THE TWO-TOED ANT-EATER. 179 



her on her shoulders for the first three or four months. The young are at first exceedingly deformed 

 and ugly, and of an uniform straw-colour. 



The animal is called Cagouare by the Guaranis, on account of the noxious and infected vapours 

 of the forests in which alone it is found, the word literally signifying, in the language of those Indians, 

 "the inhabitants of a stinking wood or marsh." Such at least is D'Azara's interpretation of the term, 

 though it appears more probable that it may refer to the strong disagreeable odour of the animal itself, 

 which, this very author informs us, is so powerful that it may be perceived at a very great distance, 

 particularly when the animal is irritated. Tamandua is the name by which it is known to the 

 Portuguese of Brazil ; the French and the English call it Fourmilier and Little Ant-Bear. 



THE TWO-TOED ANT-EATER.* 



These little animals appear, at first sight, to resemble Sloths with tails; and their round 

 heads, furry bodies, and two claws on the fore limb, add to the resemblance. They are essentially 

 arboreal animals also, but they have long and useful tails, and live on insects. They hunt their insect 

 prey in the forests of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Brazil. Their two-clawed hands are remarkable, for 

 the rudiments of the thumb and little finger are hidden beneath the skin, and the claws are placed 

 on the first and second digits. The third digit has no claw. There are four claws on the feet, so that 

 in this arrangement the animal is peculiar amongst the Ant-eaters. It is not larger than a common 

 Squirrel, and the general shape of the body is like that of a Tamandua on a small scale. Its whole 

 length, from the snout to the origin of the tail, is but six inches, and of the tail, seven inches and a 

 quarter. This is consequently rather longer than the body; it is- thick at the root, and covered 

 with short fur, but tapers suddenly towards the point, where it is naked and strongly prehensile. 

 The muzzle is not so long, in proportion, as in the other two species ; the tongue also is shorter, and 

 has a flatter form ; the mouth opens further back in the jaws, and has a much larger gape, the eye 

 being situated close to its posterior angle ; the ears are short, rather drooping, and concealed among 

 the long fur which covers the head and cheeks ; the legs are short and stout ; and the hair, very soft 

 and fine to the touch, is three-quarters of an inch in length on the body, but much shorter on the head, 

 legs, and tail. The general colour is that of straw, more or less tinged with maroon on the shoulders, 

 and particularly along the median line of the back, which usually exhibits a deep line of this shade. 

 The feet and tail are grey. 



This species is said to have four mammae, two pectoral, as in those already described, and two 

 others on the abdomen. It is reported, nevertheless, to have but a single cub at birth, which it 

 conceals in the hollow of some decayed tree. The habits and manners of this little animal, hitherto 

 very imperfectly known to naturalists, are well described by Von Sach, in his "Narrative of a 

 Voyage to Surinam." 



"I have had two little Ant-eaters, or Fourmiliers, which were not larger than a Squirrel. 

 One was of a bright-yellow colour, with a brown stripe on the back, the other was a silvery- 

 grey, and darker on the back. The hair of each was very soft and silky, a little crisped ; the 

 head was small and round, the nose long, gradually bending downwards to a point ; it had no 

 teeth, but a very long round tongue: the eyes were very small, round, and black; the legs rather 

 short ; the fore-feet had only two claws on each, the exterior being much larger and stronger 

 than the interior, which exactly filled the curve or hollow of the large one ; the hind feet had 

 four claws of a moderate size ; the tail was prehensile, longer than the body, thick at the base 

 and tapering to the end, which, for some inches on the under side, was bare. This little animal 

 is called in Surinam ' Kissing-hand,' as the inhabitants pretend that it will never eat, at least when 

 caught, but that it only licks its paws, in the same manner as the Bear ; that all trials to make 

 it eat have proved in vain, and that it soon dies in confinement. When I got the first, I sent to 

 the forest for a nest of Ants, and during the interim I put into its cage some eggs, honey, milk, and 

 meat ; but it refused to touch any of them. At length the Ants' nest arrived, but the animal did not 

 pay the slighest attention to it either. By the shape of its fore-paws, which resemble nippers, and 

 differ very much from those of all the other different species of Ant-eaters, I thought that this little 

 creature might perhaps live on the nymphse of Wasps, &c. I therefore brought it a Wasps' nest, and 



* Cyclothurus didactylus. 



