POUCHED QUADRUPEES. 



475 



The Kangaroos (Macroptu)* are herbivorous, and remarkable for 

 the smallness of their fore-feet, and the length of their hind-legs and 

 tail, upon which they sit upright, as on a tripod, and by their assist- 

 ance can make prodigious bounds, sometimes clearing a space of 



Fit;. 401. COMMON KAXGA!:00. 



twenty feet at a single leap. The middle toe of the hind foot is very 

 large, and constitutes a formidable weapon. The Kangaroos inhabit 

 Australia. One species (M. Major} stands upwards of six feet in 

 length. The young are born in an extremely immature condition, 

 and are received at birth into a pouch or fold of the skin of the 

 abdomen of the mother. Here their naked and feeble bodies are 

 protected from exposure to the air, and from all injury, until they 

 are advanced in growth and strength. Within this abdominal 

 pocket are situated the teats, to one of which the infant animal at a 

 very early period attaches itself, and from it derives the nutriment, 

 that gradually enables it to maintain an independent life. The 

 Kangaroo thus carries about its young for a period of eight months ; 

 a little Kangaroo may then sometimes be seen putting its head out 

 of the pouch, and nibbling the high-grass. At length it ventures 

 forth and tries its strength alone : but on the least alarm, it springs 

 again into its wonted hiding-place. 



fjLa.Kp6s, makros, long ; ir6vs, pous, the foot. 



