LAGORCHESTES HIRSUTUS, Gould. 
Rufous Hare Kang’aroo. 
Lagorchestes hirsutus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1844, p. 32. 
Macropus (^Lagorchestes") hirsutus, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., a^oI. i. p. 92. 
All the examples I have seen of this species, some of which are at the British Museum, and the remainder 
in my own collection, have been procured in Western Australia, whence they were sent to this country by 
Mr, Gilbert ; judging from the size of Lagorchestes fasciatus, I should suppose that the present animal 
would weigh about four or six pounds, the weight of a moderate-sized hare. The lengthened shaggy 
reddish hairs, which are abundantly distributed over the lovA^er part of the back, and particularly near 
the base of the tail, at once distinguish it from all the other members of the genus. The only note trans- 
mitted by Mr. Gilbert, respecting the habits of tbe species, is as follows : — 
“ It has a hairy muzzle : in its habits it assimilates in an equal degree to those of the Bettongics and the 
Lagorchesti. It constructs a burrow, open at both ends, with a seat at the side of the entrance, from 
which it plunges into the burrow tbe instant it is alarmed. It feeds on the open country adjacent to the 
thickets, where there is a low thick scrub about two feet high : when running, and particularly when 
hunted, it utters a singular note, resembling the syllable ting rather quickly repeated. Some slight 
difference is found to exist in specimens from A^arious localities, which I presume must be regarded as due 
to the difference of situation, and nothing more.” He adds, that it is called Wob-riip by the Aborigines of 
the interior of Western Australia, who appear to give tbe name of M6r-da to tbe animal during the period 
of immaturity ; at all events, the young example sent by him with that name attached to it, is undoubtedly 
the young of the present species. Both tbe adult and the young Avere procured in the Walyemara 
district. 
Mr. Waterhouse having given a very accurate description of this animal from the specimens in the British 
Museum, I take the liberty of transcribing it : — 
“ The fur is long and moderately soft ; the upper parts of the body grey, much tinted Avith rufous brown 
and freely pencilled Avith white ; the sides of the body, rump, hind- and fore-legs are of a bright rust-red, 
deepest on the hinder and palest on the fore-legs ; the throat, chest and mesial line of the belly rusty white ; 
crown of the head grey ; a broad space around the eye is of a bright, but palish rust-red, which tint extends 
on to the muzzle ; a whitish line on the upper lip runs hack past the angle of the mouth ; ear clothed inter- 
nally with somewhat lengthened white hairs, externally they are pencilled with rusty yellow and dusky, the 
former being, however, the prcA^ailing tint ; the hinder half is almost entirely clothed with small white hairs ; 
the fore-feet are clothed with glistening yellowish white hairs ; the tarsus is almost entirely of a pale rusty 
red, but is of a rusty white towards the hinder part, and the toes are obscurely suffused Avith brownish 
rust-red ; the tail is clothed throughout with short, stiff, adpressed hairs, scarcely hiding the scaly skin ; 
they are finely pencilled with black and rust-red at the base of tbe tail, but on tbe upper surface they assume 
an uniform brownish black tint, which is continued to the point; on the under surface they are of a dirty 
pale rust-red, and towards the apex is a naked scaly space of about an inch in length ; the fur of the back 
is nearly black next the skin, but a considerable portion of each hair is of a brownish rust-red ; near the 
point the hairs are broadly annulated Avith Avbite, and at tbe point they are dusky or black ; on the belly the 
fur is ashy grey next the skin.” 
The fi gure is rather less than the natural size. 
