Page:The mammals of Australia Gould vol 1.djvu/223

 White-footed Antechinus.

Phascogale albipes, Waterh. in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 48.

Phascogale ( Antechinus ) albipes, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol. i. p. 421.

Otam-in, Aborigines of Perth.

accompanying Plate represents the Phascogale (Antechinus) albipes of Mr. Waterhouse, which appears to be almost universally distributed over the whole of the southern coast of Australia, from Swan River to New South Wales. I possess specimens collected by Mr. Gilbert in the vicinity of Perth, in the Swan River settlement, and others procured by him on the Darling Downs in New South Wales, while the specimen from which Mr. Waterhouse took his description had been sent from the intermediate district of Adelaide in South Australia. Some little difference is observable in specimens from the eastern and western coasts, particularly in the size of the ear, that organ being of a larger and rounder form in the individuals from New South Wales than in those from Western Australia; still this character is too slight to he regarded as indicative of anything but a mere local variety. I find the following notes respecting this animal among Mr. Gilbert's letters to me from Western Australia:—

"This species inhabits the dead stumps of the grass-trees (Xanthorrhœa). It makes no nest, but merely scrapes together a few of the dry fibrous parts: more than a single pair are rarely seen at one time. The stomachs of those I examined contained the remains of coleoptera. The length of the animal before skinning was seven inches from the tip of the nose to the extremity of the tail; the tail being three and three-eighths. This species is to be found among the grassy lands of the Toodyay district, as well as among the dense groves of Xanthorrhœa surrounding the swamps in the vicinity of Perth." When writing from Darling Downs in New South Wales he remarks: "This animal here inhabits clumps of grass in scrubby places: it may be readily distinguished from all the other members of the genus by its very large ears, the general lightness of its fur, and its long, slender tail."

Mr. Waterhouse's remarks on this species are as follows:—

"The White-footed Antechinus was discovered by the late J. B. Harvey, Esq., a very zealous corresponding member of the Zoological Society: in size and colouring it greatly resembles the Field Mouse of Europe; its form is more robust than any of the other Antechini, its feet are more slender, and a greater portion of the palm of the hind foot is clothed with fur.

"The fur both on the upper and under parts of the body is of a deep slate-grey colour next the skin; on the upper parts the hairs are of a very pale yellow colour near the point, and black at the point; those on the under surface are white at the point; the eyes are encircled with black; the large ears are clothed throughout with minute hairs, chiefly of a pale hue, but dusky on the outer surface near the anterior margin; the tail is clothed with very small hairs of a dirty white colour on the under, and partly black and partly yellow-white on the upper surface."

The figures are of the natural size.