LEAPING POUCHED ANIMALS— KANGAROOS. 



581 



Hounds that can do so. When there is any cover, 

 such as brushwood, the pursuit has soon to be given 

 up; for the agile Kangaroo easily clears the bushes 

 in its way by leaping over them, while the Dog has 

 to go around. On uneven ground its speed is less, 

 and it experiences great difficulty in going down 

 hill, as it is apt to fall forward in its violent bounds. 



YELLOW-LEGGED KANGAROO. The Mountain or Rock Kanga- 

 roos make their retreat in caverns and crevices and leap with agility from 

 one ledge to another. The Yellow-legged Kangaroo, shown in the picture, 

 with the little baby Kangaroo which rests in her pouch, belongs to this 

 genus. {Petrogale xanthopus.) 



A running Kangaroo may hold out for hours, with- 

 out tiring. 



Mental Capacity Among the perceptive senses of the 

 and Propagation of Kangaroo that of hearing probably 

 Kangaroos. ranks highest: at least there is a 

 continual movement of the ears in captive speci- 

 mens, just as in other captive large game animals. 

 Sight is less keen, and smell, probably, is rather defi- 

 cient. Some observers, however, aver that the ani- 

 mals see, hear and scent excellently. They are very 

 dull in intellect: even Sheep are far superior to them 

 in this regard. Anything out of the accustomed 

 order confuses them, for they are not capable of 

 a rapid comprehension of new surroundings. The 

 brain works slowly; every impression they receive 

 becomes clear to them only gradually. A captive 

 Kangaroo becomes used to Man in general, but I 

 doubt whether it discriminates between its keeper 

 and other people. 



The reproductive powers of all Kangaroos are 

 slight. The large species rarely give birth to more 

 than one young one at a time. When the young 

 one is born the mother takes it up with her mouth, 

 opens the pouch with both fore feet, and attaches 

 the insignificant little creature to the breast. Twelve 



hours after birth the young Giant Kangaroo has a 

 length of only a little over one and one-fifth inches. 

 It can be compared only to the embryos of other ani- 

 mals, for it is quite immature, transparent, soft and 

 worm-like; its eyes are closed, the ears and nostrils 

 are only indicated, the limbs yet unformed. There 

 is not the slightest resemblance between it and the 

 mother. The fore legs are one-third longer than 

 the hinder ones. It hangs from the breast in a 

 strongly curved position, its short tail bent upwards 

 between the hinder legs, without a noticeable move- 

 ment; it is even incapable of sucking. As soon as 

 it has been attached to the nipple, the latter swells 

 so considerably that it completely closes the mouth 

 of the little one. As before indicated it is supposed 

 that the young Kangaroo does not suck at all, but 

 is provided with milk without making any effort of 

 its own, the milk squirting into its mouth in re- 

 sponse to contraction of the lacteal muscles of the 

 mother. For nearly eight months it is nourished 

 exclusively in the pouch; it sometimes protrudes its 

 head slightly a little before this period expires, but 

 it is not yet capable of moving independently. 



THE BEAR KANGAROO. This animal, which is one of the Tree 



Kangaroos, has its home in New Guinea. It climbs with facility and feeds 

 on the fruit, bark and leaves of trees. Its hind limbs are proportionately 

 shorter than those of the Kangaroos proper, although still longer than the 

 fore pair. (Dendrolagus ursinus.) 



A considerable time after it first peeps out of the 

 pouch, the young one occasionally leaves its refuge 

 and roams about near its mother, but for a long 

 time it flees back to the pouch whenever it appre- 

 hends any danger. It approaches its mother with 

 long bounds and dives headlong into the half-open 

 pouch of the quietly sitting female. 



