AVIMAI.S. i55 



the size of a rat, and has, accordingly, by some, been called the 



HAT OF SURINAM. 



The last animal of this class is called, by Mr Buffoii, the 

 TARSiER. This extraordinary little animal resembles the for- 

 mer, in having four hands, and a long tail : but it differs very 

 much in the extreme length of its hinder legs, which are longer 

 than the rest of its whole body. The bones of that part of tht 

 foot called the tarsus, are likewise so very long, that from thence 



fruits and insects. They are >>luiv in their movements, and emit an un- 

 pleasant odour, wliich proceeds from a liquor secreted in a gland observabl 

 near the anus. The phalangers are found in the Moluccas, New Holland 

 and Van Dieraau's Land. 



T/ie Vulpine Phalanger {Didetphis J'ulpina), is about the size of a large 

 rat. Tlie general proportions of its body are elegant and delicate, more so 

 tiian those of the other phalangers. The upper part and sides of the body, as 

 well as the basis of the tail, are grayish brown, approaching to faATTi-colour 

 on the shoulders. The liead is of a grayish fawn, deeper than that of the 

 belly. The ears are naked within, and covered with gray and fawn coloured 

 hairs without. The external side of the limbs are rather of a more oljscure 

 colour than the back. The tail is covered with hair in its entire extent, with 

 the exception of a narrow band placed underneath, which commence^ about 

 tlie middle, and continues to the point. The skin which covers this bund is 

 slightly granulated. The hairs of the tail are long, and of a very tine black, 

 except at the base, where they are of the same colour as the back. 



According to Mr Roliin, surgeon of our naviii establishment at Port Jack- 

 son, this plialanger lives in burrows, subsists on small prey, and chases the 

 birds like didelphes. Its habitat is the eastern coast, in the environs of Port 

 Jackson. 



The Phalanger of Cook, {Phalangista CoKii,) is about one foot two or three 

 inches long. The tail is nearly equal in length to the whole body. The 

 upper part of the body of a reddish grey. The under part white under tlie 

 chin and on the upper lip. Throat marked with a brownish spot. The ears 

 are covered externally with greyish-red hairs. The cheeks are marked 

 with a small white spot, scarcely visible behind the eye. The tail is reddish 

 at the base, then brown, and the extremity covered with white hairs Ha- 

 bitat, — Van Dieman's Land. 



The second tribe of the phalangers, of which some naturalists make a 

 genus, is the Petaurist.e, or Flying Phalangers. 



The most peculiar character of the petauristse is an extension of the skin of 

 the sides, whereby the anterior and posterior extremities are united, and a 

 kind of parachute rather than a wing is formed. There is a spacious ^■entral 

 pouch in the females. 



The tail is very long, not prehensile ; is furnished with hair ; is somctimea 

 round, sometimes flat. The habits of these animals are pretty similar to 

 those of the phalangers we have last noticed. Tliey jump with tolerable 

 activity from branch to branch, and are enabled to sustain theraseh'es for a 

 little time in the air by the assistance of their parachute. They are noctur. 

 nal animals, and are found in New Holland and the Island of Norfolk. 



