Shelf £sjm|| s ^uce/is. '' ■ • . f ' THE MAMMALS OF AUSTRALIA. BY JOHN GOULD, F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S., M.E.S., F.R.GEOG.S., M.RAY S. : HON. MEMB. OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TURIN ; OF THE ROYAL ZOOL. SOC. OF IRELAND ; OF THE PENZANCE NAT. HIST. SOC. ; OF THE WORCESTER NAT. HIST. SOC. ; OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND, DURHAM, AND NEWCASTLE NAT. HIST. SOC.; OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF DARMSTADT; OF THE TASMANIAN SOC. OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND; OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF STRASBOURG ; OF THE NAT. HIST. SOC. OF IPSWICH; AND CORR. MEMB. SOC. OF NAT. HIST. OF WURTEMBERG. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 26 CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE. 1863 3432S7 TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PEINCE CONSORT THIS WORK ON THE MAMMALS OF AUSTRALIA WITH HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS’S PERMISSION, DEDICATED BY HIS MOST OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL SERVANT JOHN GOULD. HAVING been permitted to dedicate my work on the “Birds of Australia ” to Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, I was naturally desirous of dedicating the companion-work on the Mammals of the same country to Her Majesty s most enlightened and accomplished Consort; and the required permission was readily and graciously granted me. The dispen- sation which has deprived Her Majesty and the Prince's adopted country of one ivhose untimely loss we all deplore, still leaves me the privilege of that permission, and my work will continue to have the honour of being inscribed to His Royal Highness. It is with a melancholy satisfaction that I accordingly retain that Dedication, which, should it meet my Sovereign s eye, will, I think, only recall to her that love which the whole country entertains for his cherished memory. I feel that nothing I can say respecting the admirable qualities of this most enlightened Prince can in any way add to the deservedly high reputation of one whose great learning and manifold virtues, while he was among us, did so much for Science and Art, and whose example, we trust, will influence generations yet unborn. LIST or SUBSCRIBERS HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA. HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF HANOVER. HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CONSORT. ABERDEEN, the University and King’s College. Allport, M., Esq. Tasmania. Amsterdam, the Royal Zoological Society of Natura Artis Magistra at. Angas, the Hon. George Fife. Prospect Hall, North Adelaide, South Australia. Astor Library, the. New York. Athenaeum, the Library of the, Pall Mall. Australian Library, the, Sydney, New South Wales. Australian Museum, the, Sydney, New South Wales. Aylesford, the Right Hon. the Earl of. Packington Hall, Coventry, Warwickshire ; and Aylesford, Maidstone, Kent. Baker, T. B. L., Esq., F.G.S., &c. Hardwicke Court, Gloucester. Barclay, J. G., Esq. Lombard Street ; and Leyton, Essex. Barthes and Lowell, Messrs. Great Marlborough Street. Bennett, Dr. Sydney, New South Wales. Berlin, the Royal Library of. Berlin, the Royal Museum of. Bodleian Library, the, Oxford. Boston Natural History Society, the. Brassey, T., Esq. Lowndes Square. British Museum, the Library of the. Buccleuch and Queensbury, His Grace the Duke of, K.G., P.C., F.R.S., F.L.S., D.C.L., &c. Whitehall Gardens; Broughton House, Kettering, Northamptonshire; Richmond, Surrey; Dalkeith Palace, Edinburgh; Drumlanrig Castle, and Langholm Lodge, Dumfriesshire ; and Bowhill, Selkirk, N. B. Butler, C., Esq. Sussex Square, Hyde Park. Cabbell, B. B., Esq., F.R.S., F.R.G.S., F.S.A., F.R.S.L., &c. Brick Court, Temple ; Portland Place ; Aldwick, Sussex ; and Cromer, Norfolk. Cambridge, the University of. Campbell, A., Esq. Seamore Place, Mayfair ; and Blythswood, Ren- frewshire, N. B. Campbell, R., Esq. Sydney, New South Wales. Canada, the Library of the Parliament of. Canning, the Rev. W. The Cloisters, Windsor Castle; and Old Windsor. Christiania, the Museum of, Norway. Classen’s Library, Copenhagen, Denmark. Coulon, Mons. Louis. Neufchdtel, Switzerland. Craven, the Right Hon. the Earl of. Charles Street, Berkeley Square ; Coombe Abbey, Coventry, Wanvickshire ; Hampstead Marshall, Newbury ; and Ashdown Park, Lambourn, Berkshire. Crowley, C. S., Esq. Cavendish Place, Cavendish Square. 2 Copies. Currer, Miss. Eshton Hall, Gargrave, Yorkshire. Devonshire, His Grace the Duke of, K.G., M.A., F.R.S., F.R.G.S., F.G.S., F.R.S.L. Devonshire House, Piccadilly ; Chatsworth, and Hardwicke Hall, Derbyshire ; Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire ; Holkar Hall, Newton in Cartmel, Lancashire; Compton Place, Eastbourne, Sussex ; and Lismore Castle, Waterford, Ireland. Drummond, R., Esq. Park Lane ; and Ardvorlich, Lochearn-head, Crieff, N. B. East India Office, the Library of the. Edinburgh, the Library of the Faculty of Advocates. Edinburgh, the University of. Eyton, T. C., Esq. Eyton, Wellington, Shropshire. Fitzwilliam, the Right Hon. Earl. Grosvenor Square ; Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham, Yorkshire ; and Coollatin House, Wexford, Ireland. Folliott, G., Esq. Vicar’s Cross, near Chester. Frank, M. Amsterdam. Gibson, W. G., Esq. Saffron Walden, Essex. Glasgow University, the. Gosford, the Right Hon. the Earl of, K.P. Grosvenor Street ; Gosford Castle, Armagh, Ireland ; and Worlingham Hall, Beccles, Suffolk. Gott, W., Esq. Leeds, Yorkshire. Grey, His Excellency Sir George, Governor of New Zealand. Gunn, R. C., Esq. Launceston, Tasmania. Gurney, H. E., Esq. Nutfield, Surrey. Gurney, J. H., Esq., M.P. Cation Hall, near Norwich. Hale, R. B., Esq. Alderley Park, Wootton-under-edge, Gloucestershire. Hamilton and Brandon, His Grace the Duke of. Arlington Street, Piccadilly ; Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire ; Brodick Castle, Isle of Arran ; Kinniel House, Linlithgowshire ; and Easton Park, Wickham Market, Suffolk. Hartree, Mrs. Lewisham Road, Greenwich, Kent. Hewson, John, Esq. Newlands, Lincoln. Hill, the Right Hon. the Viscount, F.G.S. Hawkstone, near Shrews- bury ; and Hardwicke Grange, Shropshire. Hull Subscription Library, the. Huth, L., Esq. Upper Harley Street, Cavendish Square. Ingram, Mrs. Kensington Palace Gardens. J ardin des Plantes, la Bibliotheque de le. Jourdan, M., Directeur du Museum d’Histoire Naturelle h Lyon. Kelk, J ., Esq. Eaton Square ; and The Priory, Stanmore, Middlesex. Larking, J. W., Esq. The Firs, Lee, Kent. Legh, G. C., Esq., M.P., F.G.S., &c. Eaton Place ; and High Legh, Warrington, Cheshire. Lilford, the Right Hon. Lord. Lilford Hall, Oundle, Northampton ; and Bewsay Hall, Warrington, Lancashire. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Little and Brown, Messrs. Boston, North America. Liverpool, the Free Public Library. Liverpool Library, the. Liverpool, the Royal Institution of. Llewelyn, J. D., Esq. Pennlergare, Swansea, South Wales. London Institution, the, Finsbury Circus. Lucas, T., Esq. Hyde Park Gardens ; and Lowestoft, Suffolk. Melbourne Public Library, the, Victoria. Mihier, Sir W. M. E., Bart. Nunappleton, Tadcaster, Yorkshire. Mitford, Admiral. Ilunmanby Hall, Scarborough, Yorkshire. Muquardt, Mons. C. Brussels. Naylor, J., Esq. Liverpool; and Leighton Hall, Welchpool, Mont- gomeryshire. Newcastle, His Grace the Duke of, K.G., P.C. Clumber Park, Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Northumberland, His Grace the Duke of, K.G. Northumberland House, Charing Cross ; Alnwick and Keilder Castles, Northum- berland; Sion House, Middlesex ; Werrington Park, Cornwall; and Stanwich, Darlington, Yorkshire. Nutt, Mr. D. Strand. Owen, Professor. British Museum ; and Richmond Park, Surrey . Palatine Library, the, Florence. Peckover, A., Esq. Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. Percy, Dr. Campden Hill, Bayswater. Peto, Sir S. Morton, Bart. Kensington Palace Gardens. Philadelphia, the Academy of Natural Sciences of, North America. Portland, His Grace the Duke of. Hyde Park Gardens; Welbeck Abbey, Worksop, Nottinghamshire ; and Fullarton House, Ayr- shire, N. B. Powerscourt, the Right Hon. Viscount. Powerscourt House, Ennis- kerry, Ireland. Radclilfe Library, the, Oxford. Reeves, J. R., Esq. Woodhays, Wimbledon, Surrey. Rolle, the Right Hon. Lady. Upper Grosvenor Street; Stevenston near Torrington, Bicton near Exeter, and Bovey near Axmin- ster, Devonshire. Rouen, the Public Library of. Royal Institution of Great Britain, the, Albemarle Street. Royal Society, the, Burlington House, Piccadilly. Royal Society of Tasmania, the, Hobart Town. Rucker, S., Esq. Wandsworth. St. Andrew’s, the University of. St. Petersburg, the Library of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of. Sanford, W. A., Esq. Nynehead Court, Wellington, Somersetshire. Schlegel, Dr. H., Directeur du Musee Royale des Pays Bas, Leyden. Senckenbergian Society, the, Frankfort on the Maine. Shuttleworth, R. J., Esq., Director of the Zoological Department of the Museum of Berne, Switzerland. Skaife, John, Esq. Union Street, Blackburn, Lancashire. South Australian Institute, the, Adelaide, South Australia. Staniforth, Rev. T. Bolton Rectory, Clitheroe, Lancashire ; and Storr’s Hall, Windermere, Westmoreland. Strasbourg, le Musee d’Histoire Naturelle de. Strickland, A., Esq. Bridlington Quay, Yorkshire. Stuart, R. L., Esq. Greenwich Street, New York. Surgeons of England, the Royal College of, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Sutherland, His Grace the Duke of. Stafford House, St. James’s; Trentham, Staffordshire ; Tarbet House, Park Hill, Ross-shire ; Dunrobin Castle, and the House of Tongue, Sutherlandshire. Teylcrian Library, the, Haarlem. Tooth, R., Esq. Sydney, New South Wales. Trinity College, Dublin. Van den Hoeck and Ruprecht, Messrs. Gottingen. Victoria, the National Museum of, Australia. Vienna, the Imperial Library of. Vrolik, Professor W. Amsterdam. Walker, Mrs. Southgate, Middlesex. Weigel, Mons. T. O. Leipsic. Wellington, His Grace the Duke of, K.G., P.C., F.R.G.S. Apsley House, Piccadilly ; Strathsfieldsaye, Hampshire ; Thetford Lodge, Clermont, near Walton, and Hillborough Hall, Brandon, Norfolk. Wenlock, the Right Hon. Lord. Escrick Park, near York. Zoological Society of London, the. PREFACE. In the Preface to the ‘ Birds of Australia,’ which has now been fifteen years before the public, I stated that, “ Having in the summer of 1837 brought my work on the £ Birds of Europe ’ to a successful termination, I was naturally desirous of turning my attention to the Ornithology of some other region ; and a variety of opportune and concurring cir- cumstances induced me to select that of Australia, the birds of which country, although invested with the highest degree of interest, had been almost entirely neglected.” But if the Birds of Australia had not received that degree of attention from the scientific ornithologist which their interest demanded, I can assert, without fear of contradiction, that its highly curious and interesting Mammals had been still less investigated. It was not, however, until I arrived in the country, and found myself surrounded by objects as strange as if I had been transported to another planet, that I conceived the idea of devoting a portion of my attention to the mammalian class of its extraordinary fauna. The native black, while conducting me through the forest or among the park-like trees of the open plains, would often point out the pricking of an Opossum’s nails on the bark of a Eucalyptus or other tree, and indicate by his actions that in yonder hole, high up, was sleeping an Opossum, a Phalangista, or a Flying Petaurus. Even the objects brought to our bush-fires were enough to incite a desire for a more extended knowledge of Australia’s Mammals ; for numerous were the species of Kangaroos and Opossums that were nightly roasted and eaten by these children of nature. Perchance a half-charred log, or the heated hollow branch of a Eucalyptus, would send forth into the lap of one or other of the surrounding guests the Acrobates pygmceus, the white-footed Hapalotis, or b Vlll PREFACE, other small quadruped. Tired by a long and laborious day’s walk under a burning sun, I frequently encamped for the night by the side of a river, a natural pond, or a water- bole, and before retiring to rest not unfrequently stretched my weary body on the river’s bank ; while thus reposing, the surface of the water was often disturbed by the little concentric circles formed by the Orni th orJiyn elms , or perhaps an Echidna came trotting up towards me. With such scenes as these continually around me, is it surprising that I should have entertained the idea of collecting examples of the indigenous Mammals of a country whose ornithological productions I had gone out expressly to investigate ? To have attempted to acquire a knowledge of more than the Birds and Mammals would have been unwise ; still I was not insensible to the interest which attaches to its insects and to its wonderful botanical productions. The Eucalypti, the Banhsice, the Camarirue, the native Cedar- and the Eig-trees will ever stand forth prominently in my memory. While in the interior of the country, I formed the intention of publishing a monograph of the great family of Kangaroos ; but soon after my return to England I determined to attempt a more extended work, under the title of the ‘ Mammals of Australia.’ It will always be a source of pleasure to me to remember that I was the first to describe and figure the Great Black and Red Wallaroos ( Osphranter robustus and 0 . anti - lopinus ), the three species of Onychogalea, several of the equally singular Layorchestes, and many other new species of Kangaroos. Mounted examples of all these animals, whether discovered by myself or by others, are now contained in the national collection of this country ; but I regret to say that their colours are very different from what they were while the animals were living, the continuous exposure to light, consequent upon their being placed in a museum, causing their evanescent colouring rapidly to fade, both here and in the collections of every other country. Those who have seen the living Osphranter rufus at the Zoological Gardens could scarcely for a moment suppose that the Museum specimen of the same animal had ever been dressed in such glowing tints. To see the Kangaroos in all their glory, their native country must be visited; their beauty would then be at once apparent, and their various specific distinctions easily recognizable. The exploration of every new district has afforded ample proof of the existence of species in every department of zoology with which we were previously unacquainted. Under these circumstances, I do not consider my work to be in any way complete, or that it comprises nearly the whole of the Mammals of a country of which so much has yet to be traversed ; but I bring it to a close after an interval of eighteen years since its com- mencement, during which constant attention has been given to the subject, as treating upon the genera and species known up to the present time. If my life be prolonged, and the blessing of health be continued to me, I propose, as in the case of the ‘ Birds PREFACE. IX of Australia,’ to keep the subject complete, by issuing a supplementary part, from time to time, should sufficient new materials be acquired to enable me so to do. As with regard to my other publications, so also with this, I have to offer my best thanks to many persons for the kind and friendly assistance they have rendered me in prosecuting my labours on the ‘ Mammals of Australia.’ I cannot, therefore, close these remarks without recording my obligations to Professor Owen, Dr. Gray, and G. R. Waterhouse, Esq., of the British Museum ; to Ronald C. Gunn, Esq., of Launceston ; the Rev. T. J. Ewing and Dr. Milligan of Hobart Town ; to Dr. Bennett, W. S. Mac- Leay, Esq., Gerard Krefft, Esq., the late Dr. Ludwig Becker, W. S. Wall, Esq., the authorities of the Australian Museum, and the late Frederick Strange, of New South Wales; to Charles Coxen, Esq., of Queensland; John Macgillivray, Esq.; the late Com- mander J. M. R. Ince, R.N. ; to His Excellency Sir George Grey, formerly Governor of South Australia, and now of New Zealand ; the late John Gilbert ; Professor M‘Coy, of Melbourne; George French Angas, Esq., of Angaston, South Australia; W. Ogilby, Esq., formerly Secretary of the Zoological Society of London; Dr. Sclater, its present Secretary; R. F. Tomes, Esq.; M. Jules Verreaux, of Paris; Dr. W. Peters, of the Royal Museum of Berlin ; and lastly, my son, Mr. Charles Gould, the Geological Surveyor of Tasmania. I believe I have here enumerated the names of all who have favoured me with specimens or with the benefit of their opinions, in reference to the subjects of the present work. To have omitted the name of one friend would be a source of much vexation to me ; but if such should unfortunately have been done, I trust it will be considered the result of inadvertence, and not of intentional neglect. To my artist, Mr. Richter, I consider (and I have no doubt my readers will concur in my opinion) that much credit is due for the manner in which he has executed the drawings, both from the dead as well as from the living examples from which they were taken. My Secretary, Mr. Prince, has also discharged the same praiseworthy services as heretofore. It will be observed that, in mentioning the localities frequented by the various species, I have mostly employed the term Van Diemen’s Land to designate the large island lying- off the south coast of Australia ; there is now, however, a very general desire that it should be called Tasmania — in honour of Tasman, its original discoverer ; this term has, therefore, also been used, and hence has arisen the discrepancy of employing two names for one island. Even since the commencement of the work, new colonies have sprung up, or the older ones have been divided ; thus the country now known as Queensland was formerly part of New South Wales, and Victoria, until lately, was known as Port Phillip. INTRODUCTION. In the foregoing Preface I have glanced at the principal groups of Mammals inhabiting the great country of Australia. It will now, however, be necessary to enter into greater detail respecting this division of its fauna ; and I conceive that it will not be out of place if I commence with a retrospective view of the gradual discovery of countries and their zoological productions from the earliest historic times. Such a retrospect will not, I think, be deemed unnecessary, especially since my intention is to show to the general reader, rather than to the scientific naturalist, that each great division of the globe has its own peculiar forms of animal life, and that the fauna of Australia is widely different from that of every other part of the world. By a mere glance at the zoological features of the globe as at present existing, it will be perceived with what precision the animal life of each country has been adapted to its physical character ; the absence of certain great families of birds and quadrupeds in some countries will also he apparent. To account for this on any scientific principle would be very difficult, when we cannot say why the Nightingale is not a summer visitant to Devonshire, or why the Grouse is not found south of Wales ; why the aerial Swifts, Swallows, and Martins are numerous in Australia, and absent in New Zealand ; or why Woodpeckers, which occur in nearly every other part of the globe, are not found in Australia, New Guinea, or any of the Polynesian Islands. The ancient Egyptians appear to have been little acquainted with the natural productions of any other country than their own, — at least, we have no evidence that they were ; for neither so conspicuous a bird as the Peacock, nor even the Common Fowl, are represented on their lasting monuments. Of the eastern countries Alexander’s expedition doubtless greatly increased the knowledge of the Greeks, furnishing materials for the philosophic mind of Aristotle, and certainly extending the knowledge of Pliny, as is evidenced by his ‘ Historia Naturalis,’ the only work which has come down to us of the latter great natu- ralist. Pliny, standing out as a bright star in zoological science at the period he lived, was doubtless tolerably acquainted with the natural productions of Eastern Europe, Arabia, North-eastern Africa, slightly with those of Persia, and still less so with those of India. It may be fairly said, that the earliest dawn of natural history commenced with the Christian era, — Aristotle living just before, and Pliny soon after, the advent of our Saviour. This early dawn, however, was for a long period obscured by the dark ages which succeeded ; for it was not until the commencement of the c INTRODUCTION. xii 17th century that Aldrovandus, Piso, Marcgrave, and Willughby wrote their works on this branch of science. At this comparatively late period, the productions of Europe were better known ; Africa had been for a long time circumnavigated, and its southern fauna partially brought to light ; India also in like manner furnished her quota, though sparingly, to the stock of human knowledge. What Alexander’s celebrated expedition did for the. naturalists Aristotle and Pliny, the discoveries of Columbus did by shedding a new light upon zoological science, and furnishing fresh food to the modern writers above mentioned. Linnaeus, the greatest of all systematists, had a very extended knowledge of the natural productions of the globe, and the informa- tion this great man has left behind him in his numerous writings is considerable. Still, the southern land which we designate Australia (the mammalian products of which this work is intended to illustrate) was a sealed book to him. As regards this great country, it may be said that its most highly organized animals, if we except the Seals, are the various species of Rodents, and the equally numerous insectivorous and frugivorous Bats, both of which rank among the lowest of the Placentals. In America the Marsupialia are but feebly represented ; in Africa and India none of this form exist. On the other hand, Australia is the great country of these pouched animals ; they are universally distributed throughout its entire extent, from north to south, and from east to west ; and they are not even absent from the neighbouring islands. Their presence in Tasmania on the south, and New Guinea on the north, testifies that these countries were formerly united to the mainland, and constituted a great natural division of the globe, characterized by a similar fauna and flora. It will be unnecessary for me to state that none of the Quadrumana, or Monkeys, are found in Australia ; and that neither the Lion, the Tiger, the Leopard, nor any other of the Felines, roam among its forests, to disturb the harmony of its generally peaceful quadrupeds. The great groups of the Bovines, or Oxen, the Equince, or Horses and Zebras, the stately Elephant, the huge Rhinoceros, as well as the Cermdce, or Deer-kind, and the Antelopes, are totally unknown in Australia; yet the great grassy plains and other physical features of the country would appear to be well adapted for them and also for the smaller herbivorous quadrupeds, such as the Hare, the Rabbit, &c. Why there should occur so great a difference between the animals of Australia and those of the other countries of the world it is not for me to say. But I may ask, has creation been arrested in this strange land ? and, if not, why are these higher types denied to it ? Whatever opinion may be formed on this interesting subject, it is generally believed that no more highly organized animals than those which are now found there ever roamed over her plains or tenanted her luxuriant brushes. At the same time, the partially fossilized remains of distinct species of Kangaroos which have been discovered in her stalactitic caves, and the huge skeletons, or parts of skeletons, which have been exhumed from her alluvial beds, testify that Australia must be of remote origin. It is scarcely necessary to remark that all these remains belong to Marsupial animals ; nor must it be imagined that I am oblivious of the fact that the remains of members of this group have been found in the older tertiary and secondary strata of Europe. I merely glance at these things, and leave their consideration to those who pay special attention to the sister science of geology. Although the more highly organized animals do not inhabit, and seem never to have inhabited Australia, it is not a little interesting to observe how completely the law of representation is manifested among her mammals — how one family typifies another in the higher groups of the Placentalia ; or, to be more explicit, to note how the Herbivora are represented by the Kangaroos, the Felines by the Dasyures, the Jerboas by the Hapalotides, &c. When speaking of the wonderful fossil Diprotodon, in his work on Palaeontology, D3! INTRODUCTION. xm Professor Owen states — “ Australia yields evidence of an analogous correspondence between its last extinct and its present aboriginal mammalian fauna, wbicb is the more interesting on account of the very peculiar organization of most of the native quadrupeds of that division of the globe. That the Marsupialia form one great natural group is now generally admitted by zoologists ; the representatives in that group of many of the orders of the more exclusive Placental subclass of the Mammalia of the larger continents have also been recognized in the existing genera and species : the Dasyures, for example, play the parts of the Carnivora ; the Bandicoots ( Perameles ), of the Insectivora ; the Phalangers, of the Quadrumana ; the Wombat, of the Rodentia ; and the Kangaroos, in a remoter degree, of the Ruminantia. The first collection of mammalian fossils from the ossiferous caves of Australia brought to light the former existence on that continent of larger species of the same peculiar marsupial genera : some, as the Thylacine, and the Dasyurine subgenus represented by the D. ursinus, are now extinct on the Australian continent ; hut one species of each still exists on the adjacent island of Tasmania; the rest were extinct Wombats, Phalangers, Potoroos, and Kangaroos — some of the latter (. Macropus Atlas , M. Titan ) being of great stature. A single tooth, in the same collection of fossils, gave the first indication of the former existence of a type of the Marsupial group, which represented the Pachyderms of the larger continents, and which seems now to have disappeared from the face of the Australian earth, — of the great quadruped, so indicated under the name of Diprotodon in 1838 ; and successive subsequent acquisitions have established the true marsupial character and the near affinities of the genus to the Kangaroo ( Macropus ), but with an osculant relationship with the herbivorous Wombat. The entire skull of the Diprotodon , lately acquired by the British Museum, shows in situ the tooth on which the genus was founded. This skull measures 3 feet in length, and exemplifies by its size the huge dimensions of the primeval Kangaroo. Like the contemporary gigantic Sloth in South America, the Diprotodon of Australia, while retaining the dental formula of its living homologue, shows great and remarkable modifications of its limbs. The hind pair were much shortened and strengthened compared with those of the Kangaroo ; the fore pair were lengthened, as well as strengthened. Yet, as in the case of the Megatherium , the ulna and radius were maintained free, and so articulated as to give the fore paw the rotatory actions. These, in Diprotodon , would be needed, as in the herbivorous Kangaroo, by the economy of the marsupial pouch. The dental formula of Diprotodon was the same as in Macropus major : the first of the grinding series was soon shed, but the other four two-ridged teeth were longer retained ; and the front upper incisor was very large and scalpriforin, as in the Wombat. The zygomatic arch sent down a process for augmenting the origin of the masseter muscle, as in the Kangaroo. The foregoing skull, with parts of the skeleton of the Diprotodon australis, were discovered in a lacustrine deposit, probably pleistocene, intersected by creeks, in the plains of Darling Downs, Australia. “ The same formation has yielded evidence of a somewhat smaller extinct herbivorous genus ( Nototherium ), combining, with essential affinities to Macropus, some of the characters of the Koala {Phascolarctos). The writer has recently communicated descriptions and figures of the entire skull of the Nototherium Mitchelli to the Geological Society of London. The genus Phascolomys was at the same period represented by a Wombat (P. gigas) of the magnitude of a Tapir. The pleistocene marsupial Carnivora presented the usual relations of size and power to the Herbivora whose undue increase they had to check.” In another work, Prof. Owen represents an almost entire skull, with part of the lower jaw, of an animal ( Tliylacoleo ) rivalling the Lion in size, the marsupial character of which is demonstrated by the position of XIV INTRODUCTION. the lacrymal foramen in front of the orbit, by the palatal vacuity, by the loose tympanic bone, by the development of the tympanic bulla in the alisphenoid, by the very small relative size of the brain, and other characters. “ The carnassial tooth is 2 inches 3 lines in longitudinal extent, or nearly double the size of that in the Lion. The upper tubercular tooth resembles, in its smallness and position, that in the placental Felines. But in the lower jaw the carnassial is succeeded by two very small tubercular teeth, as in Plagi- aulax ; and there is a socket close to the symphysis of the lower jaw of Thylacoleo , which indicates that the canine may have terminated the dental series there, and have afforded an additional feature of resemblance to the Plagiaulax .” As might naturally be expected, the climate of a country which extends over more than 30 degrees of latitude is very much diversified. Cape York and Arnheim’s Land are as near 11° south as possible, while Wilson’s Promontory, in Victoria, reaches 39°, and the southern part of Tasmania 44i° . The parts of Australia approaching the Tropic differ very considerably from its southern portions ; for, lying more to the north, the latter are under the influence of monsoons, and rains more or less regular occur in their proper seasons. Speaking generally, however, Australia may be characterized as one of the driest and most heated countries of our globe ; for, although an island in the strictest sense of the word, it is so extensive that the surrounding seas have little influence upon the distant interior, which must still be regarded as a great sterile waste, destitute of mountains sufficient to attract the moisture requisite to form navigable or other rivers. In writing this in 1863, when travellers have crossed the country and so many valuable discoveries have lately been made, I am willing to admit that this great desert is here and there relieved by higher lands which will ultimately become useful to the enterprising settler, and that, in all probability, many fine and extensive oases have yet to be brought to light ; but, at the same time, I believe there will always be considerable uncertainty in the seasons of the interior of this great land. In southern latitudes we know that this is the case, while in the north a wet or a dry monsoon greatly alters the face of the country, and exerts a powerful influence on animal and vegetable life. Hence it is that the scanty fauna of this part of Australia is so organized that it is able to exist without water : the various species of Rodents, such as the members of the genera Mux and Hapalotis, and the Wombats, Lagorchestes, and Bettongias, and other Kangaroos, are thus constituted ; and it will be recollected that, when speaking of the Halcyons and other large Kingfishers in the ‘ Birds of Australia,’ I stated that I believed they never partook of this element, their food consisting of lizards and insects, to which, in like manner, it was not essential. The Australian mammals must, however, be put to severe straits occasionally, not from the want, but from the superabundance of water, a wet monsoon in the north, and the heavy rains which occasionally occur in the south, deluging the basin-like surface of the inte- rior and rendering it untenable, and obliging them to retire to the higher ridges until the drought, which generally ensues, has restored it to its normal condition. The districts, or countries as I may call them, which constitute the other portions of Australia are very different, indeed completely opposite in character ; I mean the rich lands which surround nearly the whole of the sterile centre. The mountain-ranges, of no very great elevation it is true, exert much influence upon the face of nature, constantly attracting rains, which, pouring down their sides, deposit a rich alluvial soil, favourable to the growth of gigantic trees and the most luxuriant vegetation. The forests of Palms which there occur are scarcely infer ioi to those of any other country, while the stately native Cedars and Fig-trees are wonders to every traveller. These giants of the forest are scarcely ever to be found in the interior ; sterility is not suited to their existence ; they do not occur in company with the Bankxue, the Hake®, or the Casuarin®, most of which are characteristics of land INTRODUCTION. xv wherein the settler would not choose to risk his fortune. The great physical features of Australia, then, as a whole, are the absence of high mountains and navigable rivers, its heated interior, its vast grassy plains, and its luxuriant brushes, particularly on its southern and south-eastern coasts. Over the whole of this extensive country, with its ever-varying climate, certain groups of animals are universally spread, while others, particularly the more isolated forms, are strictly confined to their own districts, each adapted for some special end and purpose, — as much as the long bill of the Humming-bird ( Docimastes ensferus ) is evidently formed for exploring the lengthened tubular corollas of the Brugmansice, or the greatly curved bill of two species of the same family of birds (the Eutoooeres Aquila and E. Condaminei ) is for insertion into the honey-cups of the Coryanthes speciosa and its allies, — or, to take a more striking instance, as the brush-like tongues of the numerous honey-feeding Parrakeets and Honey-eaters of Australia are constituted for obtaining the nectar from the flowers of the universally spread and equally numerous Eucalypti which form so prominent a feature in the flora of that country. I will now give, as far as my knowledge of the subject will permit, an enumeration of Australian mammals, the extent of their range, &c. In doing this, I shall commence with the Monotrematous section of the Marsupiata, which includes the Ornithorhynchus and two species of Echidna ; I shall then proceed to the genera Myrmecobius, Tarsipes, Chceropus, Peragalca, Perameles , Phciscolarctos, Phalangista, Cuscus , Petaurista , Belideus, Phascogalc, Sarcophilus, Dasyurus , Thylacinus, and Phascolomys ; and these will he fo lowed by the great family of Kangaroos, with remarks upon their structural differences and the especial object for which these appear to have been designed ; next we shall come to the feebly represented Placentals, the Seals, and Rodents ; and lastly, to the species of Pteropus and other