458 THE HEPOONA ROO. 
own elasticity, and gathers itself into folds, which have a very pretty effect, on account of 
the delicate white fur which becomes exposed by the action, and which undulates in rich 
and graceful folds, alternating with the dark fur of the back and the still darker stripe 
that forms the line of demarcation. 
The tail of the Opossum Mouse is nearly as long as the body, very slender, and 
remarkable for the manner in which the hairs are affixed to it. The hairs that fringe the 
ereater part of the tail are about one-sixth of an inch in length, reddish-grey in colour, 
rather stiff, and are set on the tail in a double row, like the barbs of a feather. A similar 
formation has already been described in the history of the pen-tail of Sarawak, on page 
443. This mode of arrangement is called “distichous.” 
The food of the Petaurists is generally of a vegetable character, consisting of leaves, 
fruits, and buds, but the sharply pointed molars of the Opossum Mouse approach so 
closely to the insectivorous type that the creature is probably able to vary a vegetable diet 
by occasional admixture with animal food. 
The parachute-like expansion of the skin is of very great service to the animal when it 
wishes to pass from one branch, or from one tree, to another without the trouble of 
descending and the laborious climbing up again. Trusting to the powers of its parachute, 
the little creature will boldly launch itself into the ar, “stretching out all its limbs, and 
expanding the skin to the utmost. Upborne by this membrane, the Opossum Mouse can 
sweep through very great intervals of space, and possesses no small power of altering its 
course at will. It cannot, however, support itself in the air by moving its limbs, like the 
bats, nor can it make any aerial progress when the original impetus of its leap has 
expired. 
This little creature is very common at Port Jackson. 
HEPOONA ROO,.—Petaurus Australis. 
The Hepoona Roo, or GREAT FLYING PHALANGER, is rather a remarkable anima! in 
appearance. It is an inhabitant of New Holland, and is found in tolerable plenty about 
Port Jackson and Botany Bay. 
The colour of the Hepoona Roo is rather variable, but is generally as follows. The 
upper part of the body is brown, tinged with grey, and a much darker brown stripe runs 
along the course of the spine. The head is darker than the general hue of the body, and 
on the top of the head the brown tint is warmed by the admixture of hairs of a fawn 
colour, The under portions of the abdomen and the parachute are white, very perceptibly 
washed with yellow, a peculiarity which has earned for the animal the title of flaviventer, 
which has been applied to it by some naturalists. The feet are blackish-brown, and the 
toes of the hinder limbs thickly supplied with hair. The skin is brown 
