THE ASHY KOAI.A. 



Tipper lip cleft; the tail moderate, scaly, and scantily covered with hairs; two teats only in tin; 

 ventral pouch of the female ; the anterior feet five toed, armed with obtuse nails ; (lie third toe of 

 the hind feet very robust, and armed with a very strong nail ; the teeth thirty in number. 



THE POTOROO, OR, KANGAROO RAT.* 



IT is chiefly in the teeth, and in the elongated narrow form of the head, that this animal differs from 

 the kangaroo. The dental formula is thus given: incisors, ^- ; canim-s, !,', ; molars, -%Ej. The 

 Potoroo is about the size of a rabbit. The general colour of the fur is brown ; on the back blackish, 

 pencilled with brownish white. The lips, chin, throat, and under parts of the body, dirty-white ; the 

 fore feet brown ; the ears rounded, and well covered with hair ; the tail scaled, and sparingly covered 

 with short hairs, which are chiefly of a black colour. The hairs on the under sides are brown ; :m<l 

 at the tip there are a few hairs of a dirty white. 



The potoroo, common in New South Wales, is 

 timid and inoffensive, feeding on vegetables. It 

 moves in the manner of a kangaroo. It frequents 

 the precincts of scrubs and patches of brushwood, 

 and scratches up the ground in quest of roots. 

 These animals are very destructive to the potato 

 crops, and are caught by traps baited with this vege- 

 table. There are said to be several species of the 

 present genus. 



A sub-genust has the head elongated ; the ears 

 very large ; the upper lip cleft ; the whiskers 

 very short, and few ; the posterior limbs like those 

 of the preceding genus, but much longer and more 

 robust ; and the tail long, triangular, and very mus- 

 cular. Here we find the kangaroos discovered by 

 Captain Cook in his first voyage. 



The skeleton of the kangaroo shows its dif- 

 ference from other creatures, and its peculiarity is 

 more apparent on an attentive examination. The 

 anterior parts of the body are light and flexible, and 

 the fore limbs are small. The hinder limbs, on the 

 contrary, are voluminous and long ; the metatarsus, 

 or sole, is produced, and provided beneath with a 

 naked callous pad, which runs from the toes to 

 the heel. 



The ordinary attitude of the kangaroo is up- 

 right, or rather, inclined forwards, the weight resting 

 ' on the hind 

 limbs, the long 

 sole of whirh 

 is applied to 



the ground ; SKELETON OF KAXOAKOO. 



and also on 



the tail, with which the limbs form a tripod for the support of the body. The body tapers f, 

 haunches to the neck. The head is well proportioned. The eyes arc full ; the ears rather lav-,- 

 upper lip is cleft. The fore paws have five toes, iirnied with strong sharp claws ; th.- hind te,-t 

 divided into four toes, of which the two innermost are very small, and compacted together, 

 appear us one, though the slender bones of each of the claws an- distinct. The mid,!!,- toe i 



* Hypipr>-mnusmurinus: Pander and D'Alton. Macropus minor : Shaw. H. setosus: Ogilby. 

 t Macropus: Shaw. Halmaturus Illiger. 



I 



