THE MARSUPIALS
The last order of mammals is a very curious one, for in most of the
animals which belong to it there is a large pouch on the lower part of
the body of the female, in which she carries her little ones about for
several weeks, or even several months, after they are born. That is why
these creatures are called marsupials, for marsupial means pouched. Even
after the little animals are quite able to take care of themselves they
will hurry back to their mother and jump into her pouch in moments of
danger.
It is quite true that in a good many marsupials this pouch is wanting.
But traces of it are almost always to be found, although sometimes they
are so slight that only a very careful observer would be likely to
notice them.
In earlier days marsupial animals lived in almost all parts of the
world, for there are very few countries in which their fossil remains
have not been discovered. But now they are almost entirely restricted to
Australia, the only exceptions being the opossums, which are found in
America.
KANGAROOS
The largest, and in some respects the most interesting, of the
marsupials are the kangaroos. In some ways they are rather like gigantic
hares. But their front legs are so much smaller than the hinder ones
that they cannot run on all fours, but travel by means of a series of
leaps, skipping about, in fact, instead of running. And besides this
they have very long and stout tails, which serve to support them when
they are sitting upright, and also help them to balance their bodies
when they are leaping.
The male kangaroo, which is often known as the "boomer," or as the "old
man," is very much larger than the female, sometimes attaining to a
total length of eight feet six inches, or even nine feet, nearly half
of which is occupied by the tail. But when he is sitting upright he is
nearly as tall as a tall man. The female is about two feet shorter.
Although it is obliged to hop along instead of running, the kangaroo is
a very swift animal, and can only be run down by fast and powerful dogs.
At every leap it covers about fifteen feet of ground, the distances
between the holes which its great claws make in the ground being as
regular as if they had been marked out with a measuring-tape.
These huge claws are very formidable weapons, and the kangaroo well
knows how to use them. As a rule it is a very timid animal, and when it
is attacked its first idea is always to seek safety in flight. But if it
is driven to bay it takes up its post with its back against a tree, so
that it cannot be approached from behind, and quietly awaits the
onslaught of its enemies. Then, as soon as one of them comes within
reach, it kicks suddenly out with one of its hind feet, delivering its
stroke with such force that the great sharp claw has been known to rip
up the body of a large dog from end to end, and to stretch the poor
beast dying upon the ground. For this reason hounds which are used in
kangaroo-hunting are made to wear collars of twisted steel chain, to
protect them from the stroke of their quarry.
Sometimes, too, when a hunted kangaroo finds that it cannot escape
simply by speed, it will wade into a pool or river, wait till the dogs
swim up to it, and then seize them with its fore limbs one after
another, and hold them under water till they are drowned. Although they
are not large, these front limbs are wonderfully strong, and if even a
powerful man were to be embraced by them he would find it very difficult
to make his escape.
The female kangaroo, however, is not nearly so well able to defend
herself, and sometimes she has been known, when chased by hounds, to lie
down and die simply from fear. But sometimes she escapes by taking a
sudden leap sideways into thick bushes, lying perfectly still until her
pursuers have rushed past her, and then making off in the opposite
direction.
As the mother kangaroo hops about, the head of her little one, or
"joey," as it is called, may often be seen poking out of her pouch. And
she is so clever that if an enemy should appear when the "joey" is
playing on the ground or feeding, she will snatch it up and put it into
her pouch even while she is hopping away, without pausing for a moment
in her retreat.
[Illustration: TYPES OF MARSUPIALS
1. Australian Sugar Squirrel. 2. American Opossum.
3. Australian Echidna. 4. Australian Great Kangaroo.
5. Tasmanian Devil.]
A JOYOUS MEETING
Kangaroos are very affectionate animals, and a touching story is told of
a couple which lived together in captivity. They became the very best of
friends, but when they were sent from Australia to Philadelphia, they
had to travel by different ships. As soon as they were separated, they
became miserable, moping in their cages, refusing to take food, and
calling for each other all day long. "Jack," as the male was called,
reached Philadelphia first, and for a whole week seemed to be constantly
on the watch to see if "Flora," his mate, was coming. At last she
arrived, and both animals at once became madly excited, leaping in their
cages so wildly that at last they were put together, to prevent them
from injuring themselves against the bars. Then they cuddled up against
one another, licked each other with their tongues, and seemed so
overjoyed to meet that the keeper promised that they should never be
parted again.
