THE TRUE KANGAROOS AND WALLABIES 1415 



leader, and when once started, it is impossible to divert a drove from the direction 

 they have taken. Except during the pairing season, when the males engage in 

 fierce contests, these animals are as peaceful and harmless as sheep. When hard 

 pressed, a, kangaroo will take readily to the water, and there is an instance on 

 record of one swimming across an arm of the sea two miles in width, half of the 

 distance being against a strong wind and current. 



The writer just quoted states that the principal food of kangaroos " appears to 

 be the tender sprouts of small shrubs and heather, quite as much as grass; but there 

 is a small kind of spike grass, brown on the underside, called the kangaroo grass, 

 to which they are very partial. They will also come at night into the small bush 

 inclosures, and nibble off the young blades of wheat, oats, etc." When feeding off 

 the ground, they do not always use the fore-paws as a support, but often merely 

 crouch down. Occasionally they may be seen iu the upright position, browsing 

 from trees. As regards breeding habits, it appears that in the great gray kangaroo 

 the pairing season is either in January or February, although there is some irregu- 

 larity in this respect. Only a single young is produced at a birth, after an 

 exceedingly-short period of gestation, and when first transferred to the pouch of its 

 mother, the length of the offspring is scarcely more than an inch. When the young 

 kangaroo is sufficiently developed to move freely by itself, it becomes detached from 

 the teat to which it at first adhered; but it remains chiefly in the pouch till able to 

 run by the side of its parent. " Even then, when danger is near, it tumbles head-, 

 over-heels into the pouch for protection, and it is wonderful how quickly the old 

 doe can pick up the 'joey' when running at full speed, and shove it into the pouch, 

 its pretty little face always outside. There she carries it till hard pressed, when the 

 love of life overcomes the love of the mother, and she then casts it away to save 

 herself." The " joeys " become strong runners, and by Christmas, leave their par- 

 ents and learn to shift for themselves. 



The half-dozen medium-sized species collectivelv known as rock 

 Rock Walla- , . . , . , . 



. . wallabies, one or which is represented in the accompanying illustration 



have the extremity of the muzzle completely naked, and differ from 

 the true wallabies by the shortness of the claw of the fourth hind-toe, and also by 

 the long cylindrical tail being thinner and more or less distinctly tufted at its ex- 

 tremity. None of them have any trace of a tusk in the upper jaw. The yellow- 

 footed rock wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus} that given in our figure is the largest 

 species, and is distinguished from the rest by its brilliant coloration, more especially 

 the alternate brown and pale yellow rings on the tail. The general color of the long 

 and silky fur is gray on the back, with a well-defined black streak running from 

 between the long ears to the middle of the trunk. The cheeks are marked by an 

 oblique white stripe below the eye, and by a yellow spot above the same. The ears 

 are yellow externally, with their inner sides edged with white, except at the tips, 

 and the sides of the body are marked by a pure white stripe from the elbow to the 

 hip. The chin and under parts are also pure white, and there is likewise a patch of 

 the same color on the outer side of the knee; while the lower portions of the limbs, 

 including the feet, are yellow. On the tail the rings occupy only the upper surface, 

 the inferior aspect being uniformly yellowish. This species is restricted to South 



