LOXG-NOSED BANDICOOT.— Pmme/^5 nasilla. 



The Bandicoots form a little group of animals that arc easily recojTnisable by 

 means of their rat-hkc aspect, and a certain peculiar, but indescribable mode of 

 carrying themselves. The gait of the Bandicoot is very singular, being a kind 

 of mixture between jumi)ing and rumiing, which is the result of the formation 

 of the legs and feet. During progression, tiie back of the creature is consider- 

 ably arched. The snout is much lengthened and rather sharply pointed. 



These animals are very widely spread over the eastern and south-eastern parts 

 of Australia, but are mostly found in the interior. 



The food of the Lon'g-xosed B.\ndicoot is said to be of a purely vegetable 

 nature, and the animal is reported to occasion some havoc among the gardens and 

 granaries of the colonists. Its long and powerful claws aid it in obtaining roots, 

 and it is not at all unlikely that it may, at the same time that it unearths a root, 

 seize and devour tlie larvixj which are found in almost every square incli of ground. 

 The lengthened nose and sharp teeth which present so great a resemblance to the 

 same organs in shrews, afford good reasons for conjecturing that they may be 

 employed in much the same manner. 



