898 
M Y KM K CO HI US FASCIATUS. 
“ The female is said to bring forth her young in a hole in 
the ground, or in a fallen tree, and to produce from five to 
nine in a litter. I have not myself observed more than seven 
young attached to the nipples. Like the members of the 
genus A n tec ft in us, this animal has no pouch for the protection 
of the young; the only protection afforded their delicate 
offspring is the long hairs which clothe the under surface of 
the abdomen of the mother.’' 
With regard to the range of the Myrmecobius, Mr. Gould 
states that it is very generally dispersed over the interior of 
the Swan River settlement, from King George’s Sound on the 
south, to the neighbourhood of Moores River on the north, 
and as far westward as civilized man has yet been able to 
penetrate; and the author has recently learnt from tho sarao 
gentleman, that he has received a specimen of this animal 
from the Murray Scrubs, whence Mr. Gould has also obtained 
the Lagorchestesfascia ta —an animal which had hitherto been 
found only on the west coast. 
The Mvrmecobius is about equal in size to the common 
squirrel {Sciurus vulgaris of authors); its body is mode¬ 
rately slender, the limbs rather short; the fore legs and feet 
strong, the latter armed with tolerably large claws, which arc 
compressed and curved—less so, however, than we find the 
claws of climbing animals, and are more especially adapted 
to scratching in tho soil. Thu fur is tolerably long, rather 
glossy, and composed almost entirely of harsh hairs, the 
softer under fur being very scanty. The head, fore part 
of the back, and outer side of the limbs, are of a bright 
rust colour, but more or less pencilled with white; the 
hinder third of the buck is black, slightly pencilled with 
white, and on this part are usually six transverse white bands. 
Other bands are observable in front of these, but they are 
comparatively indistinct, and confined almost entirely to the 
sides of the body, being interrupted on the back. Tho more 
