THE VULPINE PHALANGER. 



205 



like Cats, and biting. They have small red eyes with a vertical pupil, short ears, and a very stupid 

 look. They are all nocturnal in their habits, and feed on fruit, buds, leaves, meat, and eggs. 



One of the Phalangers, called Cuscus albus, is abundant in New Ireland, Amboyna, Banda, and 

 Timor, and is remarkable for its peculiar odour. The male is white, and the female reddish-brown in 

 colour, both being about the size of a common Rabbit. It is slow in its movements, lives in trees, and 

 takes good care to conceal itself, but its scent discovers it. The naturalists Lesson and Garnet stated 

 that when they traversed the forests of the island the odour of the Cuscus was distinctly perceptible. 

 It is stated that if these animals see any one, they suspend themselves at once by the tail, and if they 

 are looked at steadfastly, they will drop by-and-by from fatigue, and are then easily caught ; in fact, 

 they pretend to be dead. 



THE VULPINE PHALANGER.* THE BRUSH-TAILED "OPOSSUM." 



Waterhouse describes this Marsupial to be about the size of a Cat, but in shape it is somewhat 

 between a Squirrel and a Marten. It has long and somewhat pointed ears ; and the tail, clothed 

 with bushy, harsh, black fur, except beneath, near the end, where it is naked, is about as long as the 

 body. The limbs are rather short, the muzzle is moderately long and foxy-looking, and the whole 

 body and head, except the naked muzzle, are covered with a grey and black fur. The moustaches ar 

 long, numerous, and black, and the feet are yellowish- white, and the naked soles are flesh-coloured, 

 the nails being dusky. The pupil of the eye is round and intensely dark in colour. They 

 sleep during the day, and become active during the evening, and on the alert for their food, 

 which consists, in the Zoological Gardens, of bread and milk, fruit and vegetables. They hold 

 up the solid food between the hands as a Squirrel holds a nut, and nibble very much in the same 

 manner. Their native haunts are New South Wales, Western Australia, and North Australia. 

 They inhabit the large trees, usually the Eucalypti, selecting such as have the heart of the branches 

 or trunk decayed, and they take refuge there during the daylight. At night they leave their nests 

 and climb the branches of the trees which yield them buds and fruit. They descend to the ground 

 for food, and doubtless now and then eat snails and small birds. When climbing they use the tail to 

 hold by, and carefully grasp every support with it before they let go with their feet or hands. A 

 brown-black species, closely allied, lives in Yan Diemen's Land, f 



121 



Phalangista vulpina. 



+ Phalangista fuliginosa. 



