ITS NEAREST EXISTING RELATIONS 47 



when adult; but it is a curious circumstance than when 

 young (and in this the Malay species agrees with the 

 others) they are conspicuously marked with spots and 

 longitudinal stripes of white or fawn colour on a darker 

 ground. 



The habits of all the kinds of tapirs appear to be 



Fig. 8. —The American Tapir (Tapirus amcricanus). 



From a photograph by Mr. Gambler Bolton of an animal living in the Zoological 

 Gardens, London. 



very similar. They are solitary, nocturnal, shy, and in- 

 offensive, chiefly frequenting the depths of shady forests 

 and the neighbourhood of water, to which they fre- 

 quently resort for the purpose of bathing, and in which 

 they often take refuge when pursued. They feed on 

 various vegetable substances, as shoots of trees and 



