82 
MACROPODIDiE. 
which includes the Hat- and Jerboa-Kangaroos, it differs from 
them in inhabiting a different character of country (that is, 
the open plains), in having a hairy muzzle, and in the hands 
and nails being smaller, more slender, and more delicately 
formed than any other known species ; points indicating that 
it is not a burrowing animal; and it is apparent, from the 
sharpness and spiny form of the fore-nails, that they are never 
used for the purpose of obtaining roots, as is decidedly the 
case with the Hat- and Jerboa-Kangaroos.” But why assume 
that Lugorcliestes leporoides is allied to the Kangaroo-rats, 
there being so much difference in the structure of the limbs, 
and the muffle being hairy ? In these characters L. lepo - 
routes agrees with M. lunatus and its allies ; and, in addition 
to this, I find the structure of the skull and teeth to be very 
different to that of the Kangaroo-rats 1 , and, in fact, distinctly 
upon the same type as the true Kangaroos, which also, like 
Lag or dies tes , inhabit the open plains. That Lagorchextes 
forms a natural group I admit, but I cannot regard it as 
entitled to the rank of a genus. 
MACROPUS ( Lagorchestes) LEPOROIDES. 
The Hare-Kangaroo. 
Macropus leporoides. Gould, Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 
August 18*10, p. 93. 
“ Wateru. Marsupialia, p. 204. 
Lagorchestes leporoides. Gould, Monogr. Part 1, Plate 12. 
Fur long and soft; on the upper parts of the body variegated 
with black, rust colour, and rusty white, the white most 
conspicuous, and the rust colour but little seen ; the back of 
the neck and shoulders, and a considerable space round each 
eye, tinted with palish rust colour, sometimes inclining to 
1 See the account of the Kangaroo.rats, or IJypsiprynini. 
