of the water, and crosses the tips.
Then she dives again, carrying down a big bubble of air between
these hairy legs and her equally hairy body as she does so. She
next gets exactly underneath the entrance to her nest and sepa-
rates her legs. The result is, of course, that the air-bubble
floats up and occupies the upper part. Another bubble is now
brought down in the same way, and so the spider goes on, fetch-
ing bubble after bubble, until at last her little nest is completely
filled with air. Then she gets inside it, and watches for the
grubs of water-insects to swim by.

In this wonderful nest the spider lays her eggs and brings up
her family. When the little ones have been hatched, of course,
the air in the nest very soon becomes too impure to breathe.
Then the little spiders cling tightly to the walls, while the mother
gets outside and tilts the whole nest sideways, so that all the
exhausted air floats up in one big bubble to the surface. Then
she pulls the nest back into position, hurries up to the top of the

394 THE ANIMAL WORLD

water and brings down a bubble of air, and then another, and so
on until the nest is filled with air all over again.

If you ever catch one of these spiders, and keep it for awhile
in a jar of water with a little piece of water-weed, you may see it
spinning its wonderful nest, and fiUing it with air, perhaps half
a dozen times a day.

Gossamers

Before we leave the spiders altogether, we must tell you some-
thing about the wonderful little creatures called gossamers.
These are really the young of a good many different kinds of
spiders. It often happens, of course, that several families, with
perhaps five or six hundred little ones in each, are all living quite
close to one another. The result is that there is not sufiicient
food for them all. So they make up their minds to go out into
the world and seek their fortunes; and this is how they do it.

Choosing a warm, sunny morning in the early part of the
autumn, all the little spiders climb the nearest bush, and each
one makes its way to the very tip of a leaf. Then, clinging
firmly to its hold, it begins to pour out a very slender thread of
silk from one of its spinnerets. You know that on warm, sunny
days the air near the ground soon becomes heated and rises, as
hot air always does; and in rising it carries up these delicate
gossamer-threads, as they are called, with it. Still the little
spiders hold on, and pour out their lines, till at last each has
several feet of thread rising straight up into the air above it.
Then suddenly they all let go, and are carried up into the air at
the ends of their own threads. So they go on, up and up and up,
till at last they meet a gentle breeze, which carries them along
with it. So, perhaps, they travel for thirty, forty, or fifty miles,
or even farther still. And when at last they make up their
minds to descend, all that they have to do is to roll up the threads
which have been supporting them, and down they come floating
gently back to earth. One good name for them is ballooning
spiders.

Haven't you sometimes found on a warm autumn morning
that all the trees and bushes, and even the grass and low plants,

SPIDERS AND SCORPIONS 395

are quite covered with threads of silk ? The next time you see
such a sight look carefully, and you will find that on every thread
a little baby spider is sitting. Then you may be quite sure that
all these little spiders set out early in the morning to seek their
fortunes, and that, borne up by their slender threads, they have
traveled for many long miles through the air.

Scorpions

These formidable creatures are closely related to the spiders.
They are found in all warm countries, with the exception of
New Zealand, and may easily be known by two facts. In the
first place, in front of the legs they have a pair of great, strong
claws, which look very much like those of a crab. And in the
second place, the last five joints of the body are narrowed into a
long, slender tail, at the end of which is a claw-like sting. When
they attack an enemy, or seize a victim, they grasp it with the
claws, turn the tail over the back, and force the sting into its
body. And the poison which is introduced into the wound is so
powerful that the sting of a large scorpion is almost as severe
as the bite of an adder.

During the daytime scorpions hide away under stones and
logs, or in crevices in the ground, or perhaps under the loose
bark of dead trees. But very soon after sunset they come out
from their retreats and prowl about all night long in search of
insects; and it is at such times that they invade camps and houses,
get into shoes, etc., and persons get stung unless they are very
careful.

Centipedes and Millepedes

One can easily recognize centipedes by the great number of
their feet. The name centipede, indeed, means hundred-footed.
None of these creatures, however, have exactly a hundred limbs.
Some only have fifteen pairs of legs; some have as many as one
hundred and twenty-one pairs. But whether they be many or
few, the number of pairs is always odd.

Another very curious fact about centipedes is that they have

396 THE ANIMAL WORLD

no less than four pairs of jaws. But the fourth pair take the
form of fangs, which are very stout and strong, and very much
curved, while at their base, just inside the head, is a little bag of
poison. In the northern centipedes, which are quite small, the
fangs are not large enough, nor the poison sufficiently strong, to
cause a serious wound. But some of the tropical species, which
grow to the length of nearly a foot, are quite as venomous as the
largest scorpions.

The food of these creatures consists chiefly of worms and in-
sects. But the larger ones will kill lizards, and even mice, and
have been known to prey upon victims actually larger than them-
selves.

The eggs of centipedes are laid in little clusters on the ground
in some dark, damp nook, and when they have all been deposited
the mother centipede coils herself roimd them, and there remains
guarding them until they hatch.

Millepedes, in some ways, are very much like centipedes; but
they only have two pairs of jaws instead of four, and they are
nearly all vegetable-feeders. The long, smooth, and slender
Julus millepedes are plentiful in every garden. And in tropical
countries they sometimes grow to a length of six inches. Even
the largest, however, are perfectly harmless, for they have no
poison-fangs as the centipedes have, and the only way in which
they ever attempt to defend themselves is by pouring out a small
drop or two of a fluid which smells rather nasty, and no doubt
protects them from the attacks of birds.

CHAPTER XXXV

CRUSTACEANS

WE now come to a very important class of animals, which
includes the crabs, the lobsters, the shrimps, and the
prawns. These creatures, together with the mollusks, are
often called shell-fish, although the "shell" of a crab is not
in the least like the shell of an oyster, for example, or like that
of a whelk, or a snail. It is only a sort of crust upon the skin,
made chiefly of carbonate of lime. That is why these animals
are called cni^/aceans; and instead of growing, hke true shells,
this coat never increases in size at all.

But crabs and lobsters grow ? Yes: but not as other animals
do, a little every day. They only grow, as a rule, once a year;
and they get a whole twelvemonth's growth into about two days!

When, in warm weather, the proper time approaches, they
hide away in some crevice among the rocks, where none of
their enemies are likely to find them. This is because they
are going to throw off their so-called shells; and they know that
when these are gone they will be deprived of their natural
armor, and of their weapons too, and so will be quite at the
mercy even of foes much smaller than themselves. Then a
very strange thing happens. Part of their flesh actually
turns to water! Sometimes, if you happen to take up a crab
in a fish-market, and shake it, you will hear water swishing
about inside it. This is a "watery" crab, and is not good to
eat; for it was just about to change its "shell" when it was
caught. A good deal of its flesh has actually turned to water.

Now this always happens a few days before the "shell" is
thrown off; and the animal wriggles and twists about inside it,
in order to loosen the attachments which bind it to its body.
It also rubs its feelers against its legs, and its legs against one
another, in order to loosen their hard coverings in the same
way. This goes on, perhaps, for three or four days. Then,

397

398 THE ANIMAL WORLD

suddenly, the "shell" splits across, and the animal, with a
tremendous effort, springs right out of it, while the "shell"
closes up again, and looks just as it did before. One might
really think that there were two crabs instead of only one.

For some little time the animal now lies perfectly still. It
is exhausted by its efforts, and its muscles are so cramped that
they feel quite hard to the touch. This cramp soon passes off,
however; and then at once the animal begins to grow. It
grows very fast. Indeed, you can almost see it grow, for a
whole year's increase in size has to take place in about forty-
eight hours. Then a fresh crust is gradually formed upon the
skin, and two or three days later the animal is once more clad
in a coat of mail, and is ready to leave its retreat and face its
enemies. For a whole twelvemonth after this it grows no bigger.
But at the end of that time the process is repeated, and
so on, year after year, until at last the animal reaches its
full size.

Forms of Crustaceans

The bodies of the crustacean animals are made up of a
number of rings, or segments, like those of the insects. But
there are always twenty of these rings, instead of thirteen;
six forming the head, while there are eight in the thorax and six
in the hind body.

Then — again like the insects — crustaceans have feelers, or
antennae, upon their heads. You can see these very well indeed
in a lobster or a shrimp. But instead of having one pair of
these organs, as insects have, they always possess two pairs.
And it is rather curious to find that at the base of the front pair
there are two little organs which seem to be ears, specially
formed for hearing in the water, while at the base of the second
pair are two other little organs which seem to serve as a nose,
specially made for smelling in the water.

And — once more like the insects — crustaceans have to pass
through several different forms before they reach the perfect
state. They are hatched in the first place from eggs, which
the mother animal carries about with her for some little time

CRUSTACEANS 399

firmly fastened to the hairs of the swimmerets, which we find
under the hind part of her body. You will often find a shrimp
with quite a large bunch of these eggs; and if you look at them
carefully with a good strong magnify ing-glass, you will see
that they are all glued down to hairs.

Inside each of these eggs an odd little creature is formed,
which is called the nauplius. Sometimes it is hatched while
still in that state, and swims about through the water. But in
almost all the higher crustaceans a change takes place before
it leaves the egg, and it appears at last in the form of a
zoea.

This is a kind of crustacean caterpillar, and a very odd
little creature it is. A great naturalist once described it as an
animal "with goggle eyes, a hawk's beak, a scorpion's tail, a
rhinoceros' horn, and a body fringed with legs, yet hardly
bigger than a grain of sand!" Certainly it does not look in
the least like the crab, or lobster, or shrimp into which it is
going, by and by, to turn. And it swims in the oddest way
possible, by turning endless somersaults in the water!

These zoeas are sometimes found in immense shoals, the
surface of the sea being quite thick with them for miles. And
they are useful little creatures, for they feed on the tiny scraps
of decaying matter which are always floating about in the
sea, just as tadpoles and gnat-grubs do in ponds, thus helping
to keep the water pure. But a very great number of them are
devoured by whales. For when whalebone-whales are hungry,
they swim with open mouths through a shoal of these little
creatures, and then strain them out of the water by means of
the whalebone fringe which hangs down from the upper
jaw.

After a time the zoea throws off its skin and appears in
quite a different form. It is now called a megalopa, or big-
eyed creature, because it has very large eyes, which are usually
set on foot-stalks, and project to quite a long distance from the
sides of the head. And as the zoea is a kind of crustacean
caterpillar, so the megalopa is a kind of crustacean chrysalis.
It generally has a long, slender body, made up of several joints.
And it swims by flapping this to and fro in the water.

400 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Crabs

First among the crustaceans come the crabs, of which there
are a great many different kinds. They are distinguished
by having the tail tucked under the body, and firmly soldered,
so to speak, to the "shell" on either side.

You can find several kinds of these creatures by hunting among
the rocks on the sea-shore when the tide is out. There is the
common shore-crab, for example, which is green in color.
It is generally to be found hiding under masses of growing sea-
weed. But sometimes you may see it prowling about in search
of prey. It is wonderfully active, and will even pounce upon
the sandhoppers as they go skipping about, just as a hunting-
spider will pounce upon flies, seldom or never missing its aim.
It will catch flies, too, leaping upon them when they settle, and
shutting them up, as it were, in a kind of cage formed by its
legs.' Then it pokes one claw carefully into this cage, seizes
the prisoners, pulls them to pieces, and pokes the fragments into
its mouth.

Swimming about in the pools, too, you may often find a
fiddler-crab, which is so called because its movements in the
water rather remind one of a man who is playing the violin.
You will find that its hind legs are very much flattened, and are
fringed wnth stiff hairs, so that they may be used as oars. In
fact, the animal rows itself through the water. Both these
crabs, sad to say, are cannibals, and are always ready to attack
and devour their own kind.

Then there is the edible crab, or blue crab, which is common
on many parts of our coasts. The edible crab of Europe is
somewhat different. You are not likely to meet with the larger
examples, which live in deeper water. But even the smaller
ones can give a very sharp nip with their great claws, and you
will find it as well to be very careful in handling them. The
best plan is to seize them with the thumb and finger just be-
hind these claws, then they are perfectly harmless. The
larger crabs, which sometimes weigh as much as twelve pounds,
are extremely powerful, and in more than one case a man has

CRUSTACEANS 401

been killed by them, having been seized by the wrist as he was
groping among the rocks, and held in a grip from which he
could not break away until he was drowned by the rising tide.

These crabs are captured by means of crab-pots, made of
basketwork, which have the entrance so formed that while the
crabs can easily enter, they cannot possibly get out again.
These pots are baited with pieces of fresh fish, and are then
weighted with stones, and lowered to the bottom of the sea
among the rocks, at a depth of from three to about twenty
fathoms. They are also caught on lines baited with meat.
No hook is needed, for the crab clings to the meat till it reaches
the surface of the water, when it must be flung into the boat
or somehow captured quickly, before it has time to let go and
sink.

Some crabs live on dry land, sometimes at a distance of
two or three miles from the sea, which they only visit at inter-
vals. Among these are the famous calling-crabs, found in
many of the warmer parts of the world. These crabs obtain
their name from the fact that one of the great claws of the male
is very much larger than the other. So big is it, indeed, that
it has to be held aloft over the body when the animal is running,
in order to prevent it from losing its balance and toppling over.
And as soon as the crab begins to move this huge claw is jerked
up and down, just as if the creature were "calling," or beckon-
ing, to its companions. The calling-crabs live in burrows in
the sand, which are often placed as close to one another as those
in a rabbit-warren.

Hermit-Crabs

Next we come to those small, curious creatures known as
hermit-crabs, which form a kind of connecting link between
the crabs and the lobsters, for their tails, instead of being firm-
ly soldered down underneath their bodies, are quite free.

But the odd thing about these animals is that their tails
have no shelly covering. The front part of the body is protected
by a coat of mail, just as it is in all the other crabs; but the
hind part is quite bare and soft. The consequence is that a

402 THE ANIMAL WORLD

hermit-crab is always very nervous indeed about his tail. He
is dreadfully afraid that one of his many enemies may creep up
behind, and bite it when he is not looking. So he always tucks
it away in an empty shell like that of a whelk or a sea-snail,
which he drags about with him wherever he goes!

You may often find these curious crabs by hunting for them
in the pools among the rocks at low water. The crab always
sits just inside the entrance of the shell, which he closes and
guards with one of his great claws. And if you try to pull
him out, you will find that you are quite unable to do so, for
he has a pair of strong pincers at the end of his body, by which
he holds the shell so firmly that you can tear him in two with-
out forcing him to loose his grip.

Sometimes you will find that a sea-anemone has fastened
itself to the edge of a shell in which a hermit-crab is living.
This is a great advantage to the crab; for while there are many
fishes which would be quite ready to crunch him up, shell and
all, no fish will ever meddle with a sea-anemone. So as long
as the anemone remains on his shell he is perfectly safe.

And this plan is also a great advantage to the anemone, which
is sure to get plenty of food without any trouble. For when the
crab finds the dead body of some small creature, and begins to
pull it to pieces, a quantity of small fragments is sure to float
upward in the water. And the anemone catches them with its
spreading tentacles and feeds upon them.

The Robber-Crab

One of the most extraordinary crustaceans is this, which is
foimd in many of the islands in the Indian Ocean. It is like
the hermit-crabs in some ways, but the tail is covered with
shelly plates, just like the rest of the body; and instead of living
in shells in the sea, it lives in deep burrows on dry land.

But the oddest thing of all with regard to this crab is its food.
What do you think it feeds upon? Cocoanuts! That seems
impossible, doesn't it? One would imagine that the crab could
never get the nuts open. But it manages in this way: First of
all, it pulls away the fibers from that end of the nut at which the

CRUSTACEANS 403

three eyeholes are situated. With one of its stout claws it then
hammers away at one of these till it breaks its way through.
And finally, after allowing the milk to run away, it pokes its
hind claws, which are very slender indeed, through the opening
and picks out the white fleshy part of the nut a little piece at a
time.

It is said, too, that this crab sometimes opens a nut by poking
the smaller joint of one of its claws into the hole, and then striking
it over and over again upon a big stone.

The burrow of the robber-crab is rather a deep one, and is
nearly always situated beneath the roots of a tree. And at the
end of the burrow^ is a large chamber, in which the crab piles up
a quantity of cocoanut fiber to serve as a bed.

Lobsters

Of course you know the lobster very well by sight; and perhaps
you know that until it is boiled it is black, not red. But do you
know how it swims? If so, you know that it has two different
ways of swimming. When it is not in a hurry it swims slowly
forward by means of its swimmerets, of which it has five pairs
under the hinder part of its body. But if it is startled or alarmed
it swims swiftly backward by means of its tail.

If you look at a lobster's tail, you will see that it is very broad
and flat, and that on either side of it are two plates, which are
quite as flat, and, if anything, are rather broader. So, when
these are spread, the tail looks like a fan. And the animal swims
by first stretching out its body almost straight, and then doubling
it suddenly with all its force. As it does so, the tail and the tail-
plates spread out, and act very much like a broad oar. And the
result is that the lobster darts swiftly backward through the
water. Shrimps and prawns swim in exactly the same way.

Lobsters are very quarrelsome creatures, and are constantly
fighting; and it very often happens that in these battles they pull
off one another's limbs. They seem to feel very little pain, how-
ever, from such an injury, and before very long new legs begin
to grow in place of the old ones, so that in course of time the
wounded creatures are as perfect as ever.

404 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Sometimes lobsters will throw off their limbs when they are
not attacked at all. They do so, for example, if they are sudden-
ly frightened; and it is said that if a heavy gun is fired near the
surface of the water, every lobster for a long way round will shed
its great claws in alarm.

You will notice, on looking at a lobster, that one of the great
claws is a good deal smaller than the other; and sometimes people
think that this is a new claw which is growing in place of one that
has been lost, and that it has not yet reached its full size. This,
however, is a mistake, for one of the claws is always much bigger
than the other; and the reason is that they are used for different
purposes. The larger claw is intended as a weapon, and with
this the lobster fights. But the smaller one is chiefly employed
as a kind of anchor, by means of which the animal can cling to
the weeds or rocks at the bottom of the sea.

Lobsters are caught in pots made of basketwork, just as crabs
are. But they are not nearly so dainty as crabs, and do not
mind whether the bait is fresh or putrid. They are always very
much attracted, too, by any object that glitters, and many a
lobster has been lured to its death merely by one or two oyster-
shells hung up inside the pot in such a manner as to show the
shining pearly interior.

Crayfish

The crayfish is a kind of fresh-water lobster, which is found
commonly in many parts of the world, and numerously in the
central and southern parts of the United States. Most species
hide all day long under the projecting edges of big stones, or in
holes in the bank, only coming out after nightfall to search for
food. The British crayfish is said to be particularly fond of the
deserted burrow of a water-vole, and as it sits inside it always
guards the entrance with its great claws, striking fiercely at any
enemy which may be bold enough to come within reach.

One, at least, of the American kinds sinks its own burrows, in
the form of round holes in the soil of damp meadows. These
holes go down to water, which the animal cannot live long away
from; and a part of the soil dug out is piled about the mouth of

CRUSTACEANS 405

the hole in a little tower or chimney, sometimes several inches
high.

In Europe crayfish are eaten and regarded as a delicacy when
properly cooked; and there is no reason why the American ones
should not be equally good, but they are rarely if ever used as
food by us. The flesh tastes like that of the lobster, but is more
tender.

Shrimps and Prawns

These are really only tiny lobsters, and if you examine them
carefully you will find that their bodies are made in exactly the
same way. They swim, too, by means of their tails, and dart
about so swiftly that it is almost impossible to follow their move-
ments. You may often find them in numbers in the pools which
are left among the rocks by the retreating tide. But as they are
almost colorless until they are boiled, it is very difficult to see
them, and they look just like shadows darting to and fro in the
water.

You can easily tell a prawn from a shrimp, for the beak which
projects in front of its head is covered with sharp pcints, which
are almost exactly like the teeth of a saw. It feeds upon the
bodies of the various small creatures which die by millions every
day. In this way it helps to keep the water of the sea pure. It
feeds in a curious way, tearing off tiny scraps of flesh with the
little pincers at the tips of the second pair of legs, and poking
them into its mouth one after another. The sides of these limbs
are covered with hairs, so that they form little brushes; and with
these the prawn carefully cleans its body and limbs, rubbing
off every little speck of dirt which may happen to cling to
them.

Sandhoppers

You can hardly walk along a sand shore when the tide is
rising without seeing sandhoppers leaping and twisting about in
thousands. If you turn over a bunch of seaweed which has been
flung up by the waves just above high-water mark, you are al-

406 THE ANIMAL WORLD

most sure to find forty or fifty of these odd little creatures hiding
under it. In some ways they are rather like shrimps. But they
differ from them in having their eyes set on the head itself, in-
stead of on little foot-stalks projecting from it. And they have
no carapace, or shelly shield, covering the middle part of the
body.

How do these creatures hop? By first doubling up their
bodies, and then straightening them out again with a kind of
jerk. It is exactly opposite, in fact, to the way in which shrimps
and lobsters swim.

Sandhoppers do not follow the retreating tide, but bury them-
selves in the sand very soon after the waves have ceased to break
over them. Even when the surface of the sand is quite dry you
can find their burrows by stamping with your foot, when a
number of h'ttle round holes will suddenly open all round
you.

These creatures have wonderfully sharp little teeth, and if
you allowed a swarm of them to rest for a little while on your
handkerchief you would most likely find that it was full of tiny
holes when you took it up. They will eat almost anything,
either animal or vegetable, and are quite as useful as the shrimps
and prawns in helping to keep the sea-water pure. But they
have a great many enemies, for sea-birds, land-birds, crabs, and
all sorts of other creatures, destroy them literally in millions.

The Fresh- water Shrimp

This shrimp is very much like the sandhopper in some ways.
You may find it in numbers in almost any small stream or
rivulet. It hides under stones, or in little crevices in the bank,
darting out now and then to seize one of the tiny creatures upon
which it feeds, and then hurrying back with it to its retreat.
When it is in the water it travels along by a series of jerks; some-
times swimming with its back uppermost, and sometimes on one
side. But if it is placed on dry ground it is perfectly helpless, for
its legs are not nearly strong enough to carry it, and the only
result of its struggles is to turn it round and round in a screw-like
manner without forcing it forward at all.

CRUSTACEANS 407

WOODLICE

These odd little creatures are really crustaceans, although
they belong to quite a different group from that about which you
have just been reading. They simply swarm in all damp places.
Under logs, in heaps of decaying leaves, and under the bark of
dead trees, they are always extremely plentiful, and you may also
find them in hundreds in cellars and outhouses. There are
several different kinds, one of which rolls itself up into a ball
when it is touched or alarmed. This is called the pill-wood-
louse, or pill-armadillo. Another one is remarkable for the fact
that the mother carries her little ones about with her in a pouch
underneath her body for some little time after they are born.

Barnacles

You would hardly think that barnacles were crustaceans,
would you ? Yet they are; though certainly they are very unlike
any of those about which we have been telling. You can find
them in countless thousands upon the rocks which are left bare
by the tide at low water, and very often the hulls of ships are so
covered with them that the vessels have to be taken into dry dock
and thoroughly cleaned before they are fit to start upon a
voyage.

These animals fasten themselves down to their hold by a
kind of foot-stalk, which is firmly attached by a very strong
cement. The upper part of the body becomes covered with a
shell, consisting of several pieces, or valves; and between these,
six odd little limbs can be poked out at will. These limbs are .
very hairy, and are always waving about, so as to sweep into the
mouth any tiny scraps of food which may be floating in the
water.

There are a great many kinds of barnacles, some of which
look very much like acorns, and grow to a considerable size.
These are known as acorn-barnacles. And there is another,
shaped rather like a piece of round tube, which burrows into
the skin of whales, in which it spends all the remainder of its

VOL. V. — 27

408 THE ANIMAL WORLD

life! Sometimes it bores its way down so far that it actually
reaches the blubber.

The young of these strange creatures pass through several
transformations, just like those of the lobster and the crab.
First, there is a nauplius, then a zoea, and then a megalopa,
all of which swim freely about in the water, never fastening
themselves down until they are ready to pass into the perfect
form.

CHAPTER XXXVI
SEA-URCHINS, STARFISHES, AND SEA-CUCUMBERS

NEXT in order to the crustaceans comes a group of animals
which live in the sea, and which are known as echino-
derms, which simply means spiny-skins. This group includes
the sea-urchins, the starfishes, and the sea-cucumbers.

Sea-Urchins

You can find a good many of these creatures when you go
to the seaside, by hunting about on the beach at low water. In
some places on rocky coasts sea-urchins are very common.
Sometimes they are known as sea-eggs, and in many countries
they are actually boiled and eaten as food, just as we eat the
eggs of fowls and ducks. And their shells are so thickly covered
with spines that they look just like little hedgehogs which have
rolled themselves up into balls.

When the animal is alive it can move these spines at will,
each of them being fastened to the shell by a ball-and-socket
joint, just like those which we described to you when we were
telling about the vertebrae of the snakes. But after it has been
dead for a few days they are nearly always knocked off by the
action of the waves, so that the shell is left quite smooth and
bare.

