[Illustration: ANT-EATER OR ANT BEAR.]
The Ant-eaters feed upon a variety of insects. They are specially
organized for procuring this food. Completely destitute of teeth, the
head is terminated by an elongated tube, which encloses a very long
tongue, something like a worm. This slender tongue, being darted into
the ant-hills, all the interstices where the insects take refuge yield
numerous victims, which adhere to it through the gummy secretion with
which it is covered. The Ant-eaters are armed with sharp claws, useful
both as instruments for scratching and weapons of defence.
The most remarkable species is the Great Ant-eater, the largest of the
family. It grows to more than a yard and a half in length, from the tip
of its long nose to its tail. Its coat is rough, abundant and of a dark
color. The tail, covered with very long and extremely bushy hair, has
the power of being raised like a plume, and is more than a yard in
length. The strength of this animal is so great that it can defend
itself successfully against the ferocious Jaguar, which it either hugs,
like a Bear, or tears to pieces with its formidable claws.
It lives in damp forests in which its insect food is most abundant.
There are two other species of the Ant-eater, which live more or less on
trees and enjoy, on this account, one of the characteristics which are
peculiar to American Monkeys—that of grasping branches firmly with the
tail, a portion of which is bare of hair underneath, and capable of
being twisted round any object. These species are the Tamandua, an
Ant-eater about three feet long, which divides its time between the
ground and the thick foliage of trees; and the Little, or Two-toed
Ant-eater, so called because it has only two toes, instead of four, on
the front feet. This latter species is a native of Brazil and Guiana. It
but seldom descends to the ground, and is not much larger than a Rat.