﻿98 Allen's naturalist's library. 



Distribution. — Central Queensland, in the Herbert river dis- 

 trict. 



Habits. — This, the third species of Phalanger made known to 

 science from the Herbert river district, and described by Dr. 

 CoUett in 1884, is termed by the aborigines "Tula." Mr. Carl 

 Lumholtz states : " It is not uncommon in the upper part of 

 the mountainous scrubs, where " it seems to be more commonly 

 distributed than P, herbertensis and P. lemuroides, though it 

 never goes far down the mountains. Besides being like the 

 other Phalangers, a night-animal, it is in activity for a great part 

 of the day, as I have seen myself. The blacks kill it by climb- 

 ing up the tree and throwing sticks at it, which is often very 

 troublesome work. The animal is not very shy, but when dis- 

 turbed it runs away quickly from tree to tree, so that a black 

 man will sometimes have difficulty in killing it, if he does not 

 aet two or three of his comrades to meet it in different trees." 



VII. d'albertis' phalanger. pseudochirus albertisi. 



Phalangista {Pseudochirus) albertisi^ Peters, Ann. Mus. Genov., 



vol. vi., p. 303 (1874). 

 Pseudochirus albertisi^ Jentink, Notes Leyden Mus., vol. vi., p. 



109 (1884); Thomas, Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 178 



(1888). 



Characters. — Size rather less than in the last species, with a 

 relatively shorter tail ; form stout and clumsy ; fur very long, 

 soft, and thick. General colour shining coppery brown ; chin 

 greyish ; under-parts pure white in the middle line, greyish 

 laterally ; no light markings in the neighbourhood of the eyes 

 or on the ears. The short and rounded ears thick and fleshy, 

 covered on the back with short, soft, reddish fur ; a distinct 

 narrow black line down the nape and back. Tail thick, taper- 

 ing, and woolly to the tip, gradually darkening from root to 



