192 
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 
On September 19, whilst she was feeding quietly, the mouth of the 
pouch was seen to dilate, and a part of a red, hairless embryo was seen. 
The pouch however contracted whenever I touched it. On September 23 
the pouch again opened whilst she was being watched, and the embryo, 
now dusky with developing hair, was observed for a long while. At 
this stage, when the body first becomes clothed with hair, the pelage is 
of a uniform dusky brown. On October 4 the young one kicked both 
its hind legs out of the pouch, and when it had withdrawn them left its 
tail protruding. On October 9 it first left the pouch for a very short 
time. Its eyes were open; its dorsal surface was brown and its ventral 
surface yellow. The mother cleaned it by hcking, as a cat cleans a 
kitten; she restrained its movements with her hands, and thrust it 
back into the pouch with her nose. It reappeared outside the pouch 
on the 10th, but for a short while only. For the next 4 days it did not 
come out of the pouch while the female was under observation, but on 
the 15th it came out an spent most of the day closely folded against its 
mother’s ventral surface. On the 25th the mother first came out to feed 
leaving it behind in the sleeping box. 
On the next day the young one was taken and examined and the 
mother showed no signs of resentment until it cried. It was a male, 
and it was difficult to believe that it and its mother belonged to the 
same species. It was covered with fine and close hair of a red brown 
colour, its dorsal surface being brown and its ventral surface a fine 
bright yellow tan. It clung remarkably tightly to its mother’s dense 
fur, gripping the fur with its sharp claws, and encirchng her body with 
its prehensile tail. By the end of October it could feed itself, but 
although growing rapidly it still spent a great part of its time in its 
mother’s pouch. During the first week of November she showed 
signs of impatience with it and turned it away from the pouch with 
her nose when it attempted to get inside; though she still permitted it 
to insert its head for the purpose of suckhng. 
On November 16 I left Adelaide, and on my return on the 27th the 
young one was independent of its mother. Its appearance had 
altered. Its coat had become a good deal more woolly, and the grey 
tint of the adult was apparent along the middle of the back. This 
canescence appears to take place without any moult. By the end of 
the year it had completely lost its brown and tan colour, its coat had 
become gray and woolly all over, and it was in all respects save size 
similar to the adult. By the end of January it was practically as 
large as its mother. 
