THK FASCIATKD KANGAROO. 133 



Shaw was the large one he describes under the specific name 

 Macropus major, and which was termed by Gmelin Didel- 

 phis gigantea. 



The species at present characterized which belong to the 

 first group, are : the great or brown kangaroo, Macropus ma- 

 jor; the woolly kangaroo, Macr. laniger, Quoy and Gaimard; 

 the mustachioed kangaroo, Macr. barbatus, Geoff.; the 

 Banksian kangaroo, Macr. Banksianus, Lesson; the grey- 

 red kangaroo, Macr. rufogriseus, Geoff. ; the vinous kangaroo, 

 Macr. vinosus, Geoff. ? ; the red-necked kangaroo, Macr. rufi- 

 collis, Geoff.; the Eugene kangaroo, Macr. Eugenii, Lesson. 



The kangaroos of the second family are of less size, with 

 a shorter and larger head ; the ears shorter, and of a rounder 

 form ; the fore legs much smaller, and the tail for the most 

 part longer and more slender. The generic name Halmatu- 

 rus, originally proposed by Iliger for the whole genus, has 

 been applied exclusively to this group by Fred. Cuvier. 



One of the species {Macropus Brunii,) has long been 

 known to naturalists, and is figured by Schreber under the 

 title of Didelphis Brunii ; it inhabits the Island of Aru, New 

 Guinea, and is about the size of a hare : the remainder of the 

 species have been more recently added to science. These are 

 the Macropus (Halmaturus) Thetidis of Geoffroy : the Macr. 

 (Halmaturus) Billardieri of Lesson. The silver or bush 

 kangaroo was first described by Mr. Lambert in the Linnean 

 Transactions, from a specimen in Pidcock's Menagerie at 

 Exeter 'Change. u It is," he says, u one of the most elegant 

 animals I ever saw :" he was informed by Mr. White that 

 its habits were very different from those of the common kan- 

 garoo, it being always found solitary, whereas the other is 

 found in herds of forty or fifty together. From its light and 

 beautiful figure and graceful deportment, this species was 

 named Macropus elegans. 



In all the qualities, however, which induced Mr. Lambert 

 to give it the above specific name, the bush kangaroo is far 

 exceeded by the species whose figure we have given in the pre- 

 sent Number, viz. the Fasciated Kangaroo {Macropus fascia- 

 tus 3 ) of Peron and Le Sueur. Its discoverers describe it as the 

 smallest and most elegant species of the extraordinary genus 

 of quadrupeds described in this article. It is scarcely so large 

 as a rabbit, and is easily distinguishable from all the other 

 known species by twelve or fifteen bands disposed transversely 

 across the back; these bands are narrow, of a reddish brown 

 colour, less regular and decided over the shoulders, where 

 they commence, but becoming more distinct and of a deeper 

 brown as they descend towards the tail, at the base of which 

 they teuninate, The bands are gradually lost on the sides of 



