CONCERNING EGGS 61 



the echidna is known as Nickobejan, and in other 

 localities it goes by the names of Jannocumbine 

 or Cogera. He further states : ' They eat it, as 

 they do most things — their method of cooking being 

 to roast it in the skin, and fifty years ago, at any 

 rate, it was considered good eating by our colonial 

 countrymen also.' 



Nocturnal in habits, the echidna dwells amidst 

 the sandy districts. During the daytime it lies 

 concealed within a hole underground. It is an 

 expert at bm-rowing, sinking downwards into the 

 loose soU, not head first, but more in the manner 

 of a tortoise working its way beneath the soil — 

 its powerful claws excavating the sand from beneath 

 its body. 



Unlike the platypus which lays two eggs at a 

 time, the female echidna lays but a single one. 

 This is yellowish in colour and may be compared 

 in size to that of a sparrow. After the egg is laid, 

 she places it within her pouch, which is a structure 

 formed by folds of skin that develop a short period 

 before the egg is laid. 



The unhatched baby possesses, a small and hard 

 pimple upon the end of its snout of a similar nature 

 to the so-called ' egg-tooth ' possessed by young 

 chickens. By pressing and wrigghng this against 

 the egg-shell, it manages to break its way out and 

 comes forth into an unknown world. 



At first the young echidna is quite smaU, and 

 its spines are little more than soft and flexible 

 prickles. 



These soon harden and grow, however, until at 



