[Illustration: TROPICAL AMERICAN HUMMING-BIRDS]
YOUNG FOLKS' TREASURY
In 12 Volumes
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
_Editor_
EDWARD EVERETT HALE
_Associate Editor_
The Animal World
A Book of Natural History
_By_
THEODORE WOOD
_Edited by_
ERNEST INGERSOLL
VOLUME V
NEW YORK
THE UNIVERSITY SOCIETY INC.
_Publishers_
COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY
THE UNIVERSITY SOCIETY INC.
PARTIAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS, ASSISTANT EDITORS AND ADVISERS
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
_Editor_
EDWARD EVERETT HALE
_Associate Editor_
NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER, President Columbia University.
WILLIAM R. HARPER, Late President Chicago University.
HON. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Ex-President of the United States.
HON. GROVER CLEVELAND, Late President of the United States.
JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS, American Roman Catholic prelate.
ROBERT C. OGDEN, Partner of John Wanamaker.
HON. GEORGE F. HOAR, Late Senator from Massachusetts.
EDWARD W. BOK, Editor "Ladies' Home Journal."
HENRY VAN DYKE, Author, Poet, and Professor of English Literature,
Princeton University.
LYMAN ABBOTT, Author, Editor of "The Outlook."
CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS, Writer of Animal Stories.
JACOB A. RIIS, Author and Journalist.
EDWARD EVERETT HALE, Jr., English Professor at Union College.
JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS, Late Author and Creator of "Uncle Remus."
GEORGE GARY EGGLESTON, Novelist and Journalist.
RAY STANNARD BAKER, Author and Journalist.
WILLIAM BLAIKIE, Author of "How to Get Strong and How to Stay So."
WILLIAM DAVENPORT HULBERT, Writer of Animal Stories.
JOSEPH JACOBS, Folklore Writer and Editor of the "Jewish Encyclopedia."
MRS. VIRGINIA TERHUNE ("Marion Harland"), Author of "Common Sense in the
Household," etc.
MARGARET E. SANGSTER, Author of "The Art of Home-Making," etc.
SARAH K. BOLTON, Biographical Writer.
ELLEN VELVIN, Writer of Animal Stories.
REV. THEODORE WOOD, F. E. S., Writer on Natural History.
W. J. BALTZELL, Editor of "The Musician."
HERBERT T. WADE, Editor and Writer on Physics.
JOHN H. CLIFFORD, Editor and Writer.
ERNEST INGERSOLL, Naturalist and Author.
DANIEL E. WHEELER, Editor and Writer.
IDA PRENTICE WHITCOMB, Author of "Young People's Story of Music,"
"Heroes of History," etc.
MARK HAMBOURG, Pianist and Composer.
MME. BLANCHE MARCHESI, Opera Singer and Teacher.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction xi
CHAPTER
I Apes and Gibbons 1
II Baboons 7
III The American Monkeys and the Lemurs 16
IV The Bats 26
V The Insect-Eaters 33
VI The Larger Cats 47
VII The Smaller Cats 60
VIII The Civets, the Aard-Wolf, and the Hyenas 68
IX The Dog Tribe 78
X The Weasel Tribe 91
XI The Bear Tribe 102
XII The Seal Tribe 113
XIII The Whale Tribe 121
XIV The Rodent Animals 136
XV The Wild Oxen 157
XVI Giraffes, Deer, Camels, Zebras, Asses,
and Horses 179
XVII The Elephants, Rhinoceroses,
Hippopotamuses, and Wild Swine 201
XVIII Edentates, or Toothless Mammals 212
XIX The Marsupials 218
XX Birds of Prey 232
XXI Cuckoos, Nightjars, Humming-Birds,
Woodpeckers, and Toucans 243
XXII Crows, Birds of Paradise, and Finches 254
XXIII Wagtails, Shrikes, Thrushes, etc. 263
XXIV Parrots, Pigeons, Pea-Fowl, Pheasants, etc. 273
XXV Ostriches, Herons, Cranes, Ibises, etc. 281
XXVI Swimming Birds 291
XXVII Tortoises, Turtles, and Lizards 299
XXVIII Snakes 311
XXIX Amphibians 321
XXX Fresh-water Fishes 326
XXXI Salt-water Fishes 337
XXXII Insects 354
XXXIII Insects (_continued_) 369
XXXIV Spiders and Scorpions 387
XXXV Crustaceans 397
XXXVI Sea-Urchins, Starfishes, and Sea-Cucumbers 409
XXXVII Mollusks 414
XXXVIII Annelids and Coelenterates 427
Walks with a Naturalist 437
Nature-study at the Seaside 457
Our Wicked Waste of Life 487
INDEX 497
(_Much of the material in this volume is published by permission of
E. P. Dutton & Company, New York City, owners of American rights._)
ILLUSTRATIONS
TROPICAL AMERICAN HUMMING-BIRDS _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
TYPES OF APES AND MONKEYS 6
PHOTOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS OF MONKEYS 16
FOUR GREAT CATS 48
SOME FIERCE CATS 64
A WOLFISH GROUP 80
TYPES OF FUR-BEARERS 96
