LEGENDS OF PANGOLINS 
as a plaything but could get no further satisfaction out of. It 
puzzles a strong man to persuade one to “open up.” They 
subsist wholly on ants and termites caught at night by scraping 
open their nests and licking up the insects. 
Oriental writers relate a legend, widespread among Malays 
and Japanese, that the pangolin “erects his scales and feigns 
to be dead; the ants creep between the erected scales, after 
which the ant-eater again closes its scales and enters the water; 
he now again erects the scales, the ants are set floating, and 
are then swallowed by the ant-eaters.”’ 
Three species are West African, one reaching an adult length 
of six feet, and one, the ‘‘phatagen” of the ancients, living 
mainly in trees. Three species of smaller size are East Indian 
or Malayan, the latter hunting mainly in the tree tops of the 
forest, and dwelling in hollow trunks. 
WEST AFRICAN PANGOLIN, OR MANIS. 
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