210 Macropid^.. MAMMALIA. MACROPinA;. 
the others, the outer pair being at the same time com- 
paratively broad. In the Potoroos tlie middle incisors 
are of considerable length. In all the members of this 
family the head is rather small, and the upper lip is 
cleft. These animals possess complicated stomachs, 
and they display great powers of leaping ; only using 
their anterior limbs when feeding. They are found 
almost exclusively in Australia, some few occurring 
in New Guinea and Van Diemen’s Land. 
THE GKEAT KANGAROO {Macroims giganteus ) — 
Plate 29, fig. 92 — is an animal of very considerable 
interest, not only on account of its amaziiig powers of 
leaping and marsupial peculiarities, but on account of 
the circumstance of its being the largest livmg and 
indigenous quadruped inhabiting the great Australian 
continent. An adult specimen measures upwards of 
four feet in length, not including the tail, which would 
give us an additional three feet ; its weight occasion- 
ally exceeding one hundred and forty pounds. The 
capture of the Great Kangaroo in its native haunts is 
attended with great and varied excitement; and when 
it was discovered by the sailors under Captain Cook, 
during one of his ever-memorahle voyages, they were 
not slow to extol and exaggerate its leaping propen- 
sities. It is now very commonly hunted with dogs ; 
but the natives have a peculiar method of theii’ 
own. According to Captain Grey, as quoted by Mr. 
Dallas in his excellent little manual entitled “ A 
Natural History of the Animal Kingdom,” — “ the 
native advances quietly in the direction where he 
expects to find his game, with every sense on the alert 
to give him notice of its approach. When the animal 
is near him he is seen to assume an attitude of intense 
attention, and, at a given signal, his wives and chil- 
dren, who accompany him, drop immediately upon the 
ground. When the savage is thus occupied, you wiU 
see at about a hundred yards from him, a kangaroo 
erect upon its hind legs, and supported by its tail. It 
is reared to its utmost height, so that its head is 
between five and six feet above the ground, its short 
paws hang by its side, its ears are pointed — it is listen- 
ing as carefully as the native, and you see a little head 
peering out from its pouch to inquire what has alarmed 
its mother. But the native moves not: you cannot 
tell whether it is a human being or the charred trunk 
of a burned tree which is before you, and for several 
minutes the whole group preserve their relative posi- 
tion. At length the kangaroo becomes reassured, 
drops upon its fore paws, gives an awkward leap or 
two, and goes on feeding ; the little inhabitant of its 
pouch stretching its head further out, testing the grass 
its mother is eating, and evidently debating whether 
or not it is safe to venture out of its resting-place, 
and gambol about amongst the green dewy herbage. 
Meantime the native moves not until the kangaroo, 
having two or three times resumed the attitude of 
listening, ami having like a monkey scratched its side 
with its fore paw, at length once more abandons itself 
in perfect security to its feeding, and playfully smells and 
rubs its little one. Now the watchful savage, keeping 
his body unmoved, fixes the spear first in the throwing 
stick, and then raises his arms in the attitude of throw- 
ing, from which they are never again moved mitil the 
kangaroo dies or runs away. His spear being properly 
secured, he advances slowly and stealthily, no part 
moving but his legs. Whenever the kangaroo looks 
round, he stands motionless in the position he is in 
when it first raises its head, until the animal, again 
assured of its safety, gives a skip or two, and goes on 
feeding. Again the native advances, and this scene is 
repeated many times, until the whistling spear pene- 
trates the devoted animal.” The Great Kangaroo and 
others of its kindred, breed freely in this country, many 
British-born individuals existing in the Zoological 
Society’s Gardens and in private collections. The 
flesh is said to be good eatmg, and not unlike venison 
in flavour. 
The so-called Sooty Kangaroo {Macropus fuligi- 
nosus of Desmarest), as well as two other large species 
described by Mr. Gould in his attractive folio “ Mono- 
graph on Kangaroos,” as Af. ocydromusaLii^M.melanops, 
are, in Mr. Waterhouse’s view, only probable varieties 
of the Great Kangaroo. Very many other species, 
however, are known to exist, of which we can only 
specify tlie following : — The Bed Kangaroo {M. lani- 
ger of Gould) is a large species occupying the interior 
of the Australian continent, and frequenting the banks 
of the river Darling and the Murrumbidgee. The 
Great Bock Kangaroo {M. robustus of Waterhouse), 
or Black Wallaroo of the natives, is found in hilly 
localities. The female has a silvery or grey colour, 
and is much less than the male ; the fur of the latter 
exhibiting a rich black tint. Amongst the smaller 
species may be mentioned the Black-gloved Kan- 
garoo {M. Irma), which is about thirty inches in 
length and found in Western Australia. Desmarest’s 
Bed-necked Kangaroo {M. ruficullis), a species 
well-known in this country, inhabits New South Wales 
and King’s Island. A very tiny species, called the 
Pandemelon Wallaby {M. Thetides), is only twenty 
inches long, excluding the tail, and is much sought after 
for the sake of its flesh. The Bed-bellied Wal- 
laby {M. Billardierii) is a gregarious species, as is 
also the Brush-tailed Bock I^angaroo {M. penicil- 
latus). Le Brian’s Kangaroo {Halmaturus Asiati- 
cus of Gray) is an inhabitant of New Guinea; it 
possesses a very long narrow head with shortish ears, 
the fore-legs being comparatively strong. The fur 
exhibits a greyish colour generally, more or less tinged 
with yellow, especially underneath. Bespecting the 
small Hare Kangaroo {Lagorchestes leporides), Mr, 
Gould records the following amusing little incident : — 
“ While out on the plains,” he says, “ I started a hare 
kangaroo before two fleet dogs ; after running to the 
distance of a quarter of a mile, it suddenly doubled and 
came back upon me, the dogs following at its heels. 
I stood perfectly still, and the animal had arrived within 
twenty feet before it observed me, when, to my aston- 
ishment, instead of branching off to tlie right or the 
left, it bounded clear over my head, and on descending 
to the gromid I was enabled to make a successful shot, 
by which it was procm-ed.” Mr. Gould specifically 
distinguishes several other closely allied forms, and 
gives beautiful figures of them in his large work. 
In the Tree-Kangaroos the anterior and posterior 
limbs have nearly the same length, whilst the tail is 
