HALMATURUS AGILIS, Gould. 



Ag"ile Wallaby. 



# . , . , . . . ' 



Spec. Char. — Halm, fulms, supra nigra adspersus, infra sordide alhus ; aurium apicibus externis et margine antico nigris ; 

 striga fuscescente utrhique ah oculis usque ad nares producta, et infra hanc linea alba ; clunibus linea albida notatis ; 

 Cauda longa pilis brevibus albidis, ad basin supra Jlamdis, ad apicem nigrescentibus, induta. 



Descr. — Fur rather short, adpressed, and harsh to the touch ; general colour sandy yellow ; the upper surface of the 

 head and body freely pencilled with blackish, the hairs being of this colour at the point; chin, throat and chest 

 dull white ; abdomen yellow, the hairs terminated with white ; limbs pale sandy yellow externally and white on 

 their inner side, the arms externally pencilled with blackish ; tarsi nearly white, passing into rusty on the toes ; 

 lips whitish, and a whitish mark fi'om the lip to beneath the eye, parallel with which is another of a dusky hue ; 

 ears white within, externally sandy yellow at the base and broadly margined with black at the apex, and with a 

 narrow black line along the inner edge; on each side of the rump an oblique whitish line; tail sparingly clothed 

 with nearly white hairs except at the base, which is like the body ; the tip of the tail black. 

 \ Male. 



feet, inches. 



Length from the nose to the base of the tail 5 3 



of tail : 2 6 



„ „ tarsus and toes, including the nail 10 



„ „ arms and hand, including the nails 9 



„ „ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear ... 6 



,, „ ear 3 



Halmatunis agilis, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part IX. p. 81. 



This new species of Wallaby may be readily distinguished from every other Hy its short, wiry, adpressed hair, and the 

 almost uniform sandy brown colour of the body; the male is also remarkable for having very powerful incisors, and also 

 for having the outer toe much developed, whence results a deep cleft between it and the middle one ; the head is also 

 longer and more pointed than in any other species which I have seen. 



The Agile Wallaby appears to be abundant on all the low swampy lands of the northern coast of Australia. I have 

 seen many specimens from the Cobourg Peninsula ; and it is common both near the settlement of Port Essington and 

 at Raffles' Bay. I have also had others placed at my disposal for the purpose of describing by Mr. Bynoe of H.M.S. 

 the Beagle, which were collected on the shores of Torres Straits. It is stated to be a most agile species, readily 

 eluding the dogs employed in hunting it by its extreme activity in leaping among the high grass ; when chased it fre- 

 quently seeks shelter in the thick beds of mangroves, passing over the muddy flats in such a manner as almost to baffle 

 all pursuit. 



In size, when full grown, the male is nearly equal to H. Ualabatus. 



