OF WILD ANIMALS 237 



him "cat's cradle" but it was too much for him. His clumsy 

 fingers could not manage it. 



One of our brightest chimpanzees, named Baldy, was much 

 given to hectoring his female cage-mate, for sport. What 

 he regarded as his best joke was destroying her bed. Many 

 times over, after she had laboriously carried straw up to the 

 balcony, carefully made up a nice, soft, circular bed for herself, 

 and settled down upon it for a well-earned rest, Baldy would 

 silently climb up to her level, suddenly fling himself upon her 

 as she lay, and with all four of his arms and legs violently 

 working, the nest would be torn to pieces and scattered and the 

 lady orang rudely pulled about. Then Baldy would joyously 

 swing down to the lower level, settle himself demurely at the 

 front of the cage, and with a placid face and innocent, far-away 

 expression in his eyes gaze at the crowd. There was nothing 

 lacking but a mischievous wink of one eye. 



Whenever his cage-mate selected a particularly long and 

 perfect straw and placed it crosswise in her mouth, Baldy would 

 steal up behind her and gleefully snatch it away. 



Baldy was a born comedian. He loved to amuse a crowd 

 and make people laugh. He would go through a great trapeze 

 performance of clownish and absurd gymnastics, and often end 

 it with three or four loud smacks of his big black feet against the 

 wall. This was accomplished by violent kicking backwards. 

 His dancing and up-and-down jumping always made visitors 

 laugh, after which he would joyously give his piercing "Wah- 

 hoo" shout of triumph. A Sioux Indian squaw dances by jump- 

 ing up and down, but her performance is lifeless in comparison. 



No vaudeville burlesque dancer ever cut a funnier monkey 

 shine than the up-and-down high- jump dance and floor-slapping 

 act of our Boma chimpanzee (1921). Boma offers this when- 

 ever he becomes especially desirous of entertaining a party of 

 distinguished visitors. In stiff dancing posture, he leaps high 

 in the air, precisely like a great black jumping-jack straight 

 from Dante's Inferno. 



