OSPHRANTER ROBUSTUS, Gould. 



Black Wallaroo. 



Spec. Char. — Osp/i. ar tubus anticis magnis et prcerobiistis ; vellere e fusco cinereo, inferne pallidiore ; tarsis fuscis ; 

 digitis antice ?iigris ; antipedibus carpisque nigris ; capite fuliginoso lemter tincto ; utraque gem linea albescente 

 notata ; gula, guttureque albidis ; cauda superne fusca , subtus pallidiore. 



Descr. — Male. Fur liarsli and somewhat shaggy ; general colour slate-grey, obscurely washed with brownish, and 

 tinted with vinous on the outer sides of the thighs ; feet dark brown, gradually passing into black on the fore- 

 part ; upper part of the arm brownish ; hands and wrists black ; inner surface of the ear white, the exterior 

 brown ; muzzle and a patch on the chin blackish ; a line round the angle of the mouth and the lower lip white ; 

 throat and fore-part of the neck white, the hairs being grey at the base ; under surface like the upper, but 

 paler; tail blackish brown above, paler beneath. 

 Female. General colour silvery grey, obscurely tinted with purplish or vinous on the back ; under surface nearly 

 white ; cheeks hoary, with a blackish patch on the chin ; tail dirty white, slightly tinged with brown on the upper 

 side ; legs paler than the body ; hands brown, becoming nearly black on the fingers ; toes brownish black above. 



fee 



Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail 7 



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 



Macropus {Petrogale^ robustiis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part VIII. p. 92. 

 Black Wallaroo of the Colonists. 



Male. 



Female. 



feet, inches. 



feet. 



inches. 



7 . 



. 5 



10 



2 lOi. 



2 



6 



12 . 



. 1 



lOi 



13i. 





9i 



8 . 





7 



3i. 





3 



The Black Wallai'oo inhabits the summits of sterile and rocky mountains, seldom descending to the coverts of their 

 sides and never to their base ; few, therefore, have had an opportunity of observing it in a state of nature ; indeed there 

 are thousands of persons in Australia who are not even aware of its existence. Although the south-eastern portion of 

 the continent is, I believe, the only part of the country in which it has yet been observed, in all probability it has an 

 extensive range northwards. It is tolerably abundant on the Liverpool range, and I ascertained that it inhabited 

 many of those hills that branch off on either side of this great mountain-chain, both towards the interior as well as 

 towards the coast. Its retreats are so well chosen among the crags and overhanging ledges of rocks, that it is nearly 

 useless to attempt its capture with dogs. It is a formidable and even dangerous animal to approach, for if so closely 

 pressed that it has no other chance of escape, it will rush at and force the invader over the edge of the rocks, as the 

 Ibex is said to do under similar circumstances. Independently of its great muscular power, this animal is rendered 

 still more formidable by the manner in which it makes use of its teeth, biting its antagonist with great severity. 



The Black Wallaroo may be regarded as a gregarious animal, four, six and even more being frequently seen in 

 company. On one of the mountains near Turi, to the eastward of the Liverpool Plains, it was very numerous ; and 

 from the nature of this and the other localities in which I observed it, it must possess the power of existing for long 

 periods without water, that element being rarely to be met with in such situations. 



The summits of the hills to which this species resorts soon become intersected by numerous roads and well-trodden 

 tracks, caused by its repeatedly traversing from one part to the other ; its food consists of grasses and the shoots and 

 leaves of the low scrubby trees which clothe the hills it frequents. 



Although much shorter in stature, and consequently less elegant in form, the fully adult male of this species equals in 

 weight the largest specimens of Macropus major ; and so remarkable is the difference in the colour and size of the sexes, 

 that had I not seen them together in a state of nature, I should have considered them to be different species, the black 

 and powerful male offering so great a contrast to the small and delicate female. 



