HALMATURUS PARRYI. 



Parry's Wallaby. 



Spec. Char. —ffahn. vellere modice elongato, et molli ; colore mperne ex argenteo cinereo, subtus albo ; mtta lata alba per 

 latera faciei ducta, et ab albo colore gutturis disjuncta, linea angusta cinerea. 



Descr. — Fur moderately long and soft ; general colour silvery grey, the lower part of the back tinged with purplish 

 brown; n^uzzle deep brown inclining to black, gradually becoming paler on the forehead until it passes into the 

 grey of the upper surface ; a broad pure white mark extends from near the tip of the muzzle along the cheeks, 

 and terminates a little beyond the posterior angle of the eye ; below this a faint grey line ; ears nearly naked 

 within, but having a few small white hairs on the apical portion ; externally they are clothed with blackish brown 

 fur at the base, with adpressed white hairs in the middle, and with black hairs at the tip ; chin, throat, inner 

 side of the limbs, under surface of the body and under side of the basal half of the tail white ; the tips of the 

 hairs on the chest faintly tinged with grey ; arms hoary grey ; hands black ; tarsi and two inner toes white ; the 

 other toes black at the extremity, and with a mixture of black and white hairs at the base ; tail nearly white, 

 with the exception of the tip, which, with a fringe of long hairs on the under surface of the extremity, are black. 

 The orifice of the pouch of the female is clothed with rust-coloured hairs, which also extend some little distance 

 into the interior of it. 



Male. 



feet, inches. 

 Length from the nose to the extremity of the 'tail 5 5 



„ of tail 2 7 



„ „ tarsus and toes, including the nail 10 



,, „ arm and hand, including the nails . 8 



„ ,, face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear ... b\ 



„ „ ear 3^- 



Macropus Parnji, Bennett, Trans, of Zool. Soc, vol. i. p. 295, pi. 37; anil in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part II. p. 151. 



Macropus elegans, Lambert, Trans, of Linn. Soc, vol. vjji. p. 318, pi. 16 ? 



With this animal neither the colonists of New South Wales nor the naturalists of Europe are very familiar ; not so 

 much in consequence of its being really scarce, as from the extreme shyness of its disposition, the fleetness with which 

 it escapes from its pursuers, ''and the mountainous and almost inaccessible parts of the country it inhabits. I did 

 not succeed in procuring it myself while in Australia, it being confined, as far as I could learn, to the range of hills 

 which stretch along parallel to the coast from Port Stephens to Moreton Bay, a part of the country not visited by me. 

 Like most other members of its race, it is easily tamed, readily becoming familiar and docile. 



At least two living specimens are on record as having been sent to England, both of which were presented to the 

 Zoological Society; one by Captain Sir Edward W. Parry, R.N., after whom the animal has been named; and the 

 other by James Macarthur, Esq. : I regret to add that they both soon died. 



Sir Edward Parry states that his animal " was- obtained at Stroud, near Port Stephens, in the latitude of about 30° south. 

 It was caught by the natives, having been thrown out of its mother's pouch when the latter was hunted. At that time it was 

 somewhat less than a rabbit, but was full-grown on its arrival in England. It was never kept in confinement until it was em- 

 barked for England, but lived in the kitchen, and ran about the house and grounds like a dog, going out every night after dark 

 in the bush or forest to feed, and usually returning to its friend the man-cook, in whose bed it slept, about two o'clock in the 

 morning. Besides what it might obtain in these excursions, it ate meat, bread, vegetables, in short everything given to it by 

 the cook, with whom it was extremely tame, but would allow nobody else to take liberties with it. It expressed its anger when 

 very closely approached by others, by a sort of half grunting, half hissing, very discordant sound, which appeared to come from 

 the throat, without altering the expression of the countenance. In the daytime it would occasionally, but not often, venture' 

 out to a considerable distance from home, in which it would sometimes be chased back by strange dogs, especially those be- 

 longing to the natives. From these, however, it had no difficulty in escaping, through its extreme swiftness ; and it was curious 

 to see it bounding up a hill and over the garden fence, until it had placed itself under the protection of the dogs belonging to 

 the house, especially two of the Newfoundland breed to which it was attached, and which never failed to afford it their 

 assistance, by sallying forth in pursuit of its adversaries." * 



But little doubt exists in my mind that Lambert's characters of his Macropus elegans were taken from an animal of 

 this species, although neither his figure nor his description are sufficiently correct to determine this point with certainty. 



