ACRO BATES PYGMJ1US, Desm. 
Pygrny Aero bates. 
Didelphis pygmaa, Shaw, Zool. of New Holl., No. 1. pi. 2. p. 5— lb. Gen. Zool., vol. i. p. 501. 
Petaurus pygnueus, Desm. Nouy. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p. 405. 
Petaurista (A cro bat a) pygmcea , Desm. Mamm., pt. 1. p. 270. 
Petaurus (Acrobatd) pygmmis, Waterh. Nat. Lib., vol. ix. (Marsupialia), p. 293. pi. 30.— Ib. Nat. Hist, of Malm., 
vol. i. p. 339. 
Acrobates pygmmis, Gray, List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus., p. 83. 
The portion of Australia designated New South Wales is the only part of that great continent in which 
I have seen this elegant little Opossum ; and it would appear that this is its sole habitat. In a letter 
recently received from my friend Ronald C. Gunn, Esq., he informs me that “The Acrobates pygmeeus does 
not exist in Van Diemen’s Land; nor in fact any of the Flying Opossums; but the Belideus Sciureus ” 
(B. breviceps ?) “ is now not uncommon in the forests a few miles round Launceston : a number of indivi- 
duals imported from Port Philip in the years 1835, 1836 and 1837, having escaped from confinement, are 
doubtless now breeding:.” 
This pretty little animal, the “ Opossum Mouse” of the colonists, is very common in every part of New 
South Wales ; but from its nocturnal habits, its small size, and from the circumstance of its exclusively 
inhabiting the hollow limbs of the larger gum-trees, it rarely comes under the observation of ordinary 
travellers ; it is in fact seen in considerable numbers only by those who really live in the bush, and to their 
notice it is seldom presented except under extraordinary circumstances, the most frequent of which are the 
blowing off of a large limb in which it is concealed : if this occurs in the daytime, the animal, being then 
in a torpid state, does not make its appearance ; but if, as occurred several times during my explorations, 
the limb he thrown upon the traveller’s fire, the little inhabitant is soon driven forth by the heat: occasionally 
as many as four or five are discovered by this means ; it was thus that I obtained the specimens here figured, 
as well as numerous others which I kept alive for some time; and a more charming little pet cannot be 
imagined, an ordinary-sized pill-box forming a convenient domicile for the tiny creature, in which it lies 
coiled up during the day, becoming more and more active as night approaches. Its food consists of the 
saccharine matter which is so abundant in the flower-cups of the ever-blossoming Eucalypti , for which well- 
sweetened bread and milk forms an excellent substitute. The agility it displays amon<>- the branches in the 
night-time is very great; it not only passes over, around and beneath them, but, aided by the membrane 
attached to the sides and limbs, leaps from one bunch of flowers to another with the greatest facility. 
The sexes are alike, but the female is somewhat smaller than her mate. 
Fur short, dense, soft, glossy, and on the upper surface ashy greyish brown ; under surface greyish 
white in some, yellowish white in others, this colour extending on to the lower part of the cheeks and the 
upper lip ; circle surrounding and a space in front of each eye black ; ears dusky towards the fore-part, and 
whitish behind ; on the inner side of the ear near the apex and on the apical portion spring numerous 
long and extremely fine hairs ; moustaches numerous, slender, and of a dusky brown ; tail fringed on the 
sides with longer hairs than those clothing its upper and under surfaces. 
The figures are of the natural size. 
