﻿KANGAROOS AND WALLABIES. 23 



composed almost entirely of under-fur; its direction, more 

 especially on the head, variable ; general colour of upper-parts 

 brilliant rufous in the male and bluish slaty-grey in the female; 

 under-parts white or pale grey, with fur coarse and straight : a 

 black " whisker-mark " on the face, with a whitish blotch below ; 

 ears grey or brown externally and whitish inside ; toes black ; 

 tail grey ; central hind claw short. Length of head and body 

 about 65 inches ; of tail about 42 inches. 



Distribution.^Eastern, South-eastern, and South Australia. 



Ha'bits. — This, the largest member of the whole group, is a com- 

 mon species on the plains of many parts of Eastern and Southern 

 Australia, where it is often spoken of as the Woolly Kangaroo. 

 Although the Great Grey and the Red Kangaroo may sometmies 

 be found inhabiting the same districts, it appears from the 

 observations of Gould that they more commonly frequent locali- 

 ties of a different description, the former preferring grassy 

 valleys and situations where the dark soil is covered with 

 brushwood, while the latter generally selects spots where the 

 hard red stony ridges are clothed with box, or open plains, 

 where it may bask in the rays of the sun. The two specimens 

 obtained by the writer mentioned were each procured by a 

 single dog ; one being held at bay until the hunting party 

 came up and despatched it, after a fearful resistance. 



Till some thirty years ago this large and handsome species 

 was, strangely enough, almost or quite unknown to the Austra- 

 lian colonists. About that date Krefft states that it had already 

 become rare on the left bank of the Murray river, but that it 

 was still found in considerable numbers in New South Wales 

 and South Australia. 



The same writer states that, like the Grey Kangaroo, this 

 species feeds in flocks, " and, when disturbed, the old males 

 cover the retreat of the fleet females, who are off first, so that 



