184 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



some time ; they appeared to have been very nice little pets, much 

 resembling Puppies in many of their ways, as they constantly played 

 with each other, and would nibble at his fingers sportively with their 

 bills. They enjoyed bathing and rolling about in shallow water, but 

 did not like a deep bath, nor did they stay in for more than a quarter 

 of an hour at a time. This indicates the sort of accommodation such 

 creatures should have when closely confined for a voyage to Europe ; 

 it would be best to keep them in a cage, and let them out for a bath 

 two or three times a day. They slept a great deal, curled up into 

 balls, and usually together ; when disturbed they growled, a habit also 

 common to old specimens. The food given them soaked bread, 

 chopped egg, and finely minced meat does not seem to have agreed 

 with them ; but on such a diet many of the more delicate insectivorous 

 birds, such as Nightingales, would not long survive ; yet these are 

 kept for long periods by our fanciers on more suitable diet, including 

 plenty of live food, and there seems no reason why this very bird-like 

 beast should not be treated in the same way, using " dried flies " and 

 "dried Ants' eggs" well soaked, of course with the addition of 

 Mealworms. Earthworms and Water-Snails could easily be taken in 

 sufficient quantity to last the whole voyage if only a few of the Platypus 

 were shipped ; it would surely be worth while to go to considerable 

 trouble and expense to import an animal of such surpassing scientific 

 and popular interest, the only Monotreme besides the Echidnas. 



