﻿44 ALLEN'S naturalist's LIBRARY. 



yellow. Length of head and body about 29 inches; of tail 

 23 inches. 



Distribution. — Coast districts of Queensland, New South 

 Wales, and Victoria. 



Habits. — These Rock-Wallabies are described as being 

 gregarious in their habits, frequenting rocky ground, where 

 they have holes to which they retreat when pursued. When 

 on precipitous cliffs, they ascend the rocks in groups, jumping 

 from side to side, and alighting on such small ledges that it 

 seems almost impossible for them to obtain foothold. During 

 the day they remain concealed in caves and holes, from whicii 

 they issue forth at evening, while on moonlight nights they 

 may be seen abroad at all hours. During the night, according 

 to Gould, these Wallabies will frequently leave the well-beaten 

 tracks among the rocks for the grass beds on the crowns or 

 at the base of the mountains, although they never stray so far 

 from their haunts that they are unable to regain them speedily 

 on the slightest alarm. They also have the power of easily 

 ascending the sloping trunks of trees, upon which they leave, 

 in some cases, regular worn tracks. Waterhouse states that 

 an example, in the London Zoological Gardens, was in the 

 habit of perching itself on some narrow ledge on the walls of 

 its enclosure, upon which it would balance its body in a manner 

 that at first sight appeared impracticable. 



II. WEST AUSTRALIAN ROCK-WALLABY. PETROGALE LATERALIS. 



Petrogale lateralis^ Gould, Monograph. Macropodidse, pi. xxiv. 



(1842); Thomas, Cat. Marsup. Brit. Mus., p. 68 (1888). 

 Macropus {Heieropus) lateralis, Waterhouse, Nat. Hist. Mamm., 



vol. i., p. 172 (1846). 

 Hahnaturus lateralis, Wagner, in Schreber's Siiugeth. Suppl., 



vol. v., p. 328 (1855). 



