Chapter XXII: Marsupials and Monotremes (2)

One of the most notable circumstances respecting the cuscus is the fact that it is one of the few marsupials whose geographical distribution extends so far east in the Malay Archipelago as to be found associated with many of the higher mammalia which are altogether unrepresented in Australia or New Guinea. The Moluccas, including notably the islands of Silolo, Ceram, Boru, and many smaller ones, for example, produce no less than three species of cuscus, and are also the home of a species of baboon, a civet-cat, a deer, and that remarkable pig the babirusa. One other marsupial, a little flying-phalanger, is likewise a denizen of these islands. It has been suggested by Dr. Wallace that none of the foregoing higher mammals are possibly indigenous to the Moluccas. The baboon, he remarks, is only found in the island of Batchian, and seems to be much out of place there. It probably originated from some individuals which escaped from confinement, these and similar animals being often kept as pets by the Malay inhabitants and carried about in their praus. The civet-cat, which is more common in the Philippines and throughout the Indo-Malay region, is also carried about in cages from one island to another, and not infrequently liberated after the civet has been abstracted from them. The deer, which is likewise tamed and petted, its flesh also being much esteemed for food, might very naturally have been brought by the Malays from Java with the express object of its acclimatisation. The babirusa, whose headquarters are in the island of Celebes, is only found in Boru, its nearest neighbour in the Moluccan group. Dr. Wallace anticipates that these two islands were in former times more closely connected by land, and that under such conditions the babirusa may have swum across the intervening channel. Should these several hypotheses be correct, the Molucca Islands must be regarded, from a zoological standpoint, as an essentially Australasian or marsupial-producing region.

THE WOMBATS.

The Wombat Family, claiming the next position in the marsupial galaxy, constitutes the very antithesis to the light and graceful arboreal phalangers. There are but three known species, one of these inhabiting Tasmania and the adjacent islands, while the other two are peculiar to the southern region of the Australian Continent. In forms and gait their thick-set tailless bodies suggest a cross between a small bear and a capybara, and as "bears" and "badgers" they are familiarly known by the Australian colonists. The badger simile is perhaps the most pertinently applied with reference to their habit of excavating huge earth-burrows as dwelling-places, and out of which they customarily emerge only at night to feed. The TASMANIAN WOMBAT, at all events, is essentially gregarious in its habits; In the neighbourhood of Swansea, on the east coast, it is, or was, particularly abundant, forming regular warrens among a light undergrowth of vegetation, through which travelling on horseback is a distinctly risky proceeding. The temperament of the wombat is peculiarly placid; and hence, as it might be anticipated, they are essentially long-lived. One, Charlie by name, which has been domiciled at the Zoo for the past thirty years, is still hale and hearty, and evidently disinclined yet awhile to immolate himself on the altar of fame as a much-needed successor to the antique effigy which has for so long represented his species in the British Natural History Museum. Waiting for dead men's shoes is a proverbially tedious task, and for a coveted wombat's skin evidently more so.

The tough hide, with its thick, harsh fur, of the Tasmanian wombat, or "badger," as it is locally dubbed, is somewhat highly prized in the land of its birth. For floor- and door-mats and rugs the pelt is practically indestructible; and as such, though scarcely a thing of beauty, the special pride of the thrifty housewife. This animal is also not infrequently made a household pet, and will waddle as complacently as an over-fed poodle around the premises after its owner. The wombat, like the large majority of the marsupial animals, is for the most part nocturnal in habits, and a strict vegetarian.

The wombats present several interestingly distinct structural peculiarities. In the first place, their teeth, which are twenty-four in number, all grow uninterruptedly throughout life, and are consequently devoid of roots. The incisor teeth are represented by but a single pair in each jaw, and, having enamel only on their front surfaces, wear away in a chisel-like form, as in the beavers and other rodents. Superficially in both form and habits, as well as in the character of their dentition, the wombats may in fact be aptly likened to some unwieldy representative of the Rodent Order. Another structural peculiarity of the wombat is that it is the proud possessor of two more pairs of ribs than any other marsupial.

[_Ealing._

COMMON WOMBAT.

A burrowing animal about the size of a small pig.]

Of the three known species, the COMMON WOMBAT of the South and Eastern Australian States is the largest, attaining to a length of as much as 3 feet. The colour of this form is subject to considerable variation, being sometimes yellow, yellow more or less mixed with black, or completely black. Albinism, as in the kangaroos and phalangers, is of apparently rare occurrence. The hair, while coarse, is less so than in the Tasmanian species. What is known as the HAIRY-NOSED WOMBAT, inhabiting South Australia, is intermediate in size between the common and the Tasmanian varieties; its most distinctive features are the soft and silky character of its brownish hair, and its longer and more pointed ears. The coarseness of the hair of the Tasmanian species has been previously referred to; in colour it is most usually a dark greyish brown, while the ears are small and rounded.

The flesh of the wombat is somewhat esteemed for food, being regarded by some as equal to pork, and much resembling it in flavour. The predilection of tame specimens for milk is very strong, and it has been recorded of one animal that it was not only in the habit of seeking out the milk-pans and pushing off the covers in order to drink the contents, but afterwards of taking a bath in what was left.

[_Ealing._

HAIRY-NOSED WOMBAT.

A form peculiar to South Australia.]

