e Monotremes
derive their name from the circumstance that there is, as in
birds and reptiles, but a single aperture at the hinder
extremity of the body from which are discharged the whole of
the waste-products, together with the reproductive elements;
the oviducts opening separately into the end of this passage,
which is termed the cloaca. [Grk. <i>monos</i>, sole, and
<i>traema</i>, a passage or hole.] Reproduction is effected by
means of eggs, which are laid and hatched by the female parent;
after [being hatched] the young are nourished by milk secreted
by special glands situated within a temporary pouch, into which
the head of the young animal is inserted and retained. . . .
It was not until 1884 that it was conclusively proved that the
Monotremes did actually lay eggs similar in structure to those
of birds and reptiles." (R. Lydekker, `Marsupialia and
Monotremata,' 1894, p. 227.)

The Monotremes are strictly confined to Australia, Tasmania,
and New Guinea. They are the <i>Platypus</i> (q.v.), and the
<i>Echidna</i> (q.v.), or <i>Ant-eating Porcupine</i>.

<hw>Mooley-Apple</hw>, <i>n</i>. i.q. <i>Emu-Apple</i> (q.v.)

<hw>Moor-hen</hw>, <i>n</i>. common English bird-name
(<i>Gallinula</i>). The Australian species are--

the Black, <i>Gallinula tenebrosa</i>, Gould;
Rufous-tailed, <i>G. ruficrissa</i>, Gould.

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 169:

"The Rail-like bird, the Black-tailed Tribonyx, or Moor-Hen of
the colonists, which, when strutting along the bank of a river,
has a grotesque appearance, with the tail quite erect like that
of a domestic fowl, and rarely resorts to flight." [The
Tribonyx is called <i>Native Hen</i>, not <i>Moorhen</i>.]

<hw>Moon</hw>, <i>v. tr</i>. a process in opossum-shooting,
explained in quotations.

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 182:

"`Mooning' opossums is a speciality with country boys. The
juvenile hunter utilises the moon as a cavalry patrol would his
field-glass for every suspected point."

1890. E. Davenport Cleland, `The White Kangaroo,' p. 66:

"They had to go through the process known as `mooning.'
Walking backwards from the tree, each one tried to get the
various limbs and branches between him and the moon, and then
follow them out to the uttermost bunch of leaves where the
'possum might be feeding."

<hw>Mopoke</hw>, <i>n</i>. aboriginal name for an Australian
bird, from its note "Mopoke." There is emphasis on the first