52 SOME TOOTHLESS MAMMALS 



animal except the great cats. An armadillo has been 

 seen to roll itself up suddenly on the slope of a hill and 

 then go bounding down like a cannon ball. 



One of the armadillos, the peba, is found in Texas. 

 It is about thirty inches in length, the shell having eight 

 or nine bands. 



All these animals have an unpleasant, musky odor, 

 extremely penetrating and disagreeable. They dig bur- 

 rows five or six feet in length and spend most of the 

 time in them. The largest of these animals is the giant 

 armadillo, which attains a length of five feet. It is a 

 powerful creature, and has a habit of burrowing into 

 graves. A common musical instrument in South America 

 is made of the hardened armor of one form. The Boto- 

 cudos, an Indian tribe in South America, famous for cut- 

 ting and mutilating their faces, use the hard tail of a 

 species as a trumpet. 



The pichiciago is a remarkable allied form, bearing its 

 shell upon its back, and appearing as though cut off 

 abruptly. The lower part of the body is covered with 

 hair. The animal passes much of the time under- 

 ground, being very molelike in its habits. 



The pangolins (Fig. 38) are still other allied forms, 

 resembling lizards in form or shape. They are mammals 

 covered with overlapping scales which constitute a perfect 

 armor. They are found in tropical Africa and South 

 America, and, despite their somewhat ferocious appearance, 

 are harmless. They live upon ants, which they secure 

 by digging into ant-hills and thrusting the long tongue 

 into the hole and withdrawing it covered with ants. One 

 of the African species is five feet in length. When 



