THE RED KANGAROO 



{Macropus rufus) 



The Red Kangaroo is the most beautifully-coloured of the large 

 species of the Kangaroo family (Macrafiadidce), a group which are 

 so much alike that when one has been seen any of them can easily 

 be referred to its proper position. As every one knows, Kangaroos 

 belong to the order of Marsupials, or pouched animals, whose females 

 are typically characterised by a pouch on the abdomen in which the 

 young — born extremely tiny and imperfect — are placed by the mother 

 immediately on birth, and thereafter remain hanging to the teats for a 

 considerable period. 



In addition to their characteristic bodily shape, with small fore-legs 

 and long hind ones, the Kangaroos are noticeable for their peculiar 

 hind-feet, which are chiefly made up of the huge fourth toe, which 

 is armed with a powerful claw ; the fifth toe is of only about half the 

 length of this, and the second and third toes not only equally short, 

 but exceedingly slender, and bound up together in the skin, so that 

 only their two claws, which the animal uses for scratching itself, are 

 visible externally. The first or great toe is absent altogether. 



The fore-feet have five ordinary-looking toes, and the animal uses 

 them as hands, in lifting its food to its mouth, &c. The teeth of the 

 Kangaroo are decidedly peculiar; there are no canines in the lower 

 jaw, and the upper pair are insignificant and early shed. The upper 

 incisors are six in number, the lower only two ; the grinders are suited 

 for crushing and chewing the food of these creatures, which, like the 

 hoofed animals, feed on herbage, and similar products of the vegetable 

 kingdom, 



The leaping gait of the Kangaroo is well known to every one, and, 

 when going fast or far, is the only means of locomotion it has ; the 

 fore-feet are only used when the creature is moving along slowly, when 

 it places these paws on the ground, and swings its hind-limbs forward 

 with the action of a person walking on crutches. In the ordinary way, 

 its leaps are not more than a yard or so, but when pressed it bounds 



377 3 B 



