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webbed feet, seem to ally this animal to the family of the water-fowl; whilst its 
general appearance, its hairy covering, and internal structure prove indisputably its 
title to be ranked amongst the mammalia. 
The Ornithorhynchus is an inhabitant of Australia, and is found both in New 
Holland and in Van Dieman’s land. The race is very numerous : they frequent 
the rivers of those countries, and form their burrows in the banks. They are 
called by the colonists Water-Moles , from a resemblance they are supposed to 
bear to the common European Mole. Their shyness and timidity are extreme ; 
so that “ on seeing them,” says Mr. Bennett,* who had many opportunities of 
observing them in their native haunts, “ the spectator must remain perfectly sta¬ 
tionary, as the slightest noise or movement of the body would cause their instant 
disappearance, so acute are they in sight or hearing, or perhaps in both ; and they 
seldom re-appear when they have been frightened. By remaining perfectly quiet 
when the animal is “ up,” the spectator is enabled to obtain an excellent view of 
its movements on the water; it seldom, however, remains longer than one or two 
minutes playing and paddling on the surface, soon diving again and re-appearing a 
short distance above or below, generally according to the direction in which it 
dives. It dives head foremost with an audible splash.” They sw r im very low, so 
that the upper part of the back and the head only are seen above the surface of 
the water; and when their fur is wet, they resemble a mass of dirty weeds 
rather than a living animal, on which account they often escape observation. 
Their food consists of river insects, small shell-fish, and other animalculas, 
which they obtain for the most part by inserting their beaks into the soft mud on 
the sides of the rivers, and particularly at the roots of the various aquatic plants 
that grow in such situations. Their mode of seeking food in the mud or w r ater 
is very like that of a Duck when feeding in similar places; immediately after 
withdrawing the beak from the mud, they raise the head, and masticate the prey 
they have obtained by a lateral motion of the mandibles one upon the other. 
Their habitations are formed by burrowing in the banks of the rivers which 
they frequent. The burrows are generally about twenty feet long, but they have 
been found as much as fifty feet in length ; they have two entrances, one of them 
situated three or four feet above the surface of the river, and the other a short 
distance below the level of the water. At the commencement they are capacious, 
but immediately afterwards become contracted to a size little more than sufficient 
to let the body of the animal pass ; they proceed upwards, rather in a serpentine 
direction, and terminate just beneath the surface of the ground in a kind of cham¬ 
ber large enough to contain the mother and three or four young ones. The nest 
is made of dried weeds, bark, and small fibrous roots. The entrance of the bur¬ 
row is so placed as to be concealed from observation by surrounding grass, weeds, 
o 2 
* Loc. Cit page 234. 
