18 VERTEBRATA OF THE LOWER MURRAY, 



Mclvor Range, 80 miles distant from the Murray, is, according 

 to G-ould, a new species, and is figured by him in part XI. of his 

 Mammalia, 15, as " Belidmus notatus" 



As I made many enquiries of the Natives about the genus 

 Petaurus, and found that these animals are not known to them, 

 I do not hesitate to consider their range to be restricted to the 

 mountainous coast districts. 



All the members of this family are nocturnal, and the female 

 is provided with one pair of mammas only. In the " Flying 

 Squirrels " the number of young is sometimes 2 ; but the 

 Koala or " Native Bear " never produces more than a single 

 young one at a time. 



I now proceed to the Kangaroo, whose form and habits seem 

 to have struck the discoverers of Australia with special wonder. 

 Large Plains are admirably adapted to the habits of these 

 animals, and the low lands of the Murray have once swarmed 

 with their numbers as they do now with cattle and sheep. At 

 the present time, large flocks of Kangaroos are a rare sight ; and 

 though I have seen as many as sixty or eighty together, I think 

 that this is the exception, not the rule. 



.The most formidable, and no doubt the handsomest species of 

 the whole tribe is, 



15. OSPHRANTER RUFUS. 



The Great Red Kangaroo. 

 Bullucur of the Murray natives. 



Which has become very scarce upon the left bank of the 

 Murray, but is still found in considerable numbers in New South 

 Wales and South Australia. The range of this species to the 

 eastward does not extend much beyond Mount Hope. 



This large beautiful animal, about which a great deal has 

 been written, ought to be well known to every colonist, and yet it is 

 only a few months ago that the very existence of such a creature 

 was doubted by an enlightened "critic," who was pleased to 

 designate this species as ante-diluvian ; indeed it must sound 

 like a fable to people who know little or nothing about such 

 matters, if they are informed that the male of this species is of a 

 foxy red, and the female of a bluish grey colour. 