Bats. I have considered that, in a large illustrated work like the ‘ Mammals of Australia,’ it would be out of place to enter into the anatomy of the objects I have represented. I have therefore omitted all details of this kind ; neither have I included therein a repetition of the generic characters and Latin descriptions which have appeared in general works on Mammalogy, where they may be easily referred to. Those who wish to enter more fully into the generic characters of the Australian mammals will find all the information they can wish for in Mr. Waterhouse’s valuable work, entitled ‘ A Natural History of the Mammalia,’ a publication of such great promise and merit, that it becomes a matter of surprise and regret to all interested in this branch of science that the publisher decided upon not continuing it to its completion. It will be observed that I have entirely omitted the Whales, Porpesses, and Dugong, my reason for so doing being that I had not sufficient opportunities for studying those animals in a state of nature, and there- fore have not attempted that which I did not understand, and consequently could not have accomplished in a satisfactory manner. With regard to the Dugong, I must not omit thanking my relative, Charles Coxen, Esq., of Queensland, for his attention in sending me a skin and part of the skeleton of this animal ; but even with these materials I found I could not produce an accurate representation of it in the living state. Although I do not inflict upon my readers the characters and distinctions of genera, I must not pass over unnoticed the principal features which distinguish the Marsupiata from the Placental Mammalia. In the first place, the former are considered to be much less highly organized than the latter : according to Professor Owen, the brain is deficient in both the corpus callosum and the septum lucidum ; the cerebrum is small in proportion d XVI INTRODUCTION. to the animal, contracted in front, and its surface is smooth, or presents but few convolutions ; the cerebellum is entirely exposed, and has a vermiform process large in proportion to the lateral lobes ; the olfactory lobes are large. Two vena; cavse enter the heart ; “ the right auricle has no trace of a fossa ovalis.” In point of fact, the main characteristic of the Marsupials, as distinguished from the Placentals, is that much of the embryotic life in the former is carried on in what may be called a sort of external uterus. On my return from Australia, the venerable Geoffrey St. -Hilaire put the following question to me, “ Does the Ornithorhynclius lay eggs ? ” and when I answered in the negative, that fine old gentleman and eminent naturalist appeared somewhat disconcerted. Now, this oviparous notion was nearly in accordance with the true state of things — somewhat akin to what is actually the case ; and I consider the most striking peculiarity of this singular animal, and indeed of all the Mursupiata, to be the imperfectly formed state in which their young are horn. The Kangaroo at its birth is not larger than a baby’s little finger, and not very unlike it in shape : in this extremely helpless state, the mother, by some means at present unknown, places this vermiform object to one of the nipples within her pouch or marsupium ; by some equally unknown process, the little creature becomes attached by its imperfectly formed mouth to the nipple, and there remains dangling for days, and even weeks, during which it gradually assumes the likeness and structure of its parents ; at length it drops from this lacteal attachment into the pouch, re-attaches itself when hunger prompts it so to do, and as often again tumbles off when its wants have been supplied. It is scarcely necessary to say that, after gaining sufficient strength, it leaves this natural pocket of the mother, leaps into the open air and sports about the plains or the forest, as the case may be, and returns again to its warm home, until at length the wearied mother denies it this indulgence and proceeds again to comply with the law which governs all creatures, that of reproduction. This is a very low form of animal life, indeed the lowest among the Mammalia, and exhibits the first stage beyond the development of the bird. This description has reference not only to the Kangaroos, which mostly have hut one young at a time, hut is equally descriptive of the other members of this group, some of which have two, while others have three or four, and others, the Phascogalce for instance, eight or nine at a birth ; but in all cases, even with these large numbers, the young hang to the mammae in the way I have described. Independently of the low structure of the brain and the low form of reproduction of the Kangaroos, I ouo-ht to mention that two little bones have been expressly provided for the support of the marsupium ; there is also a considerable difference in the dentition, as well as in the form of the lower jaw, by which this group of animals may at all times be distinguished. I have not failed to notice much disparity in size in the Marsupiata ; they seem to he always growing ; for the males get larger and still larger for years, even long after they have commenced the duty of reproduction, and hence individuals of all sizes occur, and occasionally one extraordinarily large may be met with. I have observed this to occur with all the Marsupials, but particularly among the Kangaroos. The great herds of the grey species, Macropus major , are frequently headed by an enormous male, or Boomer as he is called. Like the “ rogue Elephants ” of Ceylon, these patriarchs are often solitary, and are generally very savage. Commencing with the most lowly organized of the Australian mammals, I may state that the Ornitho- rhynchus has a very limited range, as is shown by its not being found either in Western or Northern Aus- INTRODUCTION. XVII tralia — the south-eastern portions of the continent and Van Diemen’s Land being the localities to which it is confined. The spiny Echidna hystrix has not yet been found to the northward of Moreton Bay on the east coast, and, except in New South Wales and the islands in Bass’s Straits, it is very rare — so rare indeed, that I have never seen a specimen from South Australia ; yet in all probability it will be found there, since Mr. Gilbert obtained an example at Swan River ; this individual, however, did not come under my notice, and I am therefore unable to say if it were a true E. hystrix , or a western representative of that species. The more hairy Echidna setosa is confined to Van Diemen’s Land; but it is questionable whether it he really distinct from E. hystrix ; the more southern position and colder climate of that island may have had the effect of giving it a warmer coat, whiter spines, and of altering its general appearance. The single species representing the genus Myrmecohius ( M . fasciatus ) appears to be more plentiful in the Swan River Settlement than elsewhere ; it nevertheless occurs in the Murray Scrub and other parts of South Australia, and from thence to the western coast it probably inhabits every locality suited to its habits and mode of life. Like the Myrmecohius , the little honey-lapping Tarsipes rostratus stands quite alone — and a truly singular creature it is : to give the area over which it ranges is impossible, as we know far too little of these dimi- nutive mammals to come to any positive conclusion on this point ; at present, the neighbourhood of King George’s Sound is one of the localities in which it has been seen in a state of nature. Isolated in form and differing in the structure of its feet from every other known quadruped is the Chce- ropus, an animal which frequents the hard grounds of the interior, over which it is dispersed from New South Wales to Western Australia. The specific term of ecaudatus , first applied to this animal in conse- quence of the specimen characterized being destitute of the caudal appendage, must now sink into a synonym, that organ being as well developed in this as in any other of the smaller quadrupeds, the Perameles for instance, to which this singular animal is somewhat allied. The root-feeding Dalgyte, or Peragalea lagotis, leads us still nearer to the genus Perameles : the fauna of Western Australia is greatly enriched by the addition of this beautiful species. I believe that South Aus- tralia may also lay claim to it ; for I have seen a tail, said to have been obtained on the south coast, which greatly resembled that of the Swan River Peragalea ; but it may have pertained to an allied animal with which we are not yet acquainted. The members of the restricted genus Perameles are numerous in species, and universally dispersed over the whole of Australia and Van Diemen’s Land ; they also extend in a northerly direction to New Guinea and the adjacent islands. Of this genus there are two well-marked divisions : one distinguished by bands on their backs or crescentic markings across their rumps and by their diminutive tails, the other by a uniformity in their colouring. The species of the former division inhabit the hot stony ridges bordering the open plains ; those of the latter the more humid forests, among grass and other dense vegetation. Figures of XV111 INTRODUCTION. most of these Bandicoots, as they are called, and an account of the manners, habits, and economy of each, so far as known, will he found in their proper places in the body of the work. The Phascogales, of which there are three, namely P. penicillata, P. calura, and P. lam g era, are all natives of the southern portions of Australia, from east to west ; they are, however, rather denizens of the interior than of the provinces near the coast, but the P. penicillata is alike found in both. Their dentition indicates that they are sanguinary in their disposition, — a character which is confirmed by the P. penicillata , small as it comparatively is, being charged with killing fowls and other birds. It might be thought that the Phascogales would naturally lead to the Antechini, but there is no real affinity between the two groups. I find it most difficult to arrange the Australian mammals in anything like a serial order ; hut the numerous species forming the genera Antechinus and Podabrus are, perhaps, as well placed here as elsewhere. Like the Peramelides , the members of those genera inhabit every part of Australia and the adjacent islands : the thick-tailed species, forming the genus Podabrus , frequent the interior rather than the coast ; the Antechini , on the other hand, inhabit both districts ; and wherever there are trees and shrubs, one or other of them may be found ; some evince a partiality for the fallen boles lying on the ground, while others run over the branches of those that are still standing. I now approach a better-defined section of the Australian Marsupiata than any of the preceding — the nocturnal Phalangers. These are divided into several genera — Phascolarctos, Petaurista, Belideus, Phalan- gista, Cuscus, Acrobates, and Dromicia. The extraordinary Koala is only found in the brushes of New South Wales. It stands quite alone — the solitary species of its genus, and it is well worth while to turn to my figures and description of this anomalous Sloth among the Marsupials. The Petauristce are strictly brush-loving animals, and are almost entirely confined to New South Wales ; some one or other of the Belidei, on the other hand, is found in all other parts of the Australian continent (except perhaps its western portion), wherever there are Eucalypti of sufficient magnitude for their branches to become hollow spouts wherein these nocturnes may sleep during the day. This form also occurs among the animals of the New Guinea group of islands. The little Opossum Mouse, Acrobates pygmeeus , is a general favourite with the colonists ; and well it may be so, for in its disposition it is as amiable as its form is elegant and its fur soft and beautiful: what the Dormouse is to the English boy, this little animal is to the juveniles of Australia. I have seen it kept as a pet, and its usual retreat in the day, while it sleeps, was a pill-box ; as night approaches it becomes active, and then displays much elegance in its motions. The true Phalangistoe comprise many species ; and are found in every colony, in Port Essington on the north, Swan River on the west, New South Wales and Queensland on the east, and Victoria and Van Diemen’s Land on the south. They lead to the genus Cuscus, a form better represented in New Guinea and its islands than in Australia, where only one species has been discovered, in the neighbourhood of Cape York. Of the two fairy-like Dromicice, which live upon the stamens of flowers and the nectar of their corollas, one is found in Van Diemen’s Land, the other in Western Australia. The description of a third species of this form has just been transmitted to the Zoological Society by Mr. Krefft, who states that it was taken from an example discovered by himself in New South Wales, and proposes to call it D. unicolor. An equally remarkable and distinct division or group is composed of the Dasyures, to which the extra- INTRODUCTION. xix ordinary Sarcophilus ursinus of Van Diemen’s Land bears precisely the same degree of relationship that the Koala does to the Phalangers. Like the Thylacinus, the Sarcophilus is confined to Van Diemen’s Land. And I would ask, why are these strange and comparatively large animals now restricted to so limited an area ? for it can scarcely be supposed that they have not, at some time or other, inhabited the continent of Australia also. Had not Tasmania as well as the mainland been peopled for a long time by the human race, it might have been supposed that their extirpation from the continent had been effected by these children of nature. Whatever the cause may have been, it cannot now be ascertained, and we must be content to treat of the creatures that still exist. Of the true Dasyures, four very distinct species are dispersed over Australia from Van Diemen’s Land to the shores of Torres’ Straits. Tasmania is frequented by two ( Dasyurus maculatus and D. river rims'), the southern parts of the mainland by the same two species with the addition of a third (Z>. Geoffroyi ), while the D. hallucatus inhabits the north. The animals of this genus are very viverrine both in their appearance and in their sanguinary disposition, and are probably the true representatives in Australia of that group of quadrupeds. The term ‘ sanguinary ’ is rightly applied to some of these animals, yet there is not one which a child might not conquer. The boldest of them are more troublesome than dangerous, and a robbery of the hen-roost is the utmost of the depredations their nature prompts them to commit. I now come to the most bloodthirsty of the Australian mammals — the Wolf of the Marsupials — the Thylacinus of Tasmania’s forest-clad country — the only member of its Order which gives trouble to the shepherd or uneasiness to the stockholder. Van Diemen’s Land is the true and only home of this some- what formidable beast, which occasionally deals out destruction among the flocks of the settler, to which it evinces a decided preference over the Brush Kangaroos, its more ancient food. To man, however, it is not an object of alarm ; for the shepherd, aided by his dog, and stick in hand, does not for a moment hesitate about attacking and killing it. The large life-sized head and the reduced figures given in the body of the work well represent the Thylacinus , and all that is known of its habits will be found in the accompanying letter-press. Until lately, only one species of Phascolomys or Wombat was clearly defined; but we now know that there are three, if not four, very distinct kinds ; and in all probability others may yet he discovered, and prove that this form has a much more extended range than is at present supposed. The P. Wombat is still abundant in Van Diemen’s Land and on some of the islands in Bass’s Straits ; and two or three species burrow in the plains of the southern countries of Australia generally. These huge, heavy, and short-legged animals, revelling in a state of obesity, feed most harmlessly on roots and other vegetable substances ; they are the Rodents of their own Order, and the representatives of the Capybaras of South America. With this group I terminate the first volume ; the next is devoted to the great family of the Macropodidce or Kangaroos. This, the most important of all the Marsupial groups, both as to diversity of form and the number of species, is so widely and so universally dispersed over the Australian continent and its islands, that its members may be said to exist in every part of those countries. They are found in great abundance in the southern and comparatively cold island of Tasmania, while three species, at least, tenant that little- explored country, New Guinea, and some of the adjacent islands. Varied as the physical condition of Australia really is, forms of Kangaroos are there to he found peculiarly adapted for each of these conditions. The open grassy plains, sometimes verdant, at others parched up and sterile, offer an asylum to several of e XX INTRODUCTION. the true Macropi ; the hard and stony ridges and rocky crowns of the mountains are frequented by the great Osphranters ; precipitous rocks are the home of the Petrogales ; the mangrove-swamps and dense humid brushes are congenial to the various Halmaturi ; in the more spiny brigaloe-scrubs the Onycho galea; form their runs, and fly before the shouting of the natives when a hunt is the order of the day ; among the grassy beds which here and there clothe the districts between the open plains and the mountain-ranges — the park- like districts of the country — the Lagorchestes sit in their “forms,” like the Hare in England; and the Bettongioe and Hypsiprymni shroud themselves from the prying eye of man and the eagle in their dome- shaped grassy nests, which are constructed on any part of the plains, the stony ridges, and occasionally in the open glades among the brushes. The species inhabiting New Guinea (the Dendrolagus ursinus and D. inustus ) resort to the trees, and, monkey-like, ascend and live among the branches. Of the Filander of the same country we know little or nothing. How wonderfully are all these forms adapted to a separate and special end and purpose — an end and a purpose which cannot he seen to advantage in any but a compara- tively undisturbed country like Australia — a part of the world’s surface still in maiden dress, but the charms of which will ere long he ruffled and their true character no longer seen ! Those charms will not long survive the intrusion of the stockholder, the farmer, and the miner, each vying with the other to obliterate that which is so pleasing to every naturalist ; and fortunate do I consider the circumstances which induced me to visit the country while so much of it remained in its primitive state. I must revert to the Kangaroos ; for it will he necessary to point out the situations affected by the various genera. In the body of the work three species of true Macropi are figured, and others are described, but not represented. These are all inhabitants of the southern districts of Australia and Van Diemen’s Land. To say that no true Macropus , as the genus is now restricted, will be found in Northern Australia would be somewhat unwarrantable ; at the same time, I have never seen an example from thence. The genus Osphranter, on the other hand, the members of which, as has been before stated, are always found in rocky situations, have their representatives in the north as well as in the south, hut they are not found in Van Diemen’s Land. The splendid 0. rufus is an animal of the interior, and frequents the plains more than any other species of its genus. At present, the back settlements of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia are the only countries whence I have seen specimens. The Great Black Wallaroo (0. robustus ) forms its numerous runs among the rocks, and on the summits of mountains bordering the rivers Mokai and Gwydyr. The 0. Parryi ranges over the rocky districts of the headwaters of the Clarence and adjacent rivers, while the 0. antilopinus is as yet only known in the Cobourg Peninsula. The smaller Petrogalce differ from all the other Kangaroos, both in the form of their feet and the structure of their brushy dangling tails. With the exception of Tasmania, these rock-lovers dwell every- where, from north to south, and from east to west. The P. penicillata inhabits New South Wales ; the P. wanthopus , South Australia ; the P. lateralis , Western Australia ; the P. concinna and P. brachyotis , the north-west coast ; and the P. inornata, the opposite rocky shores of the east. The true Wallabies, or Halmaturi , are all brush animals, and are more universally dispersed than any of the other members of the entire family. Tasmania is inhabited by two species, New South Wales by at least five, South Australia by two or three, and Western Australia by the same number; while the genus is represented on the north coast by the H. agilis. It will be clear, then, that the arboreal districts of the INTRODUCTION. xxi south, with their thick and impenetrable brushes, are better adapted for the members of this genus than the hotter country of the north. The Onychogalece are, par excellence, the most elegantly formed and the most beautifully marked members of the whole family, and they are, moreover, as graceful in their actions as in their colouring they are pleasing to the eye. One species, the 0. frcenata, inhabits the brigaloe-scrubs of the interior of New South Wales and Queensland, and probably South Australia. The O. lunata plays the same part, and affects very similar situations, in Western Australia ; while the 0. ungufera, as far as we yet know, is confined to the north- eastern part of the continent. The Lagorchestes are a group of small hare-like Kangaroos, which dwell in every part of the interior of the southern portion of the mainland, from Swan River on the west to Queensland on the east ; one species has, however, been found in the northern districts — the L. Leichardti, as it has been named, in honour of its discoverer, the late intrepid and unfortunate explorer, Dr. Leichardt. They are the greatest leapers and the swiftest runners among small animals I have ever seen ; they sleep in forms, or seats, like the Common Hare ( Lepus timidus ) of Europe, and mostly affect the open grassy ridges, particularly those that are of a stony character. The beautiful L.fasciatus of Swan River is one of the oldest known ; the L. Leichardti the latest yet discovered. The Bettongice, with their singular prehensile tails, also enjoy a wide range, the various species composing the genus being found in Tasmania, New South Wales, Southern and Western Australia, but, so far as we yet know, not in the north. For a more detailed account of the localities favoured with the presence of these animals, and the manner in which their prehensile tails are employed in carrying the grass for their nest, I must refer to the history of the respective species, and particularly to the plate of Bettongia cuniculus. The Hypsiprymni are the least and, perhaps, the most aberrant group of this extensive family. They inhabit the southern and most humid parts of the country, and are to be found everywhere, from Tasmania to the 15th degree of latitude on the continent in one direction, and from the scrubs of Swan River and King George’s Sound to the dense brushes of Moreton Bay in the other ; like most other Kangaroos, they are nocturnal in their habits, grub the ground for roots, and live somewhat after the manner of the Peramelides , with which, however, they have no relationship. To render my history of this group of animals the more complete, I have included in the work the three species inhabiting New Guinea : two of these belong to the genus Dendrolagus, and, as their name implies, dwell among the branches of trees, and rarely resort to the ground : the third forms the genus Dorcopsis, of which a single species only is known ; it has doubtless some peculiar habits, but these must be left for a future historian to describe ; at present they are unknown. The great family of the Kangaroos, of which what I have here written must only be regarded as a slight sketch, is well worthy the study of every mammalogist. It forms by far the most conspicuous feature in the history of Australian quadrupeds ; and, numerous as are the species now known, I doubt not that xxn INTRODUCTION. others will yet be discovered when the north and north-western provinces of the country have been more diligently explored. The third and concluding volume is devoted to the Rodents, Seals, and Bats, and ends with the Cams Dingo. These are the only Placental animals inhabiting the land of Australia, and, contrary to what was formerly supposed, the Rodents form no inconspicuous feature among the quadrupeds of that country. They are very numerous in species, and almost multitudinous in individuals. Every traveller who has visited the interior can testify to this fact. If exploration has been his object, the numerous runs and tracks of these little animals must have been frequently presented to his notice, — every grassy bed being tenanted by its own species of Mus, while all the sand-hills are run over by the same or other species, interspersed with the Jerboa-like Hapalotides. The sluggish river-reaches and water-holes of nearly every part, from Tasmania through all the southern portions of the continent, have their muddy banks traversed by the Hydromys , or Beaver-Rats, as they have been very appropriately called. Even New Zealand, a country which it was formerly supposed never had a more highly organized indigenous creature than a bird, has its Bats ; it will not be surprising, therefore, that the sister country of Australia should be tenanted by numerous species of these Nocturnes ; not only are they individually very plentiful, but many distinct forms or genera are there found. The brushes which abound in fruit-bearing fig-trees are frequented by Vampires or Pteropi — a form which appears to be mainly confined to the south-eastern and northern portions of the country, for I have not yet seen any examples from Tasmania, or Southern or Western Australia. The trees in this strange country which bear either fruit or berries are very few. Even the fruit of the stately para- sitic Fig is a mere apology for that which we are accustomed to see, and hence but few species of these great frugivorous Bats occur in the fauna of Australia. At the same time, the paucity of species is amply compensated by the number of individuals ; these, however, are confined to the brushes which stretch along the eastern coast. In these solitary forests they teem and hang about in thousands, frequently changing their locale when their food becomes scarce or has been entirely cleared off. The species I more parti- cularly allude to is the Pteropus poliocephalus. The Cohourg Peninsula and other parts of the north coast are also inhabited by a species which, according to Gilbert and Leichardt, is very abundant. A third and very fine one frequents Fitzroy Island, lying off the eastern coast. The extraordinary Molossus australis is a native of Victoria, and is the sole species of its genus yet dis- covered in Australia. The Taphozoi appear to be rock-loving Bats, and the single species as yet discovered is from the Peninsula of Cape York. The Scotophili, of which there are several species, are found in all parts of the country, from Van Diemen’s Land to the most northern part of the continent. The restricted genus Vespertilio is more feebly represented than the last-mentioned form, since only two species are known to exist in the country ; these are very generally spread over the southern coast. Of the leaf-nosed Rhinolophi I have figured three species — the R. cervinus , from Cape York, the R. auran- tius (a very beautiful species) from North-western Australia, and the R. megaphyllus from New South Wales. The Nyctophili, or Long-eared Bats, are well represented ; four species, at least, frequenting every part of the continent from east to west, and also the island of Tasmania. INTRODUCTION. xxiii This, I am aware, is a very imperfect resume of the Cheiroptera inhabiting Australia ; could I have ren- dered it more complete, I would have done so ; but it must be recollected that seventh-tenths of the country are yet unexplored. A mere glance at the globe which stands in every school-room will show how greatly the sea preponderates over the land of this planet. Like the land, the ocean is tenanted by many remarkable animals, certain groups of which exist in one hemisphere and are not found in the other ; and it is not often that even the great Cetaceans occur in both. Neither do the Seals: the equatorial region separates them most com- pletely ; that is, no species is common alike to the north and the south. I do not consider that either the Australian Cetacea or Phocidce have been well made out, and this certainly is the part of the mammalian fauna of that country of which we know the least. I have omitted the former altogether, but it will be seen that I have figured two of the latter ; these constitute two genera ( Stenorhynchus and Ar otocephalus') ; they both inhabit the shores and rocky islands of the southern portion of Australia, while the Dugong ( Halicore australis) is, as far as I am aware, a native of the east coast only. Whether the Cams Dingo be really indigenous, or has at some very remote period followed Man in his migrations, is a question on which naturalists are at variance. For my own part, I am inclined to the latter theory, as being the most philosophic mode of accounting for its presence there. That Man is the latest visitant to the soil of Australia there can be little doubt ; the country is far too sparsely provided with fruits and other substances necessary for his existence to favour a contrary hypothesis. In the following list of the Australian Mammals I shall refer to the volumes in which they are contained and to the plates on which they are respectively figured, and shall, moreover, give any additional information I may have acquired respecting them, together with an account of the new species which have been de- scribed by other writers, but which, from my not having been able to see examples, I have not figured. Order MAIISUPIATA. Section MONOTREMATA. Genus Ornithorhynchus, Blumenb. 1. Ornithorhynchus anatinus ............. Vol. I. PL 1. Habitat. New South Wales and Tasmania. Victoria and South Australia ? Genus Echidna, Cue. 2. Echidna hystrix ............... Vol. I. PL 2. Habitat. New South Wales, Victoria, the islands in Bass’s Straits. Southern and Western Australia ? 3. Echidna setosa, Cuv. .............. Vol. I. PL 3. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. / XXIV INTRODUCTION. Genus Myrmecobius, Waterh. 4. Myrmecobius fasciatus, Waterh. ............ Vol. I. PL 4. Habitat. Western Australia, and parts of South Australia. Genus Tarsipes, Gerv. et Verr. 5. Tarsipes rostratus, Gerv. et Verr. ............ Vol. I. PI. 5. Habitat. Western Australia. Mr. Waterhouse is of opinion that this animal is most nearly allied to the Dromicice, yet he has not placed it near that form in his ‘ History of the Mammalia.’ Genus Chceropus, Ogilby. 6. Choeropus castanotis, Gray ........ Habitat. Interior of New South Wales, South and Western Australia. Vol. I. PI. 6. Genus Peragalea, Gray. 7. Peragalea lagotis .......... Habitat. Western Australia. Genus Perameles, Geoff . 8. Perameles fasciata. Gray ........ Habitat. Interior of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales. 9. Perameles Gunnii, Gray ......... Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. 10. Perameles myosurus, Wayn. ....... Habitat. Western Australia. 11. Perameles nasuta, Geoff. Habitat. New South Wales. Vol. I. PL 7. Vol. I. Pl. 8. Vol. I. PL 9. Vol. I. Pl. 10. Vol. I. Pl. 11. 12. Perameles macroura, Gould. Perameles macroura, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. part x. p. 4 ; Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm. vol. i. p. 366. Perameles macrurus, Gray, List of Spec, of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus. p. 96. I have not figured this animal because, although twenty-one years have passed away since my description was published, I have never seen a second example; still I have no doubt of its being a distinct species. It gieatly resembles P. obesula and P. nasuta, but differs from both in its larger tail. I transcribe my original description from the £ Proceedings of the Zoological Society ’ above referred to “ Corpore supra niyro et flavescenti-albo penicillato, infra sordide albo, pilis riyidis obsito ; cauda pilis parvulis parce tecta, lonyitudine dimidio corporis aequante, supra niyra, infra fuscescenti-alba ; auris mediocribus. “ Longitudo ab apice rostri ad basin caudse caudce ..... • ab apice rostri ad basin auris tarsi diyitorumque . auris ..... “ Habitat. Port Essington.” unc. lin. 16 3 7 3 3 4 3 1 1 2 13. Perameles obesula, Geoff. .....•• Habitat. South coasts of Australia and Tasmania generally. Vol. I. Pl. 12. INTRODUCTION. XXV 14. Perameles Bougainvillei, Quay et Gaim. Perameles Bougainvillei, Quoy et Gaim. Zool. du Voy. de l’Uranie, p. 56, tab. 5, et Bull, des Sci. Nat. 1824, tom. i. p. 270 ; Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm. vol. i. p. 385. Habitat. Peron’s Peninsula; in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Having never seen a specimen of this animal, I am unable to figure it, or to say if it be a good species. Genus Phascolarctos, De Blainv. 15. Phascolarctos cinereus Habitat. New South Wales. Genus Phalangista, Cue. Vol. I. Pis. 13 & 14. 16. Phalangista fuliginosa, Ogilby Vol. I. PI. 15. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. Victoria? In one of the letters from my son Charles, now engaged on a geological survey of Tasmania, the following passage having reference to this animal occurs : — “ I lay down, looking up at the moon and stars, thinking of home, and dreamily listening to the crackling of the fire, when a diabolical, chattering, grunting laugh overhead makes me start up, and discover that a Sooty Opossum is making an inspection of me, with comments, from the branch above ; his call is responded to by others, and a kind of concert commences, which is maintained at intervals throughout the night, — the smaller or Ring-tailed Opossums performing an active part in it also, and the ‘ More Pork ’ (JPodargus Cuvier i) lending a little lugubrious assistance occasionally.” 17. Phalangista vulpina, Desm. . . . . . • • • • ■ Phalangista melanura, Wagn., Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm. vol. i. p. 288. felina, Wagn., Waterh. ib. p. 294. Go'6-mal, aborigines of Western Australia. Habitat. Probably every part of Australia ; certainly all its southern portions. 18. Phalangista canina, Ogilby .......... Habitat. New South Wales. Vol. I. PL 16. Vol. I. PI. 17. 19. Phalangista Cookii, Desm. Vol. I. PI. 18. Ngo-ra, aborigines of Perth. Ngork, aborigines of King George’s Sound. “This species,” says Mr. Gilbert, “ does not confine itself to the hollows of standing or growing trees, but is often found in holes in the ground, where the entrance is covered with a stump ; it is frequently hunted out of such places by the Kangaroo-dogs. It varies very much in the colour of the fur, from a very light grey to nearly a black ; in one instance I caught two, from the same hole, which exhibited the extremes of these colours.” Habitat. New South Wales. 