A remarkable habit has been accredited to the wombat which invites scientific investigation. It is said to be capable of sustaining life for an abnormally long period under water, and that when in the course of its travels it meets with a pond or river it does not attempt to swim, but, deliberately entering the water, walks along the bottom, and so emerges on the opposite bank.

The animals of Australia living in not very remote geological times included a near ally of the wombat which equalled a tapir in dimensions.

THE BANDICOOTS.

The Australian BANDICOOTS--not to be confounded with their namesake of India, which is a big rat--constitute a very distinct little family group. They number in all some eight or nine species, distributed throughout the length and breadth of Australia and Tasmania, and found also in New Guinea. The largest member is about the size of a rabbit; and as its general shape, long ears, and soft silky hair impart some slight resemblance to that rodent, it is commonly known as the RABBIT-BANDICOOT. With the above-enumerated points, however, the likeness ceases--its possession of a moderately long tail, pointed snout, and feet modified on a plan closely resembling those of the kangaroo's indicating its essentially distinct nature. In a second variety, having somewhat the same external contour, but smaller in size, the fore limbs are very short, and the feet so modified that only two toes are visible externally. With reference to this peculiar feature, it is known as the PIG-FOOTED BANDICOOT. In a third kind of similar dimensions, with harsh brown fur, the ears are comparatively short, and the snout is so abnormally prolonged that, it has been appropriately named the LONG-NOSED BANDICOOT. Superficially, in point of fact, this and other allied species so closely resemble certain of the long-snouted insectivorous mammals, such as the Tenrec and Solenodon, that they might be excusably mistaken by the non-scientific for members of the same group. The bandicoots are chiefly nocturnal, and at all events incorrigible "sun-downers," turning up for their meals when the evening shadows fall, and taking a heavy and unwelcome toll of the farmers' potatoes, beets, or other root, crops. Like the wombat, already described, they are earth-burrowers. Some of them, however, construct nests above-ground in long coarse grass or low tangled shrubs, which are so ingeniously built in accord with their environment as to readily escape detection. Insects and worms, in addition to a main diet of vegetable matter, contribute to the bandicoot's somewhat heterogeneous menu.

[_Aberdeen._

COMMON WOMBAT.

The Wombats may be said to hold the place occupied in other parts of the world by the Badgers.]

The wood- and root-boring larvæ of a moth which infests the Australian wattle- or acacia-trees are a very favourite food with several of the species, and it is worthy of remark that the bandicoots are not alone in displaying a penchant for this delicacy. Under the title of "bardies" they are collected and highly esteemed for food by the natives of Western Australia, who eat them either cooked or raw. These larvæ are, moreover, acceptable to many European palates, and the writer has witnessed little faggot-like bundles of them brought round by the natives to the hotels at Geraldton, Western Australia, for sale or barter to chance customers. It may be observed in this connection that the analogous wood-boring larvæ of the goat-moth, which were kept and specially fattened for the occasion, constituted one of the dainty dishes of the luxurious Romans.

One of the commonest species found in Tasmania is known as the BANDED or STRIPED-BACKED BANDICOOT, being so named on account of the characteristic markings of its fur. The general ground-colour of the coat is an almost equal admixture of black and yellow hairs, the black tint, however, prevailing on the back, and the lighter one on the sides. The hindquarters are, however, variegated by the presence of some three or four broad transverse stripes that are almost entirely black, while the intervening spaces are a light whitish yellow. A few shorter stripes are sometimes continued as far as the root of the tail, this appendage also having a dark line running along its upper surface. The head is of a somewhat lighter tint than the remainder of the body, while the breast, abdomen, and feet are white, slightly tinged with grey. The transversely striped pattern of ornamentation of the hindquarters of this bandicoot is of interest with relation to the circumstance that a similarly located banded variegation of the fur occurs also in the Tasmanian wolf, or thylacine, and in the banded ant-eater, described in a following section. As a colour-pattern it would appear to be quite peculiar to these marsupials, no such restriction of the markings occurring among the higher or placental mammals. In the South African suricate, a member of the Ichneumon Tribe, in which the nearest approach to this dorsal banding is met with, the stripes are equally developed as far forward as the base of the neck.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

LONG-NOSED AUSTRALIAN BANDICOOT.

Bandicoots, although larger, have somewhat the appearance of shrews.]

Both the banded and other species of bandicoots are extremely swift and active in their movements, and are at the same time noted for the singularity of their gait. This consists of a half-running and half-jumping action, induced by the peculiar structure of their feet and greater length of the hind legs, which are modified on a plan intermediate between that of the kangaroos and the dasyures, or native cats. The back of the animal while running being highly arched, adds to the grotesqueness of its appearance. Like the native cats, the pouch in the bandicoots opens backwards; it is furnished with eight teats, but not more than two young are usually produced at a birth.

The striped-backed bandicoot is not infrequently adopted as a household pet, in spite of its notorious garden depredations. When thus domesticated, it appears to be capable of developing a strong attachment for its owner. One that was owned by friends of the writer especially attached itself to the lady of the house. It was acquired when quite young, having escaped from the pouch of an adult female which the dogs had killed, and being then about the size of a mouse. It speedily learned to lap milk, and throve on a diet of bread and raw potato. As it grew larger it was allowed the run of the house, and also of the garden, but habitually returned to the sleeping-quarters selected by itself, and represented by the woolly depths of its mistress's work-basket. In this haven of rest it slept all day, scolding and snapping at any intruding hand. Towards dusk it would waken up and bustle about in a most energetic manner, with the air, in fact, of having an immense amount of business to transact within the very shortest limits of time. Its first dart was always towards a corner where a supper of bread-and-milk and potato was usually placed. This meal discussed, its evening's occupation commenced of scampering around the room and over every accessible article of furniture. Nor was it shy of climbing up and resting for a few seconds on the shoulders of its human friends, being always, however, in too great a hurry to prolong the visit. Finally, as with all pets, "Coota," as he was familiarly named, came to an untimely end--not a cat, however, on this occasion, but, if rumour whispers true, through over-indulgence in a too liberally furnished meal of custard pudding.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

RABBIT-BANDICOOT.

