158 
ORDERS OF MAMMALS— TOOTHLESS QUADRUPEDS 
opening leading into the shell. It gives one a 
very queer sensation to handle one of these liv- 
ing nuts, and note the marvellous ingenuity in 
design and skill in mechanical execution which 
has been displayed in providing this special 
means of protection for an otherwise defenceless 
creature. 
Having such excellent defensive armor, the 
our taste. The Nine-Banded Armadillo has a 
total length, from nose to end of tail, of about 26 
inches, and in bulk is about the size of our opos- 
sum. In captivity its food is milk, boiled eggs, 
and chopped meat, but in a wild state it feeds 
upon a mixed diet of worms, ants, snails, beetles, 
small lizards, grasshoppers, and other insects. 
The young in a litter vary from six to ten. 
THE GREAT ANT-EATER (LOWER FIGURES) AND THE TAMANDUA (UPPER FIGURE). 
Three-Banded Armadillo does not often burrow 
in the ground, and it ranges freely by daylight. 
In running it touches only the ends of its claws 
to the ground, and the shell is held high. The 
head-and-body length of the adult animal is about 
14 inches, and the tail measures 31 inches. 
The Nine-Banded Armadillo 1 ranges all the 
way from southern Texas and Arizona to Para- 
guay, and along the Rio Grande is so common 
that living specimens are sold at $2 each. In 
Venezuela I found it burrowing on the open 
savannas, going down about four feet, in a hole 
seven inches in diameter. The flesh of this creat- 
ure is well-flavored, and is generally esteemed 
as palatable food. Being in a state of perpetual 
hunger, we found Armadillo stew very much to 
1 Ta'tu no'vem-cinc'tum. 
THE FAMILY OF ANT-EATERS. 
Myrmecophagidae. 
The ant-eaters form another Family of Eden- 
tates, also confined to South and Central Amer- 
ica, and all its members are absolutely toothless. 
The most celebrated member of the group is the 
Great Ant-Eater . 2 Although it is very unlike a 
bear, it is sometimes called the Ant-“Bear”; 
and when once seen it is never forgotten. The 
most peculiar thing about it is the extraordinary 
length of its head, which in front of the eyes is 
prolonged into a slender beak, with the mouth 
and nostrils situated at its tip end. The open- 
ing of the mouth is just large enough to admit the 
blunt end of a lead-pencil. 
2 Myr-me-coph'a-ga ju-ba’ta. 
