CONTENTS. xvii 



the Venom.— The Poison-Fangs.— The Bush-Master.— The Echidna Ocellata.— Rattle- 

 enakes.— Their Enemy the Hog.— The Cobra de Capello.— The Haje.— The Cerastes.— 

 Boas and Pythons.— The Boa-constrictor. — The Water Boa. — Fascination by Snakes. — 

 Henderson's Argument against It. — Thorpe's Reasons in its Favor. — Du Chaillu on the 

 Subject.— Enemies of Serpents.— The Secretary Bird.— The Adjutant Bird.- The Mon- 

 goos. — Serpents Eating Serpents. — The Locomotion of Serpents. — Anatomy of their 

 Jaws. — A Serpentine Meal. — Pet Serpents. — Tree Snakes. — Water Snakes. — Stories of 

 Enormous Snakes. — Du Chaillu's Big Snake. — Wallace's Bigger One. — Lizards: The 

 Geckoe. — Anatomy of its Feet. — Their Wide Distribution. — The Anolis. — Its Combative- 

 ness. — The Chameleon. — Its Habits, Change of Color, and Characteristics. — The Iguana. — 

 The Teju.— Water Lizards. — Flying Dragons. — The Basilisk. — Frogs and Toads: The Pipa 

 Frog.— Tree Frogs.— Wallace's Flying Frog.- The Bahia Toad.— The Giant Toad.— The 

 Musical Toad, Page 61S 



CHAPTER XL 



ALLIGATORS — CROCODILES — TORTOISES AND TURTLES. 



Alligators and Crocodiles: Their Habits. — Caymen, Gavials and Crocodiles. — Mode of Seizing 

 their Prey. — Size of Alligators. — Alligators on the Amazon. — Alligator and Crane. — Man- 

 Eating Alligators. — Their Contests. — Tenacity of Life. — Laying their Eggs. — Tenderness 

 for their Young. — Their Enemies.— Torpidity in the Dry Season. — "Playing 'Possum." — 

 Tortoises and Turtles: The Galapago Islands. — The Elephantine Tortoise. — Rate of Trav- 

 eling. — Marsh Tortoises. — Manufacture of Tortoise Oil. — Turtles on the Amazon. — Sea- 

 Turtles.— Their Enemies. — Modes of Capturing Turtles.— The Green Turtle. — The Hawks- 

 bill Turtle. — Barbarous Modes of Removing the Shell, and Selling the Meat. — The Cori- 

 aceous Turtle, 635 



CHAPTER XIL 



BIRD-LIFE IN THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



Difficulties of the Subject.— Wide Range of Birds.— The Toucan. — Humming-Birds. — Cotin- 

 gas. — The Campanero, or Bell-Bird. — The Realejo, or Organ-Bird. — The Manakins. — The 

 Cock of the Rock. — The Troopials. — The Baltimore Oriole. — The Cassiques. — The Mock- 

 ing-Bird. — The Toropishu. — The Tunqui. — Goat-Suckers. — The Cilgero. — Flamingos. — 

 The Ibis.— Spoon-Bills. -Birds of the New and the Old World.— Sun-Birds.— Honey -Eat- 

 ers. — The Ocellated Turkey. — The Lyre-Bird. — Birds of Paradise. — Fables respecting 

 them. — Their Character and Habits. — Their Dancing-Parties. — Mode of Shooting and 

 Snaring them. — The Australian Bower-Bird. — The Brush-Turkey. — The Adjutant. — The 

 Copper-smith. — The Indian Baya. — The Tailor-Bird. — The Grosbeak. — The Korwe. — 

 Parrots. — The Brazilian Love-Parrot. — Their Powers of Mimicry. — Cockatoos. — Macaws. 

 — The Ara. — Paroquets. — The Ostrich. — His Swiftness of Foot. — Modes of Capturing it. — 

 Stratagems to Save its Young. — Its Enemies. — Its Young. — Resemblance to the Camel. — 

 Its Powers of Digestion. — Uses of its Eggs. — The Rheas. — The Cassowary. — The Emu, 645 



CHAPTER XIIL 



THE climbers: bats, sloths, AND 8IMI.S;. 



Bats: Their Wonderful Organization. — The Fox-Bat — Eaten by the Malays. — Vampire Bats 

 — Their Blood-sucking Propensities. — The Horseshoe Bat. — The Nycteribia. — The Flying 

 Squirrel. — The Galeopithecus. — The Anomalurus. — The Sloth: Pitiful Description given 

 of Him. — His beautiful Organization for his peculiar Mode of Life. — His rapid Movements 

 in the Trees — His Means of Defense. — His Tenacity of Life. — The Unau — The Ai. — 

 Gigantic Primeval Sloths. — Monkeys: Good Climbers, but bad Walkers. — Imperfectly 

 known to the Ancients. — Similitudes and Differences between Man and Apes. — The Chim- 

 panzee. — The Gorilla. — Du Chaillu's First Encounter with a Gorilla.— The Gorilla and her 

 Young. — The Orang-Utan, or Mias. — Wallace's Accounts of Shooting the Orang. — Their 

 Tenacity of Life. — Size of the Orang. — The Orang as a Combatant. — The Orang fighting 