The largest of the bandicoots; about the size of a rabbit.]

The flesh of this and other species of bandicoots is esteemed for food both by the natives and the white settlers in Australia. It is noteworthy of the banded variety, more especially, that the skin adheres so tightly to the flesh that its removal is a matter of some considerable difficulty. When full grown, this species measures as much as 18 inches in total length, and is little inferior to a rabbit with regard to the amount of good meat it provides for the larder.

THE POUCHED MOLE.

A still more essentially insectivorous marsupial is represented by the little mammal discovered only a few years since in the wild sandy wastes of Central Australia. In form and habits it so nearly resembles the familiar European mole that the title of the POUCHED MOLE has been very suitably given to it. At the same time, with regard to its remarkable organisation, it constitutes the sole representative of its peculiar family group. The first suspicions of the existence of this singular little animal were raised by the observation of peculiar sinuous three-lined tracks at irregular intervals on the surface of the sandy regions it inhabits.

After a long quest, with the aid of the aborigines, the first specimen was discovered reposing under a tuft of coarse porcupine-grass. A further investigation elicited the fact that its burrowing proclivities were much less pronounced than those of the ordinary moles, the little creature progressing alternately over the surface of the sand, and then ploughing its way, for several feet or yards, two or three inches only beneath the surface. All efforts to preserve examples of this marsupial alive for longer periods than three or four days proved abortive; for though the remains of ants and other insects were found within its viscera, it refused to feed upon the living supplies that were provided for it. In fact, the animal itself apparently ran the greater risk of being eaten.

POUCHED MOLE.

This animal is of a pale golden-red colour, and about 5 inches long. It spends most of its time burrowing, which it can do with great rapidity, in the sand of the Australian deserts in search of insects.]

The colour of the pouched mole is for the most part light fawn, varying in parts to golden yellow. One of its most conspicuous features, as illustrated in the accompanying photographs, is the abnormal size of the third and fourth toes of the fore limbs, their peculiar scoop-like character proving of eminent service to the animal in its customary sand-burrowing habits.

UNDER SURFACE OF POUCHED MOLE.

Notice the abnormal size of the third and fourth toe of the fore limbs, and their peculiar scoop-like shape.]

THE TASMANIAN WOLF.

The remaining family of the Australian marsupials constitutes a parallel to the carnivorous order of the higher mammalia, all its members being more or less flesh-eaters, and having their dentition modified with relation to such habits. One of these (the TASMANIAN WOLF, or TIGER of the colonists, better known to zoologists as the THYLACINE) is an animal of considerable size. Its dimensions equal those of a wolf or mastiff, with which the contour of its body and more especially that of the head very nearly correspond. In common with the true dogs, the thylacine hunts its prey by scent. This is well attested to by the following incident, as related by eye-witnesses. While camping out among the hills in Tasmania their attention was attracted very early one morning by a brush-kangaroo hopping past their fire in an evidently highly excited state. Some ten minutes later up cantered a she thylacine with her nose down exactly on the track, evidently following the scent, and in another quarter of an hour her two cubs came by also in the precise track. While not very swift, the Tasmanian "tigers" possess immense staying power, and will keep up a long, steady canter for many hours on end. Accustomed in its primitive state to run down and prey upon the kangaroos, wallabies, and other weaker marsupial mammals indigenous to the regions it inhabits, the Tasmanian wolf speedily acquired a predilection for the imported flocks of the settlers, and proved almost as destructive to them as its Old World namesake. To check its ravages, a price was put upon its head by the Tasmanian Government; and this measure, in conjunction with the rapid advances towards the complete settlement of the country which have been accomplished within later years, has compassed this animal's extermination in all but the wildest and most inaccessible mountain districts. The colour-markings of this animal are somewhat striking, the grey-brown tints which characterise the ground-hues of the body and limbs being varied by a series of dark bands traversing the buttocks, these being widest in this region, and continued forwards to the middle of the back. A somewhat similar cross-stripe pattern of ornamentation occurs in the relatively small member of the same family described later on as the Banded Ant-eater.

TASMANIAN WOLF.

This photograph shows the great width of gape of this ferocious animal.]

Examples of the Tasmanian wolf have frequently been on view at the Regent's Park Gardens, a very fine young male specimen being at present located in the marsupial section. Within a few weeks of its arrival it was on excellent terms with its keeper, though, owing to its somewhat imperfect sense of vision during the daytime, it was apt to snap somewhat promiscuously at those attempting to cultivate its close acquaintanceship. That a bite from its formidable teeth is not to be lightly risked will be made abundantly apparent by a glance at the successful yawning pose photograph secured of this example by Mr. Medland, and here reproduced. Although the thylacine is at the present time entirely limited in its distribution to Tasmania, it occurs in the fossil state on the Australian mainland; while, singularly to relate, the remains of a closely allied form have within recent years been unearthed in Patagonia. This circumstance, taken in conjunction with the fact that many other fossil types with Australian and New Zealand affinities have been discovered in the same South American strata, has strengthened the supposition maintained by many zoologists that in bygone ages a vast Antarctic continent, spreading through the areas now occupied by the Southern Indian and Pacific Oceans, temporarily united the now distinct lands of South America and Australasia.

