BANDICOOTS. 267 



pouch is complete, with its opening directed towards the hinder end of the body. In 

 the fore-feet the three middle toes, or two of them, are of nearly equal size and 

 furnished with well-developed and somewhat curved claws, while the first and fifth 

 toes are rudimentary or absent. The hind-feet are constructed on the same type 

 as in the kangaroos ; the fourth toe being much larger than the others, while the 

 second and third are small, slender, and united by skin, the first being rudimental or 

 wanting. The terminal bones of the larger toes in both feet are peculiar among 

 Marsupials in having their extremities cleft by a longitudinal slit, in the same manner 

 as are those of the pangolins. As regards their dentition, the bandicoots are char- 

 acterised by having either four or five pairs of incisor teeth in the upper jaw, and 

 three in the lower ; while their upper molars are more squared than in the other 

 families, with their cusps arranged in the form of the letter W. The similarity 

 between the hind-feet of the bandicoots and the kangaroos is a very remarkable 

 feature ; more especially if, as is now generally considered to be the case, this 

 structure has been independently acquired in the two groups. 



The true bandicoots (Perameles), of which there are eleven 

 species, are characterised by having the three middle toes of the 

 fore-foot large and functional, and the first and fifth present, although small and 

 nailless ; while on the hind-foot there is also a rudiment of the first toe. The 

 ears, although variable, are never of enormous length, and the tapering cylindrical 

 tail is devoid of a crest of hairs near its extremity. In all, the build is stout 

 and clumsy, and there is no great disproportion between the fore and hind-limbs. 

 The various species of bandicoots inhabit Australia and Papua; one of the 

 best known being Gunn's bandicoot (P. gunni), from Tasmania. The length of the 

 head and body in this creature is about 16 inches, and that of the tail 4 inches. 

 It belongs to a group characterised by the ears being long and pointed, reaching 

 as far as the eyes when turned forwards ; and also by the hinder-half of the sole 

 of the foot being covered with hairs. The fur is soft, and of a general grizzled 

 yellowish brown colour above, with four or more pale vertical bands, separated by 

 dark brown intervals on the rump ; the chin and under -parts being white or 

 yellowish white. The smaller short-nosed bandicoot (P. obesula), which is common 

 to Australia and Tasmania, represents a second group, in which the ears are very 

 short and rounded at the tip, the soles of the hind-feet completely naked, and the 

 fur intermingled with short spines. These two groups are closely connected by the 

 Papuan representatives of the genus. 



Bandicoots are the commonest of the Australian carnivorous Marsupials ; 

 and are cordially detested by the colonists on account of the damage they do to 

 gardens and cultivated fields. Omnivorous in their diet, consuming, with 

 equal gusto, roots, bulbs, berries, fallen fruits, or other vegetable substances, 

 as well as insects and worms, they are chiefly nocturnal, and pass the day 

 either in holes or hollows or logs ; to which retreat they at once fly when pursued. 

 In addition to their burrows, some of the species at least construct nests. 



Rabbit- The rabbit-bandicoot (Peragale lagotis), together with a closely 



Bandicoot, allied species, constitutes a genus readily distinguished by the 



enormous length of the ears, by the terminal half of the tail having a crest of long 



hairs on its upper surface, and by the great relative length of the hind-limbs, in 



