218 



peas. The animal was full-grown, and of the size of the largest spe- 

 cimens usually seen. 



Sometimes I have seen the male with the spur so far thrown back 

 and concealed from view, as at a glance to be taken for the female, 

 and when opened for anatomical examination to be mistaken for one ; 

 so that it is not improbable that the large testes resembling pigeons' 

 eggs may have given rise to the notion of the animal laying eggs. 



I have no doubt that the Duck-bills make their burrows high in 

 the banks, so as to be out of the reach of the floods which occasionally 

 prevail. Although amphibious in their habits, they require to repose 

 on the dry land, and also to breathe atmospheric air at short intervals 

 of time. Did they not adopt some plan of the kind, they would be 

 destroyed or drowned in their burrows by the floods. 



Another very young specimen was kept for three weeks, and fed 

 upon worms ; it had a rudimentary spur ; it was very tame and easily 

 fed by hand ; it died on the 7th of February, and was preserved in 

 spirits. 



The plan I propose, besides introducing shell-fish, &c, is to feed 

 them in captivity upon worms, and, if we succeed in keeping them 

 alive in Sydney by that method for three months, to send them in 

 the place of confinement, arranged as before described, to England, 

 keeping them upon the same diet. At all events it is worthy of a 

 trial ; and, on quitting Sydney, I left the artificial burrow and other 

 preparations with a person interested in the subject, in order that 

 he might try the experiment. 



I have remarked that, when healthy, these animals on emerging 

 from the water are in the habit of cleaning and drying their fur, and 

 seem to pay great attention to their being in a clean and dry condi- 

 tion, and appear also to be fond of warmth. Not long previous to 

 the death of both these animals, I remarked that they did not dry or 

 clean their fur, and I have no doubt that the chilliness produced by 

 that circumstance accelerated their death, as the body — more espe- 

 cially in the male — was not so emaciated as would have been the 

 case had death ensued from starvation. 



2. On the Long-tailed Flying-Opossum (Belideus flavi- 



VENTRIS) # , IN A STATE OF NATURE AND IN CAPTIVITY. By 



Dr. George Bennett, F.Z.S. 



In November 1858 I received from the district near Broulee, south 

 of Sydney, from a station on the Mooruya River, a young female of 

 this comparatively rare species, and, although so young, found it of 

 a very savage and vicious disposition, spitting, screeching, and growl- 

 ing when handled, accompanying the noise by scratching and biting. 

 The claws were sharp, producing scratches as severe as those of a cat ; 

 but the teeth, being as yet only partially developed, were not sufficient 

 to produce much effect. It was evident that any animal displaying such 



* See Gould, Mamm, of Austr., pt. 1. pi. 3. 



