368 THE SPOTTED CUSCUS. 



portions of the abdomen and the parachute are white, very perceptibly washed with yellow, a 

 peculiarity which has earned for the animal the title of tlaviventer, which has been applied to 

 it by some naturalists. The feet are blackish -brown, and the toes of the hinder limbs thickly 

 supplied with hair. The skin is brown. 



The tail of the Hepoona Roo is almost as long as the body, and is heavily covered with 

 long and soft fur of a general brown tint, warming to a reddish rust near its insertion, and 

 darkening into a blackish-brown near its tip. 



Sometimes the fur of this animal varies so widely from the color which has just been 

 described, that it can hardly be recognized as the same animal, except by a very careful 

 inspection. In some specimens the back is ashy-gray, and the under portions of a dirty gray- 

 ish-yellow, while in others the coat is variegated with brown, gray, and white, the only dark 

 spot being the tip of the tail, which still retains its deep brown hue. A similar phenomenon 

 takes place with the weasels, when their hair becomes white during a very sharp winter. 



In one or two instances, the fur is totally white, and in such cases it is evident that the 

 animal can only be considered as an albino. 



The head of the Hepoona Roo is small, and its large and expressive ears are covered with 

 hair. It is not a very small animal, as the total length is rather more than three feet, the 

 head and body occupying one foot eight inches, and the tail rather exceeding* eighteen inches 

 in length. 



On account of the wonderful resemblance which exists between the members of the genus 

 Petaurus and the flying squirrels that belong to the family of rodents, the Petaurists have, 

 ever since their discovery, been popularly known by the same title. There seems to be little 

 doubt but that the Petaurists are the representatives of these flying rodents, and that the 

 strange animal creation of Australasia is a kind of repetition of the ideas which formed the 

 animal creation of the older world, but carried out in a different manner and for different 

 purposes. 



The animals which form the genus Cuscus, and of which the Spotted Cusctjs is a good 

 example, have been separated from their neighbors on account of the structure of the tail, 

 which, instead of being covered with hair, is naked except at its base, and is thickly studded 

 with minute tubercles. 



They are inhabitants of the Molucca Islands, Amboyna and New Guinea, and have never 

 been found in New South Wales nor in Van Diemen's Land. The name Cuscus is Latinized 

 from the native term couscous or coescoes ; and the specific term, maculatus, or spotted, refers 

 to the peculiar markings which decorate the fur. 



In size the Cuscus is equal to a tolerably large cat, as a specimen of average size will meas- 

 ure about three feet in total length, the tail being fifteen or sixteen inches long, and the head 

 and body about eighteen or nineteen inches. There are, however, several examples where the 

 animal has attained to considerably greater dimensions. It is a tree-loving animal, and is 

 very seldom seen away from the congenial haunts among which it loves to dwell, and for trav- 

 ersing which it is so admirably adapted by nature. 



The tail of this creature is remarkably prehensile, and the animal never seems to be con- 

 tent unless this member be twisted round some supporting object. Whenever the Cuscus 

 thinks that it is in danger, or that it may be seen by an enemy, it immediately suspends itself 

 by its tail from a branch, and there hangs, swaying about in the wind among the leaves as if it 

 were some lifeless fruit. 



It is said that this curious propensity is turned to good account by any one who wishes to 

 capture a Cuscus without any trouble on his own part except a large amount of patient wait- 

 ing. AVhen the Cuscus is conscious of the human gaze, and has suspended itself by its tail 

 from a branch, it hangs in counterfeited death until it fancies that the peril is overpast. Noth- 

 ing will induce the animal to give the least signs of life as long as the eye is not taken from it. 

 According to popular report, for the absolute truth of which I do not vouch, it is said that 

 if the man will steadily keep his eye on the suspended animal, it will hang until its wearied 

 muscles refuse to support the weight of its body, and it drops helplessly to the ground. 



