THE DUCKBILL. 203 



awoke, they generally stretched themselves much as 

 a cat does, thrusting out the fore paws as far as pos- 

 sible, and spreading the toes, and at the same time 

 opening their jaws to the fullest extent. The action 

 was natural enough ; but as one does not expect to 

 see a duck yawn, it was very absurd. 



A casual mention has already been made of the 

 fact that the Duckbill can clamber out of a vessel in 

 which it is placed. Unfit as it may seem for perform- 

 ing such feats, the Duckbill is a capital climber a 

 faculty which is probably needed for ascending the 

 banks out of the water. A pair of young Duckbills 

 which were kept by Dr. Bennett in his house, were 

 perpetually found on the tops of book-cases, or other 

 elevated spots. At last the mode was discovered, and 

 was seen to be exactly the same as that which was 

 formerly employed by chimney-sweepers during their 

 ascent. The animal got between the wall and the 

 furniture, placed its back against the one, and its 

 feet against the other, and so managed to wriggle 

 its way upwards. I may be pardoned for repeating 

 here a personal anecdote, because it illustrates the 

 subject. 



During my childhood we were accustomed to get 

 on the roof of a summer-house in exactly the same 

 way. The summer-house was within two feet or so of a 

 stable ; and, by setting our feet against the stable 

 wall, and our backs against that of the summer-house, 

 we very speedily reached the roof. This was a 

 useful accomplishment, especially in the autumn, be- 

 cause some remarkably fine Sweetwater and Black 

 Hamburg grapes were trained over the roofs of the 



