114 



POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 



SIX-BANDED ARMADILLO. 



The Tamandua, (Tamandna tctradactyla), is a smaller 

 ant-eater than the preceding species, of tree-climbing habits, 

 with a proportionately shorter head, no long hair on its 

 tail, and extremely large front claws. It is found in Ven- 

 ezuela, the Guianas, Brazil, and in fact that greater portion 

 of the region of tropical forests on this continent south of 

 Mexico. Its tail is prehensile, or grasping, and in climbing 

 is used almost constantly. 



The Sloths are the slowest, the most helpless and defense- 

 less of the edentates. They subsist chiefly upon leaves, 

 they climb no more swiftly than a man, and they escape 

 their enemies through the resemblance of their pelage to the 

 rough bark of the tree-trunks among which they live. They 

 have a few teeth, but none for defense, and their claws 

 are of use only in climbing, except that they can pinch 

 with them. 



Two species of Sloth are occasionally seen in the Zoolog- 

 ical Park, but usually in the Primate House, where the 

 high temperature is better suited to their needs. 



The Three-Toed Sloth, {Brady pus tridactylus) , is the one 

 with a brown "saddle-mark" of short hair in the middle of 

 its back. The remainder of its pelage is coarse and long, 

 and its greenish tint renders it a close imitation of algae- 

 covered tree-bark. The Two-Toed Sloth, (Choloepus hoff- 

 mani), is much larger than the preceding, and lives longer 

 in captivity. Four fine adult specimens occupy a large cage 



