62 LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 
Characters.—Size small; general form light and graceful; fur 
thick and soft. General colour grizzled greyish-brown, arranged 
on the hinder part of the body in black and white transverse 
bands,—a character by which this species may be at once 
distinguished from all other members of the family. Length 
of head and body about 18 inches ; of tail 13 inches 
Distribution.—West Australia. 
Habits. —The following summary of the habits of this pretty 
little Wallaby is given by Waterhouse in the first edition of the 
“ Naturalist’s Library ” :— 
“The Banded Kangaroo,” he writes, ‘fis found at Dirk Har- 
tog’s Island, and on one or two neighbouring islands in Shark’s 
Bay, on the west coast of Australia. It is said to inhabit the 
impenetrable low thickets, formed of a species of mimosa, 
which are found in those islands; from these bushes it cuts 
away the lower branches and spines, so as to form galleries 
communicating one with another, and where they take refuge 
in time of danger.” 
Although abundant in the islands of Shark’s Bay, Péron 
states that none were to be found on the mainland. These 
little Kangaroos, like all those feeble animals which have neither 
the power of attack nor of defence, are, like the Hares, ex- 
tremely timid. The slightest noise causes them to take 
flight to the thick brushwood in which their galleries are con- 
structed, and where it is impossible to pursue them ; hence, 
although very common, they are difficult to procure. 
The flesh of these animals is said to resemble that of the 
Rabbit, but has a slight aromatic flavour, arising from the nature 
of the plants on which they feed, nearly all of which are 
fragrant. | 
At the time that Péron visited the islands, all the females 
carried young in their pouch, and the courage with which they 
