THE GIRAFFE.

[Illustration]


Some one once called the Giraffe a "two-story animal," and the remark
was not altogether inapplicable.

As you see him in the picture, lying down, he seems to be high enough
for all ordinary purposes; but when he stands up, you will see that
his legs--or his lower story--will elevate him to a surprising height.

The ordinary giraffe measures about fifteen feet from the top of his
head to the ground, but some of them have been known to be over
sixteen feet high. Most of this height is owing to their long necks,
but their fore-legs are also very long. The hind-legs seem much
shorter, although, in reality, they are as long as the fore-legs. The
legs and neck of the Giraffe are made long so that he can eat the
leaves from the tops of young trees. This tender foliage is his
favorite diet; but he will eat the foliage from any part of a tree,
and he is content with the herbage on the ground, when there is
nothing else.

He is not a fighting animal. Those little horns which you see on his
head, and which look as if they had been broken off--although they are
really their full size--are of no use as offensive weapons. When
danger threatens him he runs away, and a funny sight he is then. He
can run very fast, but he is very awkward; he goes like a cow on
stilts.