318 MONOTREMATA. 



some lumps of clay, whicli bore evident marks of 

 the animal's recent passage. He declared, however, 

 that the inhabitant was absent, and Mr. G. Bennett 

 Avas induced, by this information, to abstain from 

 further investigation. A female specimen, shot in 

 the evening of the same day, was found to have two 

 ova, about the size of or rather smaller than buck- 

 shot, in the left uterus; and in this, as in all the 

 other female specimens, much difficulty was experi- 

 enced in finding the mammary glands. The contents 

 of the cheek-pouches and stomachs always consisted 

 of river insects, very small shell-fish, &c., commin- 

 uted and mingled with mud or gravel, which latter, 

 Mr. G. Bennett suggests, may be required to aid 

 digestion. River-weeds were never observed to 

 form part of the food ; but Mr. George MacLeay 

 informed the author that in a situation in which 

 water-insects were very scarce he had shot Ornitho- 

 rhynchi with river-weeds in their pouches. 



Similar excursions were made on the 8th and 9th 

 of October ; and on the latter day one of the burrows 

 was explored. The entrance of this burow was situa- 

 ted on a moderately steep bank, abounding with long 

 wiry grass and shrubs, at the distance of about five 

 feet from the water's edge : its course lay in a serpen- 

 tine direction up the bank, approaching nearer to the 

 surface of the earth towards its termination. At 

 this part it was expanded to form a chamber suf- 

 ficiently capacious for the reception of the animal and 

 her young, and measured one foot in length by six 



