POUCHED MICE. 



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animal than the last, with short and coarse fur. The general colour of the upper-parts 

 is pale grizzled grey, while the chin is white, and the lower surface of the body 

 pale o-rey or white. The head is characterised by the large size of the ears, and the 

 presence of a more or less indistinct black streak down the nose. These pretty little 

 animals are arboreal and insectivorous in their habits ; and appear to fill the place in 

 Australia occupied in the Oriental region by the placental tree-shrews, which they 

 much resemble in general habits. All seek their insect-prey by climbing the boughs 

 of trees ; and at least some make nests in the hollows of the trunks and branches. 



Common The tiny creature, known as the common pouched-mouse (Smin- 



Pouched-Mouse. thopsis marina), constitutes, with three other nearly-allied species, a 

 distinct genus, differing from the last by the extreme narrowness of the hind-foot, 

 and also by the circumstance that the soles of the feet are covered with hair or 

 granulated. This species measures 3^ inches in length to the root of tin- tail : the 



YELLOW-FOOTED poucued-mouse (nat. size). 



length of the tail being a little less than 3 inches. The pouched-mice of this genus 

 are confined to Australia and Tasmania; and since they are terrestrial and insectiv- 

 orous, they may be compared to the shrews among placental mammals. In all 

 the pouch is well-developed ; and the number of teats varies from eight to ten. 



Jerboa The last and apparently the rarest of the typical section of the 



Pouched-Mouse. f am ily is the jerboa pouched-mouse {Antechinomys laniger), from 

 South Queensland and New South Wales, which constitutes a genus by itself. 

 This little creature, which has much the appearance of a sharp-nosed jerboa, with 

 very large oval ears, and a long tail, becoming bushy at the end, is distinguished 

 from the members of the preceding genus by the great elongation of the hind- 

 limbs, and the total absence of the first toe from the hind-foot Its form is very 

 slender and graceful ; and the soft and fine fur composed almost entirely of under- 

 fur. The general colour is pale grizzled grey, with the chin and feet pure white, 

 and the hairs of the under-parts grey at the base and white at the tips. The tail, 

 of which the length considerably exceeds that of the head and body, is fawn- 



vol. in. — iS 



