THE SLOTH 255 



two feet high at the shoulders, has a very long and bush} 

 tail, and measures four feet from its root to the end of 

 the snout. 



Nothing could well be more unlike the head of a sloth, 

 than is the head of the ant-eater, which is drawn out into 

 an exceedingly long and slender snout with a small mouth, 

 which opens at its extremity only so far as to allow a very 

 long worm-like tongue to be protruded from it. The 

 animal is to be found far and wide, though it is nowhere 

 plentiful, in the tropical parts of South and Central 

 America, in damp forests and the vicinity of rivers and 

 swamps. It has claws on its fingers save the fifth, but 

 that of the middle finger is extremely large and strong. 

 It uses its claws to open the nests of white ants, or ter- 

 mites. Then as the insects rush out when their nest is 

 broken into, the ant-eater rapidly introduces its long 

 tongue amongst them, to which they adhere, because it 

 is coated with a very glutinous saliva, secreted by enor- 

 mous spittle-glands. The tongue is sent forth and drawn 

 back with great celerity, and thus the animal is enabled 

 to obtain a great quantity of the small creatures, which 

 constitute its main food in a state of nature. It is 

 entirely toothless, but has a strong muscular stomach, 

 like the gizzard of a bird. In captivity, it will eat bread 

 and milk, also blood and newly-born rats. It does not 

 climb nor does it burrow, its claws being only used for 

 tearing down ant's nests, and for defence, in which 

 latter action it can use them very effectively. When 

 not attacked, it is, however, an inoffensive animal. It 

 has but a single young one at a birth. 



The middle-sized ant-eater, or tamandua, has the 

 characters of the larger one less developed, but its tail is 

 not at all bushy, and it can climb trees. The third and 

 smallest ant-eater is entirely arboreal, of a yellow colour 



