238 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



Orangs love to turn somersaults, and some individuals 

 are so persistent about it as to wear the hair off their backs, 

 disfigure their beauty, and disgust their keepers. 



In the chapter on "Mental Traits of the Gorilla" a descrip- 

 tion is given of the play of Major Penny's wonderful John 

 Gorilla. 



When many captive monkeys are kept together in one large 

 cage containing gymnastic properties, many species develop 

 humor, and indulge in play of many kinds. They remind me of 

 a group of well-fed and boisterous small boys who must skylark 

 or "bust." From morning until night they pull each other's 

 tails, wrestle and roll, steal each other's playthings, and wildly 

 chase each other to and fro. There is no end of chattering, 

 and screeching, and funny facial grimaces. A writer in Life 

 once said that the sexes of monkeys can be distinguished by the 

 fact that "the females chatter twice as fast as the males," but 

 I am sure that many ladies will dispute that statement. 



In a company of mixed monkeys, or a mixed company of 

 monkeys, a timid and fearsome individual is often made the 

 butt of practical jokes by other monkeys who recognize its 

 weakness. And who has not seen the same trait revealed in 

 crowds of boys? 



But we can linger no longer with the Primates. 



Who has not seen squirrels at play? Once seen, such an 

 incident is not soon forgotten. I have seen gray, fox and red 

 squirrels engage in highly interesting performances. The gray 

 squirrel is stately and beautiful in its play, but the red squirrel 

 is amazing hi its elaborateness of method. I have seen a pair 

 of those mischief-makers perform low down on the trunk of a 

 huge old virgin white oak tree, where the holding was good, 

 and work out a program almost beyond belief. They raced 

 and chased to and fro, up, down and across, in circles, triangles, 

 parabolas and rectangles, until it was fairly bewildering. 

 Really, they seemed to move just as freely and certainly on 