20. Phalangista viverrina, Ogilby Vol. I. PI. 19. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land and Western Australia. 21. Phalangista laniginosa, Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. I. PI. 20. Habitat. New South Wales. Genus Cuscus, Lacep. 22. Cuscus brevicaudatus, Gray Habitat. The Cape York district. Vol. I. PL 21. XXVI INTRODUCTION. Genas Petaurista, Desm. 23. Petaurista Taguano'ides, Desm. ............ Vol. I. PL 22. Habitat. New South Wales. Genus Belideus, Waterh. 24. Belideus flaviventer .............. Vol. I. PL 23. Habitat. New South Wales. 25. Belideus sciureus .............. Vol. I. Pl. 24. Habitat. New South Wales and Victoria. 26. Belideus breviceps, Waterh. ............ Vol. I. Pl. 25. Habitat. New South Wales and Victoria. 27. Belideus notatus, Peters ............. Vol. I. Pl. 26. Habitat. Victoria. 28. Belideus Ariel, Gould .............. Vol. I. Pl. 27. Habitat. Cobourg Peninsula, on the north coast of Australia. Genus Acrobata, Desm. 29. Acrobata pygmsea, Desm. ............. Vol. I. Pl. 28. Habitat. New South Wales and Victoria. By some oversight the name of this species has been spelt on the plate and in the text Acrobates pygmceus. Genus Dromicia, Gray. 30. Dromicia gliriformis .............. Vol. I. PL 29. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. 31 Dromicia concinna, Gould ............. Vol. I. Pl. 30. Dromicia Neillii, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm. vol. i. p. 315 ? Habitat. Western Australia. 32. Dromicia unicolor, Krefft. Dromicia unicolor, Krefft in Proc. Zool. Soc. Jan. 22, 1863. “ Fur of a uniform mouse-colour, lighter on the sides and beneath, with a blackish patch in front of the eye. “ All the hairs are slate-grey at the base, tipped with yellowish at the back and sides, and with grey beneath ; longer black hairs, tipped with white, are interspersed, except on the under side of the body. Bristles black to within one-third of the tip, which is white ; a few long bristly black hairs in front and behind the eye. Tail some- what longer than the body, prehensile, thin, showing every joint; slightly enlarged at the base, and gradually tapering ; covered with a mixture of light- coloured and black hairs ; apical portion about ■£-" from the tip, wide beneath. inches. “ Length from tip to tip . Tail . . . . Face to base of ear Ear . . . . Arm and hands . Tarsi and toes 7 . a 1 2 7 _ 8 JL 8 “ This beautiful little creature was captured near St. Leonard’s North Shore, Sydney, feeding upon the blos- soms of the Banksias, and lived a few days in captivity. In its habits it is nocturnal. The tongue of this Dromicia INTRODUCTION. XXVll is well adapted for sucking the honey from the blossoms of the Banksice and Eucalypti, being furnished with a slight brush at the tip. This species differs from the D. concinna of Western Australia in being of a uniform dark colour, without the white belly, and having the base of the tail slightly enlarged ; it is about the same size as D. concinna.” Habitat. New South Wales. Genus Phascogale, Temm. 33. Phascogale penicillata . . . . . . . . . . • • • Vol. I. PL 31. Bal-lard, aborigines of King George’s Sound. Habitat. New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Swan River. 34. Phascogale calura, Gould . . . • • • • Vol. I. PL 32. King-goor , aborigines of Williams River. Habitat. Interior of New South Wales and the colony of Victoria. 35. Phascogale lanigera, Gould . . . . . . . . . . • • • Vol. I. PI. 33. Habitat. Interior of New South Wales. Genus Antechinus, MacLeay. 36. Antechinus Swainsoni . . . . . . . . . • • • • Vol. I. PI. 34. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. 37. Antechinus leucopus, Gray ............. Vol. I. PI. 35. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land ? 38. Antechinus ferruginifrons, Gould . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. I. PI. 36. Habitat. New South Wales. 39. Antechinus unicolor, Gould. ............ Vol. I. PI. 37. Habitat. New South Wales. 40. Antechinus leucogaster, Gray . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. I. PI. 38. Habitat. Western Australia. 41. Antechinus apicalis .............. Vol. I. PI. 39. Habitat. Western and Southern Australia. Mr. George French Angas having sent me a skin of this animal from South Australia, I am enabled to state that its range extends from Western Australia to that colony. 42. Antechinus flavipes .............. Vol. I. PI. 40. Antechinus Stuartii, MacLeay in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. viii. p. 242 ; Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm. vol. i. p. 416. Mr. Waterhouse is of opinion that the animal described as A. Stuartii will prove to be identical with A. flavipes. Dasyuncs minimus, Geoff. Ann. du Mus. tom. iii. p. 362 ? ; Schreb. Saugeth. suppl. tab. 152 B. e? Phascogale minima, Temm. Mon. de Mamm. tom. i. p. 59 ? — aflinis, Grey, App. to Grey’s Journ. of Two Exp. of Disc, in Australia, vol. ii. p. 406. ( Antechinus ) minima, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm. vol. i. p. 419. — — aflinis, Waterh. ib. p. 421. See Mr. Waterhouse’s remarks on the animals indicated in the last five synonyms, Nat. Hist, of Mamm. vol. i. pp. 419, 421. Habitat. New South Wales ; and Victoria ? Vol. I. PI. 41. 43. Antechinus fuliginosus, Gould Habitat. Western Australia. 9 xxviii INTRODUCTION. 44. Antechinus albipes j P1 42 Habitat. Western Australia. 45. Antechinus murinus y 0 p j pj 43 Habitat. New South Wales. 46. Antechinus maculatus, Gould Yol. I. PI. 44 . Habitat. Queensland. 47. Antechinus minutissimus, Gould Vol. I. PI. 45 . Habitat. Queensland. Genus Podabrus, Gould. 48. Podabrus macrourus, Gould y 0 p p pp 46 . Habitat. Darling Downs in Queensland. 49. Podabrus crassicaudatus, Gould Vol. I. PI. 47 . Habitat. Western and Southern Australia. Genus Sarcophilus, F. Cuv. 50. Sarcophilus ursinus Vol. I. PI. 48. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. Genus Dasyurus, Geoff. 51. Dasyurus maculatus .............. Vol. I. PI. 49. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land, New South Wales, and Victoria. 52. Dasyurus viverrinus .............. Vol. I. PI. 50. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land and Victoria. 53. Dasyurus Geoffroyi, Gould Vol. I. PI. 51. Bur -j ad- da, aborigines near Perth. Bar-ra-jit, aborigines of York and Toodyay districts. Ngoor-ja-na, aborigines of the Vasse district. Dju-tytch, aborigines of King George’s Sound. Mr. Gilbert was informed that the stomach of this animal is frequently found to be filled with white ants. Habitat. South portions of the Australian continent generally. 54. Dasyurus hallucatus, Gould ............ Vol. I. PI. 52. Habitat. Northern Australia. Genus Thylacinus, Temm. 55. Thylacinus cynocephalus ............ Vol. I. Pis. 53 & 54. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. Genus Phascolomys, Geoff". 56. Phascolomys Wombat, Per. et Les. . Vol. I. Pis. 55 & 56. Phascolomys platyrhinus, Owen, Cat. of Osteol. Ser. in Mus. Roy. Coll. Surg. Engl. p. 334 ? Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land, and the islands in Bass’s Straits. 57. Phascolomys latifrons, Given . . . . . . . . . • • Vol. I. Pis. 57 & 58. Habitat. Victoria and South Australia. INTRODUCTION. XXIX 58. Phascolomys lasiorhinus, Gould . Habitat. Victoria and South Australia. Vol. I. Pis. 59 & 60. 59. Phascolomys niger, Gould. Habitat. South Australia ? Family MACROPODIDiE. Genus Macropus, Shaw. 60. Macropus major, Shaw ........ Habitat. New South Wales, Victoria, and Van Diemen’s Land. Vol. II. Pis. 1 & 2. 61. Macropus ocydromus, Gould Vol. II. Pis. 3 & 4. Speaking of this animal, Mr. Gilbert states that, “ if a female with a tolerably large one in the pouch be pursued, she will often by a sudden jerk throw the little creature out ; but whether this be done for her own pro- tection, or for the purpose of misleading the dogs, is a disputed point. I am induced to think the former is the case, for I have observed that the dogs pass on without noticing the young one, which generally crouches in a tuft of grass, or hides itself among the scrub, without attempting to run or make its escape ; if the mother evades pursuit, she doubtless returns and picks it up. “ Those inhabiting the forests are invariably much darker, and, if anything, have a thicker coat than those of the plains. The young are at first of a very light fawn-colour, but get darker until two years old, from which age they again become lighter, till in the old males they become very light grey. In summer their coat becomes light and hairy, while in winter it is of a more woolly character. It is a very common occurrence to find them with white marks or spots of white about the head, more particularly a white spot on the forehead between the eyes. A very curious one came under my notice, having the whole of the throat, cheeks, and upper part of the head spotted with yellowish white ; and albinoes have been frequently seen by the hunters.” Habitat. Western Australia. 62. Macropus fuliginosus . Habitat. South Australia. Vol. II. PI. 5. 63. Macropus melanops, Gould. It will be seen that I have placed this name among the synonyms of M. major ; but since my remarks on that species were written, I have seen other examples so closely accordant with the animal described by me under the above name in the 10t.h part of the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society,’ that I think there is a probability it will prove to be distinct, and therefore, for the present, I restore the animal to the rank of a species. Habitat. Southern and Western Australia. Genus Osphranter, Gould. Generic characters. Muffle broad and naked ; muzzle broad and rather short ; ears moderate, rounded at the apex ; fore limbs comparatively long and stout, and the toes and claws very strong ; hind limbs short and muscular ; middle toe very large ; lateral toes but little developed ; two small inner toes, united in one common integument as in other Kangaroos, and terminating in a line with the small outer toe, or nearly so ; under surface of the feet very rough, being covered with small horny tubercles. The above characters, especially the great expansion of the muzzle, the comparatively small development of the lateral toes of the hind feet, and the greater size of the middle toe, should, in my opinion, be regarded as generic or subgeneric rather than specific ; and it was for these reasons that I proposed the new sectional title of Osphranter. See Proceedings of Zool. Soc. part ix. p. 80. 64. Osphranter rufus, Gould ............ Vol. II. Pis. 6 & 7. Macropus ( Osphranter ) pictus, Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc. part xxviii. p. 373. Habitat. New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. XXX INTRODUCTION. 65. Osphranter Antilopinus, Gould ........... Vol. II. Pis. 8 & 9. Habitat. Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Australia. 66. Osphranter Isabellinus, Gould. Osphranter ? Isabellinus, Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc. part ix. p. 81. General colour bright fulvous or sandy red ; fur rather short, and soft to the touch ; hairs uniform in tint to the base ; throat and under parts of the body white, faintly tinted with yellowish in parts ; fur of the belly long and very soft ; the white or whitish colouring of the under parts and the uniform fulvous colouring of the upper surface and sides of the body not blending gradually ; tail similar in colour to the upper surface, but rather paler and uniform ; hair of the fore feet and toes brown in front, yellowish on the sides. The above description was taken from an imperfect skin procured at Barrow Island, on the north-west coast of Australia, and transmitted to me by Captain Stokes of H.M.S. “ Beagle,” which, in my opinion, pertains to a species of which no other example has yet been sent to Europe. Under this impression I have bestowed upon it the above specific appellation. Habitat. Barrow Island, north-west coast of Australia. 67. Osphranter robustus, Gould Vol. II. Pis. 10 & 11. Habitat. Mountain-ranges of the interior of New South Wales. 68. Osphranter? Parryi Vol. II. Pis. 12 & 13. Habitat. Rocky mountains of the east coast of Australia from Port Stephens to Wide Bay. Genus Halmaturus, F. Cuv. 69. Halmaturus ruficollis Vol. II. Pis. 14 & 15. Habitat. New South Wales. 70. Halmaturus Bennettii . . . . . . . . . . ... Vol. II. Pis. 16 & 17. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. 71. Halmaturus Greyi , Gray ............ Vol. II. Pis. 18 & 19. Habitat. South Australia. 72. Halmaturus manicatus, Gould ........... Vol. II. Pis. 20 & 21. Habitat. Western Australia. 73. Halmaturus Ualabatus ............ Vol. II. Pis. 22 & 23. Habitat. New South Wales. 74. Halmaturus agilis, Gould ............ Vol. II. Pis. 24 & 25. Habitat. Northern Australia. 75. Halmaturus dorsalis, Gray Vol. II. Pis. 26 & 27. Habitat. Interior of New South Wales. 76. Halmaturus Parma, Gould ............ Vol. II. PI. 28. Habitat. Brushes of New South Wales. 77. Halmaturus Derbianus, Gray ........... Vol. II. Pis. 29 & 30. Thylogale Eugenii, Gray, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. new ser. 1843, p. 583. Habitat. South Australia. 78. Halmaturus Houtmanni, Gould. Halmaturus Houtmanni, Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc. part xii. p. 31. “ Of the whole of the islands forming Houtmann’s Abrolhos,” says Mr. Gilbert, “ I found only two to be INTRODUCTION. XXXI inhabited by this species, viz. East and West Wallaby Islands. On both of these they are so numerous, and have been so little disturbed, that they will allow of a very near approach, and may in consequence be obtained in almost any number. The male weighs, on an average, about 12 lbs. ; but several old bucks I obtained exceeded this, the heaviest weighing 15 lbs. A mature female weighs about 8 lbs. They appear to have no regular season for breeding, for all the females had young ones in the pouch, of very small size and quite naked ; and none were seen or killed less than a year old, at which age their weight is about 5 lbs. “The Halmaturus Houtmanni inhabits the dense scrub growing on almost every part of the two islands above mentioned; and its runs cross and recross almost every inch of them — even the sandy beaches close to the water’s edge, and among the thick scrub and Mutton-bird holes ; in these runs there are little sheltered spots, beneath which they lie during the heat of the midday sun, feeding for the most part during the night. On the approach of man it does not bound off at full speed as other Kangaroos do, but very leisurely takes two or three leaps, and then remaining stationary in an erect position, looks around with evident surprise, and is then easily shot. In fact, from having been so little disturbed, it will allow itself to be run down and caught. I was enabled to catch two in this way. Four or five of my men being on shore, I directed them to surround a bush into which I saw one of these Wallabies run, when the animal, seeing itself approached on all sides, became so bewildered that, instead of attempting to escape, it thrust its head into the thick scrub and allowed us to catch it by the tail. “ One I have alive has a habit of frequently crouching down like a Hare, with its tail brought forward between and before its fore feet.” Adult Male. Face dark grizzled grey, stained with rufous on the forehead ; external surface of the ear and the space between the ears dark blackish grey ; sides of the neck, shoulders, fore arms, flanks, and hind legs rufous, palest on the flanks ; a line of obscure blackish brown passes down the back of the neck and spreads into the dark grizzled brown of the back ; throat and chest buffy white ; under surface of the body grey ; tail grizzled grey, deepening into black on the upper side and the extremity. Fur somewhat short, coarse, and adpressed ; the base bluish grey, succeeded by rufous, then white, and the extreme tip black. Adult Female. Similar in colour to the male, but of a more uniform tint, in consequence of the rufous colouring of the shoulders and flanks being paler, and the grizzled appearance of the back not so bright. Dark grizzled grey approaching to black, particularly along the back. Adult Male. Female. ft. in. ft. in. Length from the nose to the tip of the tail 3 6 3 4 of tail ......... 1 2F 1 2 of tarsus and toes, including the nail 0 H 0 5 * of arm and hand, including the nails 0 6 0 4 — of face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear 0 H 0 4 of ear ......... 0 0 9 1 ^ 8 Notwithstanding Mr. Waterhouse’s opinion that this animal is merely a variety of H. Derbianus, and what I have said in my account of that species tending to confirm his view of the subject, I have thought it best to append a copy of my original description taken from the examples sent home by Gilbert. Future research will determine whether it be identical with the H. Derbianus or distinct. Habitat. Houtmann’s Abrolhos, Western Australia. 79. Halmaturus Dama, Gould. Halmaturus Dama, Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc. part xii. p. 32. Dama, aborigines of Moore’s River. Mr. Gilbert states that this animal “ is an inhabitant of the dense thickets of the interior, and is so exceedingly numerous that their tracks from thence to their feeding-grounds resemble well-worn footpaths. Its general habits and manners resemble those of the Halmaturus Houtmanni. Mr. Johnson Drummond informs me that it makes no nest, but merely squats in a clump of grass like a Hare ; that it feeds in the night on the hills ; and it is very difficult to procure specimens, as the places it frequents are so dense as to render shooting it almost impossible, nor can a dog even chase it. The only chance of obtaining it is by the aid of the natives, a number of whom h xxxii INTRODUCTION. walking or, rather, pushing their way through and beating the bush as they go abreast, and loudly shouting £ wow, wow, wow,’ drive the Davias before them, when, by waiting in a clear space, you get the chance of a shot.” General colour of the fur grizzled brown, becoming of a reddish tint on the back of the neck, arms, and rump; face grey, washed with rufous on the forehead; outside of the ears and the space between them blackish grey; hinder legs light brown ; tail grizzled grey ; under surface of the body pale grey. Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail . of tail ........ of tarsus and toes, including the nail . of arm and hand, including the nails . of face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear of ear ........ ft. in. 2 11 1 2X 0 5f 0 4 | 0 4 0 2i This animal is closely allied to, and of nearly the same size as H. Thetidis, but has much larger ears, and a much more dense and lengthened fur, the base of which is bluish grey, to which succeeds reddish brown, then silvery white, the extreme tips being black. The above is the description of a female ; the male will doubtless prove to be of larger size. Habitat. Houtmann’s Abrolhos and Western Australia. 80. Halmaturus gracilis, Gould. Macropus gracilis, Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc. part xii. p. 103. Face and all the upper surface of the body grizzled grey and dark brown, the grizzled appearance being pro- duced by each hair being greyish white near the tip ; sides of the neck and outer side of the limbs washed with reddish brown ; margin of the anterior edge and the base of the posterior edge of the ear buffy white ; line from the angle of the mouth dark brown ; line along the side of the face, chin, and throat buffy white ; under surface buffy grey; tail clothed with short grizzled hairs similar to those of the upper surface of the body, and with a line of black on the upper side at the apex for about one-third of its length ; fur somewhat soft to the touch, grey at the base, then brown, to which succeeds white, the points of the hairs being black ; there are also numerous long black hairs dispersed over the surface of the body ; feet grizzled grey and rufous. ft. in. Length from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail .... 2 6 of tail ............ 1 1 of tarsi and toes, including the nail ...... 0 5 of arm and hand, including the nails .... . 0 3^ of the face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear . . 0 3-|- of the ear ........... 0 2^ This is a very elegantly-formed little animal. In size it is somewhat smaller than H. Derbianus, and has much slighter fore arms. Gilbert, who had a good knowledge of the Kangaroos, believed this animal to be quite distinct from every other species ; and, from a careful examination of the single specimen he sent me, I entertain the same opinion ; but I have not figured it because the example alluded to is the only one I have seen. Habitat. The scrubs of the interior of Western Australia. 81. Halmaturus Thetidis, F. Guv. et Geoff. ......... Vol. II. Pis. 31 & 32. Habitat. Brushes of New South Wales. 82. Halmaturus stigmaticus, Gould Habitat. North-east coast of Australia. 83. Halmaturus Billardieri Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. Vol. II. Pis. 33 & 34. Vol. II. Pis. 35 & 36. INTRODUCTION. xxxiii 84. Halmaturus brachyurus ............ Vol. II. Pis. 37 & 38. Habitat. Western Australia. Genus Petrogale, Gray. 85. Petrogale penicillata, Gray ........... Vol. II. Pis. 39 & 40. Heteropus albogularis, Jourd. Compt. Rend. Oct. 1837, p. 552, and Ann. des Sci. Nat. Dec. 1837, torn. viii. p. 368 ? Habitat. The rocky districts of New South Wales. 86. Petrogale lateralis, Gould ........... Vol. II. Pis. 41 & 42. Habitat. Western Australia. 87. Petrogale xanthopus, Gray ........... Vol. II. Pis. 43 & 44. Habitat. South Australia. 88. Petrogale inornata, Gould ........... Vol. II. Pis. 45 & 46. Habitat. East coast of Australia. 89. Petrogale brachyotis, Gould ............ Vol. II. PI. 47. Habitat. North-western parts of Australia. 90. Petrogale concinna, Gould ............. Vol. II. PI. 48. Habitat. North-western Australia. Genus Dendrolagus, Mull. 91. Dendrolagus ursinus, Mull. ............ Vol. II. PI. 49. Habitat. New Guinea. 92. Dendrolagus inustus, Mull. ............ Vol. II. PI. 50. Habitat. New Guinea. Genus Dorcopsis, Mull. 93. Dorcopsis Bruni Vol. II. PI. 51. Habitat. New Guinea. Genus Onychogalea, Gray. 94. Onychogalea unguifer, Gould Vol. II. Pis. 52 & 53. Habitat. North-eastern parts of Australia. 95. Onychogalea frsenata, Gould .......... . Vol. II. PI. 54. Habitat. Interior of New South Wales. 96. Onychogalea lunata, Gould ............ Vol. II. PI. 55. Habitat. Interior of Western Australia. Genus Lagorchestes, Gould. 97. Lagorchestes fasciatus ............. Vol. II. PI. 56. Habitat. Western and Southern Australia. 98. Lagorchestes Leporoides, Gould ........... Vol. II. PI. 57. Habitat. South Australia. 99. Lagorchestes hirsutus, Gould ............ Vol. II. PI. 58. Habitat. Western Australia. 100. Lagorchestes conspieillatus, Gould ........... Vol. II. Pl. 59. Habitat. Barrow Island, North-western Australia. XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 101. Lagorchestes Leichardti ............. Yol. II. PI. 60. Habitat. The country bordering the Gulf of Carpentaria. Mr. Blyth has described a species of this form under the name of Lagorchestes gymnotus, which he states is nearly allied to L. conspicillatus, and in all probability it is referable to one of the family figured in this work ; but as the specimen is in the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, it is impossible for me to determine this point. See “ Report of Curator, Zoological Department, for May 1858,” in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal. Genus Bettongia, Gray. 102. Bettongia penicillata, Gray .......... Kangurus Gaimardi, Desm. Mamm. Supp. p. 542, sp. 842, 1822? Hypsiprymnus Whitei, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l’Uranie, Zool. p. 62, pi. 10, 1824 ? Kangurus lepturus , Quoy et Gaim. Bull, des Sci. Nat. Jan. 1824, tom. i. p. 271 ? Hypsiprymnus Phillippi, Ogilb. in Proc. Zool. Soc. 1838, p. 62? formosus, Ogilb. ib. p. 62 ? minor (Potoroo), Cuv. Rhg. Anim. p. 185 ? — Hunteri, Skull in Roy. Coll, of Surg. of Engl. ? Habitat. New South Wales. 103. Bettongia Ogilbyi, Gould W'al-ya, aborigines of Perth and the mountain districts. Woile, aborigines of King George’s Sound. Habitat. Western Australia. 104. Bettongia cuniculus Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. 105. Bettongia Graii, Gould Habitat. Southern and Western Australia. 106. Bettongia rufescens, Gray Habitat. New South Wales. 107. Bettongia campestris, Gould Habitat. South Australia. 108. Hypsiprymnus murinus . Habitat. New South Wales. 109. Hypsiprymnus apicalis, Gould Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. Genus Hypsiprymnus, III. 110. Hypsiprymnus Gilberti, Gould Habitat. Western Australia. 111. Hypsiprymnus platyops, Gould Habitat. Western Australia. Vol. II. PI. 61. Vol. II. PI. 62. Vol. II. PI. 63. Vol. II. PL 64. Vol. II. PI. 65. Vol. II. PI. 66. Vol. II. PI. 67. Vol. II. PL 68. Vol. II. PI. 69. Vol. II. PI. 70. INTRODUCTION XXXV Order RODENTIA. Genus Hapalotis, Licht. 112. Hapalotis albipes, Licht. ............. Vol. III. PL 1. Habitat. New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia 113. Hapalotis apicalis, Gould. ............ Vol. III. PI. 2. Habitat. South Australia; and Van Diemen’s Land? 114. Hapalotis hemileucura, Gray Vol. III. PI. 3. Habitat. Interior of the North-eastern portions of Australia. 115. Hapalotis hirsutus, Gould Habitat. Port Essington. 116. Hapalotis penicillata, Gould Habitat. Northern Australia. 117. Hapalotis conditor, Gould ............ Vol. III. PI. 6. Habitat. Interior of New South Wales and Victoria. 118. Hapalotis murinus, Gould ............ Vol. III. PI. 7. Habitat. Interior of New South Wales and South Australia. 119. Hapalotis longicaudata, Gould ............ Vol. III. PI. 8. Habitat. Interior of Western Australia. 120. Hapalotis Mitchellii ............. Vol. III. PI. 9. Habitat. Western and Southern Australia. 121. Hapalotis cervinus, Gould Vol. III. PI. 10. Habitat. The interior of South Australia. I think it likely that the animal I have figured as H. Mitchellii may not be the Dipus Mitchellii of Ogilby, but that the true H. Mitchellii and my H. cervinus may be identical. If this should ultimately prove to be the case, H. Gouldii of Gray will be the correct designation of the animal I have called II. Mitchellii, to which the terms H. macrotis and H. Richardsoni of Gray, on the specimens in the British Museum, will also probably be referable. 122. Hapalotis arboricola, MacLeay. This is another of the Australian mammals of which I have not had an opportunity of examining specimens. Two coloured sketches, accompanied by the following notes, were kindly transmitted to me by Mr. Gerard Krefft : — “ The only example of this rarity which has yet been obtained has been presented to the Australian Museum by W. S. MacLeay, Esq. It was caught at Elizabeth Bay, where it inhabits the lofty Eucalypti, and builds a nest among the branches, with leaves and twigs, like that of a bird.” “ Fur rather harsh to the touch, and of a slate-grey next the skin, — the longer hairs, or outer coat, being mingled ochreous and black ; sides greyish, with an admixture of ochreous yellow, which becomes darker towards the back, and has the black hairs much longer than on any other part ; outer surface of the ears clothed with very short white hairs ; throat and abdomen white ; tail thinly clothed with dark-brown hairs ; toes of the hind and fore feet covered with short white hairs.” Genus Mus, Linn. 123. Mus fuscipes, Waterh. ............. Vol.III.Pl.il. Habitat. The southern portions of Australia generally. Vol. III. PI. 4. Vol. III. PI. 5. i XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 124. Mus vellerosus, Gray ............. Vol. HI. PI. 12. Habitat. South Australia. 125. Mus longipilis, Gould ............. Vol. III. PI. 13. Habitat. Banks of the Victoria River. 126. Mus cervinipes, Gould ............. Vol. III. PI. 14. Habitat. Brushes of the eastern parts of New South Wales. 127. Mus assimilis, Gould ............. Vol. III. PL 15. Habitat. New South Wales, and probably Western Australia. 128. Mus manicatus, Gould ............. Vol. III. PI. 16. Habitat. Port Essington. 129. Mus sordidus, Gould ............. Vol. III. PI. 17. Habitat. Darling Downs. 130. Mus lineolatus, Gould ............. Vol. III. PI. 18. Mus gracilicaudatus, Gould in Proc. Zool. Soc. part xiii. p. 77. I now believe the animal I have thus named to be the same as M. lineolatus. Habitat. Darling Downs. 131. Mus Gouldi, JVaterh. ............. Vol. III. PL 19. Habitat. The interior of New South Wales and Western Australia, and probably of the intermediate countries. 132. Mus nanus, Gould .............. Vol. III. Pl. 20. Habitat. Interior of Western Australia. 133. Mus albocinereus, Gould ............ Vol. III. Pl. 21. Habitat. Western Australia. 134. Mus Novse-Hollandke, Waterh. ........... Vol. III. Pl. 22. Habitat. New South Wales. 135. Mus delicatulus, Gould ............. Vol. III. Pl. 23. Habitat. Port Essington. Genus Hydromys, Geoff. 9 136. Hydromys chrysogaster, Geoff. ........... Vol. III. Pl. 24. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. 137. Hydromys fulvolavatus, Gould ........... Vol. III. Pl. 25. Habitat. The borders of the River Murray and Lake Albert in South Australia. 138. Hydromys leucogaster, Geoff. Vol. III. Pl. 26. Habitat. Banks of the Rivers Hunter and Clarence in New South Wales. 139. Hydromys fuliginosus, Gould. Vol. III. Pl. 27. Habitat. King George’s Sound, and the waters near Perth in Western Australia. 140. Hydromys Lutrilla, MacLeay. I have never seen an example of the animal thus named by Mr. MacLeay, and of which two coloured sketches, one by Mr. G. French Angas, and the other by Mr. Gerard Krefft, were kindly sent to me by the latter gentleman; and without an inspection and comparison of it with the other species of Hydromys, it is quite impossible for me to say if it be really a species or not. INTRODUCTION. xxxvn The following notes, by Mr. Krefft, accompanied the sketches : — “ The Hydromys Lutrilla was discovered by W. S. MacLeay, Esq., on the edge of the water in front of his beautiful seat, Elizabeth Bay. It is the only specimen yet seen, and Mr. MacLeay has presented it to the Australian Museum. “ Fur remarkably soft, and of a vinous or brownish grey next the skin, covered with dark brown and some sandy-coloured hairs on the flanks, and buffy hairs on the sides of the neck ; throat and abdomen white ; fore legs somewhat paler than the other parts of the body, with the exception of a brown patch on the upper surface of the feet , toes clothed with light-brown hairs ; nails white ; tarsi sepia-brown ; whiskers black and white intermixed, the upper and longer hairs being the dark-coloured ones ; tail about 7 inches long, five of which are covered with dark -brown coarse hair without any white at the tip. inches. “ Length from tip to tip . . . . . • • • • • 17 of tail 7 of face to base of ear ......... 2 of tarsi and toes .......... 2 Habitat. New South Wales. Family CHEIROPTERA. Genus Pteropus, Briss. 141. Pteropus poliocephalus, Temm. ........... Vol. III. PI. 28. Habitat. Brushes of New South Wales. 142. Pteropus conspicillatus, Gould ........... Vol. III. PI. 29. Habitat. Fitzroy Island, off the eastern coast of Australia. 143. Pteropus funereus, Temm. . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. III. PI. 30. Habitat. The northern portions of Australia. 144. Pteropus scapulatus, Peters. Pteropus scapulatus, Peters in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 3rd Series, vol. ii. p. 231. A description of this species has been published by Dr. W. Peters of Berlin, in the number of the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History’ for March 1863. As this description did not appear until after these pages were in type, I have had no opportunity of examining the specimen described, and must therefore content myself with transcribing Dr. Peters’s remarks respecting it : — “ The present species nearly approaches Pteropus medius in size, and is very easily distinguished from all other species by two humeral spots ” of ochreous-yellow, “ and also by the golden-yellow colour of the abundant woolly hair on the ventral side of the wing -membranes, which appears near the lumbar region, on the humeral membrane, and near the fore arm almost to its end.” Habitat. Cape York, Northern Australia. Genus Molossus, Geoff. 145. Molossus Australis, Gray Vol. III. PI. 31. Habitat. Victoria. Genus Taphozous, Geoff. 146- Taphozous Australis, Gould . Habitat. Northern coasts of Australia. Vol. III. PI. 32. xxxvm INTRODUCTION. Genus Rhinolophus, Geoff. 147. Rhinolophus megaphyllus, Gray Vol. III. PI. 33. Habitat. New South Wales. 148. Rhinolophus cervinus, Gould ........... Vol. III. PI. 34. Habitat. Cape York and Albany Island, Northern Australia. 149. Rhinolophus aurantius, Gould ........... Vol. III. PL 35. Habitat. Port Essington. Genus Nyctophilus, Leach. 150. Nyctophilus Geoffroyi*, Leach ........ ... Vol. III. Pi. 36. Habitat. Western Australia. 151. Nyctophilus Gouldi, Tomes. Nyctophilus Geoffroyi ............. Vol. III. PI. 37. Habitat. New South Wales. 152. Nyctophilus unicolor, Tomes ............. Vol. III. PI. 38. Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land. 153. Nyctophilus Timoriensis ............ Vol. III. PI. 39. Habitat. Western Australia. 154. Nyctophilus Australis, Peters. Nyctophilus australis , Peters, in Abhandl. der Konigl. Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1860, p. 135 and Tab. See a valuable paper on the genus Nyctophilus, by Dr. Peters, in the above-mentioned Transactions of the Academy of Berlin. Genus Scotophilus, Leach. 155. Scotophilus Gouldi, Gray Vol. III. PL 40. Habitat. New South Wales and Victoria; and South Australia? 156. Scotophilus morio, Gray ............ Vol. III. Pl. 41. Habitat. New South Wales and Victoria; and Western Australia? 157. Scotophilus microdon, Tomes ............ Vol. III. Pl. 42. Vespertilio Muelleri, Beck. Trans. Phil. Inst. Victoria, vol. iv. part i. p. 41, with plate? Habitat. Van Diemen’s Land ; and the south coast of Australia ? 158. Scotophilus picatus, Gould ............ Vol. III. Pl. 43. Habitat. The interior of South Australia. 159. Scotophilus nigrogriseus, Gould ........... Vol. III. Pl. 44. Habitat. Queensland. 160. Scotophilus Greyi, Gray ............ Vol. III. Pl. 45. Habitat. Port Essington. 161. Scotophilus pumilus, Gray ............ Vol. III. Pl. 46. Habitat. New South Wales. Genus Vespertilio, Linn. 162. Vespei'tilio macropus, Gould Habitat. South Australia. Vol. III. PL 47. INTRODUCTION. XXXIX 163. Vespertilio Tasmaniensis Habitat. Tasmania. Family PHOCIDAi, Gray. Genus Arctocephalus, F. Cuv. 164. Arctocephalus lobatus Habitat. Southern coasts of New South Wales and Tasmania. Genus Stenorhynchus, F. Cuv. 165. Stenorhynchus leptonyx .......... Habitat. The coasts of Tasmania and the southern portions of Australia generally. Vol. III. PL 48. Vol. III. PI. 49. Vol. III. PL 50. Family CANIDAL Genus Canis, Linn. 166. Canis Dingo, Blumenb. ............ Vol. III. Pis. 51 & 52. Dwer-da, aborigines of Western Australia. Habitat. Australia generally. Although I have omitted the Whales and Dugong, I cannot, in justice to Mr. Wm. Sheridan Wall, omit to call attention to his ‘ History and Description of the Skeleton of a New Sperm-Whale lately set up in the Aus- tralian Museum ; together with some account of a new genus of Sperm-Whales called Euphysetes,’ published by W. R. Piddington, Sydney, 1851. In like manner, I cannot leave unpublished the following interesting letter respecting the Dugong, which has been forwarded to me by my brother-in-law, Charles Coxen, Esq., of Brisbane, Queensland : — “The Dugong (Halicore australis, Owen) occurs in considerable numbers in Moreton Bay, but, I am led to believe, is not found further south. To the north it is plentiful in all the bays, such as Wide Bay, Port Curtis, Keppel Bay, &c., and along the east and north coasts, in every situation suitable to its habits. In size it varies from six to nine feet in length, the latter being the size of a large ‘bull’; the weight also varies from 600 to 1000 lbs. ; the girth at the largest part, just behind the flippers, is about six-eighths of the length ; near the root of the tail it is very taper and small. The head is very peculiar : the eyes and ears are small ; the nostrils small and oblique ; the fleshy upper lip, which depends some three or four inches from the jaw, is peculiarly truncate in form, and covered with short stout bristles ; the lower lip is globular, pendulous, and attached by a small neck to the jaw. The name given to the Dugong by the aborigines is Young -un. The flesh is greedily eaten and much sought for by them ; and when they have been successful in procuring one or two, which occasionally happens, they gorge themselves in a most unseemly manner, and grease themselves all over with the fat and oil until they glisten in the sun like a roll of butter in the dog-days. “ The female, or ‘ cow,’ exhibits much tenderness in the care of her offspring, and when injured utters a low, plaintive, snuffling sound, which appears to be understood by the calf. “ In the spring or calving-time they frequent the smaller bays and inlets of Moreton Bay, and are found feeding, in the more tranquil spots, on the Alga and other marine vegetable productions growing on the shoals near the mainland and the islands. During the winter months they are more frequently met with at sea, or outside the large bays. Their feeding-grounds vary from four to ten feet at high water. “ Harpooning is at present the only mode of procuring the Dugong. The aborigines are very expert in the use of the instrument, and the quickness of their sight renders them superior to Europeans for such service ; but the loss of time, and consequent expense, owing to the unsettled habits of the natives, and at times the ruffled state of the water, have prevented its capture being entered upon as a business. A few years ago a party corn- et xl INTRODUCTION. menced setting nets on the shoals frequented by the Dugong, and for a time they answered the purpose ; but the men engaged got careless, the nets were torn and destroyed by sharks and porpesses, and the affair fell to the ground. “ The oil, owing to its medicinal qualities, is in considerable demand, and very many persons have derived considerable benefit from its use ; it is preferred to cod-liver oil, as being less disagreeable to the palate and more easily retained in the stomach. It is white and almost tasteless, and is occasionally used for frying fish. The quantity varies, according to the condition of the animal, from three to ten gallons. The meat is very good, is in flavour between beef and pork, and when salted is much like bacon. “ The head, back, sides, and tail are dark broccoli-brown ; the belly and under part of the flippers light broccoli-brown, according to Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours.” GENERAL INDEX Vol. Page Acrobata pygmsca. Vol. I. p. xxvi. Acrobates pygmseus I. 35 Pigmy I. 35 Al-wo-re III. 30 Amblotis fossor I. 63 Ant-eater, Aculeated I. 5 Antechinus albipes. Vol. I. p. xxviii. I. 49 apicalis. Vol. I. p. xxvii ... I. 46 Dusky I. 44 ferruginifrons. Vol. I. p. xxvii . I. 43 flavipes. Vol. I. p. xxvii ... I. 47 Freckled I. 46 fuliginosus. Vol. I. p. xxvii . . I. 48 leucogaster. Vol. I. p. xxvii . . I. 45 leucopus. Vol. I. p. xxvii . . I. 42 maculatus. Vol. I. p. xxviii . . I. 51 Minute I. 52 minutissimus. Vol. I. p. xxviii . I. 52 Murine I. 50 xnurinus. Vol. I. p. xxviii . . I. 50 Rusty-footed I. 47 Rusty-fronted I. 43 Sooty I. 48 Spotted I. 51 Stuartii. Vol. I. p. xxvii. Swainsoni. Vol. I. p. xxvii . . I. 41 Swainson’s I. 41 unicolor. Vol. I. p. xxvii . . I. 44 White-bellied I. 45 White-footed I. 49 Arctocephalus lobatus. Vol. I. p. xxxix. III. 49 Badger I. 63 Bal-a-ga I. 38 Balantia Cookii I. 24 Bal-lard. Vol. I. p. xxvii. Bal-la-wa-ra I. 38 Bam-ba III. 39 Bangap II. 36 Bafi-gup II. 44 Barbastellus Pacificus III. 37 Bar-ra-jit. Vol. I. p. xxviii. Bar-roo III. 1 Bat, Chocolate III. 41 Fawn-coloured III. 34 Gould’s III. 40 Great-footed III. 47 Great-leaved Horse-shoe . . . III. 33 Little III. 46 Little Black III. 43 Orange Horse-shoe ..... III. 35 Small-toothed III. 42 Tasmanian III. 48 Bear, Native I. 19 Sea III. 50 Beaver-Rat, Fulvous III. 25 Golden-bellied ...... III. 24 Sooty ......... III. 27 Vol. Page Beaver-Rat, White-bellied .... III. 26 Belidea Ariel I. 34 Belideus, Ariel. Vol. I. p. xxvi . . I. 34 Ariel I. 34 breviceps. Vol. I. p. xxvi . . I. 32 flaviventer. Vol. I. p. xxvi . . I. 30 Long-tailed I. 30 notatus. Vol. I. p. xxvi ... I. 33 sciureus. Vol. I. p. xxvi ... I. 31 Short-headed . I. 32 Squirrel-like I. 31 Stripe-tailed I. 33 Bettong II. 77 Bettongia campestris. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. II. 76 cuniculus. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . . II. 73 fasciata II. 65 Gouldi II. 72 Graii. Vol. I. p. xxxiv ... II. 74 Grayii II. 74 Ogilbii II. 72 Ogilbyi. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . . II. 72 penicillata. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . . II. 71 rufescens. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . - II. 75 setosa II. 73 Boomer II. 2 Boof-dee II. 74 Bul-loo-wa I. 38 Bundaary II. 2 Bur-da I. 10 Bur-jad-da. Vol. I. p. xxviii. Canis Dingo. Vol. I. p. xxxix . III. 51, 52 familiaris, var. Australasia: . . III. 52 Cheeropus castanotis. Vol. I. p. xxiv. I. 10 Chestnut-eared I. 10 ecaudatus I. 10 Chrysseus austral ise III. 52 Conilurus constructor III. 1 Cuscus brevicaudatus. Vol. I. p. xxv. I. 28 Short-tailed I. 28 Dal-gyte I. 11 Dama. Vol. I. p. xxxi. Dasyurus cynoeephalus I. 61 Geoffroyi. Vol. I. p. xxviii . . I. 58 Geoffroy’s I. 58 hallucatus. Vol. I. p. xxviii . . I. 59 macrourus I. 56 maculatus. Vol. I. p. xxviii . . I. 56 Maugei I. 57 minimus. Vol. I. p. xxvii. North- Australian I. 59 penicillatus . I. 38 Spotted-tailed I. 56 Tafa I. 38 ursinus I. 55 Variable I. 57 viverrinus. Vol. I. p. xxviii . . I. 57 Vol. Tage Dasyurus (Sarcophilus) ursinus. . . I. 55 Dendrolagus inustus. Vol. I. p. xxxiii. II. 57 ursinus. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . . II. 56 Devil I. 55 Native I. 55 Diabolus ursinus I. 55 Dib-bler I. 46 Didelphis Asiatica II. 58 Brunii II. 58 cynocephala I. 61 gigantea II. 2 guttatus I. 57 Petaurus I. 30 pygmEea I. 35 ursina . I. 55, 63 viverrina I. 57 Didelphys lemurina I. 22 macroura I. 30 obesula . I. 16 penicillata I. 38 sciurea I. 31 volucella I. 30 vulpina I. 22 Dil-pea III. 17 Dingo, The III. 51, 52 Dipus Mitchelli III. 9 Dju-tytch. Vol. I. p. xxviii. Djyr-dow-in III. 9 Dol-goitch I. 11 Dorcopsis Bruni. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . II. 58 Brunii II. 58 Dromicia, Beautiful I. 37 concinna. Vol. I. p. xxvi ... I. 37 gliriformis. Vol. I. p. xxvi . . I. 36 Neillii. Vol. I. p. xxvi. Thick-tailed . I. 36 unicolor. Vol. I. p. xxvi. Dun-ung-er-de I. 5 Dwer-da. Vol. I. p. xxxix. Echidna aculeata I. 5 Australiensis I. 5 breviaculeata I. 7 Hairy I. 7 Hystrix. Vol. I. p. xxiii ... I. 5 longiaculeata ....... I. 5 setosa. Vol. I. p. xxiii ... I. 7 Spiny . I. 5 Filander II. 58 Forester .II. 2 Gool-a-wa III. 8 Goo-mal. Vol. I. p. xxv. Goorh-a II. 27 Gwen- dee I, 16 Halicore australis. Vol. I. p. xxxix. a GENERAL INDEX. Vol. Page Ilalmaturus agilis. Vol. I. p. xxx .11. 30, 31 Asiaticus . II. 58 Bennetti . II. 21, 22 Bennettii. Vol. I. p. xxx . II. 22 Billardieri. Vol. I. p. xxxii . . II. 41, 42 Binoe 31 brachytarsus . II. 42 braehyurus. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . II. 43, 44 Brunii 58 Dama. Vol. I. p. xxxi. Derbianus. Vol. I. p. xxx . II. 35, 36 dorsalis. Vol. I. p. xxx . . .11. 32, 33 elegans 65 Emilias . II. 36 Eugenii . II. 36 gracilis. Vol. I. p. xxxii. Greyi. Vol. I. p. xxx . . . . II. 24, 25 Greyii . II. 25 griseo-fuscus . II. 2 griseo-rufus . II. 20 Houtmanni. Vol. I. p. xxx . . II. 36 leptonyx 22 Lessonii . II. 29 manicatus. Vol. I. p. xxx . II. 26, 27 nemoralis . II. 29 nuchalis . II. 38 Parma. Vol. I. p. xxx . . . II. 34 Parryii . II. 18 ruficollis. Vol. I. p. xxx . . .11. 19, 20 stigmaticus. Vol. I. p. xxxii . II. 39, 40 Thetidis. Vol. I. p. xxxii . II. 37, 38 Ualabatus. Vol. I. p. xxx . II. 28, 29 (Thylogale) brevicaudatus . . II. 44 ( ) Tasmanei .... . II. 42 Hapalotis albipes. Vol. I. p. xxxv . III. 1 apicalis. Vol. I. p. xxxv . . . III. 2 arboricola. Vol. I. p. xxxv. Building . III. 6 cervinus. Vol. I. p. xxxv . III. 10 conditor. Vol. I. p. xxxv . III. 6 Elsey’s . III. 3 Fawn-coloured . III. 10 Gouldii . III. 9 hemileucura. Vol. I. p. xxxv . III. 3 hirsutus. Vol. I. p. xxxv . III. 4 Long-haired . III. 4 longicaudata. Vol. I. p. xxxv . III. 8 Long-tailed . III. 8 melanura . III. 5 Mitchellii. Vol. I. p. xxxv . . III. 9 Mitchell’s . III. 9 Murine . III. 7 murinus. Vol. I. p. xxxv . III. 7 Pencil-tailed . III. 5 penicillata. Vol. I. p. xxxv . . III. 5 White-footed . III. 1 White-tipped III. 2 Hepoona Cookii I. 24 Heteropus albogularis. Vol. I. p. xxxiii II. 46 Hyaena 61 Hydromys chrysogaster. Vol. I. p.xxxvi. III. 24 fuliginosus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi III. 27 fulvolavatus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . III. 25 leucogaster. Vol. I. p. xxxvi Lutrilla. Vol. I. p. xxxvi. III. 26 Hypsiprymnus apicalis. Vol. I. p. xxxiv II. 78 Bruni 58 cuniculus formosus. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. II. 73 Gilberti. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . . II. 79 Graii Hunteri. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. II. 74 Vol. Page Hypsiprymnus Lesueuri II. 74 melanotis II, 75 micropus II. 79 minor. Yol. I. p. xxxiv. murinus. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . . II. 71, 77 myosurus II. 77 Ogilbyi II. 72 Peron II. 77 Phillippi. Yol. I. p. xxxiv. platyops. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . . II. 80 rufescens II. 75 setosus II. 71, 77 Whitei. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. (Bettongia) campestris .... II. 76 ( ) cuniculus II. 73 ( ) Graii II. 74 ( ) Ogilbyi II. 72 ( ) penicillatus II. 71 (Potoroiis) Gilbertii II. 79 ( ) murinus II. 77 ( ) platyops II. 80 Isoodon obesula I. 16 Jee-pin I. 9 Jib-beetcli III. 20 Jup-pert HI. 21 Kangaroo a cou roux II. 20 Branded Hare- II. 65 Black Tree- II. 56 Blue .II. 27 Bridled Nail-tailed II. 62 Broad-faced Rat- II. 80 Brown Tree- II. 57 Brush II. 22, 27 Gilbert’s Rat- II. 79 Gray’s Jerboa- II. 74 Great Grey II. 1, 2 Great Red 11.9,10 Hare II. 67 Jerboa- II. 71 Leichardt’s Hare II. 70 Lunated Nail-tailed II. 64 Nail-tailed II. 60, 61 New South Wales Rat- ... II. 77 Rufous Hare II. 68 Rufous Jerboa- II. 75 Ogilby’s Jerboa- II. 72 Old Man II. 2 Plain-loving Jerboa- .... II. 76 Rat II. 77 Sooty II. 8 Spectacled Hare- II. 69 Tasmanian Jerboa- II. 73 Tasmanian Rat- II. 78 West- Australian Great . . . . II. 6, 7 Kangarus fasciatus II. 65 Kanguroo II. 2 Kangurou geant II. 8 Kangurus Billardierii II. 42 braehyurus II. 44 Brunii II. 29 fuliginosus II. 8 Gaimardi. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. labiatus II. 2 laniger II. 10 lepturus. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. pencillatus II. 46 penicillatus II. 46 Rat, Forest ....... II. 73 ruficollis II. 20 Vol. Tage Kangurus rufo-g-riseus .... II. 20 rufus II. 10 Ualabatus II. 29 King-goor. Vol. I. p. xxvii. Koala 1. 18, 19 Koala, ou Goulak I. 19 Koala Wombat I. 19 Kor-tung III. 8 Kurn-dyne III. 19 Lagorchestes albipilis II. 65 conspicillata II. 69 eonspicillatus. Vol. I. p. xxxiii II. 69 fasciatus. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . II. 65 gymnotus. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. hirsutus. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . II. 68 Leichardti. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . II. 70 Leporo'ides. Vol. I. p. xxxiii. II. 67 Leopard, Sea III. 50 Lipurus cinereus I. 19 Macropus Bennettii . . II. 22 brachiotis II. 54 Brunii II. 58 elegans II. 18 frsenatus II. 62 fuliginosus. Vol. I. p. xxix . . II. 2, 8 giganteus II. 2 gracilis. Vol. I. p. xxxii. laniger 10 lanigerus 10 Leporides 67 lunatus 64 major. Vol. I. p. xxix II. 1,2 melanops. Vol. I. p. xxix . . II. 2 minor ... .... 77 ocydromus. Vol. I. p. xxix . II. 2, 6,7 Parryi 18 penicillatus II. 46 robustus 15 ruficollis 20 ruficollis, var. Bennettii . . . II. 22 rufo-griseus 20 Ualabatus II. 29 unguifer 61 veterum 58 (Ilalmaturus) agilis . . . . II. 31 ( ) Antilopinus II. 13 ( ) Billardieri II. 42 ( ) braehyurus II. 44 ( ) Derbianus II. 36 ( ) dorsalis II. 33 ( ) fructicus II. 22 ( ) Greyi II. 25 ( ) Irma 27 ( ) manicatus . . . . , II. 27 ( ) Parma II. 34 ( ) Parryi II. 18 ( — — ) robustus II. 15 ( ) ruficollis . . . . . . II. 20 ( ) rufiventer II. 42 ( ) rufus II. 10 ( ) Thetidis II. 38 ( ) Ualabatus II. 29 (Heteropus) brachiotis .... II. 54 ( ) concinnus ..... II. 55 ( ) inornatus II. 53 ( ) lateralis II. 49 ( ) penicillatus II. 46 (Lagorchestes) eonspicillatus . . II. 69 (— — ) fasciatus II. 65 ( ) hirsutus II. 68 GENERAL INDEX, Vol. Page Macropus (Lagorchestes) Leporoi'des . II. 67 (Ospliranter) pictus. Vol. I. p. xxix. (Petrogale) brackyotis .... II. 54 ( ) robustus II. 15 Mal-a I. 14 Man-dur-da I. 37 Marn-dera I. 46 Mar-ra-a-woke II. 13 Martin, Spotted * I. 56 Mat-tee-getch III. 9 Molossus, Australian III. 31 Australis. Vol. I. p. xxxvii . . III. 31 Mo-lyne-be III. 23 Mobr-deet » . . . III. 15 Moo-roo-rong II. 49 Mouse, Delicate-coloured .... III. 23 Greyish-white III. 21 New Holland Pield III. 22 White-footed III. 19 Mus albocinereus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . III. 21 assimilis. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . III. 15 cervinipes. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . III. 14 conditor III. 6 delicatulus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . III. 23 fuscipes. Vol. I. p. xxxv . . . III. 11 Gouldi. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . . III. 19 Gouldii III. 19 gracilicaudatus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi. Greyii III. 19 hirsutus III. 4 lineolatus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . III. 18 longipilis. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . III. 13 lutreola III. 11 manicatus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . III. 16 nanus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . . III. 20 Novse-Hollandise. Vol. I. p. xxxvi III. 22 penicillatus III. 5 sordidus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . III. 17 vellerosus. Vol. I. p. xxxvi . . III. 12 Mustela Novs-Hollandiae .... I. 56 Myrmecobius, Banded I. 8 fasciatus. Vol. I. p. xxxiv . . I. 8 Myrmeeophaga aculeata I. 5 Nagoor-ja-na. Vol. I. p. xxviii. Ngil-gyte II. 79 Ngool-boon-goor I. 9 Ngoor-joo III. 27 Ngo-ra. Vol. I. p. xxv. Ngork. Vol. I. p. xxv. Ngw'fr-ri-gin III. 27 Noctulinia Tasmaniensis III. 48 Noo-jee III. 31 Noom-bat I. 8 Nyctinomus ........ III. 37 Nyctopkilus australis. Vol. I. p. xxxviii. Geoffroyi. Vol. I. p, xxxviii . . III. 37 Geoffroyi*. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . III. 36 Geoffroy’s III. 36, 37 Gouldi. Vol. I. p. xxxviii. Tasmanian III. 38 Timoriensis. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . III. 39 unicolor. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . . III. 38 Western III. 39 Nyem-mel I. 14 Nyoong-arn I. 5 Onycbogalea fraenata. Vol. I. p. xxxiii II. 62 lunata. Vol. I. p. xxxiii ... II. 64 unguifer. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . . II. 6 ] unguifera II. 60 Opossum, Dog-beaded I. 61 Vol. Page Opossum kirsutum I. 63 Javan II. 58 New Holland I. 24 Bing-tailed I. 24 Spotted I. 57 Vulpine I. 22 White-tailed I. 24 Zebra I- 61 Ornithorhynchus I. 1 anatinus. Vol. I. p. xxiii ... I. 1 brevirosti'is I. 1 crispus I. 1 fuscus I. 1 Hystrix I. 5 laevis I. 1 paradoxus I. 1 rufus I. 1 Osphranter Antilopinus. Vol.I.p.xxx II. 12,13 ? Isabellinus. Vol. I. p. xxx. ? Parryi. Vol. I. p. xxx . . .II. 17, 18 robustus. Vol. I. p. xxx . . .II. 14, 15 rufus. Vol. I. p. xxix. . . .II. 9,10 Otam-in I. 49 Otaria cinerea III. 49 jubata III. 49 Lemairii III. 49 Stelleri III. 49 Pademelon II. 38 Paragalia lagotis I. II Peracyon cynoceplialus I. 61 Peragalea lagotis. Vol. I. p. xxiv . I. 11 Large-eared I. 11 Perameles affinis I. 16 arenaria I. 14 aurita I. 15 Banded I. 12 Bougainvillei. Vol. I. p. xxv. fasciata. Vol. I. p. xxiv ... I. 12 fossor I. 63 fusciventer I. 16 Gunnii. Vol. I. p. xxiv ... I. 13 Gunn’s. . . . I. 13 lagotis I. 11 Lawsoni . I. 15 Long-nosed I. 15 macroura. Vol. I. p. xxiv. macrurus. Vol. I. p. xxiv. myosurus. Vol. I. p. xxiv . . I. 14 nasuta. Vol. I. p. xxiv ... I. 15 obesula. Vol. I. p. xxiv ... I. 16 Saddle-backed I. 14 Short-nosed I. 16 Petaurista flaviventer I. 30 Peronii I. 29 Taguano'ides. Vol. I. p. xxvi . I. 29 (Aerobata) pygmsea I. 35 Petaurus Ariel I. 34 australis I. 30 breviceps I. 32 Cunningkami I. 30 leueogaster I. 29 macrourus . I. 30 Peronii I. 29, 32 pygmseus I. 35 sciureus I. 31 Taguano'ides I. 29 (Aerobata) pyguueus .... I. 35 (Belideus) Ariel I. 34 ( ) breviceps I. 32 ( ) flaviventer I. 30 ( ) notatus I. 33 Vol. Page Petaurus (Belideus) sciureus . . I. 31 (Petaurista) taguano'ides ... I. 29 Petrogale brackyotis. Vol. I. p. xxxiii II. 54 concinna. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . . II. 55 inornata. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . . II. 52, 53 lateralis. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . . II. 48, 49 penicillata. Vol, I. p. xxxiii . . II. 45, 46 penicillatus II. 46 xanthopus. Vol. I. p. xxxiii . . II. 50, 51 Phalanger de Bougainville .... I. 24 de Cook I. 22, 24 Great Plying I. 29 Woolly I. 27 Phalangista Banksii I. 24 Bougainvillii I. 24 canina. Vol. I. p. xxv ... I. 23 Cooki I. 24, 25 Cookii. Vol. I. p. xxv. ... I. 24 Cook’s I. 24 Cuvieri I. 21 felina. Vol. I. p. xxv .... I. 21 fuliginosa. Vol. I. p. xxv . . I. 21 gliriformis I. 36 laniginosa. Vol. I. p. xxv . . I. 27 melanura. Vol. I. p. xxv ... I. 22 Short-eared ....... I. 23 Sooty I. 21 viverrina. Vol. I. p. xxv ... I. 25 Viverrine I. 25 vulpina. Vol. I. p. xxv ... I. 22 Vulpine I. 22 xanthopus I. 22 (Pseudochirus) Cookii .... I. 24 ( ) nudicaudata I. 28 (Trichosurus) vulpina .... I. 22 Phascogale affinis. Vol. I. p. xxvii. albipes I. 49 apicalis I. 46 Brush-tailed I. 38 calura. Vol. I. p. xxvii ... I. 39 crassicaudata I. 45 flavipes I. 47 Handsome-tailed I. 39 lanigera. Vol. I. p. xxvii ... I. 40 leueogaster I. 45 leucopus I. 42 minima. Vol. I. p. xxvii. murina I. 60 penicillata. Vol. I. p. xxvii . . I. 38 rufogaster I. 47 Swainsonii I. 41 Woolly I. 40 (Antechinus) albipes .... I. 49 ( ) flavipes I. 47 ( ■) leueogaster I. 45 ( ) leucopus I. 42 ( ) macroura I. 53 ( — ) minima. Vol. I. p. xxvii. ( ) murina I. 50 ( — ) Swainsonii I. 41 Phascolarctos cinereus. Vol. I. p. xxv. I. 18, 19 Flindersi ........ I. 19 fuscus I. 19 Phascolarctus cinereus I. 19 Phascolomys Bassii I. 63 fossor I. 63 fusca I. 63 lasiorhinus. Vol. I. p. xxix . . I. 67, 68 latifrons. Vol. I. p. xxviii . . I. 65, 66 niger. Vol. I. p. xxix. platyrhinus. Vol. I. p. xxviii. ursinus I. 63 GENERAL INDEX. Vol. Page Phaseolomys Wombat. Vol. I. p. xxviii I. 62, 63 wombatus .1. 63 Pboca Homei III. 50 leptonyx III. 50 lobata III. 49 ursina III. 50 Phoque quatrieme III. 50 Platypus anatinus I. 1 Plecotus Timoi'iensis III. 39 Podabrus crassicaudatus. Vol. I. p. xxviii I. 54 Large-tailed I. 53 macrourus. Vol. I. p. xxviii . . I. 53 Thick-tailed I. 54 Poto-Roo . II. 77 Potoroiis murinus II. 77 Pseudocheirus nudicaudata .... I. 28 Pteropus conspicillatus. Vol. I. p. xxxvii III. 29 funereus. Vol. I. p. xxxvii . . III. 30 poliocepbalus. Vol. I. p. xxxvii . III. 28 scapulatus. Vol. I. p. xxxvii. Quak-a II. 44 Quar-ra II. 27 Quoint I. 16 Rabbit I. 11 Rabbit-Rat III. 1 Rat, Allied III. 15 Buff-footed III. 14 Dusky-footed III. 11 Fulvous Beaver III. 25 Golden-bellied Beaver- .... III. 24 Little III. 20 Long-haired III. 13 Plain III. 18 Sooty Beaver- III. 27 Sordid III. 17 Rabbit- III. 1 Tawny III. 12 White-bellied Beaver- .... III. 26 White-footed III. 16 Rhinolophus aurantius. Vol. I. p. xxxviii III. 35 ? cervinus. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . III. 34 megaphyllus. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . III. 33 I Vol. Page Sareophilus Ursinus. Vol. I. p. xxviii. I. 55 Sciurus Novse-Hollandife I. 30 Scotophilus, Blackisli-grey .... III. 44 Gouldi. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . . III. 40 Gouldii III. 40 Greyi. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . . . III. 45 Greyii III. 45 Grey’s III. 45 microdon. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . III. 42 morio. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . . . III. 41 nigrogriseus. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . III. 44 picatus. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . . III. 43 Pied III. 43 pumilus. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . . III. 46 Seal, Cowled III. 49 from New Georgia III. 50 Small-nailed III. 50 Sloth, Native I. 19 New Holland I. 19 Squirrel, Norfolk Island Flying . . I. 31 Sugar I. 31 Stenorhynchus leptonyx. Vol. I. p.xxxix III. 50 aux petits ongles III. 50 Tachyglossus aculeatus I. 5 setosus I. 7 Taphozous, Australian III. 32 Australis. Vol. I. p. xxxvii . . III. 32 Tapoa-tafa I. 38, 57 Tarsipes, Long-nosed I. 9 rostratus. Vol. I. p. xxiv . . I. 9 Spenser® I. 9 Thylacinus I. 60, 61 cynocephalus. Vol. I. p. xxviii . I. 60, 61 Harrisii I. 61 Thylogale Eugenii. Vol. I. p. xxx. Tiger I. 61 Twoor-dong I. 48 Vampire, Funereal III. 30 Grey-headed . III. 28 Spectacled III. 29 Vespertilio III. 43 macropus. Vol. I. p. xxxviii . III. 47 Muelleri. Vol. I. p. xxxviii. Tasmaniensis. Vol. I. p. xxxix . III. 48 Vol. Page Vespertilio Timoriensis III. 39 Viverra maculata I. 56 Wai-haw I. 8 Wallaby II. 42 Agile II. 30, 31 Bennett’s II. 21, 22 Black II. 28, 29 Black-gloved II. 26, 27 Black-striped II. 32, 33 Branded II. 39, 40 Brush-tailed Rock II. 45, 46 Derby’s II. 35, 36 Grey’s II. 24, 25 Little Rock II. 55 Pademelon II. 37, 38 Parma II. 34 Rufous-necked II. 19, 20 Short-eared Rock ..... II. 54 Short-tailed II. 43, 44 Stripe-sided Rock II. 48, 49 Tasmanian II. 41, 42 Unadorned Rock II. 52, 53 Yellow-footed Rock II. 50, 51 Wallaroo, Black II. 14, 15 Parry’s II. 17, 18 Red II. 12, 13 Wal-ya. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. Warroon II. 20 Wha Tapoa Roo I. 22 Woile. Vol. I. p. xxxiv. Wolf, Zebra- , I. 61 Womback I. 63 Wombat I. 62, 63 Broad-fronted I. 65, 66 Hairy-nosed I. 67, 68 Koala I. 19 of Flinders I. 19 Wombatus fossor I. 63 Wor-gi I. 34 Work II. 7 Wot-da I. 10 Wy-a-lung I. 46 Yerbua gigantea II. 2 Yoon-gur II. 7 Sareophilus, Ursine 55 LIST OF PLATES VOL. I. Ornithorhynchus anatinus Echidna hystrix setosa Myrmecobius fasciatus Tarsipes rostratus . Choeropus castanotis Peragalea lagotis Perameles fasciata . Gunnii myosurus . nasuta obesula Phascolarctos cinereus Phalangista fuliginosa vulpina canina ■ — Cookii Viverrina . lanuginosa . Cuscus brevicaudatus Petaurista Taguanoides . Belideus flaviventer . Sciureus . breviceps . notatus Ariel . Acrobates pygmseus Dromicia gliriformis concinna . Phascogale penicillata calura lanigera Antechinus Swainsoni • — leucopus . ferruginifrons • — unicolor ■ leucogaster — apicalis flavipes — fuliginosus albipes murinus maculatus . minutissimus Podabrus macrourus crassicaudatus . Sarcophilus ursinus . Dasyurus maculatus Viverrinus Geoffroyi . ■ hallucatus . Thylacinus cynocephalus . Phascolomys Wombat ^ — latifrons lasiorhinus Ornithorhynchus Spiny Echidna . Hairy Echidna . Banded Myrmecobius Long-nosed Tarsipes . Chestnut-eared Chosropus . Long-eared Peragalea Banded Perameles Gunn’s Perameles Saddle-backed Perameles . Long-nosed Perameles Short-nosed Perameles Koala .... Sooty Phalangista Vulpine Phalangista . Short-eared Phalangista Cook’s Phalangista Viverrine Phalangista . Woolly Phalanger Short-tailed Cuscus Great Flying Phalanger Long-tailed Belideus . Squirrel-like Belideus Shoi't-headed Belideus Stripe-tailed Belideus Ariel Belideus . Pigmy Acrobates Thick-tailed Dromicia Beautiful Dromicia Brush-tailed Phascogale Handsome-tailed Phascogale Woolly Phascogale Swainson’s Antechinus White-footed Antechinus . Rusty-fronted Antechinus . Dusky Antechinus White-bellied Antechinus . Freckled Antechinus . Rusty-footed Antechinus . Sooty Antechinus White-footed Antechinus . Murine Antechinus Spotted Antechinus . Minute Antechinus Large-tailed Podabrus Thick-tailed Podabrus Ursine Sarcophilus Spotted-tailed Dasyurus Variable Dasyurus Geoffroy’s Dasyurus . North Australian Dasyurus Thylacinus Wombat .... Broad-fronted Wombat Hairy-nosed Wombat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 , 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 . 50 51 52 53 , 54 55 , 56 57 , 58 59 , 60 OJR.KITHOIUIXKCHUS akatiftus ORNITHORHYNCHUS ANATINUS. Ornithorhynchus. Platypus Anatinus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., vol. x. pi. 385. — lb. Gen. Zool., vol. i. part i. p. 229. pis. 66 & 67. Gray, List of Mamm, in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 191. Ornithorhynchus paradoxus, Blumenbach in Voigt’s Magaz., tom. ii. p. 305. pi. 41. — Home in Phil. Trans. 1800, p. 432, and 1802, p. 67.— Cuv. Regn. Anim. Edit. 1829, tom. i. p. 235.— Meckel, Ornith. paradoxi desc. anatom., Lips. 1826, fol. — Owen in Trans. Zool. Soc., vol. i. p. 221. — Bennett in Trans. Zool. Soc., vol. i. p. 229. fuscus et rufus, Peron, Voy. de Decouv., tom. i. pi. 34. figs. 1 & 2. — Leach, Zool. Misc., vol. ii. p. 136. pi. 3. — Desm. Mamm., part ii. p. 380. hrevirostris, Ogilby in Proc. of Comm, of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 150. crispus et Icevis, MacGill. in Mem. of the Wernerian Soc. 1832, p. 127. Anatinus, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 25. On commencing a history of the Ornithorhynchus , the mind naturally reverts to the period of its first discovery ; a period so recent, that the animal was unknown to Linnaeus and the older authors. It was in 1799 that a description of this singular quadruped first appeared in the “Naturalists’ Miscellany” of Dr. Shaw; about this time also, the Koala, Wombat, Kangaroo, Emu, Menura, Cereopsis, and Black Swan were made known. These important discoveries gave an extraordinary impulse to the study of natural history, and set the whole scientific community wondering at the paradoxical creations of the distant country known by the name of Australia. Unquestionably the most singular and anomalous of all these animals was the Ornithorhynchus, with the habits and economy of which, as well as the mode of its reproduction, we are even now, after an interval of fifty-five years, but imperfectly acquainted. It is true that Professor Owen has given an elaborate paper on its anatomy and physiology in the “ Transactions of the Zoological Society of London,” and that the same work contains Mr. Bennett’s interesting account of his observations of the animal in a state of nature and in captivity ; still I am persuaded that much more remains to be ascertained and made known respecting this extraordinary type among quadrupeds. Although the ornithology of Australia almost exclusively engrossed my attention during my interesting visit to that country, I did not fail to notice the mammals which crossed my path and by which I was always surrounded. The Ornitho- rhynchus especially attracted my attention, as I frequently met with it both while ascending the rivers in Van Diemen’s Land and while encamped beside the quiet pools of New South Wales. I endeavoured to determine the centre of its area and to trace the extent of its range, but was not entirely successful, nor have they yet been accurately ascertained : Van Diemen’s Land, and the south-eastern part of the continent from Moreton Bay to Port Philip, are the only portions of that great country whence I have received specimens, or where I have heard of it existing. In New South Wales it is common in the streams and rivers flowing from the mountain ranges to the sea, as well as in those descending towards the interior. It is equally numerous in all the tributaries which feed the great rivers Darling and Murray ; and if it be not now plentiful in the Hawkesbury, Hunter, See., the diminution in its numbers is solely due to the wholesale destruction dealt out to it by the settlers, which, if not restrained, will ere long lead to the utter extirpation of this harmless and inoffensive animal, a circumstance which would be much to be regretted ; it is in fact often killed from mere wantonness, or at most for no more useful purpose than to make slippers of its skin. Some zoologists have entertained the opinion that there are more than one species of this form, and that the animal inhabiting Van Diemen’s Land, with stiff wiry hairs, particularly on the tail, where they, moreover, nearly cross each other at right angles, is specifically different from that found on the continent, which is generally of a smaller size, and of which the hairy covering is more sleek and glossy ; I believe, however, that no tangible specific differences will be found, and that the variations in question are due to localization alone ; much variety is also found in the colouring of the under surface, but as this occurs both in island and continental specimens, it cannot he regarded as a matter of importance. In many of its habits and actions, and in much of its economy, the Ornithorhynchus assimilates very closely to the Common Water Vole of this country ( Armenia amphibius, Desm.) ; frequenting as it does similar situations, climbing stumps of trees and snags which lie prostrate in the beds of rivers, and burrowing in the hank side in an upward direction, a retreat to which it resorts during the day or on the approach of danger. If it be not strictly nocturnal, it is in the early morning and evening and in lowery weather only that it is to be seen during the daytime. It swims with great ease, and frequents alike the rushy banks of the great rivers near the sea, and the silent, tranquil pools of the interior. Its mode of swimming is very singular and not always alike ; sometimes the body of the animal, heaver-like, is partly raised above the surface, while at others, particularly in the still pools, every part is submerged except the upper surface of the hill and nostrils, and these being but sufficiently elevated above the water to enable the animal to breathe, 2 it is only by the little rings which this operation creates upon the glassy surface that its presence can be detected. I have frequently come suddenly upon it while ascending the reedy sides of the Derwent in a boat, when it instantly dived, with an audible splash, caused apparently by the hasty flap of its broad tail. I could say much more respecting the habits of this curious quadruped. In the volume of the “ Transac- tions. of the Zoological Society ” above referred to, Mr. Bennett states that : — “ The Ornithorhynchus is known to the colonists by the name of Water -Mole , from some resemblance which it is supposed to bear to the common European Mole, Talpa Europrea, Linn. : by the native tribes at Bathurst and Goulburn Plains, and in the Yas, Murrumbidgee, and Tumat countries, I found it designated by the name of Mullangong or Tambreet ; hut the latter is more in use among them than the former. It is very abundant in the river Yas, particularly in the tranquil parts of the stream called ‘ ponds,’ the surface of which is covered with various aquatic plants. On perceiving it, the spectator must remain perfectly stationary, as the slightest noise or movement would cause its instant disappearance, so acute is it in sight or hearing, or perhaps both ; and it seldom reappears when it has been frightened. By remaining perfectly quiet when the animal is ‘ up,’ the spectator is enabled to obtain an excellent view of its move- ments ; it seldom, however, remains longer than one or two minutes, playing and paddling on the surface, soon diving again and reappearing a short distance above or below, generally according to the direction in which it dives, which it does head foremost. “ The various contradictory accounts that have been given, on the authority of the aborigines, as to the animal laying eggs and hatching them, induced me to take some pains to find out the cause of error, and being perfectly satisfied, from an internal examination of a female, that ora were produced in the uteri, I could the more readily determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of the accounts which I might receive from the natives. “ The Yas natives at first asserted that the animal lays eggs, but shortly afterwards contradicted themselves. In the Tumat country the answers were readily and satisfactorily given — ‘ No egg tumble down ; pickaninny make tumble down ’ — which accorded with my own observations. “ On the 7th of October, I accompanied an aborigine, called Daraga, to the hanks 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 other herbaceous plants abounded, my guide, putting aside the long grass, displayed the entrance to the 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 in a 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 seeks 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 mud or gravel : this latter might be required to aid digestion, as I never observed the food unmingled with it. The natives say that they also feed on river 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 pouches ; but he observed that in that part of the river aquatic insects were very scarce. The young are suckled at first, and afterwards fed with insects, &c., mingled with mud. “ Having captured one alive, I placed it in a cask, with grass, mud, water, and everything necessary to make it comfortable. It ran round its place of confinement, scratching and making great efforts to get out ; but finding them useless, became quite tranquil, contracted itself into a small compass, and soon fell asleep. At night it became very restless, and diligently sought to escape, going round the cask with the fore paws raised against the sides and the webs thrown back, and scratching violently with the claws of the fore feet, as if to burrow its way out. In the morning I found it fast asleep, with the tail turned inwards, the head and beak under the breast, and the body contracted into a very small compass ; subsequently, however, I observed it sleeping with the tail turned inwards, the body contracted, and the beak protruded. When disturbed from its sleep, it uttered a noise something like the growl of a puppy, but in a softer and more harmonious key. Although quiet for the greater part of the day, it constantly made efforts to escape, and uttered a growling noise during the night.” Shortly after this, Mr. Bennett started for Sydney, taking with him his interesting captive. “ En route,” he availed himself of the vicinity of some ponds, inhabited by these animals, to give it a little recreation; “ and accordingly tied a long cord to its leg and roused it from its sleep ; when placed on the bank it soon found its way to the water, and travelled up the stream, apparently delighting in those places which most abounded with aquatic weeds. Although it dived in deep water, it