VARIOUS SPECIES OF KANGAROOS
Kangaroos generally live in droves, sometimes consisting of only a few
animals, sometimes of as many as a hundred and fifty, or even more. But
a "boomer" often lives during the greater part of the year quite alone,
like a "rogue" elephant.
There are at least twenty-three different kinds of kangaroos, the
smaller ones being generally known as wallabies. And these are again
divided into large wallabies and small wallabies.
The large wallabies are also called brush-kangaroos because they live in
the thick brushy jungle, called the bush, which occupies so large a part
of the Australian continent. The biggest of them is really quite a large
animal, for when fully grown it is six feet long, from the tip of the
muzzle to the end of the tail. Some of the small wallabies, however, are
very small, several of them being no bigger than rabbits.
Then there are some of these animals which spend most of their life in
the trees and are called tree-kangaroos. Four of these creatures that
lived for some time in the London Zoo looked very odd as they sat on the
branches with their long tails hanging down behind them. But even when
they were on the floor of their cage one could not possibly mistake them
for ground-kangaroos, for their front limbs were almost as long as their
hind ones.
The best known of these animals is found in Queensland. It spends the
day in sleep, only coming out from its retreat among the foliage when
darkness has set in, and it lives in the very thickest part of the bush,
which is hardly ever visited even by the natives. It does not seem to be
a very good climber, for it is rather slow in its movements, and appears
to be a little afraid of falling; for it clings so tightly to the branch
on which it is resting that it is difficult to force it to loose its
hold.
The natives generally catch this curious kangaroo by climbing the tree
in which it is sleeping, jerking it from its perch by a violent pull at
its tail, and throwing it to the ground to be killed by the dogs below.
But if it reaches the ground unhurt it makes off with great speed,
hopping along with flying leaps like all the other members of the family.
KANGAROO-RATS
These animals, often called potoroos, are quite small, even the largest
of them being scarcely as big as a rabbit. They do not jump so well as
the true kangaroos, and generally run on all fours in a kind of gallop.
But when they are at rest they sit upright on their hind quarters.
One of these animals, known as the brush-tailed bettong, puts its tail
to a most curious use. It makes its nest of grasses and leaves in a
hollow in the ground, and when it is collecting materials for building,
it gathers them up into a bundle, twists the tip of its tail round them,
and then hops swiftly away, holding its little sheaf well away from its
body. It is a most clever little builder, for when it has chosen a
suitable hollow in the ground for its nest, it first of all enlarges it
until it is big enough for its requirements, and then weaves its
materials carefully together until the top of its little home is just on
a level with the herbage growing all round it. And whenever it goes in
or out, it pulls a tuft of grass over the entrance in order to prevent
it from being noticed. So well is the nest concealed, that you might
pass within a few feet and look straight at it without seeing it.
This animal is also sometimes known as the jerboa-kangaroo.
THE SUGAR-SQUIRREL
Among the Australian mammals we find a good many which are really
very much like those found in other parts of the world, and might
easily be mistaken for them if it were not for the presence of the
marsupial pouch. One of these is the curious sugar-squirrel, or
squirrel-petaurist, which is really very much like the flying squirrels
of Asia and North America. It has the skin of the sides and flanks
developed in just the same manner, and uses it in exactly the same way,
leaping from a lofty bough, spreading its limbs at right angles to its
body so that the skin is stretched out between them, and thus contriving
to skim for long distances through the air. And the big, bushy tail
serves partly to help it in keeping its balance, and partly to enable it
to keep a straight course.
