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THE STORY OF THE ANT-EATER . 
but devoured meat, when minced, with much avidity. The ordinary length 
of this animal is about four feet and its height about three feet. 
Although distributed over the whole of the tropical portions of South and 
Central America, the great ant-eater is nowhere common; and from its habits 
of only being abroad at night is but seldom seen. It frequents either the low, 
wet lands bordering the rivers, or swampy forests; and is strictly a ground 
animal in its habits. Its strong claws might lead to' the supposition that the 
creature was a burrower, but this is not the case. It has, however,, usually 
a regular lair, or at least a regular place of resort, generally’ situated among 
tall grass, where it spends the day in slumber, lying on one side, with 
its head buried in the long fur of the chest, the legs folded together, and the 
huge tail curled round the exposed side of the body. Except in the case of 
females with young, the ant-eater is, as a rule, a solitary creature. Its usual 
pace is a kind of trot, but when pursued it breaks into an awkward, shuffling, 
slow gallop. The food of the great ant-eater consists exclusively of ants, 
together with their larvae. In order to obtain these insects, the ant-eater tears 
open their nests or hillocks with the powerful claws of its fore-feet. As soon 
as the light of day is let into their domicile, the ants rush to' the surface in 
order to> investigate the cause of the disturbance, and are forthwith swept 
up by hundreds, adhering to the sticky tongue of the ant-eater, which is pro¬ 
truded and withdrawn with lightning-like rapidity. 
The lesser ant-eater is an animal of scarcely half the size of the greater 
ant-eater, with a shorter head and longer ears. 
The tamandua, which is the Portuguese term for the creature, the native 
name being caguari, ranges through the tropical forests of South and Central 
America. It mainly lives in trees, its climbing powers being largely aided 
by the prehensile tail. It may be sometimes seen abroad during the day. Its 
movements are more rapid than those of the great ant-eater; and when asleep 
it lies on its belly, with the head bent under the chest and covered with the 
fore-feet, while the tail is curled along the side. Its food apparently consists 
mainly of ants—probably belonging to' tree species—but it has been sug¬ 
gested that honey may likewise form a portion of its diet. Like the great 
ant-eater, it produces only a single young one at a birth. 
The third and last representative of the family is no> larger than a rat. 
The length of the head and body is only six inches, and that of the highly 
prehensile tail a little over seven inches. The fore-feet have four toes, of 
which those corresponding to the index and third fingers of man alone have 
claws; the claw of the third toe being very much larger than that of the 