By means of these spines a sea-urchin can bury itself in
the sand at the bottom of the sea in a very short time, only just
a little funnel-shaped pit being left to show where it is hiding.
And in some of the larger kinds they are really formidable
weapons, for they grow to a length of eight or ten inches, and
are so sharp and strong that they can actually pierce the sole
of a stout shoe. Besides this, they have poison-glands connected
with them, so that they can easily inflict a really serious wound.

In the shell of a sea-urchin are a number of little holes,
through which the animal pokes out most curious sucker-like

409

410 THE ANIMAL WORLD

feet when it wants to climb about over the rocks. By means
of the suckers on the upper part of the shell it often clings to
small stones, which it sometimes gathers up in such numbers
as to conceal itself entirely from sight.

Just inside the mouth of the urchin are five very large
chisel-like teeth. These are formed just like the front teeth of
the rodent animals, and grow as fast as they are worn away.

Sea-urchins are not numerous on the Atlantic shores of North
America, because these shores are not rocky except in the cold
north. One small flat kind, however, occurs in the deep waters
off this coast, and its cases are often cast up on the beaches and
are called sand-dollars. On the Pacific coast, however, sea-
urchins are common and well known; and the Indians of the
northwest coast boil them and eat them greedily.

Starfishes

More plentiful on both coasts, and extremely numerous
and harmful in all the bays and sounds from Florida to Alaine,
are the starfishes, or fivefingers, as the oystermen call them.
But although they are so abundant, very few people seem to
know what curious creatures they are.

The starfish has hundreds of little sucker-like feet, just like
those of the sea-urchin. You cannot see these, as a rule, be-
cause the starfish keeps them tucked away inside its skin.
But when it wants to use them it can poke them out in a mo-
ment.

If you want to look at these odd little feet, the best way
to do so is to take a live starfish, put it at the bottom of a pool
of sea-water, and then wait patiently for ten minutes or a quar-
ter of an hour. By the end of that time you are almost sure
to see that the animal is slowly moving. Then snatch it out
of the water, turn it upside down, and you will see hundreds
of little white objects waving about on the lower surface of its
body. These are its feet, and if you look at them through a
good strong magnifying-glass, you will see that they are shaped
just like wine-glasess, each having a kind of fleshy cup at the
end of a slender stem. And at the end of the cup is the sucker.

SEA-URCHINS, STARFISHES, ETC. 411

In the very middle of the lower part of the body of a starfish
is its mouth. This is generally rather large, for the animal
feeds chiefly on shell-bearing animals which it swallows whole,
shells and all. Then, when it has digested the bodies of its
victims, it turns their empty shells out again through its mouth.
That is an odd way of feeding, isn't it? But sometimes it
feeds in an odder way still, for when it finds a creature which
is too big to be swallowed, it will actually turn its own digestive
organs out of its mouth, wrap them round its victim, hold them
there until it is digested, and then drag them in again and
go off to look for another victim!

Starfishes eat a great many oysters in this way. So many
do they destroy, indeed, that they are the very worst foes with
which oyster-fishers have to deal, and the damage done by
them in one single oyster-bed on the coast of North America
is estimated at no less than fifty thousand dollars every year.

There are a great many different kinds of starfishes. One,
for example, has twelve rays instead of five, and looks very
much like a live sunflower. This is called the sun-star. An-
other has its five rays all joined together by webbing, very
much like the toes on a duck's foot, and is known as the bird's-
foot star. It is a very handsome creature, for while the greater
part of its body is bright yellow, it has a broad band of crimson
running all the way round the outer margin, and another stripe
of the same color down the outer edges of each ray, while the
membrane between them is fringed with yellow hairs. But
you are not very likely to find it, for it lives in rather deep water,
and is hardly ever caught except by means of that useful net
which is called a dredge.

Odder by far than any of these, however, are the brittle-
stars, which owe their name to their extraordinary habit of
breaking themselves to pieces! They nearly always do this
if they are touched or alarmed. In fact, they are so ready to
do so that it is very difficult indeed to obtain a perfect britde-
star for a museum. The creature just gives a kind of shudder,
and its five rays all drop off and break up into little pieces, all
that is left of the animal being just the central disk. But it
does not appear to suffer any pain, and loses hardly any blood.

412 THE ANIMAL WORLD

And before very long new rays grow in the place of the old
ones, so that in a few weeks' time the starfish is just as perfect
as ever!

The brittle-stars have five very long and very slender rays,
which are generally fringed on either side with yellow hairs.
And these rays are hardly ever still, but twist and writhe and
curl about so actively that they really look almost like so many
centipedes! It is by no means so numerous as the fivefinger,
and is so easily broken that it is hard to find a whole one on the
beach.

Very curious, too, is the basket-star, which at first sight does
not look like a starfish at all. The reason is that, close to its
body, each of the five rays divides into two. Then each of the
branches divides into two again, and each of those into two more,
and so on over and over again, till sometimes there are more
than eighty thousand little arms altogether!

The basket-star catches its prey by means of these wonder-
ful rays, which it wraps all round it in the form of a circular
basket. It is not at all a common creature, and is only found
in deep water.

But perhaps the oddest of all these creatures is the rosy
feather-star, which actually grows on a stalk while it is young,
and looks just like a flower with its petals spread. The stalk,
which is fastened down to a rock at>the bottom of the sea, is
made up of a great number of tiny joints, and grows longer and
longer. And when it reaches its full length the animal breaks
itself free and swims away, leaving the stem behind.

The rosy feather-star lives in rather deep water, from which
it is sometimes brought up by means of the dredge. It can
crawl about on the ground by means of its sucker-like feet,
and can swim through the water with some little speed. And
very often, to save itself trouble, it will cling by means of its
rays to a piece of floating wood, and allow itself to be carried
for long distances by the waves.

In Great Britain these may often be found near shore, but the
American feather-stars all live in very deep water. They are all
that remain of a large class of such animals which abounded in the
very ancient seas, whose fossil remains are called stone-lilies.

SEA-URCHINS, STARFISHES, ETC. 413

Sea-Cucumbers

These are really relations of the starfishes, although they
do not look in the least like them; for they closely resemble
the vegetable after which they are named. In front of the slit
at one end of the body, however, which serves as a mouth,
there is a feathery tuft. This consists of delicate little ten-
tacles, or feelers, by means of which the animal fishes for its
food, and which can be drawn back inside the body when it
is not hungry. And if it were not for this tuft one really might
almost mistake the animal for a grayish-white cucumber.

We saw just now that the brittle-star breaks off its own rays
at the slightest alarm. But the sea-cucumber, in this way, is
even odder still, for if it eats anything which disagrees with it,
as it sometimes does, it turns all its digestive organs out of its
mouth, cuts them off, and allows them to float away! Then
for three or four months it is very little else than a bag of empty
skin, with just a slit at one end and a tuft in front of it. But
at the end of that time new digestive organs begin to grow in
the place of the old ones, and very soon the sea-cucumber is
as perfect as ever!

Isn't that a remarkable way of curing indigestion?

Some of the sea-cucumbers grow to a very great size. One
indeed, when fully grown, is nearly six feet long. And in
China they are largely used as food, under the name of tre-
pang, and are looked upon as a great dainty.

CHAPTER XXXVII
MOLLUSKS

THE class of the mollusks is a very large one, for at least
fifty thousand different kinds of these creatures are
already known, while new ones are constantly being discovered.
They may be described as soft-bodied, boneless animals, which
are enclosed in a tough muscular skin called the mantle. And
they are divided into five orders, the first of which includes the
singular creatures kno\Mi as squids, or cuttles.

You may sometimes find these animals hiding in the pools
which are left among the rocks when the tide goes out; and you
can recognize them at once by the long, fleshy tentacles, or arms,
which spring from the upper part of the head. Some of them
have ten of these arms, and are called decapods; the rest have
only eight and are known as octopods. And the lower surface
of each arm is furnished with a row of circular suckers, the grip
of which is so powerful that the tentacle may even be torn in two
, without causing it to release its hold. Indeed, if quite a small
cuttle were to seize you with one of its arms, you would not find
it at all easy to make it let go again without killing it.

The cuttles employ these suckers for two purposes. In the
first place, they use them in walking. When a cuttle is crawling
along at the bottom of the sea it pushes one or two tentacles for-
w^ard, takes firm hold of a rock or a large stone with the suckers
underneath them, pulls up the body, and then thrusts them
forward again. And in the second place, they use them in
catching their prey. Quite large victims are often seized by
cuttles, and when once the deadly suckers have fastened upon
them there is no hope of escape. In spite of their struggles one
tentacle after another comes closing in, till they are completely
surrounded by the long, slimy arms, soft almost as jelly, yet
strong as steel. Then they are pushed down against the sharp,
strong beak, by which they are quickly torn in pieces.

On the upper part of the head of the cuttle there is another

414

MOLLUSKS 415

curious organ known as the siphon, which consists of two tubes
lying side by side together, Hke the barrels of a double-barreled
gun. This organ is used in three different ways.

First, it is used in breathing. The cutdes, like the fishes,
breathe water, by means of gills. These gills lie inside the head,
and the water passes down to them through one of the siphon-
tubes, and then out again through the other.

Next, it is used in swimming. When cuttles are not in a
hurry they crawl along by means of their long tentacles, as we
told you just now. But if they are startled, or alarmed in any
way, they fold all their tentacles together in a straight line, fill
both the siphon-tubes with water, and then squirt it out again
as hard as they possibly can. The result is, of course, that they
are driven rapidly backward by the recoil, just like the dragon-
fly grub, of which we have read.

But the third use of the siphon-tubes is the most curious.
If you discover a small cuttle hiding in a rock-pool, you will very
likely find that the water all round it suddenly grows dark as
night, just as if a quantity of ink had been poured into it. The
fact is this. Inside its body the cuttle has a bag filled with a
quantity of a deep-black liquid called sepia. This bag is sur-
rounded by strong bands of muscle, and opens into the siphon-
tubes. So, you see, when the animal suddenly contracts the
muscular bands, the sepia is squirted out through the siphon into
the water, which is immediately darkened for some little distance
all round. And under cover of the darkness the animal escapes.

The eggs of the cuttle are laid in a very curious way, for they
are fastened by little stalks to a stem of seaweed, so that they
look very much like a bunch of grapes. Fishermen, indeed,
nearly always speak of them as "sea-grapes."

The cuttles which are found in the British seas are always
quite small. But in some parts of the ocean these creatures grow
to a giant size. Fragments of the tentacles of an enormous cuttle,
for instance, have been found lying on the coast of Newfound-
land; and by careful calculation it was shown that if the animal
to which they belonged had stretched them out at right angles to
its body, they would actually have measured more than eighty
feet from tip to tip!

416 THE ANIMAL WORLD

These huge creatures seem to form the principal food of the
spermaceti-whale.

The Chambered Nautilus

This animal is a near relation of the cuttles. It lives in a
shell, which cannot increase in size. The mollusk itself grows,
however, and soon becomes too big to live in its home; so it forms
a second and larger compartment outside the first one. Time
after time this happens, till at last the shell consists of about
thirty-six chambers, only the outside one being inhabited by the
nautilus.

This shell is often more than a foot in diameter. But if you
were to see it when it is first taken out of the sea you would never
think that it was a shell at all. Indeed it looks much more like
a big shapeless lump of blubber, for the animal covers it entirely
with its muscular mantle, so that the shell itself is completely
concealed.

Very litde is known of the habits of the chambered nautilus,
for it lives at the bottom of the sea, at a depth of two or three
hundred fathoms. It is found in various parts of the Indian and
Pacific oceans.

Gastropods

A great many well-known creatures belong to this large group,
first upon the list being the slugs. We need not describe these
animals, but perhaps you will be surprised to hear that they
have shells! These shells are very small, however, and are
entirely covered over by the mantle, so that they cannot be seen
unless the body is dissected.

Slugs have the most wonderful power of stretching out and
drawing up their bodies. You may see one of these creatures
crawling about on a damp evening, and measuring fully five
inches in length. But at the slightest touch it begins to contract,
and in a few seconds it is just a shapeless lump, scarcely half as
long as it was before. The odd little tentacles are dravMi back
into the head, and the head is drawn back into the body so that

MOLLUSKS 417

if you did not happen to know what it was you might easily mis-
take it for a pebble.

On the right-hand side of a slug's body, as it crawls along,
you will notice a rather large and almost round hole. This is the
entrance to the breathing-organs, which lie just behind the head
and underneath the mantle.

During the daytime slugs remain in hiding, lying behind
the loose bark of dead trees, or under logs and large stones, or
in heaps of decaying leaves. And if the weather is very hot and
dry they do not come out even at night, for they very soon die
if they are deprived of moisture. But on warm, damp evenings
they travel for long distances in search of food, which is almost
entirely of a vegetable character. In Europe every gardener
knows what injury they do to gardens there, but in America
the slugs are practically harmless.

A good many different kinds of slugs are found in Great
Britain. The largest of all is the great gray slug, which often
grows to a length of more than six inches. Then the black
slug is very common in many parts of the country. It is not
always black, however, for one may often find examples which
are brown, or yellow, or gray, or even white. The milky slug,
which has a thick creamy slime, is plentiful everywhere. And
sometimes one may dig up a very curious slug — testacella —
which feeds on earthworms, and follows them down to the very
bottom of their burrows. When the weather is cold, this slug
makes a kind of cocoon of earth and slime, and lies fast asleep
inside it, often for many months at a time.

Snails

In many ways snails are very much like slugs, but they have
a shell large enough to contain the entire body when the animal
withdraws inside it. Several hundred different kinds of snails
are found in North America, and many more in other parts
of the world, varying in size from that of a small pinhead to
that of a big walnut. Some are exceedingly numerous, others
so rare and singular in their living-places that they are highly
prized by conchologists. All snails lay eggs, usually in damp

418 THE ANIMAL WORLD

soil; and if you will turn over an old log in the woods in summer,
you will be almost certain to find some of the minute shining
globules. When winter draws near all the snails go into hiding,
and they have a most curious way of closing the entrances to
their shells by .making little doors across them, composed partly
of slime and partly of very small fragments of earth. This is
in order to prevent the frosty air from getting in and killing them.
But it would never do, of course, to keep all the air out, for in that
case they would be unable to breathe. So they always leave
a tiny hole in the middle of each door, through which just enough
air can pass to prevent them from being suffocated.

Among the largest of all is the edible snail, which is largely
used for food in many parts of Europe and is imported into the
United States and pickled, to be eaten by those who like this
delicacy.

Most of the gastropod mollusks, however, live in the water,
some inhabiting ponds and streams, while others dwell in the sea.

In almost every brook and every ditch, for example, you
may find water-snails of diff'erent kinds. Some are quite flat,
and some are conical and pointed. Some are as large as land-
snails, and some are so tiny that they are almost always over-
looked. Most of them feed upon decaying leaves, and they
have an odd way of traveling by floating upside down at the
surface of the water, each with its broad fleshy " foot" expanded,
so as to convert themselves into tiny boats. You may sometimes
see quite a fleet of these little creatures being carried along by
the stream. But if you throw a stone into the water they all
sink down to the bottom at once, and do not resume their jour-
ney until many hours or even days afterward.

The eggs of this snail are laid in long jelly-like ribbons
which are generally fastened either to the stems and leaves of
water-plants, or under the edges of large stones lying at the
bottom of the stream. A very large number of gastropods
live in the sea. One of the best known of these is the whelk,
of which one reads in all books of English natural history. On
almost every sandy and shingly beach, in Western Europe,
one may find it lying about in hundreds; and even in large in-
land towns one often sees whelks for sale, both in fishmongers'

MOLLUSKS 419

shops and on barrows at the corners of the streets. Its eggs
are one of the curiosities of the sea-beach — small, yellowish-
white objects about the size of peas, made of tough, parch-
ment-like skin, and fastened together in bundles about as big
as cricket-balls. You may often find these bundles on the shore
in dozens; and most likely you will wonder how the whelk ever
managed to lay a batch of eggs a good deal bigger than itself.

But the fact is that the eggs of the whelk are just like those
of the frog. When they are first laid they are very tiny; but the
tough skin of which they are made is very elastic, so that it
will stretch almost like a piece of india-rubber. Besides this,
it has the curious property of allowing water to soak in from
the outside, but not to pass out again. So as soon as the eggs
are dropped into the sea they begin to swell, and before very
long they are quite twenty or thirty times as large as they were
when they were first laid.

We do not have these whelks in North America, but we have
a variety of small gastropods, whose shells are sometimes rough
and coiled in a spiral form, sometimes round like land-snails,
and of various sizes. One of them is the purpura, which has
many ribs, and broad dark and light stripes running spirally.
The purpura of the Mediterranean is famous for the purple
dye obtained from its body; but our species yields such a dye
also in small quantity. This was the dye anciently known as
Tyrian purple. It is contained in a little bag behind the throat,
which holds just one small drop of liquid, and no more. And
if you were to see it you would never think that it was dye at
all, for it looks only like rather yellowish water. But if it is
squeezed out on a sheet of white paper, and laid in the sunshine,
it very soon begins to change color. First it becomes green,
then blue, and then purple. And it is really the dye which the
ancient Romans valued so highly that no one who did not belong
to the royal family was allowed to dress in purple raiment.

Borers

In many parts of our eastern coast occur in great numbers
two or three kinds of small, rough, spiral gastropods, called

420 THE ANIMAL WORLD

borers by the fishermen, who hate them because of the great
number of oysters they kill. Each of these spends its whole
life in seeking and devouring other shell-bearing mullusks. It
kills and eats these in a very curious way. Like all the gas-
tropods, it possesses what we call a tooth-ribbon — that is, a
narrow strip of very tough gristle in its mouth, set with row upon
row of sharp, notched, flinty teeth. There are some times more
than six thousand of these teeth, and although they are so small
that they cannot be seen without the aid of a powerful microscope,
they are nevertheless very formidable. For every tooth is
hooked, with the points of the hook directed toward the throat.
The tooth-ribbon is used in this way: When a borer meets
with a victim, it fastens itself to it by means of its fleshy, mus-
cular "foot." Then it bores a round hole through its shell,
as neatly as if it had been pierced by a drill. And then it pokes
the tooth-ribbon dowTi into the body of the creature inside, and
draws it back again. As it does so, of course the hooked teeth
tear away little bits of the victim's flesh. The borer swallows
these, and then pokes down its tooth-ribbon once more. And
so it goes on, over and over again, until the shell of its victim
has been completely emptied, when it goes off to look for another.

Periwinkles

These are common on rocky parts of the coast, and you may
find them crawling about on the weed-covered rocks in thousands
when the tide is out. They have tooth-ribbons just like that of
the borer, but they do not use them in the same way, for they
feed only upon seaweeds. And they are remarkable for having
the foot divided by a kind of groove, which runs right down the
middle. When a periwinkle crawls, it moves first one side of
this foot forward, and then the other side, so that although it
has no legs it may really almost be said to walk.

The Cowry

One of the prettiest of the gastropod shells, is that of the
cowry, in some parts of Africa used as money. It would seem

MOLLUSKS 421

strange to earn one's living just by picking up money on the
sea-shore, wouldn't it? And perhaps you might think that
every one who h\'ed near those parts of the coast where cowries
are found must be very well off. But then sixteen hundred
of these shells are only worth about a quarter of a dollar, so
that you would ha\'e to hunt for a very long while and stoop
a great many times in order to obtain sufficient even to buy
food. And it must be very awkward to have to carry several
sacks of money when one goes out marketing! Many of
them, however, are extremely beautiful.

Limpets

Commoner still are the limpets, which you may find in
thousands clinging to the rocks that are left bare when the tide
goes out. They fasten themselves dowTi by means of the broad,
fleshy foot, which acts as a big sucker. And so firmly do they
hold that it is almost impossible to pull them away.

After a time, the edges of a limpet's shell cut a circular
groove in the rock to which it clings, so that even the sea-birds
cannot drive their beaks underneath and force it from its hold.
And though, when the tide is up, the mollusk will wander to a
distance of two or even three feet in search of food, it always
seems to return to its resting-place before the retreating waves
again leave the rock uncovered.

Amphineurans

This order of mollusks contains the curious creatures which
are known as chitons. These may be described as sea-ar-
madillos, for they are covered with a kind of shelly armor,
consisting of a series of plates, and can roll themselves up into
balls, in order to protect themselves from the attacks of their
enemies.

One of these mollusks is called the prickly chiton, because
it is covered all over with sharp spines, like a hedgehog. It
grows to a length of nearly six inches. But long before it reaches
its full size the spines are rubbed off, so that a large example of

422 THE ANIMAL WORLD

this creature is nearly always perfectly bare. The chitons live
among muddy rocks at low-water mark, and are not common
outside the tropics or in shallow water.

The order of the amphineurans is quite a small one, and so is
that of the scaphopods, which consists only of the tooth-shells,
which are very common on the sandy coasts of the Northern
Pacific, and look rather like very tiny elephants' tusks. The
Indians of the Puget Sound region used to string them as orna-
ments, and valued them highly.

Bivalves

The order of the bivalves is a very large and important one.
All these creatures have their shells made of two parts, or valves,
which are fastened together by means of a hinge. They have no
heads, and the mantle forms a kind of flap on either side of the
body. They are found both in fresh and salt water. Every one
knows the "fresh-water clams," or mussels, which abound in our
lakes and rivers. In the central and southern parts of the United
States they are exceedingly numerous and of many kinds, some
rough, others smooth. All are lined with mother-of-pearl, and
pretty buttons and other ornaments are made from them..
Moreover, pearls are very frequently discovered inside their
shells, and sometimes they are of great value.

The Pearl-Oyster

Pearls are obtained chiefly, however, from the pearl-oyster,
which is found in warm seas in many parts of the world, the
principal fisheries being in Ceylon, the Persian Gulf, the South
Sea Islands, and off the northeast coast of Australia. They are
deposited by the mantle, and it is most likely that they are really
due to a grain of sand, which has lodged inside the shell and set
up irritation. Indeed, it has been found that if small objects,
such as tiny stones, are forced between the valves of one of these
oysters, they become covered with layers of pearl in a very short
time. The best mother-of-pearl is also obtained from the
shells of the pearl-oyster.

MOLLUSKS 423

Oysters

The ordinary oyster belongs to another family of bivalves, in
which one part of the shell is a good deal larger than the other.

The early life of this moUusk is very curious. The spawn is
kno\\Ti as spat, and is produced in enormous quantities. This
spat looks at first like very fine gray dust, and remains for some
httle time within the shells of the parent. But one day in early
summer the oyster opens its valves a little way, and squirts it out
like a cloud into the water. For a few weeks the litde oysters are
able to swim, and they generally travel backward and forward
with the tide. But after a while they attach themselves to some
object at the bottom of the water, and there they remain without
moving any more for the rest of their lives.

One would think that, since a family of oysters is so enor-
mously large, these creatures must be the most plentiful mollusks
in the sea. But by far the larger number are destroyed by other
creatures before they are able to settle down; while even after
that they have a great many enemies. We have already told
you how mischievous starfishes are in the oyster-beds. Then
borers and dog-whelks are almost equally troublesome, and be-
sides these there is a curious kind of sponge, called the cliona,
which burrows into the shells of the mollusk and gradually
destroys them, sometimes actually causing them to fall to
pieces.

Black Mussels

Two or three kinds of black mussels live in vast numbers on
almost all coasts, clinging to rocks and submerged timber. The
w-ay in which a mussel fastens itself to its hold is very curious, for
instead of turning the whole of the foot into a big sucker, as the
limpet does, it spins a number of very strong threads from that
part which lies nearest to the hinge; and every one of these
threads is separately fastened to the support, so that the creature
is moored down, as it were, by a kind of cable. These threads
are known as the byssus, and hold so firmly that it is not at all

VOL. v. — 28

424 THE ANIMAL WORLD

easy to pull them away. Some of these mussels are good to cat,
but are not as much used in the United States as in Europe.

The Cockle

This is another very well-known bivalve. Its heart-shaped
shells, covered with low ridges, you must know by sight. It is
one of the burrowing mollusks, spending its life buried in sandy
mud. It is especially common at the mouths of large rivers,
where enormous quantities are collected to serve as human food.
And its large muscular foot is not only used in digging, but also
enables it to leap to a considerable height. It is to this family
that the quahog or hard clam of our markets belongs.

Razor-shells

These, too, are inhabitants of the mud, and if you want to find
their burrows all that you have to do is to visit a patch of sandy
mud when the tide is out, and stand quietly watching it. Before
long you are sure to see a little jet of water spurt out of the mud
to a height of three or four inches. Now this water has been
squirted out of the siphon-tubes of a razor-shell, and if you walk
to the spot, treading very carefully, you will find a tiny hole in the
mud. This is the entrance to the burrow, and if you want to get
the animal out, the best way to do so is to drop a little salt down
the hole. For it is a very strange fact that although the razor
cannot live in mud at the bottom of fresh water, it does not like
pure salt at all, and is sure to come up to the surface and try to
get rid of it. But if you fail to seize it at once it will retreat to the
very bottom of its burrow, and no amount of salt will per-
suade it to come up again. The soft clam, which is sold in
our markets in such enormous quantities, is a near relative of
the razor.

