Next comes a Ruffed Lemur, as it is called from the half-circle of white hair, which you see on each side of its face. Notice, too, Charley, the big patches of white on its back and sides, and its long bushy tail, longer even than its whole body.
RUFFED LEMUR.
"It is a native of Madagascar, which, you see on your map, is an island south-east of Africa. It lives in the thick woods, and sleeps all day, but when night comes, it starts forth after its food, which consists of fruits, insects, and small birds. It is a little bigger, you see, than a common cat. The Lemur, of which there are several varieties, is a good deal like a monkey in his habits and some of them look like monkeys.
"You've seen, Charley, tigers in the Menagerie. Notice how much this animal resembles a tiger, being shaped and striped like it, but a good deal smaller, and measuring three feet long and eighteen inches high. You can perceive, then, why it is sometimes called tiger-cat, though its most common name is Ocelet. It is a native of Mexico and Peru, and if caught young, is easily tamed. When it is wild, it feeds mostly on Monkeys, which it takes by its cunning.
AN OCELET.
"Here's one more animal for you, Charley, called the Canada Lynx, which would make you laugh, if you could see it alive and moving. It doesn't walk or run, but sticks up its back and jumps forward with all four feet in the air at once. If you apply that measuring rule of yours to it, you'll find it about three feet long. It is a native of North America, and its skin is highly valued, so that eight or nine thousand of them are carried, every year to England. Muffs and tippets are made of the fur of the Lynx."
"I know that," said Charley, "for my mother's muff and tippet are made of Lynx skin."
