THE ANT-EATER 179 



On the under side the body is covered with coarse hair, which 

 sometimes finds its way out between the plates and almost hides 

 them. The tail and legs are also armour-protected. 



The armadillo is a burrowing animal, like the mole, and in 

 shape it is well suited for this purpose, while its legs are short 

 and powerful, and are armed with very strong claws with which 

 it digs out the earth in a wonderful way. It burrows so quickly 

 that it is very difficult to catch, and the natives, who are very fond 

 of its flesh when roasted, are obliged to smoke it out of its nest, 

 as is sometimes done with rats in this country. Its food consists 

 of roots, worms, snails, etc. 



There are several kinds of armadillo. The largest, known as 

 the giant armadillo, is about three feet long. The smallest is 

 only a few inches in length, and is a pretty little white -furred 

 creature with a pink shell-like armour. 



THE ANT-EATER 



The Ant-eater, which, as its name implies, lives on ants, is 

 a pure Edentate — that is to say, it has absolutely no teeth. It 

 is an awkward-looking animal, gray and black in colour, with 

 a very large bushy tail, a narrow head with a long, pointed snout 

 and small mouth. On its fore-feet it has great claws which seem 

 to be very much in its way, and its movements are slow. 



Now one naturally asks how it is that such a creature is 

 able to catch lively insects like the ant. If any reader has 

 seen in his garden at home a toad sitting on the ground and 

 " spitting poison ", as it is said, he has really seen it catching 

 flies with its tongue, which is very sticky. In this way also the 

 ant-eater feeds. It has a very long tongue like a whip, which it 

 thrusts out of its small mouth, and draws back again by a very 

 rapid movement. This tongue is covered with sticky matter, so 

 that each time it is put out it draws back with it a supply of 

 ants, and, on account of its lightning-like motion, the ants have 

 very little chance against it. 



Some reader may wonder now why it requires such large 



