I I 2 FOOD AND HABITS 



The Echidna feeds like anteaters, by thrusting its tongue 

 into an ant-hill, and waiting until it is covered with indignant 

 and marauding ants, which are then swallowed. But this 

 animal also devours worms and insects, which are extracted from 

 their hiding-places by the tongue. It is mainly nocturnal, and 

 prefers the seclusion of the densest scrubs of the bush, or rocky 

 spots where it is free from intrusion. Dr. Semon did not find 

 that the spur of this animal was used at all in self-defence ; 

 Ijut he thinks that possibly the weapon may be used, in the 

 breeding season only, in the comV)ats of the males for the females, 

 when perhaps, as has been shown to be the case in Oniithorliyn- 

 clius, the gland attached to it produces a poisonous secretion. 



The egg, as it aY)pears, is transferred to the pouch by the 

 mouth of the mother ; the shell is broken by the emerging 

 young one, which has an egg-breaking tubercle on its snout 

 for this purpose ; the mother removes the shell. When the 

 young has attained a certain size, the mother removes it from 

 the pouch, but takes it in from time to time to suckle it. When 

 on her nightly rambles the young one is left in a burrow dug 

 for the purpose. Dr. Semon was able, from his own observations, 

 to substantiate this act of intelligence on the part of the 

 Echidna. It is well known that the temperature of the Mono- 

 trenies is less than that of higher mammals ; in addition to this 

 fact Dr. Semon found that the range of variation of tempera- 

 ture in the Echidna was as much as 1.3 degrees or more. It is 

 thus intermediate between the " poikilothermal " reptiles and the 

 " homoeothermal " mammals. 



Fam. 2. Ornithorhynchidae. — There is no need to attempt to 

 define this family, since it contains but one genus Ornithorhynchus, 

 with Init one species, 0. anatinus. The general aspect of the 

 animal is well known. It is covered with dense fur of a blackish 

 brown colour ; the limbs are short and five-toed, the toes being 

 webbed. The tail is longish and broad, being flattened from 

 above downwards. The webbing on the anterior toes consider- 

 ably outdistances the tips of the claws, as in the Seals. But this 

 is not the case with the hind-feet. The " beak," which is broad 

 and flat, and does actually suggest that of a duck, is not covered 

 with horn, as is often stated, but with a fine, soft, sensitive, naked 

 skin, which abounds in sense-organs of a tactile nature. As to 

 characters derived from the skeleton, Omitltorliynclms has seven- 



