374 
Miscellanea, 
u Halmaturus manicatus :—Brush and Blue Kangaroo of colo¬ 
nists ; Goorh-a } aborigines of Perth ; Quarra, aborigines of the 
interior. 
“ This is by far the swiftest and most difficult kangaroo to pro¬ 
cure with dogs, not only from its fleetness, but also from the zig¬ 
zag manner of its successive leaps and the thick brush which it 
inhabits; it is very rarely seen in the open country, dwelling in 
scrubby districts, and the very facility with which it bounds off 
and rounds the clumps of bushes, enables it to make its escape 
with comparative ease ; during the heat of the day it may be seen 
under the shade of a tree or thick clump of bushes, and may be 
often approached W'ithin a few yards before it bounds from its 
cover, thus affording a tolerably easy shot. Weight from 17 to 
211bs. ,> 
“ Anous stolidus. —The Noddy and its allied species are the 
most numerous of all the inhabitants of the Houtmann’s Abrol- 
hos, breeding in prodigious numbers ; the bird lays in November 
and December, forming a nest of sea-weed about six inches in 
diameter, and varying in height from four to eight inches, but 
without anything like regularity of form ; the top is nearly flat, 
there being but a very slight hollow to prevent the egg rolling off: 
for, like others of the Stemidce, they never lay but a single egg. 
The nests are so completely plastered with their excrement, that 
at first sight it appears to be almost the only material; they are 
either placed on the ground, in a clear open space, or on the tops 
of the thick scrub, over the Sterna fuliginosa : these two species 
incubate together in the utmost harmony, the bushes to an im¬ 
mense extent wearing a mottled appearance, from the great mass 
of birds of both species perched on the top; the male Sterna 
fuliginosa sitting quite close to the nest of the Noddy, while its 
mate is beneath, performing her arduous duties of incubation. 
On walking among these bird's nests, I was surprised to observe 
the extreme tenacity with which they kept their post; in fact they 
would not remove off the egg or young, but suffered themselves 
to be fairly trod upon, or taken off by the hand; and so thickly 
were these nests placed, that it was no easy matter to avoid 
crushing either birds or eggs at every step. In the middle of 
