"On a beautiful summer evening," 

 says Bennett, "I approached a small 

 river in Australia, and as I knew the 

 predilection of the duck mole for the 

 hour of dusk, I tried to obtain a 

 glimpse of one. With a constant 

 grasp on our guns, we patiently stood 

 on the shore. It was not long before 

 we saw a black object appear near us 

 on the top of the water, the head be- 

 ing raised but little above the surface. 

 We stood motionless, lest we should 

 scare the animal, carefully observing 

 and following its movements, for one 

 must be ready to shoot just as the duck 

 mole reappears after diving. Only a 

 shot in the head is effective, as the 

 loose, thick fur will not allow a bullet 

 to penetrate it readily. We wounded 

 one which gave evidence of severe in- 

 jury and sank immediately, but soon 

 rose again. When the dog brought it 

 to us we found it to be a fine male. 

 Several minutes after it had been 

 brought out of the water it apparently 

 revived, and, instantly rising to its feet, 

 staggered toward the river. About 

 twent}-five minutes later it turned over 

 several times and then died. As I had 

 heard much about the danger of being 

 pierced by its spur even when the ani- 

 mal is mortally injured, I put my hand 

 near the so-called poisonous spur at 

 the first grasp. In its violent exertions 

 to escape the animal scratched me 

 slightly with its hind paws and also 

 with its spur, but despite the roughness 

 with which I seized it, it did not wound 

 me intentionally. I had also been 

 further told that the duck mole lay on 

 its back when it wished to use the spur, 

 which statement will not be received as 

 at all probable by anyone who knows 

 the animal in ever so slight a way. I 

 put it in this position, butit only strove 

 to regain its feet without attempting to 

 wound me by using its spur. In short, 

 I tried in every way to induce the an- 

 imal to make use of its spur as a wea- 

 pon, but in vain; and I am perfectly 

 convinced that the spur has another 

 function than that of a weapon. The 

 natives characterize the' spur as 'mis- 

 chievous,' that being with them a word 

 which in general conveys the idea of 

 dangerous or poisonous character; yet 

 they use the same expression in speak- 



ing of the scratches inflicted by the an- 

 imal with the hinder feet, and they are 

 not at all afraid of seizing a living duck 

 mole. When the queer creature runs 

 along the ground, it produces an im- 

 pression of something unnatural, and 

 its strange shape easily startles a timid 

 person. Cats instantly take flight at 

 its appearance, and even dogs, which 

 are not specially trained, stare at it, 

 prick their ears, and bark, but are 

 afraid to touch it." 



On another voyage Bennett discov- 

 ered a burrow containing three young 

 ones, upon which the hair had already 

 grown, and which he could observe for 

 some time. When he found the nest 

 with the young ones and placed them 

 on the ground, they ran to and fro, but 

 did not make such savage attempts to 

 escape as did the old ones. The na- 

 tives, whose mouths watered at the 

 sight of these fat young animals, said 

 that they were about eight months old, 

 and added that the young duck moles 

 were fed milk by their mother only 

 during their early infancy and later 

 were given insects, small shells, and 

 mud. 



At evening Bennett's two little pets 

 emerged from their cage at dusk and 

 usually ate their food; then they began 

 to play like a couple of young dogs, 

 attacking each other with their beaks, 

 lifting their fore paws and climbing 

 over each other. They were very 

 lively. Their little eyes gleamedand the 

 apertures of the ears opened and closed 

 in remarkably rapid succession. As 

 their eyes stand quite high on their 

 heads they cannot see very well straight 

 ahead, and therefore are apt to come 

 into collision with near-by objects. The 

 young animals survived only five weeks. 



The duck mole lays several soft- 

 shelled eggs. The eggs are hatched in 

 the nest. The newly-hatched young 

 are small, naked, blind and as helpless 

 as those of the pouched animals. Their 

 beaks are short. 



In the zoological garden at Mel- 

 bourne duck moles have occasionally 

 been kept of late years, but none have, 

 thus far, reached Europe or America 

 alive. 



Brehm sa)s that the duck mole is the 

 last among the known mammals. 



