CUSCUSES. 257 
All the species of cuscus are dull and sleepy creatures by day, but become 
more active at night, which is their chief feeding-time ; the comparatively large 
size of their eyes being in accordance with nocturnal habits. Mr. Wallace writes 
that these animals “live in trees, feeding upon the leaves, of which they devour 
large quantities. They move about slowly, and are difficult to kill, owing to the 
thickness of their fur, and their tenacity of life. A heavy charge of shot will 

































THE SPOTTED CUSCUS (4 nat. size). 
often lodge in the skin and do them no harm, and even breaking the spine or 
piercing the brain will not kill them for some hours. The natives everywhere eat 
their flesh, and as their motions are so slow, easily catch them by climbing, so that 
it is wonderful they have not been exterminated. It may be, however, that their 
dense woolly fur protects them from birds of prey, and the islands they live in are 
too thinly inhabited for man to be able to exterminate them.” These animals 
appear to be nowhere common, and in most parts of their habitat are very rare. 
In addition to leaves and fruit, they will catch and eat birds and other small 
VOL. I11.—17 