TYPES OF BEARS 128
TYPES OF RODENTS 144
FOUR TYPES OF CATTLE 156
WILD SHEEP AND GOATS 164
GOATS AND GOAT-ANTELOPES 166
TYPES OF ANTELOPES 176
THE ANTLERED DEER 184
CHILDREN'S PETS AT THE ZOO 189
WILD RELATIVES OF THE HORSE 196
PACHYDERMS AND TAPIR 206
TYPES OF MARSUPIALS 220
TYPICAL BIRDS OF PREY 232
FOUR HANDSOME BIRDS 253
FINCHES AND WEAVER-BIRDS 262
AMERICAN INSECT-EATING SONG-BIRDS 272
GAUDY TROPICAL BIRDS 276
AMERICAN GAME-BIRDS 280
FOUR GREAT GAME-BIRDS 280
AMERICAN WADING BIRDS 298
TYPES OF WATER-BIRDS 298
CHARACTERISTIC FORMS AND MARKINGS OF AMERICAN
BIRDS EGGS 298
NORTH AMERICAN FOOD AND GAME FISHES 336
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO AMERICAN MAPLE-TREES 368
LEAF-EATING INSECTS OF SHADE-TREES 386
LIFE ON THE SEA-BOTTOM 413
NORTH AMERICAN SEED-EATING SONG-BIRDS 442
CHICKADEE AND WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH 456
INTRODUCTION
This volume is a sketch of the animal life of the whole world. More than
a sketch it could not be in the space at the author's command; but he
has so skilfully selected his examples to illustrate both the natural
groups and the faunas which they represent, that his work forms a most
commendable ground-plan for the study of natural history.
Few writers have been so successful in handling this subject. His style
is singularly attractive to the young readers whom he has in view; yet
he does not depart from accuracy, nor exaggerate with false emphasis
some unusual phase of an animal's character, which is the fault of many
who try to "popularize" zoölogy.
One may feel confident, therefore, that the boy or girl who opens this
volume will enjoy it and profit by it. The sketch dwells on the animals
most often to be seen in nature, or in menageries, or read of in books
of travel and adventure, and will thus serve as a valuable reference aid
in such reading. But it will, and ought to, do more. It will arouse anew
that interest in the creatures about us which is as natural as breath to
every youngster, but is too rarely fostered by parents and teachers.
Nothing is more valuable in the foundation of an education than the
faculty and habit of observation--the power of noting understandingly,
or at least inquiringly, what happens within our sight and hearing. To
go about with one's eyes half shut, content to see the curtain and never
curious to look at the play on nature's stage behind it, is to miss a
very large part of the possible pleasure in life. That his child should
not suffer this loss ought to be the concern of every parent.
Little more than encouragement and some opportunity is needed to
preserve and cultivate this disposition and faculty. Direct a
youngster's attention to some common fact of woodland life new to him,
and his interest and imagination will be excited to learn more. Give him
a hint of the relationship of this fact to other facts, and you have
started him on a scientific search, and he has begun to train his eye
and his mind without knowing it. At this point such books as this are
extremely helpful, and lead to a desire for the more special treatises
which happily are now everywhere accessible.
This suggestion is not made with the idea that every youngster is to
become a full-fledged naturalist; but with the sense that some knowledge
of nature will be a source of delight throughout life; and with the
certainty that in no direction can quickness of eye and accuracy of
sight and reasoning be so well and easily acquired. These are qualities
which make for success in all lines of human activity, and therefore are
to be regarded as among the most important to be acquired early in life.
The physical benefit of an interest in animal life, which leads to
outdoor exercise, needs no argument. The mental value has been touched
upon. The moral importance is in the sense of truth which nature
inculcates, and the kindliness sure to follow the affectionate interest
with which the young naturalist must regard all living things.
No matter what is to be their walk in life, the observing study of
nature should be regarded as the corner-stone of a boy's or girl's
education.
ERNEST INGERSOLL
MAMMALS
CHAPTER I
APES AND GIBBONS
First among the mammals come the monkeys. First among the monkeys come
the apes. And first among the apes come the chimpanzees, almost the
largest of all monkeys.
