CHAPTER XIV 
THE ORDER OF EGG-LAYING MAMMALS 
MO NO THEM AT A 
“ 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 \ Duck-Bill, . 
MONOTREMATA: 
Egg-Layers. ( Echidnas, 
OR-NI-THO-RHYN' C HI-DAE, 
TACH- Y-GLOS' SI-DA E, . . . 
i The Ornithorhynchus 
) or Duck-Bill. 
j Five-Toed Echidna. 
( Three-Toed Echidna. 
THE PLATYPUS, OR DUCK-BILL. 
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. 
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 
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