[_North Finchley._

TASMANIAN WOLF.

In this photograph are shown nearly all the chief characteristic points of the Tasmanian wolf.]

THE TASMANIAN DEVIL.

Next in size to the thylacine, but possessing a more unenviable notoriety for the uncompromising sulkiness and savagery of its disposition, is the animal which, in virtue of the aforesaid qualities, is known by the title of the TASMANIAN DEVIL. In shape and dimensions this marsupial carnivore somewhat resembles a badger; but the head is abnormally large, the masseter muscles which control the action of the powerful jaws monopolising a very considerable share of the face area. The limbs are short and also very powerful, the front paws being well adapted to its burrowing habits. There is some slight variation in the colours of this marsupial Apollyon; and, as the aphorism runs concerning his sable namesake, he is not always so black as he is painted. More or less or in fact mostly black he always is, but there is usually a redeeming thread or patch of white upon his coat. This may take the form of a small star-like spot only on the front of its chest, which not infrequently extends to a narrow crescent-shaped band or line continued round the neck almost to the shoulders. One or more supplementary spots of white may also be developed upon the flanks and hindquarters.

[_Notting Hill._

TASMANIAN DEVIL.

A small, but stout and powerful animal, very destructive, and absolutely untamable.]

The destructive propensities of the Tasmanian devil, wherein the farmers' sheep and poultry are concerned, are in no way inferior to those of the Tasmanian wolf, and in consequence of their former much greater abundance the havoc these animals committed was the more serious. Placed, like the last-named type, under Government ban, these native devils have, in comparison with the earlier days of colonisation, very considerably ceased from troubling, and with the ever-progressing march of settlement and civilisation will probably be altogether exterminated at a no very distant date. A bag of no less than 150 of these marauders, in the course of one winter, was recorded from an upland sheep-station some twenty or thirty years ago. In common with the thylacine, it has been observed that the Tasmanian devil has a marked predilection for prowling along the seashore in search apparently of crabs, fish, or any acceptable flotsam and jetsam that may be cast up by the waves.

Examples of this most unamiable of mammals were brought in alive on several occasions to the Hobart Museum during the writer's residence in Tasmania, but in all cases obstinately resisted every attempt towards the establishment of a friendly footing. Their ultimate relegation to the specimen-cases was, under the circumstances, unattended by any very poignant manifestations of regret. A fact brought into prominent notice during subsequent post-mortem investigations was the extraordinary extent to which these animals are infested with vermin. Possibly this circumstance is to a considerable extent accountable for the creature's unconquerable irritability. The experiment as to whether a course of disinfecting treatment, by baths or otherwise, would not conduce towards the taming of this native devil, where all other applied methods have failed, would at all events be worth the trial. The bath pure and simple is a wonderful soporific for unruly tempers. As most schoolboys know, a pail of water, from which the patient is withdrawn when a watery grave is apparently inevitable, is an unfailing specific for the taming of mice and other "small deer." The writer's experience with a villainously savage cat which one night fell incontinently into an uncovered cistern, and was rescued by him at almost the last gasp, will not be readily forgotten. That cat, though still a vixen to the ordinary members of the household, forthwith attached itself affectionately to its rescuer, and would sit for hours awaiting his arrival on the doorstep when the business of the day was over. Other fierce creatures, including the Tasmanian devil, would possibly prove amenable to the judicious application of the "water cure."

THE NATIVE CATS.

The animals common in Tasmania and throughout the greater portion of the Australian Continent, and familiarly known as SPOTTED or NATIVE CATS, and to zoologists as DASYURES, enjoy also an unenviable reputation for their depredations among the settlers' hen-roosts. To look at, these native cats are the most mild-mannered and inoffensive of creatures. Actually, however, they possess the most bloodthirsty proclivities, and may be aptly compared in their habits to the stoats, weasels, polecats, and other Old World carnivora. There are some five known species, the largest being equal to an ordinary cat in size, and the smaller ones about half these dimensions. All of them are distinguished by their spotted pattern of ornamentation, such spots being white or nearly so, and more or less abundantly sprinkled over a darker background which varies from light grey to chocolate-brown. In the commonest form, represented in the accompanying photograph, the ears and the under surface of the body are also often white. No two individuals, however, are to be found precisely alike in the pattern of their markings. The dasyures differ from the two preceding types, the Tasmanian wolf and the devil, in being essentially arboreal in their habits, living by day and breeding, as the majority of the Australian opossums, in the hollow gum-tree trunks, from which they emerge at nightfall to seek their food. This, in their native state, when hen-roosts are not accessible, consists mainly of birds and such smaller marsupial forms as they can readily overpower.

[_Sydney._

SPOTTED DASYURES, OR AUSTRALIAN NATIVE CATS.

This species is rather smaller than an ordinary-sized cat. All the dasyures are arboreal in their habits, and very destructive to birds.]

THE POUCHED MICE.

