CHAPTER XIII. 



MAMMAL CRAFTSMEN. 



A^IONG the Mammals we shall seek in vain for 

 that highly skilled craftsmanship which is such 

 a characteristic feature of Bird and Insect life that 

 is, of course, excluding Man from our survey. The 

 great man-like apes are said to build temporary nests 

 or arbours among the branches of the trees, but the 

 statements regarding their appearance and construc- 

 tion are very conflicting and meagre, and at best 

 seem chiefly founded on statements made by natives, 

 always an unreliable source from which to obtain 

 accurate information. The larger Carnivora have their 

 lairs or hiding-places, generally caverns, holes in the 

 ground, or similar situations adapted to their require- 

 ments, as places of shelter and retreat, or as nurseries 

 for their young. Of the more remarkable burrows 

 I have already given one or two examples in Chapter 

 X., but there are other Mammal craftsmen whose 

 skill I would briefly refer to here, and who are not only 

 burrowers in the soil, but often more or less expert 

 nest-builders. 



The graceful, lively little Squirrel of our wood- 

 lands is quite a skilled architect, building a good-sized 

 dome-shaped nest either in the fork of a bough high 



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