ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



rabbit. Tile fawn-grey fur is long and silky, 

 head and ears are long, an indistinct dark line 

 runs vertically from the back on the sides of 

 the rump, the underparts are white and the tail 

 towards the end is also white and crested. Ban- 

 dicoots arc destroyed chiefly by dogs and cats, 

 and were far more plentiful in the days gone by 

 than they now are. They are nocturnal, resting 

 during the day in burrows and feeding at night 

 upon insects, grubs, earthworms, fungus and 

 roots. They are marsupial and the pouch opens 

 backwards. Their general color is olive-grev, 

 with bars across the lower part of the back. The 

 smaller Bandicoots belong to another species, 

 namely Perameles. The Short-Nosed (P. obesu- 

 la) is the most widely distributed, being found 

 all over Southern Australia and Tasmania. It 

 is fourteen inches long and the short, coarse fur 

 is grizzled-yellow and black, the underparts are 

 white and the ears short and broad. They are 

 usually found in swampy localities where the 

 vegetation is very dense. 



THE WOMBATS 



Wombats. (Phascolomys) are still fairly plen- 

 tiful in southeastern Australia and Tasmania. 

 They dig deep burrows and are safe there from 

 foxes and dogs, as they are quite able to defend 

 themselves. Their length averages about forty- 

 four inches. They prefer scrubby, mountainous 

 country and their food is entirely vegetable. 

 They are nocturnal, resting during the day in 

 their burrows. They have no tail. 



The common variety, (P. mitchelli) is found 

 in Victoria and New South Wales. They vary 

 in color from dark yellowish-grey to black. The 

 Tasmanian. (P. tasmaniensis) is smaller and 

 usually of a dark greyish-brown color, and the 

 Flinders Island form, (P. ursinus), the form 

 originally, but incorrectly described as from 

 Tasmania, is yet smaller, being thirty-six inches 

 in length. The Hairy-Nosed (P. latifrons), 

 grey in color with the end of its muzzle white, 

 is found only in South Australia. They are not 

 as uniformly colored as the other varieties. 

 These animals are very strong and burrow with 

 great rapidity with their powerful claws ; a hab- 

 it that makes them very troublesome to settlers, 

 as they dig under and damage wire-netting fenc- 

 ing. In walking, they shuffle along in a clumsy 

 manner. They live well in captivity, but are 

 very susceptible to skin disorders. 



SPOTTED DASYURE 



The Spotted Dasyure, or. as it is popularly 

 called in Australia, the Native Cat. used for- 

 merly to exist in thousands in South Australia, 



but from some unknown cause these pretty little 

 animals have now disappeared from many dis- 

 tricts. There are three varieties, namely, The 

 North Australian, (Dasyurus hallucatus) , which 

 is small, only measuring eleven inches and its 

 tail eight inches; the Black-Tailed, (D. geof- 

 froyi) from all Australia except the extreme 

 north and the coastal districts of the southeast, 

 and the Common (D. viverrinus) from eastern 

 New South Wales. Victoria, South Australia and 

 Tasmania. 



These animals are marsupial, having about 

 six young ones at birth. They are usually of a 

 reddish-grey color, but also often black and are 

 well marked with white spots, but not on the 

 tail, which is usually white at the tip. They 

 measure about seventeen inches and the tail ten 

 inches. A larger variety, the Spotted-Tail, (D. 

 maculatus) found from eastern Queensland to 

 Tasmania, is more than twice the size of the 

 other species. These animals can climb well, al- 

 though they are mostly terrestrial, taking refuge 

 during the day in hollow logs and among rocks, 

 etc. If several are kept in the same compart- 

 ment in captivity, they are liable to turn canni- 

 bals; the stronger eating the weaker. They are 

 carnivorous, taking birds and their eggs, mice, 

 rats, bandicoots, and other game, and are very 

 destructive to poultry. Consequently, they are 

 not spared by the settlers. They are plentiful 

 in Tasmania ; more so than on the mainland. 



MARSUPIAL MICE 



A form of Pouched Mouse with habits the 

 same as the others, is the genus Phascogale. 

 Their pouch is hardly visible. They bear from 

 six to ten young ones at birth, and live princi- 

 pally in holes in trees, lining their nests 

 with grass and leaves. Nine species have been 

 described, namely: the Crest-Tailed, {P. cristi- 

 cardata), which measures about five and one- 

 half inches with a tail three and one-half inches, 

 much thicker at the base, is found in central and 

 southern Australia. P. macdonnellensis from 

 central Australia has an abnormally thickened 

 tail at the base. The Lesser Brush-Tailed 

 Pouch Mouse. (P. calura), also found in south- 

 ern and central Australia, is five inches long 

 and has a tail six inches. P. penicillata or 

 Greater Brush-Tailed Mouse is ten inches long 

 and tail nine inches, is the largest of this genus. 



They are found all over Australia except at 

 the extreme north, and live almost entirely in 

 trees, making their nests in the hollows of the 

 branches. They have thick tails and the end is 

 covered with long, black hair, forming a brush. 



There is a very small variety named P. mimi- 

 tissima, found in southern Queensland and New 