The so-called POUCHED MICE represent a group of smaller-sized carnivorous mammals which have much in common with the dasyures, but are devoid of their spotted ornamentation. None of them exceed a rat in size. They number about twelve or fourteen known species, and are distributed throughout the greater part of Australia and New Guinea, and extend thence to the Aru Islands. They are said not to occur in the extreme north of the Australian Continent. The writer, however, obtained an example of the brush-tailed species, here illustrated, from the neighbourhood of Broome, in the farthest north or Kimberley district of Western Australia. This specimen, which was caught alive in a rat-trap, exhibited astonishingly potent gnawing powers, almost succeeding one night in eating its way through the wooden box in which it was temporarily confined. The habits of this species are omnivorous, and chiefly akin to those of the ordinary rats, it being accustomed to prowl round the out-buildings at night, picking up any unconsidered trifles in the way of food that may be left unprotected.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

BRUSH-TAILED POUCHED MOUSE, OR PHASCOGALE.

A slender and graceful animal, the largest of the thirteen known species, and about the size of an ordinary rat.]

Many of the smaller members of this tribe are no larger than mice; and in one form, known as the JERBOA POUCHED MOUSE, inhabiting Queensland and New South Wales, the hind limbs are abnormally prolonged, and the animal progresses by leaps and bounds, after the fashion of the true jerboas, or its nearer relatives, the ordinary kangaroos and rat-kangaroos.

THE BANDED ANT-EATER.

One of the most interesting from the zoologist's standpoint, and the last on our list of the Australian marsupials, is the little creature, limited in its habitat to Western Australia, locally known as the SQUIRREL. The BANDED ANT-EATER, with reference to its striped ornamentation and ant-eating habits, is the name by which it is usually chronicled in natural history works. In size and shape, except for its more pointed snout, its squirrel-like aspect is certainly somewhat striking. Like the true ant-eaters of the Edentate Mammalian Order, it, however, possesses a long protrusile tongue, with which it is accustomed in a similar manner to lick up the ants which constitute its main food-supply.

The most interesting biological peculiarity of this animal is the abnormal development of its teeth. These number as many as from fifty-two to fifty-six, and exceed the dental formula of any other known existing marsupial. The usual colour of this interesting little animal is a warm chestnut-brown, banded transversely over the back with white, these stripes being widest and most conspicuous over the hindquarters. This somewhat paradoxical marsupial possesses no pouch, the young, when first born and attached to the nipples in the manner characteristic of ordinary marsupials, being covered over and concealed among the longer hairs that clothe the abdominal region. In the dasyures, or native cats, previously described, the pouch exists only in a rudimentary condition, its function being fulfilled by merely a few skin-folds; while in the "tiger" and native devil the pouch, contrary to that of the kangaroos, opens backwards.

In disposition the banded ant-eater presents a marked contrast to that of many of the preceding types. Caught in its native habitat, it does not attempt to bite, and soon becomes reconciled to captivity. The peculiar nature of its diet, however, militates against its being easily transported over-sea from the Antipodes.

THE AMERICAN OPOSSUMS.

The little group of the American marsupials contains some three or four generically distinct types whose relationship with the Australian members of the order is in the direction of the dasyures and bandicoots rather than with the kangaroos and phalangers. Included in one family, they are popularly known as Opossums, but differ among themselves very considerably both in aspect and habits. The most remarkable among them is undoubtedly the so-called YAPOCK, or WATER-OPOSSUM, an inhabitant of South America, and ranging in its distribution from Guatemala to Brazil. In both form and habits this animal so closely resembles an otter that it was referred by the earlier naturalists to the Otter Tribe. It tunnels holes in the banks of the rivers it frequents, and feeds entirely upon fish, crustacea, and aquatic insects. The feet, and more especially the hind ones, are distinctly webbed; the tail is naked, scaly, and non-prehensile; and the fur is short and thick, as in the ordinary otters. The ground-tint of the fur is a light grey: this is diversified by a black or dark brown stripe that runs down the centre of the back, and expands over the shoulders, loins, and hindquarters into saddle-shaped patches or bands of the same dark hue.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

BANDED ANT-EATER.

From an anatomical point of view, this is one of the most remarkable of the pouched mammals.]

The COMMON or VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM, while the only representative of the Marsupial Order found in the temperate latitudes of the North American Continent, has a very considerable range of distribution, occurring in equal abundance throughout the tropical regions of South America. In these warmer latitudes it differs to such an extent in the character of its fur and other minor points that it was for some time regarded as a distinct species, and was distinguished by the title of the CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM. Biologists are, however, now agreed that the supposed species is only a local variety. As a matter of fact, a very considerable amount of variation in the colour and markings is found to exist among the individuals of the most familiarly known northern race. In form the animal may be suitably compared to a huge rat, nearly equalling a cat in size, with an abnormally large head and pointed snout. The tail is long, almost naked for the greater portion of its length, and pre-eminently prehensile. The fur is of a mixed character, consisting of an undergrowth of a fine, close, woolly texture, through which protrudes a less dense series of long bristle-like hairs. The colour of the fur ranges from black to white, and includes all varieties of intermixture. The face, more especially in the northern race, is usually much the lightest or altogether white, while in the tropical South American examples it is more often darker, or it may be completely black.

