THE WOOLLY KANGAROO. 379 



the pouch and the period of its life when it is able to leave the pouch and seek subsistence for 

 itself. Even after it has become too large to continue its residence in its former cradle, it is 

 in the habit of pushing its head into the pouch and refreshing itself with a draught of warm 

 milk, even though a younger brother or sister should be occupant of the living cradle. The 

 little animal weighs about ten pounds when it becomes too heavy for its mother to carry. 



This Kangaroo is a very hardy animal, and thrives well in England, where it might 

 probably be domesticated to a large extent if necessary, and where it would enjoy a more 

 genial climate than it finds in many districts of its native land. One of the favored localities 

 of this species is the bleak, wet, and snow-capped summit of Mount Wellington. 



At different times of the year the coat of the Kangaroo varies somewhat in its coloring 

 and density. During the summer the fur is light and comparatively scanty, but when the 

 colder months of the year render a warmer covering needful, the animal is clothed with very 

 thick and woolly fur, that is admirably calculated to resist the effects of the damp, cold 

 climate. It is a very singular fact that those specimens which inhabit the forests are much 

 darker in their color than those which live in the plains. The young Kangaroos are lighter in 

 their coloring than their parents, but up to the age of two years their fur deepens so rapidly 

 that they are darker than the old animals. After that age, however, the fur fades gradually, 

 until it finally settles into the grayish-brown of the adult animal. 



The eye of the Kangaroo is very beautiful, large, round, and soft, and gives to the animal 

 a gentle, gazelle-like expression that compensates for the savage aspect of the teeth, as they 

 gleam whitely between the cleft lips. 



The largest of the Macropidse, of which there are already known upwards of eighty 

 species, is the Woolly Kangaroo, or Red Kangaroo, as it is more popularly called, on 

 account of its peculiarly tinted fur. 



The character of the fur is rather singular, for it does not lie so closely to the body as that 

 of the common Kangaroo, and is of a peculiar texture, which somewhat resembles cotton wool. 

 The hairs are not very long, and their woolly, matted appearance, makes them seem shorter 

 than they really are. The size of this animal is very great, for an adult male measures rather 

 more than eight feet in total length, the head and body being five feet long, and the tail a 

 little short of thirty-eight inches. 



By the color of the fur alone the Woolly Kangaroo can be distinguished from its long- 

 legged relatives, independently of other minute differences. The general tint of the fur is of 

 a rusty yellow, changing to gray iipon the head and shoulders, the head being washed with a 

 slight brown tint. The sides of the mouth are white, through which protrude a few long, stiff, 

 black hairs, and which are planted in greater numbers over the angle of the mouth, forming 

 an indistinct black patch. The female is distinguished by a broad white mark which runs 

 from the angle of the mouth to the eye. The toes are covered with black hairs. 



An ashy-gray tint is seen upon the under portions of the body in the male sex, but in the 

 female these parts are beautifully white. The limbs are grayish-white, washed with rust, and 

 the tail is of the same color as the limbs. 



The tail is uncommonly large and powerful, and of vast service to the animal in support- 

 ing the heavy frame while the creature is standing erect upon the tripod fonned by its hinder 

 feet and its tail. The hairs of the tail are comparatively short and scanty, so that they do not 

 give to the tail that peculiar woolliness which is so distinguishing a characteristic of the 

 creature's fur. It may as well be mentioned in this place that the Kangaroo does not employ 

 the tail in leaping from the ground, but seems to use it partly as a kind of third leg, by which 

 it supports itself when at rest, and partly as a kind of balance, by which it maintains its 

 equilibrium as it leaps through the air. 



The muzzle of the Woolly Kangaroo is not so thickly covered with hair as that of the 

 preceding animal. This species is an inhabitant of Southern Australia. 



Passing by the Nail-tailed Kangaroos, so called from the strange nail-like appendage that 

 is found at the extremity of their tails, and which is concealed by the tuft of long black hair 



