Page:The mammals of Australia Gould vol 3.djvu/161

 Tomes.

Tasmanian Nyctophilus.

Nyctophilus unicolor, Tomes in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxvi. p. 33.

" the specimens of this genus I have yet seen from Van Diemen's Land," says Mr. Tomes, "differ remarkably from those of the mainland of Australia, in having the fur everywhere short and cottony, perfectly devoid of lustre, and unicoloured; that of the upper parts is of a dark olive-brown without any variation of tint, excepting that it is perhaps a little darker along the middle of the hack than elsewhere; beneath the fur is similar but paler in colour, with the tips of the hairs a little tinged with ash-colour; this is the colour of the whole of the under parts, with the exception of a patch on the throat, which is whitish brown, dirty white, and occasionally pure white.

"Immature examples often have the fur above and beneath of a very dark olive-brown, almost black. One specimen of this dark colour which I have examined has the spot on the throat almost pure white.

"So far as I have been able to ascertain, this species is subject to very trifling variations, either in colour or size in the adult state; and the size agrees so closely with that of the species which I have called N. Gouldi, that I at first thought the great difference in the texture and colour of the fur was due to the difference of locality."

To this description I have nothing to add. The specimens in my collection were transmitted from Tasmania to this country by Ronald C. Gunn, Esq., a gentleman who has done much to enrich our knowledge of natural history.

The upper figure is of the natural size, the lower one somewhat reduced.