626 THE CARNIVORES 



kinds of flesh. Hodgson states that it will sometimes steal down to the villages and 

 feast on milk and butter. These animals feed in the morning and evening, and sleep 

 much during the day, although they are by no means exclusively nocturnal in their 

 habits. On the ground, their movements are somewhat awkward and ungainly ; 

 and they are generally sluggish and stupid in disposition, and allow themselves to 

 be captured without much difficulty. They hiss and spit like cats when angered, 

 and occasionally utter a low deep growl, somewhat like that of a young bear. Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Hodgson they drink by lapping with the tongue, but from observa- 

 tions made on specimens in the Zoological Society's Gardens, this is denied by Mr. 

 A. D. Bartlett, who states that they drink by putting their noses to the ground, 

 after the fashion of a bear. They generally sleep curled up sideways, with the head 

 concealed by the thick tail, but will also frequently repose by sitting down on their 

 haunches with the head tucked in between the fore-paws, their habits being very 

 similar to those of some of the raccoons. 



In addition to the cries already mentioned, it appears from the account of an 

 observer who watched a pair of these animals high up in the trees near Darjiling, 

 that the panda will at certain times probably the breeding season utter loud and 

 somewhat unearthly cries, which may be heard at a considerable distance. They 

 call one another by a kind of chirping cry. The panda is a quite harmless, and 

 apparently an almost defenseless animal, its sharp and partially retractile claws being 

 evidently adapted for the purpose of climbing, rather than as weapons of offense or 

 defense. 



The young, generally two in number, are born in a nest formed in some hollow 

 tree or cavity among rocks. They are produced in the spring, and are helpless for 

 a long period. It is stated that the cubs of one litter remain with the parent, till 

 shortly before the birth of a second. 



In captivity these animals are gentle and easily tamed, even when not captured 

 until they have attained maturity. In this country they require great care and 

 attention, for their extreme susceptibility to cold ; but in the more congenial climate 

 of Calcutta they thrive well in cages placed in the open air. 



It is a remarkable circumstance that an extinct species of panda, about half as 

 large again as the living form, once flourished in England. This is proved by the 

 occurrence of teeth and fragments of jaws in the so-called Red Crag of the Suffolk 

 coast, which belongs to the Pliocene period. It is, therefore, probable that the genus 

 was once widely spread over the Old World; while its occurrence in England proves 

 that the country must have been formerly thickly covered with forest, and have en- 

 joyed a climate of a subtropical nature. 



The widely-known raccoons, of which there are two or three species, are the 

 typical representatives of the family, and, like all the remaining forms, they are ex- 

 clusively American. These animals have a total of forty teeth, or two more 



