HALMATURUS DORSALIS, Gra;;,. 



Black-striped Wallaby. 



Spec. Char. — Halm, cauda longissima ; colore rufescenti-fusco nigro alboque variegato (pel irrorato) capitis corporisque 

 partibus inferioribus albis ; collo humerisqne rufis ; striga nigra ab occipite ad dorsi medium educta ; rostro superne 

 obscure, utrinque lined, alba notato ; dorso imo nota transversa alba ; cauda cinerea ; digitis o?Jinibus nigris. 



Descr. — Fur rather harsh to the touch ; general colour hrown, with a rusty tinge, produced by each hair being of a 

 rusty brown in the middle ; upper surface and sides of the body freely pencilled with black and white ; on the 

 back of the neck, shoulders and outer side of the arms a bright rusty red hue prevails, and the same hue is 

 observable on the hinder part of the back, outer side of the hind legs (especially near the knee) and sides of 

 the body, but is much paler ; chin, throat, and all the under parts of the body white ; tail clothed with very 

 short, adpressed, grisly hairs, becoming longer and of a dirty white on the under side of the apical half; upper 

 surface of the muzzle dusky, with a white line on each side ; ears black on the outside, and white internally ; a 

 black mark commences near the occiput and proceeds backwards ; towards the tail it is broadest, and most 

 distinct on the middle of the back, and becomes obUterated as it approaches the tail; on the haunch a trans- 

 verse white mark ; hands and feet black. 



Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail 4 



of tail 2 



„ tarsus and toes, including the nail 



„ arm and hand, including the nails 



„ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear .... 



„ ear 



Halmaturus dorsalis. Gray in Mag. of Nat. Hist, for Nov. 1837, vol. i.. New Series, p. 583. 



le. 



Female. 



nches. 

 7 . 



feet. 

 . . 3 



inches. 

 10 



1 . 



. . 1 



9 



8 . 





7i 



Si. 





6t 



5 . 





4t' 



3 . 





2f 



This fine Wallaby, which is distinguished from all other species by the greater length of its tail, and by the black mark 

 which commences at the occiput and runs down the centre of the back, is an inhabitant of the interior, and is particu- 

 larly abundant in all the scrubs clothing the sides of the hills that run parallel to the rivers Mokai and Namoi ; and 

 although I cannot positively assert that such is the case, I have reason to believe that it inhabits all similar situations 

 between the above-mentioned localities and the great Murray scrub in South Australia. I have never heard of its having 

 been seen between the ranges and the coast, a circumstance that may be attributed to the brush being of a totally differ- 

 ent character, the vegetation being more dense and humid than the dry stony hills of the interior. Like the other 

 members of the genus it is strictly gregarious ; it is in fact so numerous that I found not the slightest difficulty in pro- 

 curing as many specimens as I pleased, and it was more often shot as an article of food than for any other purpose. Its 

 flesh is excellent, and when the vast continent of Australia becomes more thickly inhabited, it will doubtless be justly 

 esteemed. The natives often resort to the haunts of this species and commit great havoc among them, both for the 

 sake of their flesh as food, and for their skins as articles of clothing. 



They have various modes of capturing them, sometimes making use of large nets, at other times they are driven by 

 dogs from side to side of the brush, which affords the hunters abundant opportunities of spearing or killing them with 

 the waddy as they pass the open spots. 



It is especially abundant at Brezi, to the northward of the Liverpool Plains, and I also found it extremely numerous 

 in the Brigaloe brush on the Lower Namoi. 



The female is distinguished by her smaller size, but in the markings of the two sexes no difference exists. The full- 

 grown males of this species will weigh from twenty to twenty-five pounds. 



