MARSUPIALS AND THEIR SKINS 255 



kangaroo in Europe outside the Zoological Gardens 

 was boxing nightly. By the time some fresh specimens 

 had been obtained in Australia and shipped to England 

 the excitement had subsided. But the female * boomer ' 

 still costs from forty to fifty pounds rather a high 

 price for a creature which was recently being killed off 

 as a troublesome species of vermin. 



Our climate suits both the great gray kangaroo and 

 the much scarcer great red kangaroo, and these, with 

 many of the smaller species, are bred in the Zoological 

 Gardens, and are readily acclimatized. The kangaroos, 

 large and small, have something of the adaptability of 

 rabbits, and are at home in most conditions of soil and 

 weather. They are found from the burning plains to 

 the tops of the rocky ranges of the interior, and from 

 the snowy tops of Mount Wellington, in Tasmania, 

 to the forests in the lowest valleys. Damp does not 

 seem to hurt them, yet they will bask for hours in the 

 hottest sun, lying exposed upon the rocks. As early 

 as 1863 John Gould gave it as his opinion that they 

 would 'doubtless readily become acclimatized in this 

 country/ Recently many large proprietors have taken 

 a fancy to them, and stocked their parks. Sir E. G. 

 Loder has introduced the great kangaroo and two species 

 of wallaby into his park at Horsham ; Mr. Naylor 

 Leyland has a number at Haggerston Castle, in North- 

 umberland ; and those kept by Lord Rothschild at 



