130 VOICE AND ''language" OF CHIMPANZEES 



Miss M. also reclined, and Chim found great sport in running 

 from behind, some ten or fifteen feet, and jumping over her 

 to where Panzee lay. He gauged the distance so nicely as 

 not to touch Miss M. nor quite to jump on Panzee, but so 

 nearly did he come to doing so that he kept us in suspense 

 during many repetitions of the performance. 



While they were playing in the sand one afternoon, Chim 

 observed D. disposing of something distasteful that he had 

 got in his mouth, and tried to imitate him. He was not very 

 successful, having difficulty in controlling the saliva, which 

 annoyed him by gathering on his chin. Next morning, after 

 Chim had been silent for some time in the back of the room, 

 a soft sound — php, php, php — attracted the attention, and he 

 was discovered very much engrossed in ejecting, at regular 

 intervals, the tiniest possible spray of saliva, with an aplomb 

 indicating that D. would not be able to outdo him with that 

 stunt again. 



Another of his lesser accomplishments was that of catching 

 flies. He would curve his right hand and fingers, and with a 

 swift motion from right to left, would almost always succeed 

 in catching them in his palm. He seemed right handed. 



One afternoon three children were playing leap-frog in the 

 lane, while Chim and Panzee were sitting with older people 

 some distance away. Chim watched the children intently, 

 for a few moments, then with a rush joined their game, leap- 

 ing from back to back to the end of the line and back again 

 without touching the ground. He liked this so well that he 

 repeated it several times, while the children obligingly held 

 their positions. 



Chim was a skilled rider of the birches. He would climb a 

 tree with consummate grace to the highest point at which it 

 would bear his weight. There he would plunge over, carry- 



