PICHICIAGO.
PORCUPINE ECHIDNA.
The curious Echidna, or Porcupine Ant-eater (Echidna hystrix) of Australia, is a striking instance of those beautiful gradations so frequently observed in the animal kingdom, by which creatures of various tribes or genera are blended as it were, or linked together, and of the wonderful diversity which Nature has introduced into the forms of creatures destined to a similar mode of life. It has the general appearance and external coating of the porcupine, with the mouth and peculiar generic characters of the ant-eaters. It is about a foot in length, and burrows with wonderful facility by means of its short muscular fore-feet and its sharp-pointed claws. When attacked, it rolls itself into a ball like the hedgehog, erecting the short, strong, and very sharp spines with which the upper parts of the body and tail are thickly coated, and thus presenting a formidable defensive armour to its assailant.
FLYING FOXES.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
TROPICAL BATS.
Wonderful Organisation of the Bats—The Fox-Bat—The Vampire—Its Blood-sucking Propensities—The Horse-Shoe Bats—The Flying Squirrel—The Galeopithecus—The Anomalurus.