326 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 



CHAPTEK XI. 



MAMMALS. 



I SHALL devote this chapter to the psychology of all the 

 Mammalia which present any features of psychological 

 interest, with the exception of the rodents, the elephant, 

 the dog and cat tribe among Carnivora, and the Primates 

 — all of which I shall reserve for separate treatment. 



Marsupials, 



In the ' Transactions of the Linnean Society,' Major 

 Mitchell gives an interesting account of the structure 

 reared by a small Australian marsupial (Conilurus con- 

 structor) for the purposes of defence against the dingo dog. 

 It consists of a large pile of dry sticks and brushwood, 

 ' big enough to make two or three good cart-loads.' Each 

 stick and fragment is closely intertwined or woven with 

 the rest, so that the whole forms a solid, compact mass. 

 In the middle of this large structure is the nest of the 

 animal. 



The marsupials are as low in the scale of mammalian 

 intelligence as they are in that of mammalian structure ; 

 so that, except the above, I have met with no fact con- 

 nected with the psychology of this group that is worth 

 quoting, except, perhaps, the following, which appears to 

 show deliberation and decision on the part of the kangaroo. 

 Jesse writes : — 



A gentleman who had resided for several years in New 

 South Wales related the following circumstance, which he 

 assured me he had frequently witnessed while hunting the kan- 

 garoo : it furnishes a strong proof of the affection of that animal 

 for her young, even when her own life has been placed in the 



