232 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



yield 40 tons or more of fat, and although 



the largest mammal in the world, its food 

 consists of very small crustaceans and 

 animals almost too small to be seen with 

 the naked eye. Several species of whales 

 have occurred off the British coast. The 

 pilot whale swims in shoals, always preceed- 

 ed by one to pilot the way, and which the 

 rest follow at all hazards. Sometimes the 

 pilot runs ashore, and then the whole herd 

 does the same. The bottle-headed whale 

 and the sperm whale, which attains a length 

 of 50-60 feet, have also been met with off 

 the British coast, but only as occasional 

 visitors ; they cannot be said to be true 

 natives of this country. 



9. BUTA. — This order includes the 

 sloths, armadillos, and ant-eaters, all 

 of which are native of South America. 

 The sloths are the size of a small dog, 

 the hair is grey and shaggy, the head 

 small, and the feet without soles, termin- 

 ating in three (some species two) long 

 curved claws. They climb about under 

 the branches of trees upon the leaves of 

 which they feed, hanging with their backs 

 downward ; they even sleep in this position, 

 and if placed upon level ground are very 

 awkward and make but little progress. 



The armadillos are ground burrowing 

 animals. Their structure is even more 

 peculiar than that of the sloth, being some- 

 what pig-shaped, but having a long tail, and 

 the whole animal covered by a hard glossy 

 coat-of-mail. They feed upon insects, small 

 animals, and reptiles. The manis, of India, 

 is somewhat similar, but the scaly covering 

 is more like the covering of a fir cone. The 

 largest attains about eight feet in length. 

 The magatherium, of which remains are now 

 only found in a fossilized state in South 

 America, was a gigantic species of terrestrial 

 sloth, which attained a height of 6-7 feet 

 and 12-14 feet long. 



The ant-eaters are larger animals with 

 very rough shaggy hair, especially the tail, 



which is long and bushy. The eyes are 

 small, and the face terminates in a long 

 snout. This snout and the still longer 

 tongue are thrust into ant-hills, for the pur- 

 pose of catching the ants, upon which the 

 animal feeds. Its fore feet is furnished 

 with long hooked claws, similar to those of 

 the sloth, with which it tears to pieces the 

 nests of the white ants. Some of the smaller 

 species do not exceed ten inches in length. 



10. CHEIROPTERA (Greek cheir, hand ; 

 pferon, wings). The Bats are the only 

 mammals which hare the power of flight. 

 They are not furnished with pinioned wings 

 as in the birds, but the fingers of the fore 

 limbs are greatly elongated, and a thin 

 membrane stretches behind these, and the 

 hind legs and tail. None of the species 

 found in Britain exceed one foot in the 

 expanse of wings, but larger kinds are found 

 in South America, and in some of the 

 Asiatic Islands, where they attain a size of 

 4-5 feet. They are all nocturnal in their 

 habits, hiding in out-buildings, caves, or 

 hollow trees during the day. The smaller 

 species live upon insects, which they capture 

 on the wing. Some, like the vampire bat, 

 suck the blood of animals-even man-during 

 sleep ; while the large kinds, like the kalong 

 of Java devour large quantities of ripe fruit 

 and cause considerable mischief in the 

 orchard. 



11. INSECTIVORA (Latin insectum, in- 

 sect ; voro, I eat.) This order includes the 

 hedgehog, shrews, and moles, and such 

 animals as make insects a considerable por- 

 tion of their diet. They are mostly noctur- 

 nal in their habits, hiding by day and 

 coming forth to feed at night. Some of the 

 shrews are aquatic. All these animals are 

 serviceable in checking the too rapid in- 

 crease of insect life. The hedgehog will 

 also devour roots of plantain and other 

 plants, as well as eggs and young birds. 

 Charles Waterton found a brood of white 

 hedgehogs at Walton Hall, and one of them 



