66 WILD NEIGHBORS CHAP. 
during showers,—a habit especially illustrated in 
the Himalayan peacock-pheasants (Polyplectron), 
whose young spend most of their time beneath 
the shelter and concealment of their mother’s fan- 
like tail, coming out only when called to pick up 
the food she scratches out of the leaves. Here 
the tail is a nursery. 
As for the hermit-crabs, while one could not say 
they make a shelter of their tails, it is certain that 
they could not obtain and hold the shell-homes 
with which they provide themselves, and that are 
necessary to their existence, were it not for their 
ability to hold on to them by means of their flexi- 
ble tails, which grasp the inner whorls, and form 
an effective lease of the premises. 
As for garments, —who that ever has seen a 
squirrel humped up on a cold day with its tail 
pressed close along its back; or a raccoon, a fox, 
or a cat, sitting with its feet wrapped in the furry 
“boa” of its tail, can doubt that this is the putting 
on of an overcoat? Only warmly furred animals, 
by the way, have bushy tails; and all these sleep 
curled up, with the tail around the face as birds 
place their heads beneath their wings. As such 
animals usually sleep alone, they need more pro- 
tection against an undue loss of heat while asleep 
than do animals that take their repose huddled 
together in groups that warm one another; hence 
their blanket-like tails. An attendant benefit of 
sinking the nose into the brush, as Mr. Law- 
