POWER OF RHINOCEROS TO INFLATE HIS SKIN. 177 



word, the appetites and instincts of animals. Each 

 one chooses that best adapted to its habits and con- 

 stitution. Thus, the goldfinch frequents the thistle, 

 because he finds a rampart in its prickly leaves, food 

 in its seeds, and materials for his nest in its down. 

 The bird-fly of Florida, for similar reasons, prefers 

 the vignonia. This is a creeping plant, which finds 

 its way to the tops of the highest trees, and frequent- 

 ly covers the whole trunk. He builds his nest in 

 one of its leaves, which he rolls into the form of 

 a cornet : he finds his food in its red flowers, resem- 

 bling those of the foxglove, the nectareous glands of 

 which he licks : he plunges his little body into them, 

 which appears, in the heart of the flower, like 

 an emerald set in coral ; and he gets in sometimes so 

 far, that he suffers himself to be sm'prised there and 

 caught." 



The same author mentions other examples of these 

 beautiful coincidences: one, in particular, occurs to 

 my memory at this time. " The rhinoceros, an in- 

 habitant of the torrid zone, is clothed with a hide 

 rolled up in several folds. This clumsy animal has 

 the appearance of being invested with a threefold 

 mantle ; but being destined to live in the miry mo- 

 rasses of India, where he grubs up with his homy 

 snout the long roots of the bamboo, he would have 

 been in danger of sinking, from his enormous weight. 