During the daytime sugar-squirrels are nearly always asleep in a hollow
tree, or in some other convenient retreat. But as soon as it grows dark
they all come out from their hiding-places and begin to frisk about, and
to leap from tree to tree, with the utmost activity. After a time they
will stop, in order to search for insects, or to feast upon the honey
which they find in the blossoms of the trees. But very shortly they
recommence their gambols, and so they go on, alternately playing and
feeding, till the dawn.
The sugar-squirrel is a very pretty little creature, the fur being
brownish gray above, with a black stripe along the back, and a rich
brown edging to the umbrella-like skin of the sides. The lower parts
of the body are nearly white, and the tail is brown above and white
beneath. In length it is about nineteen or twenty inches, rather more
than half of which is occupied by the tail.
AUSTRALIAN BEAR
There is an animal, much like a small bear, that is often known as the
Australian bear, although its proper name is the koala. When fully grown
it is about as big as a poodle. It has a stoutly built body, very short
legs, large and almost square ears, with a fringe of stiff hairs round
the edges, and no visible tail, while the fur is very thick and woolly.
In color it is ashy gray above and yellowish white under the body.
The koala spends most of its life in the trees. Yet it is not a very
good climber, for its movements are curiously slow, and it always seems
to feel in danger of falling. On the ground it is slower and more
awkward still, for its feet are much more suited for grasping a branch
than for use upon a level surface. But it does not often come down from
the trees unless it wishes to drink, or to vary its diet of leaves and
buds by digging for roots.
When a mother koala has a little one to take care of, she always carries
it about on her back, and even when it is nearly half as big as she is
it may sometimes be seen riding pickaback.
The koala is a very gentle animal, and even when it is captured it
seldom attempts to scratch or bite. But sometimes it gets in a great
passion over nothing at all, and shows its teeth and yells and screams
in such a threatening manner that any one who did not know how harmless
it really is would most likely be afraid of it.
Owing to the fact that it spends so much of its life in the trees, this
animal is sometimes called the Australian monkey; and it is curious to
find that it has pouches in its cheek in which it can store away food,
just as many of the true monkeys have.
THE WOMBAT
The wombat might easily be mistaken for a rodent, for its front teeth
are formed almost exactly like those of the rabbit and the rat. But as
it possesses a marsupial pouch, there can be no doubt of the order it
really belongs to. It is not at all a handsome animal. In fact, it is
fat, awkward, clumsy, and heavy--something like a much overgrown
guinea-pig--and it seems to spend its whole life in eating and sleeping.
It can dig very well, however, and makes deep burrows in the ground,
with a large sleeping-chamber at the end. If in captivity, it will often
make its escape by digging its way out under the walls.
When fully grown the wombat is about three feet in length, and its legs
are so short that its body almost touches the ground as it waddles
awkwardly along. Like the koala, it is very gentle in disposition, and
hardly even struggles when it is captured, although it is subject to
sudden fits of passion. If it is kept as a pet, it soon becomes very
affectionate, and likes to go to sleep on its owner's knees, like a cat.
In color this animal is dark grayish brown. It is found in New South
Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.
THE BANDICOOTS
There are about a dozen different kinds of these very odd-looking
animals. Perhaps we can best describe them by saying that if you can
imagine a rat with a snout drawn out like that of a shrew, very large
ears, three very long toes with still longer claws on each foot,
together with two toes with no claws at all, and a rather short, hairy
tail--then that is what a bandicoot looks like.
Owing to the very odd way in which their feet are formed, bandicoots
cannot run like other animals, but travel along by means of a curious
mixture of running and jumping. They are common in most parts of
Australia--so common, in fact, that they are generally regarded as a
great nuisance. For they do a terrible amount of mischief both in
gardens and in cultivated fields, feeding both upon grain and fruits, as
well as upon the roots and bulbs which they scratch up out of the
ground. During the daytime they are hardly ever seen, for they hide away
in holes in the ground, or in hollow trees, and remain fast asleep till
after sunset. Some of them, however, make nests of dry leaves and
grasses which are so cleverly concealed among the herbage that it is
very difficult to find them.
