Go softly pit-a-pat;
His teeth are sharp, and sharp his claws;
He's just a great big cat.
There were some Pumas in the ark;
There are some also in the park:
But, strange to say, in Montezuma
They do not raise a single Puma!
Q stands for Quagga. We've been taught
Nothing was ever made in vain;
But even after serious thought
The Quagga's use is not quite plain.
Though, stay!--ah, yes! at last I see
Why the queer Quagga has to be:
Were there no Quaggas, how would you
Find any beast to stand for Q?
R's for Rhinoceros. You see
His clothing does not fit;
Yet so indifferent is he,
He doesn't care a bit.
Although it does not seem to us
The unconcerned Rhinoceros
Has any claim to wit or grace,
We must admire his earnest face.
S stands for Sponge. You'd scarce suppose
This could be called a creature;
It hasn't any eyes or nose--
Indeed, it has no feature.
And, though this may cause some surprise,
The mermaids, I dare say,
Will set a Sponge at night to rise,
And make sponge-cake next day.
T stands for Tiger. In the south
He roams his native heath.
He has a wide, capacious mouth,
And long and glistening teeth.
'Tis not worth while your time to spend
To cultivate him as a friend;
But to your house, so warm and snug,
Invite the Tiger as a rug.
U is for the Unicorn,
The dearest little thing;
Though he has but a single horn,
And not a single wing.
A Unicorn of any age
Is nicer, so I've heard,
To keep within a gilded cage
Than a canary-bird.
V is for Vervet. From his name
You'd be inclined to think
This creature rather mild and tame,
In color somewhat pink.
But not at all; the Vervet's green,
And very cross and spunky;
In fact, it's plainly to be seen
The Vervet's just a monkey!
W is for Whale. He's in
The oceans, north and south.
He doesn't have a dimpled chin,
Nor yet a rosebud mouth.
Yet he is very fond of fun,
And has wide smiles for every one.
X stands for Xiphias; he's a fish.
If you a Xiphias should wish,
Don't let him roam around the grass,
But keep him in a globe of glass.
His name, as everybody knows,
Is _Xiphias Gl
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