BIRDS AND ALL NATURE. 



ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. 



Vol. V. 



JANUARY, 1899. 



No. I 



'TESS/' 



A REMARKABLE example of 

 the human-like intelligence of a 

 chimpanzee, rivaling that of the 

 celebrated "Mr. Crowley," of 

 New York, so long the chief object of 

 admiration in the museum of Central 

 Park, was that of the subject of this 

 sketch. "Tess" was captured in Africa 

 by Allan Grosch and brought to Bos- 

 ton, where she was purchased by Frank 

 C. Bostock. She was brought up with 

 Mr. Bostock's little girl and was dressed 

 the same as any child of three years. 

 She walked upright, ate with knife and 

 fork, drank from a cup, had better 

 table manners than the average child 

 of the same age, wore finger-rings, ear- 

 rings, and pin, and always surve}'ed her- 

 self in the glass to see that her pin was 

 on straight, and her dress hung right; 

 she smoked a pipe, drew lines on a 

 blackboard, wrote with a pen, and 

 imitated Mr. Bostock's little girl in 

 many ways. She uttered a few sounds 

 which were understood by her master, 

 and seemed to understand what was 

 said to her. She died of pneumonia 

 while being exhibited in the East, was 

 purchased by Mr. C. F. Gunther and 

 presented by him to the Chicago Acad- 

 emy of Sciences. Her age was three 

 years and seven months. 



The chimpanzee {Simla troglodytes) 

 is considerably smaller than the gor- 

 illa; old males reach a height of sixty- 

 four inches; females, forty-eight inches. 

 The arms are long, reaching a little be- 

 low the knee, and possess great mus- 

 cular power. In the feet the large toe 

 is separated from the others by a deep 

 incision; and the sole is flat. The hair 

 of the chimpanzee is smooth, the color 

 usually black, but in some specimens it 

 is a dull, reddish brown. Chimpanzees 

 walk on all fours, resting themselves on 

 the calloused backs of their hands. 



The toes of the feet are sometimes 

 drawn in when walking. Naturalists 

 say there is a strong inclination in this 

 species to show remarkably varying in- 

 dividual types, which has led to contro- 

 versies as to whether there were not 

 several different species. 



That the chimpanzee was known to 

 the ancients is made fairly certain 

 b)' the famous mosaic picture which 

 once adorned the temple of Fortuna, 

 and which is said to be still preserved 

 in the Barberini palace at Palestrina in 

 Italy. This mosaic represents, among 

 many other animals of the Upper Nile 

 country, what is believed to have been 

 the chimpanzre. A young specimen 

 was taken to Europe in the beginning 

 of the seventeenth century. They have 

 been taken there repeatedly since and 

 are not infrequent features of the 

 European animal market. Several have 

 been brought to the United States and 

 placed in museums and menageries. 



It was formerly believed that the 

 chimpanzeewas a gregarious animal, but 

 it is now known that there are seldom 

 more than five, or, at the utmost, ten 

 living together. Sometimes, however, 

 they gather in greater numbers for play. 

 One observer claims to have seen at 

 one time about fifty of them which had 

 assembled on trees and amused them- 

 selves with screaming and drumming 

 on the tree trunks. They shun human 

 habitation. Their nests are built in 

 trees, not at a great height from the 

 ground. They break and twist and 

 cross larger and smaller branches and 

 support the whole on a strong bough. 

 A nest will sometimes be found at the 

 end of a bough, twenty or thirty feet 

 from the ground. They change abid- 

 ing places often in looking for food or 

 for other reasons. Two or more nests 

 are rarely seen in the same tree. Nests, 