appeared to prefer keeping close 3 to the bank, occasionally thrusting its beak (with a motion similar to that of a Duck when it feeds) among the mud, and at the roots of the weeds lining the margin of the ponds, which we may readily suppose to be tbe resort of insects. After it had wandered some distance, it crawled up the bank, and lying down on the grass, enjoyed the luxury of scratching itself and rolling about. In this process of cleaning itself, the hind claws were alone brought into use ; first the claws of one hind leg, then those of the other. The body being so capable of contraction was readily brought within reach of the hind feet, and the head also was brought so close as to have its share in the cleaning process. The animal remained for upwards of an hour thus engaged, after which it had a more sleek and glossy appearance. It permitted me to smooth it gently over the back, but disliked being handled. “ On the 28 th of December I visited a very beautiful part of the Wollondilly River, which has the native name of Koroa, and explored a burrow, the termination of which was thirty-five feet from the entrance. Extensive as this may appear, burrows have been found of even fifty feet in length. On arriving at the termination a growling was distinctly heard, which upon further search was found to proceed from two full- furred young ones, a male and a female, coiled up asleep, and which growled exceedingly at being exposed to the light of day. They measured ten inches from the extremity of the beak to that of the tail ; had a most beautifully sleek and delicate appearance, and seemed never to have left the burrow. When awakened and placed on the ground, they moved about, but did not make such wild attempts to escape as the old ones do when caught. Shortly afterwards a female was captured, which was no doubt the mother ; she was in a ragged and wretchedly poor condition ; her fur was rubbed in several places and she seemed in a very weak state. The eyes of the natives glistened and their mouths watered when they saw the fine condition of the young mullangongs, and they frequently and earnestly exclaimed, ‘ Cobbong fat ’ (large, or very fat), and ‘Murry budgeree patta’ (very good to eat). They said they were more than eight moons old ; if so, they must have been tbe young of the previous season. “ The young animals sleep in various postures ; sometimes in an extended position, and often rolled up like a hedgehog. One lies curled up like a dog, keeping its beak warm with the flattened tail brought over it ; while another lies stretched on its back, the head resting by way of pillow upon the body of the old one, lying on its side, the delicate beak and smooth clean fur of the young contrasting with the rough and dirtier appearance of the mother. The favourite posture appears to be that of lying rolled up like a ball : this is effected by the fore paws being placed under the beak, with the head and mandibles bent down towards the tail, the hind paws crossed over the mandibles, and tbe tail turned up, thus completing the rotundity of the figure. “ Although furnished with a good thick coat of fur, they seemed particular about being kept warm. They would allow me to smooth the fur, but if their mandibles were touched they darted away immediately, those parts appearing to be remarkably sensitive. I could permit the young to run about as they pleased, but the old one was so restless, and damaged the walls of the room so much by attempts at burrowing, that I was obliged to keep her close prisoner. The little animals appeared often to dream of swimming, as I have frequently seen their fore paws in movement as if in that act. If placed on the ground in the daytime, they sought some dark corner for repose ; but when put in a dark corner or in a box, they huddled themselves up as soon as they became reconciled to the place, and went to sleep. They would sleep on a table, sofa, or indeed in any place ; but, if permitted, would always resort to that to which they had been accustomed. Still, although for days together they would sleep in the place made up for them, yet on a sudden they would repose behind a box or in some dark corner in preference. “When running they are exceedingly animated, their little eyes glisten, and the orifices of the ears contract and dilate with rapidity; if then taken into the hands for examination, they struggle violently to escape, and their loose integuments render it difficult to retain them. Their eyes being placed high in the head, they do not see objects well in a straight line, and consequently run against everything in their perambulations, spreading confusion among all light and readily overturnable articles. Occasionally they elevate the head, as if to observe objects above or around them. Sometimes I have been able to enter into play with them by scratching and tickling them with my finger ; they seemed to enjoy it exceedingly, opening their mandibles, biting playfully at the finger, and moving about like puppies indulged with similar treatment. Besides combing their fur to clean or dry it when wet, I have also seen them peck it with the beak, as a Duck would clean its feathers, by both which processes their coats acquire a clean and glossy appearance. “I was often surprised to find them on the summit of a book-case or some other elevated piece of furniture, and equally at a loss to imagine how they came there, until I at length discovered that it was effected by the animal placing its back against the wall and its feet against the book-case, and by means of the strong cutaneous muscles of the back and the claws of the feet, contriving to reach the top very expeditiously.” The number of young produced at one time has not been satisfactorily ascertained ; it has been stated that they are from two to four in number, but I believe that they rarely exceed two. When first born they are naked, and the beak does not resemble that of the adult, but is short, broad and thick, and fitted to embrace the mammary areola concealed by the hairs of the mother ; “ the tongue too,” says Professor Owen, “which in the adult is lodged far back in the mouth, advances in the young animal close to the 4 end of the lower mandibles ; and its disproportionate breadth is plainly indicative of the importance of the organ to the young animal, both in receiving’ and swallowing’ its food ; the thin fold of integument also, which surrounds the base of the mandibles, and extends the angle of the mouth from the base of the lower jaw to equal the breadth of the base of the upper one, must increase the facility for receiving the milk ejected from the mammary areola of the mother.” “While sucking,” says M. Verreaux, “the young continually rub or triturate the mother’s belly with the fore feet, and occasionally with the hinder ones. At the end of fifteen to twenty days the new born are covered with a silky hair, and are able to swim.” M. Verreaux also describes another mode by which the young obtain the lacteal fluid : “Having a considerable number of adults and young at my disposition, I saw the latter accompany their mothers, with which they played, especially when they were too far from the bank to take their nourishment. I observed that when they wished to procure it, they profited by the moment when the mother was amongst the aquatic plants near the land, where there is no current. The female having her back exposed, by the exercise of a strong pressure the milk floats to a little distance, and the young may suck it up with facility ; and thus they do, turning about so as to lose as little as possible. I cannot, perhaps, better compare the appearance of the greasy milk, under these circumstances, than to the iridescent colours produced by the solar rays upon stagnant water. 1 have witnessed this fact repeatedly, both daily and nightly. I have also remarked that the young, when fatigued, climbed upon the back of the mother, who brought it to land, where it caressed her. “ The body of this singular animal is covered with a fine, long and thick hair, underneath which is a finer, short, very soft fur, resembling the two distinct kinds of fur found in the Seal and Otter ; on the abdomen, breast and throat, the fur and hair are of a much finer quality and of a more silky nature than on the other parts of the body ; while on the upper surface of the tail the hair is longer and coarser. The general colour of the upper surface is a light black ; the under short fur is greyish ; the whole of the under surface is ferruginous ; immediately below the inner angle of the eye is a small spot of a light or pale yellow ; the legs are short, pentadactyle and webbed ; on the fore feet (which seem to have the greatest muscular power, and are in principal use for burrowing and swimming) the webs extend a short distance beyond the claws, are loose, and fall back when the animal burrows ; the claws are strong, blunt, and well adapted for burrowing ; the hind feet are short, narrow, turned backwards, and when the animal is at rest, have, like those of the Seal, some resemblance to a fin ; their action is backwards and outwards ; the nails are all curved backwards, and are longer and sharper than those of the fore feet ; the web does not extend further than the base of the claws. The head is rather flat, from which project two flat lips or mandibles, resembling the beak of a Shoveller Duck, the lower of which is shorter and narrower than the upper, and has its internal edges channeled with numerous stria, resembling in some degree those seen in the bill of a Duck. The colour of the superior mandible is of a dull dirty greyish- black, covered with innumerable minute dots ; the under part of the upper mandible is of a pale pink or flesh-colour, as is the internal or upper surface of the lower mandible, the under surface of which is either perfectly white or mottled, — in young specimens usually the former, in old ones the latter ; at the base of both mandibles is a transverse loose fold or flap of integument, always similar in colour to the skin covering the mandibles, that is, dull greyish-black above, and white or mottled below. In the upper mandible this is continued to the eyes, and may perhaps afford protection to those organs when the animal is burrowing or seeking food in the mud ; the upper fold or flap is continuous with another portion arising from the lower mandible also at its base ; the eyes are very small, but brilliant, and of a light brown. “ In young specimens, the under surface of the tail, as well as the hind and fore legs near the feet, are covered by fine hair of a beautiful silvery-white appearance ; this is lost, however, in the adult, in which the under surface of the tail is almost entirely destitute of hair. Whether this proceeds from its trailing along the ground, I know not ; but the prevailing opinion among the colonists, for which, however, I could not discover any foundation, is that it is occasioned by the animal using the tail as a trowel in the construction of its dwelling. “The only external difference in the sexes is the presence in the male of a spur, situated on the internal part of the leg, some distance above the claws ; this spur, which is moveable and turned backwards and inwards, was considered to be poisonous, but some experiments ” (instituted by Mr. Bennett) “ prove that it is innocuous : it is entirely wanting in the females. “ The size of the Ornithorhynchus varies, but the males are usually found to be slightly larger than the opposite sex; the average length is from 18 to 20 inches.” In conclusion, I must not omit to call attention to the very valuable details respecting the anatomy of this animal, given by Professor Owen and Mr. Bennett, in the “ Transactions of the Zoological Society ” above referred to. There will also be found in the “Revue Zoologique” for 1848 some very interesting particulars respecting the reproduction and other points in the economy of this animal, by M. Jules Verreaux, acquired by personal observation in Van Diemen’s Land. Professor Owen’s remarks on M. Verreaux’s observations, published in the “Annals and Magazine of Natural History” for 1848, may also be consulted with advantage. The Plate represents the two sexes about three-fourths of the natural size. ECHIDNA HYSTRIX, Cuv. Spiny Echidna. Myrmecophaga aculeata, Shaw, Nat. Misc., vol. iii. pi. 109. Aculeated Ant-eater , Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. pt. 1. p. 175. Ornithorhynchus Hystrix, Home, Phil. Trans. 1802, p. 348. Echidna Hystrix, Cuv. Rbg. Anim— Leach, Zool. Misc., vol. ii. t. 90.— List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus., p. 192. Tachyglossus aculeatus, (Illiger) Schreb. Saugth.,t. lxiii. B. Echidna longiaculeata, Tiedem. Zool., tom. i. p. 592. Australiensis, Lesson. aculeata, Waterh. Nat. Hist. Mamm., vol. i. p. 41. Dun-ung-er-de, Aborigines of the Toodyay and Guildford Districts of Western Australia. Nyoong-arn, Aborigines of the York district. The sandy and sterile districts which so frequently occur over the whole of the southern portions of the Australian continent constitute the native habitat of the Echidna Hystrix, hut although so very generally dispersed, it is nowhere abundant ; I have also met with it in the islands in Bass’s Straits, and Mr. Gilbert obtained a single example in Western Australia, which had been taken on a farm situate on the upper part of the eastern branch of the river Avon ; he subsequently learnt from the natives that it had been seen in the Toodyav district and in the vicinity of Guildford. No instance of its occurring to the northward of the colonies has yet been recorded, and in all probability, like the Ornithorhynchus, it is strictly confined to the southern part of the country. As I had but little opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the habits of this animal in a state of nature, and my friend George Bennett, Esq., has been more fortunate in this respect, I cannot perhaps do better than transcribe the account published by him in his ‘ Wanderings in New South Wales, See.’ “ Among other extraordinary animals furnished to the naturalist in this interesting country is the Echidna, or ‘ native Porcupine,’ the Nickobejan and Jannocumbine of the natives. It inhabits mountain ranges, burrowing with extraordinary facility, and producing its young in December. “ At Goul burn Plains the natives brought me a young living specimen of this animal which they had just caught upon the ranges : they called it Jannocumbine, and fed it upon ants and ants’ eggs. It was often taken to an ant-hill to provide itself with food : from being so young it had an unsteady walk, and was covered with short sharp spines projecting above the fur. On expressing a fear to the natives of not being able to keep it alive, they replied that ‘ it would not now die, as it had prickles on ; ’ meaning, I suppose, that it could feed and provide for itself, not requiring the fostering care of its parents. On asking whether it was a male or female, they examined the hind feet for the spurs, and, seeing them, declared it to be a male. It sleeps during the day, running about and feeding at night. Its movements are tardy, the principal exertions being made when burrowing. When touched upon the undersurface, or uncovered parts of its body, or when attacked by dogs, it rolls, like the hedgehog, into a spherical form, the prickly coat forming a good defence against the canine race, who have a decided aversion to have their noses pricked. When attacked, it has been known to burrow to a great depth in a surprising short period of time. “ The Echidna is eaten by the natives, who declare it to be ‘ very good, and, like pig, very fat.’ Europeans who have eaten of them confirm this opinion, and observe that they taste similar to a sucking- pig. This animal, when scratching, or rather cleaning itself, uses only the hind claws, lying in different positions, so as to enable it to reach the part of the body to be operated upon. The power of erecting the spines and rolling itself into a spherical form makes an excellent defence against many of its enemies. “ I consider that there are two species of this genus existing : first, E. Hystrix, or Spiny Echidna, which is found on the mountain ridges in the colony of New South Wales ; and the second, E. setosa, or Bristly Echidna, which is found more common in Van Diemen’s Land. The first species attains a large size ; it is stated in our works of natural history as being the size of a hedgehog ; my young specimen was fully that. At ‘ Newington,’ the residence of John Blaxland, Esq., I had an opportunity of seeing a specimen full four- teen inches long and of proportionate circumference ; it fed upon milk and eggs, the eggs boiled hard and chopped up small, with rice; its motion was heavy and slow; it was of a perfectly harmless disposition. When disturbed from its place of retreat it would feed during the day, but was difficult to remove from the cask in which it was placed, on account of its firmly fixing itself at the bottom; it feeds by thrusting out the tongue, to which organ the food is attached, and then withdrawing it. Mine moved about, and drank milk at night, taking little other food. After keeping it for nearly seven months, I found it one morning dead.” In a state of nature the food consists of ants, of which a never-failing supply can at all times be procured, I since this tribe of insects is probably more numerous in Australia than in any other part of the world ; they are procured by means of its protractile, lengthened, slender and flexible tongue, which is constantly kept lubricated with a viscous matter, to which the ants adhere. “To supply this secretion,” says Mr. Water- house in the work above quoted, “ the Echidna is provided with two enormous submaxillary glands, which extend from behind the ear to the fore-part of the chest. There are no teeth to the jaws, but the palatal portion of the mouth is armed with several rows of strong horny spines, the points of which are directed backwards ; and on the upper surface of the tongue are numerous small horny warts, between which and the palatal spines the prey of the animal is, no doubt, crushed before passing into the stomach.” Lieut. Breton states that “ occasionally the tongue is curved laterally, and the food as it were swept into the mouth.” The muzzle is covered with a naked purplish black skin ; the eyes are small and black ; the rather short and stout body is covered with a thick skin, particularly on the back, where it has to support the strong spines ; these are of a dirty white colour, more or less broadly tipped with black, sharply pointed, and about one inch and three-quarters in length ; they commence on the back part of the head, and extend over the whole upper surface of the body ; their points are directed backwards, and on the back inwards, so that they cross each other in the mesial line ; near the root of the tail they form a large tuft, radiating from two approximating centres, and hide the small rudimentary tail ; the head, with the exception of the hinder half of the upper surface, and the lower half of the sides of the body, as well as the whole of the under surface and limbs, are covered with coarse brownish black hairs ; the legs are short and strong ; the fore feet short and broad, and armed with large, solid and nearly straight nails, that of the middle toe being about an inch in length and a quarter of an inch in width ; the shortest, that of the inner toe, is four or five lines in length ; all are rounded at the extremity ; the lined feet are narrower and less powerful than the others, and have the inner toe very short, apparently slightly opposable, and with a short and broad nail rounded at the extremity; the toe next the inner one is the longest, and is armed with an enormous claw, measuring sometimes an inch and a half in length ; it is curved and nearly cylindrical, but concave beneath ; the claws of the other toes are progressively shorter. The hind foot, when in its natural position, rests on its inner side, and perhaps in a great measure upon the thumb or great toe, by which arrangement the claws are protected from wear when the animal is walking, and have the concave surface presented outwards ; the use of these claws, it would appear, is to cast away the earth which is loosened by the stronger fore- feet and claws. Like the Ornithorhynchus, the heel in the male sex is armed with a strong spur, which is moveable, perforated, and supplied with a gland and muscles capable of ejecting the secretion of the gland through the canal of the spur. Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard tried, by irritating the animal, to induce it to inflict a wound upon themselves, in order to ascertain whether this apparatus was poisonous, but were unsuccessful ; and after repeated inquiries could not learn that any accident had ever happened from a wound of the spur. The figures are of the natural size. ECHIDNA SETOSA, c m . Hairy Echidna. Echidna setosa, Cuv. Regne Anim., Edit. 1817, tom. i. p. 226 ; Nouv. Edit., tom. i. p. 235. — Waterh. Nat. Hist. of Mamm., vol. i. p. 47.— Geoff. Bull. Soc. Phil., tom. iii t. 15. — Gray, List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus., p. 192. Echidna hreviaculeata, Tiedemann, Zoologie, tom. i. p. 592. Tachyglossus setosus, 111. Schreb. t. 63. Whether there be one or two species of the present genus is a question on which the opinions of zoologists are divided, but in either case it becomes necessary that animals exhibiting so great a difference as do the Echidnas from New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, should each be figured in a work on the Mammals of Australia. No instance has come under my notice of the Hairy Echidna or the animal here figured having occurred on the continent of Australia, while in Van Diemen’s Land it is very common. I am aware that the hairy covering has been considered indicative of youth, and also as due to the colder climate of Van Diemen’s Land ; nevertheless I have not failed to remark, that not only is the animal gene- rally speaking of larger size, but the spines are shorter and more slender; it is however, I admit, a matter still wrapped in uncertainty, and one which I would recommend to the attention of zoologists resident in Australia, since it is by their observations that the doubt is most likely to be cleared up. The Echidna setosa is universally dispersed over the sandy districts of Van Diemen’s Land, and so com- mon is it in the neighbourhood of Hobart Town, that living specimens are frequently brought in and exhi- bited for sale, the usual price being half-a-crown. Several examples kept by me for some time during my residence there, ran about the room in which I was engaged without exhibiting any signs of alarm ; at the same time they appeared impatient of restraint, and made many attempts to escape ; but that it might to a certain degree be domesticated or trained to bear captivity, is proved by several examples having lately been brought alive to this country, which unfortunately did not long survive. Like the other species, it feeds upon ants and other insects, which it procures by protruding and retracting the tongue, covered with a thick glutinous fluid ; in captivity sopped bread and milk forms an agreeable substitute for its natural food. General colour brown ; all the upper surface of the body thickly beset with pale yellowish spines tipped with black ; the fur on the back dark brown, and so dense and lengthened as nearly to hide the spines ; eye brown ; snout slate-colour ; tongue and soles of the feet pink; claws blackish brown. “The E. setosa ,” says Mr. Waterhouse, “ is subject to some slight variation in tint, as well as in texture of the fur ; the spines also vary slightly, being rather longer in some specimens than others ; yet the differences observable in individuals are not such as to render it difficult to distinguish the E. setosa from the E. hystrix and he adds, that he suspects the more hairy clothing of this animal may be due to the compa- ratively humid climate of Van Diemen’s Land, which may have had the effect of causing the fur to become longer and more dense ; and if so, the increased development of the fur would in all probability affect the growth of the spines, by robbing them of their nutriment. The figures are of the natural size. MYRMECOBIUS FASCIATUS , Water h Banded Myrmecobius. Myrmecobius fasciatus, Waterh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. pp. 69 and 131. — lb. Trans, of Zool. Soc.,vol. ii. p. 149. pi. 27. — lb. Nat. Lib. Mamni, vol. ix. (Marsupialia), p. 145. pi. xi. — List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. Coll., p. 100. Noom-bat, Aborigines of the York and Toodyay districts of Western Australia. Wai-haw, Aborigines of King George’s Sound. The beautiful animal forming the subject of the present Plate is a native of Western Australia, where it is very generally dispersed over the interior of the Swan River Settlement, from King George’s Sound on the south to the neighbourhood of Moore’s River on the north, and as far westward as civilized man has yet been able to penetrate. Although it must have been known to the settlers from the foundation of the colony, yet it is only within the last ten years that specimens have been sent to Europe, and brought under the notice of the scientific world. For the first description of this elegant marsupial we are indebted to Air. Waterhouse, who, from the scanty materials of a single skin, formed a just view of its affinities and assigned it to the order — the Marsupialia — to which it naturally belongs. Sterile sandy districts thinly studded with moderately sized trees appear to be congenial to its habits and mode of life. As the form of its teeth would indicate, insects constitute a great part of its food ; but I believe that it also feeds upon honey and a species of manna which exudes from the leaves of the Eucalypti. Wherever the Myrmecobius takes up its abode, there ants are found to be very abundant, and in all probability, for I have no direct evidence that such is the case, it is upon this insect or its larvae that it mainly subsists. As regards tbe ornamental appearance of this animal, I need only call the attention of my readers to the accompanying figures, where it is represented of the natural size. When running on the ground with its beautiful tail spread out to the full extent, it offers a great resemblance to the Squirrels. On the slightest appearance of danger it secretes itself in a hollow tree, from which it is not easily driven. Much diversity exists in the markings of different individuals, and these variations are common to both sexes. In animals of the same age the male considerably exceeds the female in size. The young from their earliest youth are marked with fascim like the adult, so that the latter are to be distinguished only by size, or ascertained by dissection. The following remarks, which I give in the words of the respective writers, and in the order they have reached me, may not prove uninteresting : — “Two of these animals,” says Mr. Dale (from one of which Mr. Waterhouse took his description), “were discovered about ninety miles south-east of Swan River, and within a few miles of each other. They were first observed on the ground, and on being pursued, both directed their flight to some hollow trees which were near. The country in which they were found abounded in decayed trees and ant-hills.” (Water- house’s Marsupialia, p. 147.) “ You may place great reliance,” writes His Excellency G. Grey, Esq., Governor of South Australia, “ on the following description of the habits of Myrmecobius ; it is partly derived from the natives, and partly from the observations of Mrs. Grey, who has seen several in a state of captivity. It cannot run very fast. Its tongue is about as thick as a common tobacco-pipe and gradually tapers ; it is extensile and can be protruded from the mouth for several inches, and when in this state the animal moves it about with great rapidity. In the daytime it lives in decayed trees ; at night it runs about and climbs the trees like an opossum. One that was kept in confinement was fed on sugar and milk, in which it dipped its tongue.” In a letter lately received from Mr. Gilbert he states, “ I have seen a good deal of this beautiful little animal. It appears very much like a squirrel when running on the ground, which it does in successive leaps, with its tail a little elevated ; every now and then raising its body and resting on its hind-feet. When alarmed it generally takes to a dead tree lying on the ground, and before entering the hollow invariably raises itself on its hind-feet to ascertain the reality of approaching danger. In this kind of retreat it is easily captured, and when caught is so harmless and tame as scarcely to make any resistance, and never to attempt to bite. When it has no chance of escaping from its place of refuge it utters a sort of half-smothered grunt, apparently produced by a succession of hard breathings. I have heard of this animal being frequently kept in confinement and fed for several weeks together upon no other food than bran. “ The female is said to bring forth her young in a hole in the ground or in a fallen tree, and to produce from five to nine in a litter. I have not myself observed more than seven young attached to the nipples. Like the members of the genus Antechinus, this animal has no pouch for protection or envelopment of the young.” The only protection afforded their delicate offspring is the long hairs which clothe the under sur- face of the mother. The hair of the Myrmecobius is harsh and bristly to the touch. A black stripe passes from the nose through the eye to the neck ; shoulders and upper part of the back bright rusty red, which gradually fades into rusty brown on tbe crown of the head, face and ears ; back distinctly banded with lines of buffy white and blackish brown, the number of bands varying in different individuals ; chin, throat and all the under surface yellowish white ; upper part of both fore- and hind-feet rusty yellow ; tail bushy for its whole length and parti-coloured, some of the hairs being black, while others are rusty red or yellowish white ; in some instances the hairs of the tail are black at the base, then yellowish white, and terminate in rusty red. The Plate represents an adult male and female of the size of life. T, \ IR5TI I ft 8 ID ST T ATT 8 • Co v.-el I hr: tf. /mil fyC-HiekXfa' dvl h~’hibr. MiMwatidel & Walton fonp. TARSIPES ROSTRATUS, Gerv. et Verr. Long-nosed Tarsipes. Tarsipes rostratus, Gei'v. and Verr. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 1. — lb. in Guerin’s Mag. de Zool., 1842, Mamm., pis. 35, 36, 37. Spenserce, Gray in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. ix. p. 40. — List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. Coll., p. 87. Jee-pin, Aborigines around Perth. Ngool-boon-goor, Aborigines of King George’s Sound. This highly curious little animal was first brought before the notice of the scientific world by M. Paul Gervais, who in his own name and that of M. Jules Verreaux read a lengthened memoir, illustrated by drawings, respecting its structure and affinities, at the scientific meeting of the Zoological Society of London, held on the 11th of January, 1842; immediately after which period specimens were sent to this country from King George’s Sound by His Excellency Governor Grey ; and Mr. J. E. Gray, conceiving the differences they exhibited from M. Gervais’ animal to be of specific importance, applied to the animal in question the term Speiiserce, from the maiden name of His Excellency’s amiable lady. As soon as I became aware of the existence of so interesting an animal in Western Australia, I wrote to Mr. Gilbert, and directed him to pay particular attention to the subject ; and he has since transmitted to me several examples both from the neighbourhood of Swan River and from King George’s Sound, a careful examina- tion of which with those above-mentioned has fully satisfied me of their identity. The following notes accompanied the specimens : — “ The Tarsipes is generally found in all situations suited to its existence from Swan River to King George’s Sound, but from its rarity and the difficulty with which it is procured, notwithstanding the high rewards I offered, the natives only brought me four specimens ; one of these, a female, I kept alive for several months, and it soon became so tame as to allow itself to be caressed in the hand without evincing any fear or making any attempt to escape. It is strictly nocturnal, sleeping during the greater part of the day and becoming exceedingly active at night : when intent upon catching flies it would sit quietly in one corner of its cage, eagerly watching their movements, as, attracted by the sugar, they flew around ; and when a fly was fairly wdthin its reach it bounded as quick as lightning and seized it with unerring aim, then retired to the bottom of the cage and devoured it at leisure, sitting tolerably erect and holding the fly between its fore-paws, and always rejecting the head, wings and legs. The artificial food given it was sopped bread made very sweet with sugar, into which it inserted its long tongue precisely in the way in which the Honey-eaters among birds do theirs into the flower-cups for honey ; every morning the sop was completely honey-combed, as it were, from the moisture having been drained from it by the repeated insertion of the tongue ; a little moistened sugar on the end of the finger would attract it from one part of the cage to the other ; and by this means an opportunity may be readily obtained for observing the beautiful prehensile structure of the tongue, which I have frequently seen protruded for nearly an inch beyond the nose ; the edges of the tongue near the tip are slightly serrated. The tail is prehensile, and is used when the animal is climbing precisely like that of the Hepoona. The eyes, although small, are exceedingly prominent and are placed very near each other ; the ears are generally carried quite erect. When sleeping the animal rests upon the lower part of the back, with its long nose bent down between its fore-feet and its tail brought over all and turned down the back. Mr. Johnson Drummond shot a pair in the act of sucking the honey from the blossoms of the Melaleuca ; he watched them closely, and distinctly saw them insert their long tongues into the flower precisely after the manner of the birds above-mentioned.” The figures on the accompanying Plate are of the natural size, and being carefully coloured after nature, renders a minute description unnecessary. The sexes are similarly marked, and may be thus briefly de- scribed : — All the upper surface grey with a dorsal stripe of black, on either side of which is a broader one of reddish brown. The under surface and feet are buffy white, the buff tints becoming of a deeper hue on the flanks, the forehead inclining to rufous, and the space round the eye buffy white. The singular plant upon which the three figures are placed is a species of Petrophila, the specific name of which I am unacquainted with : like many others of the Western Australian plants, it is probably undescribed. CJHJEROPITS CASTAWOTIS CHCEROPUS CASTANOTIS. Chestnut-eared Chceropus. Choeropus castanotis, Gray, Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. ix. p. 42. — List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. Coll., p. 96. Chceropus ecaudatus, Ogilby in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VI. p. 26. Chceropus ecaudatus, Mitch. Trav. in Australia, vol. ii. p. 132. pi. 27. — Waterli. