ition creates Upon the glassy surface that its presence can be

it while ascen
caused apparently by the hasty flap of its broad tail,
urious quadruped. In the volume of the “ Transac.

little rings which this operé
come suddenly upon
with an audible splash,
habits of this ¢
Bennett states that :—

the name of Water-Mole, trom some resemblance

it is only by the ding the reedy sides of the Derwent in és

detected. I have frequently
it instantly dived,
1ore respecting the
> above referred to, Mr.

boat, when
I could say much 0 pees
tions of the Zoological Society ee
« The Ornithorhynchus is known to the colon: vy ‘ie meetin ¢ fom sone
d to bear to the common European M ole, Zadp ns ped, ae y nat bel

and in the Yas, Murrumbidgee, and Tumat countries, I found it designated
/ but the latter is more in use among them than the former. It js

of the stream called ‘ ponds,’ the surface of

which it is suppose

‘oulburn Plains
and Goulburn Fiaims
of Mullangong or T umbreet 5
ticularly in the tranquil parts
On perceiving it, the spectator must remain perfectly
ant disappearance, so acute is it in sight

at Bathurst
by the name
: idant in the river Yas, par
| with various aquatic plants. mae
st noise or movement would cause its inst ce
or hearing, or perhaps both; and it seldom reappears when it has been frightened. By remaining
quiet when the animal 1s ps the spectator 1

very abut
which is coveret

stationary, as the slighte

s enabled to obtain an excellent view of its move-
perfectly

it seldom, however remains ; playing and paddling on the surface,
it seldom, , re s

t longer than one or two minutes
ments 5 : : ie oe) oe eae : ; :
n diving again and reappearing a short distance above or below, genet ally according to the direction in
soon go ag ‘ 1

which it does head foremost.

which it dives, : a —
that have been given, on the authority of the aborigines, as to the

«©The various contradictory accounts
eggs and hatching them, induced me
xamination of a female, that ova were produced im the uteri, I

‘mal laving’ to take some pains to find out the cause of error, and
animal lc &
being perfectly satisfied, from an internal e
could the more readily determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of the accounts which I might receive from
the natives. ;

at first asserted that the animal lays eggs, but shortly afterwards contradicted

«The Yas natives
rs were readily and satisfactorily given—‘ No egg tumble

themselves. In the Tumat country the answe
down ; pickaninny make tumble down *__which accorded with my own observations.

“On the 7th of October, I accompanied an aborigine, called Daraga, to the banks of the Yas, to see the
burrow of an Ornithorhynchus, from which, he told me, the young had been taken last summer. I asked
him, ‘What for you dig up Mullangong ?’ ‘Murry budgeree patta’ (Very good to eat), was his reply.
On arriving at the spot, situated on a steep bank close to the river, about which long grass and various
g grass, displayed the entrance to the

¢ ¢

other herbaceous plants abounded, my cuide, putting aside the lon
burrow, distant rather more than a foot from the water’s edge. In digging up this retreat the natives had
not laid it entirely open, but had delved holes at certain distances, and introduced a stick to ascertain its
direction previously to again digging down upon it. By this method they were enabled to explore the
whole extent with less labour than by laying it open from end to end. The termination of the burrow was
broader than any other part, nearly oval in form, and strewed at the bottom with dry river weeds, &c., a
quantity of which still remained. The whole of the interior was smooth, extending about twenty feet ina
serpentine direction up the bank. It had one entrance near the water’s edge, and another under the water,
communicating with the interior by an opening just within the upper entrance. It is no doubt by the latter
that the animal secks refuge when it is seen to dive and not to rise again to the surface.

“On examining the cheek-pouches or the stomachs of these animals, I always observed the food to consist
of river insects, very small shell-fish, &c., comminuted and mingled with ‘i or gravel: this latter might
be required to aid digestion, as I never observed the food unmingled with it. The natives say that they
ale feed on niver weeds ; but I never found remains of that description of food in their pouches. Mr.
George MacLeay informed me that he had shot some, in a part of the Wollondilly River, having river weeds
in their ae but he observed that in that part of the river aquatic ecer were very sconce The
young are suckled at first, and afterwards fed with insects. &c ineled wi

‘Having captured one alive, I placed it ina on oh a oe i
make it comfortable. It ran round its plac i rae eee aoe Nae and sever yaa “a o
out; but finding them useless | oe ra eae eae pened making great et} aa
te eit became : a = oe ; e ranquil, contracted itself into a small compass, and soon fell

g ame very restless, and diligently sought to escape, going round the cask with the
eee... ie ae eS webs thrown back, and scratching violently with the claws of the
ay out. In the morning I found it fast asleep, with the tail turned inwards,

an > eee es ae
, and the body contracted into a very small compass; subsequently,

fore paws raised against the sid

the head and beak under the breast
however, I ol red j 1 )
, | observed it slee r wit 2 tal 1
eee ee the tail turned inwards, the body contracted, and the beak protruded.
‘ 8 Sleep, it uttered a noise somethino Tk
eee é se something like the growl of a puppy, but in a softer and
oe gh quiet for the greater part of the
a growling noise during the night.”
‘ i . » . ; © ;
Shortly after this, Mr. Bennett st
he availed himself of the

more harmonious key.

 

and uttered day, it constantly made efforts to escape,

arted for Sydney, taking with him his j
ee or Sydney, taking with him his interesting captive. ‘‘ route,”
‘mity of some s, inhabi \ ,

“ange e ponds, inhabited by these animals, to give it a little recreation 5

g cord to its leg < roused i 1

ero theaaics eg and roused it from its sleep ; when placed on the bank it soon
bate ater, and travelled up the stream, <
ounded with aquatic weeds. Alt] nde

“and accordingly tied a |
found its
a pparently delighting in those places which

10ugh it dived in dee : a ;
8 dived in deep water, it appeared to prefer keeping close