DUCKBILL AND ECHIDNA. 



573 



birds and reptiles, and besides those mentioned one of the 

 most obvious is the long, toothless jaws (there are eight 

 horny teeth in the duckbill), which are long and narrow in 

 the Echidna, or broad and flat in the duckbill (Ornithor- 

 Tiynclms paradoxus Blumenbach), where it is covered by a 

 leathery integument ; the external ear is wanting. 



Fig. 494. Skeleton of Echidna hyslrix.Yrom. Brehm's Thierlebeu, 



In the aquatic duckbill the feet are webbed, with claws 

 of moderate size. It is covered with a soft fur, and is about 

 half a metre (17-22 inches) long. Its 

 habits arc like those of a muskrat, fre- 

 quenting rivers and pools in Australia 

 and Van Dieman's Land, sleeping and 

 breeding in holes extending from un- 

 der the water up above its level into 

 the banks, and with an outlet on shore. 

 It lives on mollusks, worms, and 

 water-insects. Young duckbills, five 

 cm. long, have been found in their 

 nests. 



The spiny ant-eater (Figs. 493 and 

 494) is represented by three species, 

 the Echidna liystrix Cuvier, of Aus- 

 tralia, E. Laivesii Ramsay, from Port 

 Moresby, New Guinea, also by a re- 

 cently discovered form inhabiting the 

 elevated portions of Northern New marsupial bones. 

 Guinea, and called by Gervais Acanthoglossus Bruijnii. In 

 these singular animals the bill is long and slender, tooth- 