THE TASMANIAN WOLF
There are certain marsupial animals which look as though they belonged
to the dog and cat tribes. They are called dasyures, and are beasts of
prey. One of these is the Tasmanian wolf, or thylacine, as it is often
called, which is so wolf-like both in appearance and habits that it
fully deserves its name. But you can tell it from the true wolves at a
glance by the dark, zebra-like stripes upon its back, and also by its
long slender tail, which tapers down almost to a point. It is also known
as the zebra-wolf and the tiger-wolf.
The Tasmanian wolf used to be very common indeed, for it was the most
powerful of all the Tasmanian animals, so that it had no natural foes,
while it was very seldom killed by the natives. But when white settlers
came to live in the country they found that it killed so many of their
sheep that it was necessary for them to do all that they could to
destroy it. So numbers of Tasmanian wolves were shot, and numbers more
were caught in traps, and by degrees the animal was driven back, until
now it is only found in wild and rocky districts among the mountains,
which are scarcely ever trodden by the foot of man.
There are very few of the Australian animals which do not fall victims
to this fierce and savage creature. Even kangaroos are killed by it at
times. And it has been known to destroy and devour the echidna, which is
something like a small porcupine. But besides feeding upon living prey,
it will feed heartily upon any carrion that it may find, and will also
prowl about on the sea-shore in search of the various dead animals which
are flung up by the waves.
The Tasmanian wolf is a nocturnal animal, remaining hidden all day long
in some deep recess among the rocks, into which no ray of sunshine can
ever penetrate. It does not like the daylight at all, and seems most
uneasy if it is brought out from its retreat. And, strange to say, it
has a kind of inner eyelid, which it draws across its eyes every moment
or two in order to keep out the light as much as possible.
THE TASMANIAN DEVIL
Just as the Tasmanian wolf is like a dog, so the Tasmanian devil is like
a small bear--and a very wild, fierce, savage bear, too. Its name has
been given to it on account of its disposition, and there is perhaps no
animal which it is so difficult to tame. No matter how kindly it is
treated, it is always sullen and always ferocious. It will fly at the
very hand that gives it food. If you merely look at it as it lies in its
cage, it will dash furiously at the bars with its teeth bared, uttering
yells and screams of passion. You cannot help feeling that it would tear
you to pieces if only it had the chance. And its teeth are so sharp and
its jaws are so powerful, that there are very few dogs which could
overcome it in fair fight.
The Tasmanian devil has its eyes protected just as the Tasmanian wolf
has, and like that animal it is seldom seen abroad by day. It is
extremely mischievous, for night after night it will visit the
hen-roosts and the sheepfolds, not only preying upon the poultry and the
young lambs, but seeming to kill for the very sake of killing. So it has
been almost as greatly persecuted as the Tasmanian wolf, and has
altogether disappeared from many districts where it used to be
plentiful, while in many others it is very seldom found.
In size the Tasmanian devil is about as big as a badger, and in color it
is dull sooty black, with a white collar-like streak on the lower part
of the throat.
Then the larger dasyures may be compared to cats, to which they are just
about equal in size. In Tasmania, indeed, they are called wild cats.
They live in trees, sleeping in hollows in the trunks during the day,
and prowling about in search of prey by night. And they are almost as
mischievous in poultry yards as the Tasmanian devil. But then, on the
other hand, they will learn to catch rats and mice if they are tamed and
trained, just as a cat will.
There are several different kinds of these animals, but they all agree
in having grayish or grayish-brown fur, with a number of white spots on
the sides of the body.
POUCHED MICE
Very pretty and graceful little creatures are these. There are a good
many different kinds of them. They are all small, the largest of them
being no bigger than a half-grown rat, while some of them are not equal
in size even to an ordinary mouse. And as they breed very freely, and
have quite a number of little ones at every birth, they are among the
most plentiful of all the Australian mammals.
Pouched mice always spend much of their time in the trees, where they
seem quite as contented as they do on the ground. They run up and down
the trunk with the greatest activity, scamper along the branches, leap
from one bough to another, and never seem to miss their footing. And
they are continually poking their sharp little muzzles into the cracks
and crevices of the bark in order to search for tiny insects and
spiders. Their habits are not very much like those of mice, and one
cannot help thinking that they ought to be called pouched shrews.