The Piddock

One of the most wonderful of all the bivalves is the piddock,
as it IS a boring mollusk, living buried in the solid chalk or lime-

MOLLUSKS 425

stone. If you should examine the rocks which are left bare at
low water along the shore of the Mediterranean, or some other
warm sea, you would often find that they are pierced by numbers
of rather large round holes. These are the entrances to
the burrows of piddocks; and if you could split the rock
open you would find several of these creatures lying in their
tunnels.

Sometimes, when they are boring, their burrows become
choked up behind them with the material which they have
scraped away. Then they just squirt out a jet of water from
their siphon-tubes, and so wash the passage clear.

It is really owing to the work of the piddocks that chalk and
limestone cliffs are so much cut away by the sea. The waves by
themselves can do very little in this way. For when they wash
up against the face of the cliff they leave the spores of seaweeds
behind them; and these very soon grow and co\er the whole sur-
face with a mantle of living green, which almost entirely pre-
vents the cliff from being worn away. But the piddocks drive
their burrows into the rock just below the surface of the water,
boring backward and forward till it is completely honeycombed
by their tunnels, which only have just the thinnest of walls left
between them. Then the sea washes into the burrows, and
breaks these walls down, so that the whole foundation of the cliff
is cut away. Very soon, of course, there is a landslip, and hun-
dreds of tons of chalk or limestone, as the case may be, come
falling down. Then the piddocks begin working again a little
farther back, and the process is repeated; and so on over and
over again.

On many parts of the south coast of England long stretches
of rocks run ever so far out into the sea, and are only partly left
bare at low water. Those rocks were once the bases of cliffs,
which the piddocks and the waves together have cut away. And
it even seems almost certain that the Strait of Dover was cut
in this manner, and that if it had not been for the labors of the
piddocks, carried on day after day for thousands upon thousands
of years, Great Britain even now would not be an island, but
would still form part of the continent of Europe, as we know that
it did in ages long gone by!

426 THE ANIMAL WORLD

The Teredo

There is a bivalve mollusk which burrows into submerged
timber, such as the hulls of wooden ships, or the beams of piers
and jetties. This is called the teredo, or ship-worm, and cer-
tainly it does look much more like a worm than a mollusk, for it
has a cylinder-shaped body something like a foot in length, with
a forked tail, while the shell only covers just a little part at one
end. How it burrows into the wood nobody quite knows. It is
generally supposed to do so by means of the foot. But in a very
short time it will honeycomb a great beam of timber with its
burrows, which it always lines with a kind of shelly deposit,
weakening it to such a degree that at last it gives way beneath the
slightest pressure.

Like a great many other mollusks, the teredo passes through
a kind of caterpillar stage before it reaches its perfect form.
While it is in this condition it is able to swim freely about in the
water, and looks rather like a very tiny hedgehog, being almost
globular in shape, and covered all over with short projecting
hairs. It is by means of the action of these hairs upon the water
that it is able to swim.

CHAPTER XXXVIII
ANNELIDS AND CCELENTERATES

THE important class of the annelids contains those creatures
which we generally call worms. There are a great many
of these, but we shall only be able to mention one or two.

The Common Earthworm

This worm is really a most interesting as well as a most use-
ful animal. The way in which it crawls is decidedly curious.
On the lower part of every one of the rings of which its body is
made up, with the sole exception of the head, are four pairs of
short, stiff, little bristles, projecting outward from the skin.
The worm really hitches itself along by means of these .bristles.
First it takes hold of the ground with those underneath the front
rings, then it draws up its body and takes hold with those under-
neath the hind ones, and then it pushes its head forward and
repeats the process; and so on, over and over again.

If you take a worm and pass it between your finger and
thumb from the tail-end toward the head, you can feel these
little bristles quite easily.

A worm does not often leave its burrow, however, but
generally keeps the tip of its body just inside the entrance, so
that it can retreat in a moment in case of danger.

Worms make their burrows in a very odd manner, for they
actually eat their way down into the ground, swallowing mouth-
ful after mouthful of earth until their bodies can contain no
more. Meanwhile they have been absorbing nourishment
from this soil; but presently they come up to the surface and
pour out the mold which they have swallowed in the form of
what we call a worm-cast, after which they go down again and
swallow more, and so on until the burrow is sufficiently deep.

427

428 THE ANIMAL WORLD

You will be surprised, we think, to hear how much earth
is swallowed by the worms in this way. Just think of
it. Every year, in every acre of agricultural land all over
the country, worms bring up from below, on an average, and
spread over the surface in the form of worm-casts, no less
than fourteen tons of earth, or about seven large cart-
loads !

This is why worms are such useful creatures. They are
always, as it were, digging and plowing the soil. After a time
the earth at the surface becomes exhausted. Nearly all the
nourishment is sucked out of it by the roots of the plants. But
the worms are always bringing up fresh, rich, unused soil from
below, and spreading it over the surface in the form of what
farmers call a top-dressing. They are doing, in fact, exactly
what we do when we dig our gardens or plow our fields — bury-
ing the used-up soil that it may rest, and bringing up fresh
mold to take its place.

But, besides turning the soil over, they manure it; for
almost every night from early spring to late autumn worms are
busy dragging down leaves into their burrows. With some of
these leaves they line their tunnels, with some they close the
entrances, and on some they feed. And most of them decay
before very long and turn into leaf-mold, whicli is just about
the very best manure that there is. So you see, the worms do
not merely turn the soil over, they enrich it as well, and help
very largely indeed to keep it in such a condition that plants
can continue to grow in it.

The Lugworm

The similar lugworm lives in sandy mud on the sea-shore;
and when the tide is out you may often see its casts in thou-
sands. It is very largely used by fishermen as bait. When it
is carefully washed it is really quite a handsome creature, for
sometimes it is deep crimson in color, and sometimes dark
green, while on its back are twenty-six little scarlet tufts, ar-
ranged in pairs, which are really the gills by which the worm
breathes.

ANNELIDS AND CCELENTERATES 429

The burrows of the lugworm are not quite like those of
the earthworm, for as its tunnels through the sand it pours out
a kind of glue-like liquid, which very soon hardens and lines
the walls, so as to form a kind of tube and prevent the sides
from falling; in.

The Terebella

This worm forms very much stronger tubes. It is common
on many parts of our coasts. But it is not very easily found,
for at the slightest alarm it retreats to the very bottom of its
burrow, which nearly always runs under large stones and
rocks.

The terebella makes its tube by means of the little feelers,
or tentacles, which spring from the front part of its body. These
have a most wonderful power of grasp, and one after another
little grains of sand are seized by them, and carefully arranged
in position. And when the tube is quite finished, the animal
constructs a little tuft of sandy threads, so to speak, round the
entrance, which you may often see in the pools left among
the rocks by the retreating tide.

The Sea-Mouse

Looking far more like a hairy slug than a worm, the sea-
mouse also belongs to the class of the annelids. You can easily
find this creature by hunting in muddy pools among the rocks
just above low- water mark; and most likely you will consider
it as one of the dingiest and most unattractive-looking animals
that you have ever seen. But if you rinse it two or three times
over in clean water till every atom of mud has been washed out
of its bristly coat, you may change your opinion. For now
you will see all the colors of the rainbow playing over it —
crimson, purple, orange, blue, and vivid green — just as if every
hair were a prism. It would be difficult, indeed, to find any
creature more beautiful in the waters of the sea. This bristly
coat is really a kind of filter, which strains out the mud from the
water that passes to the gills.

430 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Leeches

Leeches, too, are annelids, living in fresh water instead of
salt water. They arc famous for their blood-sucking habits,
and when we examine their mouths through a microscope we
find that they are provided with three sets of very small saw-
like teeth, which are set in the form of a triangle. When a
leech wants to suck the blood of an animal, it fastens itself to
the skin of its victim by means of i/s sucker-like lips, and then
saw^s out a tiny triangular piece of skin. That is why it is so
difficult to stop the bleeding after a leech has bitten one. An
actual hole is left in the skin, which does not heal over for some
little time. And a great deal of blood is generally taken by
the leech itself, which will go on sucking away until its body
is stretched out to at least double its former size.

That is rather a big meal to take, isn't it? But then such
meals come very seldom. Indeed, when a leech has once
gorged itself thoroughly with blood, it will often take no more
food at all for a whole year afterward!

Leeches lay their eggs in little masses, called cocoons,
which they place in the clay-banks of the pools in which they
live. In each of these cocoons there are from six to sixteen eggs.

We now come to the last great class of animals about which
we shall be able to tell you — that of the ccelenterates. It con-
tains three most interesting groups of creatures.

Jellyfishes

You may have seen plenty of jellyfishes if at any time you
have been staying at the seaside, for they are often flung up
on the beach by the retreating tide. But if you were to go and
look for them two or three hours after seeing them, on a bright
sunny day, you would find that they had disappeared. All
that would be left of them would be a number of ring-like
marks in the sand, with just a few threads of animal matter
in the middle of each. The reason would be that they had
evaporated! That sounds rather strange, doesn't it? But
the fact is that the greater part of the body of a jellyfish is

ANNELIDS AND CCELENTERATES 431

nothing but water! It is quite true that if you cut it in half
the water does not run away. But then that is equally true of
a cucumber; and cucumbers, too, are made almost entirely of
water. The reason is the same in both cases. The water
is contained in a very large number of tiny cells; and when you
cut either the animal or the vegetable across, only a few of these
cells are divided, and only a small quantity of the water escapes.

Round the edge of the disk of a jellyfish which has just
been flung up by the waves you will find a number of long,
slender threads. These are its fishing-lines, with which it
captures its prey, and they are made in a very curious manner.
All the way along they are set with a double row of very tiny
cells, in each of which is coiled up an extremely sharp and
slender dart. These cells are so formed that at the very slightest
touch they fly open, and the little darts spring out; and, besides
this, the darts are poisoned. So as soon as any small creature
swims up against these threads a number of the venomed darts
bury themselves in its body, and the poison acts so quickly
that in a very few seconds it is dead. Then other threads
come closing in all round it, and in a very short time it is forced
into the mouth and swallowed.

Some jellyfishes are so poisonous that they are most danger-
ous even to man. Only one of these, however, is found in the
North Atlantic, almost all the jellyfishes that one finds lying
about on the beach being perfectly harmless. But if, when you
are bathing, you see a yellowish-brown jellyfish about as big
as a soup-plate swimming near you in the water, be sure to
get out of its way as fast as you possibly can; for if its threads
should touch any part of your body, you are almost sure to
be very badly stung. There is very little doubt, indeed, that
many swimmers have been killed by these creatures; while
thousands of unwary bathers have been laid up for days, or
even weeks, from the effects of their poison.

SEA-A>rEMONES

What beautiful creatures are these — just like flowers grow-
ing under the sea! Some are like dahlias, some like chrysan-

432 THE ANIMAL WORLD

themums, and some like daisies, of all shades of crimson, and
purple, and orange, and green, and it is very hard to believe
that they are really living animals.

The tentacles of these creatures, which look so like the
petals of flowers, are set with little cells containing poisoned
darts, just like the fishing-threads of the jellyfishes. They
can be spread out or drawn back into the body at will, and when
they have all been withdrawn the anemone seems to be nothing
more than a shapeless lump of colored jelly.

Anemones spend the greater part of their lives clinging to
the surface of a rock at the bottom of the water, the broad base
of the body acting just like a big sucker. They can crawl about,
however, at will, and sometimes they will rise to the surface of
the sea, turn upside do^^^l, hollow their bodies into the form
of little boats, and then float away, perhaps for quite a long
distance.

But few sea- anemones are seen on our eastern coast, because,
except in the cool north, there are few rocks. On the warmer
and rockier shores of California and northward, however,
these lovely creatures occur in great variety.

Corals

Last upon our list come those most wonderful little crea-
tures which are known as corals.

These are often called coral insects, but that is a great
mistake. For they have nothing to do with insects at all, and
are as different from them in every way as they can possibly
be. They are properly called polyps, and we can best describe
them, perhaps as very small sea-anemones. But they have
one property which the anemones do not possess, namely, the
power of extracting lime out of the sea-water and building
it up round themselves in the form of coral.

These creatures may be roughly divided into two groups,
the one consisting of the simple corals, which only live together
in very smafl numbers, and the other of the reef-builders, which
live in vast colonies, and build up masses of coral of enormous
size. The latter are by far the more interesting, and the way

ANNELIDS AND CCELENTERATES 433

in which they build up immense banks of coral is very wonder-
ful indeed.

Remember, first of all, that these animals multiply in two
different ways — sometimes by eggs, and sometimes by little buds,
so to speak, which grow out of the body of the parent. The
polyps which hatch out from eggs swim about for some little
time quite freely. But after a few days they fasten themselves
down to the surface of a submerged rock, and after that they
never move again. Other polyps soon come and settle dowTi by
them, and before very long there will be thousands upon thou-
sands of the little animals all growing, as it were, close together,
and all gradually building up coral underneath and round the
margins of their bodies.

When they reach their full size they begin to multiply by
"budding." Baby polyps sprout out all over their bodies, and
these, instead of swimming about for a few days like those which
are hatched from eggs, remain fixed where they are for the whole
of their lives. Then they, in their turn, begin to deposit coral,
and as they have nowhere else to put it they place it on the bodies
of their parents, which before very long are completely covered
in. Now, you see, there is a second layer of coral on the top of
the first. Then in due course of time a third layer is formed up-
on the second, and a fourth layer upon the third, each generation
being built in by the one that comes after it, till at last the coral
bank rises above the surface of the water. Then the work has to
stop; for these little creatures cannot live unless the waves can
constantly break over them. But although the bank cannot be
raised higher it can still be extended on all sides; and so the little
polyps go working on, year after year, till at last the results of
their labor are almost too wonderful to realize.

Coral Banks

These coral banks take three different forms.

First, there are the fringing reefs. These are great banks of
coral surrounding the shores of a tropical island, or running for
long distances on the coasts of the mainland. The island ^of
jMauritius, for example, is entirely surrounded by a fringing reef.

434 THE ANIMAL WORLD

These reefs often spread out for miles into the sea, and they are
only broken here and there by narrow passages, where some river
or stream is flowing out. For the polyps cannot live in fresh water.

Next, there are barrier reefs. These are great walls of coral
at a distance from the shore, with deep water between the two.
For the polyps are unable to work at a greater depth than about
thirty fathoms, or one hundred and eighty feet, below the surface;
and it often happens that while there is deep water close to the
shores of a tropical island, there is shallow water farther out. In
such a case the polyps have to build out at sea, instead of close
into the land, and there is a kind of moat between the coral bank
and the shore. In this case the bank is called a barrier reef,
and sometimes it is of enormous size. The Great Barrier Reef,
for instance, runs for no less than 1250 miles along the north-
east coast of Australia.

Then, thirdly, there are coral islands, or atolls. There are
thousands of these wonderful islands in the Pacific and the Indi-
an oceans, and others are still being slowly pushed up out of the
sea. They always take the form of more or less circular rings,
in the center of which is a lake of sea-water called a lagoon. The
coral bank of which they consist is seldom more than a few hun-
dred feet wide, but sometimes the islands are very large indeed.
The biggest of all is ninety miles long and sixty miles broad,
while several others are not very much smaller. Soon after they
rise to the surface of the sea a kind of soil is deposited upon them,
made up partly of powdered coral, ground up by the action of
the waves, and partly of decaying vegetable matter which has
been flung up on them. Then sea-birds bring mud upon their
feet from the mainland, or from another island at a distance, and
leave some of it behind them when they settle down to rest;
and in that mud are seeds of plants, which soon begin to sprout
and grow. So in a very few years the island is covered with low
vegetation. Then one day, perhaps, a floating cocoanut is flung
up, and that, too, takes root and grows, so that in course of time
there is a palm-tree. Other palm-trees, of course, follow; and
the result is that the first glimpse which a traveler gets of a coral
island is nearly always that of a row of palm-trees upon the
horizon.

ANNELIDS AND CCELENTERATES 435

The simple corals live in almost all parts of the ocean.
Some of them are occasionally dredged up off our coasts, and
can live in very cold water. But the reef -builders are only found
in warm seas, and are never found working far outside the
boundaries of the tropics.

How wonderful it seems that tiny creatures such as these
polyps, which really do not appear to be much more than little
lumps of living jelly, should be able to build up these vast masses
of coral from out of the depths of the sea! One cannot help
wondering what the results of their work will be if the world
should last for a few thousand years longer. It would really
seem that by that time the tropical seas will be choked up with
coral islands, and the lagoons inside them will be filled up with
coral too; so that not merely islands, but continents, will have
been raised from the ocean by some of the smallest and weakest
and most insignificant of all living animals!

NORTH AMERICAN SEED-EATING SONG-BIRDS

1. Scarlet Tanager, or Black-winged Redbird. 2. Song Sparrow. 3. Baltimore Oriole.
4. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 5. Cowbird. 6. Cardinal Grosbeak. 7- Purple Finch.
8. Indigo Finch. All are adult males.

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST

Suggestions for Teacher and Pupil in
Nature Study

SPRING

LET us suppose that we are taking four country walks to-
gether, and trying to use, in actual experience in the
field, the information we have been reading. The first shall
be in the spring, the second in summer, the third when
autumn leaves are falling, and the last in midwinter. We will
go along the field-path, follow the lane through the woods to the
creek, then down the stream to the road, and so homeward.

There is plenty to be seen, this bright spring morning. The
birds are very busy, of course, for they have nests to build, and
eggs to lay, and little ones to take care of; so they are hard at
work from the very first thing in the morning till the very last
thing at night. Almost every sparrow that we see has a feather
or a piece of straw in its beak, and the robin which has just
flown out of that tree with a terrified squall has already finished
building, and was most likely sitting upon her eggs. Yes,
there is her nest, you see, right on the lowest limb, with four
greenish blue eggs.

See that catbird, all lead-color, with a black cap. See her
dodge into that bush just beyond us. It is just the place for her
nest; and, sure enough, here it is. It is a rough affair, but she
mews as pitifully at us as if it were the finest of homes, and half
a dozen other birds are already screaming their sympathy. Let
us just look at the eggs, and remember that they are a deep
polished green, and then walk on, for the poor mother is very

437

438 THE ANIMAL WORLD

unhappy. We have no use for the eggs, and it would be shame-
ful to rob her; and, besides, we should thus destroy the coming
lives of four catbirds, who will be too useful as insect-hunters in
our gardens to be wasted.

This path is dusty, and we notice a great many pinhole doors
of the little black ants. The ants are running in and out of
them, and if we should carefully dig up the ground we would
find a labyrinth of narrow passages, here and there widening
into chambers, and so learn that these tiny holes are entrances to
an ant-city whose streets are all subways.

Here are some larger ants — three times as big — a regular
procession of them going and coming out from under that half-
buried stone, winding through the grass, and then trotting up and
down this tree-trunk. A lot of them go out along that low limb.
Let us climb upon the fence, and try to see what it is that attracts
them. Ah! This is the secret. Clustered thickly on the bark
are hundreds of minute green creatures, smaller than pinheads.
They are busily sucking the sap from the bark, and seem to
interest the ants greatly, for they are stroking these bark-lice
(aphids) with their feelers, and if we had a magnifying-glass we
could see that they were licking up a honey-like liquid which
oozes out of two short tubes on the back of each aphid.

A little distance beyond the ant's apple-tree a young maple
stretches one of its branches out to the sunlight just above our
heads, where the sharp eyes which young naturalists must keep
wide open when they walk abroad will notice a bird's nest hung
under the shelter of its broad outermost leaves. It is one of the
loveliest nests in the world. A slim, graceful, olive-green little
bird glides out from beneath the maple-leaves as we approach,
perches near by and watches us silently. Though she does not
mew and scream as did the catbird, she is just as anxious, you
may be sure. Be easy, dear little vireo — for we know your
name — we shall not ruin your home. Let us pull the branch
gently down a little. Now we can see that the nest is a round
hammock, woven of grapevine bark and spider-web, and hung
by its edges. It seems too fragile to hold the weight of the
mother, slight as she is; and in it are three white eggs with a
circle of pink and purple dots around their larger ends. But

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 439

here is also a fourth egg, much larger, grayish white, and
speckled all over with brown.

That is the egg of the cowbird, a sort of purple, brown-headed
blackbird which you may almost always see in pastures where
there are cattle. The cowbirds, like the European cuckoos,
never build any nests of their ow^n, but put their eggs into those of
other birds, and leave them to be hatched. And they are very
fond of choosing the nest of a vireo. One would think that the
mother would notice at once that a strange egg had been placed
in her nest, and would throw it out. But she never seems to do
so, but sits on the cowbird egg as well as on her own, so that in
course of time she hatches out three or four little vireos and one
young cowbird. Then what do you think the stranger does?
Why, as soon as the mother vireo goes out to look for caterpillars
for food, it begins to wriggle underneath the other little birds,
and soon shoves them out of the nest, one after another. Still
more strange is it, that when the vireo comes back she never
seems to care that her own little ones are all lying dead on the
ground below, but gives all the food that they would have eaten
to the cowbird. And the greedy cowbird eats it all ! Until it is
fledged she feeds it in this way, and takes the greatest care of it,
and even after it has left the nest and is able to fly about she will
come and put caterpillars into its beak.

Look at the trunk of this tree. Why has so much of the
bark fallen away from the wood? And what is this curious
pattern engraved, as it were, upon the wood — a broad groove
running downward, and a number of smaller grooves branching
out from this on each side?

Ah! that is the work of a very odd little beetle, with a black
head and reddish-brown wing-cases. About eighteen months
ago, probably, a mother beetle came flying along, settled on the
tree, and bored a hole through the bark, just big enough for her
to pass through. Then she began to burrow downward between
the bark and the wood, cutting the central groove which you see
in the pattern. As she did so she kept on laying eggs, first on
one side of the groove and then on the other, in the short branch-
tunnels, which she cut out as she went along. In this way she
laid, perhaps, eighty or ninety eggs altogether. Wlien the last

VOL. V. 29

440 THE ANIMAL WORLD

had been laid she turned round, dimbed up her burrow again,
passed into the hole by which she came in, and — died in it! And
by so doing she blocked up her burrow with her dead body, and
so prevented centipedes and other hungry creatures from get-
ting in and eating up her eggs.

Early in the following spring all the eggs hatched, and out
came a number of hungry little grubs with hard, horny heads
and strong, sharp little jaws. Every one of these grubs at once
began to make a burrow of its o^^Tl, boring away at right angles
to the groove made by the mother beetle, and cutting away the
fibers which bind the bark to the wood. The consequence was,
of course, that by the time they were fully grown quite a big piece
of bark had been cut away. And very likely if we were to come
and look at the tree again in two years' time we should find that
the whole of the trunk had been completely stripped.

''Then these little beetles are very mischievous?" Oh, no,
they are not; for they never touch a healthy tree. They only
attack those trees which are sickly or diseased.

Here we are on the banks of the stream. Let us make our
way home by the path which lies beside it.

Ah! Did you see that flash of blue and white and orange
that went darting by, almost like a streak of many-colored light,
sounding a loud rattling call as he flew? It was a kingfisher,
and if we stand quite still for a minute or two, without moving so
much as a finger, we shall very likely see him again. Yes, there
he is, sitting on that branch overhanging the stream, and peering
down into the water beneath. He is watching for little fishes,
upon which he feeds. There, he has caught sight of one, and
down he drops into the water, splashes about for a moment or
two, and then rises with a minnow in his beak. Back he flies to
his perch, slaps the little fish against the branch once or twice to
kiU it, jerks it up into the air, catches it head foremost as it falls,
and then swallows it with one big gulp. A moment later he is
peering down into the water again on the lookout for another.

That hole in the face of the steep bank across the stream is
the doorway of the kingfisher's home. If we could get there,
and should try to dig it, we would find it a hard task; for from
that round door a tunnel runs into the ground probably six or

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 441

eight feet, and ends in a chamber where lie half a dozen pure
white eggs, resting upon the bones of fishes and scraps of every
sort, which make a very ill-smelling place for the young king-
fishers to be born in; but they do not mind that.

The butterfly that has just floated by is a small tortoise-shell,
and it has lived through the winter, which kills nearly all of the
butterfly tribe. That is why its wings are faded and chipped,
for it had six or eight weeks of active life before it hid itself away,
last of all, in a hollow tree, and entered upon a six-months'
slumber. Sometimes, on a warmer day than usual, these and
certain other butterflies will be roused up, and will flutter about
in the sunshine, so that now and then you may capture a tortoise-
shell even in the Christmas holidays.

The warm May sunshine is enticing out many a minute
insect — gnats and flies especially. Dancing companies of small
sulphur yellow and other companies of blue butterflies whirl
about one another over the rapidly growing grass.

Have you noticed among the May flowers how many are
yellow? There are dandelions, and yellow violets, and the
modest fivefinger low in the herbage, while above them tower
great tufts of wild mustard and indigo, the buttercups, the marsh-
marigold, and many another.

