450 Zoological Society. 



pass on without noticing the young one, which in general crouches 

 in a tuft of grass, or hides itself among the scrub without attempting 

 to run or make its escape : the mother, if she eludes her pursuers, 

 doubtless returns for her offspring. 



" The kangaroos inhabiting the forests are invariably much darker 

 and have a thicker coat than those of the plains ; the young are at 

 first of a very light fawn-colour, and get darker until two years old ; 

 from this age they again become lighter in colour, and the old males 

 become of a very light grey ; the coat, as already mentioned, being 

 in the summer thin and hairy, and in the winter of a more woolly 

 character. It is no unusual occurrence to find them with white 

 marks on the head, particularly a white spot between the eyes or on 

 the forehead ; in one instance I observed the whole of the throat, 

 cheeks, and upper part of the head spotted with yellowish white. 

 Albinoes have been frequently met with. The largest and heaviest 

 kangaroo of this species, of which I have any authentic account, was 

 killed at the Murray, and weighed 160 lbs.*" 



" Halmaturus manicatus : — Brush and Blue Kangaroo of colonists ; 

 Goorh-a, aborigines of Perth ; Quarra, aborigines of the interior. 



" This is by far the swiftest and most difficult kangaroo to pro- 

 cure with dogs, not only from its neetness, but also from the zigzag 

 manner of its successive leaps and the thick brush which it inhabits ; 

 it is very rarely seen in the open country, dwelling in scrubby dis- 

 tricts, and the facility with which it bounds off and rounds the 

 clumps of bushes, enables it to make its escape with comparative 

 ease : during the heat of the day it may be seen under the shade of 

 a tree or thick clump of bushes, and may be often approached within 

 a few yards before it bounds from its cover, thus affording a tolerably 

 easy shot. Weight from 17 to 21 lbs." 



"Anous stolidus. — The Noddy and its allied species are the most nu- 

 merous of all the inhabitants of the Houtmann's Abrolhos, breeding in 

 prodigious numbers ; the bird lays in November and December, form- 

 ing a nest of sea- weed about six inches in diameter, and varying in 

 height from four to eight inches, but without anything like regularity 

 of form ; the top is nearly flat, there being but a very slight hollow 

 to prevent the egg rolling off; for, like others of the Sternidce, they 

 never lay but a single egg. The nests are so completely plastered 

 with their excrement, that at first sight it appears to be almost the 

 only material ; they are either placed on the ground, in a clear open 

 space, or on the tops of the thick scrub, over the Sterna fidiginosa : 

 these two species incubate together in the utmost harmony, the 

 bushes to an immense extent wearing a mottled appearance, from 

 the great mass of birds of both species perched on the top ; the male 

 Sterna fuliginosa sitting quite close to the nest of the Noddy, while 

 its mate is beneath, performing her arduous duties of incubation. On 

 walking among these birds' nests, I was surprised to observe the ex- 

 treme tenacity with which they kept their post ; in fact they would 

 not remove off the egg or young, but suffered themselves to be fairly 



* The head, feet nnd fore-ami8 were exhibited, 



