MARSUPIALS AND MONOTREMES a 
Of smaller members of the Kangaroo Family, 
there are some thirty distinct forms, popularly 
known in Australia as WALLABIES, WALLAROOS, 
PADDY-MELONS, POTOROOS, KANGAROO-HARES, 
KANGAROO-RATS, etc. The wallabies, which rep- 
resent the most important group with regard 
to their larger size and economic utility, number 
some fourteen or fifteen species, and are distin- 
guished, with relation more especially to thcir 
habitats or peculiar structure, as ROcK-, BRUSII- 
TAIL, and SPUR-TAIL WALLABIES, etc. Among 
the rock-wallabies the yellow footed species from 
South Australia is undoubtedly one of the hand- 
somest as well as the largest member of its 
group, the uniform grey characteristic of the 
majority of its members being in this instance 
represented by an elegantly striped and banded © 
form, in. which the several tints of brown, 
yellow, black, and white are pleasingly in- 
terblended. The successful stalking of rock- 
wallabies in their native fastnesses entails no 
mean amount of patience and agility. Although 
these animals are so abundant in favoured locali- 
ties as to make hard-beaten tracks to and fro 
betwixt their rock-dwellings and their pasture- 
grounds, one may traverse the country in broad 
daylight without catching a glimpse of a sin- 
gle individual. One species, about the size of 
a large rabbit, is very plentiful among the 
rocky bastion-like hills that border the Ord 
River, which flows into Cambridge Gulf, in 
Western Australia. Efforts to stalk examples 
in broad daylight proved fruitless; but by 
sallying out a little before daybreak, so as 
to arrive at their feeding-grounds while the 
light was still dim, the writer succeeded in 
securing several specimens. Many of these 
rock-wallabies are notable for the length, fine 
texture, and pleasing tints of their fur, their 
skins on such account being highly esteemed 
for the composition of carriage-rugs and other 
furry articles. 
Of the larger brush or scrub varieties, the 
species known as the BLACK WALLABY is the 
Photo by D. Le Souef } (Melbourne 
TREE-KANGAROOS 
Examples acclimatised in the Melbourne, Zoological 
Gardens 
most familiar form. It is particularly abundant in the Southern Australian States, and also 
in Tasmania. Its flesh is excellent eating, and, dressed and served up in the orthodox 
manner of jugged hare, can scarcely be distinguished from that toothsome dish. Some 
of the smaller species, such as the hare- and rat-kangaroos or potoroos, are, as their 
names denote, of no larger dimensions than the familiar rodents from which they are 
popularly named. Several of these smaller species, including notably the potoreo, or 
kangaroo-rat of New South Wales, are addicted to paying marked attention to the set- 
tlers’ gardens, and, being to a large extent root-feeders, have acquired a special predi 
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