234 MR. G. BENNETT ON THE HISTORY AND HABITS OF 
this specimen appear different from all the others that I had seen ; but in other respects 
it was similar to them. A female shot in the evening of the same day, and in the 
same part of the river, measured only | foot 4 inches, as follows : 
Female specimen shot in the Murrumbidgee River. 
Ft; Ing 
Length from the extremity of the mandible to that of the tail . 1 4 
Length of the upper mandible . 2 
Breadth of the upper mandible 14 
Breadth across the back 4 
Length of the tail 4s 
Breadth of the tail he Qe 
Expansion of the web of the fore feet 32 
On the 17th of September 1832 I took my departure from Raby Farm in company 
with Mr. Henry O’Brien, who was proceeding to his farm in the Yas country. Having 
made a very interesting journey through the Bathurst country, we arrived, on the 4th 
of October, at Mundoona, the estate of Mr. James Rose, near Yas Plains in the 
Murray County. It was at this place that I had determined to commence my investi- 
gations of the Ornithorhynchus, as a portion of the Yas River ran through the estate, 
in which these animals were to be found in great numbers. 
We arrived at the Farm at 5 p.m. ; and as the river was but a very short distance 
from the dwelling-house and I was eager to have even a distant view of the animal in 
a living state, I readily acceded to an offer to walk on the banks whilst refreshment 
was preparing for us after our long journey, and ascertain if one could be procured 
that evening. We soon came to a tranquil part of the river, such as the colonists call 
a ‘‘pond,” on the surface of which numerous aquatic plants grew. It is in places 
of this description that the Water-Moles are most commonly seen, seeking their food 
among the aquatic plants, whilst the steep and shaded banks afford them excellent 
situations for excavating their burrows. We remained stationary on the banks, with 
gun in rest, waiting their appearance with some degree of patience ; and it was not 
long before my companion quietly directed my attention to one of these animals 
paddling on the surface of the water, not far distant from the bank on which we were 
then standing. In such circumstances they may be readily recognised by their dark 
bodies just seen level with the surface, above which the head is slightly raised, and by 
the circles made in the water around them by their paddling action. On seeing them 
the spectator must remain perfectly stationary, as the slightest noise or movement of 
his body would cause their instant disappearance, so acute are they in sight or hear- 
ing, or perhaps in both ; and they seldom reappear when they have been frightened. 
By remaining perfectly quiet when the animal is ‘‘up,” the spectator is enabled to 
obtain an excellent view of its movements on the water ; it seldom, however, remains 

