232 AUSTRALIAN AND TASMANIAN ANIMALS 



hind-toe, which in the kangaroos is longer and stronger than the rest, in the 

 phalangers is not much larger than the fifth, and the evenly toed fore-legs are not 

 disproportionately smaller than the hind pair. All the members of the family have 

 comparatively long tails, which in many species are prehensile. These marsupials 

 live in trees, where they feed largely on vegetable substances, although they are 

 all more or less omnivorous. In size they are medium or small, and comprise a 

 large number of species, the collective range of which includes all the wooded 

 districts of Australia. Among them are the only marsupials furnished with ex- 

 pansions of skin, by means of which they are enabled to take long, flying leaps. 



Seeing that nearly all the flowering plants of Australia yield honey, it is not 

 surprising that the fauna of the country should include a honey-sucking marsupial. 

 Somewhat curiously, however, the long-snouted phalanger (Tarsipes rostratus), 

 which possesses this habit, is restricted to Western Australia, where in many parts 

 it is rare, although in others comparatively common. This tiny little creature 

 frequents low scrub, in which it builds a nest, in the higher branches. Only at 

 night does it venture out in search of honey, which it sucks from flowers by means 

 of its slender, pointed tongue, which can be protruded far beyond the elongated 

 muzzle. This great length of the pointed muzzle, the small size of the mouth, and 

 the nature of the food, suggest a slight development of the teeth ; and as a matter 

 of fact this is the case, although the two front teeth in the lower jaw are com- 

 paratively large. Certain individual variations in the number of the teeth are 

 further suggestive of the slight use made of those organs ; such numerical varia- 

 tions genex'ally occurring only in animals in which the teeth are little used. The 

 claws are likewise rudimentary, being small and embedded in the flesh of the 

 toes, a somewhat notable feature in a climbing animal. Owing, however, to the 

 nature of its food, this phalanger has only to climb among the thin blossom- 

 bearing twigs, so that its feet serve more for grasping these than for clinging to 

 the bark of the thicker boughs and trunks. For the same purpose some use is 

 also made of the prehensile tail, which is one quarter longer than the head and 

 bod j', cylindrical in shape, tapering sharply at the tip, and covered with short hair 

 for the greater part of its length. In general appearance this elegant species much 

 resembles a shrew-mouse, but its true nature is at once shown by the presence in 

 the female of a well-developed pouch. The fur is short, thick, and somewhat 

 coarse, the ears are small, rounded, and covered with short hair, while the eyes 

 look like small black pearls. The colour varies somewhat individually, but in 

 general is of a more or less reddish tinge above and yellowish grey below ; the 

 head being brown on the top and yellowish red at the sides, and a black line 

 running from the forehead along the back to the root of the tail between two grey 

 bands, each bordered by a reddish brown stripe. 



The sleepy-looking' animals known as cuscuses form another 

 Cuscuses. . 



group of the phalanger tribe, most of the members of which are about 



the size of cats ; while all possess long prehensile tails, with the terminal portion 



naked. The soles of the feet are likewise devoid of hair, the front pair being 



so formed that their first and second toes are to a certain extent opposable 



to the rest. The medium-sized ears are hairy externally, and in some cases also 



internally, the eyes are large, and the fur is thick and woolly. Cuscuses are sleepy 



