CONTENTS. 



xvii 



the Venom. — The Poison-Fangs. — The Bush-Master. — The Echidna Ocellata.— Rattle- 

 snakes. — Their Enemy the Hog. — The Cobra de Capello. — The Haje. — The Cerastes. — 

 Boas and Pythons, — The Boa-constrictor. — The Water Boa. — Fascination by Snakes. — 

 Henderson's Argument against It. — Thorpe's Reasons in its Favor. — Du Chaillu on the 

 Subject. — Enemies of Serpents. — The Secretary Bird. — Tlie Adjutant Bird. — The Mon- 

 goos. — Serpents Eating Serpents, — The Locomotion of Serpents. — Anatomy of their 

 Jaws, — A Serpentine Meal. — Pet Serpents. — Tree Snakes, — Water Snakes, — Stories of 

 Enormous Snakes, — Du Chaillu's Big Snake. — Wallace's Bigger One. — Lizards: The 

 Geckoe, — Anatomy of its Feet, — Their Wide Distribution, — The Anolis, — Its Combative- 

 ness,-— The Chameleon, — Its Habits, Change of Color, and Characteristics. — The Iguana. — 

 The Teju.— Water Lizards. — Flying Dragons. — The Basilisk. — Frogs and Toads: The Pipa 

 Frog.— Tree Frogs.— Wallace's Flying Frog.— The Bahia Toad.— The Giant Toad.— The 

 Musical Toad, Page 616 



CHAPTER XL 



ALLIGATORS — CROCODILES — TORTOISES AND TURTLES. 



Alligators and Crocodiles : Their Habits. — Caymen, Gavials and Crocodiles. — Mode of Seizing 

 their Prey. — Size of Alligators. — Alligators on the Amazon. — Alligator and Crane. — Man- 

 Eating Alligators. — Their Contests. — Tenacity of Life. — Laying their Eggs. — Tenderness 

 for their Young. — Their Enemies. — Torpidity in the Dry Season. — "Playing 'Possum." — 

 Tortoises and Turdes: The Galapago Islands. — The Elephantine Tortoise. — Rate of Trav- 

 eling. — Marsh Tortoises. — Manufacture of Tortoise Oil. — Turtles on the Amazon. — Sea- 

 Turtles.— Their Enemies,— Modes of Capturing Turtles,— The Green Turtle.— The Hawks- 

 bill Turtle. — Barbarous Modes of Removing the Shell, and Selling the Meat, — The Cori- 

 aceous Turtle, 635 



CHAPTER XII. 



BIRD-LIFE IN THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



Difficulties of the Subject. — Wide Range of Birds, — The Toucan, — Humming-Birds, — Cotin- 

 gas, — The Campanero, or Bell-Bird, — The Realejo, or Organ-Bird. — The Manakins. — The 

 Cock of the Rock. — The Troopials, — The Baltimore Oriole. — The Cassiques. — The Mock- 

 ing-Bird. — The Toropishu. — The Tunqui. — Goat-Suckers. — The Cilgero. — Flamingos. — 

 The Ibis.— Spoon-Bills.— Birds of the New and the Old World,— Sun-Birds,— Honey-Eat- 

 ers, — The Ocellated Turkey. — The Lyre-Bird, — Birds of Paradise. — Fables respecting 

 them. — Their Character and Habits. — Their Dancing-Parties. — Mode of Shooting and 

 Snaring them. — The Australian Bower-Bird, — The Brush-Turkey. — The Adjutant. — The 

 Copper-smith. — The Indian Baya. — The Tailor-Bird. — The Grosbeak. — The Korwe'. — 

 Parrots. — The Brazilian Love-Parrot. — Their Powers of Mimicry. — Cockatoos. — Macaws. 

 — The Ara. — Paroquets, — The Ostrich. — His Swiftness of Foot. — Modes of Capturing it. — 

 Stratagems to Save its Young. — Its Enemies. — Its Young, — Resemblance to the Camel, — 

 Its Powers of Digestion, — Uses of its Eggs. — The Rheas. — The Cassowary. — The Emu, 645 



CHAPTER XIIL 



THE CLIMBERS: BATS, SLOTHS, AND SIMI^. 



Bats: Their Wonderful Organization. — The Fox-Bat — Eaten by the Malays. — Vampire Bats 

 — Their Blood-sucking Propensities. — The Horseshoe Bat. — The Nycteribia. — The Flying 

 Squirrel. — The Galeopithecus. — The Anomalurus. — The Sloth: Pitiful Description given 

 of Him. — His beautiful Organization for his peculiar Mode of Life. — His rapid Movements 

 in the Trees — His Means of Defense. — His Tenacity of Life. — The Unau — The Ai. — 

 Gigantic Primeval Sloths. — Monkeys: Good Climbers, but bad Walkers. — Imperfectly 

 known to the Ancients. — Simihtudes and Differences between Man and Apes. — The Chim- 

 panzee. — The Gorilla. — Du Chaillu's First Encounter with a Gorilla. — The Gorilla and her 

 Young. — The Orang-Utan, or Mias. — Wallace's Accounts of Shooting the Orang. — Their 

 Tenacity of Life. — Size of the Orang. — The Orang as a Combatant. — The Orang fighting 



