224 THE ECHIDNA. 
The food of the Mullingong consists of worms, water insects, and little 
molluscs, which it gathers in its cheek-pouches as long as it is engaged in its 
search for food, and then eats quietly when it rests from its labours. The 
teeth, ifteeth they may be called, of this animal are very peculiar, consisting 
of four horny channeled plates, two in each jaw, which serve to crush the 
fragile shells and coverings of the animals on which it feeds. It seems 
seldom to feed during the day, or in the depth of night, preferring for that 
purpose the first dusk of evening or the dawn of morning. During the rest 
of the day it is generally asleep. While sleeping, it curls itself into a round 
ball, the tail shutting down over the head and serving to protect it. 
The young Mullingongs are curious little creatures, with soft, short, 
flexible beaks, naked skins, and almost unrecognizable as the children of 
their long-nosed parents. When they attain to the honour of their first coat, 
sLoTH.—(Cholefus didactylus.) 
they are most playful little things, knocking each other about like kittens, 
and rolling on the ground in the exuberance of their mirth. * Their little 
twinkling eyes are not well adapted for daylight, nor from their position can 
they see spots directly in their front, so that a pair of these little creatures 
that were kept by Dr. Bennett used to bump themselves against the chairs, 
tables, or any other object that might be in their way. They bear a further 
similitude to the cat in their scrupulous cleanliness and the continual washing 
and pecking of their fur. 
THE ECHIDN4 is found in several parts of Australia, where it is popularly 
called the hedgehog, on account of the hedgehog-like spines with which the 
body is so thickly covered, and its custom of rolling itself up when alarmed. 
A number of coarse hairs are intermingled with the spines, and the head is 
devoid of these weapons. The head is strangely lengthened, in a manner 
