ANIMALS' TOILETTES.
sailor's fancy that pictured the mermaid sitting on a
11rock with "a glass and a comb" in her hand, was not quite the myth it seems. Weary of male companionship, he painted the bright-eyed seals as sea-maidens. But if for " glass" we read "fan," we may take it as a true account of the seals' toilette. These harmless and affectionate creatures, which brutal sealers are doing their best to exterminate, have, fixed to their front flipper, a neat little comb, with which, when resting on the rocks, they carefully arrange and smooth the fur on their faces. But the Northern fur-seals are very sensitive to heat ; and when assembled in the rookeries on the Pribilov Islands, both old and young may be seen in thousands, lying on their sides, and fanning themselves with their fore-flippers. We were amused to notice that Barnum's showman had taken advantage of this habit to teach his seals to beat a tambourine ! On one occasion a tambourine was missing, but this made no difference to the seal, who fanned himself instead, though anxiously looking round for his instrument.
But fans are hardly needed for the toilette. Brushes and combs most animals carry with them. " Brilliantine " also is carried in a small and handy reservoir by all ducks and divers. Mud serves for cold-cream and vaseline ; dust, for f aller's- earth and pearl-powder ; and water, as with us, is perhaps the most important necessary. But birds especially are mighty particular about the quality of their "toilette-dust," and equally mice as to the water in which they prefer to wash. Some use water only, some water or dust, others dust and no water. Partridges are a good example of the dusting birds, and are most careful in the selection of their dust-baths. Dry loam suits them best. But perhaps their favourite place is a meadow where a few turfs have been removed. There they scratch out the loam, and shuffle backwards under the grass- roots till their feathers are full of the cool earth. In wet -weather they find, if possible, a heap of burnt ashes on the site of a weed-fire, and dust there. Sparrows, on the contrary, always choose road-dust, the driest and finest possible. Larks also are fond of the road, and dust there in the early morning. But they too have their fancy, and choose the dry, gritty part, where the horses' hoofs tread. Wild ducks, though feeding by the salt water, prefer to wash in fresh-water pools, and will fly long distances inland to running brooks and ponds, where they preen and wash themselves in the early morning. But though passing so much time on the water, ducks seem to prefer a shower-bath to any other; and in heavy rain they may be seen opening their feathers and allowing the rain to soak in, after which they dress the whole surface with oil from the reservoir which we mentioned above. Swallows and martins are as nice in their choice of bath-water as any "professional beauty ; " sothing but newly fallen rain-water thoroughly pleases them, and if tempted to bathe, it is generally by some shallow pool in the road which an hour's sun will evaporate.
We have never seen hawks or falcons bathing when wild.
Trained birds, in good health, bathe almost daily, and the bath of a peregrine falcon is a very careful performance. But no nymph could be more jealous of a witness than these shy birds, and it is not until after many careful glances in 'every direction that the falcon descends from her block and wades into the shallow bath. Then, after more suspicious glances, she thrusts her broad head under the water and flings it on to her back, at the same time raising the feathers and letting the drops thoroughly soak them. After bathing head and back, she spreads her wings and tail fan-like on the water, and rapidly opens and shuts them, after which she stoops down and splashes the drops In every direction. The bath over, she flies once more to the block, and turning her back to the sun, spreads every feather of the wing and tail, raises those on the body, and assists the process of drying by a tremulous motion imparted to every quill, looking more like an old cormorant on a buoy than a peregrine. If man had nothing better to learn from the animals than the great lesson that cleanliness means health, the study of their habits would be well repaid; and it is not the least reproach to be brought against our own Zoological Gardens, that these fine hawks and falcons, while deprived of liberty, are denied the only means of that cleanliness which would make captivity endurable. (The peregrine falcons at the Zoo are kept in a cage sanded like a canary-bird's, with so bath at all, and no room to spread their wings.) Sparrows, chaffinches, robins, and, in the very early morning, rooks and wood-pigeons, bathe often. One robin we knew always took his bath in the falcon's bath, after the hawk had finished. The unfortunate London sparrow has few shallow places in which he can bathe, and a pie-dish on the leads delights him. If the dish be white, his grimy little body soon leaves evidence that his ablutions have been genuine.
No doubt the cats, large and small, make the most careful toilette of any class of animal, with the exception of some of the opossums. The lions and tigers wash themselves in exactly the same manner as the cat, wetting the dark, india-rubber- like ball of the fore-foot and the inner toe, and passing it over the face and behind the ears. The foot is thus at the same time a face-sponge and brush, and the rough tongue combs the rest of the body. Hares also use their feet to wash their faces, and the hare's foot is so suitable for a brash, that it is always used to apply the " paint " to the face for the stage. One of the most charming pets we have kept, and the most particular as to washing and brushing its feet and fur, was a lovely brown opossum from Tasmania "Sooty phalangist " was, we believe, its scientific name ; it was covered with deep rich brown fur, had a face something like a fox, a pink nose, hands with a nailless thumb, and long claws on the fingers. It washed its feet every two or three minutes, and would pay the same attention to the ear, hair, or hands of any one on whose shoulder it was allowed to sit. Once having upset a bottle of turpentine over its hands, it almost fretted to death because it could not remove the scent. Oddly enough, it would, if possible, retire during the day to a chimney, which it perhaps took for a hollow tree, and did not object to the soot in its fur, perhaps considering it "clean dirt," as children do earth. Water-rats are very clean animals, and wash and brash their faces "like Christians." We saw one this summer on a pond at Welling, in Kent, swim out to pick up the blossoms of an acacia-tree which were falling on the water. After daintily eating each flower on the bank, he licked his hands, wiped his moustaches, and swam off for another. We also tried an acacia-blossom, but except a slightly sweet flavour, could find nothing to account for the rat's taste for them. Sporting dogs, which are used in mud, snow, and wet, are strangely clever and quick in cleaning and drying their coats ; and it is a sure sign that a dog has been over-tired if he shows any trace of mud or dirt next morning. Most of their toilette is done with the tongue, but they are very clever at using a thick box-bush or the side of a haystack as a rough towel. One small spaniel which we allowed to live in the house was well aware that if he returned dirty he would not be admitted indoors. About an hour before the close of the day's shooting, he used to strike work and begin to clean himself ; and if urged to do more, would slip off home and present himself neat and clean in the dining-room. One day the dog had been left at home, *End his master returned and seated himself, wet, and with half-frozen drops of ice sticking to his gaiters, by the fire. 'Pan' ran up and carefully licked off the frozen ice and snow, stopping every now and then to give an anxious look, which said as plainly as possible : Dear me, if I don't get him clean quickly, he will be sent to lie in the stable.'
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