774 



THE DUCK-BILL, OR MULLINGONG. 



it swings from a branch. On looking at the skeleton, a most curious structure pre- 

 sents itself. On a side view, the cavity of the chest is completely hidden by the ribs, 

 which are greatly flattened, and overlap each other so that on a hasty glance the ribs 

 appear to be formed of one solid piece of bone. There are only two claws on the fore- 

 feet and four on the hinder limbs. 



The Little Ant-eater is a native of tropical America, and is always to be found on trees, 

 where it generally takes up its residence, and where it finds its sustenance. It possesses 



many squirrel-like customs, using 

 its fore-claws with great dex- 

 terity, and hooking the smaller in- 

 sects out of the bark crevices in 

 which they have taken unavailing 

 refuge. While thus employed it 

 sits upon its hind limbs, support- 

 ing itself with its prehensile tail. 

 The claws are compressed, cur- 

 ved, and very sharp, and the little 

 animal can use these instruments 

 with some force as offensive wea- 

 pons, and can strike smart blows 

 with them. It is a bold little 

 creature, attacking the nests of 

 wasps, putting its little paw into 

 the combs, and dragging the 

 grubs from their cells. 



Like its larger relations, it is 

 nocturnal in its habits, and sleeps 

 during the day with its tail safely 

 twisted round the branch on 

 which it sits. The generic name, 

 Cyclothurus, signifies " twisted- 

 tail," and is very appropriate to 

 the animal. 



THERE are few animals which 

 have attracted such universal at- 

 tention, both from scientific men 

 and the reading world in general, 

 as the MULLINGONG, DUCK-BILL, 

 or PLATYPUS, of Australia. This 

 little creature, the largest being 

 but twenty-two inches in length, 

 has excited more interest than 

 animals of a thousand times its 

 dimensions, on account of its ex- 

 traordinary shape and singular 

 habits. It is most appropriately 

 called the Duck-bill, on account of the curious development of the intermaxillary bones, 

 which are very much flattened and elongated, and their ends turned inwards in a kind 

 of angular hook. The lower jaw is also lengthened and flattened, although not to such 

 an extent as the upper, and the bones are covered with a naked skin. 



In the stuffed and dried specimens the " beak " appears as if it were composed of the 

 black leather taken from an old shoe, but in the living animal it presents a very different as- 

 pect, being soft, rounded, and of a pinky hue at its tip, mottled with a number of little spots. 

 Dr. Bennett, to whom the zoological world is so much indebted for his researches into the 

 habits of this curious animal, kindly showed me some excellent drawings, which gave a 



LITTLE ANT-EATER. Cyclothurus dldactylus. 



