CHAPTER XLII. 



THE DARKENING SKY. 



WHILE my task confines me mainly 

 to a description of some of the most 

 striking wonders in the natural history 

 of the Old World, you must not sup- 

 pose that the New World is lacking in 

 that respect. What more odd-looking 

 objects can be conceived than the 

 belted armadillo of Central and South 

 America, unless it is the ball-shaped 

 armadillo ? They are nocturnal in their 

 habits, and can ill stand the glare oi 

 sunlight. If detected and shut off from 

 its retreat, it rolls itself up like a ball, 

 tucks its head under its chest, draw? 

 in its legs and awaits your pleasure 

 Its flesh is too strong for our palates, 

 but the natives are quite fond of it. 

 The tamanoir, or ant-bear, is a native of Brazil and Paraguay as well as ol 

 Guinea. The little ant-eater is found among the trees of Central America. It may 

 be said that the ant-bear always carries its umbrella with it, for its plumy tail 

 affords it all the shade it wants, and when sleeping it looks like a bundle of hay 

 flung on the ground. 



There is a brown and golden bird in Mexico which has a way of ruffling up its 

 feathers on the top of its head so that its crest resembles a beautiful flower. So 

 perfect is the counterfeit that before long a bee comes buzzing along, and, stopping 

 to sip some honey, is snapped up in a twinkling. 



Arizona has a rattlesnake about four feet in length with eyes literally like points 

 of fire. Once a bird catches sight of those eyes, and it is so fascinated that escape 

 is impossible. 



In Sinalva are gigantic wasps whose sting not only kills tarantulas, but mum- 

 mifies and preserves them at the same time. The wasps then drag them off to their 

 holes in the sand-hills, and lay their eggs in them, so that when the young are born, 

 they feed on the tarantula. The blending of the wasp poison with that of the 

 tarantula produces nutritious food for the young wasps. 



A centipede builds a cactus fence around him when he lies down to sleep, as a 



146 



THE CHAMELEON. 



