NORTH AUSTRALIAN MAMMALIA. 213 



Macr opus antilopinus, Male, "Koppo"; female, " Kondaltburu." 



This large species, so rare in the collections of Europe, is 

 exceedingly numerous in Arnhem Land. Although it seems to 

 prefer hilly country, the traveller may often meet it in the plains 

 at a considerable distance from any mountain. There did 

 not seem to be any distinct rule for its occurrence. One would 

 always be sure to find it in any big range, and in the undulating 

 ironstone ; in some places it was frequently seen, but not con- 

 stant, and the only localities where I certainly never observed the 

 slightest trace of it are the large open plains on the lower tidal 

 portion of the river Daly. The large jungles also never seem 

 to offer any attraction. In the sandstone ranges on Victoria river 

 the animal abounded. 



The " Red Wallaroo" is nearly always met with in great mobs, 

 consisting of females, young, and young males. "Old men" or 

 adult males are very often found single, or sometimes accom- 

 panied by a female, and strong animals of any sex or age may 

 sometimes be observed single ; but typically M. antilopinus is a 

 gregarious animal. 



In some mountain valley, or in the shade of some trees, the 

 animals form what is commonly termed a "camp"; that is, each 

 animal scratches a slight depression in the sandy soil, and there 

 neatly coils itself up to sleep during the hottest part of the day. 

 In the afternoon, or towards sundown, they commence feeding on 

 the green shoots or roots of various grasses, and sometimes at 

 considerable intervals they will make for water. For how long a 

 period they can dispense with water I do not know, but this 

 species, like so many Australian mammals, seems in a consider- 

 able degree to be independent of it. In places where water is 

 abundant they do not seem to drink every day, and sometimes 

 one will meet the "Red Wallaroo" in places where water could 

 only be procured by travelling long distances. 



All through the night the animals are feeding ; even the early 

 morning and forenoon are very often devoted to the same occu- 

 pation, and only through the hottest part of the day they rest 

 in the camp, to which they constantly return. With such pre- 

 cision do the Kangaroos — and especially the solitary ones — return 

 to their usual camps, that the aboriginal hunter by this circum- 



