upon anything
softer than their scales, and these are as impenetrable as if they were
plates of steel.

The more noted species are known by different names--as the Tatou Poyou,
the Giant Tatou, the Peba, the Pichiciago, the Pichey, the Hairy Tatou,
the Mataco, the Apara, and such like designations.

It may be added, that the armadilloes dwell in districts very
dissimilar. According to the species, they inhabit low marshes, thick
forests, or dry open hills; and several kinds are indigenous to the high
table-lands of the Andes.

Their usual food consists of fruits, legumes, and roots; but they are
nearly all omnivorous, and will eat carrion whenever it falls in their
way.

To this group belong two very singular animals, that have only of late
years become known. These are the Mullingong--better known as the
Ornithoryncus--and the Echidna, or Ant-eating Hedgehog. Both are
natives of what may be termed the new world of Australasia.

To give an account of the peculiar conformation or appearance of the
mullingong would require many pages, and only the artist can convey any
idea of what the creature is like. Suffice it to say, that it is a sort
of triangular cross between a bird, a quadruped, and a fish; having the
bill of a duck, the hair, skin, and legs of a quadruped, and the aquatic
habits of a fish, or rather of a seal. In general appearance it is,
perhaps, more like to a beaver than to any other animal. It dwells upon
the banks of rivers, lakes, or marshes, burrows in the ground like a
badger, swims and dives well, and feeds chiefly on aquatic insects.

The echidna is altogether a different sort of creature, both in
appearance and habits. It is, in reality, an ant-eater, with the body
of a porcupine, having a long slender snout and an extensile tongue,
just like that of other ant-eaters. It burrows in the ground, where it
can remain for a long period without food, and it is supposed to issue
forth only during the season of the rains. It also possesses the power
of rolling itself into a ball, like the hedgehog--hence its name among
the colonists of Ant-eating Hedgehog; but by far the most appropriate
appellation for it is the Porcupine Ant-eater, since in general
appearance it is exceedingly like several species of porcupines.

The Porcupines and Hedgehogs, though usually classed elsewhere, on
account of their teeth, their food, and a few other reasons not very
natural, should certainly stand in this gro