CHAPTER VIII 



MORE REMARKS ON THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF 

 VICTORIA AND NEW SOUTH WALES 



Before leaving the south-eastern parts of Australia there 

 are some animals and plants which must have notice, as 

 they are either entirely confined to those regions or, at 

 least, have their headquarters there. 



Foremost among these is the platypus, or duck-bill, 

 almost as remarkable a creature as the echidna, but one 

 which is generally better known to naturalists. My remarks 

 concerning it therefore may be brief. 



The duck-bill is a rather larger animal than the echidna, 

 a fine specimen being at least a foot and a half long, and 

 weighing at least five pounds. One uncommonly large 

 male which I captured was twenty-two inches long, and 

 weighed five pounds eleven ounces. Though the duck-bill 

 is a larger animal than the echidna it lays smaller eggs. 

 These are usually two in number, and are a trifle larger 

 than those of a house-sparrow. 



Like the echidna, the duck-bill makes burrows of a great 

 length — often forty feet long ; but not very deep down in 

 the earth. These burrows are always made in the banks 

 of rivers and pools, but never where there is a perceptible 

 current in the water. The still, pond-like reaches of the 

 smaller streams are the favourite haunt of the duck-bill, and 

 there is always more than one entrance to its home. One, 

 and perhaps two, of these entrances, are situated a foot or 

 two under water ; the other is well concealed under roots 

 or amidst tangled grass. 



The surface of the brain of the duck-bill is almost 



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