78 STUDIES, SCIP:NTIFIC AND SOCIAL 



native country, and from a profound study of its organiza- 

 tion, Professor Owen believes that it is adapted for the 

 one purpose of feeding on the larvae of wood-boring insects. 

 Its large feet and sharp claws enable it to cling firmly 

 to the branches of trees in almost any position ; by means 

 of its large delicate ears it listens for the sound of the 

 insect gnawing within the branch, and is thus able to fix 

 its exact position ; with its powerful curved gnawing 

 teeth, as seen in the accompanying figure of the skull, it 

 rapidly cuts away the bark and wood till it exposes the 

 burrow of the insect, most probably the soft larva of some 

 beetle, and then comes into play the extraordinary long 



Fio. 42. — AYE-AYE {Chiromys Madagascarknsis). 



wire-like finger, which enters the small cylindrical burrow, 

 and with the sharp bent claw hooks out the grub. Here we 

 have a most complex adaptation of different parts and 

 organs all converging to one special end, that end being 

 the same as is reached by a group of birds, the wood- 

 peckers, in a different way ; and it is a most interesting 

 fact that, although woodpeckers abound in all the great 

 continents, and are especially common in the tropical 

 forests of Asia, Africa, and America, they are quite absent 

 from Madagascar. We may therefore consider that the 

 aye-aye really occupies the same place in nature in the 

 forests of this tropical island, as do the woodpeckers in 

 other parts of the world. 



