ee RS ~ =a wannangg oc: BETTONGIA GRATI, Gould. ’ Gray’s Jerboa Kangaroo, Hypsiprymnus Grau, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc. (Marsupialia) p. 190. Bettongia Grayu, Gray, List of Mamm, in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 93 Hypsiprymnus (Bettongia) Graii, Waterh. Nat. Hist. of Mamm. vol l. p. 20% fee. Lesueurt, Quoy et Gaim. Voy. de la Coquille ? es Boor-dee, Aborigines of the mountain districts of We Raw Vay aloe aeraten ae P. 178.—Waterh. in Jard. Nat. Lib. Mamm., vol. xi. stern Australia. So I rirst described this species in the « Proceedings of the Zoological Soci , | ical Society of London” for ] i Swan River specimens, and remarked that it differed from its near ally the B ee es nein y, the Bettongia rufescens, in being » and in having the hairs which clothe the back of the ears of the same callow: 7 S = : as those of the head. During the years which have elapsed between 1840 and the time at which I under my notice, th my views as to its specific value : although in some of its ch of an ashy-brown colour above am now € examination of which has confirmed aracters it approximates to B. ru eScens, its sand, and figured under the name of B. cuniculus ; it its more bluff head and in its shorter hind feet. Mr. Waterhouse remarks also, that although the many specimens which have come under his notice exhibited considerable variation m their colouring, and sometimes approximated very closely to other assistance of the skull, he found no difhiculty in distinguishing them. writing (1855), many other specimens have come Hiullmanded & Walton, Lup most near ally is the species found in Van Diemen’s I differs, however, from that animal in species, yet, with the I have received examples of this animal from various parts of the south-western coasts of Australia, and it appears to be equally abundant in the plains around Adelaide as in those in the neighbourhood of Perth in Western Australia. My drawing was taken from living examples in the Menagerie of the Zoological Society, and I mention this because the positions may appear somewhat singular, but they are correct representations of those the animals assumed at the time. Mr. Gilbert, who had many opportunities of observing the Bettongia Graii in Western Australia, states that :-— USAW iit GQ VUOUKULEM Oe “Tt is truly gregarious, many dwelling together in extensively ramified burrows with several entrances, before which the excavated earth is formed into large mounds ; the openings are not, as usual, mere round holes, but are dug out in the form of tunnels with perpendicular sides, as correct as if dug with a spade. NY AN NY 1AM These burrows are usually constructed in a bank sloping down to a brook or river, and are very numerous 4 along both banks of the river Avon. I made several attempts to dig them out, but failed in every instance ¢ € Fa Ne * >: ~S wal en in consequence of the depth, six or eight feet, and sometimes even more, at which the burrows are . . . . : . eee LIN Ss i AC aR mk Shes z constructed, and of their running one into the other in endless confusion. The Boor-dee is exclusively a ASSL A, nocturnal feeder, and, by quietly watching near the entrances to the burrows at sunset, may be shot in — considerable numbers either when they emerge or while feeding in the immediate vicinity. It is one of the most destructive animals to the garden of the settler that occurs in Western Australia, Amu ial ae of vegetable being attacked by it, but especially peas and beans; and I know of no species of AB size which makes so loud a thumping noise while hopping along the ground on being alammieds besides malsing this noise with its feet, it also utters, when first started, a most singular aD of sounds, which I find it impossible to describe. Many of the specimens brought in by the natives were much Co either by their dirty cloaks, or the clayey soil in which they had been captured. . A remarkable circumstance connected with this animal is, that it is extremely difficult to meet with specimens which are not more or 1 S S stitute - on any part of the less denuded of the fur of the back, and I have often shot examples almost destitute of fur on y P ees accidental circumstance I am unable to say, but the to that of dogs aftlicted with Se TY CPS Ce LY SS ea wt : . 1 ¥a STtould und Hl hichter del a bith body; whether this is the result of disease or some skins of several I examined certainly presented a very similar appearance mange. | “The Boor-dee is confined to the interior, and, besides burrowing as among the rocks like the Petrogale.” Fur of the upper and under surface grey at the base; hairs those of the back dirty-white, inclining to ash-colour near the apex, a sides of the head and body a very faint wash of yellow; ears 2 -, Western Australian yellowish hairs, externally with fur like that of the head; feet, greyls ; , yy a) 1t ll NOS ; X l A 20 | ‘ wang above described, sometimes dwells of the under surface dirty-white externally ; and tipped with brownish-black ; on the clothed, internally with small occurs in the colouring of the tail ; there is also an abse specimens ; nose and other denuded parts flesh-colour. The figures are about the size of life.