
WILD TURKEY. 97 
«day’s sport was the wild turkey shooting. The birds were numerous 
but rather shy, nevertheless a good number were obtained, some 
‘specimens of which were added to the fine collection of his Highness 
—the result of his own shooting in various parts of the world. 
Food.—It feeds on insects, lizards, bulbous roots and various 
‘other vegetable substances. The plains produce its food. It is 
fond of grass paddocks that have been formerly cultivated. ' 
Where found.—In New South Wales, Victoria, South Aus- 
tralia, Queensland, the interior of the continent, West Australia. 
Specimens have been obtained on the plains near the Lower Namoi 
and the Upper Hunter ; on the downs near Scone ; from the flats in 
the neighbourhood of Aberdeen ; and the plains near Lake Bathurst. 
Captain Grey when exploring West Australia between Swan River 
and Shark Bay noticed these birds. Dr. Bennett found them on 
Yass Plains. Sturt wrote that ‘‘ wild turkeys abounded near the 
Murrumbidgee” when he explored it; he also found them in the 
desert interior. Both Dr. Leichhardt and Mr. Gould observed them 
in the tropical portion of Australia ; Mr. Gilbert met with them in 
Western Australia, Specimens from Swan River present no 
material differences from those found on the east coast. In Victoria 
native turkeys are still abundant on the western plains and on the 
-open saltbush country of the Lower Murray. Formerly they were 
numeroys in the neighbourhood of Melbourne, but they were 
destroyed or driven further inland. They are still met with near 
Colac. 

Prarypus—Ornithorhynchus anatinus. 
Discovery. —It was in the year 1799 that a description of this 
singular quadruped first appeared in the Naturalists’ Miscellany of - 
Dr. Shaw. About this time also the kangaroo, emu, lyre-bird, 
wombat, koala, and black swan were made known. These important 
discoveries gave an extraordinary impulse to the study of natural 
history, and set the whole scientific community of Europe wonder- 
ing at the paradoxical creatures of the distant country, known as 
Australia. The most remarkable and anomalous of these animals 
was the ornithorhynchus, and, even at the present time, we are not 
fully acquainted with its habits and reproduction. It is asa con- 
mecting link between the mammals, birds and reptiles having 
features common to all, When first a preserved skin was sent to 
England, it excited great distrust, being considered a fraud upon 
the naturalist (like Barnum’s mermaid), as it seemed to be an 
animal, compounded of an old mole’s skin, to which a duck’s man- 
dibles were attached ; but, subsequent specimens arriving, the 
creature was found to be real and unexampled in its formation. 
Description.—The size varies, and the males are slightly larger 
than the opposite sex. The length of the head and body of the male 
is about eighteen inches, of the female fourteen. The marsupial 
bones are present, but the pouch is wanting. The body is covered 

