TASMANIAN DEVIL. 81 
white band usually crosses the chest, and extends backwards on 
either side, more or less over the base of the fore leg ; and a second 
band crosses the back, near the root of the tail. In size it is about 
equal to a badger, its length from the tip of the nose to the root of 
the tail is about two feet, and of the tail eleven inches. ‘The tail is 
clothed with tolerably long, coarse hairs. The ears are rather short, 
but very broad. The white markings noticed, vary in extent in 
different individuals, and sometimes both sides of the same animal 
are not similarly marked. The nose, the ears and the soles of the 
feet are of a fleshy pink. Of three in the British museum, London, 
one is entirely black, with the exception of a white spot on the 
chest ; the second is also black, with the exception of a white mark 
on the chest, and a white patch behind the base of the fore leg ; the 
third has the white chest band entire, and running back over the 
base of the legs on to the sides of the body and has also a transverse 
white band on the hinder part of the back. 
Habits. —The Tasmanian devil was very common near Hobart 
in the early days of settlement. When captured, it furnished the 
convicts with a meal of fresh meat; the taste of the flesh was 
said to have been not unlike that of veal. It was caught in traps 
baited with raw flesh, and set in the most unfrequented parts of the 
bush. As population increased and the ground was cleared, this 
animal was driven from its haunts near the town to the deeper 
recesses of the forests yet unexplored. The colonists became its 
dire enemies because it was very destructive to their poultry, and 
committed great havoc among the sheep. In a state of confinement 
it is untameably savage, it bites severely, and utters at the same 
time a low yelling growl. Notwithstanding its comparatively small 
size, it is so fierce and bites so severely, that it is a match for any 
ordinary dog. Its hollow barking is not unlike that of a dog. 
The Sarcophilus ursinus may be compared with a bear, in the 
general proportion of its body and limbs, as well as in the 
texture of its fur, also in many of its actions in and its gait. The 
tail, however, is long when so compared. The muscles of the jaws 
are very strong, which enable it to crack the largest bones asunder 
with ease. A fine living specimen was sent to the menagerie of the 
Zoological Society, London, but it did not live very long after its 
arrival. ‘The Sydney museum exhibits several Tasmanian mammals, 
among which the one under notice figures prominently. 
Food.—The Sarcophilus ursinus, as the name implies, is a lover 
of flesh. It preys upon the smaller species of the kangaroo tamily, 
which it devours voraciously. Since the introduction of sheep and 
poultry by the white man, it has assailed these new comers whenever 
an opportunity occurred. Its tracks are frequently seen in the 
sands of the seashore, where it searches for dead fish and blubber. 
Where found.—In Tasmania among the rocky gullies and vast 
forests on the western side of the island, During one winter ata 
station near Swan Port, no less than 143 devils were caught in a 
single pitfall. 
