CHAPTER XIV 



THE ORDER OF EGG-LAYING MAMMALS 



MONOTREMATA 



" There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 

 Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 



There are two Families of mammals the members of which lay eggs, from which their young 

 are hatched as are those of birds. They form the lowest order of mammals, and in one respect 

 this group forms a good connecting link between mammals and birds: 



FAMILIES. 



ORDER f Dock-Bill, 



MONOTREMATA: 



Egg-Layers. { Echidnas, 



OR-NI-THO-RIIYN'CHI-DAE, 



T ACH-Y -GLOS' Sl-D AE , 



\ The Ornithorhynchus 

 ) or Duck-Bill. 



\ Five-Toed Echidna. 

 / Three-Toed Echidna. 



The Platypus, or Duck-Bill, 1 



is found only in Australia, — a 

 land of queer things. Not only 

 is it bird-like in laying eggs, but 

 it also possesses webbed feet, and 

 a flat, duck-like bill, from which 

 it derives one of its popular 

 names. The beak is of black 

 horn, and the food is crushed be- 

 tween the cross-ridged plates of 

 the lower jaw and the roof of 

 the mouth. 



This animal is about as large 

 as a prairie-"dog," and its body 

 is similarly shaped; but there 

 the resemblance ends abruptly. 

 Its front feet are webbed quite 

 beyond the ends of the toes, and in digging, the 

 outer edge of the web is rolled back underneath 

 the foot, to expose the claws. The hind feet are 

 webbed only to the base of the claws, and each 

 is provided with a strong, sharp spur an inch 

 long, which is said to be connected with a poison 

 gland. 



The tail is broad and flattened, well haired on 



the upper side, and almost naked below. The 



hair of the Platypus is dark brown in color. 



The outer coat is stiff and harsh outside, but the 



1 Or-ni-tho-rhyn'chus an-a-ti'nus. 



167 



THE PLATYPUS, OR DUCK-BILL. 



inner is fine and soft. The length of head and 

 body is 1 3 inches, tail, 5 inches. 



The habits of the Duck-Bill are very similar 

 to those of our old friend the muskrat. It in- 

 habits quiet but deep pools of fresh water, bur- 

 rows deeply into the banks, and is seldom seen 

 save at nightfall. In its burrow it builds a 

 nest for its young, and deposits two eggs, which 

 are enclosed in a strong, flexible shell three- 

 fourths of an inch in length by two-thirds of an 

 inch in greatest diameter. When first hatched 

 the young are blind and hairless, and the beak 



