THE STORY OF THE DUCKBILL . 
439 
usually worn off by old individuals. The tongue is small, and the cheeks 
are provided with pouches for storing food. On the heel of the male is a long 
horny spur an inch long, curving upward and backward. In this spur is a 
canal connected with a gland on the leg which secretes a poisonous fluid. 
The duckbill is restricted to Southern and Eastern Australia and Tas¬ 
mania, where it is fairly common in places suited to its habits. Thoroughly 
aquatic in their habits, and exclusively frequenting fresh waters, duckbills 
THE DUCKBILL AND ITS BURROW. 
are remarkably shy creatures, and rarely seen, except at evening, when they 
come up to the top of the water, and look like so many black bottles floating 
on the surface,—sinking down immediately if alarmed. By quietly watching 
the stream in the evening they may be easily shot, and they will readily take 
a bait on a hook. Although mingling together when in the water, these animals 
live in pairs in the burrows constructed in the banks; their favorite haunts 
being where the streams expand into' wide, still pools. In the banks of such 
