34 



FOUR-HANDED FOLK. 



His account of the manners of his strange 

 pets is very readable. Like other young ani- 

 mals, they were extremely playful, and their 

 antics, being like those of puppies, were most 

 ludicrous in creatures so oddly shaped as the 

 Ornithorhynchus. The toilet after bathing was 

 of great interest. In this operation they used 

 the claws of the hind feet alone, twisting the 

 body easily in several directions, changing feet 

 when tired, and picking the fur as a bird dresses 

 its feathers. Even the head was combed by the 

 claws of the hind feet, and after an hour of this 

 work, the little creatures were beautifully sleek 

 and glossy. 



Another ball-maker is the koala or Australian 

 native bear. He is a most attractive little beast, 

 not much bigger than a cat, clothed in long ashy 

 gray fur. His short face, with its large black 

 eyes and nose and the long hairy decorations of 

 his ears, gives him a quaint expression. He rolls 

 himself up to sleep, and when awake the droll 

 black-haired baby travels about perched on the 

 shoulders of his mamma, and makes a charming 

 picture to look at. 



Nearly every part of the world furnishes a 

 ball - maker. In Africa is found one of the 

 strangest of beasts, the galago, belonging to the 

 Lemur family. There are several species, some 

 the size of a rat, and others as large as a cat, 



