24 
FOREST AND S^ir.ri.AM. 
[Jan. 1$, igoo. 
THE GREAT ANT-EATER — ^DRAWN FOR FOREST AND STREAM BY EDWIN LUTZ. 
glass in hand, with your back against a tree trunk, is to 
place yovir lips to the back of your hand in the kissing 
position and suck in the air vigorously while keeping 
them firinlif pressed, this giving rise to a half squeaking, 
half whistling sound that closely resembles the cry of a 
young bird in distress. It is astonishing how quickly 
this will sometimes cause an apparently' deserted thicket 
to become fairly alive with birds, all in a state of anxious 
excitement. 
No self-respecting dog will bite a female, except in 
the extremest need of self-defense; though I am sorry 
to say that the lady herself, as a rule, has no scruple 
whatever about punishing, to the full extent of her power, 
•any individual of the opposite sex that happens to be 
inferior to her in size or strength. So strong is this un- 
willingness to strike a femal that few male hounds will 
attack a she wolf or even follow her trail. Something of 
the same deference to the gentler sex may be seen among 
horses. Although a horse will prompt!}'' attack any other 
liorse which may interfere Avith him, either in the field 
or in harness, he will very seldom attack a mare. Farm 
horses which can not be worked alongside of any other 
horse on account of their savage tempers, may be safely 
yoked in double harness with a mare. Mares, on the 
other hand, will attack either their own or the opposite 
sex without the slightest hesitation whenever they "feel 
dispoged," yet I have never seen serious or retaliatory 
resistance offered by the latter. 
The Great or Giant Ant-Eater. 
At the new zoological gardens in Bronx Park there is 
on exhibition from Venezuela a giant ant-eatei% one of 
the most outlandish looking creatures in all the domain 
of nature. It is an animal about 2^ feet high. The body 
and tail taken together measure about 7 feet in length. 
The tail is usually carried curved over the back, draping 
and shading the body. In appearance the bushy tail 
may be likened to a clump of ornamental grass. The 
head is very small, but it is prolonged into a snout a 
foot or more in length. The mouth is at the extremity of 
this snout. 
The ant-eater belongs to that group of the animal 
kingdom known as the Edentates, a class usually tooth- 
less. If they have any teeth at all, they ^ire few in num- 
ber, of a rudimentary or simple form, in the back of the 
head. The ant-eaters are toothless. They resemble in 
this respect birds, and they furthermore bear a re- 
semblance to the bird creation, in the possession of a 
muscular, gizzard-like stomach. One feature of the 
Edentates is that they all have some peculiarity in the 
covering of the body. The armadillo, for instance, has a 
shell of armor; the pangolin, a series of shingle-like 
scales; the aard vark, native to the Transvaal, a pig-like 
skin, scantily covered with hair, and lastly the ant-eater 
with a bushy tail and the body plentifully covered with 
hair. 
The ant-eater is in many ways unlike other animals. 
The most striking dissimilarity is in its mouth, which 
does not open and shut with an up-and-down move- 
ment of the lower jaw, as that of all other quadrupeds; 
but it is a mere aperture, opening only enough to admit 
of the passage of the foot long whip-like togue. 
In captivity the ant-eater is fed on bread and milk. 
In its native haunts, the forests of South America, it 
feeds exclusively on termites, or, as they are commonly 
called, white ants. These termites abound in the wilds 
of tropical . America, and the ant-eater tears open with 
its sharp fore claws their conical mud nests, and with 
its slender tongue licks up the inmates out of every nook 
and crevice. 
The ant-eater has a queer way of walking — it is the 
manner in which it uses its fore limbs. The claws of its 
fore limbs are so constructed that they are incapable of 
sustaining the weight of the body, but are turned back- 
ward, compelling the animal to stand and walk on the 
outer surface of the wrists. When it ambles around, awk- 
wardly, as it appears, it seems to be using two amputated 
fore limbs. . , , . , 
The specimen at the zoological gardens is of a gentle 
and harmless disposition, allowing itself to be handled. 
The keeper can stroke its head with impunity. There is 
of course no danger of being bit by this toothless 
creature. It is aow temporarily quartered in the green- 
bouse. ■ ' ■ - ' ^ Edwin Lutz.. 
