belonging to the Order Rodentia. 125 



very loose friable soil. The toes of the fore feet are placed very nearly on the 

 same line, the two middle, however, being considerably longer than the lateral, 

 and the outer one the shortest of all : on the hind feet, the three middle toes 

 are of equal length, and placed nearly on the same line as to their origin ; the 

 two lateral originate some way behind these, one on either side, and though 

 rather shorter, are still sufficiently developed, and armed with claws in all 

 respects similar : the lengthened tarsus, as in the rats and mice, is covered in 

 front with very short, adpressed hairs, and nearly naked on the posterior sur- 

 face. 



These are very much the characters of the Campagnols {Arvicola), and 

 Gerbilles (Merlones), to the latter of which genera Conilurus is more particu- 

 larly related by the length and development of the posterior members. The 

 pelt likewise is similar, being composed of a fine soft fur, of a uniform qua- 

 lity, but longer in proportion than that of the common rats, and without any 

 intermixture of long silky hairs. Of the form and proportions of the bead and 

 teeth it is totally impossible for me to give any satisfactory account; the 

 skulls, as has been already observed, have been removed from both the speci- 

 mens, and the artist has mounted them in such a manner, by giving one the 

 short round head and large eyes of a young rabbit, and the other the long at- 

 tenuated snout and small eyes of a rat, as effectually to preclude all rational 

 conjecture upon the subject. In this uncertainty, if I might be permitted to 

 entertain a surmise as to the actual form of the head, I should rather be dis- 

 posed to consider the first-mentioned specimen as in all probability approach- 

 ing most nearly to the natural character of the animal ; and I am strength- 

 ened in this opinion by the name of " Native Rabbit," under which it appears 

 that Mr. Caley brought it from Sydney, as well as by the comparison which 

 Major Mitchell makes of it to that quadruped in the interesting extract which 

 I shall presently give from his Journal. The ears are long, upright and ellip- 

 tical, not unlike those of the rabbit in form, though rather shorter in propor- 

 ti6n, rounded at the points, of a brown colour, and nearly naked both on the 

 anterior and posterior sui'face ; and the tail, which is as long as the body and 

 head together, is of an equal thickness throughout, and everywhere covered 

 with pretty long silky hairs, shaded regularly on either side like the beard of a 

 feather, and giving it a peculiar fringed and flattened appearance, by which 



