THE TRUE ECHIDNA 235 



tralian form is intermediate, both in size and 

 geographical range, and has very long spines ; while 

 the Port Moresby (New Guinea) race is the 

 smallest, and the spines are very short. More 

 extended study has shown, however, that all grades 

 between the extreme forms can be obtained ; hence 

 the common echidna is allowed to rank as a single 

 though varying and widely distributed species. 

 Indeed, there is but one species of true echidna; 

 the closely similar proechidnas of New Guinea have, 

 as a rule, but three toes on each foot, and the beak 

 is strongly curved downwards. 



Crepuscular and also nocturnal in habits, the true 

 echidna is a native of the scrub country, wandering 

 at sundown through the yellowing thickets of dwarf 

 acacia, and climbing over the rocky slopes with 

 remarkable ease. Save for the snuffling sound with 

 which they accompany their industrious search for 

 food, echidnas are silent animals ; this peculiarity, con- 

 joined withthe denseness of the scrub jungle, makes 

 them difficult to find unless tracked by the eager aid of 

 native dogs. In any case, it has been observed that 

 for some unknown reason the females are always 

 rarer than males. Menagerie specimens, according 

 to the writer's observations, seem to be active at all 

 times ; wild echidna, however, do not move until 

 about two hours before sundown, when they begin to 

 hunt for prey with a marked intelligence and system- 

 atic pertinacity hardly to be expected of such lowly- 



