200 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



the yawning black cavity, overbalanced, and came tumbling down 

 into the midst of the family. Fortunately for 'Possum it was a warm 

 Summer night, and there was no fire on the hearth, or the con- 

 sequences would have been much worse than they proved to be. 

 Master 'Possum was captured after a wild scramble about the room, 

 in which three chairs were upset and a valuable ornament or two on 

 the mantelshelf broken. "Mr. Squeers," as the little captive was 

 immediately named by one of the captors, who is a Dickens lover, 

 lived happily in a big open-air cage for several years. Then one 

 moonlit evening, the call of the wild being strong upon him, "Mr. 

 Squeers " escaped from his cage and went to join his fellows in the 

 fig-trees. Perchance to this day he lives among the broad green 

 leaves, and enjoys arboreal gambols when the moon shines bright 

 and the Southern Cross gleams on the dark blue mantle of night. 



SHORT-EARED OPOSSUM. — The Short-Eared Opossum (T. 

 caninus) (Fig. 154) is closely allied to the Common species, but its 

 distinguishing feature, the short ears, makes it easy to identify. The 

 tail is thick and bushy, and the greater portion is black. The species 

 has a fairly wide range over South-Eastern Australia. The writer 

 met with it while on a recent trip among the islands of Bass Strait. 

 In the romantic Kent group the lightkeeper's little daughter. Flora 

 Robinson, had made a pet of a fine specimen of the Short-Eared 

 Opossum. It was very tame, would perch on its mistress's shoulder, 

 and follow her about the garden like a pet Dog. Strangers had 

 to be cautious in approaching "Ruffles," for he would, in wayward 

 mood, bite and scratch viciously, but the writer, with patience, 

 succeeded in obtaining a charming photograph of the little maid and 

 her pet, which has proved highly popular with audiences at lantern 

 lectures delivered in Melbourne. 



RING-TAILED OPOSSUM. — The Ring-Tailed Phalangers, or 

 Opossums (Fig. 155), as we have decided to call these pleasing little 

 creatures, are very abundant in many parts of Australia. There are 

 several species, but it will suffice to deal here with one, the Common 

 Ring-Tailed Opossum (Pseudochirus peregrinus), which has soft 

 woolly fur, grey to rufous on the upper parts, and white or greyish- 

 white below. It is about the size of a small domestic Cat as to the 

 body, and the tail measures a little over one foot in length. It is not 

 a dweller in the eucalyptus forests so much as in the scrub-covered 

 districts. In the coastal tea-tree scrub which grows near the writer's 

 home on Port Philip Bay the Common Ring-Tail is abundant. 



