BY GERARD KREFFT. 7 



I may also mention the Genus Phascoluinys (the Wombat), as 

 I know upon reliable authority that P. latifrons has been killed in 

 the neighbourhood of the " North-west Bend " on the Murray. 



The two genera Petaurus and Phascolarctos, the so called 

 " Flying Squirrels " and " Native Bear" are not represented ; 

 both frequent the rocky and mountainous districts only. 



1. DASYURUS GEOFFROYI. 



Native Cat or Tiger Cat of the Settlers. 

 " Kettrie " of the Natives. 



This is the most blood-thirsty of the Marsupial animals in- 

 habiting the Murray scrubs, solitary in its habits, strictly 

 nocturnal, and the terror of the feathered tribe, particularly of the 

 yellow crested Cockatoo. Afraid of nothing, it will, when 

 hungry, attack any other animal ; a mother will eat even her own 

 progeny, if she has nothing else to fall back upon. 



I have often detected the lair of this Dasyurus by the heap of 

 feathers and bones generally collected at the foot of the tree upon 

 which it dwells ; it is eaten by the natives. The female is not 

 furnished with the usual pouch, and in June or July brings forth 

 often as many as 6 young at a time, so that every teat is occu- 

 pied, 6 being the number of mammas generally observed in this 

 species. The Native Cat of our neighbourhood (Dasyurus 

 viverrinus) is somewhat smaller in size, with a more bushy tail, 

 and the female furnished with 6 teats ; this may not be constantly 

 the case, though I am informed by my friend, Mr. E. P. Ramsay, 

 that various specimens examined by him had not more than 6 

 teats, only 4 of which were in milk. Owing to the absence of 

 a pouch, many of the weak young drop off, and only a few, 

 generally 3 or 4, reach maturity. 



All my attempts to domesticate the young have proved 

 fruitless ; they never learnt to recognise the hand that fed 

 them, and though I kept a pair nearly six months, at the 

 end of that time they were found only more ferocious than ever ; 

 having made their escape at last, they kept near the huts and 

 tents of the camp, completely clearing the place of mice and 

 other vermin. Wherever a spot is infested with mice or rats in 

 the bush (and some of the stations are overrun with them) there 



