Chapter II

THE PHALANGER, POUCHED BADGER, AND DASYURE FAMILIES.

THE PHALANGER FAMILY--THE KOALA--Habits--Characteristics--THE
CUSCUS--THE VULPINE PHALANGER--THE DORMOUSE
PHALANGER--Habits--Remarkable Characters--THE FLYING
PHALANGERS--Its Flying Machine--Habits--THE SQUIRREL FLYING
PHALANGERS--Habits--The Parachute-like Membrane--Exciting
Scene on board a Vessel--Characteristics--THE OPOSSUM
MOUSE--THE NOOLBENGER, OR TAIT--A Curiosity among
Marsupials--Distinctive Features--THE POUCHED BADGER
FAMILY--Characteristics--THE RABBIT-EARED PERAMELES--THE
BANDICOOT--THE BANDED PERAMELES--THE PIG-FOOTED
PERAMELES--Discussion regarding it--Characteristics--THE
DASYURUS FAMILY--Characteristics--THE POUCHED
ANT-EATERS--THE BANDED MYRMECOBIUS--Description--Great
number of Teeth--History--Food--Habits--Range--THE URSINE
DASYURE--Appearance--“Native Devil”--Ferocity--Havoc
among the Sheep of the Settlers--Trap to Catch them--Its
Teeth--A True Marsupial, though strikingly like the
Carnivora--Skeletal Characters peculiar to itself--MAUGE’S
DASYURE--THE DOG-HEADED THYLACINUS--Description--Resemblance
to the Dog--Habits--Peculiarities--THE BRUSH-TAILED
PHASCOGALE--Description--Other Varieties 203

CHAPTER III.

THE OPOSSUMS.

Prehistoric Opossums--Description of the Animal--Their
Teeth--Habits--THE COMMON OPOSSUM--Appearance--Use of its
Tail--Food--The Young--How they are Reared--D’AZARA’S
OPOSSUM--THE CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM--THE THICK-TAILED
OPOSSUM--MERIAN’S OPOSSUM--Pouchless Opossums--Their
Young--THE MURINA OPOSSUM--THE ELEGANT OPOSSUM--THE
YAPOCK--Classification of Marsupial Animals--Geographical
Distribution of the Sub-Order--Ancestry of the
Marsupials--Fossil Remains 219

SUB-ORDER--MONOTREMATA.

CHAPTER IV.

THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED ECHIDNA AND DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.

Why the Monotremata are formed into a Sub-order--The lowest
of the Mammalian Class--THE PORCUPINE OR LONG-SPINED
ECHIDNA--An Ant-eater, but not an Edentate--Its
Correct Name--Description of the Animal--Habits and
Disposition--Manner of Using the Tongue--Where it is
Found--Anatomical Features: Skull, Brain, Marsupial
Bones--The Young--Species of Van Diemen’s Land and New
Guinea--THE WATER-MOLE, OR DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS--The
most Bird-like Mammal--Various Names--Description--Their
Appearance and Movements in Water--Their Burrows--Habits
of an Individual kept in Confinement--Used by Natives
as Food--How they are Captured--The Young--A Family in
Captivity--The Snout--Jaws--Teeth--Tongue--Fore and Hind
Feet--Heel--Spur--The Shoulder Girdle--Breastbone--Concluding
Remarks on the Sub-orders--Postscript 227

THE CLASS AVES.--THE BIRDS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION--WING STRUCTURE AND FEATHERS--DISTRIBUTION.

Introduction--Distinctive Characters of the Class Aves--Power
of Flight--The Wing--Its Structure--The Six Zoo-geographical
Regions of the Earth--Birds peculiar to these Regions 235

CHAPTER II.

THE ANATOMY OF A BIRD.

The Three Divisions of the Class Aves--ANATOMY OF A
BIRD--The Skeleton--Distinctive Features--Peculiar Bone
Character--The Skull--Difference between the Skull of
Birds and that of Mammals--The Jawbones--Vertebral
Column--Sternum--Fore-limbs--Hind-limbs--Toes--The
Muscular System--How a Bird remains Fixed when Asleep--The
Oil-gland--The Nervous System--The Brain--The Eye--The
Ear--The Digestive System--The Dental papillæ--The
Beak--Tongue--Gullet--Crop--Stomach--Uses of the
Gizzard--Intestine--The Liver, Pancreas, and Spleen--The
Blood and Circulatory System--Temperature of Blood of
a Bird--Blood Corpuscles--The Heart--The Respiratory
System--Lungs--Air-sacs--The Organs of Voice--The
Egg--Classification of the Class Aves 239