35 



breathing ; its attention is totally withdrawn from the dogs to its 

 new enemy ; regardless of their rush, it loses its former advantage ; 

 and the dogs having once fairly got hold, the animal is easily brought 

 down. 



" If a female with a tolerably large young one in the pouch be 

 pursued, she will often, by a sudden jerk, throw the little creature 

 out : whether this is dona for her own protection, or for the purpose 

 of misleading the dogs, has been debated by hunters ; I am inclined 

 to think the former is the case, for I have observed that the dogs 

 pass 011 without noticing the j^oung one, which in general crouches 

 in a tuft of grass, or hides itself among the scrub Avitbont 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 tlie 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 malęs 

 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 vv^oolly 

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

 marks on the head, particularly a vs^hite 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 \vith yellowish white. 

 Albinoes have been frequently met with. The largest and heaviest 

 kangaroo of this species, of -vvhich I have any authentic account, vr&s 

 killed at the Murray, and vveighed 160 Ibs.*" 



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

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



" This is by f ar the swiftest and most diflicult kangaroo to pro- 

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

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

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

 tricts, and the facility with vvhich it bounds ofF and rounds the 

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

 ease : duiing 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 witliin 

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

 easy shot. Weight from 17 to 21 Ibs." 



"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 nešt of sea-M^eed about six inches in diameter, and varying in 

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

 of form ; the top is nearly Hat, there being but a very slight hollo\v 

 to prevent the egg rolling ofF; for, likę others of the Sternida, 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 placcd on the ground, in a clear open 



* The hciul, l'cct and fore-arms were cxliibitcd. 



d2 



