crubs, or to run them
down on the more open hill and forest land. They are not very fleet, but
follow the track with untiring perseverance, occasionally uttering a
kind of low smothered bark. They never hunt in packs, but a male and
female, or a bitch, with two or three half-grown pups, have occasionally
been seen together, in pursuit of game.

The Thylacine kills sheep, but usually confines its attack to one at a
time, and is therefore by no means so destructive to a flock as the
domestic dog become wild, or as the Dingo of Australia, which both
commit vast havoc in a single night. High rewards have always, however,
been given by sheep-owners for their destruction; and, as every
available spot of land is now occupied, it is probable that in a very
few years this animal, so highly interesting to the zoologist, will
become extinct; it is now extremely rare, even in the wildest and least
frequented parts of the island. A male and female were sent to the
Zoological Society of London during the present year (1850), and were
the first that ever reached Europe alive.

The Devil (_Dasyurus ursinus_, Geoff.), about the size of a bull
terrier, is an exceedingly fierce and disgusting looking animal, of a
black color, usually having one white band across the chest, and another
across the back, near the tail. It is a perfect glutton, and most
indiscriminate in its feeding; nothing comes amiss to it; it lives
chiefly upon carrion, the smaller native animals, and occasionally
attacks sheep, principally, however, lambs and the weakly or diseased;
even one of its own kind, caught in a snare, is attacked and devoured
without mercy. They are very numerous in some localities, and from their
smaller size will probably longer survive the war of extermination
carried on against them.

The other two species of _Dasyurus_, viz., the Tiger cat (_Dasyurus
maculatus_, Shaw) and Native cat (_Dasyurus viverrinus_, Shaw), are
similar in their habits to the pole-cat and marten of England, from
which they do not differ materially in size, and prove equally
destructive to the poultry yard. The Native cat varies a good deal in
color, many being black with white spots; but the usual and prevailing
color is a greyish tan or yellow, with white spots; and from these mere
varieties some naturalists have constituted two species. Great numbers
of Native cats are killed in some localities for the sake of their
skins, which are formed into rugs by the shepher