The frogs and toads are less noisy than a month ago, and one
sees fewer masses and strings of eggs in the roadside ditches than
in April; but in their place the pools swarm with tadpoles, and it
will be well worth your while to keep watch of their growth.
Try to find out what they eat, and what eats them. Observe
when the tail begins to disappear, and how it is lost; when the
legs begin to appear, and v/hich pair first shows itself. You
may learn a lot of interesting facts about frogs and toads before
the summer is done, if you are diligent.

In this stream are a few turtles. Can you tell when and
where they lay their eggs? Keep careful w^atch of the little
sandy beaches, and perhaps you may see one digging a hole in
which to bury her set of sixty or so, leaving the sun to supply a
better warmth than she could give them.

May is a month of activity for snakes. They have thrown
off the stiffness and drowsiness of their long winter torpidity, and,

442 THE ANIMAL WORLD

grown thin after five months of fasting, are running about in
search of food. Let the frogs and toads, the beetles and young
ground-sparrows and mice — also weak from their winter trials —
take heed, for the swift blacksnake or sly garter, or rapacious
water-snake will seize them before they have time to squeal!

The water in the stream is still cool, but the fishes are strug-
gling up the current, pickerel are spawning in the weedy shal-
lows, and among the pebbles of the bottom a host of young
creatures are beginning to grow vigorous.

None among them is more active than the larval caddis-flies,
or case-worms, as anglers call them. Here is a caddis-fly now,
its gauzy wings folded tentwise over its back. All its earlier life
was spent in the water, and when it was a grub it lived in a very
curious case, which it made by cutting up a rush into short
lengths, and sticking them together by means of a kind of natural
glue. When once a caddis-grub has made one of these cases it
never gets out of it again, but drags it about wherever it goes.
And if you try to pull it out you will find that you cannot do so
without killing it. For at the end of its body it has a pair of
strong little pincers, with which it holds on so firmly and so dog-
gedly to its case that you might actually pull it in two without
forcing it to loose its hold.

There are different kinds of caddis-fl.ies, however, and the
grub of one kind fastens grains of sand together to make a case,
while that of another sticks two dead leaves face to face, and
lives between them.

It would be an interesting task for a boy or girl to see how
many different kinds of caddis-flies, judging by their cases, lived
in the stream, and to keep them alive in an aquarium, and watch
their behavior and changes.

n

SUMMER

A WALK in midsummer is a stroll through what seems a
quiet world compared with the noise and brightness of
May. Then every leaf was green and crisp, every bird in full

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 443

song, and the world seemed to have an air of gay youth, Hke a
vigorous boy or girl full of eagerness and activity.

Now as July draws toward its end the eagerness has sub-
sided and the year, like a lad grown a little older and more
serious, has settled down to regular work. Had our walk been
taken before breakfast, we should have heard no end of birds
singing, it is true; but about the time the dew dried from the
grass most of them ceased their music. One reason, besides the
noonday heat, is that they are too busy to sing, for the husband
and father — and he is the singer of the family — must now help
his mate feed her young. We fear, however, he is not a very
good provider after the fledglings quit the nest, leaving most of
their support and schooling to the mother. At this season one
may often come upon and watch a little family group of this
kind, and perhaps we may do so.

^Meanwhile let us sit down for a moment on this grassy bank
— not too near that fence-post, for do you not see twined about it
that vine with the reddish hairy stem, and the shining leaves in
groups of threes? That is the poison-i\7, which may cause an
itching rash to break out upon your skin if you touch it. You
must learn to recognize and avoid this "ivy" — which is not a
true iv}', but a kind of climbing sumach — before you go poking
around in the fields, or you will be sorry. Do you notice the
delicious beeswax-like odor in the air? That comes from the
big yellow branches of blossoms on another and perfectly harm-
less kind of sumach — that scraggly sort of bush just beyond the
fence.

See how the bees are humming about it — some of them
honey-bees from a farmer's hive, others big bumblebees and
small burrowing kinds. All are in search of the minute drops of
sweet liquid which each of the tiny flowers in the blossom-head
contains, and which turns into honey after it has been carried a
little while in the insect's crop, or lower part of the throat, where
it lodges. Then it is suitable to be really swallowed, or to be
coughed up and fed to the young bees at home, or stored away
in the cells of such bees as store up honey, for many wild bees do
not make such stores.

Besides its nectar, however, every flower contains a quantity

444 THE ANIMAL WORLD

of small particles, like dust, which are produced in the heads of
the little thread-like interior parts of the blossom called the
stamens; and in order that the flower shall turn to a seed it is
needful that some grains of this dust, or pollen, shall fall upon
another hollow part called the pistil, and so pass down into its
base. It is much better that the pollen of one flower shall get
into the pistil of another than into its o^vn. The wind manages
this to some extent — especially for the grasses — by shaking or
blowing the loose pollen out of one flower and into another.

But the bees help this process greatly, and so may be said to
pay for the sweets they use. Watch this one buzzing in front of
that clump of jewelweed. Suddenly the loud humming ceases,
and the bee crowds herself into the hanging, bell-like blossom,
searching for the nectar. Now she is backing slowly out, and
you may see how her furry body is half-powdered with yellow
dust. That is pollen; and when she dives into another "jewel"
she will brush some of it off against the pistil there, which is
right in her way, and is very glad to accept her gift. So the bees
and other insects humming about the flowers in this hot sunshine
are not only getting their living but helping the plants to keep
vigorous and produce lots of healthy seed.

Now let us move on. The sky is filled with swallows.
There are the fork-tailed ones that make their nests inside the
barn; the square-tailed ones that form their curious bottle-shaped
nests of mud on the outside, under the eaves; and the purple mar-
tins that live in our bird-house in the garden. They are darting
and dashing and skimming about in mid-air as though they did
not know what it is to be tired; and if only they were a little
closer we should see that every one of them has its mouth wide
open. The reason is that these birds have very sticky tongues,
and that all the time they are in the air they are chasing flying
insects, bothersome gnats and mosquitoes among the rest. As
soon as one of these insects is touched by the tongue, it sticks to it.
Then, without swallowing it, the bird tucks it away in the upper
part of its throat, and goes off to hunt for another. After a time
it has quite a ball of little bugs packed away in this curious
manner, and can carry no more; so it flies off to its nest, and
divides them among its little ones.

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 445

Do you see that small olive-green bird sitting very erect on
that fence-post ? There — it suddenly springs into the air, flut-
ters up and do\vn for just half a moment, and then returns to the
post. It is a flycatcher, and for hours together it will go on catch-
ing insects just in that same way. As it alights it tells us its name,
calling Phce-e-be, Phce-e-be in a sad sort of voice, though there is no
reason to think it is sorrowful at all. If we should go dowm to
that bridge over the stream in the valley we would find its solid
nest of moss and mud among the stones of one of the piers.

The woodland path is not so good a place for birds as are
more open spaces; but one hears here the distant cooing of a
dove, the chip-chiir-r-r shout of the scarlet tanager, as red as fire
everywhere except on its black wings and tail, and often the
tapping of a woodpecker. There is one at work now on that tall
dead stub. If you want to see him you must keep perfectly still,
for if he notices that he is watched he begins to think some harm
may follow, and either flies away or stops work, scrambling
around the trunk and peering out from behind it with one eye to
see what you mean to do next. See how firmly he clings to the
trunk. If you were close enough you could see that two of the
large-clawed toes at the end of his short strong legs and feet
were straight forward and two straight backward; and that he is
also propping himself up by means of his short stiflf little tail,
which is bent inward, and really serves as a kind of natural
camp-stool! Now he is pecking away at the bark with his
strong chisel-like beak, and making the chips fly in all directions.
Most likely the grub of some burrowing beetle is lying hidden
in the wood below, and he is trying to dig it out. But he will
not have to dig down to the very bottom of its tunnel, for he has
a very long slender tongue with a brush-like tip; and this tip is
very sticky, x\nd with this, after he has enlarged the mouth of
the burrow, he will lick out the little grub which is lying hidden
away within it.

Now let us make our way to the path by the side of the stream.

What a number of galls there are on these oak-trees — some
on the leaves, some hanging down from the twigs in clusters,
like currants, and some growing on the twigs themselves! Do
you know what causes them?

446 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Well, a very tiny fly pricks a hole in a leaf, or a young shoot,
by means of a kind of sharp sting at the end of her body, and in
that hole she places an egg, together with a very small drop of a
peculiar liquid. This liquid has an irritating effect on the leaf,
or twig, and causes a swelling to grow; and when this has reached
its full size, and become what we call a gall, a little grub hatches
out of the egg, and begins to feed upon it. Sometimes there are
several grubs in one gall. If we were to cut one of those large
red and white "oak-apples" to pieces, probably we should find
as many as a dozen, each lying curled up in a hollow which it
had eaten out

If a naturalist had to choose some one place in which to can-y
on his outdoor studies, he could find none better than the course
of a small rural river, and a year's work would not exhaust it.
Just now, in midsummer, he would be most interested in the
nesting of the sunfish and minnows. Let us steal quietly to the
brink, where the turf forms a little bank, a foot or so high, to
which the bottom slopes up in clear sand and gravel, with here
and there a clump of bulrushes. Let us lie down and scan this
bottom through the clear water rippling gently by, keeping very
quiet, so as not to alarm any fishes which may swim near, for
they are the very fellows we wish to see.

Here comes a little one — a common shiner — no, a golden one —
stealing cautiously toward an open space. A much smaller
fish — not so big as your little finger — shoots past him and stops
as suddenly as if it had run against a wall, then an instant later
is off again so swiftly you can hardly see it move. No wonder
it is called Johnny Darter! Meanwhile the shiner, a minnow
in a scale-armor of burnished gold, moves slowly on. Where is
he aiming ? Ah ! look over there. Do you see that low ring of
sand, about as large as a dinner-plate, running about some clear
gravel, as though the plate were strewn with small pebbles ?

That is a nest of a sunfish; and look! did you see the swoop
of that gray shadow from the bulrushes? The shiner turned
and fled like a bright streak through the water; and now the
gray shadow is poised over the dish-like nest, and we see that it
is the blue-eared sunfish, or " punkin-seed, " as you say the boys
call it when they go a-fishing.

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 447

See how with its breast-fins it fans the gravel among which
its eggs are lying. They are so small and transparent that we
cannot see them, but they are there, and must be kept clean.
So the fish stirs the water and the current sweeps away every-
thing which may have lodged there while the owner was away
for a few minutes. But he never goes far, for he must guard his
treasures against enemies like the shiner and other fishes, sala-
manders, water-bugs, and the like, which would eat them if they
dared.

Butterflies innumerable greet us and dance along the road-
side, as if to see us safely home. Many are small and yellow, or
white and yellow, with handsomely bordered wings, and they are
greatly interested in the clover. Then we see plenty of little
blues, very regular in oudine, and with them various coppers,
distinguished by their orange and brown colors, each with a
coppery tinge and set off by black markings. The hair-streaks
are bro'wn, too, with delicate stripes for ornaments on the lower
surface, which are shown neatly when the wings are closed up-
right above the back. Did you know this was one of the dis-
tinctive marks of a butterfly ? A moth never holds its wings on
high in that fashion.

But it is the larger butterflies that first catch the eye, such as
the monarch and the viceroy, the fritillaries, fox-red and black,
with trimmings of silver; the red admiral, and other anglewings,
beautiful in oudine as well as in colors; the delicately pretty
meadow-browns, and the magnificent swallowtails and mourn-
ing-cloaks.

Don't you think it would be interesting and delightful to
study these exquisite creatures?

Ill

AUTUMN

IT is a bright warm day in October; and once imore, as we go
for our ramble, everything seems changed. The autumn
flowers are blooming, the autumn tints are in the leaves; and

448 THE ANIMAL WORLD

again there are different animals, and different birds, and dif-
ferent insects almost everywhere around us.

We hardly take ten steps before there is a sudden commotion
in a clump of tall grass by the path, and a red-backed mouse
leaps almost over our toes and dives down a little hole which
otherwise we should not have noticed. Doubtless he carried a
mouthful of grass-seeds to add to his granary under ground.
All over the country mice and gophers and squirrels are doing
the same thing. There's a big gray squirrel, now, scratching
a hole in the ground as busily as a terrier who thinks he smells
a mole. Suddenly he stops, drops a hickory-nut into the little
grave, paws the dirt and leaves over it, pats them down, and
canters away. All day he is burying nuts so that when, next
winter, the trees are bare, he may dig them up and feed upon
their meat. Sometimes he doesn't need to, or forgets, and then
a tree may spring up. Many a fine hickory or chestnut was
planted in this way by squirrels.

What is that red squirrel doing under the chestnut-tree by
the side of the lane? He is hard at work collecting chestnuts,
stuffing his big cheeks with them and carrying them away to
hide for use next winter. He seems to realize that although he
will sleep in his bed under the stone fence almost the whole
time from Thanksgiving to Easter, he will wake up now and
then, on warm days, and will feel dreadfully hungry. But
then there will be little to be found in the way of food. So he is
now gathering nuts and acorns and dry mushrooms, and hiding
them away so as to be prepared. Some he puts in a hole in the
trunk of a tree, others in crevices in the stone wall; others he
takes into his hole underground, where his cousin, the saucy
chipmunk, stores all of his savings.

Notice how the pretty little animal uses his bushy tail as he
scampers along a branch. Do you see that he holds it stretched
out behind him, and keeps on turning it slightly first to one side
and then to the other ? The fact is that it helps him to keep his
balance. When a man walks upon the tight rope he generally
carries in his hands a long pole, which is weighted at each end
with lead. Then if he feels that he is losing his balance, he can
almost always recover it again by tilting up his pole. The

CHICKADRE'AND WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 449

squirrel's tail serves him as a sort of balancing-pole, and by
turning it a little bit to one side, or a little bit to the other, he can
run along the slenderest branches at full speed without any
danger of falling.

Everywhere we go we hear the whirring of grasshoppers, the
chirping of black crickets, and the shrill declarations of the
katydids. A blind man who could not see the scarlet of the
maples, the deep crimson and purple of sumachs, the pepperidge
and the blackberry thickets, or the golden glow in the birches as
the sunlight strikes through them, would know the season of the
year by the sounds.

How do the insects make their noise — for one can hardly call
it singing ? That will be a good subject for you to look up in
your books. The air is filled with the droning and humming of
other insects; how are these sounds produced?

We notice the insect-noises more, perhaps, because other
animals are so quiet. It is rare to hear the croak of a frog, or
the piping of a tree-toad or the note of a bird. What has become
of the birds ? When we see a few they are in flocks, and seem
very intent on traveling somewhere. The truth is they are
gathering in companies and journeying away to the south,
where winter, with its cold and snow and hunger, cannot follow
them. Next spring they will come back again, to spend the
summer with us.

Only those birds remain which can live upon seeds, or pick
up rough fare along the sea-shore, A band of small winged
friends are flitting about among the weeds ahead of us. Do
you not know them? Look closely. Aren't the canary-like
form and black wings familiar? You would say they were
goldfinches if they were more yellow, wouldn't you ? Now you
see that that is what they are, but in an olive dress. The fact
is that all birds molt their feathers twice a year. In spring the
new feathers come out in bright colors, and in autumn there
worn gay coats are lost, and feathers of duller hue take their
place. Thus the brilliant yellow and black goldfinch of summer
becomes a quiet Quaker in winter. Such a change is very ad-
vantageous to the birds — how, you may study out for your-
selves.

450 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Butterflies are scarce, too, but these have died, not run away,
as the birds are doing. One sees a good many sluggish cater-
pillars, however; and sharp eyes may begin to find cocoons
hanging from the bushes, or tucked into crevices of bark, or
plastered against rocks and the boards of old fences. If you
were to keep account of all the different kinds you could find,
you would soon have a long list; and if you were to learn how to
keep them properly and care for the butterflies and moths which
will come out of them in the spring, you could start an admirable
cabinet.

Here is a patch of milkweed. Examine each plant thorough-
ly because there may be a gift for you hidden among the leaves.
You have found "something pretty," you say? What is it
like? "Like a green thimble, with rows of gold buttons on it."
That is a pretty accurate description; only your thimble is closed
at the top, where it hangs by a short thread, and it is heavy and
alive, for it is the lovely chr\'salis of the milkweed butterfly.
Next summer you must learn the appearance of that species,
which you can easily do, for it is one of our largest and common-
est ones.

Where the milkweeds grow you are pretty sure to sec also
masses of goldenrod, and towering high above them the great
flowering pillars of joepye-weed. Such clumps arc good hunting-
places for autumnal insects. There gather the soldier-beetles,
brilliant in uniforms of yellow and black. They are sometimes
so numerous as to bend down the plants by their wxight, and are
in constant motion, crawling about the blossoms, or flying from
spray to spray. Here, too, come locust-boring beetles, black
with a line of yellow V's on the back, whose eggs are laid in the
soft inner bark of locust-trees; and fat short-winged blister-
beetles, or oil-beetles, which leave such a bad odor on the hands
when touched. This is due to an acrid oil which oozes out of
the joints of the beetle's legs when it is handled and thinks itself
in danger. It is a protection, for it both smells and tastes so
nasty that no bird will ever attempt to eat an oil-beetle. And
its body is so very big because it lays such an enormous number
of eggs. How many eggs do you think an oil-beetle will lay?
Wliy, something like thirty thousand! She lays them in batches

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 451

in little holes in the ground, and a few days afterward a tiny
little grub hatches out of each egg, and begins to hunt about for
some flower that bees are likely to visit. When it finds one, it
climbs up the stem, hides among the petals, and waits. Then
as soon as a bee settles upon the flower it springs upon her and
clings to her hairy body. The bee is very busy collecting nectar
and pollen, and the grub is very tiny; so she never seems to
notice that the long-legged little creature is clinging to her, and
carries it back with her to her nest. Then the grub lets go, and
proceeds to eat all the "bee-bread" which the bee had stored up
so carefully for her own little ones.

How is it that all the trees, bushes, and plants are covered
with threads of spider's silk, which often annoys us by getting
on our hands or faces? Let us help you to an answer. This
is the time of year when spiders are most numerous and most
active; and many a spider trails behind it a thread of gossamer
wherever it goes, and leaves it there. On many of the plants,
bushes, trees, and fences you may see, if you look closely, very
small spiders resting. Those little spiders have been taking a
journey through the air — a sort of balloon trip. During the
summer a number of spiders, all living near one another, had
big families — a hundred or more in each. Perhaps you noticed
in July and August spiders dragging about large white bundles :
they were packets of eggs from which the young hatched. So
many coming into the world together made it difficult to find
food. So, one by one, the little spiders climbed low bushes or
tall plants, and perched themselves on the tips of the topmost
leaves. Then each poured out from the end of its body a
slender thread of silk, which floated straight up in the warm air
rising from the heated ground.

At last each little spider had seven or eight feet of thread
rising up into the air above it. Then suddenly it loosed its
hold of the leaf, and mounted into the air at the end of its own
thread, higher, and higher, and higher, till it had risen several
hundreds of feet into the air. Then it met a gentle breeze
traveling slowly overhead, and traveled along with it, mile after
mile, still resting on its thread. And when it wanted to come
down, all that it had to do was to roll up the thread till there was

452 THE ANIMAL WORLD

not quite enough left to support it, and so it came floating gently
down to the ground below. Then, having no more use for the
thread, it broke loose from it and left it lying like a fallen tele-
graph wire across the tops of the bushes and fences and other
things, where our faces brush against it.

What a pretty green fly this is sitting upon the fence, with
delicate gauzy wings looking like the most delicate lace-
work !

Yes, that is a lacewing fly. Just notice what wonderful eyes
it has. They look like little globes of crimson fire, and it is quite
difficult to believe that a tiny lamp is not alight inside the head.
This fly lays its eggs in a most curious way. Settling on a twig,
she pours out a drop of a kind of thick gum from the end of her
body. Then, jerking her body suddenly upward, she draws
out this gum into a slender thread, which hardens as soon as it
comes into contact with the air; and just as she lets go she fastens
an egg to the tip. She then lays another egg in the same manner,
and then another, and then another, and so she goes on till she
has laid quite a little cluster of eggs — perhaps ninety or a him-
dred altogether. You would not think that they were eggs if
you were to see them. You would be almost sure to think that
the little cluster was a tuft of moss. Indeed, for a great
many years even botanists thought that these eggs were a
kind of moss, and put pictures of them in books of botany
accordingly!

Look at these odd little black and white spiders. How
jerkily they run; never moving more than an inch or so at a time,
then stopping to rest, and then generally darting off again in a
different direction. They are hunting-spiders, and are so called
because they hunt for insects instead of trying to catch them in a
web. You may see one of these spiders "stalking" a fly very
much as a cat creeps up to a bird, and then suddenly springing
upon it and leaping into the air with its victim firm in its
grip.

Slowly the days grow shorter, the rains come more frequently,
flowers wither, and the herbage shrivels. Insects die off, the
birds one by one disappear quietly, or gather in flocks to journey
southward, and the woods grow quiet and gray.

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 453

IV
WINTER

AS we look out of the window on a landscape of snow, or
of half-bare earth, frozen roads, and leafless trees, the
world seems lifeless. But one who starts out for a walk, anxious
to discover whether all nature is really dead, will soon find that
it is very much alive, though much of it is buried in slumber.
Let us test it.

As we take the well-accustomed path we cannot but contrast
the bareness and silence with the activity and color and cheerful
noise about us when a few weeks ago we strolled this way. The
thought saddens and discourages us a little, when suddenly there
comes to our ears

" Chick-chick-a-dee-dee! Saucy note,
Out of sound heart and merry "^hroat,
As if it said: 'Good day, good sir!
Fine afternoon, old passenger!
Happy to meet you in these places
Where January brings few faces. '"

There is the singer— half a dozen of them in fact — fluffy
little gray, black-capped birds not much bigger than a man's
thumb, dodging busily about the limbs of that old apple-tree,
swinging with desperate clutch at the tip of a twig, hanging
head downward to get at a morsel on the under side of the bough,
and chattering all the time as though cold weather were no
hardship at all.

What do they find to eat ? Keep your eyes on one, and see
if you cannot guess. He is pecking here and there at the bark,
and swallowing something so minute we cannot recognize it.
But do you not remember how, last summer, we watched the
procession of ants climbing this very tree to get honey from a
"herd" of aphids on the branches? Those bark-lice are still
there, each hidden under a sort of scale, like a winter blanket;
and it is these that the chickadees are pulling off and eating.
It takes a great many of them to make a meal, and the birds

454 THE ANIMAL WORLD

must keep very busy. Perhaps that is one reason why they
seem so happy. A busy person is usually a cheerful one.

When you meet a winter group of these merry tomtits it is
well to wait quietly for a little while, since you are pretty sure
to find others following them. There! do you hear that sharp
tapping ? Turn your head and you will see a small woodpecker
with its checkered black and white coat, and a broad white stripe
down the back, hewing away at the thick bark of that oak.
He is tremendously in earnest, and let us hope he finds a good
fat grub.

Gliding down the next tree-trunk comes something which for
an instant we take for a mouse — it is so bluish and furtive; but
it is a bird — a nuthatch — which has a straight slender bill almost
like a woodpecker's, and which digs into the cracks and crannies
for eggs and hiding grubs of small insects, now and then smash-
ing a thin-shelled acorn for the wormy meal it contains, or
tearing to pieces the fuzzy cocoon of a tussock-moth. It has an
odd habit of working almost always head downward, and now
and then lifts its head and squeaks out a sharp nee-nee-nee, as
though it said " Never-mind-me. 'Tain't cold!"

Quite likely on the next tree a brown creeper — sedate browTi
little lady of a bird — is gliding about the trunk, very daintily
picking and searching with her long slender and curving beak
for similar hidden food. She is a dear little creature.

Even prettier are the kinglets that often form one of this
little company of winter workers. They are the smallest of all
American birds except the hummers, and are olive green with
tiny crowns of gold and rubies, as one might say. They have the
activity and nimbleness of the chickadees, and toward spring
cheer us with a brilliant song. These lovely pygmies are cousins
of the wrens; and one may sometimes see flitting about the brush
a real wren, which in summer flies away to the far north, letting
us hear for a few days in March, before he leaves, specimens of
the exquisite song with which he will make the Canadian woods
ring when next June he meets his mate and builds his nest
among the great pines and spruces.

Most of our birds, you know, flee southward, when cold
weather approaches, but some, like the crow, many birds of

WALKS WITH A NATURALIST 455

prey, as hawks and owls, some game-birds, such as Bob White
and the grouse, several of the seed-eating sparrow tribe, and
some others, such as the little fellows we have been watching,
stay with us, because they find plenty of food. If we should
go out every day of the winter we could make a long list of these
by the time All Fools' day came around. To it might be added
a goodly list of birds whose proper home is in Northern Canada,
but which in midwinter come south to a country which is less
snowy if not less cold. The snowbirds, with their satiny feet and
ivory bills, dressed like gentlemen in lead-colored coats and
white vests, to which you toss crumbs from the breakfast table
every morning, are in this class. Doubtless we shall see others
as we turn down the wooded lane that leads to the creek.

