Page:Child's picture book.djvu/17

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15

The Ant Eater is a native of South America. It is a singular animal with a long snout, small mouth and no teeth. Its tongue is very long, covered with saliva and when penetrated into an Ant hill, they will adhere to it and by retracing it, he swallows thousands of them.

They are extremely useful in diminishing the countless swarms of Ants which exist in South America. There are three species of this animal.—The smallest is not much larger than a Rat; the next about the size of the Fox, and the third a stout and powerful animal, and masures about six feet.