262 POUCHED MAMMALS. 
less than 2} inches, while the tail is slightly longer. They are all nocturnal and 
arboreal in their habits; one of the species being stated to conceal itself during 
the day beneath the loose bark of large gum-trees. They feed upon honey and 
young shoots of grass, and probably also insects. 
Pigmy Flying- One of the smallest and at the same time the most elegant of 
Phalanger. ynammals is the exquisite little creature commonly known as the 
pigmy flying-phalanger (Acrobates pygmea), in which the length of the head and 
body only slightly exceeds 24 inches; that of the tail being somewhat more. This 
phalanger is readily distinguished from those yet noticed by the long hairs on the 
tail being arranged in two opposite fringes like the vanes of a feather. The general 
build of the animal is extremely light and delicate; the flying-membrane is very 
narrow, extending from the elbow to the flank, where it-almost disappears, and 
thence to the knee; while the toes are furnished with expanded pads at their tips. 

PIGMY FLYING-PHALANGER (nat. size), 
The fur is long, soft, and silky : its general colour on the upper-parts being brownish 
grey ; while on the margins of the flying-membrane and beneath, together with the 
inner sides of the limbs, it is white. The teeth are sharp, and apparently adapted 
for an insectivorous diet. In spite of its diminutive proportions, the female has 
a well-developed pouch containing four nipples; but it is difficult to imagine the 
minuteness which must necessarily characterise the newly-born young. 
The pigmy flying-phalanger is confined to Queensland, New South Wales, 
and Victoria; and is reported to be very abundant in the neighbourhood of Port 
Jackson. Its food consists of honey and insects; and its agility in leaping from 
branch to branch is described as little short of marvellous. 
Pen-Tailed The little pen-tailed phalanger (Distechurus pennatus), of New 
Phalanger. (juinea, has precisely the same relation to the preceding animal as is 
