INTRODUCTION. 19 



dangling tails. With the exception of Tasmania, these rock-lovers 

 dwell everywhere, from north to south, and from east to west. 

 The P. 2^enicillata inhabits New South Wales; the P. xanthojms, 

 South Australia ; the P. lateralis. Western Australia ; the P. 

 concinna and P. hrachyotis, the north-west coast ; and the P. 

 inornata, the opposite rocky shores of the east. 



The true Wallabies, or Hahnaturi, are all brush animals, and 

 are more universally dispersed than any of the other members 

 of the entire family. Tasmania is inhabited by two species, 

 New South Wales by at least live, South Australia by two or 

 three, and Western Australia by the same number; while the 

 genus is represented on the north coast by the //. agilis. It 

 will be clear, then, that the arboreal districts of the south, with 

 their thick and impenetrable brushes, are better adapted for the 

 members of this genus than the hotter country of the north. 



The OnychogaleiE are, jiar excellence, the most elegantly formed 

 and the most beautifully marked members of the whole family, 

 and they arc, moreover, as graceful in their actions as in their 

 colouring they are pleasing to the eye. One species, the O.fra- 

 nata, inhabits the brigaloe-scrubs of the interior of New South 

 Wales and Queensland, and probably South Australia. The 

 O. lunata plays the same part, and affects very similar situations, 

 in Western Australia ; while the 0. unguifera, as far as we yet 

 know, is confined to the north-eastern part of the continent. 



The Lagorchestes are a group of small hare-like Kangaroos, 

 which dwell in every part of the interior of the southern portion 

 of the mainland, from Swan River on the west to Queensland 

 on the east; one species lias, however, been found in the 

 northern districts — the L. Leichardti, as it has been named, in 

 honour of its discoverer, the late intrepid and unfortunate ex- 

 plorer. Dr. Leichardt. They are the greatest leapers and the 

 swiftest runners among small animals I have ever seen; they 

 sleep in forms, or scats, like the Common Hare {Lepus timidus) 

 of Europe, and mostly affect the open grassy ridges, particularly 

 those that are of a stony character. The beautiful L. fasciaius 



n 2 



