1430 



THE POUCHED MAMMALS, OR MARSUPIALS 



phalanger (T. caninus], of Queensland and New South Wales, comes very close to 

 the latter variety, from which it differs by its short and rounded ears. 



While the common phalanger inhabits forests, the short-eared species frequents 

 scrub jungle; but in other respects the habits of the two are probably very similar, 

 both being purely nocturnal creatures. During the daytime the common species 

 lies securely curled up in some hole in a giant gum tree, but soon after sundown 

 issues forth to prowl in search of food, and remains abroad until the laughing jack- 

 ass commences its morning notes. Leaves especially those of the peppermint gum 

 constitute their chief food; but their diet is occasionally varied with the flesh 

 of a bird. In their movements among the forest trees they are very nimble, and 

 they are much aided in their evolutions by their highly-prehensile tails. They utter, 

 especially during the pairing season, a loud, chattering cry, which echoes far 



COMMON PHALANGER. 



through the forest stillness. The female phalanger gives birth to one or two young, 

 which are retained for a long period in the pouch, but afterwards cling to the back 

 of their parent till able to shift for themselves. 



Very similar in external appearance to the true phalangers is a 



Tooth d & rou P f ten species, which, from the peculiar structure of their mo- 



Phalangers ^ ars ma Y be termed crescent-toothed phalangers. Externally, they 



differ from the preceding group by the tail being tapering, and having 



shorter hair on its terminal third and under surface than elsewhere, with the lower 



surface of the tip naked for a short distance. There is, moreover, no gland on the 



chest, and the two inner toes of the front paw are very markedly opposable to the 



other three. In addition to certain features in the skull, these phalangers are readily 



distinguished from the last by having the whole four cusps on their upper molar 



