HALMATURUS RUFICOLLIS.

Rufous-necked Wallaby.

Spec. Char.—Halm. ferruginoso-fuscus, albo-irroratus ; nota alba modice distincta per labrum usque ad oculum ducta ; corpore
subtus cinerescenti-albo, pilis ad basin cinereis, ad apicem albis.

Descr.—General colour rusty brown pencilled with white; fur on the back grey at the base, succeeded by rusty, broadly
annulated with white near the extremity, and black at the point; neck and shoulders almost cnuicely ef a eet
rust-red; muzzle brownish black; on the upper lip a tolerably distinct white mark, which runs backward and
terminates beneath the eye; apical half of the ear externally blackish ; internal surface of the ear well clothed
with white hairs, the tip narrowly margined with black; on the chin a patch of black; throat pure white ;
under surface of the body grey-white, the hairs being grey at the base and white at the extremity ; arms bright
rust-colour grizzled with black and rusty white ; hands black ; tarsi clothed with white hairs, all of which are

brownish black at the base; toes covered with black hairs; tail hoary grey with a small pencil of black hairs at

the tip.
Male.
feet. inches.
Length from the nose to the extremity of the Calle es a ee es gue
es oft tally oe 4u
Ss 5p UOSUS ainel toes, wac@hnehing Gmeingll , . 6 » co co co o « 9
, Beer curaviiecoin cle hve cleat VG I att Ge sn) cl 9
,. face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear... 5+
GENO ah ee : 31
Kangurus ruficollis, Desm. Ency. Méth. Mamm., p. 274. *

— rufo-griseus, Desm. Ib., p. 273.
Macropus ruficollis, Less. Man. de Mamm., p. 226.
Warroon of the Aborigines of the Illawarra district.

 

r
Paris and Leyden; the specimens therein contained have been described under at least two specific names, 7w/icollis and

i)

Tuts species of Haimaturus has been long known as forming part of the continental collections, particularly those «

rufo-griseus, and Mr. J. E. Gray believes that the Macropus elegans of Lambert is also referable to the same animal ; an
opinion in which, however, I cannot concur, as neither the drawing in the ‘ Linnean Transactions,’ nor the accompanying
description of the fur, which is said to be of “a beautiful silver-grey,” at all agrees with the one here figured, in any
state of its colouring. The J. elegans is, moreover, said to be very scarce in New South Wales, while the . ruficollis
is more abundant there than any other: the aboriginal name of the latter is Warroon, while that of the former is said to
be Ba-garee; a further argument in favour of their being distinct.

The undefined markings and variable colouring of the present animal have much puzzled me, and I am led to suspect
that the Brush Wallaby of Van Diemen’s Land, to which Mr. Waterhouse has given the name of Bennetéz, in honour of
the late estimable Secretary of the Zoological Society, may be identical with it; and I am strengthened in this suppo-
sition, by having observed that, as we proceed from Van Diemen’s Land northward through the islands of Bass’s Straits
to the continent of Australia, the thick dark-coloured fur gradually gives place to a thinner and rusty red coat similar
to the figures here given, from examples taken in New South Wales; but should this supposition ultimately prove to be
unfounded, it must be conceded that the larger species of Wallaby inhabiting Flinders and King’s Islands will be refer-
able to the present species, and not to Bennettii, whose habitat would then be confined to Van Diemen’s Land. I may
here mention, that Peron’s specimens in the Paris Museum were collected on King’s Island, and are the originals from
which Desmarest took his descriptions of ruficollis and rufo-griseus. I hope ere long to receive perfect skeletons of
this or these animals, as the case may be, from different localities, by which means alone can it be determined whether
or not they are identical.

This species was formerly common near Sydney, but is now gradually retiring before the advance of civilized man ;
it is still, however, abundant in the thick Daveysza scrub on the table-land behind Illawarra, particularly on the fine estate
at Bong-Bong, belonging to Charles Throsby, Esq., to whom I am indebted for many friendly attentions, and for his

assistance in procuring fine specimens of this animal.