ORDER MARSUPIALIA: MARSUPIALS 61 



Shortridge (1910, p. 826; map, p. 827) records eight specimens 

 from Albany. "The small marsupial mice are very difficult to secure 

 on account of their rarity, and their nocturnal, arboreal, and to a 

 great extent insectivorous habits, being known chiefly from cats 

 killing and bringing them into houses." 



Troughton, who has contributed most of the recent information 

 on the species, writes (1924, pp. 127-132) : 



Alas, as settlement increases, the time seems near when there may be no 

 living representatives of these unique creatures to occupy the queer niche 

 which the process of evolution has fashioned for them within its fabric. . . . 



Failure [to secure specimens on a collecting trip near Albany in 1922] 

 was not surprising, all accounts confirming Mr. Morgan's statement that the 

 mice visit areas periodically according to the flowery food supply, and that 

 they are but rarely seen except when brought in by cats as trophies of the 

 chase. . . . 



A few months after my return . . . , the Honey Mice visited Mr. Morgan's 

 home once more and he has since sent over twenty adult mice to the Museum, 

 all of which were caught by his cat. . . . 



As they are dependent upon the native flowers, the advance of settle- 

 ment with its periodical burning off, and the introduction of cats and other 

 enemies, in addition to native ones, must seriously threaten the future of 

 these marsupials .... 



It is reassuring to hear from Mr. Glauert that the mice are still fairly 

 plentiful over an area of about 12,000 square miles, and that at the end of 

 1923 the West Australian Government was about to proclaim the Stirling 

 Ranges a sanctuary for the native fauna. Let us hope that these ranges may 

 prove a veritable stronghold for the Honey Mice, and that the flowers may 

 not miss their spring-cleaning from the brushy tongues for many generations 

 to come. 



Troughton also says (1923, p. 155) : "Tarsipes is dependent upon 

 the flowers and foliage of its native districts, and as paddocks have 

 to be burnt off about every third year, the tiny marsupials are 

 literally hunted from paddock to post and prevented from settling 

 in any one area. Before the rapid advance of Western Australia's 

 settlement schemes, . . . fire and other enemies will send the Honey 

 Mice to join their fossil forbears in comparative oblivion, leaving 

 them represented only by a few museum skins and stray skeletons." 



Leadbeater's Opossum 



GYMNOBELIDEUS LEADBEATERI M'Coy 



Gymnobelideus Leadbeaten M'Coy, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 3, vol. 20, p. 287, 



pi. 6, 1867. ("Banks of the Bass River, in Victoria.") 

 FIGS.: M'Coy, 1867, pi. 6; McCoy, 1883, pi. 91; Lucas and Le Souef, 1909 ; 



p. 107, fig.; Brazenor, 1932, pi. 6. 



This rare species, the only known member of its genus, was based 

 upon two specimens collected in 1867 along the Bass River, South 

 Gippsland, Victoria. In 1900 another specimen, reputed to have 