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. ix. (Mar- supialiaj, p. 163. Bur-da, Aborigines of the Walzemara district. Wot-da, Aborigines of the interior from York, 'Western Australia. For our first knowledge of this very singular animal we are indebted to the researches of Major Sir Thomas L. Mitchell, who during one of his expeditions into the interior of South-eastern Australia procured a speci- men on the left bank of the Murray, and of which he gave a figure in the second volume of his “ Travels.” The specimen itself is deposited in the museum at Sydney, but a drawing by Sir Thomas Mitchell having been submitted to Mr. Ogilby’s inspection, he at once perceived that it differed from every other known group of animals, and consequently made it the type of anew genus, assigning to it, from the presumed absence of any tail, the specific appellation of ecaudatus. Since that period an example from nearly the same locality has been sent to this country by His Excellency George Grey, Esq., Governor of South Australia, and two others by Mr. Gilbert from Western Australia. All these specimens are furnished with a well-developed tail, and the want of that organ in the Major’s animal was doubtless the result of accident ; hence it became necessary that the specific term applied to it by Mr. Ogilby should be exchanged for one more appropriate, and Mr. Gray has therefore assigned to it that of castanotis, from the deep chestnut colouring of the ears. “ That the Chceropus,” remarks Air. Gilbert, “ should occasionally lose its tail is not singular, for I have frequently found examples of the Mala ( Perameles myosurus') with their tail shortened or entirely lost, appa- rently by some accident.” The specimen in the Sydney museum and that from South Australia above mentioned, and which is now in the British Museum, differ considerably, both in colour and in the length of the hair that covers the body, from those from Western Australia, so much so in fact as almost to induce a belief of their being distinct; but until further information has been obtained respecting this very curious form, I prefer consi- dering them as identical, and figuring them as such under Mr. Gray’s name of castanotis ; but should future research prove the Western Australian animal to be distinct, the specific term occidentalis might be applied to it. In Western Australia the Chceropus is confined to the interior ; it makes a nest precisely similar to that of Perameles myosurus, except that it is more abundantly supplied with leaves. It is sometimes found in the densest scrub, where from the thickness of the vegetation it is extremely difficult to be procured. As its dentition would indicate, its food consists of insects and their larvae, and vegetables of some kind, probably the bark of trees, bulbous and tuberous roots. One of the two specimens received from Western Australia is in the collection of the British Aluseum, the other in that of the Earl of Derby. The two front figures in the Plate represent the animals from Western Australia, and the central one that from South Australia. All the figures are of the natural size, and coloured so accurately as to render a description unnecessary. - 1(: (, j\XA}tvLtr clxiL i'Z- ( a£ 1 U.-. t'f’icZtr.m- Jmcjers. PERAGALEA LAGOTIS. Larg’e-eared Peragnlea. Perameles lagotis, Reid in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 129. — Waterh. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. ix. (Marsupialia), p. 153. pi. xii. Paragalia lagotis, Gray, App. to Gray’s Trav., vol. ii. p. 401. Peragalea lagotis, List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. Coll., p. 96. Dol-goitch or Dal-gyte, Aborigines of Western Australia. Rabbit of the Colonists. The western portion of Australia is the only locality in which this fine animal has yet been discovered, evidencing with our comparatively recent acquisitions Myrmecobius and Tarsipes, that the mammalogy of that part of the continent is fully as interesting, both for novelty and singularity of form, as that of the eastern coast, which is inhabited by the Ornithorhynchus, Koala, &c. The first notice of this animal on record is that published in the “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London” for 1836, Mr. Reid, a member of the Society, having described it, from a skin exhibited at the scientific meeting of the 13th of December in that year, under the name of Perameles lagotis : he was in error, however, when he stated it to inhabit Van Diemen’s Land. At the end of his paper, wherein the external characters and the dentition of the animal are minutely described, Mr. Reid gave it as his opinion that the distinctions between it and the other members of the genus Perameles were so marked, that it might be considered the type of a distinct genus, for which the term Macrotis would be an appropriate designation; he did not, however, publish any generic characters, and as the term Macrotis is objectionable from its similarity to the specific name, I am induced to adopt the generic designation proposed for it by Mr. Gray. Were any attempts to be made at introducing the indigenous animals of Australia into Europe for ornamental purposes, or as additions to our articles of food, the present would be one of those with which it would he most desirable to make the trial. That it hears confinement well and contentedly, is proved by the fact of one having lived in the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London for some time ; its death was doubtless attributable to the want of a suitable substitute for its natural food. That its flesh is sweet and delicate, I have abundant testimony. When boiled it resembles that of the rabbit ; prejudice would therefore he the only obstacle to its general adoption as an article of food, and this surely might easily be combated. I trust from what I have here said, that a sufficient hint has been thrown out to induce those who have the opportunity to import it into Europe. The Peragalea lagotis is tolerably abundant over the whole extent of the grassy districts of the interior of the Swan River colony, where it lives for the most part in pairs, usually selecting spots where, the soil being loose, its powerful claws enable it to excavate the earth and form burrows with amazing rapidity. Into these holes it always retreats for safety; and as these subterraneous runs are both deep and long, it frequently eludes the pursuit of the natives, who hunt it for the sake of its flesh. Its food consists of insects, their larvse, and the roots of trees and plants; a favourite article is a large grub, the larva of a species of Cerambyoo ? which is deposited in the roots of the Acacice, and which is equally in request with the natives, who never fail to cut it out from an exposed root whenever they observe the Dal-gyte has been unsuccessful. The number of young brought forth at a time has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained, but we may fairly presume that they are at least three or four. The sexes present no difference whatever in their colouring, but the female is smaller than the male. General tint of the upper parts of the head and body ashy grey; sides of the head, shoulders, and the sides of the body very pale vinous rust-colour ; under parts of the head and body and the inner side of the limbs white ; fore-legs and feet white, with a dark greyish patch on the outside of the former ; tarsi white above, the hairs covering the under surface of a smoky brown colour ; forepart of the outer legs white, outer and hinder part blackish grey ; a whitish line extends backwards on the sides of the rump ; soft long hair, coloured like that of the body, clothes about an inch and a hair of the base of the tail ; beyond this, for about three inches and a half, the tail is covered with black and somewhat harsh hairs ; on the under side of the tail they are scarcely half an inch in length, but on the upper side most of them are upwards of one inch in length ; the remainder of the tail is covered with white hairs, which increase in length on the upper side to the tip, where they are about two inches in length ; on the under side they are short, and decrease in length towards the apex of the tail, the extreme point of which is naked ; moustaches moderately long and black ; ears almost naked, the margins fringed with whitish hairs ; externally on the forepart they are covered with minute brown hairs. The figure is of the natural size. PERAMELES FASCIATA, Banded Perameles. Perameles fasciata, Gray in App. to Capt. Grey’s Journ. of Two Exp. of Discovery in N.W. and W. Australia, vol. ii. p. 407. — Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 379. — Gray, List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus., p. 95. This elegant species of Perameles enjoys a wide range over the eastern and southern portions of Australia, hut is more frequently met with in the country within the ranges, or what is commonly called in the colony “ the interior,” than in the districts lying between the mountains and the sea. In New South Wales, the stony ridges which branch off from the ranges towards the rivers Darling and Namoi, are localities in which it may always be found ; in South Australia I hunted it myself on the stony ranges and spurs which run down towards the great bend of the river Murray. On reference to my notes, I find the following entry: — “July 1, 1839. Killed for the first time the Striped-backed Bandicoot, on the ranges bordering the great scrub on the road to the Murray. I started the animal from the crest of one of the stony ridges, and after a sharp chase of about a hundred yards it took shelter under a stone, and was easily captured ; it passed over the ground with considerable rapidity, and with a motion precisely similar to the galloping of a pig, to which animal it also assimilates in the tenacity with which its skin adheres to the flesh ; on dissection its stomach was found to contain the remains of caterpillars and other insects, a few seeds and fibrous roots ; the flesh on being roasted proved delicate and excellent food ; as is also that of most, if not all, the other members of the genus.” His Excellency Governor Grey transmitted examples to this country during his residence at Adelaide, accompanied by the following note : “ This animal is found in the vast open plains near the head of St. Vincent’s Gulf, and where no other species is to he met with.” The sexes assimilate in colour, the female being as conspicuously marked as the male, but of a smaller size ; the markings of the back are also as apparent in the young animal as in the adult. The Perameles fasciata is very nearly allied to P. Gunnii , but is of a much smaller size, has the ears pro- portionately rather longer and broader at the base, the tail longer and dusky along the whole upper surface, instead of for a small space at the base ; the feet and muzzle are also more slender. Fur moderately long and harsh to the touch ; upper surface pencilled with black and yellow in about equal proportions ; on the sides of the body the yellow, and on the hinder part of the back the black prevails as a ground colour, but here are three broad yellowish-white bands, the foremost of which crosses the back, the other two run obliquely downwards and backwards from the mesial line ; the posterior of these two is almost longitudinal, and the one in front of this joins the foremost band ; these bands are interrupted in the middle of the back ; under surface of the body and the feet white ; the tail is also white, but along the whole upper surface the hairs are partly black and partly yellow. The Plate represents the two sexes of the size of life. PERAMELES GUNNII, Gray. Gunn’s Perameles. Perameles Gunnii, Gray in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part vi. p. 1.— Ib. Ann. of Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 108.— Waterh. in Jard. Nat. Lib. Marsupialia, p. 156, pi. 15.— Gray, List of Spec, of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 95. — Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 376. — Gunn in Proc. of Roy. Soc. of Van Diemen’s Land, vol. ii. p. 83. It is well that the name of Mr. Ronald C. Gunn, a gentleman devotedly attached to natural history, and long resident in Tasmania, should be perpetuated in a work of science, as the author would fain have the present considered to be, since he has not only paid considerable attention to the Botany, but also to the Zoology and even to the physical features of his adopted country ; and hence I have great pleasure in figuring so conspicuous an animal as the present under his name. The Perameles Gunnii is an inhabitant of Tasmania, and appears to be more common in the north- ern than in the southern parts of that country ; it also, if I mistake not, inhabits the islands in Bass’s Straits, and even the southern portions of the continent of Australia. I say this, however, somewhat doubt- fully, because I possess no certain evidence that the animal has been killed at Port Phillip, though I have received it direct from thence ; but it is just possible that it had been taken there before its transhipment to this country ; I incline, however, to consider it a native of those parts as well as of Tasmania. In size this species ranges next to Perameles nasuta, being in fact intermediate between that animal and P. myosurus ; but from these, as well as all others, it differs in its short and white tail ; in the banding of its back it approaches P.fasciata — but these marks are not so dark or so well defined. Mr. Gunn has given us an interesting account of the destructive habits of this animal when gardens come within its range. This account, moreover, indicates the kind of food upon which it naturally subsists, a point well worthy of the attention of those who have the charge of menageries, and who would wish to be successful in their mode of treating and preserving this tribe of animals. “ It has sometimes been doubted,” says Mr. Gunn, “ whether the Perameles feed upon roots. For several years past my garden at Launceston has suffered severely from the attacks of P. Gunnii. Two beds of Ixia maculata, var. viridis, were entirely eaten, so as to eradicate the species. Some other Iooics and Babianee were afterwards attacked ; but many genera of Cape bulbs close to them were left untouched. The Crocus seems an especial favourite, as wherever they occurred they were diligently sought out, rooted up, and eaten, and that too at a season when no leaves appeared above ground to indicate their position. Tulips seem to be less relished, although they are occasionally eaten. In the bush I lately discovered a new species of tubei’ous fungus partly eaten, at the bottom of a hole about nine inches deep, which I believe had been the work of a Perameles ; my impression is that the Perameles live a good deal, if not principally, upon roots and fungi.” The fur is moderate in length and not so hard to the touch as that of P. obesula or P. nasuta ; the hairs of the upper surface are grey at the root, the visible portion of each being pencilled with black and oehreous yellow ; on the sides the general hue is somewhat paler, the hairs having a smaller amount of the black pencilling and a delicate vinous tint ; on the hind quarters the ground-colour is blackish brown, and on this part are three broad light-coloured bands, the first of which crosses the back slightly in front of the thigh, the second is nearly transverse, and the third longitudinal ; under surface pure white ; the feet and tail are also white, with the exception of a dusky patch on the base of the latter, and on the sides of the heel of the hind foot the sides are dusky ; ears internally clothed with very small pale yellow hairs, but on the hinder part they are nearly white ; a broad dusky mark crosses the outer surface of the ear, commencing about the middle of the anterior margin, and running obliquely backwards as it descends to the base. The Plate represents the male, female, and young, of the size of life. PERAMELES MYOSURUS, w ag n Saddle-backed Perameles. Perameles myosurus, Wagn. in Wiegm. Archiv, 7th Year,p. 289 ; and Schreb. Saugth., pi. 155 A.d., Part 111-112, Nov. 1842. Perameles arenaria, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XII. p. 104. Mal-a, Aborigines of the York and Toodyay districts. Nyem-mel , Aborigines of King George’s Sound. Having lately had an opportunity of consulting Schreber’s “ Saugthiere,” I find therein the figure of an animal so nearly resembling my Perameles arenaria , that I am induced to believe it to be the same species ; I have consequently, in justice to the first describer, Dr. Wagner, placed my own name as a synonym to his. Dr. Wagner, whose labours display great care and no ordinary extent of information, has very accurately pointed out the distinctions between it and the P.fasciata, the most nearly allied species yet discovered ; but as he has not mentioned the habitat of the animal he has described, I am unable to come to a positive conclusion on the subject: if it be from Western Australia, it is doubtless identical with the one here figured. The present animal inhabits the whole line of coast of the Swan River colony, hut, so far as I can learn, is not found to the westward of the Darling range of hills. It resides in the densest scrub, thickets of the seedling Casuarince being its favourite resort. It makes a compact nest in a hollow on the ground, ot grasses and other materials, which assimilate so closely in colour and appearance to the surrounding herbage, that it is very difficult of detection, the difficulty being much increased by there being no visible opening for the ingress and egress of the animals. The nest is generally inhabited by pairs. The young are either three or four in number. Its food consists of insects, seeds and grain. It excavates holes in the earth with rapidity and ease, and to these and the hollow trunks of fallen trees it flies for shelter when pursued by its natural enemies. Mr. Gilbert remarks that this species is, without exception, the most difficult to skin of all the marsupials with which he is acquainted ; the skin in fact is so tender, that the weight of one of the limbs, if left hanging by the skin, is sufficient to separate it from the body ; and living specimens are often met with minus a portion or the whole of the tail. The sexes are alike in colour, but when adult the female is smaller than the male. Examples are fre- quently seen of all sizes, which appears to be solely occasioned by a difference of age. The fur is harsh to the touch, and of a greyish brown hue, interspersed with numerous long black hairs, which form a broad indistinct band across the flanks immediately above the hind-legs, and a kind of saddle- like mark on the centre of the back ; ears of three colours, rusty red near the base, then dark brown, and the apex of a light greyish brown ; sides of the muzzle and all the under surface huffy white ; line along the upper surface of the tail dark brown, the remainder buffy white ; outside of the fore-legs brownish grey ; feet and claws buffy white. The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. The flowering plant is a species of Melaleuca , probably un described. PERAMELES MgETA , (itoM. PERAMELES NASUTA, Geoff. Long-nosed Perameles. Perameles nasuta, Geoff. Ann. du Museum, tom. iv. p. 62. pi. 44. — Waterh. in Jard. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. xi. (Marsupialia) p. 155. pi. 13. — Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 96. — Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol.'i. p. 374. Lawsoni, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de l’Uranie, Zoologie, pp. 57 & 711. — — nasuta et aurita of the Paris Museum. Although this animal inhabits the portion of Australia which has been longest known to us, it is remarkable how little is the information that has been obtained respecting it ; I procured many specimens during my sojourn in the country, and ascertained that it is sparingly dispersed over the districts lying between the mountain ranges and the sea. It frequents stony and sterile localities, and in all parts of this character, even in the neighbourhood of Sydney, it occurs as frequently as elsewhere. It is perhaps the largest species of the genus yet discovered, and is distinguished from every other by the great length of its snout, which circumstance has obtained it the specific appellation of nasuta. I have never met with this species in collections from any other part of Australia than New South Wales : I mention this because Dr. Gray considers the Perameles Bougainvillii of MM. Quoy and Gaimard, which inhabits Western Australia, to be identical with it ; hut, in my opinion, such is not the case. Independently of the genus Paragalea, there are two other very distinct sections of the Peramelince , one of them inhabiting low swampy grounds covered with dense vegetation ; the other, the stony ridges of the hotter and more exposed parts : the former is represented by the Perameles obesula and its allies, the latter by the beautiful banded group comprising P.fasciata, P. Gunni, P. myosurus. &c. To this latter section the present species, though destitute of the dorsal markings, also belongs. The food of this animal consists of bulbous and other roots, which it readily obtains by means of its powerful fore feet and claws. The sexes, as is usual with the other members of the family, do not differ in colour, but the female never attains the size of the male. The fur, which is almost entirely composed of harsh, flattened hairs with a scanty under-fur of finer hairs, is of a pale grey on the upper surface of the body ; the longer and coarser hairs of the back are pencilled with pale brown and blackish ; on the sides the black is nearly obsolete, and here, as well as on the sides of the head, the general tint is pale vinous-red ; the under surface of the body is white, the hairs being uniform to the root ; feet white ; the fore leg is grey externally at the base, and the hind leg has a dusky patch immediately above the heel ; ears clothed with very small hairs, which are whitish on the inner side, dusky on the outer, and pale brown near the anterior angle ; the small stiff hairs of the tail are brownish on the upper surface and dirty-white on the under. The front figure is of the natural size. PERAMELES OBESULA, Geoff. Short-nosed Perameles. Didelphys obesula, Sliaw, Nat. Misc., vol. viii. pi. 298.- — lb. Gen. Hist., vol. i. p. 490. Perameles obesula , Geoff. Ann. du Mus., tom. iv. p. 64. pi. 45. — Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 368. — Gunn in Proc. Roy. Soc. of Van Diem. Land, vol. ii. p. 82. Isoodon obesula, Desm. in Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvi. p. 409. Perameles fusciventer, Gray in App. to Grey’s Journ., vol. ii. p. 407. affints, Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 96. Gwen-dee, Aborigines of Perth, Western Australia. Quoint, Aborigines of King George’s Sound. H aving had many opportunities of observing this animal in a state of nature, both in Van Diemen’s Land and New South Wales, I am enabled personally to state, that it does not, like some of the other species of the genus, such as Perameles Gunni, P. fasciata and P. myosura, dwell among the stony ridges of the open country, but evinces a preference for the low, damp, swampy places, overgrown with dense green herbage, which occur on the borders, and even within the great forests. In Van Diemen’s Land it is more frequently met with on the southern side of the River Derwent than elsewhere. This great river, indeed, forms the line of demarcation to many species both of quadrupeds and birds ; its southern side being clothed with vast forests of Eucalypti, growing on a stiff clayey soil, while the opposite bank is of a light sandy character, suitable to the growth of Bankslce and Acacice ; the former is the kind of country preferred by the animal under consideration, and, as might be supposed, it is found in all parts of Van Diemen’s Land wherever similar localities occur ; it is also to be found in like situations on the islands in Bass’s Straits, in New South Wales, and in Southern and Western Australia. Specimens from all these countries are now before me, and although the range extends over an area of nearly three thousand miles, I am unable to detect any differences of sufficient value to warrant the establishment of a second species. The only perceptible difference between the examples from Western Australia and those from New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land, is a slightly darker tint in the colouring of the under surface of the former : very old males from each country attain to nearly a foot in length, exclusive of the tail, while the adult female is considerably smaller, and immature animals may be found of all sizes, according to age and sex. While engaged in my observations on the “Birds of Australia,” I have very frequently trodden upon the almost invisible nest of this species and aroused the sleeping pair within, which would then dart away with the utmost rapidity, and seek safety in the dense scrub, beneath a stone, or in the hollow bole of a tree ; that is, if their career were not stopped by a discharge from my gun, or by my dogs. The following note is from the pen of the late Mr. Gilbert, and comprises his observations of the animal in Western Australia, which, although they do not quite agree with my own, I give in his own words : — “ This little animal is abundant in every part of the colony, and is found in every variety of situation ; in thick scrubby places, among the high grass growing along the banks of rivers and swamps, and also among the dense underwood both on dry elevated land and in moist situations. It makes a nest of short pieces of dried sticks, coarse grasses, leaves, &c., sometimes mixed with earth, and so artfully contrived to resemble the surrounding ground, that only an experienced eye can detect it. When built in dry places, the top is flat, and on a level with the ground, but in moist situations the nest is often raised in the form of a heap, to the height of about twelve inches ; the means of access and exit being most adroitly closed by the animal both on entering and emerging. The P. obesula is generally found in pairs : when driven from its nest, it takes to the first hollow log or hole in the ground that occurs. Athough its usual food consists of insects, it occasionally feeds on grain, and I have several times seen it in great numbers in a wheat-stack. Speci- mens are sometimes met with of a very large size, which circumstance has induced a belief among the settlers that there are two species, but sucb is certainly not the case.” No one has more diligently endeavoured to unravel the confusion which has hitherto existed respecting the synonymy of this animal than Mr. Waterhouse ; it will be hut fair, therefore, to give his remarks on the subject : — “ The Short-nosed Perameles has an unusually wide range, being found in New South Wales, South Australia, King George’s Sound, the Swan River district, and Van Diemen’s Land. I have examined specimens from each of these localities, and taken much pains to satisfy myself of their specific identity. The males I have usually found larger than the females ; their fore-feet are proportionately larger, and so are the canine teeth. The colouring varies somewhat in different individuals, and is darker than that of other species, if we except P. macroura .” The Perameles afjinls of Dr. Gray “ is founded upon a small animal from Van Diemen’s Land, which appears to me to be a young individual of P. obesula : excepting in size, I can perceive no difference ; its length from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail is 8 inches. When of this size, the young P. obesula has so much the general appearance of an adult animal in the character of the fur, &c., that I supposed, like Dr. Gray, there really existed a second species resembling P. obesula ; but after examining the skulls, removed from two such specimens, I was convinced that their small size merely indicated immaturity.” Of the Perameles fuscwenter of Dr. Gray, Mr. Waterhouse remarks, “ Two specimens in the British Museum are labelled Perameles fuscwenter ; one agrees in every respect with the P. obesula , excepting that its head is rather shorter. . . . . The other is considerably smaller than the adult P. obesula , and differs in being more strongly pencilled with black on the upper parts of the body, and in having the under parts of the body of a pale brownish-yellow, and the hairs on this part are slightly tinted with grey at the root. The head bears the same proportion to the body in length as in P. obesula. I question much whether the shortness of the head in the larger specimen does not arise from the mode in which the specimen has been stuffed; and with regard to the yellowish tint of the abdomen, I may observe, that in specimens which are undoubtedly the P. obesula , the under parts of the body are sometimes tinted with yellow, though less strongly than in the little animal above described. I cannot see any good grounds for regarding the specimens called fuscwenter as specifically distinct from the P. obesula .” The animal here represented is one of the very commonest of the Australian mammals, and is, moreover, one of the oldest known, having been figured and described in some of the earliest works on that country. The hairs composing the fur of this animal are of two kinds : all that are visible are harsh to the touch, flattened, pointed and glossy : upon dividing these coarse hairs, a soft, somewhat scanty fur becomes visible : on the upper parts of the body the coarse hairs are greyish-white at the root, black at the point, and broadly annulated in the middle with ochreous-brown, giving the whole the appearance of being pencilled in about equal proportions with black and ochreous-brown ; the under-fur is grey ; on the under parts of the body the hairs are yellowish-white at the tip and white at the base, and the under-fur is also white : towards the end of the muzzle the hairs are of a uniform dusky-brown ; the lips, chin and throat are whitish ; hairs clothing the inner side of the ears yellowish, becoming brownish on the margin ; on the outer side dusky, becoming paler on the posterior part, and there is a faint indication of a pale spot at the base, near the anterior margin ; fore-feet whitish ; tarsi dirty-white, tinged with yellowish, and freckled with black on the upper surface ; on the inner side they are delicate yellow ; hairs of the base of the tail similar to those of the body ; beyond this the upper surface is dusky, and of a dirty yellowish tint on the under surface. The figures are somewhat less than the size of life. i -M "‘tV' ■.m ■ . . :■ . a " • . ■• :-■■■ ,. PIIAS C O JL AH CTOS CME HIE II S J.&cndd ccn cl If. (jTi7s&h/l&'‘ deleft 10V . jrzt7Z7rM('Too7. HUftorf, Imp. PHASCOLARCTOS CINEREUS. Koala. Head and Fore Leg, of the size of life. Like the Ornithorhynchus, this remarkable creature is only found in the south-eastern portion of the great land of the South. It is in the brushes which skirt the sea side of the mountain-ranges between the district of Illawarra and the River Clarence that it is most numerous ; here, among the leafy branches of the great trees, the Koala remains sleeping during the daytime ; but at nightfall this lethargy gives place to more active habits, and it then moves about with agility in search of its natural diet, which is said to be the tender buds and shoots of the Eucalypti. Like too many others of the larger Australian mammals, this species is certain to become gradually more scarce, and to be ultimately extirpated ; I have not hesitated, therefore, to give a life-sized head, as well as reduced figures, which, with a full account of the economy of the animal, will be found to follow the present page. J OovZJj ami H C JUrJt/xr 'M.'S- OM A Wallen- Imp PHASCOLARCTOS CINEREUS Koala. Lipurus cinereus, Goldf. in Oken’s Isis, 1819, p. 271. Phascolarctos fuscus, Desm. Mammalogie, p. 276. — lb. Diet, des Sci. Nat., tom. xxxix. p. 448.— Wallich in Jard. Nat. Lib., Marsupialia, p. 295. Flindersi, Less. Man. de Mamin., p. 221. fuscus et cinereus, Fisch. Syn. Mamm., p. 285. — Wagn. Schreb. Saugth., 111-112 Heft, p. 92. cinereus, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 87. Koala Wombat, Home, Phil. Trans. 1808, p. 304. Le Koala ou Colah, Desm. Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p. 110. tab. E. 22. fig. 4. Wombat of Flinders, Knox in Edinb. New Phil. Journ. 1826, p. 111. Phascolarctus cinereus, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 259.