70 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



is in life, and not as it is in museums, we will pass to the habita- 

 tion which it constructs. 



Being a peculiarly aquatic animal, the Duckbill always makes 

 its home in the bank of some stream, almost invariably at those 

 wider and stiller parts of the river which are popularly called 

 ponds. There are always two entrances to the burrow, one below 

 the surface of the water and the other above, so that the animal 

 may be able to regain its home either by diving, or by slipping 

 into the entrance which is above the surface. This latter en- 

 trance is always hidden most carefully under overshadowing 

 weeds and drooping plants, and is so carefully concealed that the 

 unaccustomed eyes of a European can very seldom find it. 



When the grasses, etc., are put aside, there is seen a hole of 

 moderate size, on the sides of which are imprinted the footmarks 

 of the animal. By the dampness and sharpness of these impres- 

 sions, the natives can form a tolerably accurate opinion whether 

 the creature is likely to be at home or not, as, in the former case, 

 the footmarks which point upward are fresher and wetter than 

 those which .point downward. While digging out the Duck- 

 bill, they occasionally pull out a handful of the clay, inspect the 

 marks, and then fall to work afresh. From this hole the burrow 

 passes upward, winding a sinuous course, and often running to a 

 considerable length. From twenty to thirty feet is the usual av- 

 erage, but burrows have been opened where the length was full 

 fifty feet, and where the course was most annoyingly variable, 

 bending and twisting about so as to tire the excavators, and make 

 them quite disgusted with their work. The natives never dig 

 out the entire burrow, but push sticks along it, and sink shafts 

 upon the sticks; just, in fact, as a boy digs out a humble bee's 

 nest, by inserting twigs into the hole, and digging down upon 

 them. 



This serpentine form of burrow is in all probability attributa- 

 ble in a great degree to the peculiar instincts of the animal. As, 

 however, the course of the tunnel is extremely variable, and no 

 two burrows have precisely the same curves and windings, it is 

 likely that various obstacles, such as roots and stones, may turn 

 the animal out of its course while engaged in digging its subter- 

 ranean home, and therefore that the shape of the burrow may in 

 some measure depend upon the character of the ground. 



At the upper extremity of the burrow is placed the nest, an ex- 

 cavation of a somewhat oval form, much broader than the width 



