52 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



rate of breeding, in the less hospitable regions to which settlement 

 is forcing them, where the cunning introduced enemy [the fox] 

 probably now abounds, must ultimately lead to the extinction of this 

 harmless, picturesque, and pest-destroying marsupial." 



In the typical subspecies, M. I. lagotis, the general color is gray; 

 head, neck, and back washed with chestnut; sides of body and base 

 of tail pale chestnut; ears long, broad, ovate; outer, upper surface's 

 of limbs grayish; under parts white; middle part of tail black; 

 terminal part white, with a crest of stiff hairs. Head and body, 18J 

 inches; tail, 10 inches. (Reid, 1837, pp. 129-130.) This is a large 

 race, with a long, silky coat; the black portion of the tail usually 

 longer than, or equaling, the crested white part (Troughton, 1932, 

 p. 227). 



Its range includes south and central Western Australia and 

 extends to Central Australia. 



Gould (1863, vol. 1, p. 11) considers it "tolerably abundant 

 over the whole extent of the grassy districts of the interior of the 

 Swan River colony." By retreating into its deep, long burrows, "it 

 frequently eludes the pursuit of the natives, who hunt it for the 

 sake of its flesh." He speaks of its flesh as "sweet and delicate," 

 resembling "that of the rabbit." 



Its status in Western Australia is summed up by Shortridge 

 (1910, pp. 832-833; map, p. 832) : 



"Although widely distributed throughout the South- West (except 

 near the coast) , North-West, and Centre, it has within recent years 

 become extremely rare in the far interior. Most plentiful in the 

 inland districts of the South-West, rather frequently caught in traps 

 set for rabbits along the rabbit-proof fence. In the dry North- 

 Western and South-Eastern divisions, where it is rare, it extends to 

 the coast." 



The same author states (1907, pp. 770-771) that in the interior 

 "it seems to have almost left parts of the country where it was onca 

 well known perhaps on account of the succession of droughts in- 

 land of late years." 



Troughton (1932, p. 227) mentions specimens from Gracefield, 

 Coorigan, and Teuterden, Western Australia. 



Glauert (1933, p. 24) records it in Western Australia as "widely 

 distributed . . . south of the Kimberley Division. The western limit 

 seems to be the Darling Range, although the Museum has odd 

 specimens from Perth and Upper Swan on the Coastal Plain. The 

 animal occurs as far south as Cranbrook and Jerramungup, near 

 the Stirling Range, and as far east as Gnawlbat, 126 degrees 15 

 minutes east, 26 degrees 21 minutes south." He writes (in litt., 



