The Beaver is the only quadruped that has a flat broad tail, covered with scales, which serves as a rudder to direct its motions in the water; and that has membranes between the toes in the hind feet only, and none on the fore feet, which supply the place of hands, as in the squirrel. It is about two feet long, and nearly a foot high. Its colour is a light brown, the hair is of two sorts; the exterior being long and coarse, the interior soft, short, and silky. The teeth resemble those of a rat or a squirrel, but are longer, and admirably adapted for cutting timber, or stripping bark; to which purposes they are continually applied.

These animals begin to assemble about the months of June and July, to form a society that is to continue for the greatest part of the year. They arrive in numbers from every side, and generally form a company of above two hundred. Their rendezvous is commonly the place where they fix their abode, and this, which is made with astonishing ingenuity, is always by the side of some lake or river.-Each of them is said to have his task assigned to him, which he strictly performs. Persons who are accustomed to hunt these animals, know perfectly well, that green wood is much more acceptable to them than that which is old and dry. Hence they plant a considerable quantity of it round their lodgments; and as they come out to partake of it, they either catch them in snares, or take them by surprise. In winter, when the frosts are very severe, they sometimes break a large hole in the ice; and when the Beavers resort thither for the benefit of fresh air, they either kill them with hatchets, or cover the aperture with a large substantial net. After this they undermine and subvert the whole fabric: upon which, the Beavers flee with the utmost precipitation to the water, and, plunging into the opening, fall directly into the net.

The Beaver is a mild inoffensive animal, and instances are on record of its having been domesticated.

Its skin forms so considerable an article of traffic that, at length, it seems not improbable that the species will be exterminated. The Hudson's Bay company has sold about fifty-four thousand at one sale; and in 1798, no fewer than one hundred and six thousand were collected in Canada, and exported to Europe or China. The medicinal substance which is called castor is a product of the inguinal glands of the Beaver, and each individual usually produces about two ounces of it.

THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.

NEW HOLLAND, which, among other living curiosities, has supplied us with that rara avis the black swan, is also the country that produces this anomalous animal, one of the strangest spots of nature, as it combines the bill of a bird with the usual characteristics of a quadruped. So singular is this union, that it was at first supposed to be the trick of some person, for the purpose of imposing on collectors. When the creature

was first discovered it received the allusive name of Ornithorynchus Paradoxicus; but it has since been denominated the Platypus Anatinus, or Duck-billed Platypus. It has a depressed body, somewhat resembling that of an otter in miniature, which is covered with a soft fur, dark brown above, and of a ferruginous white beneath. The head is flattish, and the snout so exactly resembles that of some broad-billed species of duck, that it might easily be mistaken for such. The tail is flat, furry, and of the same colour as the body. The length of the whole animal, from the tip of the beak to that of the tail, is thirteen inches; of the beak an inch and a half. The legs are very short, and terminate in a broad web, which on the fore feet extends to a considerable distance beyond the claws; but on the hind feet reaches no farther than the roots

of the claws. On the upper part of the head, on each side, a little beyond the beak, are situated two oval white spots, in the lower part of each of which the eyes are embedded.

From the general form of this animal, and particularly its bill and webbed feet, it may naturally be concluded, that it resides in watery situations; that it has the habit of digging or burrowing in the banks of rivers, or under ground; and that its food consists of aquatic plants and animals.

NATURAL HISTORY

OF

BIRDS.

Of all the classes of the animated creation, there is no one more calculated at once to afford pleasure and excite astonishment than that which consists of the feathered tribes. That a living creature, often of great magnitude, should be able to traverse rapidly and to remain buoyant in so thin a medium as the atmosphere, is alone sufficient to excite wonder. When we come to examine the means by which this is effected, we shall find abundant reason to admire the wisdom of the Creator, in so perfectly adapting each part to answer its intended purpose. The feathers are furnished with glands to secrete an oily matter, that they may not absorb wet; the bones are exceedingly light, yet strong; the muscles which belong to the wings are of such magnitude that they constitute not less than one-sixth of the body; air vessels are extended through the whole frame, to prevent the respiration from being stopped

by the rapidity of flight; the sight is piercing, and the eyes are defended from injury by a membrane, which can be dropped over them at will; and the shape of the bird is that which is the most proper for moving rapidly, with the least possible resistance, through the regions of air.

According to the Linnean system, which, however, we shall not rigidly follow in our arrangement, the Land Birds are divided into four classes; the Rapacious Birds (accipitres); the Pies (pica); the Passerine Birds (passeres); and the Gallinaceous Birds (gallina): the Water Birds consist of two classes, the Waders (gralla); and the Swimmers (anseres). Of the Rapacious Birds, the bills are hooked, and there is an angular projection on the upper mandible; of the Pies, they are sharp edged, compressed on the sides, and convex on the upper surface; of the Passerine Birds, conical and sharp pointed; of the Gallinaceous Birds, the upper mandible is considerably arched; the Waders have a roundish bill, and a fleshy tongue; and of the Swimmers, the bills are broad at the top, and covered with a membranaceous skin.