ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1565 



tilt- under surface, and. added to the rosy spots 

 of color of the soles and muzzle, give it an un- 

 describably strange aspect. The sides below 

 are yellowish bull, while toward the center this 

 color changes to whitish grey. Down the full 

 length of the body in sharp contrast with the 

 surrounding hues extends a broad black line, of 

 even width, except where it widens out on the 

 throat. This sturdy little erect column of grey, 

 yellow and black fur, apparently faceless, top- 

 ped by a triangle of red, is like nothing else in 

 the world, and when at a tap on the branch it 

 suddenly arises from a mass of green leaves, all 

 efforts at similes or exact descriptions are hope- 

 less. 



His eyes are black, prominent and mouselike. 

 When open wide they are quite round, but more 

 often they are mere slits or are closed. Strange- 

 ly enough the latter is the case at the moment 

 of expected attack, the ant-eater preferring to 

 shelter his eyes with the claws, and to trust to 

 reacting to the slightest touch, rather than to be 

 forewarned by sight. With all his strangeness 

 he is but a tiny beast, not more than fifteen 

 inches in length, of which more than half is tail. 



In walking, the two pairs of feet are used in 

 very different ways. The front feet are remark- 

 ably modified, with the third toe developed at 

 the expense of all the others, and armed with a 

 large stout claw. The second finger has a small 

 slender claw but the remainder do not appear 

 above the skin. When walking on a flat surface, 

 the two claws are bent inward and the foot rests 

 upon a great pad of flesh, a sort of globular 

 palm, which bulges like a boxing glove on the 

 outer side of the hand. On a branch, however, 

 the claws are slipped over and the branch rests 

 in the hollow of the front, flat part of the palm, 

 the claws forming one side, and the inner side 

 of the boxing glove the other. 



The hind feet are interesting in a wholly dif- 

 ferent fashion, but even more efficient as organs 

 of climbing. Their grip is chameleon-like, zy- 

 godactyl. the sole being much extended heel- 

 wards, and very mobile, so that any irregularity 

 is seized, chameleon wise, with the four nearly 

 equal claws grasping one side and the pliant, 

 muscular sole and heel, the other. The great 

 sole cushion is supported by an exaggerated 

 heel bone, and a large, made-to-order, sesamoid 

 ossicle. 



The ant-eater depends almost exclusively on 

 the grip of the hind feet and tail, seldom re- 

 leasing more than one at a time. These have 

 such power that, without effort he can rise slow- 

 ly to full height, or lean sideways almost hor- 



izontally from the branch with no other sup- 

 port. 



All his movements are slow and deliberate. 

 He engenders a feeling of unusual strength, 

 perfect balance and sureness of foothold. When 

 walking slowly down one branch, if he can 

 reach even a single leaf of another, he clasps it 

 firmly and draws it toward him ; then carefully 

 steps, one foot at a time, upon it, keeping his 

 tail hold until the last. No matter how much 

 he is teased, or annoyed, or shaken or left alone, 

 no sound, not even sigh or hiss escapes him. 



His strange appearance and posturing have 

 caused many strange legends to arise among the 

 natives, one of which is that he is the author of 

 the caprimulgine cry which echoes through the 

 jungles at night, like the cry of a lost soul — 

 Poor-me-one-oh-oh. His senses seem extremely 

 dull, and he pays no attention to a threatening 

 hand or stick swung a few inches from his eyes. 



If I sit or stand quietly, he climbs slowly and 

 painstakingly, all over me, showing not the 

 slightest fear, nor the knowledge that I am a 

 living creature. But the least tremor of the 

 branch not wind-born, and he stiffens, ready, if 

 the disturbance should increase, to rise into the 

 weird upright column, with hands raised in a 

 salaam of preparedness. 



My Silky Ant-eater was wholly nocturnal, 

 and remained rolled up all day. It is probable 

 that this fact makes his claws more of a defense 

 against danger, than sapping tools, for at night 

 the hosts of termites stream forth, sometimes 

 unprotected, more often beneath the flimsiest of 

 earthen tunnels, which need but a touch to ex- 

 pose the hurrying hosts within. I placed a half 

 broken termite nest at his disposal, but he paid 

 little attention to it and ate but few of the in- 

 habitants. He thrived on two small saucers of 

 egg and milk each day, leaning over the saucer, 

 with forelimbs partly raised or on the ground. 

 He took the liquid with rapid darts of his long 

 worm-like tongue, occasionally getting his whole 

 mouth immersed, which made him choke a bit. 



Even more than the tamandua, the Silky Ant- 

 eater is structurally specialized for an arboreal 

 life, his hind feet being preeminently fitted for 

 climbing. His large collar bone and the unu- 

 sual breadth and size of his ribs emphasize his 

 arboreal character. But he is quite at home on 

 the ground, even more so than his near rela- 

 tive. Once my specimen escaped from his box 

 and walked easily and with considerable speed 

 around five rooms looking for an exit to the 

 jungle. At last we found and rounded him up 

 as he was making for the one open door. 



The written accounts of this creature show 



