KOALA.
There is a well-developed pouch, and the stomach is simple, and the cæcum is usually very long and large. One young one is produced at a birth.
The Koala, or Native Bear,[99] may be taken as the type of the tailless group, and it belongs to the genus Phascolarctus.
The CUSCUS, or Ursine Phalanger,[100] belongs to a second division, for it has a prehensile tail. They are common animals in the dense woods of the Island of Celebes. They squat on the branches half asleep by day, but are lively enough at night, and it is said that they have a fancy for flesh as well as fruit. A pretty spotted Cuscus inhabits the islands of Amboyna, Waigeoe, Banda, and New Guinea, as well as Cape York.[101] They are dull in captivity, but when placed together they fight with fury, growling like Cats, and biting. They have small red eyes with a vertical pupil, short ears, and a very stupid look. They are all nocturnal in their habits, and feed on fruit, buds, leaves, meat, and eggs.
One of the Phalangers, called Cuscus albus, is abundant in New Ireland, Amboyna, Banda, and Timor, and is remarkable for its peculiar odour. The male is white, and the female reddish-brown in colour, both being about the size of a common Rabbit. It is slow in its movements, lives in trees, and takes good care to conceal itself, but its scent discovers it. The naturalists Lesson and Garnet stated that when they traversed the forests of the island the odour of the Cuscus was distinctly perceptible. It is stated that if these animals see any one, they suspend themselves at once by the tail, and if they are looked at steadfastly, they will drop by-and-by from fatigue, and are then easily caught; in fact, they pretend to be dead.
CUSCUS.
THE VULPINE PHALANGER.[102]—THE BRUSH-TAILED “OPOSSUM.”
Waterhouse describes this Marsupial to be about the size of a Cat, but in shape it is somewhat between a Squirrel and a Marten. It has long and somewhat pointed ears; and the tail, clothed with bushy, harsh, black fur, except beneath, near the end, where it is naked, is about as long as the body. The limbs are rather short, the muzzle is moderately long and foxy-looking, and the whole body and head, except the naked muzzle, are covered with a grey and black fur. The moustaches are long, numerous, and black, and the feet are yellowish-white, and the naked soles are flesh-coloured, the nails being dusky. The pupil of the eye is round and intensely dark in colour. They sleep during the day, and become active during the evening, and on the alert for their food, which consists, in the Zoological Gardens, of bread and milk, fruit and vegetables. They hold up the solid food between the hands as a Squirrel holds a nut, and nibble very much in the same manner. Their native haunts are New South Wales, Western Australia, and North Australia. They inhabit the large trees, usually the Eucalypti, selecting such as have the heart of the branches or trunk decayed, and they take refuge there during the daylight. At night they leave their nests and climb the branches of the trees which yield them buds and fruit. They descend to the ground for food, and doubtless now and then eat snails and small birds. When climbing they use the tail to hold by, and carefully grasp every support with it before they let go with their feet or hands. A brown-black species, closely allied, lives in Van Diemen’s Land.[103]