RUFOUS RAT-KANGAROO 
107 
Hypsiprymnus rufexcem is one of the largest species of the 
Rat-Kangaroos; and, as the names which have been given to 
it imply, is remarkable for the red hue of its fur, and the 
black colour of its cars; the black, however, it must bo 
observed, is confined to the back of the ear. It not only 
differs from its congeners in size, and the colouring of its fur, 
but may be distinguished by its having the muffle nearly 
covered with fine velvet-like hairs, these extending nearly as 
far forward as the anterior angle of the nostrils; there is, 
however, a naked space around each nostril opening. 
Mr. Gould informs us that this species is very common in 
New South Wales, inhabiting the but little elevated stony 
ridges, especially iu those parts in which shrubs and grasses 
abound. It appears, observes this gentleman, to be dispersed 
over the whole of the colony, from the coast to the interior 
highlands. Its nest is composed of grasses, and is frequently 
placed under the shelter of a fallen tree, or at the foot of some 
low shrub. During the day the little animal lies coiled up in 
its nest, but it occasionally reposes in a “ seat," like the 
Hare-Kangaroo (Layorchcxtes), but it never sits in the open 
plains. On being pursued, it runs with great swiftness for a 
short distance, but from the circumstance of its invariably 
seeking shelter in the hollow logs, it falls an easy prey to the 
natives, who seek it for food. Its food consists, like others of 
the genus, of various kinds of roots and grasses. 
Messrs. Ogilby and Gray both drew up their original 
descriptions of the present species from a specimen contained 
in the Museum ol the Zoological Society, which presents the 
following characters:— 
Fur long, loosely applied to the body, and having nume¬ 
rous very long and coarser interspersed hairs, the visible 
portion of which is chiefly white; each of these hairs, how 
ever, is black at the point, and lias a rusty red space imme¬ 
diately below the black portion; the shorter hairs have the 
