﻿T22 ALLEN S NATURALISTS LIBRARY. 



slightly serrated. The tail is prehensile, and is used when the 

 animal is climbing, precisely like that of the Hepoona {Pseiido- 

 chirus). The eyes, although small, are exceedingly prominent, 

 and placed very near to each other ; the ears are generally 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." 



Another observer — Neill — states that in the neighbourhood of 

 King George's Sound the Long-snouted Phalanger makes its 

 nest in the overhanging foliage of the kingias and other large- 

 leaved plants. In several examples described by him the 

 stomach contained only a small quantity of clear honey-like 

 fluid, thus confirming the statements of the natives that the 

 animal in its wild state lives almost entirely by thrusting its ex- 

 tensile tongue into the tubes of flowers for the sake of extract- 

 ing their honey. Since nearly all the Australian flowers are 

 honey-yielding, the creature would have no difficulty in obtain- 

 ing nutriment in this manner throughout the year. 



THE WOMBATS. FAMILY PHASCOLOMYID^. 



The third and last family of the Diprodont Marsupials is re- 

 presented solely by the Wombats of Australia and Tasmania, 

 all of which are included within the limits of a single genus. 

 Heavily-made and short-limbed creatures, with incisor teeth 

 curiously resembling those of the Rodent Mammals, the Wom- 

 bats may be regarded as filling in Australia the place occupied 



