ta another. When it is awakened 

 during the clay, it often has the tail 

 . Hll |y coiled, in such a way that the 

 ■ aidal vertebrae are particularly 

 Apparent through the skin. When it 

 Jjns and jumps, Burramys usually 

 baS (he lad held almost straight out 

 hehind it like a rudder. 



Groomlnu activities: These are 

 particularly common when the animal 

 has been repeatedly disturbed as in 

 photographic work. The pattern of 

 activity is similar to that shown by a 

 number of small marsupials and 

 native rodents. It squats on its hind 

 led and rubs one front paw after 

 the other across the snout. The tail 

 m4 j ho brought forward between 

 the' hind feet and earefull> cleaned 

 with the mouth and front feet. 



Nest building: The animal has 

 heen housed in a stainless steel cage 

 42 X II X 23 cm. with an attached 



nest box 13 x 13 x 13 cm. Stainless 

 steel mesh occupies the top and one 

 side of the cage, and glass the other 

 side. The cage appears to offer 

 reasonable space for the animal ex- 

 cept in the vertical dimension. Experi- 

 ments will be conducted with a larger 

 cage. Although it has been provided 

 with the nest box, tussock grass, 

 bark, leaf litter, pieces of shrubs 

 and small rocks as well as cardboard 

 cylinders a few inches in diameter, 

 Btirninns usually prefers to sleep 

 in an open nest constructed of loosely 

 woven tussock grass. It may cover 

 this partially with other vegetation. 

 No special runways have been made 

 in the cage, which is to be expected 

 with an arboreal or semi-arboreal 

 species. It is apparent thai larger 

 observation areas are necessary for 

 this type of information to be 

 obtained. 



Haft 4- Butremyt 



May, 1971 



collected from Falls Creek area, 

 February, 1971. 



Photo: B) taWftP^ "Th<-- Age" 



137 