Would Have Done iot the Cat. 
Mk. Proctor's nightingale stories from Brooklyn were 
fine. It is astonishing how a man can take the common- 
place liberating of a bird and make two pages of fascinat- 
ing matter of it. I should have procured shot cartridges 
^nd plunked it into those cats. C, Cr. B. 
Senator Hoar's Bird BilL 
Mr, Hoar introduced the following bill, which was read 
twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. 
A Bill for the Protection of Song Birds. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress as- 
sembled. That the importation into the United States of 
birds, featliers, or parts of birds for ornamental purposes, 
or for any purpose except for food, be, and the sarrie is 
hereby, prohibited: Provided, however, that nothing 
herein contained shall be construed as prohibiting the 
importation of birds for museums, zoological gardens, or 
scientific collections, or the importation of living birds 
or of feathers taken from living birds without injury to 
the bird. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby author- 
ized to make regulations for carrying into effect the pro- 
visions of this section.' 
Sec. 2. That the transportation of birds, feathers, or 
parts of birds, to be used or sold, except such as ate 
excepted in the first section of this act, from any State 
or Territory of the United States to or through any other 
State or Territory of the United States, is hereby prohib- 
ited. Whoever shall violate the provisions of this section 
shall, upon conviction in the district where the offense 
shall have been committed, be punished for each such 
offense by a fine of $50. 
Sec. 3. That the sale, keeping or offering for sale, 
within any Territory of the United States, or within the 
District of Columbia, of birds, feathers, or parts of birds, 
for ornamental purposes, except such as are excepted in 
the first section of this act, be, and the same is hereby, 
prohibited. Whoever shall violate the provisions of this 
section shall, upon conviction, be punished for each such 
offense by a fine of $50. 
Some Connecticut Birds. 
South Norwai.i-:, Conn., Jan. i. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Having received much pleasure and profit from 
reading the natural history columns in your paper, please 
permit me to add a couple of bird notes in the hope that 
they will interest some bird lover and perhaps further en 
lighten me, should some one care to answer them. 
First — I want to make a bid for hearing the phoebe the 
first and last time in 1899. I heard one calling on the 
morning of Feb. 21, and the next day a storm was upon 
us and I heard him not for several days. 
Dec. 23 I was in the woods and heard a phoebe, but 
his notes seemed more sad than usual; perhaps because 
the bare woods, bringing memories of the fast dying 
year, made me more than usually responsive to his plain- 
tive voice. 
Will some one kindly tell me what the phcebe, an in- 
sect eating bird, is doing in Connecticut at such times of 
the year? True, we had been enjoying mild weather, but 
X have not noticed any flies or mosquitoes about. 
And again on Christmas day my brother and I drove 
into our woods, and as we did so saw a bluejay fly from 
some low perch in front of us. 
We stopped the horse about S feet from a young oak 
to which many of the leaves were still hanging. We must 
have been there fully a minute, when there was a commo- 
tion among the oak leaves and another bluejay flew out 
from about 10 feet from the ground and flew rapidly 
away in a very frightened manner, it seemed to me; but 
as I have never been able to get near enough to study 
Mr. Jay, this fact is only an opinion. 
My brother says he has come upon bluejays in like 
manner before, while hunting, and ventured an opinion 
that the bird was asleep, and certainly it appeared so to 
me. Can any one throw any light uoon the subject? 
Wilbur F. Smith. 
Wild Pigeons. 
Little Rock, Ark.j Jah. 5. — During Christmas week a 
beautiful male specimen of our wild pigeon was shipped 
to one of our merchants from Cabot, Ark., along with a 
bunch of quail, and for several days this bird was exposed 
to view with the inscription, "Wild pigeon — the last of his 
species." I can yet recall the time in the later seventies 
when the birds were brought in to the city by the hun- 
dreds and sold at the very low figure of 25 cents a dozen. 
At that period hundreds of flocks could be seen passing 
over the city every day during the fall. Gradually their 
number diminished until you would see only an occasional 
flock each fall, and later on these were reduced to three 
and four birds, and ftnaUy within the past three years I 
have failed to see any. Fortunately, I have a perfect male 
specimen nicely mounted. This bird was killed in No- 
vember, 1892. 
