BETTONGIA OGILBYI, Gould. 
Og*ilby’s Jerboa Kang*aroo. 
Bettongia Ogilhyi, Gould, MSS. 
Hypsiprymnus Ogilhyi, Watei’h. Nat. Lib. Marsupialia, p. 185. 
Bettongia Ogilbii, Gray, List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus., p. 93. 
Hypsiprymnus (^Bettongia') Ogilhyi, Waterh. Nat. Hist, of Mamm., vol, i. p. 214. 
Bettongia Gouldi, Gray ? 
The Bettongia Ogilbgiis as abundantly distributed over Western Australia as the B. penicillata is over New 
South Wales, but while the latter appears to be confined to the country within the ranges, the former inhabits 
the districts near the coast. Besides specimens from Swan River, I have received others from the late 
Mr. Harvey, procured at Port Lincoln, and I have also seen examples in collections formed in the neighbour- 
hood of Adelaide ; those from the last-mentioned locality have the rufous tints of the tail and tarsi somewhat 
less highly coloured, but in other respects specimens from these distant countries are perfectly similar. 
The B. Ogilbyi always appeared to me to have a longer head and proportionately longer ears and some- 
what more slender tarsi than B. penicillata ; these, however, are only slight differences ; but the darker 
colouring of the body, the rusty red hue of the base and sides of the tail, and the rufous colouring of the 
feet, are characters always observable in the western animal, and constitute a style of colouring never seen 
in any example of the eastern species, or B. penicillata of New South Wales. 
In Mr. Waterhouse’s remarks on my specimen of B. Ogilbyi, published in the volume of the ‘ Naturalist’s 
Library,’ on the Marsupialia, he says, “ This species is very closely allied to B. penicillata, but its tarsi are 
proportionately rather longer and more slender, and differ in being of a deeper hue; the ears are longer, 
and the apical half of the tail is black both above and below. In B . penicillata the black hair is confined to 
the upper surface of the tail ; on the under part, lengthened, brown, adpressed hairs extend to the tip ; this 
under part is, moreover, much more densely clothed than in the present species, in which the hairs are not 
sufficiently numerous to hide the scales : this does not arise from the wearing away of the hair, as is often 
the case ; for the under side of the tail is better covered than the sides.” In his more recent work, ‘ A Na- 
tural History of the Mammalia,’ Mr. Waterhouse is rather doubtful as to the distinctness of the southern and 
western animals, and remarks, “ All that can be said is, that the specimens of the tufted-tailed Bettongiee, 
from the western and southern districts, are generally somewhat darker in the colouring of the feet and tail 
than those from New South Wales ; but it is certainly, in some cases, difficult to distinguish these, which I 
can but regard as local varieties, by a difference of colouring.” 
“ This species,” says Mr. Gilbert in his notes on the ‘ Mammals of Western Australia,’ “ appears to be 
equally abundant in all parts of the colony, but to evince a preference, perhaps, for the white-gum forests. 
It makes a nest of dried sticks or strong coarse grass, under the shelter of the overhanging grasses of the 
Xanthorrhoea, or a bunch of dried grasses or sticks; the entrance being on one side and lengthened out so as 
to form a tube or porch. When driven from the nest it generally resorts to a hollow tree or stump ; if this 
is not to be found, it makes a long circuit before returning to the nest. This animal is one of the favourite 
articles of food of the natives, who are very quick in detecting the nest, and generally capture the little 
inmate by throwing a spear through the nest and transfixing it to the ground, or by placing the foot upon 
and crushing it to death. It is almost invariably found in pairs, and, like the true Macropi, the female throws 
the young from the pouch when pursued.” 
Fur dense, the under fur very abundant, soft, long and woolly, general colour brown, obscurely washed 
with yellow on the sides of the face and body ; under surface of the body dirty yellowish white ; ears 
clothed with yellow hairs ; hind feet brown, darkest on the sides, especially of the toes ; fore-feet paler 
brown ; tail well-clothed, a very small space at the base covered with fur, like that of the body ; beyond 
this and extending to about the middle of the tail the hairs are of a rusty hue on the upper side, and very pale 
brown on the under ; the apical half of the tail is clothed with black hairs, which vary from rather more than 
half to three quarters of an inch in length ; those nearest the tip are the longest : on the sides of the tail 
the hairs are comparatively short, and excepting at the tip they are of a deep brown colour ; on the under 
side of the apical half of the tail the hairs are longer than on the sides, and of a black colour ; the ordinary 
hairs of the back are rather broadly annulated with pale rusty yellow, sometimes rusty white, and at the 
point they are blackish brown ; the longer interspersed hairs are black ; the fur both on the upper and 
under parts of the body is grey at the base. 
The figures are of the natural size. 
