Knowledge of natural history, revfrom Reason why: natural history, giving reasons for hundreds of interesting facts in connection with zoology; and throwing light upon the peculiar habits and instincts of the various orders of the animal kingdom . 318. The spotted hyena is the most common speciesin the Cape of Good Hope; and although its presencerequires caution on the part of the shepherds in regardto their cattle, yet it is a very valuable animal scavenger,as it is well known to come nightly to Cape Town andclear away the offal, bones, etc., which are thrown out inlarge quantities; and Spurr
Knowledge of natural history, revfrom Reason why: natural history, giving reasons for hundreds of interesting facts in connection with zoology; and throwing light upon the peculiar habits and instincts of the various orders of the animal kingdom . 318. The spotted hyena is the most common speciesin the Cape of Good Hope; and although its presencerequires caution on the part of the shepherds in regardto their cattle, yet it is a very valuable animal scavenger,as it is well known to come nightly to Cape Town andclear away the offal, bones, etc., which are thrown out inlarge quantities; and Spurrman says that the dogs areso well accustomed to it that they feed side by side withoutmolestation, and the hyena is rarely known to do mischiefwhen thus 104 KNOWLEDGE OF NATURAL HISTORY. Ladv. I would descend to kiss your hand,But that tis gloved, and civet makes me sick.—Massinger. 319. Why is the civet commonly called the civetcat? Merely from some slightresemblance in the fur of thebody, and the form of thetail; and from their habit ofcatching mice. The namecat is, in all other respects,inapplicable. They are greatdestroyers of eggs, are ex-pert in catching birds, andsome of them occasionallypursue their prey by coursing. They frequent the banks ofstreams, the woodlands, or open glades, preying upon thesmaller reptiles and the eggs of the larger in the first ofthose places, on birds and small quadrupeds in the second,and on the smaller lizards in the third. 320. The perfume called civet is produced from an orifice under theanus in both sexes, secreted by peculiar glands. The persons who keepthem are said to procure the civet by scraping the inside of their legstwice a week with an iron spatula, getting about a drachm each time;bu
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1916
