584 Nu 1 Tl 'RA L HIS TOR Y. 



ancient knight, and the various portions are movable upon each other, 

 thus allowing the animal to roll itself up in a ball, and leaving no vulner- 

 able portion exposed. Our cut shows two individuals thus curled up. In 

 this species, as will be seen, there are four of these joints, and between 

 them are three belts of bony plates wdiich give the animal its name. In 

 others the number of these bands may reach as many as nine, as in the 

 case of the only species which enters the United States. 



The armadillos are all burrowing animals, digging their holes some six 

 or seven feet in depth by means of their strong, long-clawed feet. In 

 these burrows they spend most of the day, and at night they come out 

 to seek their food. They are rather indiscriminate in their diet, eating 

 either vegetables or meat with equal relish, and some of the larger forms 

 are said to occasionally burrow into graveyards. Yet notwithstanding 

 their omnivorous character, these animals are highly esteemed as food. 

 When caught above ground they quickly roll themselves into a ball, but the 

 defence which answers so w 7 ell with, other animals is no trouble to man ; 

 he simply takes the animal, shell and all, and then when he gets it home, 

 this same shell serves for a dripping-pan, for the animal is roasted in it. 



The strangest-looking of all the armadillos is the pichiciago of Chili. 

 It is only about six inches in length, and has the plate armor only upon 

 the head and back, leaving the sides exposed, except so far as they are 

 covered with hair. The hinder part of the body is the strangest ; for it 

 looks as if it were chopped off square, and the little armored tail comes 

 out in the most curious manner. 



While the armadillos are in every way fitted for a burrowing life, 

 another group of the same edentates are pre-eminently adapted for a life 

 in the trees. These are the sloths ; and they are rightly named, for their 

 slowness is proverbial. They move about the branches of the trees, 

 hanging down from the limbs by means of their long claws. Here they 

 live and sleep and eat, and but rarely, if ever, do they descend to the 

 earth of their own accord. As in action so in intellect they are slow. 

 Linne was right when he applied the term Bruta to these and other allied 

 animals, for they are the most brutish of all the brutes. A sloth, says 

 Dr. Oswald, " permits you to lift his claw, but drops it as soon as you 

 withdraw your hand. If }*ou prod him. he breaks forth into a moan that 

 seems to express a lament over the painfulness of earthly affairs in general 

 rather than resentment of your particular act. ... I do not know if a 

 sloth can be teased; for after trying all my conscience and Mr. Bergh 

 would permit, that point still remains undecided." 



They are. farther, slow to die. If one be shot in the top of some tall 

 tree, it comes crashing down through the branches, grasping frantically 



