NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK—BAKER. 469 
tation is bad, as it is said to be untamably sullen and savage. The 
specimens kept at the park do not seem to confirm this, as they have 
been reasonably docile, not unlike other animals of limited intelli- 
gence. It naturally shuns the light, stays in a dark corner of its 
cage, and, when disturbed, is likely to resent it by snarling. We are 
apt to forget that in captivity we place animals in extremely unnat- 
ural conditions and force them to endure the sight of man, who is to 
them an object of the greatest fear and distrust. 
The park has quite recently acquired a wombat, one of the larger 
marsupials of Australia—a herbivorous animal that looks like an 
enormous woodchuck or groundhog, and it is not dissimilar in its 
habits as it is a burrowing animal living upon roots. It is sluggish 
and quiet in captivity, usually sleeping during the day. 
The echidna, or spiny anteater, is another strange creature from 
Australia, being extremely interesting as showing the intimate rela- 
tion which exists between the lowest mammals and birds. It is not 
very large, being from a foot to a foot and a half in length. It has 
a long, horny bill, no teeth, a slender tongue which it can protrude 
to catch the insects on which it feeds, and sharp spines are mingled 
with its hair. Though in a sense it suckles its young, it lays eggs as 
do birds and many reptiles. The specimen shown in plate 28 was 
at the park for some time. Its natural food is white ants, but as 
these were not available, it was fed mostly on finely minced hard- 
boiled eggs. It kept constantly hidden under the straw that was 
used as its litter. Mr. Le Souef, director of the zoological garden at 
Melbourne, informed me that when placed on soft ground it quickly 
burrows out of sight, and if pulled away clings to the soil by erecting 
its spines. He once saw one with a dead snake wound around it. 
The reptile had tried to crush it and had been pierced by its spines, 
leaving the echidna unhurt. 
In superficial appearance the echidna is not unlike the European 
hedgehog shown in plate 28, specimens of which animal may 
usually be seen in the park. The latter is, however, only distantly 
related to the echidna, as it brings forth its young alive and is in 
many respects of a much higher order. In this animal also the hairs 
have been developed into spines which are used as a means of defense. 
On the slightest intimation of danger it rolls itself into a compact 
ball, with limbs and head perfectly concealed and sticks out its spines 
in every direction. It is able to do this by means of a powerful layer 
of muscle that lies immediately beneath the skin. This animal 
should not be confounded with the American tree porcupine, which, 
on account of the spiny character of its hairs, is often called a hedge- 
hog. 
