296 TRESPASSERS UPON THE AIR. 



It is a lively and playful little animal as soon as the 

 dusk sets in, but remains perfectly quiet during the 

 daytime. These nocturnal habits are common to all 

 its kind. One of these curious marsupials, which 

 belonged to a friend of mine, used to spend the whole 

 of the day in a bag which was hung from the back of 

 a chair. In this curious hammock it lay quietly sleep- 

 ing until the evening, when it began to move, and by 

 scratching or kicking showed its desire to be released. 

 As soon as the bag was opened, the animal went to 

 the place where a saucerful of bread and milk was 

 placed for it, and then began its graceful gambols. 



The largest of these animals is the Petauriste 

 ( Petaurista taguanoides) . 



In spite of its size it is seldom seen in a living 

 state by white men. In the first place, it is nocturnal 

 in its habits; and so completely can it trust to its 

 wing-like membranes, that it seldom comes to the 

 ground, passing through the air from tree to tree. 



Moreover, it dwells during the day in hollow trees ; 

 and trusts so completely to the security of its hiding- 

 place, that even when the axe lays open its dwelling, 

 it refuses to stir, but crouches in the furthest corner. 

 It is no coward, however, for it can and will fight in 

 the most desperate manner when fairly driven to bay, 

 using both its teeth and claws with great force and 

 quickness. Even the dexterous native hunter does 

 not dare the combat, but as soon as he has cut a 

 sufficiently sized hole in the tree-trunk, he seizes the 

 animal by the tail, swings it round and dashes its head 

 against the tree before it has recovered itself sufficiently 

 to think of using its teeth or claws. 



