274 THE ECHIDNA AND THE COMMON SLOTH. 



The food of the Mullingong consists of worms, water insects, and lit- 

 tle molluscs, which it gathers in its cheek-pouches as long as it is en- 

 gaged in its search for food, and then eats quietly when it rests from its 

 labors. The teeth — if teeth they may be called — of this animal are 

 very peculiar, consisting of four horny channeled plates, two in each 

 jaw, which serve to crush the fragile shells and coverings of the animals 

 on which it feeds. It seems seldom to feed during the day or in the 

 depth of night, preferring for that purpose the first dusk of evening or 

 the dawn of morning. During the rest of the day it is generally asleep. 

 While sleeping it curls itself into a round ball, the tail shutting down 

 over the head and serving to protect it. 



The young Mullingongs are curious little creatures, with soft, short, 

 flexible beaks, naked skins, and almost unrecognizable as the children 

 of their long-nosed parents. When they attain to the honor of their 

 first coat, they are most playful little things, knocking each other about 

 like kittens, and rolling on the ground in the exuberance of their mirth. 

 Their little twinkling eyes are not well adapted for daylight, nor, from 

 their position, can they see spots directly in their front, so that a pair of 

 these little creatures that were kept by Dr. Bennett used to bump them- 

 selves against the chairs, tables, or any other object that might be in 

 their way. They bear a further similitude to the cat in their scru- 

 pulous cleanliness and the continual washing and pecking of their 

 fur. 



The Echidna is found in several parts of Australia, where it is pop- 

 ularly called the hedgehog, on account of the hedgehog-like spines with 

 which the body is so thickly covered, and its custom of rolling itself up 

 when alarmed. A number of coarse hairs are intermingled with the 

 spines, and the head is devoid of these weapons. The head is strangely 

 lengthened, in a manner somewhat similar to that of the Ant-eater, and 

 there are no teeth of any kind in the jaws. 



The food of the Echidna consists of ants and other insects, which it 

 gathers into its mouth by means of the long extensile tongue. It is a 

 burrowing animal, and is therefore furnished with limbs and claws of 

 proportionate strength. Indeed, Lieutenant Breton, who kept one of 

 these animals for some time, considers it as the strongest quadruped in 

 existence in proportion to its size. On moderately soft ground it can 

 hardly be captured, for it gathers all its legs under its body, and em- 

 ploys its digging claws with such extraordinary vigor that it sinks into 

 the ground as if by magic. The Echidna is tolerably widely spread 

 over the sandy wastes of Australia, but has not been seen in the more 

 northern portions of that country. 



In the last group of the mammalia we find a very remarkable struc- 

 ture, adapted to serve a particular end, and misunderstood by zoologists. 

 The Common Sloth, sometimes called the Two-toed Sloth, is a na- 