Here among these bushes is a good place to look for cocoons
of moths and butterflies. One is pretty sure to see at once a
few of those of the big Promethea moth folded within a large
leaf, the stem of which is lashed by silk threads to its twig so that
it will not fall or be blown away. Very likely on the same bush
will hang a similar big cocoon, but this one fastened all along
the under side of the twig, so that it is hammock-shaped.
Search about among the heaped-up leaves beneath the bush, and
you may find the cocoons of the great Polyphemus silkworm-
moth and of that exquisite pale-green luna-moth which flits
like a ghost to our lighted windows on summer nights.

But these are the giants of their race. Hundreds of smaller
cocoons and chrysalids — papery, fuzzy, leathery, or naked and
varnished to keep out the damp, may be discovered in the
crevices of the old fence, upon and beneath the rough bark of
trees, rolled up in leaves little and big, and buried in the ground,
where the moles hunt for them when the ground is not frozen
too hard, and the skunks dig them up.

How about the moles and the skunks? Well, the moles
are by no means as active as in summer, though they move
around somewhat under the frozen layer of top-soil, in search
of the earthworms which have been driven deep down by the
frost. As for the skunks, they, like the woodchucks, the chip-
munks, and the red squirrels, are deeply sleeping in underground
beds; but plenty of four-foots are wide awake. See how that

VOL. V. — 30

456 THE ANIMAL WORLD

gray squirrel is making the snow fly as he paws his way down
to the nut he buried three months ago ! Only the tip of the
plume of his tail waves above the drift.

Do you see that double row of holes punched in the snow ?
Every country boy knows them as the track of a rabbit, and
w'ould tell you how fast the rabbit was going. But what em-
broidered on the glistening snow-sheet this lovely chain that
extends w^avily from this tree to that stone wall? A weasel.
Little cares he for cold, in his white ermine coat; and many's
the careless sparrow, and snugly tucked-in mouse that falls to
his quick spring and sharp white teeth. The weasel's nearest
cousin, the mink, is working for his living, too, these winter
days, haunting the warm spring-holes in hope of catching eels or
other fish. Perhaps w^e shall see some signs of his work along
the creek.

And now we have come to the end of the last of our rambles.
But don't think that we have seen nearly all that there is to be
seen. If we had been able to spend a little more time in the
fields, or the lane, or the wood, or on the banks of the stream,
we should have noticed a great many more animals and birds
and reptiles and insects, quite as curious and quite as interesting
as any of those which we have met with. And if we had taken a
dozen rambles together instead of only four, each time we should
have found fresh creatures to look at, and fresh marvels to
wonder at, and fresh beauties to admire. For wherever we go
nature always has something new to show us; and the world is
full of wonderful sights for every one who has eyes to see.

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE

Introduction

MANY very curious and interesting creatures are to be
found on the seashore^ and we dare say you would like
to know something about them. So let us take, in thought, four
rambles along the shore together. First we will go for a stroll
on the sandy beach, which is left quite dry for some little time
when the tide goes down. Next, we will pay a visit to the
stretches of mud just above low-tide mark, left bare in the
coves for perhaps a couple of hours twice each day. For our
third ramble we will wander about among the rocks, and ex-
amine the creatures which are crawling about on them, or
burrowing into them, or hiding underneath the great masses
of seaweed with which they are covered. And then, lastly,
we will search in the pools which lie between the rocks, where
we shall probably find some of the most interesting animals of all.
We will suppose that these walks are on our Atlantic coast,
for we have not time now to explore the shores of the Pacific
and describe its animals, many of which are very different from
those of the Eastern coast

I

ALONG THE SANDY BEACH

As all the coast of the United States south of New York,
and Cape Cod and Long Island besides, are formed of soil
and pebbles ground off the tops and sides of the Appalachian
ranges of mountains, the ocean beaches and the bottom of the
sea near shore are all of sand, constantly swept by currents,
and moved by storms. On such a plain of shifting sand not

457

458 THE ANIMAL WORLD

many plants or animals can live save those which are able to
swim or to bury themselves; and not nearly so long a list can
be made as among the rocks which give root-hold and shelter,
or where the bottom is muddy, as we shall see later; yet a walk
will enable us to find a good many things about which you ought
to know something.

Here, for instance, are a lot of shells, the hard outer coats
of the soft boneless creatures we call mollusks, such as you know
very well on land as snails. When you have filled your little
basket, if we asked you to sort them into two kinds, you would
be almost sure to put those which consist of two pieces, attached
together, into one pile, and those which are in one solid piece,
and more or less twisted like a snail, into the other. This
would mark a real division, for the first heap would have the
clam-like mollusks which we call bivalves, and the second would
have those coiled gastropod mollusks that we may call sea-
snails.

The bivalves scattered along the beach are all dead and
mostly broken, for they have been washed up from muddy
places; but many of the sea-snails may be found alive and
belong here on the sand, and so we may look first at them.

Here is a big one to begin with which the southern fishermen
call a conch and the northern oystermen a winkle. It is shaped
like a pear, and pushing out of its shell a very tough muscular
part of its body called the foot, it plows along in the sand, or
even burrows into it, small end first, searching for food, which
consists of animal matter, either dead or alive. It finds this
by its sense of smell, and when it comes to it, thrusts out of
its head, near the forward end of the foot, a long ribbon-like
tongue, covered with hundreds of minute flinty teeth, and rasps
away the flesh. Winkles are numerous everywhere and are of
great service in devouring dead fish, etc., which would pollute
the water; but they also eat a great quantity of oysters, as we
shall see presently. You will find two kinds, and should note
how their shells differ.

Very likely you will find among the long rows of dead eel-
grass and drift-stuff marking the reach of high tides a twisted
string of most curious objects, each about as big as a cent,

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 459

feeling as if made of yellow paper and strung together like a
necklace on a stiff cord. These are the eggs of a conch, or
more truly, the egg-cases,' for in each cent-like capsule was
placed an egg. You can prove it by opening some of them.
In the dry ones you will probably find only dead yoimg shells,
hardly bigger than pin-heads, which have hatched from the
eggs; but now and then you may pick up a soft and elastic set,
and in these, which are alive, or have only lately been torn from
the weeds in deep water and thrown upon the beach, you will
find much larger baby conchs, which by and by would have
found a way out and begun to travel about.

We have already picked up several different sorts of slender,
twisted sea-snails of small size, and a few as big as a walnut
and almost as round, save for the circular opening out of
which the animal pushes its foot. His name is Natica, and he is
one of the worst foes of the clam, whose shell he bores. Here,
half buried in the wet sand at the edge of the gentle surf, is a
living one, and we can see the grooved trail behind him showing
where he has traveled. We will pick him up, and see how
hastily he shrinks back into the armor of his shell, and shuts
his door with a plate growing upon the tip-end of his foot. All
these sea-snails have such a plate, sometimes thin and horny
like this one, sometimes thick and shell-like; and if you try to
pry it away you will have to tear it to pieces, for the frightened
animal will not let go its strong hold. He knows better than to
open his door and let you pick him out. Even if you did you
would have to tear his body out piecemeal, for he would by no
means uncoil it from around the central post of his house and
let himself be dragged out whole. This door is a good pro-
tection, then, against the claws of crabs and the nibbling teeth
of fishes and various small parasites which would like to get at
him. It is called an operculum.

Just lift up some of that seaweed and stuff which the waves
have piled up. Why, the sand underneath it is simply alive
with sandhoppers, besides various jumping and crawling in-
sects, sand-bugs, spiders, etc. But the sandhoppers are most
numerous — there must be a hundred, all skipping about so active-
ly that it is quite difficult to follow their movements. They

460 THE ANIMAL WORLD

were feeding upon the seaweed, and their sharp httle jaws are
so powerful that if you were to tie up a few sandhoppeis in your
handkerchief and carry them home, you would be almost sure
to find that they had nibbled a number of little holes in it by
the time that you got there! But surely such little creatures
as sandhoppers cannot do very much good, even by eating
decaying seaweed. Ah! but there are so many of them ! Wher-
ever the shore is sandy they live in thousands, and even in
millions. If you walk along the edge of the sea, sometimes,
when the tide is rising, you will see them skipping about in such
vast numbers that the air looks as if it were filled with a kind of
mist for a foot or eighteen inches from the ground. And though
many of the shore-birds feed upon them, and some of the land-
birds do so, too, and the shore-crabs eat a very great many, yet
their numbers never seem to grow less.

These sandhoppers are small cousins of the crabs with which
we shall get acquainted when we go to the mud-flat; and a
search would find many others, such as beach-fleas of various
kinds. Here and there are strange grooves, and — look! one of
them is growing longer under our very eyes. Dig away the
sand just ahead of it, and see what you can find. There it is —
a small i^■ory-like creature, about twice as big as a pumpkin-
seed. It is a sand-bug, or hippa, and it burrows along just under
the surface, searching for minute particles of food among the
grains and letting the sand fall in behind it, for it does not mean
to make a tunnel.

One of the waste objects you tossed aside was a piece of
wood which the waves have flung up, and which no doubt
once formed part of a wrecked vessel.

" And I don't wonder ! " some one exclaims, " if all the timbers
were as rotten as that!"

The bit of timber is certainly ruined — but what has happened
to it ? It Is full of long round burrows, each about big enough
to admit a lead-pencil, and so close together that the walls
between them are very little thicker than paper; and every
burrow seems to be lined with a kind of glaze.

That is the work of a curious creature known the world over
as the ship-worm, which often does a great deal of mischief

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 461

by burrowing into the hulls of ships and the timbers supporting
wharfs and harbor-side buildings. It has a soft round body no
bigger than a piece of stout string, and often nearly a foot in
length. But it is really a shell-bearing mollusk, like the cockle
and the clam. And if you were to look closely at the fore
end of its body you would see its bivalve shells, although they
are so very small that they might easily be mistaken for jaws.

When first this animal hatches from the egg it is not in the
least like its parents. It is just a little round-bodied creature
covered almost all over with hairs, by waving which up and down
it manages to swim about in the water. But it does not keep
its shape very long, for if you were to look at it about thirty-six
hours later you would find that it was oval instead of round.
Twenty-four hours later still it would be almost triangular,
while next day it would be almost round again. And so it
would go on changing its form day after day, till at last it fastened
itself down by its fleshy foot to a piece of sunken timber and began
to burrow in it. And then at last it would take the form of
its parents. The birth and growth of most of the bivalves is
similar to this; and it must be remembered that these changing
larval forms are hardly large enough to see.

Another timber-destroyer all along the New England coast
is the gribble, a crustacean related to the sandhoppers, which
is not bigger than a grain of wheat, and looks like a pill-bug.
It devours wood wherever it finds it under water, and will
gradually honeycomb and weaken until they fall to pieces the
bases of piles, boat-stairs, and other timbers under water which
are not sheathed with copper or filled with creosote. Therefore
it is much hated.

A sandy beach is not the place for crabs in general, but
there is one kind which we ought to find here. There is one
now, but one might wager something that you can't discover it in
its hiding-place unless shown to you. Do you see those two
little round objects on short stems sticking half an inch out
of the sand by that old winkle-shell? Yes? Well, please go
and get one or both of them. What! is it alive? some sort
of crab, buried in the sand? All right — pick it up, but look
out it doesn't nip you! Those claws are powerful, for with

462 THE ANIMAL WORLD

them the crabs must seize and firmly hold struggling, slippery
fish and other animals, until it can subdue and eat them. No-
tice how the hind legs are flattened into strong paddles to enable
it to swim swiftly upon its prey. In spite of these fierce qualities
we call this one a lady-crab, because of its richly ornamented
costume — greenish yellow profusely marked with purple rings.
It spends most of its time crawling or swimming in the sea where
the bottom is sandy and the water shallow, but now and then
comes ashore and buries itself in the dry sand, all but its stalked
eyes, as we found this one,

A smaller, lighter-colored, and more square-bodied cousin
of this crustacean, called the ghost-crab, is very common on
southern beaches, where it digs slanting burrows deeply into
the sand. Prof. A. G. Mayer tells us that it is a scavenger,
feeding on dead animals, and also catching and eating beach-
fleas. It is at night that they are most active. "As they flit
rapidly about in the moonlight their popular name of ghost-
crab seems remarkably appropriate. As one approaches they
dash off with great rapidity, and will often rush into the water,
although the gray snappers are swimming close along the shore
in order to devour them."

What have you found now ? It appears to be a horseshoe-
shaped skillet, or frying-pan, made of brown parchment, with
a long spike loosely hinged to one side for a handle, and a big
crab lying on its back in the pan. No wonder you are surprised.
The first white men who came to this country were equally so,
for nothing of the sort is to be seen in any other part of the
world, except in the Malayan islands. If we search we are
likely to find one alive and creeping .about, and then we shall
see that the skillet is a broad shield covering the back of an
animal, and that what we thought was the crab inside it, is
its body and legs. When you come to study natural history
more deeply you will learn many very interesting things about
this strange inhabitant of our beaches, which is known as a
horseshoe-crab, or king-crab, and also as limulus. It is the
sole remnant of a great tribe of sea-animals called trilobites,
which became extinct ages ago.

One more curiosity must be mentioned before we quit

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 463

this first short walk upon the open beach — what the fishermen
call the mermaid's-purse, of which, see, you have found several.

It is an egg, but you never would have suspected it, would
you? Examine it. It is about two inches long, and made of
a hard, black, leathery substance, and at each of the four corners
there is a little projection about an inch in length. It is the
empty egg of a skate — a fish of the shark tribe with a broad,
flat body and a long whip-like tail — from which one of these
curious fishes has just escaped. How do you think it got out
of the egg when the time came for it to be hatched ? Just look
at this empty case, and you will see. At one end there is a
slit running across it almost from one side to the other, made
in such a manner that the little fish could easily push its way
out, while none of its enemies could push their way in. So the
baby skate lay in its cradle in safety till the time came for it to
pass out into the sea.

But here is an egg made in just the same way, with one little
difference. Instead of having a short straight projection at
each corner, it has a long, coiled, twisted one, much like
the tendril of a grapevine. That is the egg of one of the small
sharks called dogfish, which are so called because they swim
about in parties or packs of fifty or sixty together, driving herring
and other fishes before them, as dogs drive deer. The skin of
a dogfish is as rough as a piece of sandpaper.

When the eggs of this fish are first laid, the twisted pro-
jections at the ends coil themselves round the stems of weeds
growing at the bottom of the sea. and hold them so firmly that
they cannot be washed away; and at each end there is a small
hole, so that a current of water may always flow through this
egg-case and over the little fish inside — something of just as
much importance to it as is a supply of air to a land-baby.

n

SEARCHING THE SHORE AT LOW TIDE

The shore of the eastern United States, at least south of
New York, is formed of a line of long narrow islets whose outer

4G4 THE ANIMAL WORLD

beaches, and the sea-floor for miles out, are pure sand. They
support very little life, as has been said. Behind them, however,
are shallow bays and sounds, in which the water, though salt,
is usually warm and still; mud gathers upon the sand, and eel-
grass and other water-weeds grow in abundance. Here is
excellent ground for naturalists, old or young, and in a single
walk you can discover enough to surprise you greatly. We must
go when the tide is low, and it will be a good idea to take our
rubber boots, so that we may not be afraid of the wet mud.
We will also take a small spade or strong trowel, and some
boxes and bottles.

What a lot of clam-shells are lying about the shore ! There
are two kinds, the soft clam and the hard clam; but none of
them are alive.

How is this ? We have already learned, you will remember,
that the clams are bivalves; that is, the shell is in two pieces,
hinged together by an elastic ligament over the back, and cover-
ing each side of the animal. The soft body is attached to each
shell by a strong muscle, by which the creature can pull the
shells tight together, and so cover itself completely. When it
wishes, however, it lets the shells spring open somewhat, so that
it may put out from between their lower edges its muscular
"foot," and perhaps move about, while out of the front end it
stretches a double-barreled tube, called its siphon. Down one
of the tubes is sucked a stream of water which not only bathes
the animal's gills, or breathing organs, but carries minute
floating particles of food into its stomach, after which the waste
water is forced out of the other tube.

Now you will understand what we shall see, and are ready
for the answer to our question. You never find live clams
crawling about the sand, because they live buried in the mud.

Now let us put on our boots and look about on the surface
of the wet mud. Do you see ahead of us those little jets of
water come spouting up into the air as if squirted out of tiny
syringes? Every one of these little jets is thrown up by a soft
clam, which lies perhaps several inches deep in the mud, with
its siphon stretched up to the surface and held full of water,
waiting for the tide to come in and refresh it. When it feels the

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 465

jarring of our footsteps it squirts the water out; and you must
dig deep and fast if you want to catch it. This is what those
men are doing out there on the flat — digging out clams with
long spades, and filling their baskets for market. Thousands
of little ones lie in the mud, not yet big enough to eat.

The soft clam is a shapeless sort of moUusk, with a thin
chalky shell, not at all pretty; but the hard clam, or quahog,
is thick-shelled and regular in outline; and in an end-on view
takes the shape of an ace of hearts, like the Venus-shell, or the
cockle, which is so commonly eaten in Europe. This species
likes much deeper water than the soft clam, and is gathered
mostly from boats, by a kind of rake; but we shall no doubt
find a few up here. Do you see that scratch in the mud? It
looks like a trail, and there at the end is the traveler himself,
standing upright in the mud like a half-buried wedge.

This shows another difference between the two clams; for
while the soft clams and their relatives, such as the pretty razor-
fish, and the "old maid" of English bays, never leave the burrow
where they begin life, the quahogs slowly wander about all the
time. As for the scallops, they fairly skip and jump.

What are scallops? Well, we shall hardly see much of
them, for they live in deep water; but their half-shells are to
be seen cast up everywhere, for they also are bivalves. Our
common ones are usually about the size of a silver dollar, and
fan-shaped, the thin shell ribbed like the sticks of a fan, and
the margin crinkled, and they are variously colored, but mostly
in tints of reddish and yellow.

Several small bivalves and sea-snails may be added to our
collection from this uncovered bay-bottom, and here and there
spaces are fairly sprinkled with little blackish fellows about the
size of hazelnuts. When we have gathered a handful we shall
find we can sort out three or four kinds.

A very curious denizen of the tide-flats of our Southern
States is the pinna, a large bivalve with thin horny shells shaped
like a slightly opened fan, which lies deeply buried, point down.
The edges of its shell come just at the surface, and are
exceedingly sharp, so that barefooted persons have to be \cry
careful how they step where pinnas are common, as on the

466 THE ANIMAL WORLD

Gulf coast of Florida, and it is no wonder the people there call
them razor-fish. Lying there in the mud, with its shells parted,
and a current of water always sucking down what we may call
its throat, it forms a regular trap for little fishes and other
small creatures. The instant one swims between the shells,
they close and the unfortunate curiosity-seeker finds himself
in a prison from which there is no escape.

When a young pinna settles down in its place it at once
anchors itself to some rock or fixed thing below it by throwing
out from near its lower, narrow end a bunch of very strong
threads, which hold it down so firmly that it takes a very hard
pull to tear them away. This anchor-cable is called a byssus.

A short distance from us a narrow stream wriggles through
the salt marsh, and we can get into a rough little boat and
paddle down toward that old wharf whose weedy piles are cover-
ed with interesting things, which we may examine now that the
ebbing tide has left them uncovered for a few hours. The peaty
banks, with their growth of harsh salt-grass and algae, will
keep our eyes busy as we float along the black and winding
creek.

Now we shall get acquainted with some of the crabs. Look
sharply down into the water and you will see the large "blue"
crabs which we buy in the market, and eat, swimming near the
bottom or crawling over the mud near the banks. There is
one, now. He doesn't look very blue, nor very appetizing,
does he? His back is brown and muddy, to be sure; but his
big claws and lower plates have much more blue upon them than
has any of the other large crabs, and so he gets the distinguish-
ing name.

But, you say, you have heard of "hard-shell" and "soft-
shell" crabs, and want to know the difference? It is simply
a difference of condition. If you will turn to page 397, you will
find described that extraordinary process by which crabs grow,
by throwing off their stiff old skins and expanding to fill the
elastic new one which has formed underneath. Before this
change, the creature is a "hard-shell" in fishermen's language,
and just afterward, when he is large and tender, he is naturally
a "soft-shell"; and then is the time to eat him.

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 467

Notice how the black masses of peat along the banks are
honeycombed with holes, as if somebody had been pushing
down the point of his umbrella. They are the homes of little
fiddler-crabs, which scuttle into them by the hundred as we
approach, and then creep up to peer out after we have passed
by, and make sure it is safe to go abroad again. In other holes
live two other sorts of burrowing crabs. One is the little mud-
crab (PanopcBus), which is a peaceful cousin of the fiddler; and
the other is the sand-crab (Ocypoda) whose peculiarity it is
to be perfectly sand-colored, so that it is almost impossible to
see him until he moves; consequently he is commonly found
only in the sandy places.

As we float nearer to the mouth of our winding creek, we
begin to notice bunches of mussel-shells, clinging closer to each
other than grapes in a bunch; and when we try to pick one up
we find it quite immovable. In fact, they are anchored to the
roots of the grasses, and to each other, by a bunch of byssus
threads from each mussel, like those of the pinna; and these
threads are so strong that they can hold the mussels firm against
the beating of the waves, so that a shore which is thickly covered
with mussels is safe from wearing away. You may see an ex-
ample of this in the tideway at the mouth of this very creek,
and masses of mussels strengthen the supports of that wharf
we are approaching. If you were to go near the town of Bide-
ford, England, you would see a bridge of twenty-four arches,
which runs across the Torridge River close to the place where
it joins the Taw. Now that bridge is held together by clusters
of mussels! The force of the stream is so great, that if mortar is
used to repair the bridge it is very soon washed away. So from
time to time large boat-loads of mussels are taken to the spot
and shot into the water, and they fasten themselves so firmly to
the bridge by means of their byssus threads, that they actually
hold together the stones of which it is built!

These binding mussels are mostly of the smooth, dark-blue
sort which are found on both sides of the Atlantic, and in Europe
are gathered and eaten. When our people become a little
wiser and more economical, we also will take advantage of this
great stock of excellent food right at our doors.

468 THE ANIMAL WORLD

But in the bunches which are scratching the side of the boat
as we glide along close to the bank are some which are much
larger, though smooth, like the edible mussels. They are an
American species. Then here and there in peat you may
see a sort whose shell is rough, with ridges spreading out toward
the large end, and these you may call horse-mussels.

Now we have got dowm to the boat-landing toward which
we have been lazily drifting, and we will twist the chain aroimd
one of the piles that support it, and stop long enough to take
a look at one of them. Most of the time each pile is under
water, and therefore is overgrown with a thick ''fur" of plants
and animals.

You will see that most of this fur consists of seaweeds, but
their leaves are often the resting-place of several sorts of lowly
animals. Indeed, you must look sharp to make sure whether
some of the feathery tufts that droop from a dank old post,
or spray out so beautifully in the ripples at its foot, are plants
or animals. We will not talk about that just now, but wait
till we take our excursion to the rocky shore, where we shall
find barnacles and corallines and sea-mats and polyps bigger
and better than here.

But do you see between those green fronds that roundish
yellow object about as big as a filbert ? Touch it gently. Did
you see tiny jets of water squirt out of two little nozzles on its
surface? That gives it the name of sea-squirt. Into one of
the nozzles, when the tide comes over it, is constantly sucked a
current of sea-water which passes into a stomach-like cavity,
where the minute particles of food in the water are caught and
digested; then the water passes on through another cavity
where the blood receives its oxygen, as in our lungs or a crab's
or fish's gills, and then rushes out. So this little object is a
real animal, with heart, blood, stomach, and something in the
way of nerves — enough, at any rate, to feel your touch, shrink,
and squirt out all the water in its bag-like body.

There are a good many kinds and forms of these ascidians,
as naturalists call them, some larger, some waving about on the
sum.mit of stalks like lily-buds, and some clustered into colonies
grown together, which form bands around the stems of plants,

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 469

or make masses called "sea-pork" by the fishermen, or float
in chains, by millions, on the surface of the open sea.

Here, too, are small red and yellow sponges; some coarse
httle sea-anemones, etc.; and wandering over the whole, feed-
ing upon one or another of these, and cleaning the polyps and
polyzoans off the algas, are a sort of marine daddy-long-legs,
called no-body crabs, because they seem all legs and look crab-
hke.

It isn't very sweet-smelling under this damp old wharf,
where the rising tide is beginning to bathe the piles, and one
after another plants and animals are expanding as they feel
the refreshment of the water around them; and we will move
away as soon as we have dug a few things out of the mud,
soon be hidden by the tide.

