238 Mr. Collie on the Natural History of the Kangaroo. 



Art. XXXI V. On some particulars connected with the 

 Natural History of the Kangaroo. By A. Colli k, Esq., 

 F.L.S., Corr. Memb. Z. S. In a Letter to N. A. Vigors, 

 Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S., ^c, Sec. Z. S. 



H. M. Sloop Sulphur, 

 Cockburn Sound, Western Australia, 

 26th January, 1830. 

 My dear Sir, 



As so much has recently been done to illustrate the history of the 

 very peculiar mode of generation in the Kangaroo, the following observa- 

 tions on this subject may not be unacceptable : I had not the pleasure of 

 seeing Mr. Morgan's paper before leaving England, and I therefore do not 

 know precisely how far these observations will be found to coincide with 

 his. 



Buache, or Garden Island, which forms the best side of Cockburn, is 

 covered, in addition to its trees, with a thick underwood and low shrubs, 

 which are penetrated with some difficulty. Among these, a small species 

 of Kangaroo, perhaps the Didelphis Brunii of Gmelin, and what is said 

 to be the Wallabee or Bush Kangaroo of Sydney, is found in very great 

 numbers. The males weigh about 14lbs., and the females considerably 

 less. It is brownish above, and greyish beneath. 



In the months of July and August last, I had an opportunity of seeing 

 several females with their young (one to each) of that season, so far ad- 

 vanced as to be nearly in a state fit for living independent of the mother. 

 They were nearly half the height and length of the mother, and tolerably 

 covered with hair. One teat only of the four was in any instance enlarged, 

 and it was only at the base of this that the lacteal gland could be felt. 



From that time to the present, I have occasionally looked at the abdo- 

 minal sac, and found it empty, dry, and exceedingly contracted, with, 

 however, the enlarged papilla and very perceptible gland at its base, the 

 former certainly much shortened, and the latter a little diminished. More 

 recently, my attention was very closely directed to this subject, and on 

 the 23rd instant, I was informed, to my no small delight, that a Kangaroo 



