BANDICOOTS — MARSUPIAL MOLE 



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of the legs, and the absence of the first hind-toe. Of the two species, the typical 

 common rabbit-bandicoot (Peragale lagotis) is characterised by its long silky hair 

 and peculiar coloration, the fur being delicate grey above, brownish on the flanks, 

 and white beneath, the cheeks and feet being also white. The species is a native 

 of South and Western Australia. 



Kg-footed A very remarkable type is the pig- footed bandicoot (Chceropiis 



Bandicoot, castanotis), which derives its name from the peculiar conformation of 

 its feet ; the first and fifth front toes being absent and the fourth rudimentary, while 

 the second and third are furnished with slightly curved claws. In consequence of 

 this structure the fore-feet present a superficial resemblance to those of a pig ; 

 while the hind ones are rather suggestive of those of a horse ; the first toe being 

 absent, the fifth hardly visible, the second very small and deformed, and the whole 

 strength of the foot thus concentrated on the large and well-developed fourth 



RABBIT-BANDICOOT. 



digit. The pig-footed bandicoot is a slenderly built animal, measuring about 

 10 inches in length to the 4-inch tail, with long ears, a short but sharply tapering 

 muzzle, naked at the tip, and coarse, straight, although not spiny, hair. This 

 bandicoot, which inhabits the larger part of Australia with the exception of the 

 extreme north, north-east, and east, lives by preference on open grassy plains, 

 where it builds a nest in holes. In colour it is uniformly grizzled yellowish grey 

 above, with chestnut ears, and pale yellowish grey or yellowish white on the chin 

 and under-parts. 



In the sandy wastes of central Australia the place occupied in 

 Europe by moles and in South Africa by golden moles is filled by a 

 silky-haired marsupial of about the same size as an ordinary mole, but of a pale 

 golden red colour. This animal, the marsupial mole (Notoryctes typKlo'ps), repre- 

 sents a family by itself, and forms the last group of the typical, or polyprotodont 

 marsupials. To such a burrowing creature neither external ears nor eyes would 

 be of any use, and we accordingly find that while the latter are deeply buried in 



Marsupial Mole. 



