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THE AYE- A YE. 



It is probable that the natural food of the Aye-aye, like that of the preceding animals, is 

 of a mixed character, and that it eats fruit and insects indiscriminately. In captivity it usually 

 ate boiled rice, which it picked up in minute portions, like Amine in the "Arabian Nights," 

 using, however, its slender fingers in lieu of the celebrated bodkin with which she made her 

 mock meal. But in its wild state it is said to search the trees for insects as well as fruits, and 



to drag their larva? from their 

 concealment by means of its 

 delicate fingers. Buds and 

 various fruits are also said 

 to be eaten by this animal — 

 possibly the buds may con- 

 tain a hidden grub, and the 

 entire flower be eaten for the 

 sake of the living creature 

 which it contains, as is the 

 case with many a bad that 

 is plucked by small birds in 

 this country. 



It is a nocturnal animal 

 like the Galagos and Lemurs, 

 and seeks its prey by night 

 only, spending the day in 

 sleep, curled up in the dark 

 hollow of a tree, or in some 

 similar spot, where it can 

 retire from view and from 

 light. 



As is shown by the scien- 

 tific name of the Aye-aye, it 

 is a native of Madagascar, 

 and even in that island is ex- 

 tremely scarce, appearing to 

 be limited to the western 

 liortions of the country, and 

 to escape even the quick eyes 

 of the natives. Sonnerat, the 

 naturalist, was the first to 

 discover it, and when he 

 showed his prize to the na- 

 tives, they exhibited great 

 astonishment at the sight of 

 an unknown animal, and the 

 exclamations of surprise are 

 said to have given the name 

 of Aye-aye to the creature. The name " Cheiromys," signifies "Handed Mouse," and is given 

 to the animal because it bears some resemblance to a large mouse or rat which is furnished 

 with hand-like paws instead of feet. 



With the exception of the Aye-aye, all the Quadrumanous animals bear their mammpe 

 upon the breast, and clasp their young to their bosoms with their anus. But in the Aye-aye, 

 the milk-giving organs are placed on the lower portion of the abdomen, and thus a great dis- 

 tinction is at once made between this creature and the true quadrumana. Indeed, there are 

 so many points of discrepancy in this strange being, that it is quite impossible to make it agree 

 with the systematic laws which have hitherto been laid down, and naturalists place it in one 

 order or another, according to the stress which they lay on different points of its organization. 



THE AYE-AYE.— Chiromys madagascarensis. 



