CHAPl'ER XV. 



BUILDERS. 



Building Mammalia — Defiuitiou of the title — Inferiority of the mammalia as 

 architects — The Bkush-Tailed Betiong — its structure and colour— The Nest 

 of the Bettong, and its adaptation to the locality — Singular method of convey- 

 - ing materialii — Its nocturnal habits — The Kabbit-eared Bandicoot, and its 

 habitat — The generic title — Curious form of the ears and feet — Difficulty in 

 discovering its nest — Tlie Musquash or Ondatra — Its general habits — Its 

 burrowing powers, and extent of its tunnels — The Musquash as a builder — 

 Form and size of its house — Mode of lulling the animal by spear, gun, and trap 

 — Its flesh and fior. 



We now take our leave of the Pensiles, and pass to those animals 

 which build, rather than burrow or weave. The materials used 

 by the Builders are variable. In the most perfect examples, 

 earth is the material that is employed, but in many instances 

 other substances such as wood, earth, and sticks are used by the 

 architect. 



As a general rule, the mammalia are by no means notable for 

 their skill in the construction of their houses. In making 

 burrows they far excel all the other vertebrates both in the 

 length of the tunnels and in the elaborate arrangement of the 

 subterranean domicile. The mole, for example, is pre-eminent 

 as a burrower and as a subterranean architect, and there are 

 many of the rodents which drive a whole labyrinth of tunnels 

 through the soil But they are very indifferent builders, and 

 with a few exceptions are imable to raise an edifice of any kind, 

 or to weave a nest that deserves the name. 



Our list of Building Mammalia will therefore be a short one, 

 comprising only three species, two inhabiting Australia and one 

 a native of America. 



The first example of the Building Mammalia is the Pencilled 

 Bettong (Bettongia pendllatd), sometimes called the Brush- 

 tailed Bettong, and often known by the name of Jekhoa 



X 



