256 
POUCHED MAMMALS. 
Habits. 
The Cuscuses. 
rufous on the sides of the face. Although the central pair of lower incisors are 
relatively large and well-developed, all the other teeth, of which the number is 
very variable, are simply conical, and placed at considerable intervals apart. This 
rudimentary condition of the teeth, together with the peculiar characters of the 
tongue and mouth, clearly indicate that the creature is a very specialised member 
of the family. 
The long-snouted phalanger is an inhabitant of Western Australia, 
where it is known to the natives as the tait. Although in some 
districts stated to be very rare, in others it appears to be far from uncommon; its 
favourite resorts being low scrubby bushes. It is strictly nocturnal; and 
constructs its nests in the taller plants and shrubs, among the branches of which 
it climbs in search of its favourite food, honey. This food is procured by thrusting 
the long extensile tongue into the cups of the flowers; and as nearly all the 
Australian flowering plants are honey-yielders, it is obtainable at all seasons. 
With the beautiful animals commonly known by the name of 
cuscus, one of which (Phalanger maculatus) is represented in the 
accompanying figure, we come to the first generic group of the typical phalangers, 
which present the general characteristics noticed under the heading of the family. 
The members of the present genus are relatively large or medium-sized animals, 
with thick woolly coats and long prehensile tails, of which the terminal portion 
is completely naked. Their ears are short or of medium length, invariably covered 
with hair externally, and sometimes also on their inner surface. In the fore-feet 
the toes are of nearly equal length, and furnished with long, stout, and curved 
claws; while the soles of both fore and hind-feet are naked and striated, with 
several large and ill-defined fleshy pads. The crowns of the molar teeth have 
four cusps; of which the outer pair in those of the upper jaw are somewhat com¬ 
pressed from side to side. 
Altogether there are five different species of cuscus, mostly of about the size 
of a large cat; and among these the spotted cuscus herewith figured is by far the 
handsomest. In the male of this species the ground-colour of the fur of the back 
is usually a dirty yellowish white, marked with numerous irregular blotchings of 
reddish brown and black; the chin and under-parts being white, often tinged with 
yellow or red, and the head or limbs grey or reddish. There is, however, great 
individual variation, some specimens being almost uniformly grey or red. The 
smaller female (as shown on the right side of our figure) is generally of a uniform 
grey and black above, and white beneath, although sometimes red. A much more 
sober-hued animal is the black cuscus (P. ursinus), of Celebes, in which the fur is 
of a uniform black or dark brown colour, with the exception of that on the inside 
of the ears, which is white. 
With the exception of the spotted species, which ranges to North Australia, 
the cuscuses are mainly confined to the islands of the Indo-Malayan region, as far 
westwards as Celebes. Only the spotted cuscus and one other species are even 
found in New Guinea; and they are the sole Old World Marsupials occurring to 
the westward of that island. The grey cuscus (P. orientalis), of Amboyna, Timor, 
and some of the smaller islands, was the first Australasian mammal known in 
Europe, having been discovered and described as far back as the year 1611. 
