i6 THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



are well known from each other by certain striking characteristics. 

 Thus — 



While the gorilla is the greatest of the three he is not so near 

 to man in his physical structure as is the chimpanzee. Their 

 comparative sizes are as follows: — 



Height of full-grown male gorilla, over 6 ft. 



Height of full-grown male chimpanzee, not over 5 ft. 



Height of full-grown male orang-utan, 4 ft. 4 in. 



Stature is about the only feature in which the gorilla is more 

 man-like than the other two. When we come to other features, 

 from which we select the length of the arms by way of illustration, 

 the gorilla is second and the orang-utan third. Thus — 



When the chimpanzee stands upright, the ends of its fingers 

 reach only a little below its knees, but even then its arms are 

 much longer than those of a man. The gorilla's arms, when he 

 is upright, reach a good bit nearer to its ankles; while the orang- 

 utan's arms in the upright attitude reach to the ankles, i.e. almost 

 touch the ground. 



The orang-utan, like the chimpanzee and gorilla, also makes a 

 kind of nest in a tree. It goes in family parties, that is to say, 

 a mother and sire with three or four younger ones as the case 

 may be. They are mainly, if not entirely, fruit and vegetable 

 feeders. With their long arms they travel swiftly and cleverly 

 through their native forests. They will rather avoid than attack 

 man, although they can defend themselves fiercely and bravely 

 when put to it. 



Monkey Acrobats 



GIBBONS 



With but very few exceptions, the members of the Ape Tribe 

 are inhabitants of trees. Possessing great strength of limb, and 

 aided by the hand-like structure of the hinder paws, they can 

 ascend the trunks, scamper along the branches, and swing them- 