CHIMPANZEES
When it is fully grown a male chimpanzee stands nearly five feet high.
And it would be even taller still if only it could stand upright.
But that is a thing which no monkey can ever do, because instead of
having feet as we have, which can be planted flat upon the ground, these
animals only have _hind hands_. There is no real sole to them, no
instep, and no heel; while the great toe is ever so much more like a
huge thumb. The consequence is that when a monkey tries to stand upright
he can only rest upon the outside edges of these hand-like feet, while
his knees have to be bent awkwardly outward. So he looks at least three
inches shorter than he really is, and he can only hobble along in a very
clumsy and ungraceful manner.
But then, on the other hand, he is far better able to climb about in the
trees than we are, because while we are only able to place our feet flat
upon a branch, so as to stand upon it, he can grasp the branches with
all four hands, and obtain a very much firmer hold.
Chimpanzees are found in the great forests of Central and Western
Africa, where they feed upon the wild fruits which grow there so
abundantly. They spend almost the whole of their lives among the trees,
and have a curious way of making nests for their families to live in, by
twisting the smaller branches of the trees together, so as to form a
small platform. The mother and her little ones occupy this nest, while
the father generally sleeps on a bough just underneath it. Sometime
quite a number of these nests may be seen close together, the
chimpanzees having built a kind of village for themselves in the midst
of the forest.
A CLEVER SPECIMEN
If you visit the zoölogical gardens in New York, London, or some other
city, you may be quite sure of seeing one or more chimpanzees. They are
nearly always brought to the zoos when they are quite young, and the
keepers teach them to perform all kinds of clever tricks. One of them in
the London Zoo, who was called "Sally," and who lived there for several
years, actually learned to count! If she was asked for two, three, four,
or five straws, she would pick up just the right number from the bottom
of her cage and hand them to the keeper, without ever making a mistake.
Generally, too, she would pick up six or seven straws if the keeper
asked for them. But if eight, nine, or ten were asked for she often
became confused, and could not be quite sure how many to give. She was a
very cunning animal, however, and when she became tired of counting she
would sometimes pick up two straws only and double them over, so as to
make them look like four!
"Sally" could talk, too, after a fashion, and used to make three
different sounds. One of these evidently meant "Yes," another signified
"No," and the third seemed to be intended for "Thank you," as she always
used it when the keeper gave her a nut or a banana.
Two kinds of chimpanzees are known, namely the common chimpanzee, which
is by far the more plentiful of the two, and the bald chimpanzee,
which has scarcely any hair on the upper part of its head. One very
intelligent bald chimpanzee was kept in Barnum's menagerie, and was even
more clever, in some ways, than "Sally" herself.
THE GORILLA
Larger even than the chimpanzee is the gorilla, the biggest and
strongest of all the apes, which sometimes grows to a height of nearly
six feet. It is only found in Western Africa, close to the equator, and
has hardly ever been seen by white travelers, since it lives in the
densest and darkest parts of the great forests. But several
gorillas--nearly all quite small ones--have been caught alive and kept
in captivity in zoos, where, however, they soon died.
One of these, named "Gena," lived for about three weeks in the Crystal
Palace, near London. She was a most timid little creature, and if
anybody went to look at her she would hide behind a chimpanzee, which
inhabited the same cage, and watched over her in the most motherly way.
Another, who was called "Pongo," lived for rather more than two months
in the London Zoo, and seemed more nervous still, for he used to become
terrified if even his keeper went into the cage. But when the animal has
grown up it is said to be a most savage and formidable foe, and the
natives of Central Africa are even more afraid of it than they are of
the lion.
Like most of the great apes, the gorilla has a most curious way of
sheltering itself during a heavy shower of rain. If you were to look at
its arms, you would notice that the hair upon them is very thick and
long, and that while it grows _downward_ from the shoulder to the
elbow, from the elbow to the wrist it grows _upward_. So when it is
caught in heavy rain, the animal covers its head and shoulders with its
arms. Then the long hair upon them acts just like thatch and carries off
the water, so that the gorilla hardly gets wet at all.
When the gorilla is upon the ground it generally walks upon all fours,
bending the fingers of the hands inward, so that it rests upon the
knuckles. But it is much more active in the trees, and is said to
be able to leap to the ground from a branch twenty or thirty feet high,
without being hurt in the least by the fall.
