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PERAMELES.

Tue bandicoots, which are natives of the vast country
of Australia, appear to take there the place of the shrews
of the old world. In some respects they approach the ,
kangaroos, but in others differ widely from them. In
their movements these animals resemble a rabbit; they
do not, like the kangaroos, bound from the hind limbs
alone, but arching the back, proceed with a saltigrade
gait, that is half-way between running and jumping; or
rather by a succession of short leaps from the hind to
the fore feet, but not with much speed, nor maintained
for a great length of time. The kangaroos make con-
siderable use of the tail, but in the bandicoots it is by
no means so important an organ, though it assists them
in sitting upright, an attitude usually assumed when
eating, the fore paws being brought into use as holders,
like those of the squirrel. With these paws they scratch
up the earth in search of roots and insects; and it is
said that the potato crops of the colonists in some
districts suffer from their incursions. They are readily
tamed, and in a few days become reconciled and familiar.

Ten species are now known: of these one is a native
of New Guinea. The rabbit-eared perameles is found in
tbe Swan River district of Western Australia, the only
part of Australia in which it has_ hitherto been found.
Mr. Gould states that this animal is tolerably abundant
over the whole extent of the grassy districts in the interior
of the Swan River colony, and is usually seen in pairs.
It commonly selects those spots where, the soil being

loose, it is enabled to excavate its burrows with facility.
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