431 



is sandy or buff, the basal half of the hairs being brown : the 

 colour of the lower parts is distinctly lighter, the outer half 

 of the hairs being almost white. 



The following seven species of bats are now known from 

 the Central Districts: — 



Megaderma gigas, Dobson. 



Xi/ctophilus tirnoriensis, Geoffroy. 



Vesperugo pumilus, Gray. 



"Scotopkilus morio," Gray (fide Sanger). 



Scotophilia greyii, Gray. 



Chalinolobus gouldii, Gray. 



Nyctinomus australis, Gray. 



Native Dog (Canis dingo, Blumenbach). 



Though seldom seen, the dingo was in evidence through- 

 out almost the whole of the journey, its tracks or remains 

 being quite common. The spoor of the dingo is indistinguish- 

 able from that of a domestic dog of similar size, but an 

 examination of its tracks reveals a trait which the household 

 animal has, in the process of domestication, forgotten. The 

 course of a dog, if not exactly direct, is more or less continuous, 

 but that of a dingo is direct from bush to bush or rock, or 

 other object, the animal making for cover, and thence 

 reconnoitring before moving to its next object of concealment. 



At night time we occasionally heard dingos in the 

 vicinity of the camp, and less frequently saw them, when 

 conditions were favourable ; but the slightest movement, as 

 that involved in reaching for a gun, and they disappeared. 



Whenever cattle or sheep stations were approached, the 

 skulls of dingos were found, the animals having been poisoned 

 and scalped, a profitable proceeding, as the Government pays 

 7s. 6d. for each scalp secured. Even in remote districts, where 

 cattle have died as a result of the great drought of 1914-1916, 

 enterprising trappers had poisoned the carcases, and skeletons 

 of dingos were common in the vicinity. 



At a native camp I saw a couple of pure dingo pups ; but 

 unlike the puppies of domestic dogs, which show unmistakable 

 signs of affection and dependence, these pups retreated before 

 me and snarled at my nearer approach, though apparently 

 docile enough in the hands of their owner. Dingos thus 

 reared are said never to exhibit the affection associated with 

 domestic dogs. 



The origin of the dingo in Australia is a fertile source 

 of inquiry. Etheridge 0) the latest contributor to the subject, 



U) Etheridge : Mem. Geol. Surv. N.S. Wales (Eth., Ser. 2), 

 1916, p. 43. 



