HALMATURUS UALABATUS. 



Black Wallaby. 



Spec. Char. — H. vellere longo, rig'ido y nigrescenti fusco, pallidiore adsperso ; corpore suhtusflmido, nonnunquam arenaceo, 



vel ferrugineo ; auribus interne pi/is sordide alhis instructis, et eocterne nota ferruginea basali usque ad collum pro- 



ducta, cine f is ; antibrachiis nota nigerrima basalt. 

 Descr. — Fur long, harsli to the touch ; general colour blackish brown, pencilled with a lighter hue ; under surface 



yellowish in some specimens, in others deep sandy or rusty red ; ears clothed with dirty white hairs internally ; 



a rusty patch surrounds their base, and is extended on the neck ; cheeks pale brown, mingled with dirty white ; 



upper part of the muzzle and round the eye blackish ; lips and chin whitish ; wrists and hand black ; immediately 



beneath the insertion of the fore-arm a jet-black patch ; tarsi black ; basal third of the tail like the body, the 



remainder black. 



Male. 



feet, inches. 



Length from the tip of the nose to the extremity of the tail .... 4 4 



„ of tail 1 4 



„ „ tarsus and toes, including the nail 8-^- 



,, „ arm and hand, including the nails 6|- 



„ „ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear ... 4-|- 



,, „ ear 2-|- 



Macropus Ualabatus, Less. Man. de Mamm., p. 227. 

 Kangurus Brunii, Desm. Ency. Meth. Mamm., p. 275 ? • 

 Halmaturus Lessonii, Gray. 



This well-marked species inhabits, with but few exceptions, all the thick brushes of New South Wales, especially such 

 as are wet or humid. I hunted it successfully at Illawarra, on the small islands at the mouth of the Hunter, and on the 

 Liverpool ranges. In the former localities it was frequently found in the wettest places, either among the high grass 

 and other dense vegetation, or among the thick mangroves, whose roots are washed by each succeeding tide. The 

 islands at the mouth of the Hunter, particularly Mosquito and Ash islands, are not unfrequently flooded to a great extent, 

 yet it leaps through the shallow parts with apparent enjoyment, and even crosses the river from one island to the other. 

 On the Liverpool range it as strictly keeps to such parts as are most humid, often near the crowns of mountains, which 

 are frequently enveloped in fogs and dews. Over what extent of country this species will be found to range it is im- 

 possible to say ; as yet I have only observed it in the localities above mentioned ; the dense brushes of the Clarence, 

 Manning, and, in fact, all the brushes from Western Port to Moreton Bay, are in all probability inhabited by it. 



Independently of its dark colouring, lengthened tail, and stiff wiry hair, it may be readily distinguished from every 

 other species by the jet-black spot immediately beneath the insertion of the arm. When full grown this animal is about 

 the size of H. Bennettii and H. ruficoUis. 



