468 



Ercatfttrn at Natural fyi 



beyond the claws, is loose, and falls back 

 when the animal burrows : claws strong, 

 blunt, the two lateral shorter than the three 

 middle ones. Hind feet short, narrow, turned 

 backwards, and, when the animal is at rest, 

 somewhat resembling a fin. The male Or- 

 nithorhyncus is armed with a spur on each 

 hind leg, having a canal in it similar to that 

 in the poison-fang of venomous serpents, 

 and, like this, also furnished with a gland at 

 the base, secreting a fluid : hence it has been 

 thought likely, though there is no evidence 

 of the fact, that wounds produced by them 

 would be dangerous. They have no ex- 

 ternal ear, and their eyes are very small, 

 but brilliant. The motions of the mandibles 

 in this animal, when seeking its food in the 

 mud and water, are the same as those of a 

 duck when feeding in similar situations. 

 Their burrows are excavated in the banks 

 of the streams they inhabit, and are of very 

 curious construction. The entrance is situ- 

 ated near the water's edge, on a steep part 

 of the bank, and is concealed amongst the 

 herbage. The young are produced in a very 

 imperfect state, and are very unlike the full- 

 grown animal. The skin is entirely desti- 

 tute of fur ; the eyes are not formed, and 

 their place is merely indicated by the pre- 

 sence of a few wrinkles on the skin. The 

 margin of the bill is at that time soft, and 

 the tongue advances to its front edge ; so 

 that the young animal can obtain nourish- 

 ment by sucking, which was at first thought 

 impossible. The mammary gland is very 

 simple in structure, and is divided into a 

 large number of separate lobes. The Orni- 

 thorhyncus, when asleep, rolls itself up like 

 a hedgehog, or curls itself like a dog, keep- 

 ing its back warm by bringing over it the 

 flattened tail. It dresses its fur, combing it 

 with its feet, and pecking at it with its beak ; 

 and seems to take great delight in keeping 

 it smooth and clean. 



In conclusion, we cannot but join in the 

 remark of Dr. Shaw, who was the first to 

 describe it. " Of all the Mammalia yet 

 known it seems the most extraordinary in 

 its conformation ; exhibiting the perfect re- 

 semblance of the beak of a duck engrafted 

 on the head of a quadruped." 



ORTHOCERAS. A genus of fossil shells, 

 found in strata mostly below the carbo- 

 niferous or mountain limestone. These 

 shells are straight, with septa regularly con- 

 cave towards the aperture, perforated by a 

 nearly cylindrical siphunde near the centre 

 of the disc. 



ORTHOPTERA. An order of insects, 

 distinguished by the following characters : 

 The body generally less firm in texture than 

 the Coleoptera, and covered by soft semi- 

 membranous elytra furnished with nervures. 

 The superior wings often overlap horizon- 

 tally, as in the Cockroaches, but in many 

 species they meet at an angle, as in the 

 Grasshoppers and Locusts. The legs of sonae 

 are formed for running, others for leaping. 

 The antennae are usually filiform, and some- 

 times extremely long and slender, in which 

 case they are composed of innumerable mi- 

 nute joints. The parts of the mouth are well 



developed, and approach in structure those of 

 the order Coleoptera. The Orthoptera under- 

 go a semi-metamorphosis, of which all the 

 mutations are reduced to the growth and de- 

 velopment of the elytra and wings that are 

 always visible in a rudimental state in the 

 nymph. All the insects of this order, without 

 exception, are terrestrial, even in the first two 

 states of their existence. Some are carnivo- 

 rous, or omnivorous, but the greater part feed 

 on living plants. The Order comprises nume- 

 rous well-known insects, often of large size 

 and splendid colours ; such as Grasshoppers, 

 Locusts, &c. : nay, some of the largest known 

 insects belong to it ; a few species attaining 

 the length of eight or nine inches. Compa- 

 ratively few are found in temperate regions; 

 the tropics claiming the largest and most 

 splendidly coloured among them. All the 

 insects belonging to this order, except the 

 Mantidce, which prey on other insects, are 

 destructive to vegetation, or injurious to our 

 household possessions. 



ORTOLAN. (Emberisa liortulana.-) This 

 bird, so much esteemed for the delicacy of 

 its flesh, is a native of the southern parts of 

 Europe, and a summer visitor also of the 

 central and northern parts. It is a species 

 of Frinyillida:, rather more than six inches 

 in length, and to a cursory observer might 

 be easily mistaken for the yellow-hammer. 

 It is yellow on the throat and around the 

 eyes ; the breast and belly are a reddish 

 bay ; the rump red ; and the upper part of 

 the body brown, varied with black ; bill and 

 feet inclining to flesh-colour. No bird what- 



ever has been so highly celebrated in the 

 annals of gastronomy as the Ortolan, whe- 

 ther we consider the practices resorted to at 

 the present day to fit them for the tables of 

 the wealthy, or refer to the enormous prices 

 paid for them by the epicure's of ancient 

 Rome. The manner in which they are arti- 

 ficially brought to the highest degree of per- 

 fection, in Italy and the south of France, is 

 by confining them in a room from which the 

 rays of the sun are excluded, and which is 

 lighted by lamps kept constantly burning. 

 There the birds are kept plentifully supplied 

 with millet seed and other food of the most 

 nutritive kind, till they become mere lumps 

 of fat ; in which state they are regarded as 