The opossum, like the rat, is an omnivorous feeder; and being of so much larger size, and possessing an insatiable appetite, constitutes itself a veritable pest to the fruit-grower, the agriculturist, and the poultry-farmer. In effecting its entrance to hen-roosts or other food-yielding enclosures, it exhibits an amount of cunning and pertinacity possessed by no other mammal. Caught red-handed in these depredations, it has recourse to stratagems which have won for it a reputation that has long since passed into a household word. Feigning death, or "playing 'possum," is a game at which it is well known to be a past-master, but by which it still frequently succeeds in hoodwinking the unwary, and so saves its skin. Discovered thieving, and receiving perhaps a haphazard but by no means disabling blow, it at once collapses, and with film-covered eyes and protruding tongue is to all intents and purposes dead. It may be kicked round the premises, and finally probably taken up by the tail and flung ignominiously outside, without betraying vitality by even so much as a wink. But no sooner is the coast thoroughly clear of the avenger than the stiffened limbs relax, the eyes reopen, and Brer 'Possum trots off, as fresh as ever. Maybe it is the ripening maize or the persimmon-patch that next engages his attention, and in either case he walks in and feeds right royally, laying up a goodly store of fat against the approaching winter months of scarcity.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

YAPOCK, OR WATER-OPOSSUM.

In habits, although not in size and colour, this marsupial may be compared to a wolf.]

Away from human habitations the opossum is an essentially arboreal animal, living and breeding for the most part, like his Australian cousins, in hollow trees, and making excursions therefrom in all directions in quest of food. His much-mixed natural diet may consist of tender shoots and leaves, and the wild grapes and the many other berries and fruits the forest produces. He craves, however, after a due admixture of animal pabulum, and birds and their eggs, insects, lizards, and the smaller mammals furnish their quota to his menu. Crustacea, such as crabs and the crayfish which abound in the American streams and marshes, have an irresistible attraction for him; and it is on this account that, in the southern area of his distribution, where these crustacea are so plentiful as to constitute his main diet, and his face is browned by the more glowing sun, he is known by the title of the Crab-eater.

Although fattening up against the winter, he, even in his most northern limits, does not hibernate, but may even be seen leisurely picking his way over the snow, probably tracking some unfortunate squirrel to its lair, which in due time is located, dragged out, and devoured. While assimilating his meal of flesh or fruit, Brer 'Possum likes to have all four hands at liberty, his hind feet being also graspers; and so he twists his tail round a convenient branch, and, hanging _perdu_, leisurely enjoys his feast. The opossum, like the rat--to which it has in aspect and many of its habits been likened--is a most prolific breeder, as many as from six to sixteen young being comprised in the litter. When born, they are immediately transferred to the somewhat capacious pouch, and remain there without venturing outside until they are about the size of an ordinary mouse.

A third and very distinct type of American opossums is the one represented on page 380, which, from its mouse-like size and aspect, is commonly known as the MURINE OPOSSUM. The most distinct feature of this little animal is that, though a genuine marsupial, it has no pouch, but carries its young on its back, the little creatures twining their tails round that of their mother, and so securing a stable anchorage. Although thus loaded up and transformed for the time being into a sort of combination perambulator and feeding-flask, the happy but anxious parent pursues the even tenor of her way among the tree-branches and thicket-growths with almost unabated agility. This species, in common with MERIAM'S OPOSSUM and the WOOLLY OPOSSUM and several others which carry their young, to as many as a dozen in number, on their backs, are denizens of tropical South America. One of these, named the PHILANDER OPOSSUM, attains to the somewhat larger size of about 2 feet in total length, the long prehensile tail representing, however, the greater moiety of these dimensions.

THE SELVA.

South America has one other marsupial--the SELVA--an animal which, while possessing the dimensions and much of the aspect of an ordinary rat, is remarkable as differing so materially in the character of its teeth and other structural points that it cannot be referred to any existing marsupial family. On the other hand, this type is found to coincide in the above particulars with species hitherto only known in the fossil state, and excavated from the same tertiary deposits in Patagonia which have been productive of the distant ally of the Tasmanian wolf. It is yet hoped by zoologists that the discovery of other interesting and possibly some supposed extinct mammals may reward the thorough exploration of the vast South American forests. The capture in the flesh of some form allied to the huge ground-sloths, such as the Mylodon and Megatherium, is, however, now considered to be quite beyond the pale of possibility.

[_Washington._

YOUNG OPOSSUM (NATURAL SIZE).

This is an interesting photograph, as it is reproduced life-size, and gives an excellent idea of the animal in its native land.]

MONOTREMES, OR EGG-LAYING MAMMALS.

With this group or order of the Mammalian Class we arrive, as it were, on the borderland between the mere typical Mammals and Reptiles. In the last group, that of the Marsupials, it was observed that the young were brought into the world at an abnormally early and helpless phase of their existence, and usually consigned, until able to see and walk, to a variously modified protective pouch. With the Monotremes a yet lower rung in the evolutional ladder is reached, and we find that the young are brought into the outer world as eggs, these being in the one case deposited in a nest or burrow, and in the other carried about by the parent in a rudimentary sort of pouch until they are hatched.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

WOOLLY AMERICAN OPOSSUM.

This animal is about the size of a large mouse. It carries its young on its back, their tails being entwined round that of their parent.]

The living representatives of this singular mammalian order are but few in number, being restricted, in point of fact, to only two distinctly differentiated family types--the Echidna or Porcupine Ant-eater, and the Platypus. These monotremes, moreover, like the majority of the existing marsupials, are limited in their distribution to the Australasian region. The single species of the Platypus is only found in Tasmania and the southern and eastern districts of the Australian Continent, while the Echidna numbers some three recognised species, two of which belong to Australia and Tasmania and the third to New Guinea.

