Strange stories of the animal world : A book of curious contributions to natural history / by John Timbs.
- John Timbs
- Date:
- 1866
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Strange stories of the animal world : A book of curious contributions to natural history / by John Timbs. Source: Wellcome Collection.
356/404
![idea Mr. Bennet lias set at rest by experiment: lie could never induce a Duck-bill to make use of its spur. It was long described as the only mammal which lays an egg. klr. Bennet, in liis search after the animal, could not trace this to be the case: it is now a clearly ascertained fact, that the young are suckled by their mother, and consequently, it is not at all probable that they are hatched from eggs. A native Australian, when asked on what the young were fed, replied : “All same you ivliite feller, first habe miliken, then make patta (eat) bread, yard,” &c. Mr. Bennet, after manj- fruitless attempts, captured a male and two young ones: they had a most beautifully sleek and delicate appearance, and the young seemed never to have left their burrow ; the eyes of the aborigines glistened when they saw the fine con- dition of the young Mullagongs, as they called them. ]Mr. Bennet took his little family of Ornithorhynchi to Sydney : they appeared often to dream of swimming, to judge by the movement of their fore-hands; but they usually re- posed side by side, like a pair of furred balls, and aw'ful little growls issued from them when disturbed; at times, they played together, like young puppies. Their eyes being placed so high on the head, they did not see objects well in a straight line, and consequently ran against everything in the room, and ujiset whatever was easily overturned. They were very cleanly in their habits, and were constantly cleaning their fur, using their hinder feet as a comb. They were frequently found on the top of a chest of drawers in the room; and after much observation, it was proved that the animals ha.d reached this elevated spot by climbing between the back of the drawers and the wall, placing their feet against the wall, and pressing hard with their back](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28127420_0358.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
