ONYCHOGALEA FRA NATA, Gowia.
Bridled Nail-tailed Kangaroo.

Macropus frenatus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 99-1

. Mon. New :
Nat. Hist. of Mamm., vol. i. eae on. of Macropodide, pl. —Waterh.

Onychogalea frenata, Gray, List of Mamm. in Brit. Mus.. rings

 

 

Tue large ears, full eyes, delicate limbs ; nethe Aol Ae ; ae
° f ; ¢ a ie ; 7 ae lengthened tail of the Onychogalea frenata, conjoined with the
soft grey fur of its face and body, beautifully relieved by diverging lines of |

slack and white, render it one
of the most graceful objects that can be conceived.

1 the facul : : In its disposition it is’ timid, peaceful and shy in the
extreme, and the faculty of hearing, as indicated by the great devel i :

’ 5 great development of its ears, being remark:
. nsceedinely difficul 4 sae , being remarkably
acute, 1t 1s exceedingly difficult to procure. It is a native of the south-eastern portions of Australia, and

. td . . :
the locality nearest to the colony of New South Wales in which I observed it was Brezi, on the river

>
Mokai, whence it etounedd into the interior as far as I had an opportunity of proceeding; Mr. Gilbert sub-
sequently discovered that it was common in the thick patches of scrub which are dispersed over all parts of

the Darling Downs. It inhabits all the low mountain ranges, the elevation of which varies from one to six

 

hundred feet, and which are of a sterile character—hot, dry, stony, and thickly covered with shrub-like
stunted trees. ‘These situations are also the abode of the Halmaturus dorsalis, with which I sometimes
found the Onychogalea frenata associating ; but it differs from that species, which is strictly an inhabitant
of the brushes, in frequenting the more open parts, and occasionally even the plains. When started from
its seat, which is formed like that of a hare, beneath the shelter of a tuft of grass or a small bush, it bounds
away with remarkable fleetness, generally giving the best dogs a sharp run, and frequently making its escape
by gaining the thick part of the brush, or the hole of a decayed tree ; one of those I procured, on being
sharply pressed, mounted the inside of a tree, to an opening nearly fifteen feet from the ground; whence
it leaped down before the dogs and succeeded in reaching the hollow of a fallen trunk, from which it was
finally taken by the hand.

In the neighbourhood of Brezi the natives hunt this species with dogs, and often kill it with spears,
bommerengs and other weapons; at Gundermein on the Lower Namoi I found myself among a tribe of
natives who succeed in capturing them with nets, which, although rudely constructed, are very well adapted
to the purpose. On being made acquainted with my object, they were easily induced to accompany We toa
“Brigaloe brush,” in which the present species and the Halmaturus dorsalis were very abundant. Arriving at
the skirts of the brush, the oldest men of the tribe separated from the rest, each two taking a net about
proceeded to those parts where the

twenty-five yards long by three and a half feet wide, with which they oe
; d the brush on the opposite side,

runs of the animals were most frequent, while the rest of the natives entere i
and with loud shouts and yells drove the Kangaroos towards the nets; by this means in a single afternoon
they obtained for me as many specimens as I desired.

Its food consists of grass and various kinds of herbage, and its flesh,
urable was eaten by me in preference to other meat.
les from different localities ; those obtained by
I procured on the Mokai and

like that of the other small Kan-

garoos, is excellent, and when proc
Some diversity of colour is found to occur in examp
Mr. Gilbert on the Darling Downs being of a much browner hue than those
Namoi. | |
Fur short and soft, general tint grey, being finely penciled with
; limbs white; on the cheeks a white mark,
Iged with black at the apex and h

black and white ; under surface of the
beneath which is a dusky line; ears

b Ir E - 2 S . . e
ee ee oF the ned internally with white hairs ;

clothed externally with grey hairs, e¢

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