MARSUFIALIA. 113 



Ph. Cookii, Cook's last Voy., pi. viii. (Tlie Phalanger of Cook). 

 Less than a cat ; brown above, white underneath ; head and flanks 

 red; posterior third of the tail white. 



Ph. BougainvilUi. (The Phalanger of Bougainville). Size of a 

 squirrel; ash-coloured above, white underneath; the posterior half 

 of the tail black; posterior half of the ear white.* 



Petaurus, ShauK — Piialangista, Illig. 



The Flying Phalawgers have the skin of the flanks more or less ex- 

 tended between the legs, like the Flying Squirrels among the Rodentia, 

 which enables them to sustain themselves for a few moments in the air, 

 and make greater leaps. They also are only found in New Holland. 



Some of the species have inferior canines, but they are very small. 

 Their superior canines, and their three first molars, above and below, are 

 very pointed; each of their back molars has four points. ■!" 



Ph. pygmcea; Did, pygmcea, Shaw, Gen. Zool. pi. 114; Schreb. 

 CLXIV, A. (The Flying Dwarf Phalanger). Of the colour and 

 nearly the size of a mouse ; the hairs of the tail regularly arranged 

 on its two sides like the barbs of a quill. 

 Other species have no inferior canini, while the superior ones are very 

 small. Their four back molars present four points, but they are slightly 

 curved into a crescent, which is very nearly the form of those of the Ru- 

 minantia. In the front there are two above and one below, less compli- 

 cated. By this structure they are rendered still more frugiverous than all 

 the preceding species. 



Ph. petaurus, Shaw, Gen. Zool., pi. cxii; White, "Voy. 288. (The 

 Great Flying Phalanger). Resembles the Taguan and the Galeo- 

 pithicus in size ; its fur is soft and close ; its tail long and flattened ; 

 brownish-black above, white beneath. They are of various shades 

 of brown; some are variegated, and others perfectly white. 



Ph. sciurea, Shaw, pi. cxiii, 3. (The Bordered Flying Phalan- 

 ger). Size of the brown rat; ash-coloured above, white beneath; a 

 brown line commencing on the chanfrin and running along the 

 back; edges of the lateral membrane brown; tail tufted, and of the 

 length of the body ; its posterior portion black. From the islands 

 near New Guinea. 



P. peronii, Desm. (The Hairy-footed Flying Phalanger). A 

 reddish-grey; front of the ears and under part of the body whitish; 

 toes very hairy and brown ; tail black, longer than the body, and 

 white at the end. 



Ph. macroura, Shaw, pi. cxiii, f, 2. (The Long-tailed Flying 

 Phalanger). A deep brown above, white beneath ; size of the brown 

 rat; tail slender, about half as long again as the body. 



Our third subdivision has the incisors and superior canines and the two 



* A new species brought to France by M. de Bougainville from his last expedition. 

 t It is of this first division that Desmarets has made his genus Acrobate. 



VOL. I, I 



