C*AS

HALMATURUS DERBIANUS, Gray.
Derby’s Wallaby.

Spec. Char.—Vellere intens¢ fusco, hic atque ile rufescente, et incanescente ; colo, et artubus rufts ; striga nuchal fusca ;
cauda sub-brevi, robusta, et pilis brevibus adpressis instructa.

Descr.—Face grizzled grey, reddish and dark brown; on the upper lip a buffy-white mark which extends backwards
under the eye, and blends with the general colour of the face; back of the neck, shoulders and arms rufous; a
distinct blackish mark commences at the occiput, and continues downwards until it becomes lost in the colouring
of the back, which is grizzled black and dull white, caused by the middle portion of each hair being dull white,
and the tips black, the base of all the fur being deep blue grey; hind legs and tarsi grizzled with rufous and
black, the former colour predominating ; throat, chest and all the under surface buffy white; arms the same as
the tarsi, but rather darker; under side of the tail buff.

Male.
feet. inches.
Length from the nose to the extremity of the tal . ...... 3 1
 rotecarlle ee ee ee ll I+
.»  ») tarsus and toes, including the nail 6
- Seg arrarine corre near cl oppure Lt clara as Ge sc Se AL
3 ,, face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear 41
Y pe aly 24

Halmaturus Derbianus, Gray in Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. i. New Series, p. 583.

 

Turs species is a native of Kangaroo Island situated at the mouths of Spencer’s and St. Vincent’s Gulfs, and would
appear to be confined to small islands of a similar character, since I never observed or heard of its being found on the
main land of South Australia; and from information received from Swan River accompanying the skin of an animal
which would appear to be identical with the present species, I find it is there confined to Rottnest and Garden Islands :
if upon comparison with further examples these two animals should prove to be identical, the islands of the south-
western portion of Australia would seem to be the peculiar habitat of the species : I have never heard of it to the east
of Kangaroo Island.

Although closely allied to the Halmaturus Billardierii of Van Diemen’s Land, it exhibits in its smaller dimensions
more grizzly hair, and the longitudinal white mark on the cheeks, a decided difference from that animal. Like many
others of the small Wallabies, the present species loves to dwell among the densest underwood: hence the almost
impenetrable scrub of dwarf Eucalypti, which covers nearly the whole of Kangaroo Island, will always afford el
secure asylum, from which in all probability it will never be extirpated; the vegetation being too green and humid to
be burnt, and the land too poor to render it worth the expense of clearing. It is very abundant in the ravines and
gullies, through which it makes innumerable runs; and such is the dense nature of the vegetation, that nothing larger
than a dog can follow it: still it is taken by men residing on the island in the greatest abundance, both for the sake
of its skin and its flesh: these men procure it principally by snares, a simple noose, placed on the outskirts of the
brush; but they also shoot it when it appears on the open glades at night. An example of this little Wallaby, which
is about twice the size of a Hare, was presented by J. B. Harvey, Esq., to the Zoological Society in 1839 or 1840,
in whose Menagerie it is now living in perfect health.

‘onsiderable difference exists in this, as well as in the other allied species, in the colour of the hair, which varies

very much, not only in the intensity of its hue, but also in being much redder in some specimens than in others.