126 Mr. Ogilby on certain Australian Quadrupeds, 



alone the animal might be readily distinguished, in the absence of more im- 

 portant characters. 



Such, I regret to say, are the very meagre details which alone I have it in 

 my power to give as to the generic characters of this interesting animal ; I 

 have delayed the publication of my observations upon this subject for six 

 years, in hopes of obtaining more definite information ; but though these hopes 

 have been hitherto in a great measure indulged in vain, they may perhaps be 

 finally realized through the medium of the present notice. 



The only species which has come under my observation is that in the 

 Society's Collection, and which Major Mitchell has identified with the animal 

 found by him during his recent journey into the interior of Australia. From 

 the singularity of its habits, as related in the following interesting extract 

 from that gentleman's Journal, I propose to distinguish it by the specific 

 name of 



CoNiLURUS Constructor. C. subcinereus, ventre albo : auriculis longis, nudis ; 



Cauda longissima, marginata. 



The length of this animal from the muzzle to the origin of the tail is ten 

 inches; that of the tail itself nine inches and a half; of the head, from the 

 muzzle to the anterior margin of the ear, two inches and a quarter ; of the 

 ear rather better than an inch ; of the anterior extremities about two inches ; 

 and of the posterior three inches and three quarters, of which the tarsus alone 

 measures an inch and three quarters ; the distance between the ears is about 

 three quarters of an inch ; the distance between the eyes one inch ; and the 

 breadth of the ear three quarters of an inch. These proportions, as far as 

 they relate to the comparative length of the anterior and posterior extremities, 

 are much the same as those of the Common Rabbit, or if anything, the 

 inequality is rather less considerable ; on the other hand they scarcely differ 

 from the proportions of the same parts in the Mus longipes of Pallas, and 

 other species of the tetrapodal section of the Gerbilles, and we may therefore 

 reasonably infer that the pace and motions of the Conilurus constructor are in 

 no respect different from the movements of these animals. The length and 

 separation of the fingers also give it a prehensile power in the hand, which 

 will naturally be turned to purposes of manipulation, such as the handling of 



