THE LITTLE ANT-EATER. 



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just been detailed, and the creature seems to possess considerable grasping power in 

 the toes of the fore-limbs, being able to pick up a small object in its paws. Though 

 not a fighter, it can defend itself right well by means of these powerful instruments, 

 and cannot only strike with considerable violence, but when attacked by a dog or 

 similar enemy, it clasps him in such a terrific gripe, that the half-suffocated animal is 

 only too glad to be able to escape. 



The Ant-bear is said to make no burrow, but to content itself with the shade of its 

 own plumy tail whenever it retires to rest. While sleeping, the creature looks very like 

 a rough bundle of hay, thrown loosely on the ground, for the hair of the mane an* 

 is so long and so harsh that it can hardly be recognized at the first glance for the 

 table coat of a living animal. The eye of this creature has a peculiar and indescriba- 

 bly cunning expression. The Tamanoir is a native of Guinea, Brazil, and Paraguay. 



TAMANDUA. Tamaadua tetradactyla. 



TheTAMANDUA possesses an elongated head, like that of the tamanoir, but the skull 

 is not so extraordinarily long as in that animal, and the hair is short over the entire body. 

 Indeed, the Tamandua looks like a small specimen of the tamanoir, which has been 

 clipped from its neck to the tip of its tail. The color of this species is much lighter than 

 that of the tamanoir, and a black stripe passes over each shoulder. In size it is compara- 

 tively small, measuring when full-grown, barely three feet and a half in total length. 



It is a more active animal than the preceding species, and is a good climber of 

 trees, which it ascends in search of the insects on which it feeds. The tail is long 

 and tapering, and possesses something of the prehensile quality, though not so strongly 

 as that of the little ant-eater, which will shortly be described. It is naked at the tip, 

 but at the base is thickly covered with hair of the same short, coarse kind that is spread 

 over the body. When young, its fur is a pale cinnamon. 



The LITTLE ANT-EATER is a truly curious animal, possessing many of the habits of 

 the two preceding animals, together with several customs of its own. The head of this 

 creature is comparatively short ; its body is covered with fine silken fur, and its entire 

 length does not exceed twenty or twenty-one inches. The tail is well furred, except- 

 ing three inches of the under surface at the extremity, which is employed as the pre- 

 hensile portion of that member, and is capable of sustaining the weight of the body as 