THE ECHIDNA.

The ECHIDNA, PORCUPINE ANT-EATER, or "PORCUPINE," as it is commonly called by the Australian colonists, would seem at first sight to represent an animal in which the characters of the hedgehog and the common porcupine are interblended, the innumerable spines being longer than those of the former, but less in length than those of the last-named animal. The head, with no externally visible ears and remarkable elongated beak-like snout, however, at once proclaims it to be altogether distinct from these. The animal has no teeth, and the tiny mouth at the termination of the beak-like snout simply constitutes an aperture for the extrusion of the worm-like glutinous tongue, wherewith, after the manner of the true ant-eaters, it licks up the inhabitants of the ants' nests upon which it feeds. For tearing down the ants' nests and obtaining its customary food, as also for its inveterate burrowing propensity, the feet, and more especially the front ones, are provided with strong, blunt, and very powerful claws. The male animal is in addition armed on the hind feet with a peculiar supplementary spur, which is, however, still more conspicuously developed in the platypus.

Three distinct species of the echidna are recognised by zoologists. The one peculiar to the cooler climate of Tasmania is remarkable for its more slender spines, the much greater abundance of the long bristle-like hairs, and the thickness of the seal-brown under-fur, as compared with the typical Australian form. In North-west New Guinea the largest and most aberrant form is met with. Normally it has only three toes in place of five to each foot, the spines are very long and thick, the body is deeper and more compressed, and the animal stands comparatively high upon its feet.

The writer, during his residence in Tasmania, had several examples of the local species as domestic pets. For the first few days they were very shy and untractable, burrowing into the earth and seeking to escape, or presenting an impenetrable _cheval de frise_ of sharp-pointed spines to the hands that sought to caress them. After a short interval, however, the creatures became entirely reconciled to human society and the small amount of restraint to which they were subjected. They would follow their owner about the garden, or, flattening their bodies and spreading out their limbs to the greatest extent, lie basking in the sun close to where he might be seated. They also apparently appreciated being carried, slung across their owner's arm after the manner of a lap-dog. Living in the near vicinity of unreclaimed bush-land, it was found possible to keep these echidnas well supplied with their customary food; they were, in fact, permitted to forage on their own account. Liberated amidst their normal surroundings, they would walk leisurely from one ant-hill to another, tearing down the side of it with their powerful front claws, and appropriating its living contents with the greatest relish. It was observed, however, in this connection that the echidna paid attention entirely to the succulent white larvæ and pupal phases of the insects with which the inner chambers of the ant-hills are customarily crowded, and that adult ants, as they abounded in the tracts near at hand or elsewhere, were altogether neglected. In addition to this natural food these animals were supplied daily with a saucer of either well-softened bread or porridge and milk, for which they evinced a decided appreciation, assimilating this food dexterously, though somewhat slowly, with the aid of their long protrusile tongues. Allowed to wander about the house, they displayed a most inquisitive turn of mind, peering into every crevice, and climbing upon every accessible article of furniture.

The echidna usually produces only one egg at a time; it is relatively small, not larger than a sparrow's egg, but equally and obtusely rounded at both extremities, and with a white leathery shell like that of a reptile. For some time previous to hatching, this egg is carried in a skin-fold or rudimentary pouch in the parent's abdomen, much similar to that possessed by many of the marsupials. The young one is also retained in this pouch for some weeks after escaping from the egg. When finally leaving the pouch, it is between three and four inches in length, and the spines are in an altogether rudimentary condition.

Examples of the Australian echidna have on several occasions been "in residence" at the Zoo; while the Hon. Walter Rothschild has been fortunate in keeping living specimens of both this and the very rare three-toed New Guinea variety in his admirably appointed menagerie at Tring.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

COMMON OR VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM.

The only marsupial animal found north of Mexico.]

THE PLATYPUS.

The egg-laying mammal known as the DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS differs very essentially from the echidna both in aspect and habits. It is adapted especially for an amphibious life, and for feeding on molluscs, worms, and insects, which it abstracts from the muddy bed or banks of the rivers that it frequents. The somewhat depressed ovate body is covered with short dense fur much resembling in colour and texture that of an otter. The tail is short and flattened like that of a beaver, but in place of being naked and scaly, as in that animal, is covered, on the upper surface more particularly, with long, coarse, bristle-like hairs that intercross one another in all directions. Neither is this tail used, as with the beaver, as a mason's trowel, it being simply subservient as a steer-oar. The feet are all four distinctly webbed, the membranes of the front feet in particular projecting to some distance beyond the extremities of the claws, and so communicating to these members a singular resemblance to the feet of a duck. The head of the platypus tapers off from the body without any conspicuous neck, and terminates in a most remarkable duck-like beak, having at its base a supplementary membranous ferrule-like structure which would seem to serve the purpose of limiting the distance into which the beak of the animal is thrust into the mud during the quest for its accustomed food, and at the same time protecting the creature's eyes. The mouth of the adult platypus contains no teeth, simply a few horny plates; but, singularly to relate, rudimentary teeth exist temporarily in the young animals. These provisional teeth, moreover, correspond in a marked manner with those of some ancient types of mammals which occur as fossils in the tertiary deposits of North America. The platypus, with relation to the obliteration of its teeth in the adult state, is regarded as a very exceptionally modified form and not as the immediate prototype of the ordinary mammals.

