The opossums are usually shot by moonlight, as seen silhouetted against the sky.
The Cuscuses.
The familiar Spotted Cuscus of New Guinea is the most ornate marsupial mammal. The males, more especially, are as variegated in colour as a tortoiseshell cat, their tints, moreover, closely corresponding in hue with those of the feline. No two individuals, however, are precisely alike in this respect. Usually the ground-colour of the back is a dirty or creamy white, interspersed with various-shaped blotches of nut-brown or black; the chin, breast, and under-parts are a purer white, and the limbs grey or reddish brown, or, as shown in the [photograph over-leaf], mottled like the body. The Black Cuscus of Celebes is, as its name denotes, a much more sombre-looking animal, and is also the largest species, its dimensions equalling or exceeding those of a large cat. The uniformly tinted Grey Cuscus of Timor, Amboina, and other of the Indo-Malay Islands is very similar in size and aspect, excepting for the half-naked tail, to the common ring-tailed phalanger. All the cuscuses are of rare occurrence in even their most favoured habitats. On one occasion the writer came across an example of the grey species in the scrub forest of Thursday Island, Torres Straits. In this instance, however, it is doubtful if the animal was not an escaped pet brought over from the neighbouring coast of New Guinea.
By permission of S. Sinclair, Esq.] [Sydney.
RING-TAILED OPOSSUM, OR PHALANGER, AND NEST.
This is the only Australian opossum which builds a regular nest.
Much interesting information concerning different varieties of the cuscus is contained in Dr. Alfred Wallace's interesting work "The Malay Archipelago." An anecdote of one which was brought to this naturalist during his residence in the Aru Islands—the headquarters of the great bird of paradise—is thus related: "Just as we had cleared away and packed up for the night, a strange beast was brought, which had been shot by the natives. It resembled in size and in its white woolly covering a small fat lamb, but had short legs, hand-like feet with large claws, and a long prehensile tail. It was a Spotted Cuscus, one of the curious marsupial animals of the Papuan region, and I was very desirous to obtain the skin. The owners, however, said they wanted to eat it; and though I offered them a good price, and promised to give them all the meat, there was great hesitation. Suspecting the reason, I offered, though it was night, to set to work immediately, and get out the body for them, to which they agreed. The creature was much hacked about, and the two hind feet almost cut off, but it was the largest and finest specimen of the kind I had seen; and after an hour's hard work I handed over the body to the owners, who immediately cut it up and roasted it for supper."
Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S.] [Croydon.