322 The Realm of Nature CHAP. 



graceful, and fantastically striped zebras and quaggas fre- 

 quent the grassy plains. Of all African animals the most 

 widespread and characteristic are the antelopes, which 

 gallop in vast herds over the plains, and, ranging in size 

 from an ox to a rabbit, inhabit bush, forest, and desert as 

 well. Apes narrow-nosed, tailless creatures of the monkey 

 kind are very common in all parts of the continent. The 

 forests are the chosen home of the most highly developed 

 and fiercest, the gorillas and chimpanzees. The ostrich, 

 the largest bird in the world, is typical of Africa, being 

 found in all the open plains and deserts both in the north 

 and south. The adjacent island of Madagascar contains 

 very few of the animals common in the Ethiopian realm, 

 but abounds in lemurs, a kind of half-monkey. 



413. Neotropical Realm. South America is richer in 

 varieties of animal life than any other realm, and it is also 

 peculiar for the very large number of species which are 

 found nowhere else. The true monkeys are confined to the 

 great forests, where they swarm in amazing numbers. They 

 differ from the African and Oriental apes mainly in having 

 a broad nose and a long prehensile tail, by which they 

 swing from branch to branch. Vampires and others of the 

 leaf-nosed bats, the rabbit -like chinchilla of the Andes 

 slopes, the beaver-like coypu rat of the plains, and the little 

 agouti, allied to the guinea-pig, are all exclusively South 

 American. So are the more peculiar sloths which swing 

 back downward from the trees, the great bushy-tailed ant- 

 eaters with long slimy tongues specially modified to lick up 

 ants, and the curious armour-clad armadilloes resembling in 

 their habits the hedgehogs of Europe. Although no bears, 

 foxes, or wolves penetrate south of the transition zone, the 

 jaguar, resembling in many respects the tiger of the Oriental 

 realm, ranges over the entire continent, and the puma or 

 American lion even extends far into North America. The 

 llama, alpaca, and vicuna, confined to the upper slopes of 

 the Andes, are closely allied to the camel family, which 

 inhabits only the Palaearctic realm. Neotropical birds are 

 numerous and distinctive, ranging in size from the huge 

 unsightly condor to gem -like humming-birds, which are 



