﻿The cUscuses. 85 



the genus, this Species differs from the two foregoing, in 

 having the inside of the ears nearly or quite naked. 



Rather inferior in size to the last, and the females smaller 

 than the males ; fur soft and woolly, very variable in length. 

 General colour grey, but varying from nearly white to dark 

 greyish-brown, albino individuals, nearly always males, being 

 comparatively common. Upper-parts uniform in tint ; the 

 head, back, and outer surface of limbs being of the same hue, 

 which is generally decidedly paler in the males. Upper sur- 

 face of muzzle naked for about half the distance to the eyes. 

 The internally naked ears small, and round, well furred over 

 for the greater part of their external surface. Chin and under- 

 parts generally pale grey or white ; but in some (mostly male) 

 individuals the throat and neck strongly suffused with yellow 

 or rufous. Tail usually haired for its basal half above and it.t 

 basal fourth below, but very variable in this respect. , 



Distribution. — Timor, Bouru, Sula, Guebeh, and the islands 

 eastwards to New Guinea. 



Variety. — In the New Britain group and the Solomon Islands, 

 as far eastwards as San Christoval, this species is replaced by a 

 considerably smaller race {P. breviceps), in which the general 

 colour is usually darker, and the dark line down the back less 

 distinctly marked than in the typical form. 



Habits. — Writing of the habits of the Moluccan represen- 

 tatives of the genus, Mr. H. O. Forbes observes that these ani- 

 mals "are very plentiful, and in May the females all seem to 

 have a little one in their pouch. One of them was a tiny 

 creature, about two inches long, quite hidden in its pouch, 

 fixed by its lips formed into a single round orifice to its 

 mother's teat. They are much eaten by the natives, by 

 whom they are caught in nooses set in the trees, or by artifice. 



