182 MAMMALS

membrane from the little finger to the ankle which
enables them to glide from tree to tree in the manner
of the flying squirrels. Some of the New Guinea
species are very tiny creatures ; some are as large as
cats. ‘I found,’ says Mr. Gill, “ three charming little
passengers on board, brought off for sale by natives, of
Aroma—a light grey Belideus ariel and her two little
ones. The latter were cosily wrapped up in cotton
wool in a cocoanut shell. The mother, in her terror,
climbed the rigging, and made a nest aloft, coming
down at dusk to feed and tend her offspring. These
beautiful little animals died a few days afterwards at
Port Moresby. The Belideus ariel is exactly like a
male flying squirrel in appearance.’ One of the
Australian species is no larger than a mouse, and, of
course, has been claimed as the marsupial bat. To
the same family as the phalangers belongs Phascol-
arctos cinereus, which some have called the marsupial
bear and others the marsupial monkey ; it is much
more like a bear than a monkey, but neither term is
appropriate, and it is now only known to naturalists
as the koala.

The kangaroos, Macropodide, were tremendous
fellows in the past, but the largest now is about as
big as a man, while the smaller is no larger than a
rabbit. Most of the kangaroos live on the plains, but
there is one, a Petrogale, which lives among rocks ;
and others, belonging to the genus Dendrolagus,
which live up among the trees, and consequently have
shorter legs than the rest. The kangaroo’s foot is
remarkable for the large size of the fourth toe, the
first toe is absent, the second and third are so weak