The platypus is found in Tasmania and in the south and eastern districts of Australia only, being altogether unknown in the west and north. Being especially shy and retiring, and to a large extent nocturnal in its habits, it is not frequently seen even in districts where it may be rather abundant. The animal excavates burrows of so great a length as from thirty to fifty feet in the river-banks that it frequents, and at the extreme end of these burrows it constructs a loose nest of weeds and root-fibres, which it uses as its retreat, and also for the production of its eggs and young. There are invariably two entrances to these burrows, the one being under water, and the other usually opening into a tangle of brushwood at some little distance from the water's edge. As many as from one to four eggs and young may be produced at a time, but two is the more general number. From the first it would appear that the eggs and young are deposited and nursed in the nest, not being retained or carried about in a pouch, as observed of the echidna.

[_Melbourne._

ECHIDNA, OR ANT-EATING PORCUPINE.

The female echidna can carry two eggs in her pouch, which in due course are hatched by the heat of her body.]

The late Dr. George Bennett, of Sydney, New South Wales, has probably placed on record the most detailed account of the ways and life-habits of these remarkable animals, though it did not fall to him to solve the much-vexed question as to whether or not they were oviparous. This discovery, as applied also to the like phenomenon in the case of the echidna, was the outcome within quite recent years of the researches of Mr. Caldwell. After much indefatigable exploration, in which he was ably assisted by the natives, Dr. Bennett obtained from the extremity of an exceptionally long burrow a mother and pair of half-grown young. The young ones survived several weeks, and proved most droll and interesting pets. In playful habits they much resembled puppies, chasing and rolling one another over, and pretending to bite with their toothless bills. They were also much addicted to climbing every scalable article of furniture, including even a tall book-case, which they would negotiate by "swarming" up behind it as a sweep climbs a chimney, with their backs to the wall and their feet against the back of the book-case. The sleeping and waking hours that both these and other examples kept were observed to be very irregular; for while usually most lively and disposed to ramble after it grew dusk, they would at other times come out of their own accord in the daytime, or perhaps one would ramble about while the other slept. When going to sleep, they would roll themselves up in a perfect ball, the head, tail, and limbs being closely folded over the abdomen.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

TASMANIAN ECHIDNA, OR PORCUPINE ANT-EATER.

This is the largest variety of the five-toed species; it grows to a length of 20 inches, and has the fur so long as almost to conceal the spines.]

The food question appears to have presented almost insurmountable difficulties so far against the permanent acclimatisation of these interesting animals in any of our European zoological gardens. At the Melbourne Zoo some considerable success was obtained by fencing off a small pond abounding with insects and well-established water-plants for their reception, and in this instance they had also the advantage of being brought speedily and within a few hours of their capture to their new home. For their long voyage to Europe the provision of an adequate quantity of living insects or other aquatic organisms is a by no means easy task. They have, however, been known to thrive on broken-up river-mussels for the space of two or three weeks, and would probably have done so for a longer period. This material might easily be stored for their use on board ship.

An incident concerning the natural predilections of the platypus that fell within the writer's observation in Tasmania might also be utilised in their experimental transportation. At the trout- and salmon-rearing establishment on the river Plenty--of which the writer was at the time superintendent--the platypuses proved to be most destructive to the spawn both deposited in the hatching-boxes and upon the natural spawning-beds, or "redds," and they had in consequence to be systematically destroyed. This being the case, it is probable that they would be found to thrive well on a diet consisting to a large extent of the preserved roes or spawn of any easily procurable fish--such as the Murray perch and cod--and of which adequate supplies might with facility be stored aboard ship. The admixture in all cases of a certain amount of sand or mud with their provided pabulum would appear to be essential for digestive purposes, such material being always found in considerable quantities in their stomachs when dissected.

A distinguishing feature which the male platypus shares in common with the echidna is the peculiar spur developed on its hind foot. It is in this case, however, much larger and sharper, and has been accredited with aggressive functions and poisonous properties. There can be little doubt, however, that they are normally used by the animal only as clasping or retaining instruments during intercourse with the female at the breeding-season. At the same time, undoubted cases of persons receiving severe wounds from these animals' spurs have been placed on record. One such that fell within the writer's cognisance happened on the Murray River, on the Victorian and New South Wales boundary. A young fisher-lad, on taking up his nets, found a half-drowned platypus entangled in them, and, whilst disengaging it, it convulsively gripped his hand between the two spurs, the points penetrating deeply into the flesh on either side. The result was a festering wound that refused to heal for many months, and for such time entirely deprived the lad of his use of that hand.

[_Milford-on-Sea._

DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS.

This curious egg-laying mammal, the only representative of its family, is mainly nocturnal in habits.]

The fur of the platypus, dressed so as to remove the outer and longer series of hairs, nearly resembles that of the fur-seal in both colour and texture, and as a rare local product is highly prized for the manufacture of carriage-rugs and other articles.

With the egg-laying Echidna and Platypus we terminate the Mammalian Series, and they pave the way to the typical egg-laying animals which follow.

END OF VOL. I.

Note

[1] Since this was in type, Sir Harry Johnston has reported the existence
in the Congo forest, on the borders of Uganda, of a large unknown type
of ruminant, the Akapi of the natives.