THE ORANG-UTAN
Another very famous ape is the orang-utan, which is found in Borneo and
Sumatra. It is reddish brown in color, and is clothed with much longer
hair than either the gorilla or the chimpanzee, while its face is
surprisingly large and broad, with a very high forehead. But the most
curious feature of this animal is the great length of its arms. When a
man stands upright, and allows his arms to hang down by his sides, the
tips of his fingers reach about half-way between his hips and his knees.
When a chimpanzee stands as upright as possible, the tips of its fingers
almost touch its knees. But when an orang-utan does the same its fingers
nearly touch the ground. Of course, when the animal is walking, it finds
that these long arms are very much in its way. So it generally uses them
as crutches, resting the knuckles upon the ground, and swinging its body
between them.
But the orang seldom comes down to the ground, for it is far more at its
ease among the branches of the trees. And although it never seems to be
in a hurry, it will swing itself along from bough to bough, and from
tree to tree, quite as fast as a man can run below. Like the gorilla and
the chimpanzee, it makes rough nests of twisted boughs, in which the
female animal and the little ones sleep. And if it is mortally wounded,
it nearly always makes a platform of branches in the same way, and sits
upon it waiting for death.
Orangs are often to be seen in zoölogical gardens, although they are so
delicate that they do not thrive well in captivity. One of these
animals, which lived in the London Zoo for some time, had learned a very
clever trick. Leaning up against his cage was a placard, on which were
the words "The animals in this cage must not be fed." The orang very
soon found out that when this notice was up nobody gave him any nuts or
biscuits. So he would wait until the keeper's back was turned,
knock the placard down with the printed words underneath, and then hold
out his paw for food!
As a general rule, orangs seem far too lazy to be at all savage. Those
in zoos nearly always lie about on the floor of their cage all day,
wrapped in their blankets, with a kind of good-humored grin upon their
great broad faces. But when they are roused into passion they seem to be
very formidable creatures, and Alfred Russel Wallace tells us of an
orang that turned upon a Dyak who was trying to spear it, tore his arm
so terribly with his teeth that he never recovered the proper use of the
limb, and would almost certainly have killed him if some of his
companions had not come to his rescue.
GIBBONS
Next we come to the gibbons, which are very wonderful animals, for they
are such astonishing gymnasts. Most monkeys are very active in the
trees, but the gibbons almost seem to be flying from bough to bough,
dashing about with such marvelous speed that the eye can scarcely follow
their movements. Travelers, on seeing them for the first time, have
often mistaken them for big blackbirds. They hardly seem to swing
themselves from one branch to another. They just dart and dash about,
upward, downward, sideways, backward, often taking leaps of twenty or
thirty feet through the air. And yet, so far as one can see, they only
just touch the boughs as they pass with the tips of their fingers.
If you should happen to see a gibbon in the next zoo that you visit, be
sure to ask the keeper to offer the animal a grape, or a piece of
banana, and you will be more than surprised at its marvelous activity.
The arms of the gibbons are very long--although not quite so long as
those of the orang-utan--so that when these animals stand as upright as
they can the tips of their fingers nearly touch the ground. But they do
not use these limbs as crutches, as the orang does. Instead of that,
they either clasp their hands behind the neck while they are walking, or
else stretch out the arms on either side with the elbows bent downward,
to help them in keeping their balance. So that when a gibbon leaves the
trees and takes a short stroll upon the ground below, it looks rather
like a big letter W suspended on a forked pole!
[Illustration: TYPES OF APES AND MONKEYS
1. Diana Monkey. 2. Orang-utan. 3. Hanuman Monkey.
4. Mandrill Baboon. 5. Capuchin Monkey. 6. Spider Monkey.]
Gibbons generally live together in large companies, which often consist
of from fifty to a hundred animals, and they have a very odd habit of
sitting in the topmost branches of tall trees at sunrise, and again at
sunset, and joining in a kind of concert. The leader always seems to be
the animal with the strongest voice, and after he has uttered a peculiar
barking cry perhaps half a dozen times, the others all begin to bark in
chorus. Often for two hours the outcry is kept up, so loud that it may
be heard on a still day two or three miles. Then by degrees it dies
away, and the animals are almost silent until the time for their next
performance comes round.
Several different kinds of gibbons are known, the largest of which is
the siamang. This animal is found only in Sumatra. It is a little over
three feet high when fully grown. If you ever see it at a zoo you may
know it at once by its glassy black color, and its odd whitish beard.
Then there is the hoolock, which is common in many parts of India, and
has a white band across its eyebrows, while the lar gibbon, of the Malay
Peninsula, has a broad ring of white all round its face. Besides these
there are one or two others, but they are all so much alike in their
habits that there is no need to mention them separately.