THE TREE KANGAROO. 
373 
adapts them admirably for leaping, an exercise in which the Kangaroos, as these creatures are 
familiarly termed, are pre-eminently excellent. 
First on the list appears the singular animal which is well represented in the engraving, 
and which, on account of its peculiar habit, is known by the name of the Tree Kangaroo. 
In general form, this animal is sufficiently Kangaroo -like to be enrolled at once among the 
members of that group of Macropods, but the comparative shortness of the hinder feet and the 
length of the fore-feet, together with some peculiarity in the dentition, have induced the later 
zoologists to place it in a separate genus from the true Kangaroo. 
The fur of the Tree Kangaroo is so remarkably dark that its deep tinting serves as an 
infallible mark of distinction, by means of which it may be 'ecognized even at some distance. 
It is on account of the dark, glossy 
blackness of the fur, that the creature 
is called ursinus, or bear-like, as the 
hairs of its fur are thought to bear some 
resemblance to those which form the 
coat of the American black bear. 
The coloring of its fur is generally 
as follows : the whole of the back and 
the upper parts of the body are a deep, 
glossy black, the hair '•! being rather 
coarser, and running to some length. 
These hairs are only of one kind, for in 
the fur of the Tree Kangaroo there is 
none of that inner coat of line, close, 
woolly hair which is found in the other 
Kangaroos, and which lies next to the 
skin. The whole of the fur is, therefore, 
composed solely of the long and stiff 
hairs that are usually found to penetrate 
through the interior covering of woolly 
fur, and to lie upon its surface. The 
under parts of the body are of a yel- 
lowish hue, and the breast is washed 
with a richer and deeper tint of chestnut. 
The tail is of the same color as the body, 
and is of very great length, probably to 
aid the animal in balancing itself as it 
climbs among the branches of the trees 
on which it loves to disport itself. 
To see a Kangaroo on a tree is really 
a most remarkable sight, and one which tree kangaroo .— Dendroiagus ursinus. 
might well have been deemed a mere 
invention had it not often been attested by credible witnesses. I have repeatedly seen one 
of these creatures clambering about a tree-trunk with perfect ease, and ascending or 
descending with the security of a squirrel. The animal looks so entirely in its wrong 
place, that when the black-haired, long-legged creature hops unexpectedly upon a tree 
and hooks itself among the branches, with its long black tail dangling below it, the entire 
aspect of the animal is absolutely startling, and suggestive of the super — or, perhaps, the 
infer — natural to the mind of the spectator. This species is not, however, the only one that 
can ascend trees, an art which is practised with some success by the Rock Kangaroo. 
The food of this species consists of vegetable substances, such as the young bark, twigs, 
berries, and leaves of the trees upon which it lives, but very little is known of its habits in a 
wild state. It is an inhabitant of Hew Guinea. 
