164 LLOYD'S NATURAL HISTORY, 
mentioned, they may not unfrequently be met with on the 
shore. As many as six young ones may frequently be met with 
in a nest ; and it appears that, after leaving the teats, these are 
carried but a very short time in the pouch. 
An anonymous writer observes that in some parts of the 
country the black variety is very rare and local; and that he 
never found black and grey young ones in the same nest. 
In size this species may be roughly compared to the common 
European Marten. The fur being soft, the skins are suitable 
for linings; and from two to five thousand skins are annually 
imported into England. Formerly the grey skins fetched from 
about fivepence to sixpence each in the market, while the 
salue of the black ones ranged from tenpence to a shilling, 
Of late years, however, there has been a fall in the price. 
IV. BLACK-TAILED DASYURE. DASYURUS GEOFFROYI. 
Dasyurus geoffroyt, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1840, p. 15135 
Thomas, Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 268 (1888). 
Characters.—Size medium ; form slender ; fur thick and soft. 
General colour olive-grey, tinged with rufous and spotted with 
white ; under-parts white. Hind foot with a first toe (hallux) ; 
soles of feet granulated, and their pads marked by rounded 
unstriated prominences. Ears large, brown at the back, with 
white edges. Tail long and rather bushy, the basal half above 
and the basal fourth below coloured like the back, but devoid 
of spots, the remainder black. Length of head and body 
about 16 inches; of tail 12 inches. Six teats. 
Distribution All] Australia, with the excep‘ion of the extreme 
north, and the coast districts of the south-east. 
The two sexes differ somewhat in size, and it appears that 
the race inhabiting the western portion of the continent attains 
larger dimensions than the one from the opposite side. From 
