FIG. 127. Six Banded Armadillo.
FIG. 128. Long-tailed Armadillo.
THIS species (fig. 127) is larger than the former; he has the upper part of the head, neck, body, legs, and tail, covered with a very hard crust, composed of several large pieces, elegantly disposed. He has a buckler on each shoulder, and another on the rump, each of which are in one piece; only there is beyond the buckler on the shoulders, and near the head a moveable band, which enables the animal to bend its neck. The buckler on the shoulders is formed by five parallel rows, composed of pieces which represent five angles, with an oval in each; the cuirass on the back, that is the part betwixt the two bucklers, is divided into six bands, which are united together and to the bucklers, by seven joints of a supple and thick skin. These bands are composed of large square pieces; from the skin of these joints some white hairs issue out, like those on the breast and belly; all these inferior parts are covered only by a grainy skin, and not by a crustaceous substance like the upper. The buckler on the rump has a border, the mosaic work of which is similar to that of the moveable bands, and the rest consists of pieces like those of the bucklers of the shoulders. The crust of the head is long, broad, and consists of one piece, extending to the moveable band on the neck. He has a sharp muzzle, small and hollow eyes, a narrow and sharp tongue; the ears are without hair, naked, short, and brown, like the skin of the joints; he has eighteen teeth in each jaw, five claws to each foot, long, in a round form, and rather narrow; the head and the snout are like those of a pig, the tail is thick at its origin, diminishing gradually towards the extremity, where it is very slender and round. The colour of the body is a reddish yellow; the animal is commonly thick and fat, and the male has the sexual organ very visible; he digs into the ground with great facility with his snout and claws; he dwells in the day-time underground, and only goes out towards the evening to seek for food; he drinks often, lives upon fruit, roots, insects, and birds, when he can catch them.