288 . 
the grass-eating Marsupials, or Macropopipm, number over 
50 species, and comprise the genera Macropus, Halmaturus, 
Petrogale, Dendrolagus, Oxychogalea, Lagorchestes, Bet- 
tongia, Hypsiprymnus, and Zypsiprymnodon. ‘The second | 
group, the ENroMoPHAGA, are burrowing animals, and comprise 
the genera Parameles or Bandicoot, Cheropus, and Tarsipes : 
they number only eight species. The Psyaranaistip™# include 
the Opossum tribe, numbering about 10 species, of the genera 
Phalangista, Dromicia, Cuscus, and Dactylopsila ; and the 
Flying Squirrel tribe, about six species, of the genera Petaurista, 
Belideus, and Acrobata. The Leaf-eaters will also include the 
very peculiar Sloth-like form of the Phascolarctos or Native 
Bear. 
The Sarcophaga, or Carnivorous Marsupials, should properly 
be limited to the Dasyurus or Native Cat of Australia, two 
species of Thylacinus or Tiger of Tasmania, found fossil in 
Australia, and the Sarcophilus or Tasmanian Devil. But there 
are also a number of smaller Carnivorous Marsupials through- 
out Australia which ean scarcely be classed with these extremely 
ferocious animals: these are Chetocercus, 1 species ; Phasco- 
gale, two species ; Antechinus, about eight species ; Podabrus 
six species, chiefly inhabitants of trees; and of non-arboreal 
genera, Antechinomus, and the very remarkable West Australian 
Anteater, J/yrmecobius. 
One very anomalous Australian Marsupial remains to he 
mentioned—‘ The Wombat.” There are four species known 
to exist at the present day; they are root-eating animals of 
rather large size, burrow deep in the ground, and are nocturnal 
in their habits ; the abundant fossil remains of Diprotodon, an 
allied genus, lead to the belief that the Wombats were once 
more numerous and larger than they are now. They are placed 
in the Marsupial Family of RuizopHaaca and the genus Phas- 
colomys. 
Class Aves, 
The Birds of Australia are fairly numerous, and remarkable 
for the beauty of their plumage. The isolated character of the 
Fauna is less marked in this Class than in the Mammals, as 
might be expected from their superior powers of locomotion, 
but still it possesses a very distinctive character. 
The most complete list of the Australian Birds is that of 
E. P. Ramsay, F.R.S.E., published in 1877 in the Proceedings 
of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. He gives there 
the number of the described Birds of the country as 744, anda 
few species added since brings the number up to 760, or about 
