4£tf HISTORY OF 



The bill is 2-f. inches long; and the end of 

 the tail 4-f inches. 



The animal's body is compressed, and of the 

 fame general thickness, except over the shoul- 

 ders, where it is smaller. The circumference 

 of the body is. 11 inches. 



In size, the female is rendered rather larger 

 than the male, by a portion of fat lying very 

 generally under the skin, which the male is 

 without. 



The colour of the male is a very dark brown, 

 on the back, legs, bill, and tail; the under 

 part of the neck and belly is of a silver grey. 



The hair is of two kinds ; a very fine thick 

 fur, one half an inch long, and a curious 

 kind of hair, nearly an inch long. The part 

 neareft the root has the appearance of hair ; but 

 for a quarter of an inch towards the point it 

 becomes flat, resembling feathers: this has a 

 gloss on it. The fur or hair on the back is shorter 

 than that on the belly. 



No appearance could be observed of nip- 

 ples ; although the skin on the belly of the fe- 

 male was examined with the greatest accuracy. 



The head is compressed. The bill, projects 

 beyond the mouth, and in its appearance resem- 

 bles that of a duck ; but is in fact more like that 

 of the spoonbill, the middle part being composed 

 of bone, as in that bird: it has a very strong 

 covering. 



The nostrils are close to each other, near 

 the end of the bill ; and the upper lip projects 

 three quarters of an inch beyond them. 



