BETTONGIA RUFESCENS, Graj,. 



Rufous Jerboa-Kang-aroo. 



Spec, Char. — Bett. vellere aspero ; colore incanescenti-cinereo, et rufo, hoc apud dorsum prcBvalente ; corpore subtus e cine- 

 reo alho,fulm tincto ; auribus externe nigris, interne fuhescenti-albis, 



Descr. — Fur harsh and wiry ; general colour grizzled-grey and rufous, the latter predominating on the hack ; ears black 

 externally and huffy white internally ; under surface greyish white slightly tinged with huff ; tail strongly pre- 

 hensile, covered with short wiry grizzly-grey hairs, becoming whiter towards the tip, where they are much 

 lengthened; under side of the tail, throughout its whole length, dirty white; hands grey; nails white; tarsi 

 and feet dark greyish brown. 



feet, inches. 



Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail 2 8 



of tail 1 2 



„ tarsus and toes, including the nail 6 



„ arm and hand, including the nails 3 



„ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear . . . S-l 



„ ear 



H 



Bettongia rufescens. Gray in Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. i. New Series, p. 584. 

 Hypsiprymnus melanotis, Ogilby in Proc. of Zool. Soc. (May 1838) Part VI. p. 62. 



This is a very common animal in New South Wales, where it inhabits sterile and low stony ridges, particularly such as 

 are thinly covered with scrub and grasses. It appears to be almost universally dispersed over the face of the country, 

 from the coast to the ranges ; I also obtained a single example on the borders of the Namoi, but I have never seen it in 

 collections from any other of the Australian colonies, and I believe it to be confined to the southern and eastern portions 

 of the continent. It is a robust little animal, and as the structure of the fore-feet and claws would lead us to infer, ob- 

 tains the greater portion of its food by scratching ; shallow holes and small excavations, apparently formed for the purpose 

 of procuring roots, being abundant in the districts in which it is found. It constructs a warm nest of grass in which it 

 lies coiled up during the day, and which is frequently placed under the shelter of the branch of a fallen tree, or at the 

 foot of some low scrubby bush. It also sometimes reposes in a seat like the Hare-Kangaroo, but never sits out on the 

 open plains like that species. On being startled it runs for a short distance with remarkable rapidity; but from the 

 circumstance of its invariably seeking shelter in the hollow logs, from which it is readily cut out, it falls an easy prey to 

 the natives, who hunt it for food. 



Independently of its larger size, which is equal to that of a full-groWn rabbit, the Rufous Jerboa-Kangaroo may be 

 easily distinguished from every other species of the genus by the wiry character of its fur, the rufous hue of the back, 

 and the black colouring of the hinder part of the ears. 



The food consists of various kinds of roots and grasses. 



The sexes present little difference either in size or colouring. 



