440 POUCHED ANIMALS 



Cuscuses, but there is no mistaking the long tail, which is 

 bushy to its very tip. The Vulpine Phalanger (Trichosurus 

 vulpecula), as its specific name implies, is fox-like in its 

 general appearance. The teeth are not specially character- 

 istic, and differ considerably in the various genera. The 

 animal can exist upon vegetable food, but it is fond of 

 insects, small reptiles, and eggs. It captures birds very 

 much in the same fashion as does the lemur, by creeping 

 noiselessly upon its prey and seizing it while it is asleep. 

 The Phalanger always commences its feast by crushing the 

 head and devouring the brain. The flesh of the animal has 

 a peculiar camphorated flavour, the result of the camphor- 

 perfumed leaves upon which it feeds. Nevertheless it is a 

 favourite food of the Australian black man, and the sight of 

 an ' Opossum ' will shake the aborigine out of his accustomed 

 lethargy, and inspire him even to fell a tree rather than 

 forgo his prize. 



FLYING PHALANGER (Petaurus taguanides). 

 Coloured Plate XXXII. Fig. 5. 



The most interesting members of the Phalanger family 

 are the Flying Phalangers, of which the one figured is the 

 most highly developed example. The distinguishing feature 

 is a hairy membrane or fold of the skin which extends along 

 the flanks, and which is capable of being used as a parachute 

 to enable the animal to leap great distances, after the fashion 

 of the Colugo and the Flying Squirrel. The membrane, 

 which appears along both fore and hind legs, does not 

 extend beyond the latter. Nor does it include the long 

 bushy tail, the hair of which is arranged to render it useful 

 as a support, as well as a rudder to guide the animal through 

 the air. '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 the membrane, enables it to pass to a considerable dis- 

 tance, always ascending a little at the extremity of the leap ; 

 by this ascent the animal is prevented from receiving the 



