KANGAROOS 22S 



rapidly tapering, and in some cases adapted both for grasping objects and for 

 supporting the body, thus serving as a third hind-leg. The hind portion of the 

 body is correspondingly strong in the kangaroos ; the females of which are provided 

 with a large pouch opening towards the front. The comparatively small head has 

 a tapering muzzle with a cleft upper lip ; while the lower jaw is furnished with a 

 single pair of large projecting spatula-like front teeth, which present the peculiarity 

 of working against one another like the blades of a pair of scissors. From this 

 character, kangaroos, and all the remaining members of the order, are classed in a 

 separate section, the Diprotodontia, or those with two lower incisors. They form 

 the most specialised group of the Marsupialia, which appears to have been evolved in 

 the Australasian region, to which it is restricted. Kangaroos, together with their 

 smaller relatives the wallabies, attain their greatest development in Australia and 

 Tasmania, although they are also represented in New Guinea. In Australasia they 

 occupy the position in nature held by cattle, sheep, antelopes, deer, and other 

 ruminants in the rest of the world. 



Taking the great grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) as the typical repre- 

 sentative of the whole group, it may be mentioned that when browsing, or stand- 

 ing up to survey the country, this animal raises itself into an erect posture on the 

 tips of its enlarged fourth and fifth hind-claws (that is to say, those corresponding 

 to the fourth and fifth in the typical series of five), at the same time making use of 

 its tail as an additional support. In other circumstances, these kangaroos move on 

 all fours, as in the act of grazing on short grass, when they crouch on the ground. 

 As a rule, however, they support themselves solely on the hind-legs and tail in a 

 most characteristic pose. Owing to the fact that the lower segment of the hind- 

 leg is very long while the upper portion is comparatively short, the pelvis is placed 

 obliquely in relation to the back-bone, so that when the animal is resting on the 

 soles of its hind-feet the lower portions of the legs form two pivots on which the 

 body, supported by the tail, is hung and moves freely. When moving hastily from 

 this position, the animal springs on its hind-legs, using the tail to preserve its 

 balance and holding its fore-legs pressed close to the chest. A kangaroo clears 

 fallen trees or low fences in immense leaps, the powerful tail at the same time 

 striking the ground in measured thumps, the sound of which can be distinctly 

 heard at a considerable distance. In addition to various kinds of grass, more 

 especially the so-called kangaroo-grass, to which they are very partial, kangaroos 

 feed on herbs and the tender shoots of young trees and shrubs, and at night often 

 enter cultivated fields to graze on the crops. When grazing, they remind the 

 spectator of wild sheep or deer. Singularly keen of scent, they also possess highly 

 developed powers of sight and hearing, but, like hares, appear unable to see objects 

 immediately in front of them, and have been known to leap straight towards a 

 gunner. As a rule, they go about in droves or " mobs," as they are locally called, 

 one member of which gives the signal in case of approaching danger. Their 

 numbers are, however, now much less large than formerly, when they could be 

 counted in parties of from 50 to 60, or even 150, head. Separate herds do not 

 mingle, each frequenting its own special feeding-ground. These spots are usually 

 situated on sparsely wooded slopes, and connected with one another by well-trodden 

 paths, but during the hot season kangaroos repair to thickly wooded valleys. 

 vol. m, — 15 