THE MYRMECOBIUS, OR BANDED ANT-EATER
This marsupial ant-eater is found in Southern and Western Australia. It
is a prettily marked little animal of about the same size as a squirrel,
with a pointed snout, a long slender body, and a rather long and bushy
tail. In color it is dark chestnut brown above and white below, while a
number of white stripes run across the hinder part of the back and
loins, beginning just behind the shoulders, and ending a little above
the root of the tail.
The myrmecobius lives principally on the ground. But it is a very good
climber nevertheless, and can ascend trees and run about on the branches
with considerable activity. It feeds on ants and termites, catching them
by means of its long and worm-like tongue, which is so sticky that the
insects adhere to it as soon as they are touched. The marsupial pouch is
almost entirely wanting, so that one might almost be led to
suppose that the animal must be a true ant-eater. But then the
ant-eaters have no teeth at all, while the myrmecobius has no less than
fifty-two, or more than any other mammal with the exception of one or
two members of the whale tribe and the armadillo.
This curious and pretty little animal is very gentle in disposition, and
never seems to bite or scratch even if it is taken prisoner. It makes
its home either in the decaying trunk of a fallen tree, or else in a
hole in the ground.
THE POUCHED MOLE
This, one of the most curious of all the marsupial animals, was quite
unknown until a recent time. In size and shape it is very much like the
common mole, and it has its fore paws armed with enormous claws for
digging in just the same manner. In color it is pale yellow. It has no
outward ears, and its eyes are so tiny, and so deeply buried in the
skin, that it must be almost, if not quite, unable to see with them. And
in front of its snout is an odd kind of shield made of thick, horny
skin, which is evidently intended to protect the face as the animal
forces its way through the ground.
This singular creature lives in sandy districts in the deserts of South
Australia. It appears to burrow through the soil for a few feet, then to
come to the surface and crawl for a little distance, and then to burrow
again. And as it creeps over the sand it leaves three tracks behind it,
one being made by the feet on either side, and the third by the stiff
and stumpy little tail, which appears to be pressed down upon the
ground. These tracks, of course, can only be seen after rain, for in dry
weather the sand very soon falls in upon them, and fills them up.
OPOSSUMS
The next group of the marsupial animals is found, not in Australia, but
in America.
There are several different kinds of opossums, most of which live in the
trees. They are excellent climbers, for they not only have their
hind feet made more like hands, with a thumb-like great toe which
enables them to grasp the branches, but are also the possessors of long
prehensile tails, like those of the spider-monkeys. So powerful is the
tail of an opossum that it can bear the entire weight of the body as the
animal swings from a branch to pluck fruit which would otherwise be out
of its reach.
But opossums do not feed upon fruit alone. Indeed, there are very few
things which they will not eat. They are very fond of maize, or Indian
corn, for example, obtaining it sometimes by climbing up the stems of
the plants, and sometimes by cutting them down close to the ground.
Nuts, too, they devour in great quantities, together with acorns and
berries. Sometimes they dig up roots out of the ground. Then they will
search for birds' nests, and carry off the eggs or the unfledged little
ones. They will pounce upon a rabbit, too, or a young squirrel, and do
not disdain mice, or lizards, or frogs, or even insects. And the farmer
has very good cause for disliking them, for they not only get into his
fields and steal his grain, but find their way into his hen-roosts and
carry off the eggs and the young chickens.
But then they are very easily caught, for they are attracted by any kind
of bait, and will walk into the simplest of traps. Yet in some ways they
are exceedingly cunning. If they are caught, for example, and are
injured in even the slightest degree, they will pretend to be dead, and
will allow themselves to be pulled about, or kicked, or beaten, without
showing any sign of life. Then the moment they think that no one is
looking at them they will rise to their feet and quietly slink away.
From this we get the proverb "playing possum."
