231 



FIELD NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF MONOTREMES.— I. 



By Harry Burrell. 



(With G Figures in the text.) 



On September 25th, 1919, I went to Manilla, New South Wales, Lor the pur- 

 pose of collecting the eggs and young of Monotremes. According to "The Oldest 

 Resident," the district was then experiencing the must severe drought since that 

 of 18C2, but as a "Spring" drought is a somewhat unusual condition, 1 consid- 

 ered that it -would be interesting' to carry on my investigations despite the diffi- 

 culties, and to record my observations so that they might be compared with those 

 made in more normal times. 



It so happened that my aims coincided with those of Mr. Charles M. Hoy, 

 Collector for the Smithsonian Institution, and as he was able to fit his plans in 

 with mine, 1 had the advantage of his belp and company during' three weeks we 

 spent together in the district. 



THE ECHIDNA, 



Within five hours of my arrival at Manilla, I was fortunate enough to secure 

 a female Echidna with a young one in her pouch. This was 2f inches long' from 

 the end of the muzzle to the end of the tail when fully extended in its natural 

 crawling position, and it was 1 inch wide. Its body was of a cold llesh colour, 

 and its head bright pink. The toes were dull black with light brown nails, while 

 its egg-chipping apparatus and the area around the nostrils were bluish black. 

 Its eyes were not open, and the ears also were apparently closed. The top por- 

 tion of the muzzle showed a mass of bright red arteries, and many others were 

 on the throat connecting witli the abdomen and running under the arms to the 

 abdomen. Its back was very smooth, ami had a distinct fine line extending' from 

 the nape to the tail, but there was neither fur nor quills. Its neck, shoulders, 

 and the sides of tin fore-parts were wrinkled or "goose-fleshed," and there was a 

 perfect indentation representing the pouch. No trace of the spurs was visible 

 to the naked eye, and its excreta resembled yellow curdled milk. 



When 1 first examined the mother's pouch, this baby was found snugly 

 attached to the parent's abdomen, its head pointing in the same direction as hers. 

 But after having detached it, I noticed that it always re-entered her pouch with 

 its head pointing towards her tail, and blindly groped its way by grasping hand- 

 fuls of her fur in and around the pouch, while occasionally protruding its tongue. 

 After a while the mother's fur became moist and tangled, and it curled into 

 loops through which the young forced its way head first until it became so en- 

 meshed that it took some time to remove it from the pouch again without causing 

 either injury or pain to it or its mother. I did not hear the young Echidna 

 litter any sound during these little experiments, but the mother gave a mild dog- 

 L'ke sniff occasionally. 



