298 



BACKBONED ANIMALS. 



Spiny Ant-eaters (Echidnida) . These animals (Fig. 

 322, A) are covered with spines like the hedgehog ; the 

 bill is long, horny, and toothless, resembling that of a bird. 

 The tongue is long, like that of the ant-eater, and the pal- 

 ate armed with rows of sharp, tooth-like spines. Their 

 claws are powerful and adapted for digging into the ant- 

 hills where their food is obtained. They produce a single 

 egg at a birth, that is carried in a ventral pouch. 



FlG. 322. Group of egg-laying mammals. A, Echidna ; B, Ornithorhyn- 

 chus swimming and rolled up ; C, nest of duck-bill in section. 



Duck-bill (Ornithorhynchida^.ThQ water mole (Fig. 

 322, ), as it is sometimes called, has a broad, duck-like, 

 horny bill (Fig, 323, A\ containing eight broad, flat, horny 

 teeth. They have no external ear. The body is covered 

 with short, brown hair with an under-pelt ; the fore-feet 

 are webbed (Fig. 323, C) beyond the claws, the hinder 

 only to their base, the males possessing a bird-like spur 