— Gray, Ann. Phil. 1821. New Holland Sloth, Perry, Arcana, t. Native Bear and Native Sloth of the Colonists. During my two years’ ramble in Australia, a portion of my time and attention was directed to the fauna of the dense and luxuriant brushes which stretch along the south-eastern coast, from Ulawarra to Moreton Bay. I also spent some time among the cedar brushes of the mountain ranges of the interior, particularly those bordering the well-known Liverpool Plains. In all these localities the Koala is to be found, and although nowhere very abundant, a pair, with sometimes the addition of a single young one, may, if diligently sought for, be procured in every forest. It is very recluse in its habits, and, without the aid of the natives, its presence among the thick foliage of the great Eucalypti can rarely be detected. During the daytime it is so slothful that it is very difficult to arouse and make it quit its resting-place. Those that fell to my own gun were most tenacious of life, clinging to the branches until the last spark had tied. However difficult it maybe for the European to discover them in their shady retreats, the quick and practised eye of the aborigine readily detects them, and they speedily fall victims to the heavy and powerful clubs which are hurled at them with the utmost precision. These children of nature eat its flesh, after cooking it in the same manner as they do that of the Opossum and the other brush animals. I believe the Koala to be extremely local in its habitat, as up to the present time the south-eastern portion of the continent of Australia is the only part in which it is known to exist. No difference occurs in the external appearance of the sexes. An excellent account of the habits of this animal was given in the “ Philosophical Transactions ” for 1808, by Colonel Patterson, formerly Governor of New South Wales. It was known to this gentleman as an inhabitant of the forests about fifty or sixty miles to the south-west of Port Jackson, whence, it is stated, the first specimens were brought. “ The New Hollanders,” says Colonel Patterson, “ eat the flesh of this animal, and therefore readily join in the pursuit of it : they examine with wonderful rapidity and minuteness the branches of the loftiest gum-trees, and, upon discovering a Koala, they climb the tree with as much ease and expedition as a European would mount a tolerably high ladder. Having reached the branches, which are sometimes 40 or 50 feet from the ground, they follow the animal to the extremity of a bough, and either kill it with a tomahawk or take it alive. The Koala feeds upon the tender shoots of the blue gum-tree, being more particularly fond of this than of any other food; it rests during the day on the tops of these trees, feeding at ease or sleeping. In the night it descends and prowls about, scratching up the ground in search of some particular roots ; it seems to creep rather than walk : when incensed or angry, it utters a long shrill yell, and assumes a fierce and menacing look. They are found in pairs, and the young is carried by the mother on her shoulders. This animal appears soon to form an attachment to the person who feeds it.” “ It has been frequently compared to a bear in its movements and mode of climbing,” observes Mr. Waterhouse, “ and, indeed, in appearance the animal is not unlike a small bear.” Mr. Waterhouse has given so correct a description of this animal in his “ Natural History of the Mam- malia,” that I cannot perhaps do better than transcribe it into these pages : — “The Koala is usually about 2 feet in length, and when on all-fours stands 10 or 1 1 inches in height; the girth of the body is about 18 inches. Its limbs are of moderate length, and powerful ; the hands and feet large, and admirably adapted by their structure to tree-climbing habits. The toes of the fore feet are so arranged, that the two innermost of the five are opposed to the other three ; and all the toes, both of the fore and hind feet (if we except the innermost one of the latter), are provided with large, curved, very deep, and compressed claws. The innermost toe of the hind foot is large, nail-less, assumes the form of a thumb, and is used as such, being opposed to the toes in grasping, as is the thumb of the human hand to the fingers. The head is rather large, the muzzle short and nearly naked both on the sides and on the upper surface, these parts being merely and rather sparingly clothed with small velvet-like hairs ; the part thus sparingly clothed is most extended on the upper surface of the muzzle, here reaching back about lJ- inch from the tip of the nose, while at the sides only £ an inch or rather more of the muzzle is destitute of the ordinary fur. The ears are of moderate size and pointed, and entirely hidden by the very long hairs with which they are clothed, these latter being for the most part about 2 inches in length ; on the inner side of the ears the hairs are white, and on the outer side of the same grey hue as those of the head, excepting those which spring from the anterior margin of the ear, which are chiefly black. The eyes are rather large, and, like those of other Marsupial animals (with the exception of the Kangaroos), are not protected by eyelashes ; there are, however, a few long bristly hairs springing from immediately above the eye ; the hairs of the moustaches are small and scanty. The fur is tolerably long, dense, of a wool-like quality, and rather soft to the touch ; its general hue ashy grey somewhat suffused with brown, — a tint produced by the hairs being brown before, and whitish at the point. The hinder part of the back is of a dirty yellowish white hue. The under parts of the head and body, as well as the inner side of the fore legs and the posterior part of the hind legs, are white, but not very pure ; the hairs covering the feet have the visible portions whitish, but they are dusky brown at the root, and a slight pencilling of this darker hue is generally observable on the toes. The inner side of the hind legs is of a brownish rust-colour. The muffle is naked, and, like the naked soles of the feet, appears to have been black in the living animal. “A very young Koala in the Museum of the Zoological Society presents some features worthy of notice. Instead of having the woolly fur of the adult, it is clothed with hairs which are moderately soft, short, and closely applied to the skin ; on the mesial line of the back a little behind the shoulders, the hairs radiate, and running forwards over the neck meet those of the head having an opposite direction, and form a kind of crest at the line of junction; on the rump there is another of these centres from which the hairs radiate. The ears, which are much pointed and have the posterior edge emarginated, are clothed with hairs of about a quarter of an inch in length. Its colouring is the same as in the adult.” One of the accompanying Plates represents the head of the animal, of the size of life ; the other, a reduced figure of a female and young. ||L ;T (. '• t S> TPA. IF HTIL.IT cG, ITT SA s PHALANGISTA FULIGINOSA, Ogilby. Sooty Phalangista. Phalangista fuliginosa, Ogilby in Proc. of Comm, of Sci. and Corr. of Zool. Soc., Part I. p. 135. — Gray, List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus., p, 85. — Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 288. Phalangista Cuvieri, Gray. — felina, Wagn. ? A question has been raised by Mr. Waterhouse, no mean authority as regards mammalia, whether the Phalangista fuliginosa of Mr. Ogilby is really a distinct species from Phalangista nulpina : admitting that he has some slight grounds for the suspicion alluded to, I am myself induced to consider them to be distinct ; and I have come to this conclusion from having seen much of the two animals in a state of nature ; I have taken them alive, fed upon their flesh, and their skins have served me for a covering in the country they both inhabit. The true and, I believe, exclusive habitat of the animal to which Mr. Ogilby gave the name of fuliginosa is Van Diemen’s Land, while the continent of Australia is as exclusively the native country of the P. mlpina. Two important points of difference between the two animals are found to exist : the island species or P. fuliginosa far exceeds the other in size, and is subject to great variety in its colouring, varying as it does from an almost jet-black to light grey, while many are characterized by a large admixture of red of a greater or lesser degree of intensity : on the other hand, the continental species or P. mlpina are of a uniform light grey, — at least that was the colouring of all those I saw while resident in the country ; the fur of the Van Diemen’s Land animal is also of a more dense and frizzly character. The skins of the island and continental animals are both made into sleeping rugs, but the former are esteemed so much more highly, that a rug formed of them is considered worth three times the price of one of the latter. I am aware that climate has considerable influence over many animals, but it is not usual to find increase of size and depth of colouring in the colder latitudes. The habits of both animals are as nearly alike as may be : strictly nocturnal, they spend the entire day in sleep in the hollows of the boles and large limbs of the Eucalypti and other trees of the forest ; on the approach of night they sally forth, and sometimes seek their food on the ground, but more frequently among the branches ; the food consisting of the leaves and tender shoots, and the flowers and honey-cups of the Eucalypti. They both form a considerable article of food for the natives, who having discovered their retreat cut a hole in the branch, fearlessly insert their hand in the hole, seize the animals by the tail, drag them forth, and despatch them by beating the head against the tree ; when roasted the flesh is white and delicate, and not unlike that of a rabbit. The animal in the British Museum which has been named P. Cuvieri by Mr. Gray, is considered by Mr. Waterhouse to he identical with the present species, as the feet and incisor teeth, which are larger than those of P. mlpina, precisely agree with those of P. fuliginosa, from which it only differs in being paler and in having the tail less bushy; and with respect to these differences, he remarks, that the animal had lived in confinement for some time prior to its death, and when it died had shed the greater portion of the longer and coarser hairs of the fur ; I may add that I have myself examined the animal, and believe that it is referable to one or other of the above species, and I conclude from its greater size that it must be regarded as synonymous with P. fuliginosa. I have had no opportunity of examining the P. felina of M. Wagner; Mr. Waterhouse remarks that it agrees in size with P . fuliginosa, with some of the varieties of which it also agrees in colouring ; he does not believe it to be a distinct species, and as I know of no other it re- sembles, I regard it, at least for the present, as synonymous with the animal here represented. Much variation in colour is found to exist in this animal, some having the general colour almost black, especially on the back, with a rich brown hue on the sides and the throat ; chest and under parts of a rich brownish fulvous hue, rather deeper on the abdomen than elsewhere; the chin and muzzle, back of the ears, feet and tail almost entirely black ; others are of a very deep rufous brown tint, much suffused with black on the back ; others are of a rich rufous grey, and others again are entirely grey. The figure in the accompanying Plate, which was drawn from life, represents a dark variety, somewhat less than the natural size. ■ICoiX/td (end d Idbh. ^ JZzede/eanedeZ d TZnZft/TnJ?/ PHALANGISTA YULPINA, Desm. Yulpine Phalangista. Didelphys vulpina, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. p. 503. lemurina, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. p. 487. pi. 110. Phalangista vulpina, Desm. in Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p. 475. — lb. Ency. Meth. Mammalogie, part i. p. 267. — Temm. Monog. de Mamm., tom. i. p. 5. — Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 86. — Martin in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part 4. p. 2. melanura, Wagn. in Schreb. Saug. Suppl. Ill, 112. Heft, p. 81. xanthopus, Ogilby, Pi'oc. of Comm, of Sci. and Corr of Zool. Soc., part i. p. 135. — Waterh. Nat. Hist. of Mamm., vol. i. p. 294. Phalanger de Cook, F. Cuv. et Geoff. Mammifbres, pi. 45. Vulpine Opossum, Phillips’s Voy. to Botany Bay, p. 150, and pi. Wha Tapoa Roo, White’s Journ. of a Voy. to New S. Wales, p. 278, and pi. Phalangista ( Trichosurus ) vulpina, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 284. pi. 9. fig. 1. Of all the Opossums inhabiting Australia, the Phalangista vulpina is by far the commonest, and the one most widely distributed over the country, being found in all parts of New South Wales, Port Philip, and Southern and Western Australia. According to Mr. Waterhouse, it is also found in Northern Australia; but I observe that specimens from that country are larger than those obtained in the countries above mentioned, and a doubt exists in my mind as to their identity. During my travels in Australia no living mammal was more frequently presented to my notice, and no one was more often brought by the natives to the camp-fire for the purpose of eating. All these examples were of a uniform grizzly-grey, and in no instance did I meet with the dark colouring of Phalangista fuliginosa, in my account of which species I stated, that I believed its true and exclusive habita to be Van Diemen’s Land ; that opinion I now find to be incorrect, as I have recently received examples from the dense brushes near the coast of the continent ; its range therefore, independently of Van Diemen’s Land, evidently extends over the brushes of New South Wales, and perhaps future research may prove that it enjoys a still wider range of habitat. The Phalangista vulpina, like its congener, is strictly nocturnal in its habits, living in the hollow spouts and holes of the large gum-trees during the day, and ascending the branches during the night to feed upon the buds, leaves and fruit ; sometimes descending to the ground, where it probably finds berbs to its taste. “While climbing,” says Mr. Waterhouse, “its prehensile tail assists it to maintain a firm hold of the branches : in captivity I have noticed, that in descending from one perch of its cage to another, or to the floor, the tail invariably encircled the perch it was quitting until the animal was again securely lodged. Numerous specimens have from time to time formed part of the Zoological Society’s living collection, and, from my own observations, they appeared to be by no means intelligent animals. During the day- time they were usually asleep, but towards evening they became active, and on the alert for their food, consisting of bread and milk, and various vegetable substances, including fruits. Whatever eatable was given to them, was taken by and held between the hands, in the manner a squirrel holds a nut. Occasionally a dead bird was given to them, when they evinced an evident fondness for such food, and more particularly for the brain, which was the part first consumed.” This animal constitutes a considerable part of the food of the natives, who diligently search for it, and having discovered a tree in Avhich it is secreted, ascend it with surprising agility ; the position of the animal being ascertained, a hole is cut with their little axes sufficiently large to admit the naked arm ; it is then seized by the tail, the chopping and jarring of the tree not inducing it to leave its retreat, and before it has time to bite, or use its powerful claws, it is deprived of life by a blow against the side of the tree, and thrown to the ground ; its captor proceeding to his encampment with a dinner in perspective. I have frequently eaten its flesh myself, and found it far from disagreeable. Mantles and sleeping rugs are made of its skin, but, as I have mentioned in my account of P. faliginosa, are not considered so valuable as those made from the skin of that animal. A very elaborate account, by Mr. Martin, of the internal anatomy of a female of this species will be found in the “ Proceedings of the Zoological Society ” above quoted. Fur long, loose, and moderately soft ; general colour grey, the visible portions of the hairs being partly black and partly white ; fur of the back of a somewhat deeper hue than on the sides, owing to a plentiful interspersion of long black hairs ; muzzle and chin blackish, the former pale near the tip, and the naked muffle of a whitish flesh-colour ; eyes encircled with blackish hairs ; skin of the inner surface of the ears brownish-pink, with a few scattered pale-coloured hairs ; outer surface of the ear, excepting near the point and a narrow space along the anterior margin, clothed with a dense and moderately long fur, which is white at the posterior angle and towards the apex, but black elsewhere ; the hairs of the moustaches are long, numerous and black, and there are a few long bristly black hairs springing from above the eyes ; throat, under surface of the body, and inner side of the limbs pale buffy-yellow, with a large oblong patch of deep rust-coloured hairs along the chest ; feet yellowish-white, suffused with brown on the toes ; naked soles flesh-coloured ; claws dusky ; tail clothed at the root like the body ; beyond, the fur is more bushy, of a harsher character, and black, the last inch or so being in some instances white ; the extreme point of the tail, and the apical half of the under surface are naked. The figure represents the animal rather under the size of life. JCo™WemdJ{Xtti(>hier',dd.d)Ml. MrMmarodd & WaZtmv, Jtrtp . PHALANGISTA CANINA, o g ub y . Short-eared Phalangista. Phalangista canina, Ogilby in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part iv. p. 191. — Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 85. — Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 296. This is a powerful animal, fully equalling in size the P. fuliginosa. It is at once distinguished from that, and from every other known species of the genus, by the short and rounded form of its ears. It is much more restricted in its habitat, being, so far as my knowledge extends, exclusively confined to the brushes of New South Wales, particularly those in the neighbourhood of the Hunter, Clarence, and Richmond rivers, and the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range. Its habits and economy closely resemble those of its near ally the P. vulpina, but it is much more fierce in its disposition. Like the P. fuliginosa, it is subject to much variation in its colouring, some specimens being black, while others have a reddish tinge pervading the shoulders and flanks ; the prevailing tint is a dark grizzly-grey, similar to that represented in the accompanying Plate. The following is Mr. Waterhouse’s description of this animal, taken from the typical specimen in the Museum of the Zoological Society of London : — The fur is long, dense, and somewhat woolly ; its general hue is grey, being finely pencilled with black and white ; on the under surface of the body it is white, but each hair is indistinctly suffused with yellow externally, and is greyish next the skin ; on the chest is a narrow rusty-brown mark ; ears nearly naked internally ; externally they are furnished at the base with fur of the same kind as that on the head, and of a blackish hue, but towards the exterior margin the hairs are whitish ; muzzle dusky, and the eye surrounded by the same dark hue ; feet blackish ; tail very bushy, coloured at the base like the body, the thick bushy hairs on the remaining portion black ; apical third of the under surface and the tip of the tail naked ; moustaches black ; claws pale horn-colour. The figure is somewhat smaller than the natural size of the animal. % PJ1AL AH’ CIS TA CO OKI, Dcsm JGouU'Oinilll.C.IUtMer, AA. (t, 1A. MvUimmM £ Watim, Imp. PHALANGISTA COOKI, Desm. Cook’s Phalang*ista. Phalangista Cookii, Desm. Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p. 478. — Temm. Mon. de Mamm., tom. i. p. . — Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist, new ser. 1838, vol. i. p. 107. Banksii, Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist, new ser. 1838, vol. i. p. 107. Phalanger de Cook, Cuv. Rfegn. Anim. ed. 1817, tom. i. p. 179 ; ed. 1829, tom. i. p. 183. Bougainville, Cuv. Regn. Anim. ed. 1829, tom. i. p. 183. Phalangista Bougainvillii, Wagn. in Schreb. Saug. Ill, 112. Heft, p. 82. New Holland Opossum, Penn. Hist, of Quad., vol. ii. p. 301. White-tailed Opossum, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. p. 504. Phalangista {Pseudochirus ) Cookii, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 299. — Gunn in Proc. of Roy. Soc. Van Diem. Land, vol. ii. p. 84. Balantia Cookii, Kuhl, Beitr. 63. Hepoona Cookii, Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 84. Ring-tailed Opossum of the Colonists. A question lias been raised by some modern mammalogists, whether the Ring-tailed Opossum of New South Wales, characterized by the rusty-red hue of its colouring, and the animal of the same form inhabiting Van Diemen’s Land, which is principally of a sooty blackness, are distinct species, or merely varieties of one and the same animal. Mr. Waterhouse considers them to be identical : Mr. Ogilby, on the other hand, is of opinion that they are not, and has given the name of viverrina to the island or darker-coloured specimens, retaining that of Cooki for the animal from New South Wales : now, it may be asked, what is the opinion of one who has seen these animals in a state of nature ? In reply, I may say, that I have hunted them upon very many occasions in both countries, and that I invariably found the black specimens to be confined to Van Diemen’s Land, and the red ones to New South Wales ; besides which, I observed that the island examples were of a larger size and were always dressed in a softer and longer fur. My figure of Phalangista Cooki represents the animal as it generally appears in the brushes of New South Wales, while that of P. viverrina as correctly portrays the one killed in Van Diemen’s Land. It will he seen that, at least for the present, I have regarded them as distinct. The Phalangista Cooki is strictly nocturnal in its habits, sleeping in the hollow spouts and holes of the larger trees during the day and leaving its retreat on the approach of darkness, sometimes descending to the ground, but more frequently ascending to the smaller branches to feed upon the flowers and tender shoots of the Eucalypti. Its flesh is delicate, juicy, and well-tasted, and is much prized by the aborigines. I have spoken of the brushes of New South Wales as being the part of the country inhabited by this animal ; it is just possible that it may also be found on the plains and Angophora flats between the lower mountain ranges ; but it must not be confounded with a smaller and more woolly species which is there found, the Phalangista laniginosa, a figure and description of which will be found in its proper place in this work. The fur is dense and somewhat harsh to the touch ; its colour on the upper surface of the body and tail in some specimens is dark brown, grizzled with grey ; in others a greyer hue prevails ; face, cheeks, sides of the neck and body, the outer surface of the limbs and the under surface of the basal portion of the tail, rich deep rust-red ; sides of the muzzle blackish ; eyes surrounded by a series of black hairs ; chin, under surface of the body and inner sides of the limbs tawny, increasing to rufous in some specimens ; in some examples the apical half of the tail is white, in others the apical third, and in others it is of nearly the same hue as the basal portion, but this latter state rarely occurs. The Plate represents the sexes somewhat under the size of life. ■ . ' ■ ^i.C.WMxr, delM llttb. Ridlmandd L Wot&om,lmp. PHALANGISTA VIVERRINA, o g ub y . Yiverrine Phalangista. P halanyista viverrina, Ogilby in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part v. p. 151.— Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 303, Ip Cooki, Gunn, Ann. of Nat. Hist., vol. i. 1838, p. 102. On reference to the description of the preceding - species, Phalangista Cooki, will be found some general observations respecting the Ring-tailed Opossums of Van Diemen’s Land and New South Wales. A lengthened discussion between Mr. Ogilby and Mr. Gray, as to whether the island or continental animals should be called Cooki, will be found in the “ Annals of Natural History ” for the year 1838, into the merits of which I shall not enter, but merely remark, that my observations of the animals in a state of nature lead me to coincide with Mr. Ogilby, and, for the present at least, to consider the Van Diemen’s Land animal as distinct from that of New South Wales, and as the one for which his name of viverrina should be retained. I saw much of this animal during my sojourn in the island, and frequently hunted it in company with some of the settlers, and the servants who accompanied me. Like many other species, it evinced a great partiality for certain trees and localities, some districts being resorted to by great numbers, while in others it was almost entirely absent. It may extend its range to the continent, as I have lately seen a dark-coloured specimen which had been obtained in the brushes. The Ring- tailed Opossums procured by Mr. Gilbert in Western Australia, of which I have several examples, are fully equal in size, and even blacker in colour, than the Van Diemen’s Land animals ; but he did occa- sionally meet with greyer specimens in the neighbourhood of Perth. I mention this, that mammalogis ts may form opinions for themselves as to whether these animals constitute one or more species ; whether they do or do not, I have considered it advisable to give correct representations of the very opposite colours they exhibit, and to state all I know respecting them. I found this animal gave a decided preference to those districts of Van Diemen’s Land that are of a sandy character, and where the large gum-trees were sparingly dispersed, such as the islands on the River Derwent and the plains on the northern side of that stream ; but it was not to be found in the more dense and humid scrub of its opposite shore. Our usual mode of hunting this animal was to go out in a small party on moonlight nights, when, with the aid of one or two small cur dogs, it was soon discovered, either on the ground or among the branches of the trees, where, if looked for with the face towards the moon, it is not difficult to see, and when seen, much less difficult to shoot, as it never attempts to retreat. Mr. Gunn states that this animal “ is common near Launceston, and is there usually called Ring-tail Opossum as a specific name. All the opossums come out of the holes of the trees, in which they usually sleep all day, about twilight ; and for about an hour or two after sunset they may be seen busily employed eating the leaves of the various species of Eucalypti ; on the branches in moonlight nights they are usually shot, and opossum-shooting is sometimes fine sport where a few join together. Orchards in country places suffer sometimes from the opossums eating all the leaves and young branches.” Mr. Gilbert says this animal is called Ng'6-ra by the aborigines of Perth, and Ngork by those of King George’s Sound; and states that “it does not confine itself to the hollows of trees, but is often found in holes in the ground, where the entrance is covered with a stump, and from which it is often hunted out by the Kangaroo dogs. It varies very much in the colour of the fur, from a very light grey to nearly black. In one instance I caught a pair in the same hole exhibiting these extremes of colour.” At page 303 of Mr. Waterh ouse’s “Natural History of the Mammalia,” he mentions that there are five specimens from Van Diemen’s Land in the British Museum, in which the general hue of the fur is pale rufous-grey on the back, and bright rust-colour on the sides of the body and limbs ; this statement induced me carefully to examine these specimens, and I feel confident that, by some accident, the labels they originally bore have been lost, probably during the process of mounting ; and that they are from New South Wales, and not from Van Diemen’s Land. The following is the description of a specimen from Van Diemen’s Land sent to me by R. C. Gunn, Esq. : — Fur of the head, all the upper surface of the body, the outer side of the limbs, and basal half of the tail, sooty-grey, grizzled with whitish, and with numerous interspersed long black hairs ; sides of the face and orbits dusky ; posterior part of the exterior of the ear, and a patch behind and below it, white ; throat, chest, abdomen, inner side of the limhs and apical half of the tail white ; moustaches black. Other examples from that island have the upper surface very much darker. Specimens from Swan River are still darker, not only on the upper but on the under surface, which latter is of a brownish-grey only a trifle lighter than the hue of the upper parts. The colour of one example now before me is almost wholly black, somewhat paler beneath, and with a small patch of white on the chest, and an interrupted line of white down the throat and abdomen. The colouring, in fact, is much varied between grey and black, but never exhibits the rufous hue of the New South Wales animal, Phalangista Cooki. The figures are somewhat less than the natural size. J. GcndMioi3.JT. CJticTvber', dd.etfcth' . ~Hid}m.(Mjruld & IForffccni Imp. PHALANGISTA LANIGINOSA, Gould . Woolly Phalang-er. At the period of my visit to Australia, this species was abundant on most of the Angophora or “ Apple- tree ” flats of the Upper Hunter, particularly those of the Dartbrook district, and it is doubtless to be found there still, and in all probability will be for ages to come. I mention this locality especially because there are two nearly allied Phalangistoe in New South Wales, which, when brought to this country and exposed in our museums, undergo so great a change in the colouring of their fur as to render it exceedingly difficult to distinguish them. These two nearly allied species are the Phalangista Cooki and the P. laniginosa figured on the accompanying Plate. I am the more certain of the specific distinctness of these two animals as those keen observers, the natives, particularly impressed upon my attention that the animal from the flats was different from the one frequenting the brushes which clothe the “ corries ” of the great Liverpool Chain. While in the country I had no difficulty in distinguishing them, and never had a doubt of their being distinct ; but what was plain to me in Australia, I am unable to render so clear to the Mammalogists of Europe ; I have no doubt, however, that when the great country of Australia has sons of her own interested in the subject, my views will be borne out and strictly verified, and it is for this reason that I have given so particularly the precise locality in which' my specimens were obtained; doubtless all similar districts in Eastern Australia will also be favoured with the presence of this animal. I may remark that there is a greater difference between the P. laniginosa and P. Cooki than there is between P. Cooki and P. feliginosa, which, indeed, may possibly be mere varieties of each other, although I have treated them as distinct. My figure of P. laniginosa is taken from a fully adult male now before me. This animal is clothed in a thick, short, woolly kind of fur, of a greyish hue, with a wash of rufous on the outer side of the limbs ; has the throat and all the under surface white, and the tail not so extensively tipped with white as in its near allies ; it is also of smaller size. The following is a more minute description of the animal: — Fur soft and yielding to the touch ; general colour of the upper surface brownish grey, interspersed on the back with numerous greyish-white hairs ; head and neck suffused with rufous, particularly round the eyes and on the outer surface of the ears ; lower edge of the ear huff ; whiskers black ; outer side of the limbs rusty red ; throat, under surface of the body and inner side of the limbs greyish white ; basal fourth of the tail brownish grey, suffused with rufous ; apical fourth white, the middle portion blackish brown. The figures are fully the size of life. CUSCUS BREVICAUDATUS, Gray. Short-tailed Cuscus. Phalangista ( Pseudocheirus ) nudicaudata, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1849, p. 110. Cuscus brevicaudatus, Gray in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. p. 102— lb. Cat. of Mamm. and Birds of New Guinea in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 7. Pseudocheirus nudicaudata, Macg. Voy. of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, vol. i. p. 129. That a member of the genus Cuscus should be found in the extreme north-east of the Australian continent is not surprising, from the contiguity of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, where various members of the genus abound. It will be seen, by the synonyms given above, that when I described this animal, I regarded it as a Phalangista, and gave it the name of Phalangista ( Pseudocheirus ) nudicaudata ; now, as all the Cusci have the extremity of the tail denuded of hairs, this specific appellation is certainly inappropriate, and I have therefore adopted that of brevicaudatus, proposed for it by Dr. Gray. When speaking of the objects observed near Port Albany, Mr. Macgillivray says,— “ The natives one day brought down to us a live Opossum, quite tame and very gentle. It turned out to be a new species, and has since been described by Mr. Gould under the name of Pseudocheirus nudicaudatus and this, unfortu- nately, is all we know of the natural history of this pretty animal. Dr. Gray, in his “ Observations on the Genus Cuscus,” published in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London ’ for the year 1858, says, — “ This species ” (the Cuscus brevicaudatus') “ is very like the ashy variety of Cuscus maculatus, but the front lower cutting-teeth are much broader, and the tail is consider- ably shorter than any of the specimens of the C. maculatus contained in the British Museum collection. “ The light mark on the rump is common to all the species of Cuscus, and is probably produced by the habit of the animal sitting on that part of the body, rolled up into a ball, on the fork of the branches of a tree.” Head, all the upper surface, the sides of the body, and the outer sides of the limbs brownish grey ; the tips of the hairs with a silky appearance ; under surface of the neck and body and the inner sides of the limbs pale buff ; the colouring of the upper and under surface distinctly defined on the sides of the body, but gradually blending on the limbs, the rump, and root of the tail, which is thickly clothed on its basal third, and naked for the remainder of its length ; hands, feet, and naked portion of the tail pinky flesh-colour. inches. Length from tip of nose to root of tail 12 „ of tail 8 ,, of fore-feet, including the nails 3 „ of hind-feet, including the nails 3-§- The animal is figured in two positions, of the size of life ; at the same time, it must be mentioned that it is believed to be immature, and not more than two-thirds of the size it would be when adult. ■ - . ' , ■ ' . * PETAURISTA TAGUANOIDES, Desm Great Flying* Phalang*er. Petaurus Taguanoides, Desm. Nouv. Diet. cl’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p. 400. — -Waterli. in Jard. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. xi. (Marsupialia) p. 283. pi. 27. Petaurista Taguanoides, Desm. Mamm., pt. 1. p. 269.— Gray, List of Mamm. in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 84. Petaurista Peronii, Desm. Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p. 400. Petaurus Peronii, Benn. Cat. of Australian Museum, Sydney, p. 3. no. 10. Petaurus Leucogaster, Mitch. Three Exp. into Eastei’n Australia, vol. i. p. xvii. ? Petaurus ( Petaurista ) taguanoides, Waterh. Nat. Hist. Mamm., vol. i. p. 322. The Great Flying Phalanger is strictly an inhabitant of the extensive brushes which stretch along the south- eastern and eastern portions of New South Wales, the forests between the mountain ranges and the sea from Port Philip to Moreton Bay being in fact its native habitat. Strictly nocturnal in its movements, this fine animal secretes itself during the day in hollow trees of the largest growth, and on the approach of evening emerges from its retreat in quest of the newly opened blossoms of the Eucalijpti, in which, together with the tender buds and shoots of the same trees, it finds a description of food congenial to its well- being. It passes along the branches with the utmost celerity, and, when necessitated to remove from one tree to another, effects its object by leaping from the higher branches, and floating through the air in easy and elegant sweeps, its progress being greatly aided by the parachute-like membrane at its sides. Although plentiful in the districts above mentioned, examples are not procured without difficulty, owing to the thickness of the brush or forest ; the natives, however, readily detect its retreat by the presence of a few straggling hairs at the entrance of its hole, or by the impressions made by its sharp claws in the bark, and -having found it speedily cut it out with their hatchets. It is not a little surprising that this very singular animal should not have been captured alive and sent to this country, like the smaller members of the family ; it would be by far the most interesting and attractive : its power of inflicting most severe lacerations with its sharp teeth and strong hooked claws may be one reason why this has not been done. At present this is the only well-established species of the genus Petaurista, but I doubt not that others exist in the extensive forests which stretch along the eastern coast of Australia, and which have as yet been but imperfectly explored. It is subject to very great variety in the colouring of its fur, some specimens being entirely blackish brown on the upper surface, while in others it is blackish brown suffused with grey ; others are of a uniform cream colour, and others again quite white : these latter I have always regarded as mere varieties ; I am not, however, prepared to say that they had red eyes, like true albinos. The sexes offer no external difference, except that the female is somewhat smaller than the male. Fur very long, loose, and soft to the touch, of a brownish black hue on the upper surface and on the flank-membrane, and of a browner tint on the head and back of the neck; the flank-membrane is, moreover, pencilled with white ; feet, muzzle and chin nearly black ; throat, chest, under side of the body and of the flank-membrane, and the inner side of the limbs pale buffy white ; the wrists and ankles are, however, black both on the inner as well as on the outer side ; the long hairs near and at the posterior margin of the ear are whitish and project from the edge of the ear like a fringe ; tail black or brownish black, almost always paler at the root and along the under surface for a considerable distance from the base, sometimes of a yellowish brown, at others of a brownish white. The drawing represents the animal rather more than two-thirds of the size of life. 7 BELIDEUS FLAY 1 VENTER. Long-tailed Belideus. Petaurista flaviventer, Desm. Mamm., p. 269. Didelphis Petaurus, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. p. 496. Petaurus (Belideus) flaviventer, Waterh. