218 



NA TURAL HISTOR Y. 



BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOGALE. 



seven young attached. They were little more than half an inch in length, and quite blind and naked. 

 Above the teats of the mother is a very small fold of skin, from which the long hairs of the under sur- 

 face spread downwards, and effectually cover and protect the young. This fold is the only approxima- 

 tion to a pouch which has been found in any species of this genus. The young are very tenacious of 

 life, and those just mentioned lived nearly two days attached to the mammae of the dead mother. 



The Yellow-footed Phascogale is a kind which inhabits New South Wales and South Australia, 

 and the White-footed Phascogale and a closely-allied kind live in South Australia and Yan Diemen's 

 Land. In New Guinea, which constitutes a part of the Australian natural history province, there is 

 a black, short-eared, and short-furred kind, about the size of a Rat, called Phascogale melas. 





ANTECHINUS. 



