24 
Order XVI. Monotremata. (Duck-Bill and Spiny Anteater.) 
(Plate XV.) 
In this Order, the muzzle is prolonged into a 
kind of beak, without fleshy lips or bony teeth. 
in having a dry 
common opening 
They resemble pirds and reptiles 
covering for the jaws, a oace (or 
for the urine and ' ys 
excrements) 
and two mandi- 
bles. They also 
resemble Mar- 
supials in pos- 
marsu- 
pial bones, and 
a pouch on the 
belly, which is 
sometimes con- 
spicuous. — But 
the most remark. 
able thing about 
these animals is 
that they lay 
Bee hth natch: 
ment-like shells, 
similar to those 
of reptiles, and 
incubate them 
in the pouch on 
the belly. There 
are only two or 
three species of these very curious animals, which in- 
habit Australia and New Guinea. 
sessing 
The Duck-Bill (Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, 
Plate XV. fig. b) is a foot and a half in length, 
including the tail. It has a flattened, beaver-like 
body, with thick brown fur. The legs are short, 

anny Ant- eater, 
and there are five strongly webbed toes on each foot. 
The tail is broad and smooth. The small head is 
furnished with a broad toothless beak like that of a 
duck, and the tongue has a proiection behind which 
converts the 
whole cavity of 
the mouth into 
a closed weir. 
This curious ant- 
mal is found in 
Australia, espe- 
cially in the 
eastern parts, 
where it digs 
itself long bur- 
rows in the 
banks of rivers 
and ponds, and 
swims about in 
muddy places 
in search of the 
insects on which 
it feeds. 
The Spiny 
Anteater (Echz (- 
na hystrix) 
has spines like 
a hedgehog, a 
for a mouth, like an ant- 
eater, and a worm-like tongue. It lives in Filly 
districts, and seeks for its prey by night. It 
feeds chiefly on ants, which it seizes with its tongue. 
very small opening 
When alarmed it rolls itself into a ball, like a 
hedgehog. 

