204 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



a class, are digging and root-eating creatures. The tail is rudi- 

 mentary, and there are distinctive dental features of interest chiefly 

 to the systematists. 



The Wombats, says Lydekker, may be regarded as filling in 

 Australia the place occupied in the Northern Hemisphere by the 

 Marmots and in South America by the Viscahas, both of which 

 are members of the Rodentia. 



The Common Wombat, which is known in some parts of 

 Australia as the "Bush Pig," lives in burrows which it excavates 

 in the hard ground in rocky country; sometimes natural clefts in 

 the rocks — small caves or holes — are taken advantage of; but it is 

 very little trouble for the Wombat to make its own dwelling, for 

 with its powerful claws it works rapidly, making the clods fly to 

 some purpose. The Wombat is a perfectly inoffensive animal, and 

 its nature is gentle ; but it is said to be a very stupid animal, making 

 no attempt to evade capture when hunted. Perhaps this statement 

 needs some qualification. Its gait is an awkward shuffling in keep- 

 ing with the animal's clumsy form. 



The Wombat is hunted a good deal, but the skin only is of 

 value, the fur being too coarse for any purpose, save, perhaps, to 

 serve as portion of a door-mat; the writer has seen Wombat skins 

 lying on the door-step of many a bush dwelling. 



TASMANIAN WOMBAT.— The Tasmanian Wombat (P. ursinus), 

 found in Tasmania and the islands of Bass Strait, is much smaller 

 than the preceding species, in this respect departing from the 

 general rule indicated by Mr. Oldfield Thomas, that Tasmanian 

 mammals are of larger dimensions than their allies of the Australian 

 mainland. 



The writer recently had some interesting experiences in con- 

 nection with this species. During a natural history expedition 

 among the Bass Strait islands, at the request of the Curator of 

 the Melbourne Museum, he endeavoured to obtain skins of the 

 Wombat known to exist on Flinders Island. Uncertainty existed 

 as to the identity of this animal ; it might be only a variety of the 

 Tasmanian Wombat or identical with it, but, on the other hand, it 

 might be an entirely distinct species. So the Museum authorities 

 were naturally very anxious to obtain specimens for comparison 

 with a series of P. ursinus from the larger island. Three dilapi- 

 dated skins, almost useless for scientific or any other purposes, were 

 found lying in the bush at the rear of a bark hut inhabited by 



