16 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
must be able to cause considerable pain. I have 
never allowed such an attack to continue, it is 
too horrible, and I know of no other mammalian 
conflict which is so abhorrent. The idiotic, 
emotionless faces of the two sloths, one emitting 
a series of plaintive wails through the nostrils 
and without attempting either to ward off blows 
or to retaliate; the other slowly and systemat¬ 
ically setting to work to destroy her sister: it 
is decidedly the least attractive side of sloth life. 
Every muscular movement, sensory reaction 
and mental process is slowed down in these 
animals; their lives are spent wholly in low 
gear. They are the personification of slow 
deliberation, and only from an anthropomorphic 
bias can they be termed lazy or slothful. A 
turtle shows sometimes the slow, deliberate 
movements of these mammals, or a heron stalk¬ 
ing a fish; a chameleon also in its syndactyle 
climbing; but a turtle or a heron can hurry if 
they choose, while to a sloth, haste is incon¬ 
ceivable. When, however, a sloth lifts itself 
from branch to branch, drawing its whole 
weight upward with three fingers and no ef¬ 
fort, or, stretching far across an open space, 
brings body and legs after without shock or 
swinging impetus, one is forced to admiration, 
as in the supremely graceful, effortless feats of 
superlative acrobats, or the analysis of move¬ 
ment of some animal in swift action in a 
slowed-down moving picture. 
A jerk or sudden movement is unknown to a 
sloth between birth and death. The nearest 
approach is what pugilists would call a short- 
arm hook, with which the sloths endeavor to 
defend themselves, and the exertion of this is 
so great that if they miss the object aimed at, 
the impetus often completely upsets them. 
The reputed danger of being caught in the 
grip of the long curved claws is imaginary, for 
while they can give a severe pinch, yet they 
cannot cut through the skin unless an attempt 
is made to tear the hand away. The curving 
slice which they occasionally give is a different 
matter and can inflict a deep cut. Their 
method is slowly to reach forward in the direc¬ 
tion of the enemy and then bend backward, 
curving the arm around with claws half flexed. 
When fully enraged, having mentally at¬ 
tained the emotional level of annoyance of 
other wild animals, male sloths will, at this 
stage, slowly reach forward with the head, 
open the mouth and attempt a languid bite. I 
have known one to bite its own wrist, mistaking 
At for my hand. I have not experimented with 
the efficiency of this mode of assault, but prob¬ 
ably if given time and perfect convenience of 
grip, they could chew enough to do consider¬ 
able damage. Such defence is pitiful against 
the swoop and talons of a harpy eagle, the 
claws of a jaguar, or the crushing coils of a 
boa constrictor. 
Every Three-toed Sloth lias its individual 
expression, but this never changes under stress 
of emotion, hunger, anger, sleep, or even when 
nearly drowned after hours of swimming; al¬ 
ways there is the same, humanly-speaking, 
smug, wide-eyed, vacant outlook upon life. In 
what the sloth conceives to be the last ex¬ 
tremity, there comes a shrill, heart-rending 
whistle through the nostrils, accompanied by 
not the slightest quiver of muscle or shifting 
of feature. 
Interest in the strange life and ways of adult 
sloths, and the disarming charm of infant sloths 
are very liable to obscure the real status of 
their mentality, and after experiences with 
newly caught animals and birds which dash 
themselves against their cages, or mope and 
perish from no reason which we can discover, 
we are inclined to be over-enthusiastic as to 
the philosophic acceptance of captivity by 
sloths. But when we divorce from the ques¬ 
tion of their psychology all sentiment and false 
tameness, we are face to face with the fact 
that they have achieved a niche for themselves 
where they live, thrive, and increase with the 
very least possible development and specializa¬ 
tion of sensory perceptions and mental pro¬ 
cesses. Buffon once wrote “ces paresseux font 
le dernier terme de l’existence dans l’ordre des 
animaux qui ont de la chair et du sang une 
defectuosite de plus les aurait empeches de 
subsister.” A sloth in Paris would doubtless 
fulfill the prophecy of the French savant, but 
on the other hand, Buffon swinging upside 
down to the branch of a Cecropia tree in the 
jungle, would expire even sooner! 
MRS. MYERS’ “WESTERN BIRDS” BOOK 
After years of work with western birds, and in 
defense of them, Mrs. Harriet Williams Myers, 
vice-president of the California Audubon So¬ 
ciety, has written an attractive and valuable 
book about them. (The Macmillan Company). 
It will please not only the grand army of bird 
lovers, but also the greater army of people who 
