108 KANGUROO. 



the tail, and it is possible to make them fall through 

 weariness, by continuing to look at them for some 

 time. They generally inhabit the Moluccas, as well 

 as America, but the flying phalanger, the Didelphis 

 petaurus, is peculiar to New Holland. 



The Kanguroo Rat, (Macropus minor ^ of Shaw,) 

 resembles his giant relative, the kanguroo, both in 

 form and habit, and differs only by having his canine 

 teeth in the upper jaw. He principally inhabits the 

 wildest parts of New Holland, and prefers those 

 deeply- wooded banks which are covered with berry- 

 bearing trees, and to which innumerable insects re- 

 sort for shelter during the heat of summer. Among 

 these, he is often seen springing in quest of prey; 

 his mouse-coloured coat harmonizing with the gray 

 lichen-dotted rocks, and his short fore-paws held up 

 either to pluck the ripe fruit, or to seize some gaily- 

 coloured insect, as it sports from bush to bush. He 

 is an innocent and playful creature, and may be 

 easily domesticated. 



None of the animal kingdom are, perhaps, equally 

 eccentric in their appearance with the kanguroo. 

 The irregularity of their limbs is so remarkable, that 

 they walk on all fours with difficulty, but then they 

 can bound with astonishing celerity, by the aid of 

 their hind feet, while the large nail in the middle of 

 each foot, which resembles a wooden shoe, serves as 

 a weapon of defence. 



Cuvier notices several distinct species. The ele- 

 gant kanguroo (K.fasciatus,) of the Island of St. 

 Pierre; that of Aroe, near Banda, (K. brunii); the 

 gigantic (K. labiatus^) at least six feet high, living 

 in troops, and headed by a chief; with a new 