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. ix. (Marsupialia), p. 286. australis, Shaw, Nat. Misc., vol. ii. pi. 60. — List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. Coll., p. 83. Didelphys volucella, Meyer, p. 26. Petaurus Cunninghami, Gray, MSS. B.M. Sciurus Novce-Hollandice , Meyer. Didelphys macroura, Shaw, Zool. of New Holl., p. 33. pi. xii. young. — lb. Gen. Zool., vol. i. p. 500. pi. 113. young. Petaurus macrourus, Waterh. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. ix. (Marsupialia^, p. 288. young. Mr. Waterhouse, who has paid considerable attention to the Marsupialia, in speaking of this animal, says, “The Hepoona Roo of White’s Journal, the original also of Shaw’s Didelphis Petaurus, is still in existence in the Museum of the College of Surgeons ; it proves to be the present species, and not the P. Taguanoides, as has always been supposed. This ought therefore to be regarded as the type of Shaw’s genus Petaurus, if authors are right in attributing that genus to Shaw ; but I do not perceive that he ever regarded the animal in question as constituting a genus, or that he applied the name in a generic sense.” This fine species is common in all the brushes of New South Wales, particularly those which stretch along the coast from Port Philip to Moreton Bay. In these vast forests, trees of one kind or another are perpetually flowering, and thus offer a never-failing supply of blossoms upon which the Long-tailed Belideus feeds ; the flowers of the various kinds of gums, some of which are of great magnitude, are the principal favourites. Like the rest of the genus it is nocturnal in its habits, dwelling in holes and in the spouts of the larger branches during the day, and displaying the greatest activity at night while running over the small leafy branches, frequently even to their very extremities, in search of insects and the honey of the newly-opened blossoms. Its structure being ill adapted for terrestrial habits it seldom descends to the ground, except for the purpose of passing to a tree too distant to be attained by springing from the one it wishes to leave. The tops of the trees are traversed by this animal with as much ease as the most level ground is by such as are destined for terra firma. If chased or forced to flight, it ascends to the highest branch, and performs the most enormous leaps, sweeping from tree to tree with wonderful address ; a slight elevation gives its body an impetus, which with the expansion of its membrane enables it to pass to a con- siderable distance, always ascending a little at the extremity of the leap ; by this ascent the animal is pre- vented from receiving the shock which it would otherwise sustain. It is now very generally believed that the Petaurus macrourus is only the young of Petaurus flaviventer ; I have therefore placed the former name as a synonym. General colour either greyish or yellowish brown ^ head clouded with black, particularly lound the eyes, at the base of the ear, on the muzzle and chin ; a black mark extends from the occiput along the middle of the back ; the fore and hind legs and the side membrane blackish brown ; edge of the membrane and under surface of the body buff; basal half of the tail yellowish brown, the remainder black. The sexes are alike in colour. The accompanying Plate represents the animal a trifle less than the natural size. BELIDEUS SCIUREUS. Squirrel-like Belideus. Didelphys sciurea, Shaw, Zool. of New Holl., pi. xi. p. 29. Petaurus sciureus, Desm. Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., 2nd Edit., tom. xxv. p. 403. Petaurus ( Belideus ) sciureus, Waterh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VI. p. 152. —Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. ix. (Mar- supialia), p. 289. pi. xxviii. — List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. Coll., p. 83. Norfolk Island Flying Squirrel, Phillip’s Voy., pi. in p. 151. Sugar Squirrel, Colonists of New South Wales. This is not only one of the most elegant and beautiful species of the genus to which it belongs, but is also one of the commonest animals of the country ; being very generally dispersed over the whole of New South Wales, where, in common with other Opossums, it inhabits the large and magnificent gum-trees. Nocturnal in its habits, it conceals itself during the day in the hollows and spouts of the trees, where it easily falls a prey to the natives, who capture it both for the sake of its flesh and its skin, which in some parts of the colony they dispose of to the colonists, who occasionally apply it to the same purposes as those to which the fur of the Chinchilla and other animals is applied in Europe, — the trimming of dresses, boas, &c. At night it becomes as active and agile in its motions as it is sluggish and torpid in the daytime. I ob- served that it prefers those forests which adorn the more open and grassy portions of the country to the thick brushes near the coast. By expanding the beautiful membrane attached to its sides it has the power of performing enormous leaps, and of passing from tree to tree without descending to the ground : like other animals provided with a similar means of transit, it slightly ascends at the extremity of its leap, and thereby avoids the shock which a direct contact with the branch upon which it alights would cause it to sustain. It is of course marsupial, and I believe produces two young at a time, as I found two animals about half- grown in the same hole with the adults. For a beautiful living example of this animal I am indebted to the kindness of my most estimable friend Mrs. Simpkinson, to whom it had been sent by her sister Lady Franklin, who procured it from Port Philip. It has become very tame, and its actions when permitted to run about the apartments are amusing and attractive in the extreme : the slightest projection affording it support, it passes over the cornices, picture- frames and hangings with the greatest ease ; it becomes exceedingly animated at night, leaping from side to side of its cage, spreading its membrane and tail, and repeatedly turning completely over, or performing several summersaults in succession. Its usual food is sopped bread and milk, upon which it thrives, and which appears to be a good substitute for its natural food, which consists of insects, the honey of flowers, and the tender buds and leaves of the Eucalypti. Fur extremely soft and of moderate length; general tint of the upper surface ashy grey ; a blackish brown line extends from the nose along the middle of the back nearly to the root of the tail ; the upper surface of the flank membrane, and the anterior and posterior portion of the fore and hind legs black or brownish black; just below the ear a brownish black patch ; feet dusky grey; chin, throat, inner side of the limbs and the under surface of the body white ; under side of the flank membrane dusky ; the margin fringed with white hairs ; tail smoke-grey for somewhat more than the basal half of its length, the remainder deep black ; ears nearly naked except at the base, where they are clothed with a black fur, and the posterior margin which is white ; eyes very full and black. The figures represent fully adult animals of the natural size on a branch of one of the commonest of the Eucalypti of New South Wales. BELIBEPS BUS VICE JP § s Watwh fflx. Mmcmhlzl' - the branches in the night-time is very great; it not only passes over, around and beneath them, but, aided by the membrane attached to the sides and limbs, leaps from one bunch of flowers to another with the greatest facility. The sexes are alike, but the female is somewhat smaller than her mate. Fur short, dense, soft, glossy, and on the upper surface ashy greyish brown ; under surface greyish white in some, yellowish white in others, this colour extending on to the lower part of the cheeks and the upper lip ; circle surrounding and a space in front of each eye black ; ears dusky towards the fore-part, and whitish behind ; on the inner side of the ear near the apex and on the apical portion spring numerous long and extremely fine hairs ; moustaches numerous, slender, and of a dusky brown ; tail fringed on the sides with longer hairs than those clothing its upper and under surfaces. The figures are of the natural size. * ■ * DROMICIA GLIRIFORMIS. Thick-tailed Dromicia. Phalangista gliriformis, Bell in Linn. Trans., vol. xvi. p. 121. pi. 13. Dromicia gliriformis, List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. Coll., p. 85. The Dromicia gliriformis is nowhere more abundant than in Van Diemen’s Land, particularly the northern parts of the island ; and indeed it is very questionable if it is to be found in any other part of Australia ; but our present knowledge will not admit of the positive assertion. I am sufficiently acquainted with the habits and economy of the Dromicia gliriformis to state that it is a strictly nocturnal animal, and that of all trees it prefers the Banksias, whose numerous blossoms supply it with a never-ceasing store of food, both of insects and sweets ; if I mistake not, it also feeds upon the tender buds and spikes of the flowers. During the day it generally slumbers coiled up in some hollow branch or fissure in the trees, whence if its retreat he discovered it is easily taken by the hand ; this state of inactivity is totally changed at night, when it runs over the smaller branches and leaps from flower to flower with the utmost ease and agility. This disposition is just as strongly displayed by it when kept in confinement ; being so drowsy during the daytime as to admit of its being handled without evincing the least anxiety to escape, while the contrary is the case as soon as night approaches. I have also observed that during the months of winter it is less active than in the summer ; undergoing in fact a kind of hyber- nation, somewhat similar, hut not to the same extent, as the Dormouse. That this interesting little animal hears confinement well and contentedly, is proved by the circumstance of the pair from which the accompanying drawing was taken being now alive in the possession of Her Most Gracious Majesty at Windsor Castle, where they are thriving as well as if they were in their native wilds. They were brought to this country by the Very Reverend the Archdeacon Marriott, who kindly permitted me to make drawings of them for the present work. If any difference is perceptible between examples in captivity and those in a state of nature, it is that the former are more sluggish in their actions and inclined to obesity. Four individuals formed part of the collection in the Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park, and after living there for three years died, apparently without disease and probably from old age ; and my most estimable friend Thomas Bell, Esq., F.R.S., was in possession of living examples for four years, which furnished him with the materials for a paper on its habits and economy while in confinement, and I take the liberty of copying the following extract verbatim : — “ In their habits they are extremely like the Dormouse, feeding on nuts and other similar food, which they hold in their fore-paws, using them as hands. They are nocturnal, remaining asleep during the whole day, or, if disturbed, not easily roused to a state of activity, and coming forth late in the evening, and then assuming their natural rapid and vivacious habits ; they run about a small tree which is placed in their cage, using their paws to hold by the branches, and assisting themselves by their prehensile tail, which is always held in readiness to support them, especially when in a descending attitude. Sometimes the tail is thrown in a reverse direction, turned over the hack, and at other times, when the weather is cold, it is rolled closely up towards the under part and coiled almost between the thighs. When eating they sit upon their hind-quarters, holding the food in their fore-paws, which, with the face, are the only parts apparently standing out from the hall of fur of which the body seems at that time to be composed. They are perfectly harmless and tame, permitting any one to hold and caress them without ever attempting to bite, hut do not evince the least attachment either to persons about them or to each other.” Considerable diversity of colour exists in different individuals ; in some the upper surface is nearly uniform grey, while in others a fine tawny or rufous tint pervades the same parts ; and examples are constantly met with exhibiting every variety of intermediate shade. The sexes are very nearly alike in size and colour. The fur is very soft and thick ; all the upper surface either grey or yellowish grey, the yellow tint predominating on the sides, body, and the face ; under surface either greyish white or yellowish white ; base of the tail similar in colour to the upper surface of the body, hut becoming purplish flesh-colour towards the tip. The figures are of the natural size. O DROMICIA CONCINNA, Gould. Beautiful Dromicia. Dromicia concinna, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Jan. 14, 1845. Man-duf-da, Aborigines of Western Australia. This pretty little animal is abundantly and very generally distributed over tbe colony of Swan River. Its habits being strictly nocturnal, it secretes itself during the day in tbe hollows and chinks of trees, particu- larly those of tbe Casuarincs and Banksits ; at night it leaves its retreat for tbe flowering branches of shrubby low trees in search of insects and sweets, of which, from the abundance of flowering plants, it easily obtains a never-ceasing supply. It becomes very tame in confinement ; spending the daytime in sleep with its body rolled up in the form of a hall, and on the approach of evening throwing off its drowsiness and becoming animated in the ex- treme, leaping about from side to side of its cage in chase of insects, of which it is exceedingly fond. The extent of its range over the continent of Australia, and all minute particulars respecting its habits and economy, have yet to he ascertained. The sexes are so similar that they present but little difference either in size or colour ; in some speci- mens the under surface is slightly tinged with buff. Before the eye a mark of black ; all the upper surface, the outer side of the limbs and the tail pale sandy brown ; all the under surface and the inner side of the limbs white ; the two colours distinctly separated, or not blending into each other. The Plate represents a male and a female, on a branch of a very beautiful species of Melaleuca. PHASCOGALE PENICILLATA. Brush-tailed Phascog’ale. Tapoa-tqfa, White’s Journ., pi. in p. 281. Didelphys penicillata, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. part 2. p. 502. pi. 113. fig. 1. Dasyurus penicillatus, Geoff. Ann. du Mus., tom. iii. p. 361. Tafa, Geoff., loc. cit. Phascogale penicillata, Temm. Monogr. de Mamm., tom. i. p. 58. — Skull, pi. vii. figs. 9-12.— Waterh. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. ix. (Marsupialia), p. 136, pi. viii. — -List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. Coll., p. 98. Tapoa-tafa, Aborigines of New South Wales. Bul-loo-wa, Aborigines of the York district of Western Australia. Bal-a-ga, Aborigines of Perth. Bal-la-wa-ra, Aborigines to the north of Perth. As several specimens of this animal, contained in a collection lately received from Western Australia, offer on comparison no difference whatever from others procured in South Australia and New South Wales, it is evident that the Brush-tailed Phascogale has an unusually wide range of habitat. It probably does not extend so far south as the island of Van Diemen’s Land, or northward of the twenty-fifth degree of south latitude. The plain and the mountain districts appear to he etpially inhabited by it, and from its destructive pro- pensities is I fear likely to become a pest to the colonists. It has already been known to enter the stores of the settlers and commit severe depredations whenever they contained anything suited to its palate, and, whether justly or not I am unable to say, it has also been charged with killing the fowls and chickens of the hen-roost. In the stomachs of some that were dissected were found the remains of coleopterous insects, and what appeared to be a species of fungus. Nocturnal in its habits, it sleeps during the day in the hollows of decayed trees, from which retreat it emerges on the approach of evening, when it ascends the trees and displays the greatest activity among the branches. When captured it becomes quite ferocious and struggles hard to effect its escape, and so severe are the lacerations it inflicts, that even a native can rarely be induced to put his hand within reach of a living one. It breeds in the hollows of the gum-trees, but the precise number of its young has not yet been ascertained. The sexes differ but little in size and colour, but the male is somewhat the largest. The accompanying Plate represents the animal of the size it is when fully adult. It is necessary to mention this, because much difference exists in the relative size of specimens sent to this country, many individuals that I have seen not being more than half the size of those figured, and which is solely attributable to the youthful state of the animal, and not to a difference of species. It was first figured in White’s “Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales,” a work published in 1790, under the name Tapoa-tafa ; the specimen there represented is still preserved in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, so that we have the clearest evidence of its identity with the animal here figured. The colouring of the Brush-tailed Phascogale may be thus described : — Face, all the upper surface and the base of the tail grey ; chin, throat, inside of the legs and feet greyish white ; a darker grey mark commences at the tip of the nose and extends over the forehead to the nape ; the fur is moderately long and loose, that which covers the back and upper surface being uniform blue-grey next the body, and grizzled grey and brown towards the surface ; lengthened black- hairs are also thinly scattered among the fur of the upper surface ; the tail for about four-fifths of its length from the tip is clothed with long and stiff hairs of the finest black, giving that organ a brush-like appearance, whence its specific name ; tip of the nose flesh-colour ; ears purplish, very thinly covered with fine hairs. The figures represent the two sexes of the size they attain when fully adult. ' ■' / m S € €) (&AILTE C JE1L t 1#T § * J. (jcaildL <%nd> M(W^okxw‘ dd <&' Ml. ffuUtttiXirsitiL Wallott/ Jyttgf PHASCOGALE CALURA, Gould. Handsome-tailed Phascogale. Phascogale calura, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XII. p. 104 . All mammalogists who are acquainted with the Phascogale penicillata will observe that a great similarity in form exists between that animal and the one here represented, of which a single individual has lately been forwarded to me from Western Australia, and which I believe to be the only specimen yet transmitted to Europe. I am led to consider it one of the most interesting of the Australian mammals lately discovered, not only from its forming the second species of the genus as now restricted, but from the extreme elegance of its form and the chaste but diversified character of its markings. The rich rust-red of the basal half of the upper surface of the tail is a very unusual mark in animals of this order. Mr. Gilbert procured the specimen above-mentioned while staying at the Military Station on William’s River, and he merely says : “ For this new animal I was indebted to a domestic cat who had captured it in the night. The soldiers informed me that they had often met with it in the store-room of the Station, but they could give me no other information respecting it, except that specimens with much larger or more brushy tails were some- times seen.” The fact of its visiting the stores shows, that in habits and disposition it assimilates as closely to the P. penicillata as it does in form. The fur is soft and moderately long ; its general colour is ashy grey externally and grey next the skin ; under surface of the body white, tinted with cream-colour, which becomes more distinct on the sides ; eyes surrounded by a narrow ring of black ; in front of the eye a blackish patch ; ears sparingly clothed for the most part with very minute dusky hairs, but at the base, both externally and internally, are some long- yellowish hairs ; base of the tail for nearly half its length clothed with short hairs of a brilliant rusty red colour ; on the apical half of the tail the hairs are long and black, as is also the under surface of the base to near the root. The Plate represents the animal, which is now in the British Museum, of the natural size. . ' . . J. Cndil (aA'K.CRielitfr, dd.& Mh . PHASCOGALE LANIGERA, Gould. Woolly Phascogale. A single specimen of the little Phascogale figured on the accompanying Plate was discovered by Sir Thomas Mitchell, during one of his expeditions into the interior of Australia. This specimen, which is now in the British Museum, appears to be fully adult. In form it is precisely similar to the Phascogale calura , but in size and colouring it is very different, being a much smaller animal, and having no trace of the rufous colouring so conspicuous on the basal portion of the tail of that species. I regret to state that no account of the habits of this little animal accompanied the specimen. I am indebted to Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, for permission to figure and describe this new and interesting addition to the genus Phascogale . The paucity of the information we possess respecting it affords further evidence of the little we know respecting the smaller animals of the interior of Australia, an acquaintance with which is rendered all the more difficult of acquisition from the circumstance of the whole, or nearly the whole of them being nocturnal in their habits. The fur is soft, and of a character somewhat more woolly than that of P. calura ; its general colour is brown externally and grey next the skin, becoming hoary on the hind-quarters ; under surface of the body greyish-white ; eyes surrounded by a narrow ring of black ; ears sparingly clothed with minute brown hairs ; fore- and hind-feet white, becoming brownish-grey on the toes ; basal portion of the tail brown, like the body ; hairs of the apical half of the tail long and black, as is the under surface of the base to near the root. The figures are of the natural size. ,A aY 'I 1 .K', D .(:( ,1 M (r uSi *S| »'A ( fife® (;) A v .1 ANTECHINUS SWAINSONI. Swainson’s Antechinus. Phascogale Swainsonii, Waterh. Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iv. p. 300. — ( Antechinus ) Swainsonii, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 411. — Gunn, Proc. of Roy. Soc. of Van Diemen’s Land, vol. ii. p. 82.— Zool. of Erebus and Terror, Beasts, pi. 25. fig. 1. Of the animals comprising the restricted genus Antechinus , the present is the largest and the most darkly coloured species yet discovered. Van Diemen’s Land, if not its sole habitat, is the country in which it is usually found, and I believe I am right in stating that up to the present time it has not been obtained elsewhere. Mr. Waterhouse, after remarking that this species is of a much darker colour than any of the other Antechini, and is almost destitute of any grey hue, says, “The fur is long and moderately soft, and is of a deep grey colour next the skin; on the back the hairs are most of them annulated with rusty yellow or brownish rust-colour, the deeper tint being observable on the hinder parts. The hairs of the hinder parts of the body are grey, but tipped with yellowish. The tail is clothed throughout with small adpressed hairs of a dusky-brown colour, and a trifle paler on the under than on the upper surface. The feet are uniform dusky brown ; the fleshy pads on their under surface are transversely striated, and the remaining naked portion of each foot is apparently smooth. The muzzle is narrower and more elongated than usual. The specimen from which the original description was taken measured from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail 5 inches and 2 lines in length, and its tail was 3 inches and 5 lines long.” But that the animal attains a larger size is certain, there being an example in the British Museum which is 7 inches in length, and others of an equal size in the fine collection bequeathed to the town of Liverpool by the late munificent Earl of Derby. The figures are of the size of life. . • — — • ANT E € HI SIT S LETTCOPUS J.HowZd anddC.B^/e7zld / ANTECHINUS MURINUS Murine Antechinus. Phascogale murina, Waterh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. p. 75.— Ib. Nat. Lib., Marsupialia, p. 143. pi. 10. Phascogale (Antechinus) murina, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., p. 425. The subject of the present Plate is another of the little Marsupials described by Mr. Waterhouse, of which my own collection contains two specimens from New South Wales, and which, on comparison with the original in the Museum of the Zoological Society of London, from which Mr. Waterhouse took his description, presents little or no difference. “ The A. murinus ,” remarks Mr. Waterhouse, “ is considerably smaller than A. albipes ; its general colouring is paler, and its tail is uniformly white. The tarsi are almost entirely covered with hair on the under side, there being only a very narrow naked space running backwards from the digital pads, which are covered with small tubercles.” With respect to the tail being entirely white, as remarked by Mr. Waterhouse, this does not appear to be a constant character, the tail of one of my speci- mens being wholly white, while in another it is washed with brown, particularly on the upper surface ; and I am led to believe that the white tail is characteristic of immaturity, and not of the adult state. It must be admitted that it is a species, the distinctness of which from A. albipes is not very apparent. I have, however, no doubt of its being different, and in confirmation of this view I may state that it was sent to me as such by Mr. Gilbert, who, when writing from the Darling Downs in New South Wales, prior to joining Dr. Leichardt’s expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, in which his valuable life was unfortu- nately sacrificed, says, “ I caught this species on the banks of the river Severn ; the male is much larger in all its proportions than the female, and has a darker mark around and before the eye.” Fur very soft ; upper parts of the body ashy grey ; under parts and feet white ; tail silvery white ; ears clothed with minute pale hairs, becoming brownish in front on the outer surface ; eyes encircled with black ; fur of the under surface grey at the base. The figures are of the natural size. AWTECMMTO MACEEATFS: J. G-ozold and IP C lfochter, del et Iddv. Eu//ye/.-ayed/d & f i'dllo/ulrnp- ANTECHINUS MACULATUS, Gould. Spotted Antechinus. Antechinus maculatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Dec. 9, 1851. The progress of civilization over the vast continent of Australia cannot fail to be the means of bringing to light many species of small quadrupeds at present entirely unknown to the zoologist ; and the immense brushes which stretch along the southern and eastern coasts in particular, will, I feel confident, afford many treasures in this department of zoological science. During my short rambles in some of those extensive brushes, I frequently saw among the fallen leaves and thick herbage, many small, agile, mouse-like marsupials, which I found it impossible to procure, as they were too light to spring the ordinary traps, however lightly they might be set, and I was unprovided with any more suitable contrivances for capturing them ; it must also be remembered that the difficulty of collecting them is much increased by their being all more or less noc- turnal in their habits. Mr. Strange, however, from time to time sends me, among other objects, one of these little quadrupeds ; and it is to him that we are indebted for our knowledge of the pretty species figured in the accompanying Plate, which was procured in the brushes near the river Clarence, a little to the south- ward of Moreton Bay. Contrarieties with regard to colouring and disposition of markings continually occur in the Australian Fauna, of which the present little animal offers another instance ; since, contrary to the normal rule, we find it ornamented on the lower instead of the upper parts of the body. The animal sent by Mr. Strange is a fully adult male and may be thus described : — The fur is short, dense, and closely applied to the skin ; the general tint of the upper surface is dark blackish brown, minutely grizzled with yellowish brown ; lower part of the flanks and the under surface of the body dark brownish slate-grey, ornamented with oblong spots of white arranged in irregular rows in the direction of the body : there is also a streak of white down the centre of the throat. The figures are of the natural size. ANTECHINUS MINUTISSIMUS, Gould. Minute Antechinus. Antechinus mimtissimus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., 1852. This is by far the least of the Marsupials that have as yet been discovered in Australia. The accompanying figures which were taken from fully adult specimens represent the animal of the natural size. The little Antechini of Australia constitute two very distinct groups or subsections ; the form of one of which is characterized by a more elegant and lengthened contour, a sharper and more attenuated muzzle, larger ears and longer, more slender and mouse-like formed tarsi, such as is seen in Antechinus albipes, A. fuliginosus and A. murinus ; and the other by a shorter and bluffer head, smaller rounded ears, and extremely short and broad tarsi, as is perceptible in A.flmipes, A. maculatus, and the present species, A. minutissmus . I am quite sure that this difference in structure is accompanied by an equally marked difference in the habits and actions of the animals constituting these two groups : I had many opportunities of observing the A. Jlavipes in a state of nature, and noticed that it exhibited some very curious actions while traversing the large boles and limbs of the trees, both those that were prostrate as well as those still erect : its mode of progression was more like that of the squirrel than of any other animal with which I can compare it ; as it traversed the limbs in every direction by leaps, with widely spread legs, sometimes sideways, at others with the head downwards ; indeed in any position in which it wished to move. The native habitat of the A. minutissmus is the districts on the eastern coast of Australia, in the neigh- bourhood of Moreton Bay. I have specimens collected by Mr. Strange labelled with the native name of Pimburam. Fur short and closely applied to the skin ; the whole of the upper surface, including the tail, greyish brown, the latter being paler beneath ; chin and throat pale buff; feet huffy brown; under surface of the body and legs greyish buff gradually blending with the brown of the upper surface, but the huffy tint predo- minating on the centre of the abdomen and vent. inches. Length from the nose to the root of the tail „ of tail . , „ „ arm and hand „ „ tarsi and toes „ „ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear . „ „ ear . . . . 2f 2f- _ 3 _ 8 'I'G iV x 4 The figures are of the natural size. i * PODABRUS MACROURUS, Gould. Larg*e-tailed Podabrus. Podabrus macrourus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part XIII. p. 79. Phascogale ( Antechinus ) macroura, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 426. All that I have to record respecting this new and interesting little animal, is that several specimens were procured and sent to me, accompanied with the following remarks, by Mr. Gilbert, just prior to starting on his ill-fated expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. “ This is an interesting species, inasmuch as it assimilates in the large size of its tail to the little thick- tailed species (P. crassicaudatus ) of the western coast. I found it inhabiting clumps of grass on the open plains in pairs, but I am told by an intelligent native of the Namoi that he has frequently found as many as four or five in a nest beneath a large stone, or in a dead hollow log lying on the ground. It is the Toon- mod-ra-la-ga of the natives of the Namoi. All my specimens were obtained in the Darling Downs district. Like many others of the genus, the sexes differ very much in size ; the size of the tail also varies much in different individuals, and was always very much smaller in the females.” The fur in this animal is very soft, and both on the upper and under parts of the body of a slate-grey colour next the skin ; the general hue of the upper parts of the body is ashy grey, hut the fur is much pencilled with black ; on the sides of the body there is hut little of the black pencilling, and hence the general hue is paler; and on these parts, as well as on the sides of the head, is a faint yellow tint; the under parts of the body are white, very indistinctly suffused with yellow on the mesial portion of the abdo- men ; between the white of the under parts and the greyish hue of the sides of the body is a narrowish space which is of an almost uniform pale yellow hue, and the same tint is observed on the outer side of the legs ; the feet are white, obscurely tinted with pale yellow; on the upper surface of the head is a mark, narrow on the muzzle, but becoming expanded behind, which is almost entirely black, and immediately around the eyes the hairs are also black. The ears are of moderate size, have the posterior margin nearly straight, and are clothed internally with small pale yellowish hairs, and externally with black hairs, excepting on the hinder part, where they are pale. The tail is very thick at the base, being about 3|- lines in diameter at this part, and becomes gradually slender to the apex ; it is clothed throughout with very minute hairs, between which the scaly skin is visible ; on the upper parts and sides of the tail the hairs are partly black and partly yellow, and on the under surface they are dirty white. The figures represent the two sexes of the natural size. J'CtmUi