Some time ago there appeared an article purporting ths 
these birds had been found in large numbers in Port 
Rico, but I am certain from a description furnished m 
by Lieut. J. W. L. Phillip, and who has kindly looke 
into the matter for me, that this is erroneous, as non 
of three kinds of pigeons to be found on the island n 
semble our bird to any extent, either in appearance c 
habit. At least, so the Lieutenant states, and as he i 
familiar with our bird he is certainly in a positon t 
know ■ Paul R. Litzke. 
Perth Amboy, N. J., Jan. 4.— A resident of this vicinitj 
who ought to know wild pigeons when he sees then 
claims to have seen a flock of these birds yesterday abot 
three miles from this city. J. L- K. 
Getting a Rocky Mountain Goat 
I WAS satisfied that we were in a goat region. O 
the top of the first range that we had climbed I had see 
the tell-tale bunches of white hair on the stunted pin 
bushes. But there was no fresh sign. The goats ha 
evidently taken their departure long before. The que' 
tion was where had they gone? It was encouraging 
however, to know that we were where they had been. W 
next struck for a range some seven or eight miles kov 
camp. The first night we camped well up and at ib' 
base of the highest peak. After supper two of the boy 
who could not resist the temptation to take a little tram 
before turning in tor the night skirted to the east am 
caught sight of a single old billy. They chanced a shci 
at him from about a half-mile, and the goat stood nc 
upon the order of his going. 
The next morning we were up and off by dayligh". 
The first mile was comparatively easy chmbmg, and w 
kept together. We then stopped for rest and tmal cor 
sultation. Before us loomed the mountain, one grea 
mass of perpendicular rock. Could we reach the top 
It certainly did look doubtful. We scanned the whol' 
side of the mountain, but not a sign of life was visibh. 
So bare were the rocks that it seemed impossible for a 
object as large and conspicuous as a goat to conceal itself 
Again we started; this time every fellow for himsel 
When something like half-way up I heard a noise, an 
upon looking around found that one of the other fellow 
had struck my trail some 20 or 30 feet behind me. W 
both stopped, and had scarcely done so when he caugl 
sight of a goat passing on a ledge not 15 feet below. 1 
was on the trot. He yelled to me and I quickly droppe 
to where he had reported the goat. I found a well-define 
trail, but the goat was gone, and we. saw it no mon 
Where it went was to both of us a mystery. So clot 
had it passed that we could almost have poked it off, an 
while we could apparently see every spot on that .side c j 
the mountain, that goat was gone. 
The top of the peak we were climbing was crescet 
shaped, and possibly three-quarters of a mile long. Wj 
had scarcely reached the northern horn of the crescen -f 
when we spied a goat far below us crossing a snow ban 
and headed for the extreme southern crest. He was 
big fellow, and as he did not seem to be traveling rapidl 
we started with the intention of heading him off. Befor 
we were half-way he had reached the top. Pausing, h 
stood there for at least five minutes and watched us. 
shall never forget the sight. He stood upon the ver 
topmost rock, his white form standing out clear an | 
distinct against the blue slcy. I had seen pictures Iflc 
it; I had never expected to sec the reality. At last h 
disappeared upon the opposite side. When we reache 
the spot where he stood, which took us half an hour, nc 
a sign of our goat could we discover. The ridge wa 
scarcely wide enough to stand upon, and it was almo; 
frightful to look around. On the one side 2,000 or moi 
feet of perpendicular rock and still far below the smok 
of our camp-fire. On the other side 3,000 feet almo.- 
straight down into a mountain lake blue as a robin 
egg. On the way back my companion slipped whil 
crossing a snoAV bank, but in almost miraculous manne 
caught after falling some IS feet. My blood runs col 
to this day when I think of it. Steeper than any tobog 
gan slide, the snow frozen underneath, and nothing bt 
a hunting knife in his hand, 500 feet of snow and belo 
this a rock slide 1,000 feet if an inch. Strong fellow thi 
he was, when I reached out my hand and got him o 
solid rock the tears rolled down his cheeks, he tremble 
like a leaf and could not stand. I did not care to ru 
such risks for a goat again. 
So I thought at 3iat time. We had not been back t 
i 
