PETROGALE ROBUSTA, Goula. 
Great Rock Wallaby. 
Spec. Char.—Petrogale artubus antiei 1 ; 
۰ iS anticis ma : . ] "Be? Leg peli 
了 VON Siri e CH Snes et prerobustis ; vellere e fisco cinereo, infernè pallidiore ; tarsis ‚Fuseis s 
unitis antice nigris; antipedibus carpisque nigris ; 570 ٦ ^ fe d 
Shy s caue Fs CA ف‎ gris 3 capte fuliginoso levitèr tineto; utráque gend lined albescente 
à a KE: : a, gutturegue albidis; cauda superne fusca, subtùs pallidiore, 
Deser.-—Mare. Fur harsh and somew : 
ewhat shaggy; general colour slate-grey, obscurely washed with brownish, and 
tinted with vinous sides ig 
vith vinous on the outer sides of the thighs; feet dark brown, gradually passing into black on the fore- 
part; upper part of the arm brownish; hands and wrists black: 
brown; muzzle and a patel he chi 1 : ; Inner surface of the ear white, the exterior 
: patel on the chin blackish; a line round the angle of the mouth and the lower lip white ; 
throat and fore-part of the neck white, the hairs heing grey at the base; under surface like the upper, but 
paler; tail blackish brown above, paler beneath. 
FEMALE, General colour silvery grey, obscurely tinted with purplish or vinous on the backs under surface nearly 
white; cheeks hoary, with a blackish patch on the chin ; tail dirty white, slightly tinged with brown on the upper 
side ; legs paler than the body; hands brown, becoming nearly black on the fingers; toes brownish black above. 
Male. Female, 
Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail . . 2 . . T KO zw * 5 CR 
by 1 HE AO et ODOR ل ووم‎ Be, Y |G 
^ ور‎ tarsus and toes, including the nail. . , . 2 , . . ب‎ DUET Cv امه‎ O 
1 » arm and hand, including the nails. : . 22.2. "NISL. E gt 
" » face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear . . . وھ‎ ie 7 
= K. a او‎ su ve 3 
Macropus (Petrogale) robustus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 92. 
Black IFallaroo of the Colonists. 
Tue Great Rock Wallaby, which may be considered the Chamois among the Kangaroos, inhabits the summits of sterile 
and rocky mountains, seldom descending to the coverts of their sides and never to their base; few, therefore, have had 
an opportunity of observing it in a state of nature; indeed there are thousands of persons in Australia who are not even 
aware of its existence. Although the south-eastern portion of the continent is, I believe, the only part of the country in 
which it has yet been observed, in all probability it has an extensive range northwards. It is tolerably abundant on 
the Liverpool range, and I ascertained that it inhabited many of those hills that branch off on either side of this great 
mountain-chain, both towards the interior as well as towards the coast. 
Like the other members of the genus, the Petrogale robusta is extremely agile among the rocks, and its retreats are 
so well chosen among the crags and overhanging ledges, that it ıs nearly useless to attempt its pursuit and capture with 
dogs, It is a formidable and even dangerous animal to approach, for if so closely pressed that it has no other chance 
of escape, it will rush at and force the invader over the edge of the rocks, as the Ibex is said to do under similar 
circumstances. Independently of its great muscular power, this animal is rendered still more formidable by the manner 
in which it makes use of its teeth, biting its antagonist with great severity. ۱ ۱ 
The Petrogale robusta may be regarded as a gregarious animal, four, six and even more being frequently seen in 
company. On one of the mountains near Turi, to the eastward of the Liverpool Plains, it was very numerous ; and from 
the nature of this and the other localities in which I observed it, it must possess the power of existing for long periods 
without water, that element being rarely to be met with in such situations. 
'The summits of the hills to which this species resorts soon become intersected by Digg roads and well-trodden 
tracks, caused by its repeatedly traversing from one part to the other; its food consists of grasses and the shoots and 
leaves of the low serubby trees which clothe the hills it frequents. | | 
and eonsequently less elegant in form, the fully adult male of this species equals ın 
and so remarkable is the difference in the colour and size of the sexes, 
I should have considered them to be different species, the black 
Although much shorter in stature, 
weight the largest specimens of Macropus major ; 
that had I not seen them together in a state of nature, 
and powerful male offering so great a contrast to the small and delicate female. 
