THE PHALANGER TRIBE 1427 



ture is a true Marsupial, the female having a well-developed pouch for the young. 

 Externally, the most characteristic feature of this animal is the extremely-long and 

 pointed muzzle, in which the opening of the mouth is very small. From this tiny 

 mouth can be protruded at will a long, slender, and highly-extensile tongue, sharply 

 pointed at its extremity. The rather small ears are rounded and clothed with very 

 short hairs, and the beady black eyes are small and prominent. The feet are of the 

 same general type as in the typical phalangers; but from the small size of their 

 nails, which are mostly embedded in fleshy parts, they appear more adapted for 

 grasping small twigs than for ascending tree trunks. The tail slightly exceeds the 

 length of the head and body, and is cylindrical and tapering, with but a scanty 

 clothing of extremely-short hair, and endowed with prehensile power. The fur is 

 short, close, and somewhat coarse. The color is subject to considerable individual 

 variation, but its general tint is gray, more or less suffused with rusty red above and 

 yellow beneath. A black line runs from the head along the middle of the back to 

 the root of the tail; and on either side of this line are two grayish bands, each bor- 

 dered by a rusty-brown stripe passing imperceptibly into the rufous of the flanks. 

 The upper part of the head is brown, passing into rufous on the sides of the face. 

 Although the central pair of lower incisors are relatively large and well developed, 

 all the other teeth, of which the number is very variable, are simply conical, and 

 placed at considerable intervals apart. This rudimentary condition of the teeth, 

 together with the peculiar characteristics of the tongue and mouth, clearly indicate 

 that the creature is a very specialized member of the family. 



The long-snouted phalanger is an inhabitant of Western Australia, 



where it is known to the natives as the tait. Although in some dis- 

 tricts stated to be very rare, in others it appears to be far from uncommon; its favor- 

 ite resorts being low scrubby bushes. It is strictly nocturnal; and constructs its 

 nests in the taller plants and shrubs, among the branches of which it climbs in 

 search of its favorite food, honey. This food is procured by thrusting the long ex- 

 tensile tongue into the cups of the flowers; and, as nearly all the Australian flower- 

 ing plants are honey yielders, it is obtainable at all seasons. 



With the beautiful animals commonly known by the name of cuscus, 



one of which {Phalanger maculatus) is represented on the follow- 

 ing page, we come to the first generic group of the typical phalangers, which pre- 

 sent the general characteristics noticed under the heading of the family. The 

 members of the present genus are relatively-large or medium-sized animals, with 

 thick woolly coats and long prehensile tails, of which the terminal portion is com- 

 pletely naked. Their ears are short or of medium length, invariably covered with 

 hair externally, and sometimes also on their inner surface. In the fore-feet the toes 

 are of nearly equal length, and furnished with long, stout, and curved claws; while 

 the soles of both fore and hind-feet are naked and striated, with several large and 

 ill-defined fleshy pads. The crowns of the molar teeth have four cusps; of which 

 the outer pair in those of the upper jaw are somewhat compressed from side to side. 

 Altogether there are five different species of cuscus, mostly of about the size of 

 a large cat; and among these the spotted cuscus herewith figured is by far the hand- 

 somest. In the male of this species the ground color of the fur of the back is 



