114 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS . 



Whiptail, Gray-face, or Pretty-face Wallaby; Parry's Wallaby 



WALLABIA ELEGANS (Lambert) 



Macropus elegans Lambert, Trans. Linnean Soc. London, vol. 8, p. 318, pi. 16, 



1807. ("New South Wales.") 

 SYNONYM: Macropus parryi Bennett. 

 FIGS.: Lambert, op. cit., pi. 16; Bennett, 1835, pi. 37; Gould, 1842, pi. 19; 



Gould, 1852, vol. 2, pis. 12, 13; Lydekker, 1894, pi. 4; Le Souef and Burrell, 



1926, fig. 38. 



This wallaby, well named elegans, is rapidly diminishing in num- 

 bers in its somewhat limited range in New South Wales and Queens- 

 land, and is in distinct need of total protection. 



It is characterized by a slender and graceful build and a very 

 long tail. The general color is clear gray, with a bluish tinge; top 

 of muzzle brown, sides darker; white cheek-stripe sharply defined, 

 bordered below by a gray band; ears brown at base and tip, with 

 an intervening white area; digits of hands and feet black; under 

 parts grayish white; tail pale gray, with a black or gray crest below 

 the tip. (Thomas, 1888, p. 39.) Head and body, 732 (female) to 

 793 mm. (male) ; tail, 858 (female) to 1,077 mm. (male) (Finlayson, 

 19316, p. 77). 



"With this animal neither the colonists of New South Wales nor 

 the naturalists of Europe are very familiar; not so much in con- 

 sequence of its being really scarce, as from the extreme shyness of 

 its disposition, the fleetness with which it escapes from its pursuers, 

 and the mountainous and almost inaccessible parts of the country it 

 inhabits. I did not succeed in procuring it myself while in Australia, 

 it being confined, as far as I could learn, to the range of hills which 

 stretch along parallel to the coast from Port Stephens [New South 

 Wales] to Moreton Bay [Queensland], a part of the country not 

 visited by me. Like most other members of its race, it is easily 

 tamed, readily becoming familiar and docile." (Gould, 1842, text to 

 pi. 19.) 



"Mr. Strange informs me that it inhabits the rocky ranges of the 

 Clarence [New South Wales], occasionally descending into the more 

 open broken country, where it frequents the ledges of rocks at an 

 elevation of 2000 feet .... So fleet is this animal, that it is only 

 with the assistance of the finest dogs that there is any chance of 

 procuring examples ; it surpasses in fact every other animal in speed, 

 and when fairly on the swing no dog can catch it." (Gould, 1863, 

 vol. 2, p. 18.) 



Finlayson (19316, pp. 75-77) gives the following valuable account 

 of the species in the Dawson Valley, Queensland: 



This magnificent species still occurs in large numbers in suitable tracts all 

 over the valley, but in the northern part of the area is rapidly diminishing. 

 In 1884 it was obtained by Lumholtz near Rockhampton and on Coomooboo- 



