POUCHED MICE. 



273 



animal than the last, with short and coarse fur. The general colour of the upper-parts 

 is pale grizzled grey, while the chin is white, and the lower surface of the body 

 pale grey or white. The head is characterised by the large size of the ears, and the 

 presence of a more or less indistinct black streak down the nose. These pretty little 

 animals are arboreal and insectivorous in their habits ; and appear to fill the place in 

 Australia occupied in the Oriental region by the placental tree-shrews, which they 

 much resemble in general habits. All seek their insect-prey by climbing the boughs 

 of trees ; and at least some make nests in the hollows of the trunks and branches. 



common The tiny creature, known as the common pouched-mouse (Smin- 



Poucned-Mouse. thopsis murina), constitutes, with three other nearly-allied species, a 



distinct genus, differing from the last by the extreme narrowness of the hind-foot, 



and also by the circumstance that the soles of the feet are covered with hair or 



granulated. This species measures 3 J inches in length to the root of the tail ; the 





YELLOW-FOOTED POUCHED-MOUSE (nat. size). 



length of the tail being a little less than 3 inches. The pouched-mice of this genus 

 are confined to Australia and Tasmania ; and since they are terrestrial and insectiv- 

 orous, they may be compared to the shrews among placental mammals. In all 

 the pouch is well-developed ; and the number of teats varies from eight to ten. 



Jerboa The last and apparently the rarest of the typical section of the 



Pouched-Mouse, family is the jerboa pouched -mouse (Antechinomys laniger), from 

 South Queensland and New South Wales, which constitutes a genus by itself. 

 This little creature, which has much the appearance of a sharp-nosed jerboa, with 

 very large oval ears, and a long tail, becoming bushy at the end, is distinguished 

 from the members of the preceding genus by the great elongation of the hind- 

 limbs, and the total absence of the first toe from the hind-foot. Its form is very 

 slender and graceful ; and the soft and fine fur composed almost entirely of under- 

 fur. The general colour is pale grizzled grey, with the chin and feet pure white, 

 and the hairs of the under-parts grey at the base and white at the tips. The tail, 

 of which the length considerably exceeds that of the head and body, is fawn- 



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