THE BRUSH-TAILED ROCK KANGAROO. 



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which is also called after Bennett the naturalist (Macropus Bennetti), does not leave the pouch of its 

 mother permanently, vintil it is as large as a Rabbit. 



In the north of Australia, in the region of King George's Sound, there is a small Kangaroo which 

 is not larger than a common Rabbit, and it is a very interesting example of how species may differ 

 from the type of a genus. It has a slender and rather short tail, which is rather scaly, and has but a 

 few hairs on it, but it is not very short. The ears are short and round, and the hind feet are short. 

 The departure from the configuration of the Great and Brush Kangaroo shape is therefore great. It 

 is called the Short-tailed Kangaroo. The last four kinds mentioned are grouped together with others 

 under a sub-genus, Halinaturus (H\na, a leap, and ovpd, a tail). 



BRUSH-TAILED ROCK KANGAROO. 



THE BRUSH-TAILED EOCK KANGAROO. 



Almost as strange as the slender-tailed Kangaroo are those which are called the " brush-tailed," 

 and which inhabit rocky situations (Macropus penicillatus). Mr. Waterhouse thus notices them : 



" Whilst the Kangaroos of the plain have the fore part of the body slender and light, great 

 strength in the hinder parts, combined with a long leg and foot, adapting them to fleetness, the tail 

 powerful, and assisting in the support of the long body, we perceive certain modifications in the form 

 and structure of these parts in the Rock Kangaroos which adapt them to their particular habitats. 

 The body, more compact in form, requires but little assistance from the tail for its support, the leverage 

 being less ; and the feet are, though powerful, comparatively short, and remarkably rough beneath, 

 being thickly covered over this part with hard tubercles, which no doubt prevent the foot from 

 slipping. The nails of the two larger toes are shorter than usual, and, indeed, in some of the 

 species, scarcely project beyond the fleshy pads with which the toes are terminated, and on the 

 upper surface of which the nails are placed. A long and slender foot, with long nails, as in the 

 typical Kangaroos, it is obvious, would be ill-adapted to an animal which has to leap to and balance 

 itself upon the small ledges of the rocks. The tail is large, but not thickened at the root, as in the 

 plain Kangaroos ; and, unlike the tail in those animals, it is clothed with long hairs, which, gradually 

 increasing in length from the base of the tail, become very long and bushy at the opposite extremity. 

 It serves to steady the animal in its leaps, and to balance the body when perched in situations which. 

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