358 



of Datura! glt 



fore legs extremely short, with the feet 

 divided into five toes, each furnished with 

 a short and somewhat hooked claw ; the 

 hinder feet, on the contrary, are provided 

 with only four toes, the middle one of which 

 is long, of great strength, and terminated 

 by a large and powerful hoof-like nail or 

 claw : so that the head and upper parts 

 seem strangely disproportioned to the pos- 

 terior parts of the animal, which are robust 

 and powerful. The tail, which is very long, 

 is extremely thick at the base, gradually 

 tapering, and appears to act as a supple- 

 mental limb, when the animal assumes its 

 erect or sitting posture. When feeding, it 

 is seen in a crouching position, resting on its 

 fore paws, as well as on the hinder extre- 

 mities, whilst it browses on the herbage ; 

 and in this attitude it hops gently along, 

 deriving some assistance from its tail. On 

 the least alarm, however, it raises itself on 

 its hind legs, and bounds away to a distance 

 with great rapidity. The leap is of very 

 great length ; and is accomplished by the 

 muscular action of the tail, almost as much 

 as by that of the limbs. They use their 

 tails and hinder feet also as weapons of de- 

 fence : for when pursued and overtaken by 

 dogs, they turn, and seizing them with their 

 lore feet, strike them with their hinder ones, 

 sometimes causing death by a single blow. 

 The under side of the hind foot has a cal- 

 lous sole along its whole length; and its 

 great length is chiefly given by the elonga- 

 tion of the metatarsal bones. Kangaroos 

 have no canine teeth : their incisors are six 

 in the upper jaw, and but two in the lower; 

 the former short, and the latter long : the 

 molars, which are separated from the in- 

 cisors by a large vacant space, are ten in 

 number in each jaw. They are exclusively 

 herbivorous in their diet, feeding chiefly on 

 grass : and they associate in small herds, 

 under the guidance of the older males. The 

 ventral pouch, or receptacle for the young, 

 with which the female Kangaroo is fur- 

 nished, is indeed a most curious provision 

 of nature. Being situated just below her 

 breasts, there the young ones sit to suck ; 

 and even when they arc old enough to leave 

 the pouch, for exercise or amusement, they 

 immediately seek refuge in it on the least 

 alarm. 



The number of species which are now 

 known are very considerable : they vary in 

 size, from that of a rat to the Great Kan- 

 garoo, the male of which has been known to 

 measure nearly eight feet from the nose to 

 the tip of the tail, and to weigh 220 Ibs. ; 

 but in form and habits they bear a strong 

 resemblance to each other. The young are 

 produced in an extremely imperfect state, 

 and are even disproportionately small ; not 

 exceeding an inch in length. These ani- 

 mals are easily tamed ; and when in a state 

 of domestication, they are harmless and 

 timid. Their flesh is eaten in Australia, 

 and is said to be nutritious. Some persons 

 are loud in their commendations of it ; 

 Colonel Light, indeed, goes so far as to re- 

 commend all who are fond of ox-tail soup 

 (and they are not a few), to take a trip to 

 South Australia, and eat Kangaroo-tail 



soup ; which, he says, if made with the skill 

 that soups in England are, would as far 

 surpass the ox as turtle does the French 

 potage,. 



Mr. Gould's great work on the Kangaroo 

 Family is a most noble contribution to 

 Natural History : in it all the species are 

 figured and described with the hand of a 

 master. We must also refer to the work 

 of Mr. Waterhouse, who has devoted a thick 

 octavo volume to their history. Both these 

 works are indispensable to those who would 

 desire to study this important family. 



KERMES. (Coccus ilicis.) An insect pro- 

 duced in the excrescences of a small oak, the 

 Quercus coccifcrn, and found in many parts 

 of Asia and the South of Europe. The body 

 of this insect is full of reddish juice, and 

 when dead, and transformed into an appa- 

 rent grain or berry, it is used for the pur- 

 pose of dyeing a brilliant red colour. They 

 were long taken for the seeds of the tree on 

 which they live, and hence called {/rains of 

 Kermcs. Kermes is now nearly superseded 

 by the use of cochineal, but though much 

 inferior in brilliancy to the scarlet cloths 

 dyed with real Mexican cochineal, they re- 

 tain the colour better, and are less liable to 

 stain. This is said to have been the cele- 

 brated Phoenician dye. [See COCHINEAL.] 



KESTREL. (Falco Tinnuncuhts.) A 

 beautiful bird of the Hawk kind, known also 

 as the Stannel Hawk, and Windhover. The 

 male is about fourteen inches in length, and 

 in breadth two feet three inches. Its colours, 

 at first sight, distinguish it from all other 

 hawks : the crown of the head, and the 

 greater part of the tail, are of a fine light 

 gray hue ; and on the lower part of the latter 

 there is a broad black bar, succeeded by 

 white tips. The back and coverts of the 

 wings bright cinnamon brown, spotted witli 

 black ; quill feathers dusky, with light 

 edges ; inside of the wings white, beautifully 

 spotted with brown on the under coverts, 

 and barred on all the quills with pale ash. 

 The whole under side of the bird is of a 

 pale rust colour, streaked and spotted with 

 black. The bill blue ; cere and eyelids yel- 

 low ; legs yellow ; claws black. The co- 

 lours of the female are less vivid than those 

 of the male : the back and wing-coverts 

 are rusty brown, and elegantly marked 

 with numerous undulated bars of black ; 

 the breast, belly, and thighs are of a pale 

 reddish buff, with dusky streaks pointing 

 downwards ; and the tail is marked by a 

 pretty broad dark ash -coloured bar near the 

 end. 



The Kestrel is widely diffused throughout 

 Europe, and is by no means rare in the more 

 temperate parts of'North America. It breeds 

 in the hollows of decayed trees, and in the 

 holes of rocks, towers, and ruined buildings ; 

 and lays four or five pale reddish eggs. It 

 feeds on small birds, field mice, reptiles, and 

 insects : after securing its prey, it plucks the 

 feathers very dexterously from birds, but 

 swallows mice entire, and discharges the 

 hair, in the form of round balls, from its 

 mouth. This bird, when in quest of food, 

 ' glides softly through the air, at a mode- 



