Oddities About Animals.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2, 13 July 1907, Page 44

Oddities About Animals.

The lion's tongue is so rough that it can be used to rasp the flesh from the bones. The horny, claw-like papillae, or prickles, are nearly a quarter of an inch long. It has been’said that the cat uses her prickly tongue in the same way, but she uses it chiefly as a comb. Many birds possess a useful comb in the claw of the middle toe of the foot. This has-been noticed in owls, nightjars, herons, bitterns, cormorants, gannets, etc. It has been explained as a means of holding the prey securely. The comb some-, times is replaced by a curved blade with teeth, which runs along the inner side cl the claw. Such a blade is found in razor bills, wild duck, gulls, starlings, larks, and many other birds. In partidges and pheasants the elaw is flattened, so that its inner edge forms a scraper. Where a comb is required the inner edge of this blade becomes divided into teeth. Young nightjars or goat suckers, have only the blade, but old ones have a well developed comb. The honey bee has a comb in the foreleg, lying in the angle between the tibia, and tarsus, which is used to cleanse the antennae from dust or pollen. Many beetles have a similar comb, which forms a deep notch protected by a spine at the lower end of the fore-tibia. The mouth, whether armed with a comb or not, often is used to keep the body trim and clean. Cockroaches draw their long antennae from time to time through the mouth. The rabbit washes his face like a cat, but there are no prickles on his tongue. The fur seals have long, coarse, and deeprooted bristles, which lie in the fur and keep it from getting matted or ruffled. Some animals can use their claws as combs. In others the pile of the fur is too short to need combing at all.