A fine example of a hyæna’s den was afforded by the cave of Kirkdale, so well described by the late Dr. Buckland in his _Reliquiæ Diluvianæ._ In that cave, above twenty-five miles north-north-east of York, the remains of about 300 hyænas, belonging to individuals of every age, were detected. The species (_Hyæna spelæa_) has been considered by palæontologists as extinct; it was larger than the fierce _Hyæna crocuta_ of South Africa, which it closely resembled, and of which it is regarded by Mr. Boyd Dawkins as a variety. Dr. Buckland, after carefully examining the spot, proved that the hyænas must have lived there; a fact attested by the quantity of their dung, which, as in the case of the living hyæna, is of nearly the same composition as bone, and almost as durable. In the cave were found the remains of the ox, young elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, horse, bear, wolf, hare, water-rat, and several birds. All the bones have the appearance of having been broken and gnawed by the teeth of the hyænas; and they occur confusedly mixed in loam or mud, or dispersed through a crust of stalagmite which covers it. In these and many other cases it is supposed that portions of herbivorous quadrupeds have been dragged into caverns by beasts of prey, and have served as their food—an opinion quite consistent with the known habits of the living hyæna. _Australian Cave-breccias._—Ossiferous breccias are not confined to Europe, but occur in all parts of the globe; and those discovered in fissures and caverns in Australia correspond closely in character with what has been called the bony breccia of the Mediterranean, in which the fragments of bone and rock are firmly bound together by a red ochreous cement. Fig. 91: Part of a lower jaw of Macropus atlas. Some of these caves were examined by the late Sir T. Mitchell in the Wellington Valley, about 210 miles west of Sidney, on the river Bell, one of the principal sources of the Macquarie, and on the Macquarie itself. The caverns often branch off in different directions through the rock, widening and contracting their dimensions, and the roofs and floors are covered with stalactite. The bones are often broken, but do not seem to be water-worn. In some places they lie imbedded in loose earth, but they are usually included in a breccia. The remains belong to marsupial animals. Among the most abundant are those of the kangaroo, of which there are four species, while others belong to the genera _Phascolomys_, the wombat; _Dasyurus_), the ursine opossum; _Phalangista_, the vulpine opossum; and _Hypsiprymnus_, the kangaroo-rat. Fig. 92: Lower jaw of largest living species of kangaroo.