THE ARMADILLOS 



157 



of bony rings. When attacked by a savage ani- 

 mal, the armadillo tucks its legs under the edge 

 of the shell alongside its body, rolls into a ball, 

 and as nearly as possible leaves nothing exposed 

 save its shell. The creature thus becomes a liv- 

 ing nut that is not to be cracked and eaten by 

 every enemy that comes along. 



If the shell is strong enough, the armadillo 

 is safe ; but if it is not strong and hard, nor en- 



ranged northward, until in southern Texas and 

 Arizona we find the northern limit of the group, 

 and the only species found in the United States. 

 There' are three species of armadillos that from 

 time to time appear, alive, in zoological parks, 

 the nine-banded, six-banded, and three-banded. 

 The largest species now living is so rare it is 

 very seldom seen in captivity. It is the giant 

 armadillo, of northeastern South America. 



THE THREE-BANDED ARMADILLO (1-3), AND SIX-BANDED ARMADILLO, 1 (4). 

 Figures 1-3 represent half-grown specimens. 



tirely perfect as an envelope, a jaguar or puma 

 may possibly kill the animal and devour it. 



The armadillos with the weakest armor have 

 found it wise to avoid the forest home of the 

 jaguar and puma, and live on the open plains, 

 where they are less liable to be killed. To enable 

 them to do this, Nature has provided them with 

 long and powerful front claws, with which to dig 

 burrows in the hardest soil. 



It was in Argentina that the great armadillos 

 of the past reached their highest point in size 

 and abundance. From thence, smaller species 



The Three-Banded Armadillo, 3 of Argen- 

 tina, represents the highest degree of perfection 

 attained, either past or present, by any member 

 of the Family. 



Its shell is very strong, and so perfect is its 

 mechanism that when the animal is in danger, 

 it makes of itself a round ball, so completely 

 incased in horn that no four-footed enemy can 

 penetrate it. Even the top of the head is pro- 

 tected by a shield which acts as a shutter when 

 the animal rolls up, and wishes to close the only 

 1 Tol-y- peu' tes Iri-cinc'tus. 1 Das'y-pus sex-dnc'tus. 