Let us run the bow of our boat up on that soft black slope,
and see what we can find by leaning over the side. Just look
at this hairy object, for instance, which has been left by the
retreating waves. It seems like a big brown slug covered with
bristles and is not very pleasant to handle; but you needn't
be afraid of it, and you mustn't be squeamish. Just dip up
some water in that pail, and rinse it till you have washed every
scrap of mud from its bristly coat, and then look at it in the
sunlight. Do you think it is dull and dingy novv'? Did you
ever see a more beautiful creature? This animal is called the
sea-mouse, although really it is a kind of sea-worm and if you
will turn back to page 429 you will find it described. The reason
why its coat is always so dirty is that the bristly hairs which
cover it act as a sort of filter, and strain out the mud from the
water which is passing to the gills. But these hairs have another
use as well. Each one is really a sort of slender spear, with a
barbed tip, the edges being set with a number of sharp little
points, all directed backward, forming a capital protection from
such creatures as the fishes, a great many of which would be
glad to feed upon sea-mice if it were not for their coating of
spines.

Do you see those twisted little coils of muddy sand scattered
about on the mud? Those are the casts of lugworms, which
are made in the same way as the casts of earthworms seen in our

470 THE ANIMAL WORLD

garden-paths on damp mornings; in fact, these lugs are just
marine earthworms (see page 427), and like them eat their way
down into the mud, swallowing mouthful after mouthful for
the sake of nourishing particles in it, and then voiding the
useless remainder.

Perhaps you wonder how it is that the burrows of the lug-
worms remain open. Why doesn't the mud close in behind
the animal? The fact is that the worm is always pouring
out from its skin a sticky slime which quickly becomes quite
hard and firm. And this binds the sandy mud together as the
worm forces its way down, and forms a kind of lining to its
burrow, just like the brickwork with which we line our railway
tunnels.

You would scarcely suspect what interesting and often
beautiful worms lie buried in the mud or muddy sand of sea-
beaches and salt marshes. They occur elsewhere, too, as upon
weedy rocks, while a great many kinds dwell upon or within
the bodies or coverings of other animals, from whales to peri-
winkles and crabs.

Most of the beach-worms belong to the highest class of
the tribe, called annelids because their bodies are made up of
ring-like segments (a little ring in Latin is annellus), as you can
easily see by examining one of the angleworms you dig in the
garden for fish-bait. The red lugworm, or "red thread," as
it is often called, is another plain example of this structure.

Digging down by low-water mark we are likely to unearth
one or more of the ribbon-worms which, when they are large,
seem rather terrible. Their bodies are flat, so that when they
swim they move through the water like a floating ribbon, and
they have been found five or ten feet long and as wide as your
palm. Such big ones are rare, however, and we are more
likely to have to deal with one two or three feet long and less
than an inch broad. They are active creatures, burrowing
into and through the mud in search of other worms upon which
they feed, and which they seize by thrusting out a sticky pro-
boscis. There is also a smaller one, pink in color, while the
bigger species is yellowish.

Though we may not dig up a ribbon, we are pretty sure to

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 471

turn out a nereis, or clam-worm, as the fishermen call it — a
reddish creature a foot or two long, looking like a centipede, for
there is a pair of minute feet on each ring, and every foot is
feathered with a gill. This also is a ravenous enemy of all
other worms or animals it can overcome ; and young clams, lim-
pets, starfish, and other protected creatures must be thankful
for their armor when it comes crawling near them. Its rich
green and salmon coat has no charm in their eyes, you may be
sure. But the nereis itself must have its fears, for it is not only
hunted by ribbon-worms, by a big active annelid called "four-
jawed," and by winkles and dog-whelks, but is well liked by
various fishes; and, last misfortune of all, it is constantly sought
by fishermen for bait. In spite of all this, clam-worms of all
kinds remain immensely numerous all along the coast. On
calm summer nights they leave their burrows, swim up to the
surface at high tide, and cast out vast numbers of eggs, from
which presently hatch little pear-shaped larvse, which swim
about a short time, when the few that have survived settle down,
change to the worm-like form, and burrow into the mud.

When we come to explore the rocky places, and peer into
the still pools left by the ebb-tide among the reefs and boulders,
we shall make the acquaintance of some other worms that dis-
play themselves in such places as in a natural aquarium.

Ill

ON THE ROCKY LEDGES

There are practically no rocks on our Southeastern coast,
so that we must imagine ourselves now somewhere in New
England — let us say on the southern shore of Rhode Island.
All along the north side of Long Island Sound, about Buzzards
and Narragansett bays, and then from Boston Harbor right up to
Labrador, the shore is rock, with many headlands, reefs, and
islets, separated by shallow coves or by swift tidal runways.
This is good hunting-ground for the seaside naturalist, and one
visit to the space left uncovered at low tide will be no more than

VOL. v. — 31

472 THE ANIMAL WORLD

a glance at what might easily keep us busy and interested a
whole summer through.

As the water ebbs away, the tops of the ledges and boulders
emerge like the hairy heads of some sea-monsters, for they are
mostly overgrown with long tresses of olive-browTi rockweed
and green ribbons of sea-cabbage, (Ulva), which trail, wet and
shining, down their sides. Step carefully, for it is all extremely
slippery. Do you hear that continual popping under your
feet? That means that you are crushing the little bladder-
like swellings strung like big beads on the stems of the rock-
weed. They are filled with air, and keep the long and heavy
stems and leaves of the weed afloat, as you may see if you look
down where it is swishing back and forth in the lapping waves.
These plants must be exceedingly strong to resist the pulling
and pounding of the surf in a storm; and their power to keep
afloat by means of these gas-filled "bladders" is of assistance,
not only in enabling them to hold together, but to form a
breakwater which protects the rocks and ledges they cover
from being beaten to pieces by the surf.

Underneath and upon these masses of seaweed hide a great
quantity and variety of small plant and animal life, some of
which we shall be able to find and study, though a large part of
it requires more thorough work than we have time for, and the
aid of a microscope.

But first let us look at some of the bare places, where there
is no seaweed. Here is a black rock with white patches of
rough little things growing upon it by the hundred. They
are not mollusks, however, but rock-barnacles (see page 407),
which English boys call acorn-shells. They are small and
distant cousins of the crabs.

The story of these barnacles is a very curious one. When
first they hatch from the eggs which older barnacles have cast
out into the sea, they are not in the least like their parents, but
are queer little round-bodied creatures, smaller than pin-heads,
with six feathery legs by which they paddle about, one round
black eye, and two feelers. Every two or three days they
throw off their skins, as caterpillars do, and appear in the new
ones which have formed underneath; and every time they do

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 473

this they change their shape, so that sometimes they are round,
and sometimes oblong, and sometimes almost triangular!

At last they reach their full size. Then they cling with
their feelers to the first rock, log, or other hard thing they come
to, and pour out a drop or two of a very strong cement, which
hardens around them and fastens them firmly do\\Ti. After
this they never move again; but a day or two later they change
their skins once more, and appear as perfect acorn-shells.

Now look at one of them carefully through this magnifying-
glass. Do you see that there is a little hole in the top of the
shell, which is made of several pieces ? That is the hole through
which the animal inside fishes for food. If you were to watch
it when the rocks are thinly covered with water, you would see
that it kept poking out a net-like scoop, and then drawing
it in again. This net really consists of the hairy legs; and as
they wave to and fro in the water they collect the tiny scraps
of decaying matter on which the little creature feeds. They
also bear the gills by which the barnacle refreshes its blood.

You must be very careful not to knock your hand against
these shells when you are hunting about among the rocks, for
their edges are so sharp that they cut almost like knives.

"Another sort of barnacle," you say you have found? No:
there are other sorts — the strange goose-barnacle, for instance,
which attaches itself to the bottoms of ships — but what you have
found is one of the limpets, and that is not a crustacean, but a
gastropod mollusk. It is shaped like a tiny rough mountain, or
rather like a volcano, for you see there is a hole in its summit;
and we call it the keyhole limpet on account of the shape of
that hole. Pick it up. Oh! you can't, eh? Of course not.
Pull and push as hard as you like, you won't be able to move it,
nor can the heaviest waves wash it off.

Would you like to know why?

Well, the reason is that a limpet clings to a rock by turning
the whole lower surface of its body into one big sucker; it
presses it tightly against the rock and then lifts the middle
part. The consequence is that a chamber is formed in which
there is nothing at all — no water, not even air; and, as happens
when you lift a brick with a small leather sucker, the weight of

474 THE ANIMAL WORLD

the atmosphere presses down upon it so strongly that no force
you can bring to bear will pull it off.

However, a limpet is not gripping the rock all the time with
such vigor; he would literally be tired to death, and starved to
death, too, if he didn't ease up most of the time. It is only when
he is alarmed by a touch that he clamps down. If you want
to get him free, just wait till he loosens up, then hit him a
sudden sharp blow on one side with a stick or stone, and knock
him off. Then you will be able to examine the soft body and
see how he is built.

Limpets are vegetable-feeders, and when the water is still,
or absent, they creep slowly about the rock, nibbling the tiny
vegetation on its surface. Another interesting fact in limpet-
life is told on page 421.

Another kind of limpet is very common on those rocky
shores, which is shaped somewhat like a loose round-toed
slipper or a French sahot. This is the slipper-limpet, or half-
deck, as fishermen call it.

On the lower rocks near the water, and hidden in among the
wet seaweeds, lie many small spiral gastropods which we call
periwinkles. Two of the commonest kinds are littorinas,
marked with fine lines and colors in various ways. Another,
reddish with chestnut bands, is named Lacuna; and you may
pick up several kinds of small blackish ones, such as Bittium,
or of light-colored ones, as Rissoa, which is prettily mottled;
while numerous in some places is the purple-shell or Purpura,
which is interesting because it belongs to the European shores
as Vv'ell as to ours, and because from it the ancients gathered
some of their purple dye, although another moUusk (the murex)
furnished most of it. But in old times the coast people, both
of old England and New England, obtained from this little
mollusk an indelible violet ink with which to mark their clothes.

Would you like to see a little of this dye ?

Very well, you can easily do so. Look! Hold the purpura
over this sheet of white paper, and give the animal a little poke
with the head of a pin. There! It has squirted out a drop of
liquid upon the paper. It does not look much like purple
dye, does it? It looks very much more like curdled milk.

NATURE STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 475

But lay it in the sunshine and notice what happens. Do you
see? It is turning yellow. Now a blue tinge is creeping, as
it were, into the yellow, and turning it to green. The blue gets
stronger and stronger, till the green disappears. And at last
a crimson tinge creeps into the blue, and turns it to purple.

Another curious thing about the purpura is the way in
which it lays its eggs. It fastens them down to the surface of
the rock by little stalks, so that they look like tiny egg-cups
with eggs inside them; therefore when these eggs hatch, several
little purpura come out of each cup.

All the small periwinkles feed upon the algae, but with the
purpura, which seems to live mainly on young barnacles, we
come to a lot of flesh-eaters — small moUusks of prey, as we might
say.

There are several spiral sorts, mostly from one to two inches
long, whitish and heavily ribbed, which are sometimes called
dog-whelks; but the worst one, which lives by thousands on
the beds of planted oysters scattered all along the shore of Long
Island Sound, is known to the oystermen as the drill, or borer.
It is particularly fond of the flesh of oysters, and cares nothing
for their shells, as it carries in its mouth a drilling instrument
(see page 419) by which it can bore a round hole through the
poor oyster's armor. In this way it destroys miany thousands
of dollars' worth of valuable oysters every year.

It was pretty certain we should find a starfish down near
low-water mark, and here is a fine one.

Starfishes are among the oddest of sea- animals; for one
reason, because they have so many legs. Perhaps you did not
know they had any legs at all; certainly you can see none when
you pick up a dead specimen on the beach. The fact is that a
starfish keeps its legs inside its body, where there are a lot of
organs protected by its hard, limy hide; and when it wants to
use thern it pokes them out through little holes on its under
or grooved side, and fills them with water.

You would like to see its legs, no doubt. Very well; you
shall. This starfish is still alive: we can easily see that, for
when we pick it up its rays stand stiffly out; but if it were dead
they would be quite soft and flabby, and would hang down. So

476 THE ANIMAL WORLD

we will put it into a shallow pool of clear sea-water, and see
what happens. There! did you notice that it moved one of
its rays? See, the one in front is being slowly pushed forward.
Now the rays behind are being drawn up; and now that they
have taken a fresh hold the front one is being pushed forward
again. The starfish is really walking ! What will it do when it
comes to a stone? Why, walk over it! What will it do when
it comes to rock? Why, climb up it! Now take the starfish
out of the water. Turn it over on its back. There! do you
see? On the lower surface of every ray are hundreds of little
fleshy objects waving about in the air. Those are its "feet,"
or at least its means of walking; and each has a sort of cup at the
end which acts as a sucker. By means of these the starfish
can cling tightly to the surface of a stone. So by using first the
little sucker-legs on one or two of its rays, and then those on the
others, the starfish is able to crawl about quite easily.

The starfishes live upon animal food — mainly other mollusks,
which they kill in a very curious manner. When, in crawling
about, they come upon a whelk or clam or oyster, they creep
over it and clasp it in their five arms in a murderous embrace
from which there is no escape. Even if the creature can move
off, its captor clings to it with its hundreds of tiny suckers, and
rides along with it like that Old Man of the Sea in Sindbad's
story.

Now if you look again at our specimen you will see on its
under side, a small pit in the center of its body, closed by five
points. This is the mouth, and the points are sharp. As soon
as the starfish has a grip upon its victim the mouth opens and
there is gradually pushed out a strong membrane which is the
creature's great loose stomach. This envelops the animal, shell
and all, or as much of it as possible, and soon begins actually to
digest the flesh. When the meal is finished the starfish draws
back its stomach and leaves only the empty shell of its prey.

These voracious starfish are a worse enemy to the cultivated
oysters than are the drills; and, having an abundance of food on
the thickly planted beds, they become extremely numerous, so
that it costs the ouTiers of the beds much money each year to
gather them off the beds by means of a sort of great rake called

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 477

the tangles. Otherwise the oysters would soon be wholly
destroyed. The men used simply to tear to pieces what they
caught and throw them overboard again; but they soon learned
that this was worse than useless, because each half, or even a
single arm, would not only go on living but would reproduce all
the missing parts; so that in trying to kill one starfish they had
brought to life two or perhaps even five, which was very dis-
couraging. Nowadays, therefore, all captured starfishes are
brought ashore and left there, and often are made use of by
being ground up with oyster-shells, fish-bones, etc., into an
excellent fertilizer.

What is that greenish-gray object covered all over with
spikes ? It is clinging in a little hollow of the rock, half hidden in
seaweed of the same color.

Ah! that is a sea-urchin, and although it looks so very unlike
them it is really a kind of first cousin to the starfishes. Here is
a dead one from which the spines have been knocked off. Just
look at it carefully, and you will see that it is very much like a
starfish rolled up into a ball. See, you can trace the five rays
quite easily, and if you look at it through a strong magnifying-
glass you will find that its surface is pierced in hundreds of
places with tiny holes through which it can poke out httle
sucker-feet, just as the starfishes do.

Look again at the shell from which the spines have been
knocked away. Do you see that it is covered all over with
little pimples ? Now on every one of these pimples a spine was
fastened by a kind of ball-and-socket joint, the pimple being the
ball, and the socket lying inside the base of the spine; and by
means of special muscles the animal could move the spines
about, just as though it were a kind of hedgehog. In fact, this
is the reason why it is called sea-urchin, for urchin is an old
name for hedgehog. So, when a sea-urchin crawls about, it
does so partly with its sucker-feet, and partly with its spines as
well.

Sometimes, however, these creatures use their sucker-feet
for quite a different purpose. They poke them out as far as
they can from among their spines, and then take hold of little
stones, small pieces of broken shell, and other bits of rubbish

478 THE ANIMAL WORLD

which they find at the bottom of the sea, and cling to them very
tightly. The consequence is that you cannot see the animal at
all, for it is quite concealed by this curious covering, and unless
you were to take it out of the water, you would never have the
least idea what it really was.

Now look at the mouth of this spiky sea-urchin. You will
find it in the very middle of the lower part of the body. Do you
see what great teeth it has ? There are five of them arranged in a
circle as in the mouth of a starfish, and they are made in just the
same way as the front teeth of a rat or a rabbit, that is, they
never stop growing all through the life of the animal, so that as
fast as they are worn away from above they are pushed up from
below, and thus always keep just the proper length and sharp-
ness.

Sea-urchins are rather few and small along the shores of
southern New England, but more numerous northward, and on
rocky bottoms offshore. On the offshore bottom there lives
also a queer sort whose shells are often cast up and are well
known to the children as sand-dollars.

These are about the size and shape of one of mother's
cookies, and are covered with a stiff brown fur of short spines.
On one side — the under one — is the little mouth, and around it
the faint outlines of five radiating arms, each sketched, as it
were, by a double row of "pin-pricks" where the almost in-
visible feet are pushed out. These sand-dollars are creeping
about at the bottom in myriads where the water is a few fathoms
deep; and storms cast up thousands upon the beaches or into
the tide-pools, where very likely we may find some in the course
of our next visit to the ocean-side.

BETWEEN TIDE-MARKS

We must start early on our walk today, as soon as the tide
falls away from the piece of rocky shore we have in mind, so
that we may have plenty of time; for the field which we have

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 479

left until the last is the richest the seaside naturalist has to
explore.

As the sea sinks away it uncovers not only the weedy ledges
which we studied the other day, but also spaces between them of
low rocks and loose stones half sunk in mud and sand. There
is much to interest the botanist, too, but he will have to look out
for himself. We have more than enough to do to look after the
animals.

Many dead shells are lying about, showing the various
species of shell-fish which inhabit this shore or the waters of the
offing. Some of them we already know, and others we can
never expect to get alive except by dredging. Such are the
scallops, which rarely come up as far as low-water mark, in
spite of their wandering habits; and the jingleshells or gold-
shells, although these, like the young oysters to which they are
closely related, may usually be found clinging to stones, where
they seem swollen scales or "blisters" of thin amber, or gold-
colored horn. There is one — let us examine it. We can't
pick it off, or even pry it off; but when we slip a knife-blade
slowly beneath it, it comes loose, and we discover that this
queer creature is a bivavle mollusk looking (and tasting) like
an oyster, and with a small fiat shell underneath the bulging top
one. In this undershell is a large hole, through which passes a
stout stony stalk which anchors this creature as firmly as an
oyster is fixed by the cementing of its undershell to whatever
it. has attached itself when young.

The jingleshells are extremely numerous all along the coast
south of Cape Cod, wherever the water is no more than about
seventy feet deep, especially in Long Island Sound; and the
oystermen gather them from the beaches and from their dredg-
ings, and scatter their shells over the floor of the sound as " seats"
for young oysters. They are especially useful for this pur-
pose because they are so slight and brittle that when, as of-
ten happens, two or three minute oyster-larvae settle down on
one of these shells, they will, as they grow, break it apart by the
strain, and then each oyster, relieved from the crowding of its
mates, will form a round, nicely shaped shell instead of a narrow
or misshapen one, and consequently be more valuable when it

480 THE ANIMAL WORLD

comes to be dredged up, after a couple of years or so, and offered
for sale.

This rough space between tide-marks is a fine place for
crabs. We have seen some of these creatures already, else-
where; and our book (see Chapter XXXV) has already in-
structed us as to the general characteristics of crustaceans.
Here, scrambling about the ledges just under water, are big
rock and Jonah crabs, but not so many of them as you might see
in Maine. Both are eaten when "soft-shells," but are not so
good as the blue crab. Here, too, are lively and pugnacious
fiddlers and some green or stone crabs, wonderfully active little
creatures, which in England are sent to market, but on this side
of the ocean are used only for bait.

Still more comical and interesting is one of the spider-crabs,
which may be called thornback. It has a little body, but very
long legs, so that a big male thornback might cover eighteen
inches in the stretch of its legs.

Do you see how long his great claws are, and how his back is
covered all over with tiny hooked spines? It is quite easy to
understand why the name of thornback was given to him. But
how is it that all those tufts of seaweed are growing on the upper
part of the shell?

Well, the answer is a very odd one. The crab planted them
there himself! The fact is that when he is lying dowTi at the
bottom of a pool he does not want to be seen, for fear that the
animals upon which he preys should take alarm, and escape
before he can catch them. So he actually pulls up a number of
little sprigs of seaweed, and plants them on his back one after
the other, pressing the roots down with his claws till at last they
are held quite firmly by the little hooked spines with which his
shell is covered! Then as long as he keeps quite still he is per-
fectly invisible, and his victims may even crawl over him without
suspecting that they are in any danger.

Stranger still, if a thornback crab which has covered his
back with seaweeds should be placed in a tank in which
sponges are growing, he will soon find out that he is not
nearly so well hidden as he would like to be, and will get very
uneasy. Before long he will disco^'er what the reason is, and

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 481

will actually pull all the sea weed off his shell, and plant sponges
on it instead.

Here, too, scampering and rattling about among the pebbles,
are lots of hermit-crabs, dragging after them the shells in which
they have ensconced their soft hind bodies, as is described on
page 402. And under the stones — turn them over and you will
see — -are dozens of strange little half-transparent creatures which
you might easily believe were insects, but which really are
diminutive cousins of the crabs and crayfish named amphipods
and isopods, and so forth. You may find under some stone
one of the tubes made by a certain species, composed of grains
of sand glued together by sticky threads much like spiders'
silk. These minute crustaceans exist in vast multitudes near
the surface of the ocean at certain seasons, and form the princi-
pal food of the whalebone-whales, which gulp them down whole-
sale. Some of them, also, are parasitic on fishes.

But what is the curious little creature clinging flat upon this
rock among the weeds ? It looks like some sort of pill-bug half an
inch long, doesn't it?

Ah! that is a chiton. It is really a kind of shell-bearing
moUusk, like the whelk and the periwinkle; only instead of
having its shell made all in one piece, it has eight shelly plates
on its back, which overlap one another just like the slates on the
roof of a house. Just touch it with your finger. There! Do
you see? It has rolled itself up into a ball, just like those pill-
millepedes which you may find in the garden. It always does
this if it is frightened. And its shell is so stout and hard that as
long as it is rolled up it is quite safe from nearly all its enemies.

If you were to hunt about among the rocks quite close to the
water's edge when the tide is at its lowest, you would most
likely meet with a number of chitons, and you would be surprised
to find how much they vary in color. Some are ashy gray all
over; but a great many are streaked and spotted with brown,
and pink, and orange, and lilac, and white. But the strangest
thing of all about chitons — there are far larger ones in the
warmer parts of the world — is that some of them have nearly
twelve thousand eyes scattered about all over their shells !

But we are lingering too long by the way, for our real des-

482 THE ANIMAL WORLD

tination to-day is that fine pool over there. It is a basin among
the ledges, filled with quiet sea-water left by the retreat of the
tide, half-floored with sandy mud, and its edges fringed with
feathery seaweeds, corallines, and hydroids. Here is a capital
home for the little folk of the sea, where there is always fresh
clear water, but where only a part of the time do the surges
poimd, and then never with full force; furthermore, a wall of
rocks protects the nook, and enemies can rarely enter to destroy
the peaceful society.

In warmer parts of the coast, as in the Gulf of Mexico, or
upon the Pacific coast, or most of all in some of the tropical
islands which now belong to the United States, such a pool would
be brilliantly carpeted with sponges, sea-anemones, coral-polyps
and corallines, of which you may read on pages 431 to 435. The
water of the North Atlantic, and the winters of its American
coast, are too cold, however, to allow any but a very few hardy
species of these lowly sea-flowers to grow in our pool; but there
are quite enough to keep us busy during the hour or two left
before the returning tide creeps over the jagged rim of the
basin and drives us away.

Here, for instance, is half an oyster-shell looking as if it
had been bored full of holes with bird-shot. It could hardly
have been any boy's target though; for, see, we can find many
such fragments. There is one under water. Take it out and
you will find every one of the hundreds of little pits filled with a
yellow spongy material. It is real sponge, called the boring-
sponge, because it riddles all sorts of old shells until they fall
to pieces. This is a good thing, for then they are gradually
ground to powder and dissolved in the water, and so help to keep
It supplied with the lime needed by living animals for their shells.

But other sponges help in this work. One is a brilliant
crimson, and spreads a velvety mantle over the shell, from which
rise branches as big as your fingers. We may probably dis-
cover among others here the pretty urn-sponges, like clusters
of yellow or gray goblets about half an inch high. On the
reefs of the Gulf coast of Florida, you know, several sorts of
sponges grow to great size and are gathered and prepared for
use — a trade which furnishes employment to hundreds of men.

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 483

But this clear pool holds more beautiful things than sponges.
If we are fortunate we may find a sea-anemone. Do not
fancy from its name that it looks anything like the pretty pink
and white anemones that delight you in the woods in the spring.
It does, indeed, look something like a clove-pink, or some sorts
of chrysanthemum, when it is fully expanded, yet it is not a
flower at all, but a true animal.

It's body is shaped like a barrel, or sometimes more like a
tube, with a large throat leading into a big stomach which
is held in position in the center of the body by six partitions
radiating like the spokes of a wheel from the stomach to
the tough outer skin. Between these are other shorter
partitions extending inward from the skin, but not reaching
the stomach.