During the daytime the opossum is usually fast asleep in its nest, which
is sometimes made by itself, and sometimes is the deserted home of a
squirrel. So it has to be hunted by night.
A moonlight night is always chosen for this purpose, and the animal is
first of all driven into a tree by dogs. One of the hunters then climbs
the tree and shakes it down from the branch to which it is clinging, and
the moment it reaches the ground it is pounced upon and destroyed by the
dogs.
The opossum runs in a very curious manner, moving both limbs of the same
side together.
When the little opossums are born, they are not only blind, like puppies
and kittens, but are quite deaf as well, and do not get their sight and
hearing for some little time. They remain hidden all of their infancy in
the mother's pouch, staying there five or six weeks, and afterward
riding about on her back.
The common opossum is about as big as a cat. But it looks much more like
a very big rat, for its tail is long and scaly. It is found in North
America. In South America there is a different species, called the
crab-eating opossum, because it is so fond of the crabs and crayfishes
which abound in the salt creeks and the great swamps of Brazil. Then
Merian's opossum, in which the marsupial pouch is not developed, has a
most curious way of carrying its young about, for the little ones stand
in a row on their mother's back, with their tiny tails coiled tightly
round hers, to prevent them from falling off. And the yapock opossum
spends most of its life in the water, and lives upon fish, being such an
excellent swimmer that it is able easily to overtake them.
Last of all, we come to two most extraordinary animals, which differ
from all other mammals in the fact that they lay eggs, while in some
parts of their skeletons they closely resemble the reptiles.
THE ECHIDNA
The first of these creatures is called the echidna, and is also known as
the spiny ant-eater. It is from fifteen to nineteen inches in length,
and has the whole upper surface of the head and body covered with a
mixture of stiff hairs and short sharp spines, something like those of a
hedgehog. The head is drawn out into a very long, slender, beak-like
snout, at the tip of which the nostrils are placed, and the tongue is
long and worm-like and very sticky, just as it is in the true
ant-eaters. The feet are furnished with enormous claws, which are used
in tearing open the nests of the insects upon which the animal feeds,
and those of the hind feet, strange to say, are turned backward in
walking, so that they point toward the tail instead of the head.
These claws are also used in digging, and can be used with such effect
that if the animal is surprised when on sandy soil it sinks into the
ground as if by magic. But if the ground is so hard that it
cannot use its claws, it rolls itself up like a hedgehog, and trusts to
its spiny coat for protection.
The common echidna is found in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea.
Besides this there is another species, called the three-toed echidna,
which is found in New Guinea only.
THE DUCKBILL
Even more curious still is the duckbill, or duck-billed platypus, which
not only lays eggs like a bird, but resembles a bird in several other
ways as well.
It has a bill, for example, just like that of a duck--broad and flat,
with a number of grooves round the edges. And it feeds by taking a
beakful of mud from the bottom of a pond or ditch, squirting out the mud
itself through the grooves, and then swallowing the grubs and other
small creatures which are left behind.
Then its feet are like those of a duck, the toes being joined together
by webbing, so that they can be used as paddles. And even the tail is
rather like that of a duck, for it is very broad and flat, so that it
can serve as a rudder when the animal is swimming.
This remarkable creature is found in Southern and Eastern Australia, and
also in Tasmania. It is not at all uncommon, but is seldom seen, for it
spends most of its time in the water, or else in its burrow, which is
always made in the bank of a pool or stream. This burrow is generally a
long one, running to a distance of forty or even fifty feet, and
terminates in a large chamber, which is used as a nursery. And it always
has two entrances, one below the surface of the water and one above, so
that if the animal is alarmed in any way it can run in by one door and
out again by the other.
Two eggs are laid by this most curious creature. They measure about
three-quarters of an inch in length, and are enclosed in a tough white
shell. How they are hatched nobody seems quite to know; but when the
little ones first make their appearance they are quite blind and quite
naked, and have hardly any beaks at all.
When fully grown the duckbill is about eighteen inches long from the end
of the snout to the tip of the tail.
BIRDS