THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
of a rat, for the kangaroo cannot bend its tail. When running, it springs 
from the ground in an erect position, propelled by its powerful hind legs 
and balanced by its tail, holding its short fore arms well into the chest, 
after the manner of a professional runner. Thus it bounds lightly and 
easily along, clearing any obstacles such as trees and even low fences in its 
stride. I never fairly measured one of these strides or springs, but I am 
RED OR WOOLLY KANGAROO, 
certain, when hard-pressed, an ‘old man’ or ‘flying doe’ will clear nearly 
ten yards at a spring. The long tail materially assists them in running, 
and its measured thump may be heard on the ground long before the kanga- 
roo itself appears in sight in the thick forest.* 
“The countenance is mild and placid, but, like the sheep, we rarely see 
two exactly alike. The eye is bright; the nostrils not very wide; the ears 
large and pricked; and many of the males have a marked Roman nose, 
like that of an old ram. In bush parlance, the old male kangaroo is called 
an ‘old man’; the young female a ‘flying doe’; and the young one, till 
eight or ten months old, a ‘joey.’ The weight of a full-grown doe or 
* Whether or not this is correct is a matter of dispute. That the tail is a sup- 
port when the animal is at rest or walking slowly is certain; but good observers 
insist that it is held clear of the ground when the animal is leaping at speed, and 
say no trace of its touching appears when the kangaroo races across soft ground, 
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