MAMMALIA. 301 



or rudimentary ; the tail is long, powerful, and not pre- 

 hensile. The thumbs of the hind-feet are either wanting 

 or rudimentary ; the back is strongly marked with parallel 

 bars of black. They are nocturnal in their habits, and 

 confined to Australia and Tasmania. The Tasmanian 

 devil (Fig. 328) has similar habits. 



The Bandicoots (Peramelidce). The bandicoots of 

 Australia and Van Diemen's Land are small, insectivorous 

 marsupials, somewhat resembling kangaroos. The Chce- 

 ropus is a remarkable little creature, resembling a pygmy 

 deer (Fig 325). All the toes but the fore ones are ex- 

 tremely minute, and it is the only animal that walks upon 

 two toes of each foot. It burrows. Allied to these forms 

 is the MyrmecobiitS) a beautiful animal with a long, bushy 

 tail and no pouch, the immature young clinging to the 

 teats, protected only by hair. It preys upon ants, and 

 only one species is known. 



Kangaroos (Macropodidce). The kangaroos are .re- 

 markable for the development of the hind-limbs, by which 

 they take enormous leaps of twenty-five feet or more. 

 When resting, the hind-legs (Fig. 326) and tail form a 



FIG. 326. A hind-foot of kangaroo. 



tripod. The tail is not used in leaping, as is generally 

 supposed. The fore-legs are short. They attain a height 

 of six feet, and are extremely fleet and powerful. The 

 young are carried in the pouch, and often feed on grass 

 from it as the mother moves along (Fig. 327), presenting 

 a curious appearance. In the tree-kangaroo the limbs are 



