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BEAKS AND KANGAROOS. 



garoos, of small size, in Southern Australia, while the Tasmanian rat kangaroo is 

 more diminutive, but a hardly less interesting animal." 



" I believe the badger is an Australian bird," said Jack, who felt more interest 

 in the conversation than he was willing to admit. 



" The Indian badger is met with in Assam and Arakan; the common badger is 

 found in the British Islands; the American badger in the western part of our own 

 country, but the Australian badger, or wombat, is very different from any of them. 

 He has a heavy body and short legs, and waddles along like a fat bear. You will 

 find him in almost every part of Australia. He keeps out of sight during the day, 

 burrowing so deep that few natives have the patience to dig him out." 



ELEPHANT SHRKW MOUSE. 



" I judge the kangaroo rat to belong, also, to the same country," said Dick 

 Brownell. 



" He is very plentiful in New South Wales, but he is small, his head and body 

 being only fifteen inches long, with the tail about two-thirds as much, and is covered 

 with scales, with a few stiff hairs forcing their way through, here and there." 



" What is the gerboa ? " 



" He belongs to this part of the world, upon the sides of the mountains, where 

 he lives in burrows that he tunnels for himself in the ground. In many places you 

 will find the earth honeycombed. They hardly ever leave their tunnels until after 

 sunset. The natives are fond of their flesh, and secure them by drawing them out 

 of their holes." 



" Is the elephant mouse so called on account of his size ? " 



