262 



POUCHED MAMMALS. 



less than 2J inches, while the tail is slightly longer. They are all nocturnal and 

 arboreal in their habits ; one of the species being stated to conceal itself during 

 the day beneath the loose bark of large gum-trees. They feed upon honey and 

 young shoots of grass, and probably also insects. 



Pigmy Flying- One of the smallest and at the same time the most elegant of 



Phalanger. mammals is the exquisite little creature commonly known as the 

 pigmy flying-phalanger (Acrobates pygmcea), in which the length of the head and 

 body only slightly exceeds 2 J inches ; that of the tail being somewhat more. This 

 phalanger is readily distinguished from those yet noticed by the long hairs on the 

 tail being arranged in two opposite fringes like the vanes of a feather. The general 

 build of the animal is extremely light and delicate ; the flying-membrane is very 

 narrow, extending from the elbow to the flank, where it almost disappears, and 

 thence to the knee ; while the toes are furnished with expanded pads at their tips, 



PIGMY FLYING-PHALANGER (nat. size). 



The fur is long, soft, and silky ; its general colour on the upper-parts being brownish 

 grey ; while on the margins of the flying-membrane and beneath, together with the 

 inner sides of the limbs, it is white. The teeth are sharp, and apparently adapted 

 for an insectivorous diet. In spite of its diminutive proportions, the female has 

 a well-developed pouch containing four nipples ; but it is difficult to imagine the 

 minuteness which must necessarily characterise the newly-born young. 



The pigmy fly ing -phalanger is confined to Queensland, New South Wales, 

 and Victoria ; and is reported to be very abundant in the neighbourhood of Port 

 Jackson. Its food consists of honey and insects ; and its agility in leaping from 

 branch to branch is described as little short of marvellous. 



Pen-Tailed The little pen-tailed phalanger (Distcechurus pennatus), of New 



Phalanger. Guinea, has precisely the same relation to the preceding animal as is 



