THE POUCHED BADGERS. 209 



has a scale-like nail on the upper surface. This is the case with the fourth also. There is a long, 

 slender tail. The small bones of this little honey -sucker are very thin, and the lower jaw has two 

 slender and almost straight sides, and the inflection is wanting. 



This little animal is rare, but it is to be found in West Australia, from Swan River to 

 King George's Sound. It is nocturnal in its habits, and catches flies in captivity with great ease. 

 But its food is honey, which it gets like a moth, with its tongue. The tail is prehensile, and the little 

 pouch contains four mammae in the female. 



The little Tarsipes, with its honey and insect diet, has a very long intestine and no caecum, 

 whilst the Koala has a caecum more than three times the length of its body. The pigmy Acrobata has 

 this organ disposed in a spiral curve in the left lumbar region. The marsupial bones are large in the 

 Koala, and are long, broad, and flat, almost equalling the iliac bone in size. Finally, with regard to 

 the parachute-fold of skin on the flanks of the Petaurists, it is a simple fold with very elastic tissues 

 within, which draw it up to the body, more or less, when the animal is walking or standing. When, 

 however, the limbs are extended after a jump, the membrane becomes very tense, and acts by 

 increasing the surface of the body so as to oppose gravitation by the supporting power of the air. 



IV. FAMILY PER AMELIDJE. POUCHED BADGERS. 



This group of Marsupials embraces two genera, Perameles and Chceropus, the first having several 

 species and the last but one. They have all long, slender heads ; large, long ears, with fleshy lobes ; 

 longer hind than fore limbs ; the tail short in some, long in others, and hairy ; and the pouch is 

 directed backwards. They have a considerable number of teeth, there being ten incisors in the upper 

 jaw and six in the lower ; there are two canines in each jaw, three premolars in each jaw on either 

 side, and four true molars behind them, making forty-eight teeth in all. The teeth have fangs, the 

 premolars are compressed and pointed, and the molars have tubercles on them. The stomach is 

 simple. 



GENUS PERAMELES (BANDICOOTS). THE RABBIT-EARED PERAMELES.* 

 The so-called native Rabbit of the Swan River district of Western Australia is abundant 

 in the grassy country in the interior; and it frequents, in pairs, places where the soil will permit 

 of burrowing. It is about the size of a common Rabbit, and has a long and pointed muzzle, which is 

 naked at the tip. It has long, oval ears, which are tubular at the base. The eye is small, and 

 the tail is a little shorter than the body. The legs are longish, and the fur is well grown. 



This sharp-looking animal lives upon insects, and its favourite food is a large grub, probably the 

 larvae of a species of Buprestis beetle which infest the roots of the acacia trees. In order to 

 obtain this peculiar food, it has to compete with the natives, who like it also, and often enough it has 

 to rush to its long and deep burrows for safety. Its flesh is sweet, and is much sought after by the 

 aborigines. One which was kept at the Zoological Gardens was very active in the evening, but 

 usually slept during the day-time, when, sitting upon its haunches, with its head thrust between its 

 hind legs, it appeared like a ball of fur. It was a very savage animal, and bit severely, holding on, 

 moreover, if it could, with its teeth. It waddled on its hind legs alone, which were straddled, and the 

 tail assisted in supporting the body. They have five toes to the fore-foot, of which the two outermost 

 are rudimentary and nailless, the remaining three are well developed, and are furnished with strong 

 solid nails, which cover the last phalanges which are cleft above in the longitudinal direction almost 

 to the root. The hind feet have a rudimentary inner toe, the second and third are joined and 

 are slender, and have two hollow nails, and the fourth is large and, like the fifth, which is well 

 developed, has a solid nail sheathed on the end bone. 



GUNN'S PERAMELES. THE BANDICOOT.f 



This is the animal which has given the native name to the genus, and Mr. Gunn, who discovered 

 the species, informed Mr. Waterhouse that it is common in many parts of Van Diemen's Land, going 

 by the name of Bandicoot. It is a burrower, and lives principally upon roots, and it likes the bulbs 



* Perameles layotis. t Perameles Ounnii. 



