202 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



writer has often seen these beautiful animals "flying" on moonlit 

 nights, while seated outside his bush hut on the Olinda Creek, in 

 the Dandenong Mountains (Victoria). First of all a dark form 

 would be observed creeping along the bare branch of a giant gum- 

 tree, on the opposite side of the creek ; on reaching the end of the 

 limb the Flying Opossum would bunch itself up, and then, leaping 

 lightly into space, go floating through the moonbeams like a 

 shadow. The flight is in a downward direction, the Opossum 

 always alighting on a bough or portion of a tree trunk much nearer 

 the ground than its "leaping off" place. Sometimes when in flight 

 these Phalangers scream piercingly, and they will make a similar 

 outcry when alarmed. 



YELLOW-BELLIED FLYING OPOSSUM. The Yellow-Bellied Fly- 

 ing Opossum (Petaurus australis) is the largest species, the head 

 and body of an adult measuring twelve inches in length and the 

 tail thirteen inches. The fur on the upper parts of the body is 

 brown, darkest along the backbone and over the parachute expan- 

 sions of skin. The under-parts are deep orange. The long bushy 

 tail is grey on the upper surface and orange below, darkening to 

 black on the tip. This beautiful species inhabits the coastal ranges 

 of Victoria and New South Wales. 



SQUIRREL-LIKE FLYING OPOSSUM. The Squirrel-Like Flying 

 Opossum (Fig. 156) (P. sciureus) is the intermediate species. It 

 is of medium size and the fur is very beautiful, being silky and of 

 a soft light-grey colour ; there is a dark-brown or black stripe down 

 the mid-line of the back. The colour of the fur on the under-parts 

 is white, tinged with yellow. The parachute is dark-brown to 

 greyish above, fringed with white or light yellow. The Squirrel- 

 Like Flying Phalanger is found in Eastern Australia, its range 

 extending from Queensland to Victoria. 



LESSER FLYING OPOSSUM. The Lesser Flying Opossum (P. 

 breviceps) is the smaller of the three species which constitute the 

 genus Petaurus. It is one of the dearest and prettiest little creatures 

 imaginable. Clad in soft silky fur and with bright alert eyes, its 

 every movement is full of grace. And it has most engaging ways. 

 A young male of this species which the writer kept as a pet when 

 liberated from its cage for a run in the study would climb about 

 the furniture delightedly. And at times it would climb the stem 

 of a small palm-tree growing in a bowl in a corner of the room; a 

 charming picture the little animal made, clinging there and eyeing 