This is the type of structure in the polyp family, which the
sea- anemones represent; and the stony coral-polyps are built
on the same plan, only there the outer wall and the radiating
inside partitions become hardened plates of lime as the animal
grows, and form, when many grow into a solid mass, the immense
coral reefs described on page 433.

The New England coast has several small sea-anemones, and
one handsome one, sometimes as big as a teacup, a few of which
dwell in our pool. Just come, very quietly, over to this side, and
gaze down through the clear water upon that reddish block of
stone. Do you not see that large brown tuft, quivering and
moving like a chrysanthemum each petal of which was alive?.
That is the brown sea- anemone; but some specimens show
much brighter tints.

Ah! — did you notice how that minnow turned and ^d,irly
flew as he felt a touch of one of those waving petals ? No /vonder
he was in such a hurry to escape from its clutches, sine, he knew
quite well that the grasp of those arms means aeath. For
every one of them is set with scores and scores of tiny oval
cells, made in such a way that they spring open at the slightest
touch. And inside each cell is a slender poisoned dart, which
leaps out as soon as it is opened.

So, if the minnow had waited a few minutes longer hundreds
of these little darts would have buried themselves in the soft

484 THE ANIMAL WORLD

parts of his body and stung him to death, and then the anemone
would have swallowed him!

Now just touch the anemone with the tip of your finger.
You need not be afraid to do so, for its little poisoned darts are
not nearly strong enough to pierce your skin. There ! do you see
how its arms at once come closing in? It seems to be pushing
them right dowTi into the very middle of its body. Now they
have entirely disappeared, and you cannot see them at all.
The animal looks just like a shapeless lump of jelly.

Yes, it always does that when it is frightened, and also if it
is left high and dry when the tide goes out. And when it catches
a good-sized victim and swallows it, it generally remains closed
up for at least a couple of days.

Now let us tell you another curious thing about the anemone.
It looks as if it were growing out of the rock, doesn't it? If you
try to push it loose, you will probably kill it before you succeed.
Yet it can release it's sucker-like grip, and move about if it
wishes to. This is only one of many very interesting things to be
learned about these lovely creatures.

And here is another very beautiful thing which you must not
miss. One would think the dark rock under the water had
blossomed out into a small bed of filmy bluish pinks, only what
you see is even more delicate and feathery. That is a patch of
true corals; and it is most fortunate it was found here, for it is
rarely seen, except when brought up in a dredge from water
several fathoms deep.

Now let us see whether we cannot find some of the tube-
worms which in feathery beauty are rivals of even the anemones
and coral-polyps. Look down to the very bottom of the pool.
Do you see that bunch of long, twisted tubes, which seem to be
fastened to one of those big stones ?

They are made by a very common sea-worm called the
serpuia, or shell-worm, for they are quite as often found attached
to shells as to stones. This worm never leaves the tube it forms
about it out of the limy mucus thrown out of its skin, so
that it has no use for feet; consequently these have become
simply a row of bristles along its sides, by which the animal can
hitch itself up and down, or forward and backward, within its

NATURE-STUDY AT THE SEASIDE 485

case. Sometimes it may want to draw itself back into its tube
very quickly, to save its head being bitten off by some fish or
ravenous worm. So along its back it has a row of between
thirteen and fourteen thousand little hooked teeth, with which it
can take a firm hold of the lining of its tunnel. And if it is
suddenly alarmed it just raises these teeth, and then jerks itself
back into its tunnel with such wonderful speed that you can
scarcely see what has become of it.

Now let us lift the bundle of tubes out of the water, and
examine them a little more closely. Do you see that each one
is closed, just a little way below the entrance, by a kind of scarlet
stopper? That shows that the worm inside is alive. The
stopper is shaped just like a tiny cork, and whenever the serpula
retreats into its tube it pulls this odd little stopper in after it, and
so prevents any of its enemies from getting in and devouring
it, just as gastropods close the aperture of their shells with the
operculum.

If you were to put this bunch of tubes back into the water
and watch it carefully for an hour or so, you would most likely
see all the stoppers come out, one after another; and a few
moments later you would see a bright scarlet tuft projecting
out of the mouth of each tube. These tufts are the gills, by
means of which the serpulas breathe. But at the slightest
alarm the tufts would all disappear, and in less than a second
every tube would be tightly corked up again, just as before.

On the Gulf coast of Florida, and throughout the West
Indies, lives a larger relative of the serpula called "sea-flower,"
which secretes its tube upon the surface of large coral-heads, so
that the tube becomes covered by the coral, leaving the opening
still at the surface. "This opening," says Dr. Mayer, "is
protected by a sharp spine, and is closed by the operculum of
the worm when it withdraws its gills. When expanded these
gills resemble a beautiful pink or purple passion-flower, about
three-quarters of an inch wide."

In such pools, and in the mud among the stones near low-
tide mark, lie buried several kinds of worms which poke their
heads up into the water above them when the tide comes in, and
expand tufts of pink, or crimson, or yellow gills and tentacles.

486 THE ANIMAL WORLD

the latter used to catch minute floating food — mainly the
microscopic larvae of various mollusks, worms, etc. — and also, in
some cases, to drag to them the grains of sand out of which they
construct their tubes. One of these is the fringed worm {Cirra-
tidus) whose gills are like long orange-colored threads; and
another the similar ''blood-spot" {Polycirrus) whose great cluster
of crimson tentacles about the mouth looks like a clot of blood on
the sand. More often turned out by the naturalist's spade,
however, is the tufted worm {Amphitrite) which dwells in a house
made by itself, by taking a number of good-sized grains of
sand, and sticking them together by means of a kind of glue
which it pours out of its mouth, and which very soon "sets" and
becomes quite hard, even though it is under water. This glue
is so tough and strong that you can take the tube and give it
quite a smart pull without tearing or hurting it in the least. And
when the tube is finished Amphitrite makes that little fringe
round the entrance by taking a number of very tiny grains and
fastening them together in the form of threads.

There is one in this nook of our pool, now; and you may see
the three pairs of blood-red tentacles which, with many pale
yellow ones, the worm has thrust out into the clear water,
breathing by means of some (the gills), and with the others
capturing the invisible creatures upon which it mainly feeds.

The tubes of these worms usually run for several inches do\Mi
into the sandy mud at the bottom of the pool, and are often
carried down under the rocks, or big stones. So you will not
find it very easy to dig them up. And if you startle Amphitrite
herself, she will always wriggle at once down to the very bottom
of her tubular fortress.

There ! our four rambles are over, and although we have met
with a great many interesting creatures, we have not seen nearly
all that there is to be seen, either on the beach, or in the mud, or
on the rocks, or in the pools which lie among them. But all the
curiosities of the seashore may be found by those who have
patience and know how to use their eyes.

OUR WICKED WASTE OF LIFE

A Plea to Women for Consistency

ONE of the most puzzling things in hfe is why almost all
our mothers and sisters and aunts and "dear teachers"
continue to trim their hats with feathers.

They give their boys and girls books about birds, and teach
love of nature in the schools, and sing and march on Bird Day,
and pay money to missionaries to convert South Sea Islanders
from wearing feather head-dresses, and then go down-town and
buy bird-skins to deck their own heads! This confuses the
boys and girls a good deal. How, they ask, can a mother
preach against cruelty and vanity to her children when
she continues to load her hat and theirs with feathers every
one of which represents a crime against the laws of both
God and man ? The reason why lawmakers find it so difficult
to enforce protective legislation is that the women demand dead
birds, careless whether of useful species or not, no matter by
what gory slaughter and violated laws obtained, as ministers to
their vanity — and the law be hanged!

They will even wear these evidences of cruelty and crime to
church, and listen unabashed to exhortations and prayers which
others think ought to shrivel them with shame. A recent writer
in "Hampton's Magazine" describes his impressions of a
scene of this kind in a Chicago church, whose preacher that
morning had chosen Christian gentleness as his theme. This
writer indulgently believes that the bird-bedecked listeners " did
not know at what a cost, not in life alone, but in hard dollars
and cents, they, and other persons equally careless and equally
reckless, were securing the transient satisfaction of their im-
mediate desires." And he expresses himself as "equally sure
VOL. V. — 32 4g7

488 THE ANIMAL WORLD

«

that, if they did know, they would never again appear in public
so savagely adorned."

We are sorry to be obliged to disagree with him. If they do
not know, it is because they do not read and listen, and few
American women, gentle or simple, are chargeable with negli-
gence in that respect. The officers of the Audubon Societies,
who have been laboring for years as vigorously as they know
how, tell us there is no lack of information; but that, in general,
women don't care, and can't be made to care what hat-birds
cost either themselves or the country so long as they are "in
style." Apparently the only way to stop the ruin of our bird-
life is for the general government to prohibit absolutely both
import and export of any kind of bird-skins or feathers (except
of the ostrich) intended or liable to be used in millinery; and for
the States to stamp out dealing in feather trimmings by a pro-
hibitive licensing tax. Appeals to the women are useless. The
only way is to attack the trade.

Nevertheless, let us make one more effort. Here are four
cardinal facts, for instance, relating to the aigrettes, or "os-
preys" which you covet, showing what they cost:

(i) Aigrettes are produced only by white herons, and only
during the breeding-season; therefore (2) the parent birds must
be shot in order to obtain the plumes; hence (3) the young birds
in the nests must starve, in consequence of the death of the
parents; consequently (4) all statements -that the plumes are
manufactured or are gathered after being molted by the adult
birds are false.

Here is a picture of how they are got, and it can be verified by
photographs :

"Notwithstanding the extreme heat and the myriads of mos-
quitos, I determined to revisit the locality during my holidays, in
order to obtain one picture only — namely, that of a white
crane, or egret, feeding its young. When near the place, I
could see some large patches of white, either floating in the water
or reclining on the fallen trees in the vicinity of the egrets'
rookery. This set me speculating as to the cause of this un-
usual sight. As I drew nearer, what a spectacle met my gaze — a
sight that made my blood fairly boil with indignation. There,

OUR WICKED WASTE OF LIFE 489

strewn on the floating water-weed, and also on adjacent logs,
were at least fifty carcasses of large white and smaller plumed
egrets — nearly one-third of the rookery, perhaps more — the
birds having been shot otf their nests containing young. What a
holocaust! Plundered for their plumes. What a monument of
human callousness! There were fifty birds ruthlessly destroyed,
besides their young (about two hundred) left to die of starva-
tion ! This last fact was betokened by at least seventy carcasses
of the nestlings, which had become so weak that their legs had
refused to support them, and they had fallen from the nests into
the water below, and had been miserably drowned; while, in the
trees above, the remainder of the parentless young ones could
be seen staggering in the nests, some of them falling with a
splash into the water, as their waning strength left them too
exhausted to hold up any longer, while others simply stretched
themselves out on the nest and so expired. Others, again, were
seen trying in vain to attract the attention of passing egrets,
which were flying with food in their bills to feed their own young,
and it was a pitiful sight indeed to see these starvelings with
outstretched necks and gaping bills imploring the passing birds
to feed them. What a sickening sight!"

A like gruesome siory is given by William L. Finley, agent
of the National Association of Audubon Societies, after he had
explored the region about Lake Malheur, Oregon, where
formerly thousands of white herons bred, but now none are to be
found — all absolutely exterminated by plume-hunters. In
Florida an agent of this Association was lately murdered while
trying to defend a rookery from plume-hunters.

Every aigrette — and almost every other wild-bird's feather
you wear— represents a broken law, and in buying it you become
a voluntary partner in crime.

The manufacturing milliners and dealers realize this, and
consequently resort to all sorts of lies and disguises and subter-
fuges, which your buying encourages, for it sustains the bloody
business of the illegal feather-hunters. Some dealers assert
that none but imported feathers are now sold by them. This is
not true, but if it were, the wearing of them is wrong, not only
because it encourages the devastation of other coimtries, but

490 THE ANIMAL WORLD

also because it keeps up the general fashion. The same may
be said in answer to the plea of the milliner that her orna-
ments were "made up" of chicken-feathers. You can't be sure
of that, and you are setting a harmful example.

"Here, of course," remarks Reginald W. Kauffman, in the
illuminative "Hampton's" article already quoted, "is involved
merely a question of individual ethics, but if the trifling life
of a bird is a matter of small moment even to the gentler sex —
so long as the eyes of that sex are not outraged by an actual sight
of the bloody slaughter — at least a matter of very great moment is
the fact that the rise in the price of your foodstuffs, the yearly
increase in your market-bill, is the direct result of those feathers
in your bonnet, those plumes upon your daughter's hat. . . .

" Difficult as the figures are to get, such as may be acquired
are appalling. Surely you cannot read them and remain
unmoved. England, by importing the bird of paradise at the
rate of six thousand a year, has practically exterminated that
species. In four months one London house disposed of eight
hundred thousand East and West Indian bird-skins; the
United States alone sends to the British Isles four hundred
thousand humming-birds every twelve months, which helps
bring the English grand total up to thirty million birds a year.

"And we keep a comfortable figure for home consumption.
In one year a single Chicago dealer has been known to handle
32,000 humming-birds in one consignment, 32,000 gulls, and
the wings of 300,000 other birds. In all, the National Audubon
Association puts our total at about 150,000,000 birds a year.
The European continent repeats this, and so you have the women
of the ' civilized ' world, with the omission of our South Ameri-
can cousins, wearing 300,000,000 birds every year.

"Legislation is here, as always, powerless in the face of
fashionable womankind."

Another point of view is that of good taste. A single large
feather or a shapely wing — in themselves beautiful objects and
well adapted to decorative effect — may be so applied as really to
adorn a lady's hat, or a man's for that matter, veiy pleasingly;
and if it is the trophy of the skill of some friend, obtained in fair
sport, it may embody a delightful sentiment as well. It was in

OUR WICKED WASTE OF LIFE 491

this simple, wasteful, and unobjectionable manner that feathers
were originally employed as trimmings. But fierce trade
competition among milliners catering to the foolish cry for
"novelties" regardless of becomingness in any sense, has
developed absurdities of head-gear which often make their
wearers utterly ridiculous.

What possible justification in art or common sense is there
in setting a dead animal on a hat ? If any can be found, surely
the effigy should be lifelike and not some horrible travesty. If
ribbons and flowers are not enough ornaments to set off pretty
faces, why not wind shining snake-skins about the crown of the
hat; or utilize our resplendent moths and beetles as trimimngs?
They are elegant in form and color, varied, preservable, and by
no means costly. Moreover, the general destruction which
would follow the entry of such a fashion would reduce the
insect enemies of our crops and garden-plants — but women
seem to care nothing about that aspect of the case.

"The insects kill the crops," remarks Kauffman, "the
birds kill the insects, and we — for the most part in order to
trim your hats for you — kill the birds. A study of the govern-
ment reports will show that crop losses from insects are rarely
less than lo per cent, and sometimes as high as 50."

We may now turn to another phase of our subject — the waste
of game, fur-bearing animals, and other useful or beautiful
creatures.

When Europeans first came to this continent the bison and
elk roamed everywhere west of the Blue Ridge. By the middle
of the nineteenth century all had disappeared cast of the Great
Plains, as completely as had the salmon which used to throng in
our eastern rivers. And here, a few years later, both were al-
most utterly destroyed by wretched pot-hunters.

The moose, elk, antelope, mountain sheep and goats, beaver,
sea-otter, and many other game and fur animals of North
America have also suffered so terribly under relentless perse-
cution that they now are found only in small numbers in very
remote places. The sea-otter, of which at the beginning of the
nineteenth century more than 15,000 were killed every year, has

492 THE ANIMAL WORLD

become so scarce that its coat, in good conidtion, is now worth
$i,ooo to the hunter.

The horrible stories of the butchery of the fur-seals and the
passenger-pigeon need not be recited. The building up of
great cities made a maricet for game and fish, and coincident
therewith the market-hunter and the market-fisherman came
into existence. Under these conditions the destruction went on
merrily, until, in the early eighties, observant sportsmen and
naturalists began to realize that extermination threatened such
game-birds as the prairie-chicken, the quail, the ruffed grouse,
the wood-duck, the canvasback duck, and even the well-known
mallard and teal.

"Coincident with this great hegira to the woods," we are
told by G. O. Shields, in a late number of "Collier's Weekly,"
"there appeared on the scene a type of man that has become
known and recognized ever^^where as the American game-
hog. This depraved creature developed a fondness for killing
every living thing he could find, whether edible or not, or whether
he needed it for food or not. All he cared for was to kill, kill,
kill. He loved to stop a beautiful animal in its flight and put
it to death, or to see a bird double up in the air and fall with
shot-pellets through its body.

"The competition became so strong between these game-
hogs that they got to challenging one another to combats in the
field, and contests were arranged weeks ahead, large stakes
being deposited on the result. . . . The nineteenth-century
'side-hunt' became a feature of many rural districts.

"Is it any wonder, then, that decent men came to rebel
against this savage slaughter ? Good sportsmen, naturalists, and
laymen became so disgusted with it that they went before their
legislatures and demanded that it be stopped. Laws were
accordingly enacted in many States . . . and recently legislation
for the preservation of the game has become a science, and a few
men are devoting their best thought and their best energies to it.

"But the game-hog and the fish-hog bid defiance to all
game-laws, written and un^^Titten. No State employs enough
game-wardens to police all of its territory, so the ravaging of the
wild went on."

OUR WICKED WASTE OF LIFE 493

To the correction of this evil no one has contributed more
energetically than Mr. Shields and some other editors of
periodicals devoted to field-sports and recreation. They have
given the game-hog so disgraceful a notoriety, and have brought
down upon his head such scorn from decent sportsmen, that he
has been largely suppressed.

Here, too, mothers, wives, and sisters, are largely at fault;
but they may plead ignorance much more plausibly than in the
case of their own sins of hat-trimming. Why should they
applaud useless slaughter, dictated by vanity and blood-lust, in
the men over whom they have influence? Is it a manly or an
admirable thing ?

These ignorant and thoughtless women have still time to
repent and force their men-folks to behave like gentlemen.
There is still game enough to bring about a revival of plenty for
all reasonable sportsmen of the next generation as well as
this. There are laws enough, too, to protect it, but between the
ignorance of the legislators and their fear of offending the very
game-butchers against whom the laws are directed (who un-
fortunately have votes), they will not appropriate the money
necessary to provide game-wardens and other means of en-
forcing the laws properly. Here is where the influence of every
fair-minded woman and patriotic man can be tellingly exerted.
Show the lawmakers that the good opinion of the decent half of
the community is better worth having than that of the meaner
half; and see that your men-folks are not in the latter class.

When you have done this, let your boys understand the
position they must take on this subject if they wish to be
regarded as ''true sportsmen," not to say gentlemen. Their
training should begin early. Little boys are fond of bean-
shooters — a forked stick, or "crutch," with a rubber band
hurling a bean or a pebble. Insist that they do not use it for
knocking over birds.

Ail boys, also, pass through a season of "collecting speci-
mens," when they are enthusiastic toward preparing a cabinet
of natural history. Encourage them to do so, but without
taking life, or robbing birds' nests. Give them an opera-glass
instead of a shotgun. Show them how they can learn more, and

494 THE ANIMAL WORLD

get more amusement, by watching the bird family in its home
than by arranging dead shells on a string or in a box. (Watch
the birds yourself a while, and then see how you feel about your
hat!) There is no scientific need or excuse, nowadays, for pri-
vate collections of the skins or eggs of birds, and the stopping of
all birds' -nesting is of the utmost importance for the same
reasons as the stoppage of millinery murder; and both are the im-
mediate duty of all parents.

Nor must there be forgotten, in considering this matter, the
disastrous effect of recklessness as to waste and suffering on the
mind of the game-hog, the birds'-nester, and the aigrette-
wearer. Cruelty cannot be practiced without crushing and
blighting the best insects. As Burns says:

"It hardens a' within
And petrifies the feeling"

A child that is cruel to animals, disdainful of their sufferings
when in pursuit of his pleasure, cannot be trusted to be kind to a
younger sister, a weaker companion, or a valued pet. Cruelty
is a vice of the basest and most cowardly — a mark of the savage
and criminal. Let the mother remember this, not only in her
precepts, but in the example she gives her children. Even the
birds of the air," wrote the German critic Hamisch, "bear an
accusation to their Creator against those who with wanton
cruelty, destroy helpless innocence."

LIST OF BEST BOOKS FOR YOUNG
NATURALISTS

*In many cases the authors mentioned have written other
books equally interesting and procurable.

Abbott, C. C* Days out of Doors

Baker, Sir S.* .... Wild Beasts and their Ways

Baskett, J. N The Story of the Fishes

Baskett, J. N. . The Story of the Reptiles and Batrachians
Bates, W. H. . . The Naturalist on the River Amazon

Beebe, W. C* The Bird

BiGNELL, Effie . A Quintette of Gray Coats {Squirrels)

Blatchley, W. S.* A Nature Wooing

BuLLEN, F. T.* .... Denizens of the Great Deep
Burroughs, John* , . Squirrels and other Fur-hearers

Burroughs, John Wake Robin

Chapman and Reed . . Color Key to N. A. Birds

Comstock, J. H.* Insect Life

Cram, W. E. . . . Little Beasts of Wood and Field

Damon, N. E Ocean Wonders

Darwin, Charles* . . . . A Naturalist's Voyage

Eckstrom, Mrs. F. H* The Bird Book

Eggeleng and Ehrenberg . The Fresh-Water Aquarium

Emerton, E. S Spiders

Gibson, W. H.*. . . Blossom Hosts and Insect Guests

Gibson, W. H Sharp Eyes

Holder, F, C* Along the Florida Reefs

Holland, W. J The Butterfly Book

Holland, W. J The Moth Book

Horn AD AY, W. T.* . . - American Natural History

Howard, L. O.* The Insect Book

495

•

496 LIST OF BEST BOOKS

Hudson, W. H British Birds

Hudson, W. H Idle Days in Patagonia

Hudson, W. H. . . . . The Naturalist in La Plata

Ingersoll, Ernest* Life of Mammals

Ingersoll, Ernest The Wit of the Wild

Ingersoll, Ernest . . Wild Life of Orchard and Field

Kellogg, Vernon American Insects

Keyser, L. S Birds of the Rockies

LoTTRiDGE, S. A. . Animal Snap Shots and How Made

Lucas, F. A Animals of the Past

Matthews, S.* .... Familiar Life of the Roadside
Merriam, Florence* . . . A-hirding on a Bronco
Miller, Mrs. O. T * . . . Little Brothers of the Air

MoRLEY, M.ary W The Bee People

MoRLEY, Mary W Wasps and their Ways

Oswald, Felix Zoological Sketches

Packard, A. S. . . . . . Half-hours wiih Insects

Porter, J. H Wild Beasts

Reed, C. A North American Birds^ ^gg^

Robenson, R.* . . . New England Fields and Woods
Roosevelt, Theodore* . . . The Wilderjiess Hunter

Samuels, E Birds of New England

Scudder, S. H. .... Everyday Butterflies

Sharpe, D. L.* Wild Life near Home

Standard Library of Natural History (5 vols.)
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Stone and Cram American Animals

Todd, Ada J The Vacation Club

Torrey, B.* . . . . . . . Everyday Birds

Waterton, C* .... Wanderings in South America

White, Gilbert . . . Natural History of Selhorne
Wilson, Alex. . American Ornithology {Brewer's Edition)

Wood, J. G.* Homes without Hands

Wright, Mrs. M. O.* Bird-craft

Wright, Mrs. M. O. . . . Four-footed Americans

INDEX

A

Aurochs

Aard-vark .

216

Australian bear .

Aard-wolf .

74

Axolotl

Acorn-barnacles

407

Aye-aye

Adder, puff

319

African elephant

202

B

,, rhinoceros

204

Babirusa

Agouti

152

Baboons

Albatross

296

,, Arabian

Alderman lizard

307

chacma

Alligators

302

drill

American crows .

254

,, gelada

eagle .

236

mandrill

,, foxes .

88

Bactrian camel .

„ lizards

307

Badger

,, monkeys .

16

Bald chimpanzee

tapirs

206

Banded ant-eater

Amphineurans .

421

Bandicoots .

Amphioxus .

353

Barbary ape

Anaconda .

316

Barbel

Anemones, sea- .

431

Barnacles

Angler

346

acorn

Ant-bears

213

Barn-owl

Ant-eaters .

213

Bats .

,, banded

227

,, flying foxes

,, great

213

,, horseshoe

,, scaly

215

,, kalong

,, spiny

230

,, pipistrelle

Antelopes .

174

vampire

Ant-lion

367

Beaked chstodon

Ants ....

373

Bear-cat

driver

374

Bears .

,, parasol

374

,, ant

Aoudad

165

, , aswail

Apes ....

I

,, Australian

,, Barbary

15

„ black

Aphides

381

, , brown

Arabian baboon

II

,, grizzly

camel .

190

,, polar .

Arctic fox .

86

,, sea

Argali . . , .

162

,, sloth .

Armadillos .

214

,, sun

,, giant

215

,, white

,, pichiciago

215

Beavers

six-banded

214

Bees

Arui ....

. 16s

,, bumble-

Asses, wild .

193

,, carder

Aswail ....

