113. 



little damage to young trees and saplings, but some smaller wallabies and rat kan- 

 garoos, such as the "Quokka," the "Tammar," or "Bounan " and the "Boodie" 

 feed upon shoots and roots and so might, under certain conditions, damage vegeta- 

 tion of economic value. The damage done by these small wallabies in certain parts 

 of the South- West, where their natural enemy, the dingo, is becoming rare, has 

 already been referred to. It would seem that the growers of potatoes and vege- 

 tables are the chief sufferers, although fruit trees also are attacked in a dry season, 

 when the normal food supply is scarce. 



The common and the ring-tail opossum are arboreal forms, living mainly upon 

 young leaves and shoots, but also including the flowers of euealypts in their diet. 

 These animals if very abundant might become a menace to the forester, but any 

 harm they might do would be compensated by the insects they destroy and eat, for 

 they are not strict vegetarians. 



The root-eating wombat was once rather common near Euela, his only home 

 in Western Australia in recent times, but is now considered to be extinct in this 

 State. 



5. Polyprotodont Marsupials — Bandicoots, Dalgytes, Native Cats, etc. 

 All the animals of this group possess three or more pairs of incisor teeth in the 

 lower jaw, the middle pair not being markedly larger than the others. The bandi- 

 coots, the dalgytes, the native cats, the pouched mice, and native squirrels are all 

 creatures whose food consists chiefly. of insects, although the native eat is often 

 largely carnivorous. In spite of the birds they destroy at times, these animals 

 must all be regarded as friends of the forester, because of the war they wage upon 

 insects and other vermin. 



Of special interest is the remarkable Numbat or Banded Anteater, a rather 

 rare and local animal, which is not nocturnal, like the rest of our marsupials, but 

 very active in dav time when it searches for its favourite food, ants. 



