﻿162 " Allen's naturalist's librarV. 



Dasyurus viverrinus^ Geoffr., Ann. Museum, vol. iii., p. 



360 (1804); Thomas, Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 265 



(1888). 

 Dasyurus maugei^ Geoffr., op. cif., p. 359. 

 Dasyurus guttatus, Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., vol. 



xxiv., p. 10 (1804). 



{Flafe XXVL) 



Characters. — Size medium ; form slender ; fur thick and soft. 

 General colour either pale grey or black, spotted with white. 

 Ears large. Hind foot without the first toe (hallux) ; soles of 

 feet granulated, without distinct pads. Tail bushy, its basal 

 three-fourths coloured like the back, but without spots, the tip 

 white. Length of head and body about 18 inches; of tail 12 

 inches. 



The most interesting peculiarity of this species is the fre- 

 quent occurrence of (melanistic) specimens in which the ground- 

 colour of the fur is black, instead of the normal grey. Although 

 the white spots are as fully developed in the black as in the 

 grey variety, the tip of the tail in the former becomes of the 

 same sooty hue as the body. For a long time the two were 

 regarded as distinct species, but according to Gould both the 

 grey and black forms have been found in the same litter, 

 although, as we shall see below, this must be an unusual cir- 

 cumstance, as it is contrary to the experience of another 

 observer. 



Distribution. — The eastern watershed of New South AVales, 

 Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. 



Habits. — Writing of the habits of the Common Dasyure, Mr. 

 Ogilby observes that "this species, in both varieties, is as much, 

 if not more terrestrial than arboreal, living in dead rocks, or in 

 holes in the cliffs, in which latter place they feed on dead fish, 

 and probably crustaceans, molluscs, &c., and are thus fre- 



