106 Mr: Gunn's Notices of some Mammalia 



The kangaroos usually feed at night, and in the evenings and 

 mornings, but they are exceedingly sharp-sighted in the day 

 time. 



The third species is the (C Wallaby " of which a specimen is 

 sent. It is of a much darker brown, smaller than either of the 

 preceding, and is most common near the sea, and on the is- 

 lands in Bass's Strait. They are excellent eating, but the 

 smallness of the skins renders them less valuable for tan- 

 ning. 



A fourth species, commonly called Kangaroo Rat, may prove 

 to be of the genus Hypsiprymnus; they are considerably smaller 

 than the wallaby, but progress on their hind legs similar to 

 the kangaroo. There may, in reality, be some other species, 

 but I have not closely examined many specimens. Their mode 

 of bringing forth young, &c. is now so much better known in 

 England than out here, that I need make no remarks on the 

 subject. 



Milk-white or cream-coloured kangaroos (Halmaturus al- 

 bus, Gray,) exist in Van Diemen's Land, although but spa- 

 ringly. I also possessed a white opossum of No. 3 alive, which 

 I gave Mr. Short to take to England. I had previously pos- 

 sessed a white skin. I presume them all to be albinos. 



Notes on the above, with descriptions of two new Species. 

 By J. E. Gray, F.R.S. 



The above paper contains the best remarks on the Mammalia 

 of Van Diemen's Land that I have seen, and corrects several in- 

 accuracies into which naturalists have fallen from not having 

 the opportunity of examining the animals on the spot. Among 

 the collections are two new species, which I shall now proceed 

 to describe. Having occasion some years ago to consult the 

 original description of the wombat given by Bass in Collinses 

 Account of New South Wales, ii. 155, 1 found that all the dif- 

 ficulty which has occurred with respect to his animal is occa- 

 sioned by a simple misprint of five for two in his description, 

 by which he is made to say that the animal " has five long 

 grass-cutting teeth in the front of each jaw, like those of a 

 kangaroo ; within them is a vacancy for an inch or more ; then 

 appear two small canines, of equal height with, and so much 

 similar to, eight molares situated behind them, as scarcely to be 



