HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
He has another quaint habit of sitting up 
every few minutes on his hind legs like a dog beg- 
ging. In this position he is supported by t!he 
tail, which, owing to its numerous rings of bony 
plates, is very strong and stiff. At times it even 
enables him to lean quite perceptibly backwards, 
but he has never been known to- overbalance him- 
self, except on one occasion when he tried tWs 
performance at the top of a sloping bunk ! 
Yet another peculiarity of these remarkable 
creatures is their habit of sleeping on their backs, 
which is most unusual amongst the lower animals. 
The present example has only once been observed 
in this position. This was about a week after his 
arrival, in July, 1915, when he was sleeping in an 
open box of straw before his burrow was made. 
As a rule, when asleep, he sits with his head 
tucked under his chest between the forepaws. He 
thus effectually protects the vulnerable portions 
of his body, and leaves the strong shield over the 
back to oppose the teeth and claws of any enemies 
which might venture to attack him during his 
slumbers. 
He slept in this box for about a fortnight. 
Whenever he was provided with fresh straw, he 
would set to work to tear it up into short lengths, 
and then fill the box with earth, which he threw 
in from the run, and mix it with the straw. In 
this he would often completely bury himself and 
sleep for hours. At times, however, he would 
settle down in a corner of the box without cover- 
ing himself up at all, and it was on one of these 
occasions that an opportunity of observing him 
asleep on his back was afforded. This habit of 
burying himself under the earth in his box first 
suggested the idea of making him a natural bur- 
row. The result was most satisfactory, for he 
took to his new sleeping quarters immediately. 
Almost as soon as they were completed he went 
in and began to alter the shape of the interior 
to suit his own ideas. 
The walls of this burrow were built up of 
sods of turf pressed firmly together and roofed 
over with slates covered by a layer of soil. It 
answered its purpose admirably for about three 
weeks, but at this point the Armadillo, in the 
course of his excavations, drove a shaft under a 
portion of the wall, with the result that the greater 
part of the structure collapsed. After this acci- 
dent a new burrow was constructed on stronger 
and more lasting principles, with earthen wall 
about 18 inches thick, through the centre of which 
ran the strong inner wall of wood and bricks al- 
ready described. This plan allows the animal 
plenty of scope for burrowing, while it effectually 
prevents him from digging under the walls and 
causing a repetition of the former collapse*- 
These notes, of course, only touch the fringe 
of the life-history of an Armadillo, but they will 
not have been written altogether in vain if they 
should lead others to take an increased interest 
in a most fascinating and little known animal. 
GENERAL NOTES. 
THAT a fine female Chimpanzee, with a few 
Baboons and other Monkeys, arrived in Liver- 
pool. 
THAT 2. Mandrills, 2 Bonnets, 2 Macaques, 1 
Pigtail, 3 Rhesus, 14 Mongooses, 1,000 Shell 
Parrots, have arrived in London. 
THAT a new Grison has arrived at the Zoological 
Gardens, the gift of Mr. A. S. Hume, from 
Bolivia, South America. 
THAT "Le Gaulois," 23rd February, prints the 
following : — 
"Les journaux allemands constatent, non 
sans amertume, que malgre les cous-marins et 
la difnculte de trouvre des navires marchands 
disponibles, l'Angleterre continue a importer 
dans ses ports tout ce qu'elle veut, meme des 
betes sauvages. 
"Le fait est exact. Le "Hamlyn's Mena- 
gerie Magazine," qui est l'organe des marchands 
de bStes fauves et des jardins zoologiques, an- 
nonce l'arrivee, dans le courant de ce mois, d'un 
grand transport venant des Indes qui compren- 
dra des elephants, des tigres, plusieurs cen- 
taines de singes et une demi-douzaine de boas 
constrictors. On attend egalement d'Afrique 
un envoi de zebres, de lions et de phoques. 
"A ce propos, veut-on savoir combien se 
paie en ce moment un elephant en Angleterre? 
Environ neuf mille francs, le prix d'une petite 
automobile. Pour trois mille francs, on peut 
avoir un joli petit tigre et pour deux louis un 
singe d'appartement. Les serpents sont pour 
rien : un petit serpent americain, absolument 
inoffensif, ne vaut pas plus de cinquante francs, 
et lest amateurs de fortes emotions peuvent se 
procurer un serpent a sonnette, "venimeux et 
tres joli," au prix de cent francs. Mais il y a 
un tout petit animal qui se paie tres cher en ce 
moment chez nos voisins, c'est le furet. On 
demande les furets par milliers, a raison de six 
shillings piece. II parait qu'on envoie ces petites 
betes sur le front, ou elles deviennent les meil- 
leurs auxiliares des tommies dans la chasse au 
rat 
"Cepandant, Hagenbeck, le grand mar- 
chand de fauves de Hambourg, a ferme ses 
portes. Sa menagerie n'a pas pu resister aux 
cartes de vivres de M. von Batocki." 
THAT Mr. A. Trevor-BattVe writes under date 
7th March :— 
" I read your publication always witli great 
pleasure." 
For which I thank him. 
Printed by W. J. Hasted & Son, (T.U.), 306, Mile End Road F. 1. 
