ANIMALS WITH AND WITHOUT COMBS 



53 



of the Bird. Hudson 1 is quoted for the observation 

 that Herons are remarkably free from vermin, while 

 the Roseate Spoonbill is infested by them ; both have 

 the serrated claw. The Herons (captive ?) were 

 always in a miserable condition ; the Spoonbills 

 plump and healthy. 



The Honey-bee has a comb in the 

 fore-leg, lying in the angle between 

 the tibia and tarsus, which is used 

 to cleanse the antennae from dust or 

 pollen. Many Beetles, belonging to 

 the section Geodephaga, have a comb 

 of like structure and use, which forms 

 a deep notch, protected by a spine, at 

 the lower end of the fore tibia. 



The mouth, whether armed with a 

 comb or not, is often used to keep 

 the body trim and clean. Cock- 

 roaches draw their long antennae from 

 time to time through the mouth. 

 Simulium larvae cleanse their fan-like 

 brushes in the same way. The larva 

 of the Gnat may be seen busily at 

 work clearing its body of attached 

 Infusoria, and devouring all that it can reach. 



There are some animals, such as bivalve Mollusks 

 which have no effective means of removing foreign 

 bodies from their skin. They sometimes find it the 

 simplest plan to coat the irritating object with 

 nacreous shell, as the pearl-forming Hyria does with 

 the images thrust under its mantle by the crafty 

 1 Argentine Ornithology, Vol. II. 



FIG. 14. Part of 



fore-leg of Aepus, 

 a marine Beetle, 

 with comb upon 

 the tibia. 



