THE PHALANGER TRIBE 



H33 



honey of the newly -opened blossoms. Its structure being ill adapted for terrestrial 

 habits, it seldom descends to the ground except for the purpose of passing to a tree 

 too distant to be reached by flight. When chased or forced to flight, it ascends to 

 the highest branch and performs the most enormous leaps, sweeping from tree to 

 tree with wonderful address; a slight ascent gives its body an impetus which, with 

 the expansion of its membrane, enables it to pass to a considerable distance, always 

 ascending a little at the extremity of the leap; by this ascent the animal is prevented 

 from receiving the shock it would otherwise sustain." 



Leadbeater's 



PYGMY FI.YING PHALANGER. 



(Natural size.) 

 The little Leadbeater's phalanger (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri) , 



uucaLcr s .... , 



Phalanger wnicn 1S rather smaller than the lesser flying squirrel, is of interest as 

 being apparently a representative of the parent form from which the 

 true flying squirrels were derived. This animal may, indeed, be concisely described 

 as a flying squirrel, minus the flying membrane. It is an inhabitant of Victoria. 



The dormouse phalangers, of which there are four species from 

 Western Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea, are small creatures 

 somewhat resembling dormice in general appearance, and readily dis- 

 tinguished by their cylindrical mouse-like tails, which are covered with fur at the 

 base, then scaly for the greater part of their length, but naked and prehensile at the 

 tip. In the smallest species (Dromicia condnna) the length of the head and body 

 may be less than two and one-half inches, while the tail is slightly longer. They 

 are all nocturnal and arboreal in their habits, one of the species being stated to con- 

 ceal itself during the day beneath the loose bark of large gum trees. They feed 

 upon honey and young shoots of grass, and probably also insects. 



Dormouse 



Phalangers 



