MONOTRKMATA. 
37 
in the possession of our author, was so restless, and damaged 
the walls of the room so much, by her attempts at burrow¬ 
ing, that it was found necessary to confine her to the box. 
“ During the day she would remain quiet, huddled up with 
her young ones; but at night aho bccamo very restless, 
and eager to escape. The little ones were as frolicsome 
as puppies, and apparently as fond of play; and many of 
their actions were not a little ludicrous. During the day 
they seemed to prefer a dark corner for repose, and generally 
resorted to the spot to which they had been accustomed, 
although they would change it on a sudden, apparently 
from mere caprice. They did not appear to like deep water, 
but enjoyed exceedingly a bathe in shallow water, with a 
turf of grass placed in one comer of the pan : they seldom 
remained longer than ten or fifteen minutes in the water 
at one time. Though apparently nocturnal, or at least pre¬ 
ferring the cool and dusky evening to the glare and heat of 
noon, their movements in this respect were so irregular as 
to furnish no grounds for a definite conclusion. They slept 
much, and it frequently happened that one slept while the 
other was running about, and this occurred at almost all 
periods of the day. They climbed with great readiness to the 
summit of a bookcase, placing their hacks against the wall 
and their feet against the bookcase ; and thus, by means of 
their strong cutaneous muscles and of their claws, mounting 
with much expedition to the top. Their food consisted of 
bread soaked in water, chopped egg, and meat minced very 
small, and they did not seem to prefer milk to water.” 
The young are naked at first, and differ much from the 
adult in the form of the beak: this is very short in propor¬ 
tion, and has the margins smooth and fleshy; the tongue is 
proportionately large, reaching the extremity of the mouth, 
which is thus fitted for sucking. There is, moreover, accord¬ 
ing to Prof. Owen, a thin fold of integument surrounding the 
