THE POUCHED WEASELS. 217 



on the authority of Mr. Gunn, that these animals are common only in the remoter parts of the colony, 

 and used to be frequently caught at Woolnooth and the Hampshire Hills. They attack the Sheep 

 at night, but are occasionally seen during the daytime, upon which occasions, perhaps from imperfect 

 vision, their pace is very slow. Mr. Gunn also observes that the Thylacinus sometimes attains so 

 large and formidable a size, that a number of Dogs will not face it. That gentleman denies that the 



SKELETON OF THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS. 



tail of the animal is compressed, as has been stated by some authors, and his observations do not 

 confirm the aquatic habits which have been attributed to it. There are cartilages in the place of the 

 marsupial bones ; but the pouch is well developed in the female Thylacine, and there are four well 

 developed teats, each four inches long, indicating that it may contain four young ones at a time. 

 The marsupium, or pouch, opens backwards, not, as in the Kangaroos and most others, forwards. 



GENUS PHASCOGALE (POUCHED WEASELS). THE BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOGALE.* 



This genus includes many species of small Weasel- or Rat-like Marsupials. They are small, 

 insectivorous, and climb shrubs and trees in pursuit of their prey. The largest known is about 

 the size of a common Rat. The brush-tailed kind inhabits New South Wales, South Australia, 

 and Western Axistralia, and is a pretty little animal, having a long and soft fur, of a grey colour 

 above and white or yellow- white under the body. The eyes are encircled with black, and there is 

 a pale spot above and below the eye, and the hairs are blackest along the middle of the head. The 

 ear is rather large and not furry ; the tail is about equal to the body in length, or seven inches to nine 

 inches, and there is a portion near its end of about two inches in length, which is clothed with short, 

 stiff hairs, and the rest has long and glossy hairs, sometimes an inch or two long. An insectivorous 

 little creature, its teeth are modified to meet its diet, and they are less carnivorous than the other 

 Dasyurids. They have the two foremost incisors of the upper and lower jaw larger than the others. 

 There are three premolars in each jaw on each side, and eight molars above and below, which are 

 studded with prickly tubercles, those of the upper jaw having triangular crowns. There are five toes to 

 the fore and hinder extremities, and the inner toe of the latter is in the form of a small nailless pre- 

 hensile thumb. The brain-case is large and the skull comparatively smooth. The species just noticed 

 is said to enter the stores of the settlers, and it makes a nest in the hollows of the trunks of trees or in 

 the branches. The female has no pouch, but ten teats covered with hair. It is the Tapoa Tafa of 

 White, according to Krefft. 



Another species, about six inches long, not including a tail of three inches the Freckled Phasco- 

 gale lives in the Swan River district and at King George's Sound, being generally distributed over 

 Western Australia. It has the fur freckled with black and white on the head and fore parts of the 

 body. Mr. Gilbert found insect remains in its stomach, and he obtained a female specimen having 



* Phascogale penicillata.. 



