THE TASMAM.\\ WOLF. ::-, 



Is considerable, and its usual haunts are among the manes of denae scrub foliage that cover 00 

 vast mi i-M.-nt of ground in it- native country. Its neat ia similar to that of the bandicoot, 



U-in_- ma, I. of dried grass and leaves rather artistically put together, the grow*. !i,..>.. ,. i. , ,, 

 dominating \>-v the 1. a\.-. 'I'll.- locality ..f tin- M.-M is generally at the foot of adenae bush, 

 IT i >f a heavy tuft of grass, and it is so carefully veiled fnmi view |>y tin- mode of it> construc- 

 tion that it can x-m-ely be discovered by the eyes of any but an experienced hunter. 



Tin- h-ad of tin- < 'haropus is rather ]>eciiliar, l>eing considerably lengthened, cylindrical!) 

 taj ring towards the nose, so that it* form has IHVII rather happily compared t< th*> neck and 

 shoulders uf a chamiKigiie bottle. The hinder feet are like tliose of tin- bandicoots, and there 

 is a Miiall s filing at tin- base ( the toes of the fore-feet, which is probably the representative 

 of the missing joints, more especially as the outermost toes are always extremely small in the 

 kmdicoots, t,. ulii.'li IK.- < li.-i-M.pu- i- near!] |DW DM MH m PW] lai-.- in proportion to 

 tin- si/e of tli.' animal. Tin* pouch opens back wants. The food of the Cha?ropus is said to 

 !* of a mixed character, and t<i con-i-t of various vegetable substances and of insects. 



TIIK teeth of the Iasyurines, sharp-dged and pointed, indicate the carnivorous diameter 

 of those animals to \\hich they In-long. At the head of these civatuivs j s phut*! tin- T.VS- 

 M\M\N \\'oii.or I)iMi-iiK.M)Ki TIIYI.ACINTS, as it has of ten been named on account of the 

 curious asjM-ct of its thick head, and ]x>werful, truncated muzzle. 



Although not ]>erhaps tin- fiercest of the I >asy urines, it is the largest and the most ]M>wer- 

 ful, well deserving the lupine title with which it has been by common consent designat"!. and 

 representing in Tasmania tin- true \vol\-s of other countries. It is not a very large animal, as 

 n. >!- iiin-t l- fioiu ill.- n.i'i,!.- ,,!' -I..- BOOlK] il l*Uet ;' UfW, foi then- u,.ul,| l- l.iit ^mall 

 sul>sist'iice in its native land for herds of veritable wolves, and the natural consequence would 

 be that the famished animals would soon take to eating each other in default of more legiti- 

 mate food, and by mutual extirpation thin down the race or destroy it altogether. 



The natural >ul>iMence of the Tasnmnian, or Zebra Wolf, as it i> Mmrtimt*s called by vir- 

 tue of the xelini -like stiijM-s which decorate its lick, consists of the smaller animals, mollusks. 

 insects, and similar substances. The animal is also in the habit of prowling along the sea- 

 shoi>- in ie-,tl." search of food among the heterogeneous mass of animal and vegetable substances 

 that the waves constantly fling upon the beach, and which are renewed with every succeeding 

 tide. The mussels and other mollusks which are found so profusely attached to the s^i-edgi-d 

 rocks form a favorite article of diet with the Tasmanian Wolf, who is sometimes fortunate 

 enough to di-cover upon the l>eacli the remains of dead seals and fish, and can easily make a 

 meal on the shore crabs which are found so plentifully studding the beach as the tide goes out. 



Though hardly to be considered a swift, or even a quick animal, the Tasmanian Wolf 

 contrives to kill such agile prey as the bush kangaroo, and secun-s the duck mole, or duck bill, 

 in spite of its natatory powers and its subterranean burrow. When the animal is hungry it 

 seems to become a very camel in its cajwibility of devouring hard and thorny substances, for it 

 has Ix-t-n known to kill -no easy matter and to swallow an apparent imjiossibility the 

 echidna itself, undismayed by it> panoply of bayonet-like prickles. The deed seems so incred- 

 ible that it would hardly have been bettered, had it not been proved Iteyond doubt by the 

 slaughter and snbs.Mju.-nt dissection of a Ta-smanian Wolf, in whose stomach were found the 

 remains of a half-digested echidna. 



Assoon as ci\ ili/vd inhabitants took up their alx.de in Tasmania, this animal made great 

 capital out of the sheep flocks and hen-roosts, and for some time committed sad ravages among 

 them, greatly to the detriment of the colonists. By degrees, however, the weapons of tin- 

 white man prevailed, and the Ta-inanian Wolf was driven back from its former haunts, when- 

 it once reigned supreme. Still continuing to prowl round the habitation of mankind, many 

 individuals of this sp,N : fain to pick up what loos,, and uncertain NtaMence they could 



contrive to appropriate, and, being forced to live in copses and jungles, became the representa- 

 tives of the hyena as well as of the Wolf. 



In the earlier days of the col,-n\. tin- Tasmanian Wolf was of very frequent occurrence, 

 but ia now seldom seen except in the cold and dreary localities when- it takes up its residence. 



