144 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
Tue Rar Kancaroo.—Potorous tridactylus, Kerr, hag 
long been known to collect grass for nest-building pur- 
poses, and to carry it in its prehensile tail, but very little 
has been recorded as to the exact method of procedure, 
The following notes, based on a specimen in captivity, are 
therefore of interest :— 
When collecting material for nesting purposes it does 
so in a most systematic manner. The animal squats on 
all fours in front of the grass, and slowly raises its hind. 
quarters to allow the tail to curve beneath the abdomen. 
After taking the grass in its mouth, it places it in the 
fore paws, and thence back to the under surface of the 
in-turned tail. These actions are repeated until the Mass 
becomes dishevelled and bulky, when the rat raises its 
hind leg, and with an inward turn of the foot, presses oy’ 
kicks the grass into a tidy parcel. In bringing the tail 
to the rear again the grass is gripped and rolled into a 
compact mass, with which the animal hops off, apparently 
unhampered by the load it carries behind. 
Harry Burret, 
. 