108

,, hive

PAGE

223

324
24

209

7
II

7

9

10

9

191

97

3

227

224

15
329
407
407
241

26

31
29

32
29

30
34
no
102
213
108
223
107
103
106
102
118
108
108
102
142
369
371
371
369

497

498

INDEX

PAGE

PAGE

Bees, leaf-cutter .

371

Brown bear . . . 103

„ social

369

Brown hyena

77

,, solitary

371

Brown owl

240

Beetles

355

Brown rat

148

burying .

356

Brown thrasher

269

,, coach-horse

356

Brush-kangaroo .

220

dor

357

Brush-tailed bettong

221

ground

355

Buansuah

78

,, musk

359

Buffalo, American

158

„ oil . . .

358

Cape

159

,, soldier

449

,, Indian

159

,, stag

356

BuUbat

245

,, tiger

255

Bullfinch

261

,, water

355

Bumblebees

371

Beluga . . . .

129

Bunting

260

Bettong, brush-tailed

221

Burchell's zebra .

192

Bighorn sheep

163

Burrowing owl .

241

Binturong . . . .

71

Burying-beetle .

356

Bird, butcher

266

Bush-cat

60

,, humming

246

Bustards

284

,, love . . . .

276

Butcher-bird

266

Birds, bower

258

Butterflies . . 377, 440, 446

Bird's-foot starfish

411

Buzzards .... 238

Birds of paradise

258

C

Bird-spiders

390

Bishop' s-miters .

382

Cachalot . . . . 124

Bison

158

Caddis-flies .

367.441

Bivalves

422

Caffre cat

62

Black-backed jackal .

85

California sea-lion

117

Black bear .

107

Calling-crabs

401

Blackbird .

267

Camels

189

Blackcap

267

Arabian

190

Blackfish .

131

Bactrian

191

Black goby .

349

dromedary

190

Black mussels

423

Canada lynx

65

Black rat

148

Canaries

261

Black saki

19

Cape buff^alo

159

Black slug

417

Capybara

152

Black-tailed deer

. 187

Caracal

63

Blindworm .

304

Carder-bee .

371

Bluebottle fly .

. 385

Caribou

182

Blue shark .

• 338

Carp

329

Blue tit . . .

265

Carrion-crow

255

Boa-constrictor .

. 316

Cassowaries

. 283

Boar, wild .

208

Cat, Caffre .

62

Boatman, water

. 382

,, Egyptian

61

Bobcat

62

,, jungle

63

Borers ....

419

,, marbled

59

Bosch-katte

60

,, tiger .

61

Bottle-nosed dolphin

^33

wild-

62

Bottle-nosed whales .

125

Catbird

269.437

Bottle-tit .

265

Cats, larger

47

Bower-birds

. 258

,, smaller

60

Brindled gnu

. 178

Caymans

303

Brittle-stars

411

Centipedes .

395

Brockets

188

Chacma

7

INDEX

499

PAGE

PAGE

Chaetodon, beaked

34

Cranes ....

. 28s
286

Chambered nautilus .

416

,, brown

Chameleon .

308

crowned

286

Chamois

174

Crayfish

404

Chaus ....

63

Creeper

263

Chetah

65

Crested seal

119

Chimpanzees

I

Crickets

361, 448

bald

3

., house-

361

,, common

2

mole

362

Chinchilla .

151

Crocodiles .

302

Chipmunk .

140

Crossbills

260

Chipping-bird

260

Crows, American

254

Chitons

421

,, carrion .

255

prickly

421

Crowned crane .

286

Cicada ....

362

Cuckoos

243

Civets ....

68

Cucumbers, sea .

413

„ Indian

70

Curlew

286

,, palm

70

Currant saw-fly

375

Climbing perch .

328

Cuttles

414

Clouded leopard

58

tiger

58

D

Coach-horse beetle

356

Dab ....

343

Coaiti ....

III

Dasyures

225

Cobras ....

318

Death's-head sphinx -motl

1 378

Cockatoos .

274

Deathwatches

358

Cockchafer

356

Deer ....

181

Cockle ....

424

,, American

185

Cockroach .

361

, , black-tailed

187

Cod ... .

342

,, brocket

188

Cole-tit

265

,, caribou

182

Colubers

3^3

„ elk . . .

183

Colugo ....

33

,, fallow

184

Condor ...

234

,, marsh

187

Congers

352

,, moose

183

Cony ....

154

,, mule

186

Coquimbo .

241

,, pampas

187

Coral banks

433

,, pudu

188

Corals ....

432

,, red

184

Cormorants

293

,, rein-

181

Cougar

57

,, roebuck

185

Couxia

19

,, wapiti

187

Cowbird

438

Desman . . . .

40

Cowry

420

,, Pyrenean

40

Coyotes

83

,, Russian

40

Crab-eating dog .

80

Devil, Tasmanian

226

,, macaque

IS

Devil-fish

341

,, opossum

230

Dhole ....

78

Crabs . . . . ;

597, 400

Diana monkey .

14

,, blue

400

Dingo ....

79

, calling

401

Dipper

270

, common shore .

400

Dog, crab-eating

80

, edible

400

hunting

90

, fiddler

400

hyena

90

, hermit

401

,, prairie

141

robber

402

Dog-faced monkeys .

7

Cr

ane-fly

384

Dogfish

337

500

INDEX

Dogs ....

78

Dolphins

128

,, bottle-nosed

^33

,, common

^33

,, fresh-water

132

„ Gangetic

132

,, sea

^33

Dor-beetle .

357

Dormouse .

144

Douroucoulis

20

Dove, mourning

277

,, turtle

277

Dragon-flies

364

Drill ....

9

Driver ant .

374

Dromedary .

190

Drone-fly

385

Duck, wild

293

Duckbill

231

Duck-billed platypus

231

Dugong

^33

E

Eagles ....

235

„ American

236

„ bald

236

„ golden

236

„ white-tailed

236

Earth-pig .

216

Earthworm

427

Earwigs

360

Echidna

230

,, common

231

three-toed

231

Edible crab

400

,, snail

418

Eel ... .

334

,, conger

352

,, electric

335

Egg-eating snake

314

Egyptian cat

61

mongoose .

73

Eland ....

174

Electric eel .

335

Elephant, sea

119

Elephants .

201

,, African

202

Indian

203

Elephant-shrew .

39

Elk .... ]

i8s, 187

Emperor-moth .

379

Emu ....

282

Ermine

93

Falcons

238

Fallow deer
Fennec
Ferret .

, , polecat
Fiddler-crab
Field-mouse
Field-vole .
Finches

,, purple
Fin-whales .

„ sharp-
Fish, black .
devil .
dog- .
flat- .
flying
jelly-
mud .
pipe .
saw

sucking
sword-
Fish-hawk .
Fivefingers
Flamingo
Flatfish
Fleas .

,, turnip
Flesh-fly
Flicker
Flounder
Fly, bluebottle
,, caddis
,, currant saw
, , dragon-
,, drone-
„ flesh .
„ gall .
,, green- .
,, hawk .
,, horn-tailed s
,, house
,, ichneumon
„ June
,, lacewing
,, May
„ saw
,, turnip saw
Flycatcher .
Flying colugo
„ fish
,, foxes
,, squirrel
Fossa .
Foumart
Foxes .

nosed

PAGE

184

89

94

94

400

149

147
260
261
127
128

131
341
337
343
348

430
326

350
339
345
C44

237
410
291
343
383
359
386
249

343
385
367.441
375
364
385
386

375.445
360,381

385
375.445
385
376
365
368,451
365
374
375
444
33
348
31
139
68

94

«5

INDEX

501

Foxes, American

PAGE

88

Great ant-eater .

PAGE

213

,, arctic .

86

,, bustard

284

„ flying .

31

„ gray slug

417

Fox-sparrow

261

,, horseshoe bat .

30

Fresh-water dolp

bins. . 132

„ tit . . .

265

fishe

s . .326

Greek tortoise .

?oo

,, shrii

np . . 406

Greenfly . . . 360, 381

Frilled lizard

308

Greenland whale

127

Fritillaries .

377.446

Green monkey .

13

Frog .

321

„ turtle

301

Froghoppers

380

Grevy's zebra

192

Fur-seal

118

Grizzly bear

106

Grosbeak ....

260

C

■

Ground-beetles .

355

Gall-fly

375.445

Groundhog .

142

Galls .

444

Grouse, red

279

Gangetic dolphin

132

Guanaco

191

Garden-spiders

. . 388

Guemals

188

Gastropods .

416

Guenons

13

Gaur

157

Guillemots .

296

Geckos

305

Guljar

163

Geese .

292

Gull, sea ....

295

Gelada

10

Gurnards

347

Gemsbok

176

Genets .

70

H

Giant armadillo

215

Hair-seals .

116

,, pangolin

216

Hammerhead shark ,

338

„ salamandei

r . . 324

Hamster

145

Gibbons

5

Hanuman .

12

„ hoolock

6

Hares ....

154

lar

6

Harvest-mouse .

149

,, siamang

6

Hawk, fish .

237

Gila monster

307

Hawk-flies .

385

Giraffes

179

Hawks

237

Glowworm .

• 358

,, chicken

238

Glutton

. . 96

,, night

245

Gnats .

384, 440

,, pigeon

239

Gnus

177

,, sparrow

239

,, brindled

. 178

Hawksbill turtle

301

,, white-taile

d . .178

Hazel-mouse

144

Goat-moth .

• . 378

Hedgehog .

34

Goats .

166

Hermit crab

401

,, Persian wi

Id . . 169

Heron ....

288

,, Rocky mo

untain . 172

Herring

. 348

Goby, black

349

Hippopotamus .

207

,, spotted

349

pygmy

208

Golden eagle

236

Hive-bee

369

Goldenrod .

449

Hog, sea

130

Goldfinch

261, 448

,, wart .

209

Goose, graylag

292

Honey-ratel

97

Gorilla .

3

Honey-weasel

97

Gossamers .

394

Hooded seal

119

Grampus

131

Hoolock

6

Grasshoppers

362,448

Hoopoe

252

Graylag goose

292

Hornbill

251

Gray parrot .

• ■ . 273

,, rhinoceros

251

502

INDEX

Homed toad

.

307

Hornet

373

Horn-tailed saw-fly .

375

Horse ....

195

,, river

207

sea

120, 351

Horseshoe bat, great .

30

House-cricket

361

House-fly-

• 385

Howlers

17

Hurtiblebees

371

Humming-bird .

246

,, ,, hawk-mot!

1 378

Hunting-dog

90

Hunting-leopard

65

Hunting-spider

390

Hyena-dog

90

Hyenas

75

,, brown

77

,, laughing

77

„ spotted .

77

,, striped ,

76

Hyrax ....

I

Ibex ....

205

169

,. Nilgiri

171

Ibis

290

,, sacred .

290

,, scarlet .

290

Ichneumon-flies

376

Iguanas

306

Indian buffalo

159

,, civet

70

,, elephant

203

,, mongoose

72

,, pangolin

216

,, rhinoceros

203

Indigo-bird .

261

Insect-eaters

32

Insects

354

Ivorybill woodpecker

247

Ivy, poison .

442

J

Jacares . . . ,

303

Jackals, black-backed

8S

,, common

84

,, side-striped .

86

Jackass, laughing

253

Jackdaw . . . .

256

Jack rabbits

156

Jaguar .

56

Jay

256

Jellyfishes .

430

Jerboa-kangaroo

222

Jerboas
Joepye-weed
Johnny Darter
Julus millepede
Jumping shrew
June-fly
Jungle-cat .

K

Kalan .

Kalong

Kangaroo-rats

Kangaroos .

,, brush

,, jerboa

,, tree

Katydid

Kestrels

Kholsun

Killer-whale

King bird of paradise

Kingfishers

Kinkajou

Kiwis .

Koala .

Kudu .

Lacewing fly
Ladybirds .
Lammergeier
Lampreys .
Lancelet
Land-tortoises
Langurs
Lapwings
Lar gibbon .
Laughing hyena
Laughing jackass
Leaf-cutter bee .
Leather-j ackets
Leeches
Lemmings .
Lemuroids .
Lemurs

,, ruffed

,, slender loris

,, tarsier
Leopard

,, clouded

,, hunting
snow
Limpets
Linnet .
Lion
, , ant

PAGE
145
449
445
396

39
365

63

lOI

32
221
218
220
222
221
362
238

78

131
258

253.439
112
284
223
175

368, 451
360
234
335
353
300

13

286

6

77

253

371

385

430

147

23

21

22

23

23

54

58

65

55

421

261

49

367

INDEX

503

PAGE

PAGE

Lion, California sea .

117

Mole, star-nosed

45

,, Patagonian sea .

116

Mole-cricket

362

,, sea . . . .

116

MoUusks . . . .

414

Lizards . . . .

303

Mongoose, Egyptian .

73

,, alderman

307

,, Indian

72

,, American

307

Monkeys, American .

16

frilled

308

,, aye- aye

24

Llamas . . . .

191

,, Barbary ape

15

Lobsters

403

,, black saki

19

Locust ....

362

,, couxia

19

Logcock

247

,, diana

14

Long-eared owl .

240

,, dog- faced .

7

Long-tailed tit .

265

,, douroucouli

20

Long-tongued vampire

30

,, green

13

Loris, slender

23

guenons

13

Love-birds .

276

,, hanuman .

12

Lugworm

428

,, howlers

17

Lynx ....

64

,, howlers, red

18

,, Canada

65

,, langurs

13

„ pardine

65

,, macaques

14

M

,, magot

IS

,, mangabeys

14

Macaques

14

,, marmosets

21

„ crab-eating

15

,, night

20

Macaws

275

,, ouakari

18

Mackerel

345

,, proboscis .

II

Magot . . . .

15

,, spider

16

Magpie

257

Moose

183

Malayan tapir

206

Morse

120

Manatees

133

Mosquito . . . .

384

Mandrill

9

Moth ....

377

Mangabeys .

14

, bee-hawk

378

Mantis, praying .

3^3

, burnet

379

Marbled cat

59

, cinnabar .

379

Marco Polo's sheep .

163

death's-head sphinx

378

Margay

61

emerald

380

Markhor

170

emperor .

379

Marmignatto spider .

389

goat .

37S

Marmosets .

21

humming-bird hawl

: 378

Marmots, common .

142

, kitten

380

,, prairie

142

, luna .

4S4

Marsupials .

218

, magpie

380

Martens

95

Polyphemus

454

Martins

271

, Promethea

454

Mavis ....

267

puss .

380

May-fly

. 365

, sulphur

380

Meerkats

73

, swallowtail

380

Megalopa

408

, swift

378

Merian's opossum

230

tiger .

378

Mice, pouched

227

vaporer

379

Milkweed .

449

Mouflon, European .

161

Milky slug .

417

Mountain zebra .

192

Millepede

395

Mourning dove .

277

,, Julus

396

Mouse ....

149.447

Mole, common .

40

„ field

149

,, pouched

228

,, harvest .

149

VOL. V. — SS

504

INDEX

PAGE

Mouse, hazel . . . 144

,, pouched

227

,, sea

429

Mud-fish

326

Mud-skippers

350

Mule-deer ,

186

Musk-beetle

359

Musk-ox

160

Muskrat

147

Musquaw

108

Mussels, black

423

Myrmecobius

227

N

Narwhal , . . . 128

Nauplius

408

Nautilus, chambered

416

Newts ....

322

Night-fliers .

380

Night-hawk

245

Nightingale

267

Nightjars

244

Night-monkeys .

20

Noctuae

380

Nuthatch

264

Nut-weevil

359

0

Ocelot .... 60

Oil-beetles .

358

Okapi .

180

Oliveback .

269

Olm .

325

Opossums .

228

,, common

230

,, crab-eating

230

,, Merian's

230

„ yapock

230

Orang-utan

4

Osprey , . .

237

Ostriches

281

Otters .

100

,, sea

lOI

Ouakari

18

Ouistiti

21

Oimce .

55

Owls, bam .

241

„ brown

240

„ burrowing

241

„ long-eared

240

„ short-eared

240

Ox, musk

160

Oxen, wild .

157

Oysters

423

,, pearl

.

422

Painter
Palm-civets
Panda
Pangolins

, , giant

,, Indian

Panther, American

,, or leopard

Paradise, birds of

,, king bird of

Parasol-ant
Pardine lynx
Parrakeets .

,, ring-necked

Parrots .
Partridges .
Passenger-pigeon
Patagonian sea-lion
Peacocks
Pearl-oyster
Peccaries
Pelicans
Penguin

Pen-tailed tree-shrew
Perch .

,, climbing

Periwinkles
Persian wild goat
Petaurist, squirrel
Pheasants
Phoebe
Pichiciago
Piddock
Pig, earth
Pigeons

,, passenger

,, wood
Pike .
Pine-marten
Pipe-fishes .
Pipistrelle .
Pit-vipers
Plaice .
Platypus, duck-billed
Poison-ivy .
Polar bear .
Polecat

,, ferret
Polyps .
Porcupines
Porpoise
Potoroos
Pouched mice
Pouched mole
Prairie-dogs

INDEX

505

Prawns

Praying-mantis .

Prickly chiton

Proboscis-monkey

Pudus .

Puff-adder

Puffin .

Puma .

Purpura

Puss-moth

Pygmy hippopotamus

Pyrenean desman

Pythons

Quagga

Q

R

405

3(>3
421

319
297

57
419
380
208

40
315

193

Rabbits

[54.455

,, jack

. 156

Racoons

no

Raft-spider .

392

Rat, black

148

,, brown

148

, kangaroo .

221

,, water .

146

Rate! ....

97

,, honey

97

Rattlesnakes

320

Ravens

254

Rays ....

340

Razor-shells

424

Red and blue macaw

275

Red deer

184

Red-faced ouakari

18

Red grouse .

279

Red gurnards

347

Red howler

18

Reindeer . . .

181

Rheas ....

283

Rhinoceros, African .

204

,, common

204

,, Indian .

203

Rhinoceros-hombill .

251

Rice-weevil

359

Ring-necked parrakeet

274

Ring-tailed lemur

22

River-horse

207

Roach . . . .

330

Robber-crab

402

Robin ....

267

Rock-snakes

316

Rocky Mountain goat

172

Rodents

136

Roebuck

• 185

Rondeleti's shark
Rooks .
Rorqual, common

,, lesser .

Rosy feather-starfish
Ruffed lemur
Ruffs . . . ,
Russian desman

Sable .
Sacred ibis .
Saki, black .
Salamanders

„ giant

,, spotted

Salmon

North Pacific
Salt-water fishes
Sandhoppers
Saw-fishes .
Saw-flies
Scaly ant-eater
Scarabaeus .
Scarlet ibis .
Scarlet tanager
Scavengers
Scorpion, water
Scorpions
Sea-anemones
Sea-bears
Sea-cucumbers
Sea-dolphins
Sea-elephant
Sea-gulls
Sea-hog
Sea-horse
Sea-lions
Sea-mouse
Sea-otter
Sea-unicorn
Sea-urchins
Seals

,, common

„ fur

,, hair

,, hooded, or crested
Secretary-vulture, or

secretary-bird
Serval .
Shark, blue

,, hammerhead
,, Rondeleti's
,, thresher .
,, white
Sharp-nosed firmer

PAGE

338
255
127
128
412

22
287

40

95

290

19
323
324
323
332
333
337
405
339
374
215
357
290

444
356
383
395
431
118

413
^33
119

295
130
20, 351
116
429

lOI

128
409
113
115
118
116
119

235
60

338
338
338
339
338
128

506

INDEX

PAGE

PAGE

Sheep ....

161

Spiders

387.450

„ bighorn

. 163

„ bird

390

Marco Polo's

163

garden

. 388

Shells, razor

424

,, gossamer

394

Shiner

445

,, hunting

390

Ship-worm .

426

,, marmignatto

• 389

Shore-crab .

400

raft

392

Short-eared owl .

240

,, trap-door

391

Shrews

36

water

393

,, elephant

39

Spinj^ ant-eater

230

,, jumping

39

Spotted goby

349

,, pen-tailed tree

39

hyena .

77

,, tree

39

salamander

323

,, tupaia

39

Springbok .

. 176

water

37

Squids ....

414

Shrike

266

Squirrels

137.447

Shrimps

405

,, chipmunk .

140

fresh- water .

406

flying .

139

Siamang

6

gray .

139

Side-striped jackal

86

,, sugar .

222

Sirenians

^33

Stag-beetle .

. 356

Six-banded armadillo

214

Starfish

410

Skinks ....

305

,, basket .

412

Skipjacks

357

,, bird's-foot

411

Skippers, mud

350

rosy feather

412

Skunk

99. 454

,, sun

411

Skylark

262

Starling

259

Slender loris

23

Star-nosed mole

45

Sloth-bear .

108

Sticklebacks

327

Sloths ....

212

Stoat ....

93

Slugs ....

416

Storks

289

Snails ....

417

Striped hyena

76

edible

418

Sturgeon

341

,, water

418

Sucking-fishes

345

Snakes . . . ;

511, 440

Sugar-squirrel

222

„ black-

314

Sulphur moth

380

,, egg-eating

314

Sun-bear

108

,, garter

314

Sunfish

445

,, green-

314

Sun-star

411

,, harmless

3^3

Suricate

73

king

3^3

Susu ....

132

,, milk

314

Swallows . . . :

!7i.443

,, poisonous

317

Swallowtail moth

380

rattle- .

320

Swans ....

292

,, rock

316

Swifts ....

245

water

314

,, chimney

245

Snipe ....

288

Swine ....

208

Snow-leopard

55

Swordfish .

344

Soldier-beetle

449

T

Sole ....
Solitary bee

343
371

Tadpole . . . ;
Taefuan

521, 440
140

Sparrow-hawk

239

Tahr ....

171

Sparrows ... 2

61,437

Tamandua .

214

Sperm or Spermaceti whale

i 124

Tanager, scarlet

444

Spider-monkeys .

16

Tapirs, American

206

INDEX

507

Tapirs, Malayan .
Tarsier

Tasmanian devil
wolf
Tawny thrush, Wilson's
Terebella
Teredo
Termites
Testacella
Thousand-legs
Three-banded douroucouli
Three-toed echidna .
Thresher-shark .
Thrushes

hermit .

North American
oliveback
Wilson's tawny
wood
Thylacine
Tiger-beetle
Tiger-cat
Tiger-moth .
Tigers .

,, man-eating
,, tree .
Tiger-wolf .
Tit, blue .
,, bottle .
,, cole
, , great
,, long-tailed
Titmice
Toads .

,, homed
Tomtits
Torpedo
Tortoises

,, Greek
,, land
Toucans

Trap- door spider
Tree-kangaroo
Tree- shrew
Trout .
Tupaia
Turkeys
Turnip-fleas
Turnip saw-flies
Turs .
Turtle-dove
Turtles

,, green

,, hawksbill

PAGE

206

23
226
225
269
429
426
365
417
214

20
231

339
267
269
268
269
269
268
225

355
61

378

51

52

59

77

265

265

265

265

265

265

322

307
452
340
299
300
300
250

391
221

39
33^

39
278

359
375
168
277
00, 440
301
301

Unicom, sea
Urchins, sea
Urial .

U

V

Vampires
Vaporer-moth
Veery .
Vipers

,, pit
Vireo .
Viscacha
Vlack-vark .
Vole, field .

,, water
Vultures

,, secretary

W

Wagtails

Wah .

Walking-stick

Wallabies

Walrus

Wapiti

Warblers

Wart-hog

Wasps .

Water-beetle

Water-boatman .

Water-rat .

Water-scorpion .

Water-shrew

Water-snail

Water-spider

Water-striders

Water-thrush

Water-vole .

Waxbill

Weasels

,, honey

,, least

,, New York
Weevers
Weevils, nut

Whales

nee
wheat .

bottle-nosed

fin

Greenland

killer

rorqual

sperm

128
409
165

30
379
269

317
319
437
151
209

147
146

233
235

263
no
3^3

187
263
209
372

355
382
146
383
37
314

393
382
263

146

261

91.455

97

93

93

346

359

359

359

121

125
127
127

131
127

124

508

INDEX

PAGE

PAGE

Whales, whalebone

126

Woodchuck . . . 142

,, white

129

Woodcock .

287

Whelk ....

418

Woodpecker

247

Whippoorwill

244

,, flicker

249

White bear .

102

,, ivorybill

247

White shark

338

,, logcock

247

White-tailed gnu

178

redhead

249

Whitethroat

261

Woodlice

407

Wild asses .

193

Wood-pigeon

276

boar .

208

Worm, earth-

427

,, duck .

293

lug-

428

oxen .

157

ship

426

Wildcat

62

Wrens

260

Wildebeests

177

Wilson 's tawny thrush

269

Y

Wireworms .

357

Yak 158

Wishtonwish

141

Yapock opossum . . 230

Wolf, aard .

74

Z

,, common .

81

,, coyote

83

Zebra 192

,, Tasmanian

225

,, Burchell's . . 192

„ tiger .

77

,, Grevy's . . 192

Wolverene .

96

mountain . . 192

Wombat

223

Zoea

.

408

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